With corporate support, Duvaughn Dick’s ready for Mr Olympia Loop Jamaica

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Jamaica News Loop News

Jamaican bodybuilder Duvaughn Dick has charted a pathway to the prestigious Mr Olympia stage and he is doing so with the support of family and friends and WATA.

Over the years, WATA has invested heavily in squash, athletics, swimming, and Jamaica’s senior football teams through a long-term partnership with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF).

Bodybuilding appears to be the brand’s most recent affiliation with fitness since supporting Dick for the past few years.

He’s been on this inspirational journey for four short years, and 2022 has proven to be his best season yet after copping the bronze medal in ‘Men’s Classic Bodybuilding’ during the CAC Fitness Championships.

Bodybuilder Duvaughn Dick (Photos: Contributed)

Most recently, WATA sponsored the bodybuilder’s expenses to represent Jamaica at the 2022 CAC Fitness Championships in Barbados.

This, was shortly after the businessman, student, and fitness athlete won two categories – ‘Classic Bodybuilding’ and ‘Heavyweight’ at the Jamaica Amateur Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships (JABBAF) earlier in July.

“My journey was not easy,” he shared in an interview recently. “I have tried to lose weight multiple times over the years. I would lose 20 lbs here, 30 lbs there but it would come back eventually. In 2018, I made the decision that I wanted to do better, I wanted to look better.”

He later weighed in close to a whopping 330 lbs but now consumes two gallons of WATA each day.

Bodybuilder Duvaughn Dick (Photos: Contributed)

“I knew what worked for me, which was a low-carb diet so I just did that, found a way to make it easy. As long as it’s something that’s manageable it can be consistent and consistency is what it really takes so I tried to fit in things I like into my diet and kept it low carb for the most part; did that consistently over time.”

Over the next 14 months, he lost 100 pounds… “I looked back at pictures, didn’t like what I saw and wanted to do better for myself,” he said.

Dick holds a degree in physical therapy from the University of the West Indies and is currently studying for a doctorate degree in physical therapy.

He also runs a physical therapy business. Together, they make for a challenging lifestyle but one that has so far reaped solid rewards.

“Running my own business plus pursuing a doctorate in physical therapy with a school in Minnesota, being able to juggle that while winning two national titles and going on to represent Jamaica it really makes me feel proud of myself to do all of that at the same time. It has been very stressful but I was able to get it done with the help of my family, Wisynco and WATA.”

“WATA has been a big supporter over the years… even outside of bodybuilding they gave me support when I volunteered as a physical therapist for the Jamaica Association of Sports Medicine. We went out to Western Jamaica in Montego Bay to provide screenings at a health fair for underserved high school athletes.”

Dick hopes WATA will continue to back him as he continues his sojourn to the very pinnacle of the sport as he is already making moves to take his career to the next level.

“Since last year I have been working with Loleta Riley out of Florida. I have her in my corner helping me to get to the next level. I want to win the overall title Mr Jamaica, win the CAC title for my country and go on to the pro ranks,” he said.

“I finish school in May and I can fully focus on bodybuilding after. My dream is to be on the Olympia stage where only the best of the best qualify.”

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Maradona ‘Hand of God’ World Cup ball sold for $2.4m Loop Jamaica

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Jamaica News Loop News

LONDON (AP) — The ball punched in by Diego Maradona for his “Hand of God” goal at the 1986 World Cup has been sold at auction for nearly $2.4 million by the referee who missed football’s most famous handball.

Ali Bin Nasser, the Tunisian former match official who refereed the quarterfinal game between Argentina and England in Mexico, owned the 36-year-old Adidas ball that was sold at Graham Budd Auctions in London for 2 million pounds ($2.37 million) on Wednesday.

Bin Nasser said before the auction he felt it was the right time to share the item with the world and expressed hope the buyer would put it on public display.

The Maradona goal that gave Argentina a 1-0 lead in that match against England — but should not have been allowed — has become part of football legend.

Maradona jumped as if to head the ball but instead punched it past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton. Maradona quipped afterward that it was scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God,” leading to its iconic name.

Speaking ahead of the auction, Bin Nasser said: “I couldn’t see the incident clearly. The two players, Shilton and Maradona, were facing me from behind.

“As per FIFA’s instructions issued before the tournament, I looked to my linesman for confirmation of the validity of the goal — he made his way back to the halfway line indicating he was satisfied that the goal should stand. At the end of the match, the England head coach Bobby Robson said to me, ‘You did a good job, but the linesman was irresponsible.’”

Maradona scored a brilliant second goal against England only four minutes later with the same ball — the only one used in the quarterfinal. He ran nearly 70 metres from his own half and weaved his way past half the England team before slipping the ball past Shilton to make it 2-0. That goal was voted the World Cup Goal of the Century in 2002.

