Black Immigrant Daily News

Una mujer murió atropellada a eso de las 10:30 de la noche del martes, en la carretera PR-2 en el barrio Tallaboa, en Peñuelas.

Según la investigación realizada por el agente Manuel Flores, adscrito a la división Patrullas Carreteras Ponce, un vehículo del cual se desconoce dato alguno y de su conductor- ya que ésta persona abandonó el lugar-, transitaba en dirección de Ponce hacia Guayanilla.

Al llegar al kilómetro 215.7, impactó a Rebecca Lee Becicka de 41 años y vecina de Peñuelas, la cual cruzaba la vía de rodaje. Paramédicos de Emergencias Médicas, se personaron al lugar y determinaron ausencia de signos vitales.

La fiscal Limarie Cobián y el agente José Rivera de la división de Homicidios Ponce, se hizo cargo de la investigación correspondiente.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

Conservative Party lawmakers in Britain are casting ballots Wednesday in the first round of an election to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The internal party contest will replace the flamboyant, scandal-ridden Johnson — a figure famous in Britain and around the world — with a new and much lesser-known prime minister.

Eight candidates have secured the required backing of 20 of their colleagues to make the first ballot. The 358 Tory legislators will vote Wednesday afternoon, with the last-place candidate and any others who fail to get 30 votes dropping off the list. Further rounds of voting will take place Thursday and, if needed, next week.

The final two contenders will face a runoff vote by about 180,000 Conservative Party members across the country. The winner is scheduled to be announced on September 5 and will automatically become prime minister, without the need for a national election.

Few of the contenders have a high public profile. Former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak is the bookies’ favourite and has the largest number of declared supporters, followed by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt.

Treasury chief Nadhim Zahawi, backbench lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, ex-Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch, former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Attorney General Suella Braverman are also on the ballot.

The candidates are jostling to replace Johnson, who quit as Conservative leader last week amid a party revolt triggered by months of ethics scandals. He will remain in office as a caretaker prime minister until his replacement as party chief is chosen.

Mordaunt, at her official campaign launch on Wednesday, said the party had “standards and trust to restore” after the scandal-tarnished Johnson years.

She said voters “are fed up with us not delivering, they are fed up with unfulfilled promises and they are fed up with divisive politics.”

The slate of candidates is strikingly diverse, with four contenders from ethnic minorities and four women. But all are offering similar tax-slashing pledges, with only Sunak offering a note of caution. He has cast himself as the candidate of fiscal probity, saying said the country needs “honesty and responsibility, not fairytales” to get through economic shockwaves from the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

___

By JILL LAWLESS ASSOCIATED PRESS

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

OBSERVER-Six of the charges levied against transgender social media personality, Washington Bramble, for statements made online have been withdrawn. CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHATS APP GROUP

In May, Bramble was slapped with nine charges which fall under the Electronic Crimes Act.

It is said that Bramble uploaded a video and made posts on Facebook referring to Chief Health Inspector Sharon Martin on February 8 and 9 this year.

Bramble allegedly created the first post after health inspectors visited her home in response to a neighbour’s report to the Central Board of Health that Bramble had thrown faeces onto their property.

The next day the accused reportedly posted another message directed at the Chief Health Inspector.

Bramble was taken into custody on March 24 and a search warrant was executed at her home and her electronic devices seized.

After investigating the matter, police charged the 41-year-old Hatton resident with nine charges which included intentionally and without lawful excuse or justification sending electronic messages through video for the purpose of insulting and causing hatred and causing enmity through electronic messages on Facebook on two separate days.

Bramble, who is currently on bail, made her second appearance in the St John’s Magistrate’s Court yesterday and was told that the Director of Public Prosecutions had instructed the police prosecution to drop all of the charges except those relating to insults made.

After doing so, the prosecution informed the court that the file is ready to be served on the defence and that they will be ready to proceed on a subsequent date.

The case was therefore adjourned until September 29.

It is still, however, unclear whether the prosecution will be dealing with the case summarily, meaning in the Magistrate’s Court.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHATSAPP GROUP

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

The Antigua & Barbuda government says “within a couple of weeks” it will have a new subscriber for a US$200 million bond it was forced to withdraw from the international market earlier this year. CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHATSAPP GROUP FOR NEWS UPDATES.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne also told Parliament that he had not sought to deceive the population when he had earlier announced that the bond had been oversubscribed.

“The fact that we had a subscriber for the full amount and that there is yet another one that will be subscribing for the full US$200 million would have suggested, Mr Speaker, that we would have had at least two entities that would have covered twice the amount of the bonds that were issued,” Browne said.

“Clearly, we did not lie to the people of Antigua & Barbuda. It was oversubscribed and what we are seeking to do here is to get the best deal,” he added.

Browne told legislators that the bond was initially withdrawn after the original subscriber, whom he did not name, had sought a higher interest rate.

“We had a subscriber who after the deal was concluded decided to seek to increase the bond interest rates from about six per cent as effective yield to in excess of nine per cent. Mr Speaker, my Cabinet is a very responsible Cabinet and we deemed it was too expensive to be borrowing US$200 million at approximately 10 per cent and, accordingly, we have withdrawn the bond.” The funds were to be used to construct a hotel at Morris Bay.

“In the next couple of weeks, we should have a new subscriber with a better interest rate,” he added.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHATSAPP GROUP

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

– Advertisement –

The Executive Director of the Saint Lucia Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture has responded to consumer claims of price gouging by some business establishments, declaring that without the evidence, he could not debate any instance.

Brian Louisy spoke on Tuesday during Good Morning Saint Lucia on Hot 7 Television.

The private sector official told programme Host Shannon Lebourne that the business community he represents has no benefit and interest in price gouging.

“They have customers who are loyal. They have a duty and they demonstrated their commitment to that duty during COVID when businesses were closed. The supermarkets, the ti boutiques 

– Advertisement –

were putting themselves and their staff at risk and opening up, not sure what’s happening with the pandemic – who’s infected, and they were serving and providing services,” Louisy observed.

“Why would they turn around now and be unfair to the people?” The Chamber Executive Director stated.

He expressed the view that the price changes have happened a lot, and the price increases have been occurring at a ‘fast and furious’ pace.

As a result, Louisy said people see prices change.

“And they are shocked – like a lot of us, and they think that there’s something untoward happening. But if we look at television, we look at the news, we would see globally that inflation has grown at its highest rate in the last 40 years in the US, in Canada, in Australia, in the UK, in Europe,” he told Good Morning Saint Lucia.

In addition, Louisy explained that the price increases are passed on to consumers.

“It’s really a case of push inflation and because we have a global economy we are feeling it fast and furious,” the Chamber Executive Director stated.

Headline photo: Brian Louisy (Stock image)

– Advertisement –

NewsAmericasNow.com