Spanish Town Hospital gets three new dialysis machines Loop Jamaica

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Jamaica News Loop News

The National Health Fund (NHF), in partnership with the Transport Authority, has donated three new haemodialysis machines to the Spanish Town Hospital in St Catherine.

The $12-million project culminated in an official handover ceremony held on the hospital grounds on Wednesday.

The Renal Dialysis Unit at the facility sees approximately 4,500 kidney patients within a 12-month period. The additional renal equipment will allow more people to receive treatment, and positively increase the quality of life for many, NHF said in a release.

Director of Pharmacy Services, NHF, Ainsley Jones, speaking at the event on behalf of Chief Executive Officer Everton Anderson, expressed that NHF is committed to providing support to the healthcare sector through various projects.

“Within the 2021/2022 fiscal year, $612.05 million was approved for 10 Institutional Benefits Projects, 66.50 million being allocated to the South East Regional Health Authority. Additionally, the NHF has budgeted $100 million for this fiscal year 2022/2023 to support the infrastructural development across the South East Region,” he said.

“The NHF team is happy that the agency has played a significant part in a project that has improved another healthcare facility as well as patient care. We are dedicated to strengthening Jamaica’s healthcare system, whether through collaboration or as an individual entity,” Jones added.

This marks the second collaborative effort between the NHF and the Transport Authority. The Fund has previously teamed up with the organisation to provide screening tests, including PSA/DRE exams, for taxi drivers within varying parishes.

Managing Director at the Transport Authority, Willard Hylton, emphasised the importance of partnership among organisations.

“The signal that we are sending to the country is that when we partner as agencies of the government we can get more done. You can find another agency who is willing to partner with you and that is how we are going to get things moving in Jamaica,” said Hylton.

The NHF said it continues to work closely with several partners, including the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Regional Authorities, to improve the health services in Jamaica.

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‘Diplomats’ with fake St Kitts & Nevis documents smuggled into Europe Loop Jamaica

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Jamaica News Loop News

Police in Italy and Belgium have arrested five people accused of smuggling migrants carrying fake diplomatic passports into Europe aboard luxury jets, Italian police said Thursday.

Migrants paid up to 10,000 euros each to be flown from Turkey into European countries aboard jets that the smugglers fraudulently booked for diplomats, said Costantino Scuderi, police chief in the southern Italian city of Bari.

At least five such flights were made between October and December 2020, transporting the migrants to five separate countries. One flight landed in Bari in November 2020.

The migrants were mostly Kurds or Iraqi citizens carrying counterfeit diplomatic documents from St Kitts & Nevis, and flight plans indicated the Caribbean nation as the final destination after layovers in Europe.

Once they arrived in Europe, however, the passengers declared their real nationalities and requested asylum, according to Italian police.

The smuggling operation was headed by an Egyptian man living in Brussels who is also a pilot. He was arrested on Wednesday in Brussels along with a Tunisian woman, while two of his brothers were arrested in Rome with an Italian suspect.

Italian police said the arrests were the culmination of an investigation involving police in Germany, France and Austria, in addition to Italy and Belgium, coordinated by Europol, with the cooperation of US Homeland Security.

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Guyanese makeup artist transforms herself into J’can dancehall acts Loop Jamaica

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Jamaica News Loop News

Makeup transformations are usually amazing, but ultra-talented makeup artist, Annada Aaliyah Anthon is creating a buzz on social media with her jaw-dropping creations.

The Guyanese woman is transforming herself into almost anyone, including popular dancehall and reggae artistes, with a flick of her wrist and a small army of vibrant pencils, powders and palettes.

She is sharing these transformations with her more than 43,000 followers on Instagram and 76,000 followers on TikTok and they are loving them.

“It was always my ambition. I love doing makeup basically, but I never thought about doing artistes,” she told Loop News.

“One day, I was fooling around. I actually did one with Shenseea where I was mocking her, and at the bottom of the comments, people were calling different [names of] artistes [and] I picked Skeng.

“I said I am going to try doing my face like him, and when I tried, it actually looked like him,” the spunky 20-year-old said.

Annada Anthon as entertainers Skillibeng (left) and Skeng

She said she then began to do other artistes.

“People are approaching me more and more, but I am getting a lot of heat from my own country. No one in my country doesn’t want to do interviews and these stuff with me, and my fan base is more in Jamaica,” she told Loop News.

Asked to define “heat”, she responded:

“They don’t like me, I don’t know why.”