Argentina won the game 2-1 and went on to lift the World Cup. Maradona died in 2020 at the age of 60. The upcoming World Cup in Qatar, which starts Sunday, will be the first since Maradona’s death.

The jersey worn by Maradona against England was sold in May for $9.3 million, at the time the highest price paid at auction for a piece of sports memorabilia. That was beaten by a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card, which went for $12.6 million in New York in August.

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Keith Duncan to address Global Leadership Summit Loop Jamaica

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Jamaica News Loop News

Keith Duncan, president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) and co-chair of Project STAR, will be among eight distinguished speakers scheduled for the Global Leadership Summit on November 17. Duncan will address the summit on the theme “Voice Your Vision” and is expected to speak on the latest initiative of the PSOJ – Project STAR, which is a collaboration with the PSOJ and the Jamaica Constabulary Force. Project STAR aims to reduce violent crime in communities through employment opportunities and improved police-community relations.

The Global Leadership Summit is an international leadership summit held annually for the past 27 years across more than 900 sites in 135 countries worldwide, spanning over 60 languages.

Each year the summit engages over 400,000 leaders in a journey of growth and development. Some of the participants are from Canada and other regions, such as Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

The event’s academy of speakers has seen some of the best in the global world on the stage of the Global Leadership Network, such as veteran Jamaican journalist John Maxwell, TD Jakes, Carla Harris, Simon Sinek, (the late) Colin Powell and Horst Schulze.

The Global Leadership Summit will be streamed virtually via the Big Marker platform and aims to attract an audience of approximately 1,000 leaders from across Jamaica, including corporate leaders, religious leaders, youth leaders and influencers.

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AWU agrees on overall 14% wage increase for members at Bermudez Biscuit Company

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

News

The Industrial Court, on St Vincent Street, Port of Spain. File photo/Jeff K Mayers

A week after five unions had their negotiations brought before the Industrial Court after a breakdown, the Amalgamated Workers Union (AWU) has signed off on a 14 per cent wage increase for two periods.

At the Ministry of Labour, Duke Street, Port of Spain, on Tuesday, AWU officials signed an agreement with Bermudez Biscuit Company, a subsidiary of the Bermudez Group Ltd.

The group comprises Kiss Baking Company, Bermudez, Holiday Foods, Wibisco, Excelsior and Soldanza.

The settlement is for two three-year bargaining periods, 2018-2021 and 2021-2024. The first period was settled for eight per cent and the second for six per cent.

While the agreement is for the Bermudez Biscuit Company, only daily, weekly and hourly paid workers will benefit from the agreement, as they are unionised. Those affected include warehouse attendants, sanitation workers and machine operators totalling between 250 and 300 employees.

The union, which agreed to the government’s four per cent wage increase for sanitation workers at the Port of Spain City Corporation in August for the period 2014-2016 and 2017-2019, was chastised by other unions for accepting what they considered a low offer.

That four per cent rejection caused Finance Minister Colm Imbert to refer the negotiations to the Industrial Court. The five unions before the court are: Fire Service Association, Prison Officers Association, Police Social and Welfare Association , Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) and the National Union of Government & Federated Workers (NUGFW).

Asked about this at Tuesday’s signing, general secretary for the AWU Cassandra Tommy-Dabreo said the signing is a win for the union, although it is far less than for previous periods. For the period 2025-2018 the union agreed to a 15 per cent wage increase and the previous period was 19 per cent.

“How I feel about it? It is a plus for me, and I would personalise it, aAs a female general secretary in the trade union movement that is dominated by male,and especially tall strapping males.

“So the fact of the matter is, it is a plus. Yes, we would have wanted more, but I will take from my comrade that we still have the glass, and we still have the glass on hand and going forward, we will always want the glass to be filled.”

While workers expressed disappointment in the continued drop from 19 to six per cent in a bargaining period, Tommy-Dabreo said they understood the economic times facing the country and accepted the overall 14 per cent.

The union submitted a proposal for the return of cost of living allowances (COLA), profit sharing and heat allowances, but those were not agreed to.

Group industrial relations manager Hashim Al-Mujaahid said the agreement was to bring the biscuit company in alignment with the other companies regarding salaries. He said the increased salary and backpay will be paid to employees on or before the end of the year and will not be part of the company’s Christmas bonus, if the companies decided to grant them.

Asked about the settlement for the other companies, Al-Mujaahid said he did not want to pre-empt any ongoing or future discussions and therefore did not want to comment. He emphasised that the reason the settlement was arrived at was to putthe biscuit company on par with the other companies. He said there is a thrust to give annual increases to the workers not represented by a bargaining union.

“If you look at the spread over the six-year period, most of the employees throughout the group would have gotten, from 2018 to now, an 11 per cent increase.

