Black Immigrant Daily News

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Two glaring misses then a red card for a reckless headbutt.

It was a home debut to forget for Liverpool’s big offseason signing, Darwin N??ez.

Fortunately for the Reds, another South American came to the rescue at Anfield as a dazzling individual goal by Luis D?az salvaged a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Monday.

In his first competitive start for Liverpool, N??ez lost control after jostling with Joachim Andersen off the ball and thrust his head into the face of the Palace defender, with referee Paul Tierney watching on close by in the 57th minute.

The red card was immediately brandished and N??ez had to be calmed down by his teammates as he attempted to confront Tierney. Liverpool manager J?rgen Klopp blanked N??ez as the Uruguay striker headed down the tunnel.

“It’s a red card,” Klopp said. “He was provoked all the time but that is not how to behave.”

N??ez, an offseason signing from Benfica, earned his first start after a couple of impressive, goalscoring displays off the bench in the Community Shield against Manchester City and then against Fulham, and also because Roberto Firmino was missing through injury.

He missed a very presentable early chance against Palace by miscuing a close-range volley at the back post, and then hit the post from a similar range in the final minute of the first half.

Maybe some frustration had set by the time he was red-carded. As they jostled at the edge of Palace’s penalty area, N??ez threw his head back at Andersen and missed. Then, when confronted moments later by the aggrieved defender, N??ez turned into Andersen and butted him square in the face.

Already trailing because of Wilfried Zaha’s 32nd-minute goal, Liverpool were really up against it. But even down to 10 men, Klopp’s team still dominated possession and D?az earned his team a point by cutting in from the left, slipping between two defenders, and curling a shot into the far corner in front of the Kop. The Colombia international’s goal came four minutes after the red card.

“Sometimes you need a moment of brilliance,” Liverpool midfielder James Milner said, “and when you have players like Luis on the pitch, he can create something out of nothing. It was an incredible goal.”

Palace relied almost exclusively on the counterattack throughout the match and it was from that means that Zaha opened the scoring, breaking the offside trap to latch onto Eberechi Eze’s through-ball and curl a finish into the far corner.

Zaha missed a great chance to snatch a win when he stretched to meet a cross late in the game and hit the post.

Liverpool have now drawn their first two games — Klopp’s team was held 2-2 by Fulham in the opening weekend — and is already four points behind Manchester City and Arsenal, the early pacesetters.

Their third match will be at Old Trafford next Monday against a beleaguered Manchester United team that has lost both of its games.

N??ez will be suspended for that, while Klopp is set to be without a slew of key players, with the likes of Thiago Alcantara, Diogo Jota, Ibrahima Konat? and Joel Matip currently out injured. Firmino missed the game as a precaution, according to Liverpool, so could be fit in a week’s time.

“Everything went against us during the week,” Klopp said. “It was crazy — it was like a witch was in the building. Every time somebody else had problems and then putting in such a performance, especially in the circumstances, I’m really proud.”

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A worker collects a piece of copper wire at the West Indian Salvage and Recycling Company Ltd, Bypass Road, Kelly Village, in November last year. – FILE PHOTO/AYANNA KINSALE

THE government has imposed a six-month ban on the export of old and scrap iron to deal with the theft and vandalism of state and private assets.

Under the Customs Act, the ban on all scrap metal exportation came into effect on August 12, after Cabinet met last Thursday and agreed to accept the recommendation of a prohibition order brought by the Attorney General.

It was only announced on Monday afternoon at a joint news conference held by Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds and Attorney General Reginald Armour.

Perpetrators will be liable to a $15,000 fine under the 1904 Metal and Marine Stores Act or a $1000 fine and/or imprisonment of 12 months under the Trade Ordinance.

In the next three months, Armour will review the industry and draft a regulatory framework so that by November he could approach Cabinet again with the proposed legislation aimed at monitoring and reducing the illegal trade in scrap iron and metal.

He will also look at regional and international scrap-iron exportation legislation and make recommendations to amend existing regulations.

“It’s a very reluctant decision the Cabinet has come to. We have attempted to keep it within proportion, that is to say, six months, to February 23, and to allow for an even shorter period of three months if the AG is able to persuade the Cabinet.”

Once Cabinet is satisfied and persuaded by his proposals, the ban will be lifted.

If not, the restrictions will remain in effect for the following three months to give the government more time to draft practical legislation.

This move comes two weeks after Hinds signalled the government’s intention to introduce restrictions on the industry. Soon afterwards, the Finance and General Purposes sub-committee of the Cabinet met and finalised plans to bring the ban into effect.

Last week the sub-committee reported to the Cabinet that the situation needed “urgent short-term action so enable the government to bring the crisis under control,” Armour added.

Recently police recovered over $1 million in iron I-beams and steel poles belonging to the Ministry of Works which were found at a scrap-iron yard in central Trinidad.

TSTT and WASA have been severely hit by vandals, who have carted off millions of dollars’ worth of cable.

