Tuesday June 9, 2020 $1 VAT Inclusive STRATEGIC PLAN NEEDED

Tuesday June 9, 2020 $1 VAT Inclusive

WITH local secondaryschools opening theirdoors yesterday for thefirst time since theCOVID-19 pandemicreached our shores,all andsundry are cautiously feel-ing their way forward.With the institutions oper-ational to allow for thosewho have not completedtheir CaribbeanExamination Council(CXC) School-BasedAssessments (SBA) andInternal Assessments forCaribbean VocationalQualifications (CVQ) to doso, students will be mak-ing their way to their re-spective schools for thefirst time since March.

Over at Queen’s College,there were no students onthe compound, however,Principal Dr. DavidBrowne was on-hand tospeak to The BarbadosAdvocate. With the finaltouches for the protocolsto be observed being put inplace in the background,Dr. Browne explained thatthe timetable for SBAshad to be carefullyplanned and studentswere being spaced out toattend the facility in thecoming days. “These arepeople who are doing thewritten part of finishingtheir SBAs. The other as-pect of the SBAs are labwork and CVQs in theworkshop. Those will becoming in different daysand under a differentregime. So our heaviestdays will be Thursday thisweek, Friday and nextweek Monday.

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QC allset toreopen

A CALL is being madefor Attorney GeneralDale Marshall to bringtogether stakeholdersto devise a strategy to

bring the crime situa-tion on the islandunder control.

It comes from politicalhopeful for St. Philip

North and 2nd VicePresident of theDemocratic Labour Party,Simon Alleyne, as he expressed concern yester-

day as a result of the recent upsurge in gun vi-olence.

Two separate shootingincidents on Sunday night

left one man dead and twoothers injured, who weretaken to the QueenElizabeth Hospital.

Alleyne noted that

Barbadians are very con-cerned about this rise incrime.

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Queen's College Principal Dr. David Browne showing the setup in the hall for the upcoming assessments.

2 • Tuesday June 9, 2020 The Barbados Advocate

PRESIDENT of theBarbados SecondaryTeachers’ Union (BSTU)Mary Redman says teachersfrom at least two secondaryschools have beeninstructed to return hometoday, if they are notprovided with the necessaryprotective equipment fromtheir school to safelyperform their duties.

Giving an assessment of thefirst day back to schoolfollowing the shut-down causedby COVID-19, Redmanreported that she generallyreceived positive feedback froma number of schools butlamented that there wereothers that fell short of whatwas agreed upon in good faith,following meetings with all fourteachers’ unions and officialsfrom the Ministry of Education.

“The Ministry did provide a26 page document with theprotocols on guidelines for thesafe reopening of schools thatspelled out clearly what we hadall agreed on. However, to mydistress today (yesterday), I

received some calls and somemessages from membersindicating that certain basicswere not in place.”

She pointed to the St. GeorgeSecondary and the LodgeSchool in particular that failedto provide masks for teachers.

“At the Lodge school, no maskor face shield were provided forthe teachers today (yesterday).They were told they have to gettheir own which was not whatwas agreed to. Teachers workunder a contract of service,which means the resources thatthey need to perform theirfunctions are to be provided bythe employer or agents of theemployer. In this case the PPE(personal protective equipment)should have been provided bythe school.”

“No masks either wereprovided at St. GeorgeSecondary School for ourteachers there. And so theBSTU has stated to members atschools that if they turn uptomorrow (today) and theschool... because I am notblaming the Ministry in this...the school, has not providedwhat has been agreed to interms of the provision for thehealth and to safeguard thesafety of students and teachers,then they are to return homeand contact the Union office.”

Additionally, the BSTU headexpressed concern that atCombermere, even though

scheduling of classes wassupposed to be limited to nolonger than three hours per day,at the Waterford institutionthere are reports of one of thesubjects being scheduled fortwo days of whole dayinstruction. “...In directcontravention of what wasagreed to in the protocols,” shereminded.

Redman also highlighted asituation at the PrincessMargaret Secondary where noBSTU representative wasincluded in the inspection tourof the school as mandated bythe Chief Education Officer. Assuch, she explained that theBSTU has no way of knowing ifthe protocols on safety werefollowed at the school.

As it relates to the overallpreparation of the schools, shereminded that the Ministry didnot mandate a reopening ofschool on June 8 but ratherfrom June 8. “Their wordingafforded the flexibility to allowfor the proper preparation ofthe school.”

She stressed that failing toput the necessary protocols inplace is a serious matter. “Thesafety and well-being ofstudents, teachers and otherswho work at the school are atrisk.”

To this end she saidadministrators must not beflippant in their preparationand response. (JH)

WHILE Government’s BarbadosOptional Savings Scheme (BOSS)is being promoted as aninvestment, Scott Weatherheadof the People’s Party forDemocracy and Development(PdP) is suggesting it is really aloan by civil servants toGovernment.

Speaking during a pressconference yesterday via Zoom,Weatherhead warned that whenthat loan has to be repaid, it willbe the civil servants who willhave to be taxed in order to repayit.

“Your investment gains will beeroded because you will have topayback your own bonds throughincreased taxes. So how can thisbe an investment? It is really aloan to yourself via a third party– in this case Government,” hecontended.

Moreover, Weatherhead,referring to the InternationalMonetary Fund’s projection forBarbados this year, noted that itis anticipated that there will be adrop in real gross domesticproduct of 7.6 percent. Whileadamant that this contraction issignificant,he said what is worseis that the IMF is projecting thatprices will increase this year by4.5 percent.He said that inflationwill reduce the value of the bond.

“They are predicting a 4.5percent inflation rate forBarbados in this year 2020.Withthat in mind, with an interestrate of five percent offered onthese bonds and a 4.5 percentinflation predicted, you can seethat the return on investment onthese bonds in real terms,is reallyonly 0.5 percent.Not five percent

like Government is trying tomake you believe,and who knowswhat the inflation rate will benext year if the global economydoes not rebound quickly,” hesaid.

The PdP representativesuggested that while the planmay look like an attractive option,but it really is not. He isquestioning the soundness of theBOSS bonds and is urgingGovernment not to victimisethose public servants who opt outof the programme.Moreover,he issuggesting that rather thanhaving a four-year maturity dateon those bonds, which puts therepayment period beyond thenext general election,they shouldmove the date up,for the bonds tobe repaid before the five-yearpolitical term comes to an end.

“We challenge Government toreduce the repayment time forthese bonds they propose to issuepublic workers, in order to ensurethat repayment begins withinthis current term of Government,as a sign of trust to the publicworkers in this country If there isno... political motive behind thisfour-year date, then make ithappen within this term ofgovernment. That would assurethe workers of this country thatthey can trust you, becauseGovernment will not riskdefaulting on repayment to publicworkers right before an election,”he contended.

Weatherhead told reportersthat such a move would giveGovernment some breathingroom before the repayment of theforeign creditors bonds begins inApril 2025 and prevent the

overlapping of payments of bothsets of bonds in 2025.Additionally, he said while it hasbeen said that the BOSS bondswould be insulated fromrestructuring that does not meanthat the maturity date cannot bedeferred or rolled over when thetime comes, if certaincircumstances in the economydictate.

“So there is no security whenGovernment says ‘oh your bondcan’t be restructured’. It may notbe changed in interest rate or cutin the amount to be paid,but theycould roll it over, they could saywe simply don’t have the moneyto pay you and we want to extendthe paying of interest anotheryear, another two years, anotherfive years in order to give us somemore breathing more,”he stated.(JRT)

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“The crime situation isspiralling out of control inBarbados and now while thegovernment is focusing oncontrolling COVID 19, it seemsthat there is an undergroundmovement of hitmen and hiredguns leading to a number ofexecution style killings occurringeven during curfew time.”

“So I would like to urge theAttorney General to meet withthe necessary stakeholders todevise a plan that is moreresponsive than reactive to dealwith this whole issue of guns andviolence, we need to make ourcommunities safer. It is one tothing to deal with COVID 19 butat the end of the day persons arehaving a hard time feeling safe intheir communities.”

Alleyne added, “So while Icommend the RBPF and theirCrime Prevention strategies, itis important that communitysurveillance is being done andthat we have police presence in alot of our communities becauseBarbadians understand thatwith rising unemployment,somepeople in society may becomedesperate.”

He made the point that whilepersons may be staying indoorsand obeying the curfew,that does

not guarantee that crime will notcome to their doorsteps.

“...And that our homes will notbe broken into, our cars may notbe vandalised by people lookingto score easy cash. So I justappeal to the AG and those inauthority,please have a strategicplan during COVID to addresscrime and deal with the violencethat is occurring in our society,”he said.

Tuesday June 9, 2020 • 3The Barbados Advocate

President of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union(BSTU) Mary Redman

Scheme not investment, but a loan

Off the mark, says Redman

Make communities safer

PdP member ScottWeatherhead

Political hopeful for St.Philip North and 2nd VicePresident of the DLP SimonAlleyne

4• Tuesday June 9, 2020 The Barbados Advocate

AFTER having to take aback seat due to the scourgeof the COVID-19 pandemic,this year’s Bins for Bimproject has finally gottenunderway. Originally slatedto be kicked off in mid-March, the initiative whichis being conducted inconjunction with Eco Rebel,Mavericks Sports Club Inc.and the Frederick SmithSchool got off the groundyesterday in a launch titledProject Love.

With yesterday markingWorld Oceans Day, theorganisers saw it fit to launchedan amended version of theprogramme which came intobeing last year. With 100 refusebins being painted by volunteersand placed in communitiesacross Barbados, the projectlived on with Eco Rebelconducting workshops in schoolsand community centres acrossthe island.

This year, the programme willsee 40 bins being delivered tothe homes of students of theFrederick Smith School alongwith paints and other materialsto allow them to design theirown creations. Speaking duringyesterday’s virtual launch,Major Michael Boyce, Principal

of Frederick Smith Schoolexplained that he was inspiredby the project’s potential topositively contribute to andimpact the internal efforts tofurther enhance the schoolculture and spirit.

“This initiative provided an

additional therapeutic avenuethrough art for some of ourstudents to cope with thetragedy which had then befallenour secondary school as well asthe recent losses of otherstudents and close family andfriends. Secondly, it was another

opportunity through which thetalent and creativity of ourstudents could be shared withthe community, therebyassisting with providing somevery positive publicity for theschool. Thirdly, it provided forthe curriculum integration. It

was a additional opportunity forstudents to satisfy thecommunity service requirementof the CCLC examination,” hesaid noting that it also made uppart of the school’'s40thanniversary celebrations.

Parliamentary Secretary atthe Ministry of Education,Technological and VocationalTraining Senator Dr. RomelSpringer was one of thespeakers at the launch and helauded the effort stating that‘art brings out the best in us’.

“This project provides a blankcanvas for at least 40 students toexpress themselves in whateverway that they desire.And I wantto commend the sponsors forcoming through to support whatI can only describe as a veryworthy initiative. Art should beused by these students toplayfully reflect the vision of theFrederick Smith School. Whenstudents take part in thisproject, it is expected that theytake pride in maintaining thesebins and they feel empoweredto protect them because this willnot only be a bin as a repositoryfor refuse, but it is their work, itis their artistic expression andthat is something I believe theyshould protect and othersshould respect,” he said.

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Going on to mention that therewere 66 students earmarked tocome in for a Pure Math moduletest, Browne noted that theywould be split up over two daysand would be accommodated inthe hall where desks were set forsocial distancing. He also addedthat classrooms close to the hallwere also cleaned and preparedfor catering to the needs of thestudents.

“Our written exams will becovered over on the G Block. Wealready cleaned over there andtook out the desks. Eachclassroom over there can only

accommodate nine. The hall canaccommodate over 77 but thereare to be no more than 50 personson the compound, so all theexaminations can be done in thehall,” he said.

With the Class 4 students ofprimary schools set to return onJune 15th, Dr. Browne said thathis institution was also ready totend to the demands of the July14th Barbados SecondarySchools’ Entrance Examination.

“What I anticipate that our nextheaviest day will be,and I can tellyou now that we are prepared forit, is Common Entrance. So far, Iknow that 80 students from EdenLodge will be coming. We

normally accommodate EdenLodge and West Terrace – Ihaven’t heard anything aboutthem – but when those 80students come, we are going toput about 30 in the hall and weare going to put the others in theclassrooms and we are going tohave everything confined there.”

Adding that there wereexpected to also be CXCexaminations on the day of theCommon Entrance, Dr. Brownestated that they would be smallexaminations such as Spanishand Geography that could beadequately accommodated on theB Block with no need for studentsto cross paths. (MP)

President of the Barbados Council for the Disabled Senator Kerryann Ifill (left) andParliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational TrainingSenator Dr. Romel Springer (right) paint a bin with a message which aligns with the BlackLive Matter demonstrations being carried out in the United States.

School prepared for social distancing

Project Love gets going on World Oceans Day

Queen’s College reopened its doors yesterday as the finishing touches were put on in prepa-ration to receive its first students since March.

THE World HealthOrganization (WHO) fullysupports equality and theglobal movement againstracism.

“We reject discrimination ofall kinds,” Director-General Dr.Tedros Ghebreyesus stressedduring yesterday’s pressconference, while encouragingall those protesting around theworld to do so safely.

“As much as possible, keep atleast one metre from others,clean your hands, cover yourcough and wear a mask if youattend a protest.”

The WHO is also encouragingcountries to strengthen thefundamental public healthmeasures that remain the basisof the response: find, isolate,test and care for every case, andtrace and quarantine everycontact.

Dr. Ghebreyesus said thatcontact tracing remains anessential element of theresponse.

Last week, WHO publishedguidance that describes howexisting polio surveillancenetworks can be used in theCOVID-19 response, andoutlines the measures thatshould be put in place tomaintain an effective level ofsurveillance for polio.

WHO has also published newguidelines on the use of digitaltools for contact tracing.

The Director-Generalrevealed that many digital toolshave been developed to assist

with contact tracing and caseidentification.

“Some are designed for use bypublic health personnel, likeWHO’s Go. Data application,which has been usedsuccessfully to trace contactsduring the ongoing Ebolaoutbreak in DRC. Others useGPS or Bluetooth technology toidentify those who may havebeen exposed to an infectedperson. And still others can beused by people to self-reportsigns and symptoms of COVID-19,” he indicated.

“As part of a comprehensiveapproach, digital contact-tracing tools offer theopportunity to trace largernumbers of contacts in a shorterperiod of time, and to provide areal-time picture of the spreadof the virus. But they can alsopose challenges to privacy, leadto incorrect medical advicebased on self-reportedsymptoms, and can excludethose who do not have access tomodern digital technologies.”

Furthermore, Dr.Ghebreyesus told reporters thatmore evidence is needed aboutthe effectiveness of these toolsfor contact tracing, “Weencourage countries to gatherthis evidence as they roll outthese tools, and to contributethat evidence to the globalknowledge base.”

“We also emphasise thatdigital tools do not replace thehuman capacity needed to docontact tracing,” he said.

Protest safely, WHO urges

EFFORTS are intensifying withinCARICOM to get more laboratorieswith links to food chains accredited.

This announcement came from theCARICOM Regional Organisation forStandards & Quality (CROSQ) today , asthe globe celebrates World AccreditationDay.

