US to Pledge Over $171M in Humanitarian Help for Venezuela

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

The U.S. government plans to pledge more than $171 million Friday for humanitarian and development projects to assist Venezuelans experiencing a variety of urgent needs at home and abroad.

Some of the money will go for food, water and sanitation efforts within the crisis-wracked country, while other funds are designated for emergency shelter, health care and other services for Venezuelans who have migrated to other South American nations, the U.S. Department of State told The Associated Press ahead of the announcement.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, is expected to announce the pledged funding during a conference in Brussels. The event is designed to raise awareness of Venezuela’s protracted economic and political crisis, which has pushed millions into poverty and driven more than 7 million others to migrate, mostly within Latin America.

The pledge comes almost four months after the government of President Nicolas Maduro and Venezuela’s opposition, including the faction backed by the U.S., reached an agreement to fund social programs with money drawn from the country’s assets frozen abroad. But the fund, expected to be managed by the United Nations and to progressively receive about $3 billion, has yet to materialize.

About three-quarters of Venezuelans live on less than $1.90 a day — the international benchmark of extreme poverty. The minimum wage paid in Venezuelan bolivars is the equivalent of $5 a month, down from $30 in April.

Neither of those wages is enough to feed one person, let alone a family. The cost of a basic basket of goods for a family of four was estimated at $372 in December.

A U.N. report published last year estimated humanitarian needs at $795 million to help about 5.2 million people in Venezuela through health, education, water and sanitation, food and other projects.

The State Department said the funding being announced Friday includes more than $84 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development for health care, food, water and other services to people living in Venezuela and for emergency food assistance for Venezuelan migrants. The money will go to U.N. agencies and nongovernmental groups already operating in Venezuela.

USAID will also provide $31 million for development efforts, including socio-economic integration help for Venezuelans in Colombia, where the largest share of migrants has resettled during the crisis, and in Ecuador. Some of that amount will go to support human rights organizations, independent media outlets and other groups.

More than $56 million from the State Department will be directed to humanitarian programs for Venezuelans and their host countries, including emergency shelter, mental health services, and protection for women, Indigenous people and other vulnerable groups.

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European Union Dialogue on Advancing the Green Deal Partnership for the Region

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

On March 2, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) met with the Delegation of the European Union to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean States, the OECS and CARICOM/CARIFORUM, at the OECS Commission to discuss the Caribbean-EU partnerships for 2021-2027, with a focus on its EUROCLIMA programme.

EUROCLIMA is the flagship EU programme on environmental sustainability and climate change with Latin America and the Caribbean Region – a major contribution to the Caribbean-EU Partnership for a Green Deal. Its objective is to reduce the impact of climate change and its effects by promoting mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience and investment.

The Delegation also promoted two additional interrelated strategic partnerships, namely: A Partnership for economic resilience and trade; and Partnership for governance, security, and human development.

The Partnership for a green deal will focus on these thematic areas:

Energy
Biodiversity
Climate Adaptation and Mitigation
Circular economy
Disaster Risk Reduction

The EU recognises that the Caribbean is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and prone to severe hurricanes and natural hazards. Consequently, there is a need to build climate resilience, but many islands are limited by resource constraints. The Green Deal partnership will help Caribbean countries to scale up their inclusive green transition, while building resilience in various economic sectors.

The Partnership for economic resilience and trade will seek to enhance trade and investment between the Caribbean and the EU through the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), and sustainable growth of the Caribbean private sector. It will ensure that common challenges in the Caribbean are progressively addressed at the regional level.

The Partnership for governance, security, and human development will seek to ensure that Caribbean societies are safer, more inclusive, and resilient.

The EU delegation affirmed the strong EU-OECS partnership and their commitment to continuing to work with the Commission in areas of alignment between the aforementioned partnerships and the pillars of the OECS Commission’s Strategic Plan for 2021-2027 [1. Accelerating Regional Integration 2. Reinventing the Economy 3. Valuing the Environment 4. Building Resilience 5. Ensuring Equity and Inclusion].

The European Union is currently funding three flagship projects in the area of the Green Deal through the OECS Commission: The BioSPACE Project, the Integrated Landscape Management (ILM) Project – which are aimed at conserving marine and terrestrial biodiversity in the region; and the Recycle OECS Project (through the French Development Agency (AFD), which focuses on the development and implementation of a recyclable plastic waste collection and treatment programme in the OECS.