In July, thieves struck TSTT’s underground fibre optic and copper installation in San Fernando, interrupting service to tens of thousands of customers.

On August 4, vandals attacked WASA’s California Booster Station, carting off electrical cables. The estimated cost of the damage is $400,000 and the timeframe for repairs was said to be between three-four weeks.

On July 31, TSTT underground cables were stolen. causing a disruption of services throughout the country.

Before this, on June 26, approximately $115,000 in copper and batteries went missing at the National Gas Company’s Hamilton Trace, Moruga, station.

In early August, copper thieves escaped with 60 feet of copper cable and two three-way standby antennas worth $300,000 from a radio station. A reward of $100,000 was offered for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators.

Armour said while he understands the ripple effects of this move on scrap-iron dealers, the trade has been turned into an illegal business and the government must regain control.

Until the ban is lifted, he said. a subcommittee will work closely with Minister of Trade Paula Gopee-Scoon, Hinds and Energy Minister Stuart Young to review and grant licences to permit the handling of certain types of materials that fall under the ban.

Only manufacturers who “export old material as a by-product of manufacturing goods or a surplus material not required for manufacturing them and old metal and scrap iron defined in that order” will be granted such a permit.

“Our intention is to keep the legitimate industry alive. but under constant review under this six-month period, so there would be no loopholes through which any illicit undertaking would continue.”

President of the Scrap Iron Dealers Association Allan Ferguson told Newsday he is in talks with his attorneys and will speak publicly on the matter on Tuesday.

He described the situation as “putting your children in a room without something to eat and telling them, ‘I’ll come back for you in six months.’”

Armour said the next six months will be used to review the old legislation and update the register system of scrap dealers and buyers.The target is to have a regular inspection and monitoring regime.

“This register will, under the new legislation, be available on our website so that everybody will know who is dealing in this trade. It will also give enhanced powers to the police to enter premises of offences suspected of being committed and also to inspect containers in which scrap metal is stowed before exportation.”

All this will be done with the consultation of all stakeholders.

According to the Central Statistical Office, scrap-metal exports escalated from $69 million in 2009 to $216 million in 2018 and have continued to grow.

But in the past two years, the number of perpetrators arrested for illegal trade and theft of scrap iron has doubled.

Police data revealed in 2020 there were 58 reports of scrap-iron theft and they arrested 30 people. In 2021, police responded to 87 reports and 52 people were brought before the court.

Between January and August this year, a total of 162 reports were made and police arrested 136 people.

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Some 900 million people, or 96% of the population of the 35 countries of the Americas are currently protected by at least one of the six tobacco control measures recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), up 50% from 2007. However, progress has not been uniform.

According to the Report on Tobacco Control for the Region of the Americas 2022, presented by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), 26 of the Region’s 35 countries have achieved the highest level of application of at least one measure; but other measures such as increased tobacco taxes have made slow progress and nine countries have not yet taken any action.

“Tobacco causes nearly a million deaths in the region every year and it is the only legal consumer product that kills up to half of those who use it,” said Dr. Anselm Hennis, Director of PAHO’s Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health. “The response to this enormous threat must be equally aggressive. Control measures work and we must move more quickly to implement all of them.”

The report shows that, in 2021, of 35 countries in the Americas:

24 are implementing measures to protect against exposure to second-hand smoke
22 require large graphic warnings about the dangers of smoking on tobacco product packages
10 have surveillance systems with recent, periodic, and representative data on tobacco use by adults and young people
6 offer a comprehensive system to help people quit smoking
9 establish total bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship
3 apply indirect taxes to cigarettes that account for 75% or more of the retail price.

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Progress in the application of the six measures known as MPOWER, established by WHO in 2008, has helped reduce the prevalence of tobacco use from 28% of the region’s population in 2000 to 16.3% in 2020, the second lowest in the world. In 2020, South America became the first smoke-free subregion of the Americas, where smoking is absolutely prohibited in enclosed public places, in workplaces, and on public transport.

Tobacco use is the leading risk factor for six of the eight leading causes of death in the world, and for the four most preventable and prevalent noncommunicable diseases: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory disease. All forms of tobacco are harmful and there is no safe level of exposure.

Addressing the threat of new products

The PAHO report warns that new and emerging nicotine and tobacco products such as e-cigarettes are becoming increasingly available and accessible, posing a threat to tobacco control. It also warns that the tobacco industry makes misleading claims to increase consumers and enter new markets.

PAHO/WHO recommends that governments put regulations in place to help prevent non-smokers from starting to use these products, to prevent tobacco use from becoming socially acceptable again, and to protect future generations.

Currently, the sale of electronic nicotine delivery systems is banned in seven countries in the Americas. Five of these countries and 13 others have taken partial measures to prohibit the use of these systems, limit their advertising, promotion, and sponsorship, and require warnings on their packaging. Fifteen countries do not impose any regulatory framework.

Source: Pan American Health Organization

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