The efforts, funded by many donoragencies are bringing together the skillsof the region, that are available throughthe CROSQ Network, to help laboratories

put themselves in a position to gain international accreditation.

CEO of CROSQ,Deryck Omar stressedthat, “While quality infrastructure comprised the systems and institutionsthat contributed to strengthening thequality of good and services, the role andimportance of accreditation is of particu-lar importance now as it’s an absolutelynecessary tool to help ensure the accuracyand reliability of the testing results inthe food chain.

He further elaborated, “Among theCOVID19 and post-COVID19 issues weare and will be seeing in relation to foodsecurity in the region,are safety,hygiene,contaminants, quality and biosecurity, toname a few, and accredited lab testing inthese areas will help to bring more trustand confidence in results, as well as international acceptability.

“For us in quality, the response has toinvolve food chain controls, checks andbalances, traceability, guidelines andstandards, monitoring, verification ofquality and accredited processes fromfarm to fork; and for us in the region es-pecially, this has to mean established bod-ies partnering in expertise and technicalknowledge and pooling and sharing ourresources to get through this period,”the CROSQ CEO said.

CROSQ’s Technical Officer,Accreditation and ConformityAssessment, Stephen Farquharson underscored the importance of qualitypartnerships, especially among profes-sionals and agencies, toward accreditingthe laboratories, inspection and certifica-tion bodies which deal with conformity assessment in the region, to aid with foodsafety and security.

“The current [COVID19] environmentrequires that accreditation must assistconformity assessment bodies (CABs) tobe prepared for unfortunate events. Thisensures that all aspects of the food valuechain can be competently monitored, as-sessed for rigor and accountability, mak-ing sure that they are operating with highintegrity, competence and standards evenin abnormal conditions of production.

“Here, accreditation leads to trust bythe customer and /or consumer, and inthis CARICOM region,we are committedto the production and distribution of safefood with the help of our regionally accredited labs, inspection and certification bodies,”he stated in his videomessage to the region.

Farquharson thanked donors such as

the European Union, and the CaribbeanDevelopment Bank, among others, whohave been funding such work.

“If anything, this COVID19 pandemichas taught us that it is not enough to justhave a value chain that includes qualityparameters and quality systems, but toraise the bar in building resilience, trustand dynamism in the quality infrastruc-ture we create… These interventionshave assisted and are assisting food producers and suppliers to be more competitive in the global market but moreimportantly, ensure the farm to forkprocess is safe and consumption ready,”he said.


CHIEF Executive Officer of theTransport Board Fabian Wharton is giving high marks to the TAP.

TAP or the Transport AugmentationProgramme, combines public and privatetransport services on selected routes andaccording to him, has allowed the cash-strapped Transport Board to havea much-needed complement of between80 to 110 vehicles on any given day.

Describing the programme as a “god-send” in recent times, he said it allowedfor the servicing of several routes whichhad experienced challenges in service.

“It allowed us to plug some of the holeswhere we were having service degrada-tion, so the TAP people have reallyhelped us a lot in getting people movedand being able to service some routesthat has bad service so when you marrythe two,and it is being expanded recentlyto include BT and ZMs as well, given therestrictions we are under, these additional vehicles now, given that we

are carrying reduced capacity now, weneed additional buses, so therefore it al-lows us to be able to adequately movepeople,” he said.

Speaking on the People’s Business programme on Sunday, he assured thetravelling public that initiatives werebeing implemented to reduce waitingtime including combining buses.

“We may combine a Workman’ bus and a St. Judes for example, or a FlatRock and Martin’s Bay, where one doesthe top half of Flat Rock and the other thebottom half,” he stated, insisting the waiting times have “significantly reduced in some areas”.

“There are still some areas that needadditional work because we are not totally there. We are getting better andencourage people to continue to send theinformation back to us. So yes, there arewaits, but across the network, they are not as long as they would have beenyears ago,” Wharton insisted. (JMB)

TIME is fast running out for PublicService Vehicle (PSVs) drivers who movefrom one owner to another despite having racked up numerous infractions.

This as the Transport Authority is actively working to create a database ofdrivers and conductors to complementrecords relating to the complaints beingreceived against PSVs said its ActingDirector Maria Boyce on Sunday night’sthe People’s Business programme.

“It is our intention to ensure that wekeep the records not only of the vehiclein which the infraction would have occurred, but also of the operators of the vehicle so that we can deal with it,”she said.

In addition, Boyce revealed theAuthority’s regulations were currentlybeing finalised, and “have been assuredit will give us the teeth to act in the manner that we need to in order to securestructure and compliance on the roads ofBarbados.”

Moments earlier, Chairman of

the Association of Public TransportOperators Kenneth Best had made a callfor such a listing to reduce those numbersof PSV drivers,who continue to break thelaw, remaining in the system.

“We need to have a database in termsof drivers who continue to flout the law.You will find in this industry is that a guywho continues to breach the law and regulations, an owner gets rid of him and the next day you will see him driving someone else’s vehicle withoutthat person making an inquiry and calling the last person he would haveworked for, so in actual fact, we are reallyrecycling people,” he said.

“You may have a lot of convictions buta lot of them may not relate to indisci-plined driving on the road, but for badgenot easily seen, stopping other than at abus stop… so the convictions may not beof the kind where you need to punishthat person severely,” Best said, addinghe was in no way condoning any bad behaviour in the system. (JMB)

Regional work intensifies for food andhuman safety on World Accreditation Day

Boyce: Database comingTransport Board CEO praises TAP

CEO of CROSQ, Deryck Omar

Stephen Farquharson – CROSQTechnical Officer Accreditation &Conformity Assessment.

JUNE has been designated asCaribbean American HeritageMonth.

Since 2006, the United States government has given official recogni-tion to the great contributions of peopleof Caribbean heritage to the fabric of thenation.

This acknowledgement of the highestorder that Caribbean immigrants,including those born in, or cultured by,the Caribbean,have had a highly positiveimpact on the United States. From theNevis-born Alexander Hamilton, one ofthe founding fathers, through to today,the contributions of Caribbean immigrants and their descendants toUnited States law, culture, politics,medicine, education, media and all walksof life have been immeasurable.

Secretary General (Ag) of theCaribbean Tourism Organization,Neil Walters said that the month-longobservance is meant to celebrate thesecontributions while serving as a

reminder that the United States wouldnot have been as great a country as it iswithout its diversity.

“The month of June has since becomethe period during which every Caribbeanimmigrant,as well as those of us who livein the Caribbean, unite in our proud display of all that make us among themost creative, production, vibrant, warmand welcoming people in the world. It’salso when the Caribbean TourismOrganization would take this vibrancyenergy and diversity to New York duringCaribbean Week New York.”

However, he acknowledges that thisyear is different as it is one of the mostdifficult periods in our history and that ofthe world.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has placedeconomies under tremendous strain,ground life as we’ve known it to a virtualhalt, and, frankly, forced fundamentalchanges to all of our lives,” he indicated.

“And sadly, it has also taken so manylives, including large numbers of our

Caribbean brothers and

sisters.We mourn this loss of life and ourhearts ache for the families devastated bythe loss of their mothers, fathers, broth-ers, sisters, relatives and friends.”

Walters said that the CTO also applauds and pays homage to the manyCaribbean immigrants who join colleagues on the frontline, selflessly giv-ing of themselves as nurses, doctors andother essential workers in the fightagainst the virus.

“You are all in our prayers,” he expressed.

Moreover, due to the COVID-19,the Secretary General said thatCaribbean Week New York has been cancelled, including the Rum andRhythm event, which allows theCaribbean Diaspora – the greatesttourism ambassadors and a most trustedand resilient component of the tourismmarket - and the CTO member countriesto celebrate the rhythms, food and rums of the region, while raising funds tosupport Caribbean students pursuingstudies in tourism and its related subject.

“As we celebrate Americans with rootsin the Caribbean this month, the CTOlooks forward to our emergence from thispandemic as a much stronger, more determined and more united peoplewhose contribution to home and adoptedhome cannot be matched.”


LAUDED from Back Page

hopelessness and panic,and the high unemploy-ment it has caused andhigh cost of living.

“We come together to encourage each otherthrough worship, the word of God, and agree-ment in prayer. This is the difference between astreaming online audienceand a congregating orgathering of God’s people.

There is a powerful release of a corporateanointing and break-through when we come together as one – in oneplace, in one accord andwith one voice in unity,lifting up the lord and engaging him with ourintercession and supplica-tions.”

According to the SeniorPastor, God shifted thechurch into a total reset –mentally, emotionally,

psychologically, and spiritually.

“This crisis created bythe lockdown and pan-demic forced us to pull onour creativity, adaptabil-ity, innovation, ingenuity– trusting God for his guidance in every aspectof life.”

“The church wouldnever be the same becauseJesus is building hischurch according to God’spattern and the shaking

and sifting was a means toan end.God has purpose ineverything. From this lockdown and pandemicexperience, the church isbouncing back stronger,bolder, more resilient,radical and committed andwith a greater passion andlove for God. All may not make it through this period, but those who arewilling, God will enableand strengthen for thejourney ahead,” he said.

Congregation comes together after break

POLICE are carrying outinvestigations into a shoot-ing incident which oc-curred about 8:20 pm onSunday June 7th, 2020.In the area of CountryRoad St. Michael.

Brief factsA number of men were reportedly liming outsideof a residence at CountryRoad, St. Michael whenthey were reportedly

attacked by a group of menwearing masks. Two menwere injured and weretransported to the QEH byprivate motor vehicles.

Anyone who may haveinformation that can

assist with this investiga-tion is asked to contactPolice Emergency at 211Crime Stoppers at1800(TIPS) District 'A'Police Station at 430-7242or any Police Station.

POLICE are carrying outinvestigations into the circumstances which resulted in the death of Kadeem RamonBrathwaite, 28 years,of Butler’s Avenue,Spooners Hill,St.Michael,which occurred at Pioneer

Road, St. Michael onSunday, June 7, 2020.

CircumstancesOn Sunday, June 7, 2020at about 7:35 pm Police responded to reports ofshots being fired in thearea of Pioneer Road

and Reece Road, BushHall, St. Michael.

On arrival,Police discov-ered the motionless bodyat Pioneer Road with injuries. Ambulancepersonnel were summoned. The victimwas pronounced dead at

the scene.Anyone who may have

information about this in-cident is asked to contactPolice Emergency at 211Crime Stoppers at1800(TIPS) District 'A'Police Station at 430-7242,or any Police Station.

Unnatural death investigation

St. Michael shooting incident

CTO recognises CaribbeanAmerican Heritage Month

Secretary General (Ag) of theCaribbean Tourism Organization, Neil Walters


SHANGHAI – The first subject from theShanghai-based Huashan Hospital ofFudan University on Sunday morningreceived an injection of JS016 – a recombinant, fully human, monoclonalneutralising antibody against COVID-19.

It is allegedly the world's first clinical

trial for the antibody on a healthy humanparticipant after completing testing onnon-human primates, according to themunicipal science and technology commission of Shanghai.

The antibody, co-developed by biophar-maceutical company Junshi Biosciences,the Institute of Microbiology under theChinese Academy of Sciences and others,entered the phase-1 clinical trial afterapproval by the National MedicalProducts Administration.

The randomised, double-blinded,placebo-controlled trial aims to evaluatethe tolerability, safety, pharmacokineticcharacteristics, and immunogenicity ofJS016 among the Chinese population, toprovide a basis for subsequent clinicalstudies of the antibody.

After being injected into the humanbody, JS016 can effectively block thebinding of viruses to the host-cell surfacereceptor ACE2. This is because it is specific to the SARS-CoV-2 surface spikeprotein receptor-binding domain,according to Feng Hui, chief operating officer of Junshi Biosciences.

The trial was led by Zhang Jing,deputydirector of the Institute of Antibioticswith the hospital, and Zhang Wenhong,head of the hospital’s Center forInfectious Disease.

Neutralising antibody therapy is expected to be the first treatment optionin fighting COVID-19, said ZhangWenhong, noting that the antibody canaccurately target the coronavirus and inhibit virus replication.

THE central government will press aheadwith its decision to enact a national secu-rity law in the Hong Kong SpecialAdministrative Region while protecting the legitimate rights and free-doms of law-abiding citizens, the centralgovernment’s top liaison official said.

Luo Huining, director of the centralgovernment’s liaison office in the SAR,made the remark after central govern-ment authorities, including the liaisonoffice, began hearing the views of peoplefrom Hong Kong on how the proposednational security law should be framedand how it should be put into practice.

Luo met on Saturday with local repre-sentatives of society who called for thelaw to be enacted to ensure Hong Kongkeeps a high degree of autonomy and haslong-term prosperity and stability.

The national security law, proposed inMay, covers acts of secession, subversionand terrorism,and foreign interference inthe affairs of Hong Kong.

The liaison office said it had received201 written proposals from 36 NationalPeople’s Congress deputies from the SARand 165 members of the NationalCommittee of the Chinese People’sPolitical Consultative Conference. Thefeedback will aid the NPC StandingCommittee’s deliberations as it drafts thelegislation.

Hong Kong’s Chief Secretary forAdministration Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said on Sunday that the SAR isworking in close contact with central gov-ernment bodies to put the proposed na-tional security legislation into practice.

In a blog post, Cheung said the HongKong government has also identifiedother areas in which preparations arebeing made for the proposed law, and hereiterated that the rights, freedoms andcore values of Hong Kong people will beprotected by the law.

Over the weekend, two local groupscalled on secondary school students toparticipate in a “referendum”on whetherto oppose the legislation with strikes andclass boycotts.

Cheung has said schools and society atlarge should prevent campuses frombeing politicised.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong ChiefExecutive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngorsaid on Saturday that after Hong Kongregains stability with the national security law, investors would have moreconfidence in the city and its status as aninternational financial centre would befurther consolidated.

Lam cited recent developments in thecity’s financial market. Even thoughHong Kong's stock market plummetedaround 1 400 points on May 22 – the daythe NPC decided to introduce a nationalsecurity law in Hong Kong – it has recovered all the loses and hit a three-month high on Friday.

She added that the city has not seen anoutflow of capital after the legislation de-cision. That and the increasing secondary listing of China concept stocksas well as the surge of the localPurchasing Manager's Index in Mayshow investors' confidence in Hong Kong,Lam said.

THE Chinese government hasnever delayed releasing or withheld information aboutCOVID-19, but instead haspromptly informed the world aboutthe situation and made great contributions to the global effort inbattling this pandemic, officialssaid on Sunday.

Chinese scientists are willing to collaborate with international peers infinding the origin of the virus, creatingnew drugs and vaccines and jointly safeguarding international public health,they added.

Recently, some foreign media reportedthat the Chinese government withheldkey genetic information about the novelcoronavirus during the early days of theepidemic, resulting in the global pan-demic.The reports also claimed China isthe source of the virus and thus should beheld accountable.

Ma Xiaowei, head of the NationalHealth Commission, dismissed these allegations, saying they “completely disregard the facts”.

“The truth is the Chinese governmentdid not delay releasing or conceal infor-mation, but informed the internationalcommunity about the virus and the situation at a moment’s notice,” he said,adding that these actions have “greatlycontributed to the global efforts to controlthe pandemic”.