The young woman has a growing fan base in Jamaica, especially among dancehall artistes. She recently did a make-up transformation to look like Beenie Man, recording herself as the ‘Girls Dem Sugar’ while performing ‘Dude’.

The Doctor himself reposted the TikTok video of her ‘Beenie-rific’ transformation on his Instagram account with audio of ‘King of the Dancehall’ bouncing in the background and giving Anthon his stamp of approval.

Jada Kingdom, one of the other recording artistes Anthon has transformed herself to look like, recently performed at a stage show in Guyana and invited the young woman to join her.

“She called me up and said, ‘I think you should come and chill with me,’ and she sent her number to me on Instagram, and I called her,” she said.

Among the other dancehall and reggae artistes she has recreated looks of are Skillibeng, Spice, Bob Marey, D’Yani, Kemar Highcon, Ninjaman, Ding Dong, and Laa Lee.

The Guyanese makeup artiste even recreated Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

Annada as dancehall artistes D’Yani, Jada Kingdom and Kemar Highcon

Born and raised in Guyana, she still lives in the South American country. Anthon went to Tutorial Secondary in Berbice, New Amsterdam, which is located on the eastern bank of the Berbice River. The town of New Amsterdam is the regional capital of East Berbice-Corentyne, Guyana, and one of the country’s largest towns, located about 100 kilometres from the capital, Georgetown.

She previously worked as a cashier before her social media influencer career took off. Now, Anthon wants to go overseas to hone her skills.

“One of my biggest plans is to migrate from my country to another country where I can develop and improve my talent. Another one of my future plans is to work along with some of the artistes I do (recreate) in some way,” she said.

Annada Anthon, 20, has her sights set on migrating to be able to hone her skills as a make-up artist.

The young woman also hopes to one day work in the movie mecca of Hollywood as a make-up artist.

Anthon is among women using makeup for self-expression as they tweak their looks in a largely post-lockdown world. Many women are hungry for methods to showcase their individuality, and when it comes to self-expression, the 20-year-old has that in abundance.

“I don’t do makeup like other people; I do makeup on my own level. I can’t answer for all females, but I will be able to answer from my perspective makeup is important to me coming out of a pandemic era because…let’s just say, it has helped me make a lot of money and push what I want more out there and get me to the public,” she told Loop News.

Today, the Caribbean. Tomorrow, Hollywood movies and the world.

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South Castries Cricket Association Congratulates Johnson Charles – St. Lucia Times News

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: St. Lucia Times News

The  Executive and affiliates hereby extend Congratulations to Johnson, who is also the captain of the South Castries Lions, on his selection to the West Indies team for the upcoming ICC World Cup to be staged in Australia.

Johnson, who last wore West Indies colors in 2016,  was part of the winning West Indies Team who were twice crowned Champions of the ICC T/20 World Cup.

We have seen him mature tremendously, exhibiting admirable team work, consistency, composure and leadership skills.

The South Castries Cricket Association’s male and female teams,we would like to wish Johno all the best on his Journey to the ICC  World Cup in Australia and hope that his selection serves as a source of inspiration to other young aspiring  cricketers in South Castries and other communities islandwide.

Bravo Johno! quite deserving and keep soaring high as you visualize on these successful CPL innings and ponder on  the main characteristics of the Lion.

Keep batting! and continue to tell yourself; “Yes I can”.

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Salud reporta 3 muertes y 263 hospitalizaciones por COVID-19

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Radio Isla TV

El informe preliminar de COVID-19 del Departamento de Salud (DS) reportó el viernes 3 muertes y 263 personas hospitalizadas.

La cantidad total de muertes atribuidas es de 5,063.

Hay 236 adultos y 27 menores hospitalizados. Este monitoreo cubre el periodo del 30 de agosto al 13 de septiembre de 2022.

La tasa de positividad está a 20.16 por ciento.

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Caribbean Travel News

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Black Immigrant Daily News

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Sept. 16, 2022: Here are the top stories making Caribbean travel news in 60 seconds for this week ending Sept. 16, 2022:

Look out for Fiona. The tropical storm which formed late Wednesday in the Atlantic Ocean, was maintaining its strength as it approached the Leeward Islands, where it is expected to dump several inches of rain today.

Canada is advising nationals to avoid all non-essential travel to Haiti due to kidnappings, gang violence and the potential for civil unrest throughout the country.

Two of the world’s biggest cruise lines have canceled upcoming calls in Bermuda, citing the island’s ongoing COVID-19 testing requirements. Celebrity Cruises has canceled visits to Bermuda in October and November scheduled for four ships while Norwegian Cruise Line has canceled Bermuda calls scheduled for three ships.