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Jamaican government to increase minimum wage by 44%

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness says his government plans to increase the island’s minimum wage by 44% as the local economy rebounds.

The change will go into effect in June. People making the minimum wage of $59 for a 40-hour workweek would instead earn $85.

Holness announced the plan Thursday evening during his budget presentation in Parliament, to the cheers of government supporters. He added that the increase is the biggest in 20 years.

The announcement came just days after the government increased teachers’ wages following a nearly weeklong protest that disrupted public schools.

Jamaica’s economy was hit by the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and a drop in tourism, but it has since recovered substantially, according to a February report by the International Monetary Fund.

Annual inflation in Jamaica ranged as high as 11% over the past two fiscal years but is projected to decline to about 5% in the coming fiscal year starting next month, the report said.

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Shenseea Hints Kanye West Will Be On Her New Album: “I absolutely love Kanye”

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Urban Islandz

Shenseea hinted she got more new music in the works with Kanye West.

Shenseea has been teasing new music, and she has been tightlipped about what’s going on except for saying that she was not satisfied with how her label handled her debut album rollout, but fans can expect something different for her second album. The dancehall artist recently performed at Rolling Loud to a well-received crowd as she performed an energetic set list that had fans roaring with approval. She also did a mini-press run for Billboard, where she shared that she was working on new music and maybe gave a hint as to what that might sound like.

“I’m about to shoot my very first single from my second studio album real soon and I’m pretty excited about that. I think it’s gonna be amazing,” she said.

When pressed for the “sound” she is going to give fans, the Alpha artist offered, “pretty much dancehall that Americans can love and enjoy and understand,” she said.

“It would be amazing. I absolutely love Kanye from before I met him. I’m not going to say too much,” and adds, “we might have a little something in there…yes, yeah, yeah,” before saying she doesn’t want to spill the beans too soon.

Shenseea respond to Prince Harry liking her music

Meanwhile, the “Good Comfort” artist also reacted to reports that Prince Harry said he used her music to cope while going through the ongoing family drama with the royal family.

“Big up Prince Harry, thank you for being a ShenYeng,” she said.

It might not be true that Prince Harry said that since the fake post was shared as a joke, but Shenseea has definitely earned some good publicity from that. In the meantime, the artist recently mentioned to fans that she had not been able to release vinyl records for her debut album and that she was upset at her label for messing up her album rollout.

Shenseea and Romeich Major

Shenseea also appears to be heavily promoting her upcoming album, and her latest interview with Ebony seems to give a sneak peek. The artist is called the “Jamaican Dancehall Queen” by Ebony, a controversial term that seemed to have led to her and Spice falling out. Going back to her roots might also satisfy some of her fans who were not in favor of her taking the hip-hop route and not making the hardcore dancehall music she became known for.

In sharing some details about the direction of her sophomore album last year, Shenseea says it will be completely different from what fans would expect from her.

“I’m happy where I am right now because I feel like I’ve been getting a lot of recognition from international acts, producers, I’m working with,” the Jamaican beauty said. “I’m working on my second album and knowing that I’ve given my first album ‘Alpha’ to the culture, It’s my very first, I had to give back to my culture, the second one is completely different.”

ShenYeng, who is signed to Interscope Records, has been quietly working on her second album over the past year, but a title or release date is not yet available.

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Busy Signal Returns With A New Video For “Tonight”

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Urban Islandz

Busy Signal returns with the visual for his new song “Tonighht.” One of the most versatile artists in dancehall with a distinct sound and style of

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Woman Alleges Chris Brown Beat His Ex-GF Ammika Harris, Requiring Medical Attention

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Urban Islandz

A woman who claims to be the friend of Ammika Harris, the mother of Chris Brown’s son, Aeko Brown, claims that the R&B singer has been abusive to his baby’s mother and nearly broke her ribs while they were all on vacation in Mexico.

The unidentified woman went on a rant on Thursday where she called out Harris for allowing the abuse and Brown for not getting heat for abusing Harris. This is the first time Brown has been accused of abusing his son’s mother and the second time he has been linked to abuse claims following his domestic battery incident with Rihanna ten years ago. In a series of Instagram Stories, the woman claimed Brown is a “woman beater.”

“Man, I do not care what nobody says Chris Brown is a woman beater. When I when I vacation with them in Tulum he beat Ammika’s rib cages in to the point where she had to call in a doctor to make sure nothing was broken,” one of the IG Stories read.