As the pathogen that causes COVID-19is a completely new virus, Ma said, itscharacteristics bear mysteries that require time and rigorous effort to solve.Despite the expanding evidence and insight into the pathogen,“humanity stillhas a very limited understanding”, hesaid.

Ma said the Chinese Center for DiseaseControl and Prevention and other institutions had isolated the novel coronavirus on January 7.Two days later,China had passed the etiological evalu-ation to the World Health Organization.On January 12, China published the fullgenetic sequence of the virus for theworld.

“The timeline has been clear and thework done by the Chinese governmentand scientists can stand the test of time,”Ma said.“The virus knows no borders, thepandemic recognises no ethnicities. It isa common challenge to all mankind, andsolidarity and international collabora-tion are our most powerful tools againstit.”

Wang Zhigang, minister of science andtechnology, said China will keep its promise of providing COVID-19 vaccinesas a global public good and make themaccessible to the world after they havebeen proved safe and reliable.

Wang said China has one adenovirusvector vaccine and four inactivated vaccines in clinical trials. “China’s over-

all vaccine development is on par withother countries, and for some vaccines, itis at the forefront of the world,” he said.

“However, vaccine development is anextremely complicated and rigorous scientific undertaking. It is hard, and ittakes time,” he said, adding that there are also many great uncertainties surrounding the scientific research.

Wang stressed that safety, potency andaccessibility are three priorities for vaccine development, and China willkeep collaborating with other countriesto achieve this undertaking.

As for the development of treatment,Wang said medicine is the most essentialproduct in a patient’s recovery,and Chinahas over 160 institutions and companiesresearching drugs against COVID-19,with a total of ten drugs and treatmentsbeing added into China’s national diagnosis and treatment guidelines.

China has also made important scien-tific progress on chloroquine phosphate,favipiravir, carrimycin, tocilizumab,convalescent plasma and stem cell ther-apies, he said, adding that these drugsand treatments have played a key role inincreasing the cure rate and reducing fatalities on the front lines.

Wang said Chinese scientists haveshared their knowledge via publishedjournals, online seminars, and in-personexchanges with peers from over 200 countries and regions.

Claims China withheld outbreakinfo ‘completely disregard facts’

Ma Xiaowei, minister of the NationalHealth Commission, attends the newsconference.

Official: HK security legislation toprotect people’s rights, freedoms

Wang Zhigang, Minister of Science andTechnology.

COVID-19 neutralising antibody in phase-1 clinical trial in Shanghai

Zhang Wenhong, head of the Shanghai-based Huashan Hospital of FudanUniversity’s Center for InfectiousDisease.

Editorial

Place food safetyon public agenda GENEVA – The World

Health Organization(WHO) urged countries yesterday to press on withefforts to contain the novelcoronavirus, noting the pandemic was worseningglobally and had notpeaked in centralAmerica.

More than 136 000 caseswere reported worldwide on Sunday, “the most in a single day so far”,WHO Director GeneralTedros AdhanomGhebreyesus said.

“More than six monthsinto the pandemic, this isnot the time for any countryto take its foot off the pedal,”he told an online briefing.

In response to a questionon China, WHO’s top emergencies expert,Dr. Mike Ryan, said retrospective studies of howthe outbreak has been addressed could wait,adding: “We need to focus

now on what we are doingtoday to prevent secondpeaks.”

Ryan also said infectionsin central American coun-tries including Guatemalawere still on the rise, andthat they were “complex”epidemics.

“I think this is a time ofgreat concern,” he said,calling for strong govern-ment leadership and international support forthe region.

Brazil is now one of thehotspots of the pandemic,with the second highestnumber of confirmed cases,behind only the UnitedStates, and a death toll that last week surpassedItaly’s.

After removing cumula-tive numbers for coron-avirus deaths in Brazil froma national website, theHealth Ministry sowed further confusion and controversy by releasing

two contradictory sets of figures for the latest tally of infection cases and fatalities.

Ryan said Brazil’s datahad been “extremely detailed” so far but stressedit was important forBrazilians to understandwhere the virus is and howto manage risk,and that theWHO hoped communicationwould be “consistent andtransparent”.

Maria van Kerkhove, aWHO epidemiologist, saidthat a “comprehensive approach” was essential inSouth America.

More than seven millionpeople have been reportedinfected with the coron-avirus globally and over 400 000 have died.

“This is far from over,”vanKerkhove said.

At least half of Singa-pore’s newly discoveredcoronavirus cases show nosymptoms, the co-head of

the government’s virus taskforce told Reuters yesterday, reinforcing thecity-state’s decision to easelockdown restrictions verygradually.

Van Kerkhove said thatmany countries doing contact tracing had identi-fied asymptomatic cases butwere not finding that theycaused further spread of thevirus, adding: “It is veryrare”.

Ryan, asked about technical cooperation with the United States, afterPresident Donald Trump’sannouncement 10 days agothat it was ‘terminating’ itsrelationship with the WHO,said the WHO relies heavilyon experts from the Centersfor Disease Control andNational Institute ofHealth.

“We will continue to dothat until we are otherwiseinstructed or informed,” headded.

AFTER a week of largedemonstrations againstracism and police brutal-ity, at home and abroad,the French governmentannounced yesterdaythat police will no longer be able to usechokeholds when arrest-ing people.

Interior MinisterChristophe Castaner saidthe use of chokeholds –which he described as applying pressure on anindividual's neck orthroat while holdingthem on the ground – wasa “dangerous method”and will no longer betaught in police training.

“I hear the criticism,I hear a powerful cryagainst hatred,” saidCastaner, referring tolarge Black Lives Matterprotests that took placein several major Frenchcities last week. He added“racism has no place in our society, not in ourRepublic.”

While motivated by theoutrage over the police

killing of George Floyd inMinneapolis, the Frenchprotesters also demandedjustice for Adama Traoré,a 24-year-old black manwho died in police cus-tody after fleeing an iden-tity check outside Parisfour years ago.

His sister, Assa Traoré,said police told her thathis final words were “I can’t breathe,” echoingFloyd's final words.

Castaner referred tothe Traoré case in his re-marks, saying FrenchPresident EmmanuelMacron had asked the country’s JusticeMinister for informationabout it.

“We want total trans-parency. In the face of ex-citement, of comments, ofcertainties, only truthand transparency count.This is what thePresident is encouragingus to strive toward,” hesaid.

But Traoré's family hasalready rejected an offer to meet with

Justice Minister NicoleBelloubet, according tothe family’s campaigngroup ‘Truth for Adama.’

“Our lawyer was con-tacted today by the officeof Mrs. Nicole Belloubet,Minister of Justice... Hewas asked to organise ameeting between [Bellou-bet] and the family of Adama Traoré,” thegroup said in a press release on Twitter yesterday.

“The Traoré family refused to meet with the[Minister of Justice] to discuss the case.”

The group said that thefamily has been waitingfor legal progress for fouryears, “not an invitation to the discussion whichwould have no proceduralpurpose,” and called foranother national rallythis Saturday. This comes after huge crowdsfilled the streets aroundthe High Court in Parislast Tuesday, for a protestagainst the alleged case of racist police

brutality.In his speech, Castaner

denied that French police “targeted violence”against people of colour.“The French police arenot the American police,”he added.

Castaner also calledon police to enforce the use of body cameras,especially during arrests,and stressed the obliga-tion for officers to display their ID numbers.He announced furthermeasures including obligatory annual train-ing.

“Every substantiatedsuspicion of racism” inthe police force will resultin suspension, he added.“I want zero tolerance forracism in our Republic.”

According to a report released yesterday by theinternal watchdog of the police (IGPN) therehas been an increase of41% of police internal investigations for police violence between 2019 and 2018.

France will ban police fromusing chokeholds

WHO chief urges world not to dropguard as pandemic still growing

WORLD Food Safety Day was observed on June 7ththis year, to draw attention to the matter of foodsafety and to send a reminder of the need to reducethe burden of foodborne diseases, across the globe.

According to the World Health Organisation(WHO), the action oriented campaign for 2020 soughtto promote global food safety awareness and to callupon countries and decision makers as well as thegeneral public, to take action. Indeed, the issue of foodsafety is a shared responsibility and everybody hasa role to play, so that we can ensure that the food wedo consume is not contaminated and indeed, is good for our bodies.

The issue was brought sharper into focus by Dr. Renata Clarke, Sub-regional Coordinator for the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, who has noted that if food producers, food handlers and consumers do not follow good food safety practices, food can become contaminated and rather than nourish us, can makeus sick or even worse.

Indeed, this is nothing to scoff at, since the statistics issued by the WHO suggest that the public health burden of unsafe food is quite high.Wehave to agree with Dr. Clarke, that here in theCaribbean, even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the message of World Food Safety Day resonates with us. She has acknowledged that we inthe Caribbean are vulnerable to disruptions in theglobal food supply chain and hence as she pointedout, the re-energised calls for attention to be paid tohaving resilient food systems in place and a regional approach to food security.

As Dr. Clarke has noted, we will not have efficientregional trade of food, if countries do not have confidence in each other’s ability to reliably produce and market food safely.As such, facilitatingintra-regional trade requires that CARICOM countries have transparent, robust and science-basedsystems of food control. Thus, there is considerablework that Caribbean countries still need to do toachieve this. She however acknowledged that several CARICOM countries have launched COVID-19 response and recovery plans, to mitigateimpacts on food security and agriculture and theseplans involve the introduction of new techniquesand technologies, that enable more competitive and sustainable production systems.

Turning her attention to markets,Dr.Clarke notedthat the Food and Agriculture Organisation of theUnited Nations (FAO) and WHO together put a focuson the theme “Safe food in markets” for this WorldFood Safety Day as well. She further stated thatwhilst there have been no cases of COVID-19 beingtransmitted by food, as it is not a foodborne disease,nevertheless, in the context of COVID-19, food businesses and food markets need to re-inforce hygiene practices and enable safe physical distancesduring all operations.

Acknowledging that “another very visible changein food marketing in the Caribbean during the COVID-19 Pandemic has been the expansion of various forms of on-line food sales”, Dr. Clarke saide-commerce has long been considered a potentialgrowth area, particularly in many developing countries. However, it is important for food safety regulators to consider whether legislative frameworks need to be updated, to ensure that foodchain actors involved in e-commerce have the same responsibilities for food safety, as do food businessesoperating “traditionally”.

Indeed, these are some matters for considerationeven here in Barbados, as we work to strengthen and improve our systems that are already in placeto ensure food safety.

‘For the cause that lacks assistance, ’Gainst the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that I can do’


Telephone: 467-2000 News Fax: 434-1000E-mail Address: [email protected]: www.barbadosadvocate.com

Executive Editor: Allison Downes

General Manager: Sandra Clarke

Assistant Managing Director: Sean Eteen

Publisher: Sir Anthony Bryan

News Editor: Dorian Bryan

Business Editor: Jewel Brathwaite

Sports Editor: Corey Greaves

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/

LONDON – BP will cutabout 15% of its workforcein response to thecoronavirus crisis and aspart of Chief ExecutiveBernard Looney’s plan toshift the oil and gas majorto renewable energy, itsaid yesterday.

Looney told employeesin a global online call thatthe London-basedcompany will cut 10,000jobs from the current70,100.

“We will now begin aprocess that will see closeto 10,000 people leavingBP – most by the end ofthis year,”Looney said in astatement.

Reuters had earlierreported the planned jobcuts, citing three companysources.

BP shares were up 3.3%by 1230 GMT, against a2.2% gain for the broaderEuropean energy sector.

The affected roles willbe mostly senior office-based positions and notfront-line operationalstaff, the company said.

About a fifth of the jobcuts will take place inBritain, where BPemploys 15,000 people, acompany spokesman said.

Like all the world's topenergy companies, BP hascut its 2020 spendingplans after thecoronavirus pandemicbrought an unprecedenteddrop in demand for oil. BPhas flagged a 25% cut to$12 billion this year and

said it would find $2.5billion in cost savings bythe end of 2021 throughthe digitalisation andintegration of itsbusinesses.

Yesterday, however,Looney said the companyis likely to need to cutcosts even further.

BP is giving no pay risesto senior employees untilMarch 2021 and said it isunlikely to pay any cashbonuses this year.

Energy transitionThe job reductions are

also part of Looney’s driveto make the 111-year-oldoil company more nimbleas it prepares for the shiftto low-carbon energy, thesources said.

“It was always part ofthe plan to make BP aleaner, faster-moving andlower-carbon company,”Looney said.

The spokesman saidthat the coronavirus crisis“amplified andaccelerated” BP’stransition plans.

Looney last monthannounced a large roundof senior managementappointments,halving thesize of BP's leaderhipteam under his plan toreshape the company'sstructure.

Shortly after takingoffice in February, the 49-year-old CEO said that hewas creating 11 divisionsto “reinvent” BP anddismantle the traditional

structure dominated by itsoil and gas productionbusiness and its refining,marketing and tradingdivision.

Chevron Corp, thesecond-largest U.S. oilproducer, last month said

that it will cut between10% and 15% of its globalworkforce as part of anongoing restructuring.

Royal Dutch Shell,meanwhile, has initiateda voluntary redundancyprogramme.


ON the same day thatthe Nasdaq marked anew bull market, theU.S. economy wasofficially declared to bein a recession. The twomilestones yesterdayillustrate how an 11-week surge in stockshas occurred despitewidespread economicdevastation fueled bythe coronaviruspandemic.

Driven higher in recentmonths by surgingtechnology andcommunications stocks,the Nasdaq <.IXIC>closed up 0.8% yesterdayat 9,924.75 points,exceeding its previousrecord high on Feb. 19,

just before fears of thecoronavirus ended its 11-year bull market.

Stocks added to gainslate in the session afterthe U.S. Federal Reserveeased the terms of its“Main Street” lendingprogramme.

The index’s 44% climbfrom its March 23 lowstands in contrast tosharp deteriorations ingross domestic productand other economicindicators as a result ofnationwide lockdowns,which are now easing.

The index’s 11-weeksurge has been the largestin that amount of timesince late 2001, during thedot-com boom. Closing at

a record high confirms, bya common definition, thatthe Nasdaq began a newbull market following itsMarch 23 low.

Wall Street for monthshas appeared to ignoregrim economic readings asinvestors focus on trillionsof dollars in governmentstimulus and bet that arecovery would berelatively quick.

Underscoring thatdisconnect and confirmingwide expectations, theprivate research groupthat acts as the arbiter fordetermining U.S. businesscycles said on Mondaythat the U.S. economyended its longestexpansion in history in

February, and enteredrecession as a result of thecoronavirus.

The National Bureau ofEconomic Research said,“The unprecedentedmagnitude of the decline

in employment andproduction, and its broadreach across the entireeconomy, warrants thedesignation of this episodeas a recession, even if itturns out to be briefer

than earlier contractions."The S&P 500, the most

widely followed U.S. stockindex, remains downabout 5% from its Feb. 19record high as uncertaintyabout the recovery lingers.

FILE PHOTO: A pedestrian walks on an empty street amid the coronavirusdisease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., May 12, 2020.