Several Russian airlines, such as Nordwind Airlines, are planning to resume their international connectivity to Cuba in October, despite the ongoing sanctions imposed by the European Union.

Jamaica will soon require American visitors to fill out a new travel form online prior to their flight. The new Digital Travel Declaration (DTD) is for pre-departure screening of tourists but is not yet in place.

Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic has made the Kayak list of top international destinations for fall travel, with a 147 percent spike over pre-pandemic 2019 searches.

JetBlue Airways is non-stop service to Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe from JFK, NY. Beginning Nov. 5, JetBlue will operate three flights each week, with service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

And if you have at least 20,000 miles on American Airlines as an advantage member, you may be able to fly ot Aruba on a round trip between November 2022 through February 2023 from New York City; Boston; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Charlotte; Miami; Chicago; Pittsburgh; Los Angeles; and many others. Book directly with the airline.

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CBvS-governor Roemer: ‘Wijze waarop cambio’s wisselkoers noteren is bedenkelijk’

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: De Ware Tijd Online

door Jason Pinas PARAMARIBO — Maurice Roemer, governor van de Centrale Bank van Suriname (CBvS), kan zich niet terug vinden

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Lump sum payments approved for workers in government authorities Loop Cayman Islands

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Cayman Compass

Two government authorities received approval for lump sum payments at the meeting of Cabinet on September 6, 2022.

The first approval was an award of a single performance- based payment to employees of the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange.

The second approval was the award of a 4.5% honorarium (single payment) to all employees of the Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands on record as at 31 December 2021.

Sources close to another government agency told Loop News that their board of directors has also approved cost of living payments to staff and will apply to the Cabinet for approval of a one-time payment to their employees. It is expected that, as other agencies learn of the Cabinet’s approval of lump sum payments, they will also apply.

Why Cabinet must approve

The obvious question you may be asking is why these agencies are going to the Cabinet to get these approvals. After-all, they should have enough independence and autonomy with respect to their operations to approve these payments themselves.

Well, the answer is set out in the Public Authorities Act (PAA). This states that “A public authority shall not introduce a bonus or performance payment scheme for staff of the public authority unless the public authority is permitted to do so by the Cabinet.”

The PAA also says:

A public authority shall not award cost of living adjustments for staff of a public authority unless permitted to do so by the Cabinet.

As a result, the approval of the Cabinet must be sought in these cases.

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Congresswoman Maxine Waters Zones In On Key Problem Affecting Caribbean Region

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Black Immigrant Daily News

By NAN Business Editor

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Sept. 16, 2022: U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters on Wednesday zoned in on the critical issue impacting the Caribbean region – beyond derisking.

In delivering an opening statement at the historic full committee hearing on the Impacts of De-Risking on the Caribbean, Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, said: “For too long the lack of financial access faced by Caribbean nations and their majority Black populations has been blatantly ignored.”

Her comment came as the IDB, in a new report titled, ‘Finance for Firms: Options for Improving Access and Inclusion,’ found that the COVID-19 pandemic made it harder to access financing across the region, and smaller firms face more significant hurdles than larger ones when it comes to accessing finance. Additionally, women-owned and/or operated firms face even more severe challenges than other firms across the region.

“Between half and two-thirds of all women-owned and/or -operated firms across the six Caribbean countries reviewed report credit access (e.g., high collateral requirements) as a major or very severe obstacle to business operations,” the report added.

Derisking has of course added to that pain, with Waters noting that the harm on businesses and families across the Caribbean and the United States has been occurring for at least a decade.

“Financial access is key to a nation’s stability, but for our neighbor island nations, whose economies rely on cross-border transactions, they’re being denied this path to prosperity and resiliency,” the Congresswoman said.  “We must acknowledge that our nation’s security and wellbeing is directly linked to that of the Caribbean nations and that dwindling financial access endangers these mutual benefits.”

DE-RISKING HEARING

In her presentation before the committee, Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, said regional countries are committed to addressing any deficiencies in their  anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) policies. But said the US Treasury should “adhere more closely to the principle of risk sensitivity and not to participate in listings of countries where the lists pose a material risk to a country’s development and where there is no evidence that the country poses a material risk to the global financial system.”

“This will protect financial inclusion locally and internationally, guard the international network against underground alternatives, and toughen the fight against money laundering,” she said. “It will turn the big guns away from countries where little money laundering occurs to those where much does.”