“So let’s just say somebody found that Bermudez get plenty. When they do the maths, they will realize that they actually got more than Bermudez as of today’s date.

“So usually, that’s how we try to make sure there’s equity across the board, that everybody wouldn’t get the same thing. The standard of the group is to make sure that there’s equity.”

He said the three per cent difference must not be viewed in a vacuum, as the pandemic and the cost of wheat increasing globally also factored into the decision to settle on the amount.

Both the union and Al-Mujaahid thanked Bridget Ignatius, senior conciliator at the Conciliation, Advisory and Advocacy Division at the Ministry of Labour, for assisting in settling the negotiations, which broke down after they began in 2018.

The union said its position moved from 40 to 23 per cent before negotiations broke down and the company moved from zero to four per cent for the first bargaining period.

Negotiations resumed in June through conciliation.

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WASA: Repairs at Picton Booster Station to be completed Wednesday

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

News

File photo/Lincoln Holder

The Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) has said emergency repair work at Picton No 2 Booster Station, Picton Road Laventille, are expected to be completed on Wednesday.

A WASA media release on Wednesday said a defective pump led to a disruption in supply to some of its customers.

Areas affected include:

Upper Belmont and environs, Mendez Drive, Layan Hill

Areas served by the Gonzales Booster Station

Beverly Hills and environs (areas served by Laventille Reservoir)

St Paul Street and environs

Hermitage Road and environs

Lower Laventille Road and environs (areas served by Picton 1 Reservoir)

Bowen Trace

Upper St Barb’s Road

Upper Chinatown

Upper St Francois Valley Road

Upper Laventille

Soogrim Trace

Fatima Trace

Block 22

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Independent panel to review West Indies’ World Cup failure

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

Sports

File photo: West Indies batting legend Brian Lara.

A three-member panel of independent professionals has been named by Cricket West Indies (CWI) to conduct a comprehensive review of the early exit by the West Indies from the recent ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia.

CWI on Wednesday announced that the three-member panel will undertake a holistic assessment of all aspects of the team’s preparation and performance at the global tournament.

The panel includes: West Indies batting legend and IPL head coach, Brian Lara; international cricket coach and South African Mickey Arthur; and Justice Patrick Thompson Jr, a High Court Judge at the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court; who will serve as chair of the panel who have already begun their work.

The West Indies team failed to qualify for the main round of the tournament, after losing to lower-ranked Scotland and Ireland. The losses caused great disappointment and frustration among all West Indies cricket stakeholders.

The Group B qualifier round was played at Bellerive Oval in Tasmania where the team achieved their only victory over Zimbabwe, a team that qualified ahead of West Indies by defeating both Scotland and Ireland.

The panel will submit a report to the CWI board of directors, with relevant insight and clear recommendations. It is also intended that this review will establish a process and template for future performance reviews.

In commenting on the appointments, CWI president Ricky Skerritt said: “CWI is fortunate to have such a knowledgeable and totally independent panel agree to serve West Indies cricket under challenging circumstances. I am especially grateful for their commitment to lend some of their valuable time to this important review project.

“It is vital that players, coaches, administrators, and all of us who love West Indies cricket, recognise that creating a sustainable learning culture, throughout the organisation, is a prerequisite for player growth and team improvement.

Emotion-based and knee-jerk type decisions have failed CWI repeatedly in the past. I am confident that this independent World Cup review process will produce findings and learnings that should be of great benefit to our cricket system going forward.”

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UNICEF Launches New Climate Initiative To Head Off Disasters – St. Lucia Times News

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: St. Lucia Times News

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The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Wednesday launched a new climate financing initiative designed to help countries address current and growing impacts of the climate crisis, and better cope with disasters.

“We know more climate disasters are in the making. We just do not know where or when they will hit”, said Karin Hulshof, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Partnerships.”

The Today and Tomorrow initiative, for the first time, combines funding for immediate resilience and risk prevention programmes for children today, with risk transfer finance provided by the insurance market to help cope with future cyclones.

“The risks of climate change are no longer hypothetical. They are here. And even while we work to build communities’ resilience against climate disasters, we have to become much better in pre-empting risks for our children”, she added.

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Invitation to help

Youth are a critically vulnerable population who are among the most affected by extreme weather events.

Last year, UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Risk Index estimated that 400 million children are currently at high exposure to cyclones.

During the initial three-year pilot, the initiative will focus on Bangladesh, Comoros, Haiti, Fiji, Madagascar, Mozambique, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.

To move forward, UNICEF is raising $30 million for the project and calling for additional private and public partners to join the agency in closing the intensifying humanitarian financing gap for disaster protection for children and youth.

Partners in aid

Although extreme weather damage perpetuates and deepens inequality and poverty across generations, existing risk transfer mechanisms do not meet the specific needs of hundreds of millions of children and youth.