Oil major BP to cut 15% of workforce

Nasdaq hits recordhigh as US recessionbecomes official

Keeping your blood pressurebelow 120/80 prevents heartattacks and strokes, plus boosts

immunity – all good! The only snagnow? Columbia University researcherssay constant worries can cause bloodpressure to stay stubbornly high. Tokeep arteries relaxed and bloodpressure low – even on days you’re notfeeling calm, try these completelynatural tricks.Look for birds

All that time you’re spending in yourbackyard these days is good for bodyand soul! Indeed, a review of 20 studiessuggests 15 minutes a day of enjoying

the antics of birds, squirrels and othercritters can trim up to 7 points off yourblood pressure in 24 hours. Explainsstudy co-author Ken Hayashi, Ph.D.,feeling close to nature calms theadrenal glands, reducing theproduction of pressure-spiking stresshormones.

Bite into Sesame ChickenAdd 2 tablespoons of sesame oil to

your daily diet (ideally, in place of less-healthy fats), and your blood pressurecould drop by 32 points, plus you couldlose up to 12 pounds in three months!That’s the word from University of

Arkansas researchers, who say sesameoil contains a rare metabolism-boostingcompound (sesamin) that keeps bloodvessels relaxed – even when stresslevels soar!

Make a Soda SwapSkip two sodas for sugar-free iced tea

– black, green, oolong or white – andyour blood pressure could drop by 20points this summer, Harvardresearchers say. That’s because sodacontains hefty doses of pressure-spiking sodium and sugar, while teaoffers artery-relaxing compounds(polyphenols).

Tip: Triple polyphenols by dunkingthe tea bag 10 times.

Try This Natural RelaxerGreat news from University of

Colorado researchers: Women who take100 mg. daily of CoQ10, a naturalartery-relaxing compound, keep theirblood pressure 17 points lower, evenduring high-stress times. “For bestresults, choose ubiquinol – a form ofCoQ10 that’s three times betterabsorbed than older formulations,”suggests Travis Stork, M.D., author ofThe Doctor’s Diet. Note: Check withyour doctor before supplementing.

WASHINGTON – The coronaviruspushed hospitals to the edge, andmillions of workers lost job-basedcoverage in the economic shutdown toslow the spread, but a new poll suggestsAmericans have remarkably littleinterest in big changes to health care asa result of the pandemic.

People are still more likely to preferthe private sector than the governmenton driving innovation in health care,improving quality and, by a narrowermargin, providing coverage, according tothe survey by the University of ChicagoHarris School of Public Policy and TheAssociated Press-NORC Center forPublic Affairs Research.

Those views are basically unchangedsince February, when an earlier editionof the AP-NORC poll asked the samequestions at a time that the coronaviruswas still largely seen as a problem inother countries, not the United States.

“It does strike me as odd,” said GayeCocoman, a retired data processingadministrator from small-townMacedonia, Ohio, who has Medicare. “I’mcovered, but I look at the millions ofpeople who aren’t and wonder what inthe world they’re going to do if they getsick.There seems to be no appetite forchange.”

The poll found that people are morelikely to trust private entities overgovernment at driving innovation inhealth care (70% to 28%), improvingquality (62% to 36%) and providinginsurance coverage (53% to 44%).Americans had more confidence ingovernment’s ability to reduce costs,preferring it over the private sector 54%to 44%.All of those preferences areunchanged since before COVID-19arrived.

Not that long ago Vermont Sen. BernieSanders’ “Medicare for All” plan was atthe center of the Democratic presidentialdebate. But even with an estimated 27million people losing employer coveragein the economic shutdown, there’s been

no groundswell of support for theSanders plan, which calls for replacingthe nation’s hybrid system of private andgovernment coverage with a singlegovernment plan for all.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, askedlast month whether waves of layoffswere prompting her Democratic caucusmembers to reconsider the employer-based system that covers most workingfamilies, responded: “That’s not ourconversation.”

Pelosi said Democrats are backingmeasures to tide over workers who havelost coverage – such as expansions of theAffordable Care Act – but “rather thansaying let’s take that (employercoverage) away from them, we shouldsay let’s get them their jobs back.”

It could simply be a reflection ofhuman nature to shelve ambitiousschemes during a crisis, said healtheconomist Katherine Baicker, dean of theUniversity of Chicago Harris School of

Public Policy.There’s only so muchavailable bandwidth.

“I wonder if the short-term crisisdampens people’s appetite for healthsystem reform,” Baicker said. “The ideaof upending the health system at thismoment ... it may be that people think,‘No – let’s get a vaccine.’ ”

After the spectacle of coronavirus-related shortages of everything fromcotton swabs, to protective gear fornurses and doctors, to breathingmachines for desperately ill patients, thepoll did find 56% saying the U.S. isspending too little on improving andprotecting the nation’s health.

That is a significantly bigger sharethan the 42% who think the governmentis spending too little in general. Still,views on the need for more health carespending were unchanged since beforethe pandemic.

Christina Rush, a middle schoolcounselor from Raleigh, North Carolina,

is among those who think the U.S.should spend more on health care andcites the virus as a reason.

“Looking at COVID, I didn’t realize thehuge shortages of material that would beneeded,” Rush said. “I would havethought we had what we needed interms of the medical system, but itseems we were so far behind some ofthese other countries, like South Korea.We could be spending more.”

With more than 100,000 deaths fromCOVID-19 and about 40 million peopleunemployed, the poll found what mayreflect hints of introspection amongthose who still have jobs and coverage. InMay,Americans were less focused ontheir own complaints.

While about 3 in 5 said they were veryor extremely concerned about Americansin general having access to high qualitycare, people were less likely than inFebruary to say they were greatlyconcerned about having access to qualitycare for themselves (46% to 58%) andabout their own health care spending(35% to 44%).

Other research is reinforcing thatpattern, said Jennifer Benz, deputydirector of the AP-NORC center. “Ourdata are showing that in the midst of apublic health and economic crisis,people’s assessments of their ownsituations are holding steady, or evenbetter than they were before the COVIDoutbreak started to unfurl,” she said.

“It feels a little counter-intuitive,”added Benz.

Utility worker Nick Zumbusch saidhe’s noticed that shift, too, since thepandemic. He’s seeing it when it comesto workplace gripes.

“In February, people had all sorts ofcomplaints about their jobs – their dailytasks, their hourly pay,” said Zumbusch,a father of three from Waconia,Minnesota. “Come May, there wasn’t awhole lot of complaining. It was, ‘I’mhappy to be here, and I’m happy to havea job.’”


FILE - In this May 11, 2020, file photo light shines in a patient pod at a tem-porary alternate care site constructed in response to the coronavirus out-break inside the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington.

Poll: Pandemic does little to alter US views on health care

Easy ways to lower blood pressure fast

ST KITTS – When Dr the HonTimothy Harris was swornin for the second term asPrime Minister of St. Kittsand Nevis at GovernmentHouse on Sunday, June 7, hegave signal that it would behis last five-year term.

“I want for the record toreiterate what I had said in thebeginning that I only intend toserve two terms in the Office ofthe Prime Minister,” said PrimeMinister Harris after he wassworn in by Resident Judge HisLordship Trevor Ward QC whoadministered the oaths ofallegiance, office and secrecy.

Dr Harris added: “I shallalways be indebted for theexcellence of what the Hon.Shawn Richards has providedme over the past five years andwill provide me as we moveforward. That debt of gratitudeI will repay him as often as isnecessary by giving him the bestadvice and support that I canbecause he has earned my trust,my confidence and he hasallowed this government thestability that is required for it tomove forward.”

While acknowledging thosepresent at the swearingceremony which was held underthe auspices of the Governor-General His Excellency Sir S.W.Tapley Seaton, GCMG, CVO,QC, JP, LL.D, Prime MinisterHarris said that the Hon ShawnRichards (who was inattendance) had in some waysbecome like his brother and afriend.

Others present includedCabinet Secretary Mrs

Josephine Huggins, ResidentAmbassador of the Republic ofChina on Taiwan His ExcellencyTom Lee, and Prime Minister’sdaughter Miss Shaiyan Harris.

“And though I only see him(Hon Shawn Richards)irregularly in the social space,hehas been a reliable friend andwhom I could rely on forobjective advice,” said Dr Harris.“I would say about him that hesays it as he sees it, and eventhough at times he gives hisviews and he understands –every deputy should understand– that there is need for theleader to have space or elseleadership makes no difference.”

The Prime Minister

commented that Richards hasgiven him space when hesometimes makes difficultjudgements, and he has neverchastised the Prime Ministerpublicly about any error in thosejudgements because he (Shawn)had given silent consent to them.

Team Unity is a coalition ofthree political parties whichcame together in 2013 andcontested and won the 2015General Election. PrimeMinister Harris is the NationalPolitical Leader of PeoplesLabour Party (PLP), the HonShawn Richards is the Leader ofthe People’s Action Movement(PAM),and Premier of Nevis theHon Mark Brantley is the leader

of the Concerned Citizen’sMovement (CCM).

“I want equally to recognisethe work of the Hon MarkBrantley, the Leader of theConcerned Citizens Movement(CCM),” said Prime MinisterHarris.“Certainly without thesetwo who are the part of thecomplex coalition structurewhich we operate, and Imarvelled during the campaignthat the Hon Lindsay Grantspoke about the complexity ofour government, unique in thecontext of our Federation, andhow we have been able despitethe odds to have workedtogether, to gel and to worktogether to deliver.”

According to the PrimeMinister, Team Unity has hadsuch a superlative performanceand is an indication that theleaders united in their actionsacross the political agencies tobring good to the people, whichis what they have committed todo.

“So I again thank the Hon.Mark Brantley for hiscontribution and to thank theirparties for the support they haveprovided in this unique period ofour political history,” stressedthe Prime Minister. “Again it ispart of the new history we actwithin where we are goingyonder to good and right thingsfor the people.”

BASSETERRE, St Kitts –Political leader of theopposition St Kitts-NevisLabour Party (SKNLP) DrDenzil Douglas said yesterdayhe cannot in good conscienceconcede the June 5, 2020,general elections as “being free,fair and free from fear.”

“I am deeply disturbed thatthe hope, prosperity andopportunity that lay in waitunder a NextGen SKN labourparty has been hijacked inlarge measure by the manyirregularities and anomaliesthat took place in our electoraland voting processes in theyears, months, weeks and daysleading to the general election.It is for these reasons that Icannot in good conscienceconcede the election as beingfree, fair and free from fear,”said Dr Douglas in his middayaddress to the nation.

He told the nation that alongwith the prejudicial

environment that sought togive the competitors an unfairadvantage, the Unityadministration committedmany irregularities whichlimited the rights of citizens inthe voting process.

“There have been serious,significant irregularities in theprocess which we believe haveaffected the results. We arecollating the reports from thevarious polling agents of theParty and will report in shortorder. In the meantime keepyour chins up, your heads highand rally with your NextGenSKN team,” Dr Douglas, whoseSKNLP won two of the eightseats it contested on St Kitts.

He said that the will of thepeople is the only source ofauthority of government andno right-thinking person canobjectively declare thatElection 2020 was run basedon the standards, principlesand ethics of good governance.

“For these reasons, the StKitts-Nevis Labour Partycannot accept the electionresults.We are in the process ofexamining and compilingevidence to take serious actionon these matters in the future.I, therefore, reserve mycongratulations until thesematters have been dulyresolved,” said Dr Douglas.

“I wish to say to my belovedpeople of our Federation thatthe next five years will not beeasy as St Kitts and Nevis, oneof the smallest countries in theworld by population, strugglesto find its new footing in thepresent post-COVID-19 globalenvironment. However, Iremain confident that theinvincible spirit, intelligence,resourcefulness and resilienceof our people will take usthrough even this, our darkesthour, to brighter days,” saidDouglas, a former primeminister.


Newly-re-elected St. Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister, Dr. Timothy Harris (left), pictured with Resident High Court Judge, JusticeTrevor Ward, QC, at Government House, as he took the oath of office, for his second term, on Sunday.

PM Harris restates this will be his last term

Political leader of the opposition St Kitts-Nevis LabourParty (SKNLP) Dr Denzil Douglas

NextGen SKN cannot concede generalelections: ‘Irregularities’ report expected

thanks his Cabinet

TRINIDAD – Protestingfor racial equality is not aforeign concept toTrinidad and Tobago.

Prime Minister DrKeith Rowley, recalling aprotest for social justicewhich occurred in NorthAmerica, he says eventhose have led to changehere in Trinidad andTobago. He said T&Tought not to distanceitself from the BlackLives Matter protestshappening now in theUnited States.

“Like it was in 1970when the Black PowerMovement started at SirGeorge WilliamsUniversity, Trinidad andTobago citizens at SirGeorge WilliamsUniversity on the sameissue of racism, where theconversation found itsway to the pavements ofPort of Spain and thecorridors at UWI and ouryoung people took to thestreets. The next thingyou know, by April of1970, the government of

Trinidad and Tobago hadto respond and respondin a way that they hadnever been called upon torespond before,” herelayed.

Dr Rowley, initiatingthe message of a popularlocal saying, ‘when yourbrother’s house is on fire,wet yours’, said there’smuch to learn fromwhat’s happeningabroad.

The Prime Ministeracknowledged that T&Thas its own issuessurrounding racism.Even so, he says as localdemonstrations continue,he’s not worried thatthey will escalate tounmanageable levels.

“Fortunately, we havemade sufficient progress,I believe, to bolster usand protect us from themost vulgar of what we’reseeing on the outsidetoday, but let us not forone minute believe thatwe are insulated fromthat or that it doesn’tapply to us,” he said.

JAMAICA – Commis-sioner of Police, MajorGeneral AntonyAnderson, says thatStates of PublicEmergency (SOEs)continue to be effectivein reducing crime.

He noted that inWestmoreland, there is a48 per cent drop inmurders and a 39 per centreduction in shootings.

In Hanover, murder isdown 56 per cent whileshooting is down 67 percent. “In St. James, we areseeing an increase but …[the parish] has the lowestrate of homicides there inthe last… 17 years,” henoted, while addressing avirtual press conference onThursday , June 4.

The Police Commis-sioner said that the rate ofhomicides and violence inSt. James has beensignificantly reduced whencompared to the periodprior to the declaration ofthe SOE.

Over in Clarendon,murders and shootings aredown by 38 per cent and39 per cent, respectively.

“In KingstonEastern…we have had a68 per cent drop inmurders and a 72 per centdrop in shootings. In St.Andrew South,we’ve had afive per cent drop inmurders and an 18 percent drop in shootings,” theCommissioner said.

An SOE was declared forSt. James, Hanover and

Westmoreland on April 30,2019; Clarendon and St.Catherine North onSeptember 5, 2019; theSouth St. Andrew PoliceDivision on July 7, 2019;and the Eastern KingstonPolice Division on January26, 2020.

In the meantime,Deputy Commissioner ofPolice in Charge ofStrategic Operations,Clifford Blake, said that

additional resources havebeen deployed to theAugust Town communityto respond to the flare-up ofviolence.

“We do have concernsabout ongoing criminalactivities in areas withinKingston Western Divisionand the St. Andrew SouthDivision,” he added, whileurging citizens to continuesupporting the efforts ofthe police.

BERMUDA’S biggestgathering in recentmemory, which echoedBlack Lives Matterdemonstrations aroundthe world, took both itsorganisers by surprise.

Dynera Bean, 24, andJasmine Brangman, 29,brought out more than7,000 protesters throughsocial media, 13 days afterthe death of George Floyd,46.