Wendy Delmar, Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Association of Banks Inc., in her testimony called de-risking the “proverbial ‘thorn in the side’ for banks and other financial institutions in the Caribbean.”

“As a Caribbean national and career banker for over two decades, the onslaught of de-risking activity and its resultant adverse impact on the banking industry and economies of the region has been both disheartening and deeply concerning,” she added. “Given the fast paced rate at which compliance requirements are changed (often with little to no justification) banks and other financial institutions within the Caribbean are left to pursue a continually moving goal post. This ultimately results in burdensome and excessive expense to satisfy the new requirements which stifles business development and expansion.”

Wayne Shah, Senior Vice President, Wells Fargo & Company and Vice Chair, Financial and International Business Association, noted that Wells continues to do business in the Caribbean and as far as the Financial and International Business Association (FIBA)is concerned, “the era of de-risking of small Caribbean banks has long been over.”

But he said, “major challenges remain for financial inclusion for the Caribbean, including “… sustaining a view that the Caribbean is a region of safety and soundness for financial services and inclusion; encouraging independent country and counterparty risk analysi and calibrating regulatory mandates and addressing unintended consequences of legislation and regulations.”

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MOTM: Usain Bolt, ETH, SAINT models owned NYFW Loop Jamaica

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Jamaica News Loop News

The SAINT model army was among the Jamaicans dominating the just-ended New York Fashion Week (NYFW).

Sprint legends Usain Bolt and Elaine Thompson-Herah were also in the city that never sleeps, on the runway for Puma by June Ambrose.

The in-demand catwalkers from Saint, however, racked up a formidable slate of runway appearances for the most influential fashion houses that previewed their Spring/Summer 2023 ready-to-wear collections across multiple locations.

Led by resurgent Jamaican supermodel Kai Newman whose impeccable bookings included walking for Tom Ford, Tory Burch, Altuzarra, Marni as well as Vogue World, AmericanVogue’s 130-year-anniversary runway showcase, the SAINT squad comprised of Tomiwa, Wayne Booth, Winston Lawrence, Jamie Melbourne and Naki Depass.

Jetting in from Paris, SAINT’s Nigerian supermodel-in-the-making Tomiwa, making her second trip stateside for NYFW, clocked runway time for Ulla Johnson, Theory and Gabriela Hearst.

For Hearst’s show at Brooklyn Navy Yards, the African beauty wore Look #4 in a gold leather tuxedo pantsuit.

The New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman raved Hearst’s new collection “was pretty terrific…big gold staples lined the edges of tailored pantsuits and long gold dusters topped simple tank dresses.”

In the case of Jamaican-raised, United States resident fashion designer Edvin Thompson, winner of the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s American Emerging Designer of the Year Award 2021, who presented his runway show this past Wednesday which featured Portland-born SAINT Lawrence, Voguehailed it as being “a tightly edited and focused collection loaded with budding signatures (for which), Thompson confirmed that for him, there is no such thing as a sophomore slump.”

Lawrence showed up too, on the catwalks for menswear designer Nicholas Raefski and Italian luxury brand Marni which crisscrossed the Atlantic to debut its upcoming collection under the Manhattan Bridge.

At Spring Studios in Tribeca, SAINT’s 60-year-old male stunner Jamie Melbourne defied ageist constructs with a runway appearance for the men’s and womenswear brand Deveaux’s 41-piece collection reveal.

SAINT top model Wayne Booth made it a triple with her catwalk turns for Christian Cowan, Marrisa Wilson and Aliette. Meanwhile, Brooklyn resident Naki Depass who is the face of Tibi’s current Fall/Winter 2022 global advertising campaign, showed up on the catwalk in two separate looks for the brand’s new collection.

Sprint legends Usain Bolt and Elaine Thompson-Herah hit the runway walking for Puma’s Futrograde 76-piece collection by Antiguan-American stylist and the brand’s creative director June Ambrose (inset). (Photos: Hypebeast)

Then, Bolt and Thompson-Herah decked out in Puma’s Futrograde threads – designed by Antigua-born American celebrity stylist and creative director June Ambrose – hit the runway in a collection of old classics reworked for Ambrose’s debut as Puma’s Creative Director. The ‘Forever Faster’ collection was revealed at Cipriani’s Great Hall in Manhattan.

For SAINT CEO Deiwght Peters, their collective brilliant start for this season’s Fashion Month will shift to London, then Milan and end in Paris.

He shared “New York’s always been great to SAINT, and I’m proud of Kai’s triumphant return to NYFW, and how exceptionally well all the models did, it was blessings upon blessings.”

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