Today and Tomorrow is the first pre-arranged and event-based climate disaster risk financing mechanism that specifically targets the “child protection gap”, with full support for the future, as secured by the governments of Germany and the United Kingdom under the newly launched G7-V20 Global Shield against Climate Risks.

Heike Henn, a Director at the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, expects the initiative to deliver in the areas of knowledge-sharing and increased familiarity with risk financing instruments; improved shock resilience of development institutions; and help close the disaster risk protection gap, “especially for children and mothers”.

UK Minister for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, strongly supports “bringing pre-arranged and trigger-based financing to the humanitarian sector…including this new grant to UNICEF…to protect up to 15 million children, young people and their families across Africa, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific and respond rapidly if tropical cyclones hit”.

Triggering trouble

Cyclones and the disasters they spark, such as floods and landslides, are the fastest-growing category of climate-influenced disasters and a major cause of global losses and damages, according to UNICEF.

UNICEF’s research has shown that investments that reduce exposure to and negative impacts from cyclones and other hazards can considerably reduce overall climate risk for millions of children.

“UNICEF is the first UN institution, as well as one of the largest humanitarian organisations worldwide, to take out a bespoke disaster risk coverage for the protection of children, youth and parents, especially mothers”, said Simon Young, a Senior Director in the Climate and Resilience Hub at international insurance advisors WTW, which designed the insurance solution.

As well as pressing Governments and big businesses to rapidly reduce emissions, UNICEF urges leaders to take immediate action to protect children from climate devastation by adapting the critical social services they rely on.

UNICEF also urges parties to find and fund solutions to support those facing loss and damage beyond the limits to which communities can adapt.

SOURCE: UN News. Headline photo courtesy John Middelkoop (Unsplash.com)

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Ellerslie School closed due to smoke residue Loop Barbados

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Barbados News

Brandons Beach facility also closes early because of commercial building fire along Mighty Grynner Highway

Loop News

45 minutes ago

Fire Along Spring Garden Highway November 16 (Source Social Media)

NEWYou can now listen to Loop News articles!

Parents and guardians of students at the Ellerslie School are asked to immediately collect their children.

The school was closed with immediate effect at noon, as a result of the smoke residue from the fire on the Mighty Grynner Highway.

Bus transportation for students will be provided to Bridgetown and Speightstown.

Additionally, the National Conservation Commission has announced the closure of the beach facility and lifeguard tower at Brandon’s Beach, Brandon’s, St Michael.

All other beach facilities and lifeguard towers will remain open.

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TRINIDAD-FINANCE-Hefty fines for persons convicted of operating Ponzi schemes in Trinidad and Tobago

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The content originally appeared on: Cana News Business

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Gases released into air by DEH incinerator causes concerns for public Loop Cayman Islands

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Cayman Compass

According to Richard Simms, the Director of the Department of Environmental Health (DEH), each week, the DEH uses its incinerator to burn thousands of pounds of materials, including medical waste, narcotics and other seized goods.

When this happens twice per week (with each load being about 6,400 lbs), gases are released into our air.

Regarding what is specifically emitted, Mr Simms articulated that:

No emissions monitoring is possible on the exhaust gases from the current system. The incinerator has a two stage burn system with a primary chamber for the waste to be placed for incineration and a secondary chamber where the flue gases are further incinerated prior to emission from the stack. Typical gases released from these systems are in the majority combustion products such as carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide plus hydrogen chloride and other trace gases.

With respect to sulphur dioxide (SO?), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes SO? as “a colorless gas with a characteristic, irritating, pungent odor.”

Exposure to sulfur dioxide may cause irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat. Symptoms include: nasal mucus, choking, cough, and reflex bronchi constriction, and when liquid: frostbite- Workers may be harmed from exposure to sulfur dioxide. The level of exposure depends upon the dose, duration, and work being done.

The CDC added.

Regarding nitrogen dioxide, some guidance on this is provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

According to the EPA:

Breathing air with a high concentration of NO2 can irritate airways in the human respiratory system. Such exposures over short periods can aggravate respiratory diseases, particularly asthma, leading to respiratory symptoms (such as coughing, wheezing or difficulty breathing), hospital admissions and visits to emergency rooms. Longer exposures to elevated concentrations of NO2 may contribute to the development of asthma and potentially increase susceptibility to respiratory infections. People with asthma, as well as children and the elderly are generally at greater risk for the health effects of NO2.

With no emissions monitoring possible on the exhaust gases from the current system used by DEH, it is unclear how much SO?, NO? and other gases have been released into the atmosphere over the past decade and who (if anyone) could have been impacted.

Given these concerns, government officials may wish to consider whether it is now prudent to consider the implementation of a Clean Air Act, the purpose of such an Act being to enhance the health and safety of members of the public, to protect them from dangerous emissions and to make users of such incinerators legally accountable.

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