Mr Floyd’s death wascaught on video inMinneapolis, Minnesota,on May 25, as a whitepolice officer arrestinghim on suspicion ofpassing a fake US$20 billknelt on his neck.

It sparked a global waveof protests over racismand police brutalitydirected at black people,under the Black LivesMatter movementfounded in 2013.

Ms Bean said Sundaynight: “We didn’t expectthis outcome.”

The Bermudian womensaid they had each spenttime in the United States,and had experiencedracism at home and

abroad. Ms Brangmansaid: “I literally just gotback to the island. I was inquarantine for two weeksat a government facilityand I watched everythingunfold online, all day.Thattriggered me.

“I messaged my friendsand said we needed tostand up and dosomething.”

After the two createdBlack Lives Matter BDAon Facebook, othersshared the post and itspread rapidly by “word ofmouth”, Ms Brangmansaid.

The two were unsure ifbad weather yesterdaywould dampen the displayof solidarity, but said theywere prepared to be theonly ones who showed up.

A group of about 25people at 11.30am becamehundreds by noon, andthen thousands.

The weather alsocleared in time, which MsBean said “felt like thatwas in ancestors workingin our favour”.

The two said theprocession throughHamilton headed through

Court Street and themainly blackneighbourhood of NorthEast Hamilton to honourpast demonstrations heldthere, including the civilunrest of December 1977.

Ms Brangman said:“That’s where freedomfighters have marched.”

They paused outside theHamilton Police Stationand called for silence forChavelle Dillon-Burgess,a young mother whosedisppearance since Aprilis now a murderinvestigation by police.

Ms Brangman said MsDillon-Burgess had beena familiar sight aroundher Warwickneighbourhood and was“one of our young blacksisters”.

She said: “We felt wemay have brought peaceto people she knew, herfamily and her son. Wewanted to acknowledgeher. She is a black life.”

Both said they had beengratified by the turnout ofwhite protesters.

Ms Brangman said “Iloved it” while Ms Bean

said the two were“amazed”, adding: “I stillhave not processed it.”

Ms Brangman saidtheir message to whiteallies was: “If you supportthe movement and seethere are black peoplemaking headway to makechange, then supportthat.”

Both called for one-week “Sunday to Sunday”boycotts of individualstores at a time to changebusiness practices, andsaid they would shareinformation about the

proposal this weekthrough social media.

They said anyone whobelieved racism inBermuda was unlikeracism in the US shouldreflect on black friendsand family who travelledthere.

Black Bermudianswould not be exempt frompolice violence in the USbecause of theirnationality, Ms Brangmanwarned.

She added: “They willshoot you first, and thenlook at your passport.”


Bermuda’s biggest gathering in recent memory, which echoed Black Lives Matter demonstrations aroundthe world.

Organisers surprisedby huge turnout atprotest in Bermuda

T&T PM on Black LivesMatter protests: We toohave lessons to learn

States of publicemergencyeffective indriving downcrime in J’ca

Commissioner of Police, Major General AntonyAnderson


London: 13°C CLEARBoston: 26°C FAIRMontreal: 23°C FAIRToronto: 22°C FAIRNew York: 23°C FAIRMiami: 31°C CLOUDY

High: 5:44 a.m.and 7:16 p.m.

Low: 12:35 a.m.and --:-- p.m.

Yesterday: 2.0 mmFor the month: 15.4 mmFor the year: 202.3 mm

Sunny with cloudy periods, with a fewbrief isolated showers

Max: 30.7°CMin: 24.4°C

5:31 a.m.6:24 p.m.

US Democrats inCongress have pro-posed sweeping legis-lation to reformAmerican police, fol-lowing weeks ofprotests against policebrutality and racism.

The bill would make iteasier to prosecute policefor misconduct,ban choke-holds, and addressesracism.

Its comes as Minnea-polis lawmakers vowed todisband the city's policeforce.

The death of GeorgeFloyd at the hands of awhite officer there sparkednational pressure forchange.

However, it was unclearwhether Republicans,whocontrol the US Senate,willsupport the proposedJustice in Policing Act of2020.

Floyd's brother is ex-

pected to testify to theHouse of Representativeslater this week in a hearing on police reform.

The Justice in PolicingAct of 2020 was introducedyesterday by top Demo-cratic lawmakers HouseSpeaker Nancy Pelosi,Senate Minority LeaderChuck Schumer,black sen-ators Kamala Harris andCory Booker and membersof the Congressional BlackCaucus.

As she unveiled the bill,Mrs Pelosi read the namesof black men and womenwho have died at thehands of police in recentyears.

The bill forces federalpolice to use body anddashboard cameras, banchokeholds, eliminateunannounced police raidsknown as “no-knock war-rants”, make it easier tohold police liable for civil

rights violations and callsfor federal funds to bewithheld from local policeforces who do not makesimilar reforms.

“The martyrdom ofGeorge Floyd gave theAmerican experience amoment of national an-guish, as we grieve for theblack Americans killed bypolice brutality,” MrsPelosi said.

“Today (Monday), thismovement of national anguish is being trans-formed into a movement of national action”.

The bill makes lynchinga federal crime, limits thesale of military weapons to the police and gives the Department of Justice the authority to investigate state and localpolice for evidence of department-wide bias ormisconduct.

It would also create a

“national police miscon-duct registry”– a databaseof complaints against po-lice.

Some Republican lead-ers have said they wouldconsider the possibility ofwriting their own bill,witha hearing scheduled in the

Senate Judiciary commit-tee next week.

However, members ofPresident Trump’s partyhave been largely reticenton signalling support forlegislation.

The reform package,crafted by Democratic

leaders in Congress, can beviewed as the “official”position of the party – atleast for now. It is, in part,an effort to head off moredrastic measures thatsome on the left,under theslogan “defund the police”,are pushing.

THE Minneapolis ex-po-liceman accused of killingunarmed black manGeorge Floyd has madehis first court appearance,where his bail was set at$1.25 million (£1m).

Prosecutors cited the“severity of the charges”and public outrage as thereason for upping his bailfrom $1 million.

Derek Chauvin facescharges of second-degreemurder and manslaugh-ter. Three other arrestingofficers are charged withaiding and abetting murder.

Floyd’s death in May ledto global protests and callsfor police reform.

Chauvin, who is white,knelt on Floyd’s neck foralmost nine minutes whilehe was being arrested inMinneapolis on May 25.

He and the three otherpolice officers have sincebeen fired.

Meanwhile,mourners inHouston, Texas, whereFloyd lived before moving

to Minneapolis, have beenviewing his body, publiclyon display for six hours at The Fountain of Praisechurch.

Today, a private funeralservice will be held inHouston. Memorial serv-ices have already beenheld in Minneapolis andNorth Carolina, whereFloyd was born.

It is believed a familymember escorted Floyd’'sbody on a flight to Texaslate on Saturday.

Democratic US presi-dential candidate JoeBiden is expected to visitFloyd’s relatives inHouston to offer his sym-pathies. Aides to the former vice-president saidhe would also record a video message for today’s service.

During the bail hearingChauvin, a 19-year policeveteran, did not enter aplea as he appeared via teleconference yester-day.

He did not speak during

the 15-minute hearing,and was handcuffed andwearing an orange jump-suit as he sat a small table.

Judge Jeannice MReding set a bail of $1.25mwith no preconditions, or $1m with conditions thatinclude Chauvin not contacting Floyd’s family,surrendering his firearmsand not working in law enforcement or security ashe awaits trial.

His lawyer did not object to the bail price.

Chauvin,44, is currentlybeing held at theMinnesota state prison inOak Park Heights, afterbeing transferred severaltimes.

His next court appear-ance is set for June 29 .

He faces three separatecharges: unintentional second-degree murder,third-degree murder andsecond-degree manslaugh-ter, for which the maximum penalties areprison terms of 40, 25 and10 years respectively.

SPAIN’S former king Juan Carlos is being inves-tigated to find out if he received millions ofpounds in kickbacks fromSaudi Arabia.

The supreme court islooking into allegations hewas paid to facilitate theconstruction by a Spanishconsortium of a bullettrain between the Saudicities of Medina andMecca.

The contract started in

2011 but they will be investigating from June2014, the date when JuanCarlos abdicated thethrone following severalscandals.

By passing on the throneafter nearly four decadesto his son, who becameKing Felipe VI, JuanCarlos lost the protectiongranted by Spain’sconstitution to the head ofstate.

A statement from the

general prosecutor’s officecalled the probe one of “undeniable technical complex” and given the “institutional signifi-cance”, it would be takencare of by one of thesupreme court’s chief prosecutors and three assistants.

Juan Carlos was a popular leader while hehelped transition Spain todemocracy in the late sev-enties.

But over the last decade,scandals over his financeshave eroded that popular-ity – but so far there havebeen no legal ramificationsfor the former king.

Two proposals to openparliamentary investiga-tions into the king have previously been rejected by Spanish legis-lators.

Swiss prosecutors arealso investigating an account operated for

Juan Carlos to which $100million was allegedlytransferred by SaudiArabia’s late KingAbdullah.

In March,King Felipe VIrenounced any future in-heritance from his father following reports hehad been named as a beneficiary for some ofthat money.

The current king deniedany knowledge of the fund.

Spain’s former king investigated over claims he got kickbacks from Saudi Arabia

Spain’s former king Juan Carlos.

George Floyd murder suspectChauvin granted bail at $1.25m

US Democrats introduce sweeping legislation to reform police

Democratic lawmakers took a knee to observe eight minutes and forty-six sec-onds of silence on Capitol Hill in honour of George Floyd and other victims of police brutality.

WASHINGTON/LONDON –Lawyers for Britain’s PrinceAndrew on Monday hit back at claims that he was not cooperating with US prosecutorsinvestigating the late financierJeffrey Epstein, suggesting theywere seeking publicity rather thanhis help.

US investigators want to interviewAndrew, Queen Elizabeth’s second son,about his friendship with Epstein – whowas found dead in prison last year while awaiting charges of trafficking minors – as part of their inquiry into possible co-conspira-tors.

Andrew has publicly stated he will cooperate with any “appropriate law enforcement agency”. But in March, Manhattan-based US AttorneyGeoffrey Berman said the prince had “shut the door on voluntary cooperation and our office is consideringits options”.

In a statement,Andrew’s lawyers saidthe prince, whose official title is theDuke of York, had offered his help to theUS Department of Justice (DOJ) threetimes this year.

“Unfortunately, the DOJ has reactedto the first two offers by breaching theirown confidentiality rules and claimingthat the Duke has offered zero cooper-ation,” Andrew’s lawyers Blackfordssaid.

“In doing so, they are perhaps seekingpublicity rather than accepting the as-sistance proffered,” the statement said.

The lawyers said the DOJ had only requested Andrew’s help on January 2this year and had stated that he hadnever been a target of their investiga-tion and they merely wanted his cooperation.

They said statements by Berman thatAndrew had given “zero cooperation”were “inaccurate and should not havebeen made”.

Britain’s Sun newspaper reportedthe DOJ had sent British authorities a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) request, used in criminal investigations to gather material from other states which cannot readily be obtained on a police cooperation basis.

A US law enforcement official,who has direct knowledge of the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity, said such a request had been submitted.

A spokeswoman for the JusticeDepartment declined to comment andBritain’s Home Office (interior ministry) said it did not comment on the existence of any MLAT requests.Buckingham Palace is not commentingon the legal case.

If the MLAT request is granted,US� prosecutors could ask for Andrew,

who stepped down from public duties because of the furore over hislinks to Epstein, to voluntarily attendan interview to give a statement or potentially force him to attend acourt to provide evidence under oath.

“Any pursuit of an application for mutual legal assistance would be disappointing, since the Duke of York is not a target of the DOJ investigation and has recently repeated his willingness to provide a witness statement,” Blackfords’ statement said.

TANZANIA’S President John Magufulihas declared the country “coronavirus-free” thanks to prayers by citizens.

“The corona disease has been elimi-nated thanks to God,” Magufuli told worshippers in a church in the capital,Dodoma.

The World Health Organization (WHO)has expressed concern over the govern-ment’s strategy on Covid-19.The govern-ment has stopped publishing data on thenumber of coronavirus cases in the country.

On April 29 , the last day official datawas released, there were 509 cases, with21 deaths in Tanzania. However,Magufuli said last week that only four patients were receiving treatment in thelargest city, Dar es Salaam.

Last month, Tanzania’s governmentdismissed a US embassy warning thathospitals in Dar es Salaam were “over-whelmed” and that the chances of contracting the virus was “extremelyhigh”.

Magufuli has repeatedly said thehealth crisis has been exaggerated andurged people to attend services inchurches and mosques, saying thatprayers “can vanquish” the virus.

“I want to thank Tanzanians of allfaiths.We have been praying and fastingfor God to save us from the pandemicthat has afflicted our country and the

world. But God has answered us.“I believe, and I’m certain that many

Tanzanians believe, that the corona dis-ease has been eliminated by God,”he toldworshippers on Sunday in Dodoma.

His remarks were welcomed with applause and celebratory ululation.

Magufuli also commended the priestand worshippers for not wearing glovesand masks to protect themselves fromthe virus.

He made similar comments last Fridayduring a teachers’ conference, declaring“corona is finished”.

“The health minister told me that weonly have four patients in Dar es Salaambut this will not stop rumours to the contrary,” he said.

“We need to be careful because some ofthese donations to fight coronavirus couldbe used to transmit the virus.

“I want to urge you Tanzanians not toaccept donations of masks, instead tellthe donors to go and use them with theirwives and children,” he added.

The Tanzanian president is among sev-eral African leaders who have received orders for a herbal tonic touted by thepresident of Madagascar as a cure forCovid-19. It is unclear if it has been givento patients in Tanzania.

There is no scientific proof that thetonic works and the WHO has urged people not to use unproven medication.


ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia’s upper housespeaker resigned yesterday in apparentprotest at the postponement of plannedelections in the Horn of Africa countryover the coronavirus, a sign of growingtension between her party and the government.

The speaker Keria Ibrahim is also a topofficial in Tigray People’s LiberationFront (TPLF), one of the country’s majorpolitical parties and which has opposedthe poll postponement.

The parliamentary and regional elec-tions had been planned for August aheadof the end of incumbent Prime MinisterAbiy Ahmed’s term in September.No newdate has yet been set.

In a televised speech, Keria accusedAbiy’s government of taking away

Ethiopians’ sovereign rights, withoutelaborating.

She was widely understood to refer tothe government’s decision to postponethe elections which effectively allowedAbiy to continue ruling beyond the expiryof his term.

“I can’t be an accomplice when the constitution is being violated and a dictatorial government is being formed,”she said.“I have resigned not to be collab-orator (with) such a historical mistake.”

Last month TPLF, which is also thegoverning party for the country’s Tigrayregion, threatened to organise polls forthe area in defiance of the postponement,potentially setting the region on a colli-sion course with the federal government.

Keria’s resignation underscored the de-

teriorating relationship between Abiyand his ruling Prosperity Party and theTPLF, said Kjetil Tronvoll, professor ofpeace and conflict studies at BjørknesUniversity in Oslo.

“If the process is left unabated, it maylead to an open confrontation,” he said.