Ammika Harris / IG @ammikaaa

Another directed at Harris said, “Yall stay with whoever because a n***a got status when whole time a n***a dogging the f**k out of you. Could never be me b***h.”

She added, “and before yall start dick riding they got a whole group chat where they talk sh*t about everyone. N***as do not even f**k with yall for real.”

She also shared a screenshot from Chris Brown DM’ing her, although they do not follow each other. In the messages, Brown does not acknowledge or deny the allegations but accuses the woman, “you must be broke looking for attention.”

In another message, he says, “whatever u say shawty” after the woman responds that she isn’t broke and that Brown “know damn well you beat that b**ch.”

Chris Brown has been facing a lot of backlash in his career, mostly because of his abuse of his ex-girlfriend, Rihanna, a couple of years ago.

Last November, his joint Michael Jackson tribute with Ciara for the American Music Awards show was canceled as production officials felt Chris Brown’s past abuse allegations were harmful to the event’s image.

The artist has been dragged a lot in recent times, and last month, he expressed frustration that critics continued to see him as an abuser while also praising toxic couple, Chrisean Malone and Blueface, who habitually abuse each other.

“If y’all still hate me for a mistake I made as a 17-year-old please kiss my whole entire a**,” he said on Instagram. “I’m f—ing 33,” Brown continued. “I’m so tired of y’all running with this narrative… you weird a– n—-s are the same ones that tune in every week to see Blueface and Chrisean beat the f— out each other in front of the world. But that’s ok? It’s entertainment? All y’all can suck my d— disrespectfully.”

The artist was heavily criticized after he announced his collaboration with Chloe Bailey, as many felt that women should not be working with him based on his past.

Chris Brown and Ammika Harris were last spotted together publicly partying at a club in Europe while the singer was touring the continent.

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XXXTentacion Trial Jury Retired For The Weekend After 8 Days Of Deliberation

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Urban Islandz

The 12-man jury in the XXXTentacion murder trial has not arrived at a verdict more than a week after they first retired to deliberate on the fate of three

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Koffee Involved In Altercation On Flight, Minister Babsy Grange Confirms

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Urban Islandz

Grammy-winning Reggae artist Koffee was briefly detained in the United States following a reported “altercation” with a flight attendant on an American

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NBA YoungBoy Scores Legal Win As Judge Relax House Arrest Terms

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Urban Islandz

NBA YoungBoy might not be completely free, but the rapper certainly has more to be grateful for after a Baton Rouge judge relaxed some conditions on his

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Antigua and Barbuda in talks with airlines to increase European airlift

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority is upping its presence in Germany in a drive to reinstate airlift and increase tourism arrivals from the European market.

CEO of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, Colin C. James, UK & Europe Director of Tourism Cherrie Osborne travelled to Germany, for ITB Berlin, the first edition of the exhibition since the pandemic. ITB Berlin, is the world’s largest tourism and travel trade fair.

Germany is Europe’s largest travel market. With the Caribbean being Germany’s third most popular long-haul destination after the Indian Ocean and USA, ABTA CEO Colin C. James said, “the Tourism Authority’s is prioritizing increasing lift from this region, in order to benefit from the market’s strong economy, and the high consumer demand.”

“In 2022, 21% of arrivals into Antigua and Barbuda came from Europe with at least 5% from the German speaking markets with a further 56,000 or 15% of our cruise arrivals from Germany alone.”

“There is great consumer interest in Germany for Antigua and Barbuda. We have increased our marketing presence in the market and are confident that with the needed airlift we will be in a better position to grow the market substantially”, the ABTA CEO said.

During the show, the team conducted highly productive meetings with Condor, Eurowings, KLM and NEOS to discuss the future possibilities of flights to the destination for the winter 2023/2024 season. The discussions are ongoing with positive results to be announced.

The team also conducted a series of trade and consumer media interviews and re-engaged major tour operators such as DER Touristik and FTI to continue to raise the awareness of the destination’s commitment to marketing initiatives.

“Antigua and Barbuda is working assiduously to grow its European market post pandemic, which will help to compliment the business coming out of the UK. It’s well known that Europeans travel for a minimum of ten to fourteen nights and prop up the summer business”, said Director of Tourism UK and Europe Cherrie Osborne.

The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority was joined by private sector partners including Cocos, Elite Islands Resorts, HBK Villas, Blue Sea Latin American Traveller as well as Economic Envoy Ralf Hansen and Ambassador-at-Large Bert Kirchner.

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