Abiy took power in Africa’s second mostpopulous country in 2018 and went on toroll out a series of reforms allowinggreater freedoms in what had long beenone of the continent’s most repressivestates.

But the reforms have made it possiblefor long-held grievances against the government’s decades of harsh rule toresurface, and emboldened regionalpower-brokers such as the TPLF to seekmore power for their ethnic groups.

CAIRO – Qatar will start lifting coron-avirus restrictions in its cities under afour-phase plan starting on June 15,when some mosques will be allowed to reopen, government spokeswomanLulwa Rashed al-Khater said yesterday.

She told a news conference the secondphase of easing the lockdown would starton July 1, the third on August 1 and thefourth on September 1.

The second phase will allow a partial

opening of restaurants and the third willpermit the resumption of flights fromlow-risk countries and the reopening ofshopping malls and markets with limitedcapacity. The fourth will allow weddingparties, business gatherings such as exhibitions, and the reopening of theatres and cinemas, she said.

Qatar reported 1,368 new coronaviruscases and three deaths yesterday,bringing the total to 70 158 cases includ-ing 57 deaths.

Speaker of Ethiopia’s upper House resigns

President Magufuli declaresTanzania “coronavirus-free”

Qatar to gradually lift lockdownin four phases from June 15

President of Tanzania John Magufuli.

Lawyers for UK’s Prince Andrew hit backat US authorities over Epstein inquiry

Britain’s Prince Andrew.


GOOGLE is adding features on itsMaps service to alert users aboutCOVID-19-related travel restric-tions to help them plan their tripsbetter, the Alphabet Inc unit saidyesterday.

The update would allow users to checkhow crowded a train station might be ata particular time, or if buses on a certainroute are running on a limited schedule,Google said.

The transit alerts would be rolled outin Argentina,France, India,Netherlands,the United States and United Kingdomamong other countries, the company saidhere in a blog post.

The new features would also include

details on COVID-19 checkpoints and restrictions on crossing national borders,starting with Canada, Mexico and theUnited States.

In recent months, the company has analysed location data from billions ofGoogle users’ phones in 131 countries toexamine mobility under lockdowns andhelp health authorities assess if peoplewere abiding with social-distancing and other orders issued to rein in thevirus.

Google has invested billions of dollarsfrom its search ads business to digitallymap the world, drawing one billion userson average every month to its free navigation app.

Google Maps to alert users aboutvirus-related travel restrictions

The new features would also includedetails on COVID-19 checkpoints andrestrictions on crossing national bor-ders, starting with Canada, Mexicoand the United States.

LONDON – The UK government is set tointroduce a new scrappage scheme offering drivers discounts of up to £6000to switch from petrol and diesel to electric or hybrid cars, according to reports.

The scheme is designed both to helpboost the UK economy in the wake of thecoronavirus lockdown and to encouragethe take-up of vehicles that have lowercarbon emissions. The government is already aiming to ban the sale of all newcombustion-engined cars by 2032.

The new scrappage scheme was firstreported by the Telegraph, with an announcement set to be made on July 6,shortly after the third phase of lockdowneasing is due to come into effect. Full details of how the scheme would workhave not emerged yet.

The original government scrappagescheme was introduced in 2010 to boostthe economy following the financial crisis. It was based on a £400 million pot,with buyers given £2 000 off (£1 000 fromthe government and £1 000 from themanufacturer) for scrapping a model agedten years or older. Nearly 400 000 carswere bought under the scheme in ten months.There was some controversythat all cars traded in had to be scrapped,including some roadworthy rare models.

The UK government currently offers a plug-in car grant of up to £3 000 for anyone buying a vehicle that producesless than 50g/km CO2, has a zero-emis-sion range of at least 70 miles and costsless than £50 000. But it axed incentivespreviously offered for buyers of plug-in hy-brid vehicles.

The UK car industry has been pushingfor a scrappage scheme after sales virtu-ally dried up in April and May due toshowrooms being forced to close.Encouraging sales of new cars would alsohelp to boost production demand.

The move by the UK government to tiea post-lockdown economic stimulusscheme to low-carbon vehicles is similarto programmes introduced by both theFrench and German governments in recent weeks.

While plans to introduce a scrappage

scheme will be welcomed, there are con-cerns in the industry that limiting anyschemes purely to electric cars – whichstill account for a tiny proportion of theoverall market – will limit the economicboost it will offer.

Speaking recently, Volkswagen salesboss Jürgen Stackmann said that the “au-tomotive industry can be a powerfuldriver to help” boost the economy. But headded that any incentive scheme shouldnot be focused purely on electric vehiclesbecause of their relatively low sales.

“A scrappage or exchange scheme couldbe built around encouraging people intocleaner, modern cars,” said Stackmann.

“There are talks to combine a scrappage scheme with a shift to e-mobil-ity, which we can understand. But peopleneed to understand that focusing only one-mobility will not restart the economic engine.”

Daksh Gupta, the boss of major dealer-ship chain Marshall, recently told Autocarthat he thought there was “no question”that some form of stimulus package wasneeded to boost cars sales. He said,“Research from the last scrappage schemeshowed that 91% of people that bought acar were people that would have absolutely not bought a new car other-wise.”

Gupta said that his preference would befor some form of grant that would benefit all brands fairly, and cautionedthe low margins manufacturers achieveon full electric vehicle sales would limitthe effectiveness of a scheme that focused purely on such cars. He added,“Many manufacturers are selling EVs ata loss because of the cost of production, sowe are trying to educate [the government]about the benefit of going with hybrid and EVs, or even Euro 6.”

UK govt to launch new car scrappage scheme Buyers could get up to £6 000 incentive to trade in their old

petrol or diesel car for a new electric or hybrid version

The scheme is designed both to help boost the UK economy in the wake of thecoronavirus lockdown and to encourage the take-up of vehicles that have lowercarbon emissions.

PRESSURE from Facebook staff is con-tinuing to mount on Mark Zuckerbergover his policies towards posts by Donald Trump, with moderators joining those criticising their boss for hisstance.

The moderators penned an open letter to their colleagues in support ofvirtual walkouts that have broken out at the company, after Zuckerberg refused to take down posts by Trump that many believed breached the site’s policies on incitement of violence.

“We would walk out with you – ifFacebook would allow it,” the moderatorswrite. In their statement, all the company’s currently employed moderators remained anonymous,highlighting the precarious nature oftheir employment,which is subcontractedout through third parties.

“As outsourced contractors, non-disclo-sure agreements deter us from speakingopenly about what we do and witness formost of our waking hours. Safety anddata protection are important, but so is ahealthy debate about what happens atFacebook.

“We can’t walk out, but we cannot staysilent… Facebook can do better,” the letter continues.“We need to express thatMr Zuckerberg’s words about personaldismay caused by Trump’s ‘looting andshooting’ rhetoric are not enough. Thebenefit of the doubt this politician is beinggiven as a user, even with such a largeplatform, is unparalleled – the attempt toretroactively place his words behind thecontext of other posts actually has had effect of putting it on an isolated pedestal.This may be the ultimate exhibit of whiteexceptionality and further legitimisationof state brutality we have witnessed inthe last weeks.”

The precariousness of their employ-ment situation has even limited the abil-ity of the moderators to put together astatement of support. “We are so alienated, even more with working fromhome,” one currently employed modera-tor told the Guardian. They, and a colleague, both asked to speak anonymously for fear that they wouldlose their jobs for breaking a non-disclosure agreement. “We are not able to speak freely because we communicate mainly on the company channels. It’s really tricky toeven talk about it, to find someone andask if they want to sign this sort of statement.”

The letter was co-ordinated by the legalnonprofit Foxglove, whose co-founder Cori Crider said,“Zuckerberg could do somuch more to make his platform safe andequal, and the real experts in that are themoderators themselves – people whoclear the hate speech and violence offFacebook day in and day out. But theircontracts are so precarious it’s almost impossible for them to organise, or tospeak up the way employees can. TheGoogle walkout showed massive solidarity with Google’s precarious contract workers; this is a golden opportunity for Facebook staff to followsuit.”

FB moderatorsjoin criticism ofZuckerberg overTrump stance


LONDON – More than a third of thefish stocks around the world are beingoverfished and the problem isparticularly acute in developingcountries, the United Nations Foodand Agriculture Organization (FAO)said in a report yesterday.

The FAO said in a biennial reportthat tackling the issue would requireseveral measures including strongerpolitical will and improved monitoringas fish stocks in areas with less-developed management were in poorshape.

“While developed countries areimproving the way they manage theirfisheries, developing countries face aworsening situation,” the FAO said.

In 2017, 34.2% of the fish stocks ofthe world’s marine fisheries wereclassified as overfished, a “continuousincreasing trend” since 1974 when itstood at just 10%.

Overfishing depletes stocks at a ratethat the species cannot replenish andso leads to lower fish populations andreduced future production.

The FAO said less intensemanagement was common in manydeveloping nations and was fuelledpartly by limited management andgovernance capacities.

“We notice that sustainability isparticularly difficult in places wherehunger, poverty and conflict exist, butthere is no alternative to sustainablesolutions,” the agency said.

Worldwide per capita fishconsumption set a new record of 20.5kg per year in 2018 and has risen byan average rate of 3.1% since 1961,outpacing all other animal proteins.

Fish consumption accounts for asixth of the global population’s intake

of animal proteins, and more than halfin countries such as Bangladesh,Cambodia, the Gambia, Ghana,Indonesia, Sierra Leone and SriLanka.

The FAO projected global per capitaconsumption would climb to 21.5 kg by2030, a slowdown in the average

annual growth rate to 0.4%, with adecline expected in Africa.

“The main reason for this decline isthe growth of Africa’s populationoutpacing the growth in supply.Increasing domestic production andhigher fish imports will not besufficient to meet the region’s growing

demand,” the FAO said.The report is based on information

gathered before the COVID-19outbreak which has led to a decline inglobal fishing activity as a result ofrestrictions and labour shortages dueto the health emergency, the FAO said.

FILE PHOTO: People sort fish during the drying process at Muara Angke district in Jakarta.

Overfishing on the rise as global consumption climbs – UN agency

TOKYO – TEPCO Renewable Power,a unit of Tokyo Electric PowerCompany Holdings (9501.T), plansto spend about 1-2 trillion yen (£7.3-14.5 billion) to develop 6-7 gigawatts(GW) of offshore wind andhydroelectric power projects by2035, its president said.

“We aim to boost our profit to 100billion yen in 2030 from 40 billion yennow” through the investments, SeiichiFubasami, president of TEPCORenewable Power,told Reuters last week

in an interview.Its parent TEPCO, which has been

struggling to restart nuclear powerstations after the Fukushima disasterof 2011, said in 2018 that it will develop2-3 GW of offshore wind power each athome and abroad, and 2-3 GW ofhydroelectric power overseas to helprenewable energy become a core powersource.

“We are sticking to the goal despitethe COVID-19 pandemic,” Fubasamisaid, adding his company plans to take

around a 50% stake in the projects.TEPCO Renewable owns 9.9 GW of

power generation capacity, mainlyhydroelectric in Japan. The additionalassets would boost its renewable energycapacity to 25% of the group’s totalcapacity, from 20% now.

“Southeast Asia and North Americaare our key targets for offshore wind,while Southeast Asia is our focus forhydroelectric,” he said.

Japan’s offshore wind power market isexpected to take off after the government

brought in a law last year to encouragethe development of wind farms.

TEPCO and Orsted (ORSTED.CO),the world’s largest offshore wind farmdeveloper, plan to jointly bid for a 370megawatts offshore wind project offChoshi, Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo.

“We have a good chance to win as wehave accumulated massive wind data aswe already operate a wind farm in thearea, and Orsted has expertise inbuilding and parts procurements forwind farms,” Fubasami said.

TEPCO Renewable to spend US$9-18 B by 2035 on green power

http://orsted.co/


Bridge

THE music world ismourning the loss ofBonnie Pointer.

Bonnie, an originalmember of the R&B groupThe Pointer Sisters, diedMonday, June 8 at the ageof 69.

Anita Pointer toldVariety in a statement, "Itis with great sadness thatI have to announce to thefans of the Pointer Sistersthat my sister Bonniedied this morning. Ourfamily is devastated. Onbehalf of my siblings andI and the entire Pointerfamily, we ask for yourprayers at this time."

"Bonnie was my bestfriend and we talkedevery day," Anita contin-ued in her tribute. "Wenever had a fight in ourlife. I already miss herand I will see her againone day."

The singer and youngersister June Pointer, whopassed away in 2006, co-founded the group as aduo in 1969. Anita joinedthe group the same year,followed by their older sis-ter Ruth Pointer in 1972.Known for hit songs like"I'm So Excited," "Jump(For My Love)" and"Fairytale," The Pointer

Sisters went on to winthree Grammy Awards.

Bonnie parted wayswith the group in 1977 topursue a solo career. Shesigned to Motown andwent on to release four al-bums. Bonnie's discocover of The Elgins'"Heaven Must Have SentYou" topped the Billboardcharts at No. 11.

In later years, Bonniereunited with her sistersfor several performancesand continued to tour as asolo artist.

Bonnie's cause of deathwas not immediatelyknown.

Bonnie Pointer of The Pointer Sisters dead at 69

40 Seasons. 18 Years. 1Black Lead.

Those are the numbersat the center of a new cam-paign aimed at holding theBachelor franchise ac-countable for diversity andanti-racism, starting witha petition and a call to casta Black man as the leadin season 25 of TheBachelor. (Clare Crawleyhas already been cast asthe lead for season 16 ofThe Bachelorette.)

In 40 seasons of The

Bachelor and TheBachelorette, RachelLindsay is the only Blacklead, and the petition andcampaign are hoping tochange that, while alsomaking other changes tohow the show operates.

The petition features 13calls to action, includingcasting a Black lead inseason 25 while also cast-ing BIPOC (Black,Indigenous, People ofColor) for "at least 35% ofcontestants," giving equi-

table screentime toBIPOC contestants, ac-tively supporting thosecontestants with mentalhealth resources, hiring aBIPOC diversity consult-ant, condemning racismand paying attention tostereotypes,while also vet-ting new contestants toprevent anyone who haspromoted prejudice ("e.g.ableism, racism, sexism,white supremacy, religiousintolerance, homophobia,transphobia") from being

cast.Several cast members

from the franchise haveshared the petition ontheir own social media ac-counts, including Rachel,Tyler Cameron, AshleySpivey, Nick Viall, SeinneFleming,Dustin Kendrick,Bibiana Julian, JubileeSharpe, Olivia Caridi,Onyeka Ehie, AlayahBenevidez, Lacey Mark,Marcus Grodd, LaurenBurnham,Mykenna Dorn,and Marquel Martin.

Campaign calling for Black Bachelor for Season 25Bonnie Pointer


SPORTSSPORTS

OSHANE THOMAS, who has beennamed among the reserve playersfor West Indies’upcoming tour ofEngland, is eyeing a Test debut withinternational cricket set to resumeafter a hiatus forced by the Covid-19 pandemic. Thomas, 23, hasplayed 20 ODIs and 12 T20Is sincehis debut in late 2018, and pickedup five-wicket hauls in both lim-ited-overs formats. He’s set oncracking the longest format now,an ambition that Thomas saidcoach Phil Simmons supports.

“I definitely want to play Test cricket;I want to do well in all three formats,”Thomas told the Jamaica Observer.

“Test cricket is really the ultimate thateveryone wants to play to be great. Youdon’t want to just be an average cricketer;you want to be among the greats.

“Coach Phil [and I], we always have atalk. He says I can’t be bowling that fast

– probably bowling the fastest in theCaribbean – and not play in his Testteam.”

Thomas had done well in his last outing for West Indies before cricket –andlife – came to a standstill due to the coro-navirus. He took 5 for 28 and 1 for 24 asWest Indies swept Sri Lanka 2-0 in aT20I series in the first week of March.His performance was especially signifi-cant since it came after Thomas escapedwith minor scrapes from a car crash inFebruary.

With no cricket since that Sri Lankatour, Thomas said he has been concen-trating on getting match fit, with a training camp at the Sabina Park inJamaica.

“Coming back from the Sri Lanka tour- a good series [and taking] a five-wickethaul - and then the pandemic just cameinto play and no cricket,” Thomas said.“Last week is my first week back bowling

on a pitch. I had been doing some littlebowling here and there. I’m very happyto be back bowling and I’m looking forward to playing Test cricket. It’s justup to me as a person; I just need to be fitand ready, and I should be in the Testteam.”

The accident and subsequent lack ofcricket, interrupted by the two T20Is inSri Lanka, has left Thomas not yet atfull fitness.

“I’m not going to say I’m at 100 [percent], but I think I’m aware of where I want to be,” he said. “Only thing I’dprobably be short of now is match fitnessbecause I haven’t played for about threemonths now. Coming back from a car accident [in which] fortunately I just gotsome scrapes, but the car flipped a fewtimes so I got jerked up here and there.Now I’m just feeling some stiffness because I just started bowling back at fullspeed but otherwise I'm all right.

“I just want to relax, bowl, put the ballin the right areas and let the ball do thework. Even if I'm not playing I'll be training and keeping my fitness up. If I'm not playing I want to learn as muchas a can.”

American world number 73 TaylorTownsend said the tennis world is not aunited place when it comes to racism andshe gets extra-attention from security attournaments while others breezethrough.

“Even in the tennis world it is not aunited place,” Townsend said in a TennisUnited video posted on YouTube.

“We lose our identity of who we are because there can only be one.

“I’ve had people argue with me to tellme that I’m Coco Gauff. I’m not CocoGauff but all of us look the same, all of usare built the same, everybody sees a black person and they assume it’s Venus or Serena (Williams) or Sloane(Stephens).

“Even from the aspect you walkthrough and nobody stops you and I’m walking through and somebody has tocheck my bag, check my credential, checkmy coach’s bag, check my coach’s

1credential.“It’s extra-security, extra-precautions

that need to be taken to make sure I belong.”

Townsend made the comments ascrowds filled the streets of cities aroundthe world on Sunday to protest the killingof African-American George Floyd whilein Minneapolis police custody.

“The black community has been suppressed, our identity has been robbedfrom us,” said the 24-year-old still chasing a first WTA singles title.

“Black men are being gunned down and killed in the middle of the street in broad daylight from police officers.

“This is our reality and this is the reality that we’ve been having to dealwith for so long, of people not being comfortable with you.

Oshane Thomas: ‘Test cricket iswhat you want to play to be great’

At tournaments ‘extra-security tomake sure I belong’, says Townsend

Oshane Thomas.

American world number 73 Taylor Townsend.

PREVENTED from doing his day job bythe coronavirus outbreak, Formula Onechampion Lewis Hamilton is standingout during the pandemic through his passionate campaigning against racialinjustice.

The Mercedes driver took to Instagramyesterday in support of demonstratorswho toppled a statue of a 17th-centuryslave trader in the English city of Bristolduring one of the many global protests inthe Black Lives Matter movement.

“All statues of racist men who mademoney from selling a human being shouldbe torn down!” Hamilton wrote on the so-cial-networking site.“Which one is next?”

In a later post to his 16.5 million followers, the Briton issued a challenge togovernments worldwide “to make thesechanges and implement the peaceful removal of these racist symbols.”

Hamilton was just as vocal last week

following the death of George Floyd, ablack man who died after a whiteMinneapolis police officer pressed his

knee on Floyd’s neck even after hepleaded for air while lying handcuffed onthe ground.

Hamilton said he has “felt so muchanger sadness and disbelief in what myeyes have seen,” adding that “those of uswho are black, brown or in between see iteveryday and should not have to feel asthough we were born guilty, don’t belong,or fear for our lives based on the colour of our skin.”

On Instagram, Hamilton criticised others in Formula One for failing to speakup on the issue of racism, saying theywere “staying silent” in the “midst of injustice.”

“Not a sign from anybody in my industry which of course is a white-dominated sport,” the six-time worldchampion added. “I’m one of the only people of colour there yet I stand alone.

“I would have thought by now you

would see why this happens and saysomething about it but you can’t standalongside us. Just know I know who youare and I see you…”

Some F1 drivers responded toHamilton, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclercsaying he “felt out of place and uncomfort-able sharing my thoughts on socialmedia” and was “completely wrong.”

Hamilton is the only black driver tohave raced in F1 and has previously spoken out about the adversity he hasovercome to make it to the top of a sporthe perceives being for the white and privileged.

The Formula One season has yet tostart its 2020 season because of the coronavirus,with the sport shutting downthe week of the opening race in Australiain March.

The season is now scheduled to start on July 5 in Austria.

Hamilton a big sporting voice in Black Lives Matter movement

F1 champion Lewis Hamilton.


SAO PAULO – Brazilwithdrew its bid tohost the 2023 Women'sWorld Cup, arguing onMonday it cannot offerFIFA the financial as-surances it needs be-cause of the impact ofthe coronavirus pan-demic.

The Brazilian FootballConfederation also said ina statement it will supportColombia's bid against

Japan and the joint candi-dacy of Australia and NewZealand. South Americahas never hosted the tour-nament. A decision is ex-pected on June 25.

The confederation saidthe administration ofPresident Jair Bolsonarotold FIFA it could not offerfinancial guarantees “dueto the scenario of fiscaland economic austerity,caused by the impacts of

the COVID-19 pandemic.”The confederation "un-

derstands the position ofcaution of the Braziliangovernment, and of otherpublic and private part-ners, which stopped themfrom formalizing the com-mitments within time orin the required form,” thestatement added.

Brazil's economy is ex-pected to contract thisyear by at least 7.4%, in-

vestment bank GoldmanSachs predicts.

The country is the hard-est hit by COVID-19 inLatin America, with morethan 37,000 confirmeddeaths.

Brazil's soccer body alsosaid the high number ofbig sporting events in thelast decade could alsoharm the chances of its bidto host the Women's WorldCup.

Brazil withdraws bid to host2023 Women’s World Cup

DÜSSELDORF,Germany – Call themRoad Runner and TheChef.

Alphonso Davies andThomas Müller have builtan effective and affection-ate partnership this sea-son, and it’s drivingBayern Munich toward arecord-extending eighthstraight German title.

“I call him Chef,” Daviessaid in televised com-ments after Müller brokethe German league recordwith his 20th assist of theseason Saturday. “Hegives you assists, he givesyou goals, whenever,whatever you need.”

Müller’s two assists inSaturday’s 4-2 win overBayer Leverkusen tookhim past Kevin deBruyne’s 19 assists forWolfsburg in 2014-15,which the league said wasthe most by any player inrecords going back nearlythree decades. Bayernplayed the game wearingarmbands with the mes-sage “Black Lives Matter,”

in reference to the move-ment’s many global anti-racism protests.

In calling Müller“Chef ”, Davies was re-turning the favor afterthe experienced Germandubbed the Canadian left-back the “FC BayernRoad Runner” for his abil-ity to chase down seem-ingly lost causes in a cru-cial 1-0 win over BorussiaDortmund last month.

Davies and Müllerseemed on opposite pathsat the start of the season.The 19-year-old Canadianwas forcing his way intothe starting lineup, whilethe 30-year-old Müllerhad been dropped by theGerman national teamand was increasingly abench player for Bayernunder coach Niko Kovac.

That all changed whenKovac was fired after anembarrassing 5-1 loss toEintracht Frankfurt inNovember. His assistantHansi Flick was put incharge — initially only fora few games — and re-

stored Müller to his keyrole in Bayern’s midfield.

The move immediatelypaid off, with Müller as-sisting on two goals inFlick’s first game, a 4-0hammering of Dortmund,then two more againstFortuna Düsseldorf aweek later. In 2020, hehas played in all ofBayern’s games andstarted all but one ofthem.

Flick has allowedMüller the creative free-dom he needs to dictatethe game in midfield,finding space to bringteammates into threaten-ing positions.

Davies and Müller havecombined at key momentstoo. The Canadian set upMüller to score inBayern’s 5-2 revenge winover Frankfurt lastmonth and also inDecember for a goal totake the lead againstTottenham in a 3-1 win inthe Champions League.

Bayern has a seven-point lead with four

games remaining so onlya dramatic collapse wouldstop the Munich club re-taining the Bundesligatitle yet again.

Bayern is also eyeinganother German double,with Frankfurt againtheir opponent in the cupsemifinal Wednesday, andthe Champions League —whenever that resumes.

Europe’s leading clubcompetition was sus-pended in March due tothe coronavirus pan-demic, with Bayern lead-ing Chelsea 3-0 after thefirst leg of their last-16matchup.The ChampionsLeague is set to resumeas a mini-tournamentthis summer. UEFA iseyeing Germany as a pos-sible host.

Bayern’s challenge willbe staying in shape inwhat could be severalweeks without gamesafter the German league’sscheduled finish June 27before the ChampionsLeague resumes, likely inAugust.

Müller the chef serves up title-winning assists for Bayern

SEVEN-TIME All-StarLaMarcus Aldridge willmiss the remainder of SanAntonio’s season while herecovers from surgery onhis right shoulder,a majorblow to the Spurs' postsea-son chances,assuming theseason continues asplanned.

The Spurs announcedMonday that Aldridge hadthe surgery on April 24,stemming from an injuryhe suffered in a game atUtah on Feb. 21.

San Antonio is one of the22 teams will that reportto the ESPN Wide Wide OfSports complex at theDisney campus nearOrlando, Florida, startingnext month, when theNBA plans to resume itsseason. The Spurs havebeen to the playoffs in 22consecutive seasons,matching the longeststreak in NBA history.

When play resumes, theSpurs will be among fourteams - the others being

Portland, New Orleansand Sacramento - that areall separated by a half-game in the race for ninthplace in the WesternConference and poten-tially a berth in a play-inseries. The gap betweenthose four teams is .010percentage points.

Aldridge played in twomore games after gettinghurt, including one onMarch 10, when he scored24 points in the Spurs’ winover Dallas.The NBA sus-

pended its season the fol-lowing day because of thecoronavirus pandemic.

Aldridge turns 35 nextmonth. He finished thisseason averaging 18.9points and 7.4 reboundsper game.

The Spurs say Aldridge“is expected to be fullycleared for all basketballactivities” in time for train-ing camp ahead of nextseason.Training camps for2020-21 are likely to beginin November.

Spurs’ Aldridge out for season


BARBADOS STBARBADOS STOCK EXCHANGEOCK EXCHANGE

LAST TRADE VOLUME HIGH LOW LAST CURRENT PRICE BID ASK BID ASK

DATE CLOSE CLOSE CHANGE PRICE PRICE SIZE SIZE

ABV Investments Incorporated 13-Mar-20 - - - $0.15 $0.15 - $0.02 $0.30 8,080 10,500

BICO Limited 04-Mar-20 - - - $3.10 $3.10 - $3.10 - 8760 -

Banks Holdings Limited -+ 09-Dec-19 - - - $4.85 $4.85 - - - - -

Barbados Dairy Industries Limited -+ 04-Oct-19 - - - $3.00 $3.00 - - - - -

Barbados Farms Limited 4-May-20 - - - $0.40 $0.40 - $0.30 $0.68 10074 25,342

Cable and Wireless Barbados Limited -+ 21-Sep-17 - - - $2.29 $2.29 - - - - -

Cave Shepherd and Company Limited 25-Mar-20 - - - $4.62 $4.62 - $2.50 $4.40 700 46810

FirstCaribbean International Bank 3-Jun-20 - - - $2.40 $2.40 - - $2.40 - 11049

Eppley Caribbean Property Fund SCC 12-May-20 - - - $0.19 $0.19 - - $0.19 - 47,500- Dev Fund

Eppley Caribbean Property Fund SCC 27-May-20 - - - $0.56 $0.58 - $0.55 $0.58 1,055 17708-Value Fund

Goddard Enterprises Limited 4-Jun-20 - - - $3.10 $3.01 - $3.01 $3.10 202 54703

Insurance Corporation of B’dos Limited 4-Jun-20 - - - $3.20 $315 - - $3.20 - 352240

One Caribbean Media Limited 06-Mar-20 - - - $2.70 $2.70 - $1.80 $2.60 6264 3000

Sagicor Financial Corporation Pref 6.5% 23-Jun-16 - - - $2.26 $2.26 - - - - -

Sagicor Financial Corporation Limited -+ 29-Nov-19 - - - $2.80 $2.80 - - - - -

West India Biscuit Company Limited 08-Jun-20 2885 31 31 $31.00 $31.00 0 $31.00 - 60 -

Emera Deposit Receipt 10-Feb-20 - - - $20.37 $20.37 -$0.14 $20.84 - 35 -

TOTAL SHARES BOUGHT & SOLD 2885

* = Security is Trading X-Div

*+* = Security is Suspended

** = Rights IssuedLast Trade Last Current Bid Ask Bid AskDate Close Close Price Price Size Size

GOB Series B 17-Mar-20 $65.00 $65.00 - $65.00 - 148822

GOB Series D 12-Nov-19 $50.00 $50.00

GOB Series F 05-Feb-20 $89.00 $89.00 $89.00 1,847,619

GOB Series I 24-Mar-20 $65.00 $65.00 $75.00 103,713

MUTUAL FUNDJune 8, 2020

ENDED NAME OF FUND NAV OFFER BID NAVCHANGE

05-Jun-20 REPUBLIC CAPITAL GROWTH FUND w 1.2728 0.007905-Jun-20 REPUBLIC INCOME FUND* w 1.2044 0.002105-Jun-20 REPUBLIC PROPERTY FUND w 0.6904 0.000229-May-20 FORTRESS CARIBBEAN GROWTH FUND w 5.5220 5.5220 5.5220 0.132229-May-20 FORTRESS HIGH INTEREST FUND - ACC. w 2.0046 0.009829-May-20 FORTRESS HIGH INTEREST FUND - DIST. w 1.0038 0.004830-Apr-20 ROYAL FIDELITY SELECT BALANCED FUND m 5.2851 5.2851 5.1794 0.034730-Apr-20 ROYAL FIDELITY STRATEGIC GROWTH FUNDm 0.9159 0.9159 0.8976 0.008530-Apr-20 ROYAL FIDELITY PREMIUM INCOME FUND m 1.6369 1.6369 1.6042 0.007029-May-20 SAGICOR GLOBAL BALANCED FUND w 2.56 0.0429-May-20 SAGICOR SELECT GROWTH FUND w 1.47 0.0229-May-20 SAGICOR PREFERRED INCOME FUND w 0.98 0.01* Indicates the Fund is currently ex-div

NOTES: QUOTATIONS AND NET ASSET VALUE PER SHARE ARE SUPPLIED BY THEFUND MANAGEMENT. THE OFFERING PRICE INCLUDES NET ASSET VALUE PLUSENTRY COSTS.

m = monthly valuation, q = quarterly valuation, w = weekly

Regular MarketSecurity Volume High Low Market Advance/

Price Decline

WEST INDIA BISCUIT COMPANY LIMITED 2885 31 31 31 0

Deposit ReceiptsSecurity Previous Current Advance/

Close Close Decline

EMERA DEPOSIT RECEIPT $20.23 $20.26 $0.03

BARBADOS STOCK REPORTJune 8, 2020

One security traded firm as 2,885 shares traded on the Regular Market, with a total value of $89,435.00. West India Biscuit CompanyLimited was the sole security trading 2,885 shares at $31.00.

Fixed Income

NEWS

SHARE SUMMARY INFORMATIONMonday June 8, 2020

INDICESTODAY'S TRADING LAST TRADING CHANGES

June 8, 2020 June 5, 2020Local 3020.76 3,020.73 0.03

Cross-list 1,400.14 1,400.14 -

Composite 739.87 739.86 0.01

MARKET CAPITALISATION (in millions)

TODAY'S TRADING LAST TRADING CHANGES June 8, 2020 June 5, 2020

Local 6,433.59 6,433.53 0.07Cross-list 178.78 178.78 - Composite 6,612.38 6,612.31 0.07

NOTICESANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Barbados Farms Limited – Directors of Barbados Farms Limited (BFL) hereby notifies its valued Shareholders that it wishes towithdraw the previously published record date of March 26th, 2020 for the determination of shareholders entitled to receive notice ofthe Annual General Meeting of the Company. Once the country returns to some degree of normalcy and BFL is in a position to have itsAnnual Report together with the notice of meeting printed and mailed within the statutory timeframe, it will advertise a new record datefor determining Shareholders entitled to receive notice of the 35th annual meeting of shareholders.

Sagicor Financial Company Limited – The Board of Directors, of the parent company of Sagicor Financial Corporation Limited,has fixed May 1st, 2020 as the record date for those shareholders entitled to receive notice of the Annual General Meeting of theCompany to be held on June 15th, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this will be a virtual meeting, details of which will beincluded in the shareholder package.

COVID-19 PROCEDURAL UPDATE

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 contagion affecting the island, the Barbados Stock Exchange Inc. (BSE) and the Barbados CentralSecurities Depository Inc. (BCSDI) have been instituting several procedural changes.

Kindly note that effective May 18th, 2020, the BSE and BCSDI re-opened and has resumed normal office hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00p.m. Please also note that we have implemented digital temperature checks for all persons entering the building. These checks arebeing conducted on both staff and clients alike by trained personnel.

While we acknowledge that every person with fever may not be COVID-19 positive and that some individuals may present withoutsymptoms, please note that any person with a temperature reading of 100˚ F (37.8˚C) or over will be denied entry to conduct businesswithin our offices.

We wish to thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation, however, we must emphasize that this is a necessary stepfor the protection of staff and clients alike.

BSE NOTICESTRADING SUSPENSIONThe Barbados Stock Exchange Inc. (BSE) wishes to advise that due to non-compliance with Section 4.01.3 and subject to Section3.01.5.(1)(b) of the Rules of the Barbados Stock Exchange Inc. trading in the Common Shares of Banks Holdings Limited weresuspended effective December 10th, 2019.

The Barbados Stock Exchange Inc. (BSE) wishes to advise that due to non-compliance with Section 4.01.3 and subject to Section3.01.5.(1)(b) of the Rules of the Barbados Stock Exchange Inc. trading in the Common Shares of Barbados Dairy Industries Limitedwere suspended effective December 10th, 2019.

The Barbados Stock Exchange Inc. (BSE) wishes to advise that to facilitate the closing of the Scheme of Arrangement effected byway of Section 99 of the Companies Act 1981 of Bermuda involving the transfer of all the issued and outstanding shares in SagicorFinancial Corporation Limited to Alignvest Acquisition II, it has suspended trading in the security Sagicor Financial CorporationLimited.

The Barbados Stock Exchange Inc. (BSE) wishes to advise that, as a result of the approved amalgamation of Cable and Wireless(Barbados) Limited (CWBL) and Cable & Wireless West Indies Limited (CWWI), trading in the security - Cable and Wireless(Barbados) Limited - has been suspended with immediate effect.

STOCKS rose Monday,pointing to a secondstraight session ofadvances as the majorstock indices continuedtheir march higher.

Shares of airlines, traveland leisure stocks surged,with these stocks buoyedby hopes of reopening theeconomy. Shares ofAmerican Airlines (AAL)rose another 9% Mondayafternoon, following a 77%weekly surge last week,and Boeing (BA) ledadvances in the Dow.Cruise lines includingCarnival (CCL) and RoyalCaribbean (RCL), alongwith lodging companiesincluding Hilton (HLT)and Wynn Resorts(WYNN), outperformedthe broader market.

An unexpectedly strongMay jobs report fueled astock rally that sent theNasdaq Composite aboveits February 19 recordhigh. The surge added to a

weeks-long melt-up inequities, as investors eyedsigns that early moves toreopen businesses werebringing back someworkers and drivingadvances in economicactivity.

“Nonfarm payrollsunexpectedly reboundedby 2.5mn [million] in May,and the details of thereport are consistent witha large and genuinerebound in labor marketactivity,” Goldman Sachseconomists led by JanHatzius said in a note.“The unemployment ratedeclined from 14.7% inApril to 13.3% in May,much lower thanexpected, though the BLSsuggested that 16.4% ofthe workforce remainsunemployed afteradjusting for amisclassification ofworkers employed but notat work (down from 19.5%in April).”

Stocks gain, Dow adds 200+ points as Boeing rises


LAUSANNE –Manchester City's ap-peal against a two-yearban from European com-petition opened beforethe Court of Arbitrationfor Sport (CAS) onMonday by videoconfer-ence, a court official said.

City are accused of over-stating sponsorship revenueto hide their failure to com-ply with UEFA's financialfair-play (FFP) rules be-tween 2012 and 2016. In ad-dition to the ban, they werealso fined 30 million euros($34 million, £27 million).

"The hearing has startedwell and the video confer-ence is working well,"Matthieu Reeb, the secre-tary general of theLausanne-based CAS, said.

The remote hearing,which pits Manchester Cityagainst UEFA lawyers,opened 09:00 local time andis scheduled to last threedays before closing onWednesday evening. Reebsaid a decision could an-nounced in July.

Even if City's appeal toCAS fails, the Englishchampions could present afurther appeal before theSwiss Federal Court, also

based in Lausanne.UEFA's case was

prompted by a series ofleaked emails published byGerman magazine DerSpiegel in 2018 that seemedto show how City manufac-tured extra sponsorship rev-enue from a series of compa-nies with connections to theclub's Abu Dhabi-basedowner Sheikh Mansour.

Under the Sheikh's own-ership, City's fortunes havebeen transformed, winningfour Premier League titlesin the past eight years.

However, the billions in-vested in players and man-agers have not yet deliveredthe club's first ChampionsLeague title.

City are still involved inthis season's competitionand will be allowed to com-pete should the 2019/20 edi-tion of the ChampionsLeague return in August,nomatter the outcome of theappeal.

Another European pow-erhouse, Italian club ACMilan, has already been ex-cluded from European com-petitions for failing to com-ply with the FFP rules,afterlosing their appeal to CASin June 2019.

A two-season ban fromthe competition would rep-resent a huge blow to City'sprestige, finances and hopeof keeping manager PepGuardiola and key playerslike Kevin De Bruyne andRaheem Sterling.

"Two years would be long.One year is something Imight be able to cope with,"De Bruyne told Het LaatsteNieuws last month.

City banked 93 millioneuros from prize money andtelevision rights alone byreaching the quarter-finalsof last season's Champions

League.The further loss of gate

receipts and commercialrevenue would make it ex-tremely difficult for the clubto meet FFP regulationswithout cutting costs.

City have steadfastly re-jected UEFA's allega-tions."Based on our experi-ence and our perception,this seems to be less aboutjustice and more about pol-itics," said CEO of the CityFootball Group FerranSoriano.

UEFA has been underpressure,most publicly from

La Liga president JavierTebas, to impose a harderline on clubs backed bystates, such as City andQatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain.

European football's gov-erning body also haveplenty riding on the case. Ifthey lose the appeal, theFFP regulations would beundermined.A delayed out-come would leave a cloudhanging over the return ofthe Premier League season.

City seem certain to se-cure Champions Leaguequalification on the field

with a 12-point lead overfifth-placed ManchesterUnited.

If they are excluded, fifthwould be good enough forthe riches of next season'sChampions League, whichare all the more valuableduring the economic crisiscaused by coronavirus.

Just six points separateUnited from Crystal Palacein 11th, leaving plenty toplay for in the final ninerounds of matches of theseason once the PremierLeague restarts on June 17.

Hearing opens as Man City appeal two-year ban

CARLIN was also doingtesting for its variousrace programmes atSilverstone recently andreigning British F4champion and 2020 sign-ing Barbados ZaneMaloney was one of thedrivers who was out onthe track.

Carlin shook down twoof its new halo-shod

Dallara 320 chassis forthe upcomingEuroformula season, withits Dallara P217 proto-type sportscar and BRDCBritish F3 cars on track.

Silverstone is owned bythe British RacingDrivers’ Club, whilemany of the other majorBritish circuits are ownedby Jonathan Palmer’s

MotorSport Vision organ-isation. Private tests thatobserve social distancingguidelines (as shownbelow) are able to takeplace at present, with rac-ing set to return in July.

McLaren Formula 1driver Lando Norris alsotested a Dallara Formula3 car at Silverstone aspreparation for a return

to racing.The 20-year-old was

ran in the test by Carlin,which he raced forthroughout his junior sin-gle-seater career. Heclaimed the 2015 BritishFormula 4 and 2017 FIAEuropean F3 titles withthe team, and also wonraces in BRDC British F3and Formula 2.

Zane Maloney test at Silverstonewith Lando Norris

Tuesday June 9, 2020 •23The Barbados Advocate

REX

MORGAN

PHANTOM

PROS

AND

CONS

ZITS

MARY

WORTH

MOTHER

GOOSE

HOROSCOPESAries – Don't bother to fit in with the rest of the crowd.Golden opportunities arrive when you offer somethingdifferent and specialised. Teaching, lecturing, or writingallows you to share specialised knowledge. As you can'tyet meet in person, you can always Skype. An impracti-cal financial venture should be avoided like the plague.

Taurus – Are you hesitant to work for a large corporation?You shouldn't be, provided that your primary desire is tomake lots of money. If you'd rather cultivate fame and ac-claim, it's better to join a smaller operation. Listen to yourheart. People find your extreme opinions alienating.Beware of discussing your beliefs about religion, politicsand culture in mixed company.

Gemini – Your ideas about spirituality are unusual. Stuffytraditionalists will dismiss your perspective. Don't lettheir contempt bother you. Everyone has their own wayof viewing the world. By staying true to what you believe,you'll always be fully engaged with the world. Coveringup the truth will do more harm than good.

Cancer – A friendship that fell by the wayside is weigh-ing on your mind. Whilst it's true you had some very goodtimes with an offbeat innovator, you weren't compatible.Reuniting will only dredge up the old resentments thatdrove you apart. It's tempting to abandon a dream you'vehad since childhood.

Leo – Your romantic or business partner doesn't want youto accept an unusual professional opportunity. Their con-cerns are valid. Although you'd welcome the chance towork with affluent clients, patrons or patients, this oper-ation isn't as reliable as it seems. Hold out for somethingmore stable.

Virgo – People often tease you about your approach tohelp. Learn to laugh off their jokes. If a diet or fitness pro-gramme works for you, that's all that matters. Don't urgeanyone to follow your lead unless they ask for advice. It'stempting to lash out at a relative who is always criticis-ing you.

Libra – Pursuing a fairy tale ideal of romance is a losingproposition. Don't be so quick to dismiss someone be-cause of their faults. If you focus on their best traits, youcan build a supportive relationship. Affirmations workmuch better than condemnations. Do you already have apartner?

Scorpio – Is a relative's criticism of your personal spacegetting on your nerves? Stop allowing other people to af-fect your mood. When you hit upon an arrangement thatuplifts and supports you, there's no need to be defensive.Stand by your way of life. An embarrassing incident fromthe past will come back to haunt you.

Sagittarius – Aneighbour or relative will find your behav-iour disruptive. Instead of getting defensive when they askyou to alter your habits, try to find a compromise. Expressa desire to make them comfortable and then discuss waysyou can happily co-exist. Although you dislike dull rou-tines, it's important to dispatch these jobs.

Capricorn – You're not impressed with an admirer whodoesn't make very much money. Although their bank bal-ance might not be stellar, this individual has many otherassets that should be considered. Their vivid imaginationand great sense of humour are priceless. A childish tem-per tantrum will drive opportunity from your door.

Aquarius – A lot of people are jealous of you. That's be-cause you manage to remain independent, even whenyou work for a company or enter a romantic relationship.This ability to stay true to yourself is a rare quality. It oftensets you apart from others. You've never been overlyconcerned about public opinion.

Pisces – Resist the temptation to complain about yourproblems. There are better ways to get attention. By cul-tivating an attitude of gratitude, you'll find the companyyou crave. Soon, you'll be surrounded by fellow optimistswho make the most of life. Beware of gossiping with rel-atives and neighbours.

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GOVERNMENT’S han-dling of the COVID-19pandemic has beenviewed as effective.

Apostle Dr. DavidDurant, Senior Pastor ofRestoration MinistriesInternational, praised theresponse thus far, whilewelcoming back his con-gregation on Sunday aftereight weeks away due torestrictions on social gath-ering.

“We are here to give Godthanks for our islandBarbados. Things couldhave gotten out of handhere but God has beenfaithful,” he expressed.

“Thank God for theGovernment and the ini-tiatives and health caremeted out to the victimsand their recovery plan –of the 92 tested positive,81 recovered (89%) and 7deaths. We will continuelifting the government inour prayers. NoGovernment has beenthrough a pandemic ofthis nature. So they havedone well with an 89% re-covery to date.”

Dr. Durant, a formerSenator told the congrega-tion that they gathered toassist their brethren in existing in this crisis,with its associated fears, worry, anxiety,

LAUDED on Page 6

GOV’T GETS PASSING GRADE

THE 25 people who weretested for COVID-19 yesterday were all nega-tive for the viral illness.

Four people who arepositive for the virus remain at the isolation facility at Harrison Point,St. Lucy.

The number of testsconducted by the Best-dosSantos Public HealthLaboratory has nowreached 5,925.There havebeen 92 confirmed casesof COVID-19, 81 peoplehave recovered and sevensuccumbed to the virus.

25 peopletest negativefor virus

A HELPING HAND: Times have become increasing hard for many Barbadians who have sought assistance from various good-will charity groups. Many Barbadians were seen recently at one location seeking help.

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