Singapore

Global Atlantic Announces 2nd Reinsurance Deal

admin — Sat, 18 Jun 2022 21:00:01 +0000

Global Atlantic Announces 2nd Reinsurance Deal

/sites/default/files/imported_articles_images/node__12213.jpg

admin Sat, 06/18/2022 - 21:00

Saturday, June 11, 2022

Original Publisher

Bernews » Business

Original Article

Global Atlantic Announces 2nd Reinsurance Deal

Global Atlantic Financial Group announced its second reinsurance transaction in Asia, signing an asset-intensive flow reinsurance transaction with a leading Singapore-based insurance company. A spokesperson said, “This deal, executed through its Bermuda-based subsidiary Global Atlantic Assurance Limited, follows a USD $4.8bn block reinsurance transaction with AXA Hong Kong in July 2021.” “Our client-centric and partnership-based […]

(Click to read the full article)

Caribbean

Business

SO2 - February 6

admin — Mon, 21 Feb 2022 02:50:01 +0000

SO2 - February 6

/sites/default/files/imported_articles_images/node__11075.jpg

admin Mon, 02/21/2022 - 02:50

Sunday, February 6, 2022

Original Publisher

Jamaica Observer

Original Article

SO2 - February 6

First...

This is the story of "black in blue," began the ITV news broadcast in a segment discussing Pilots of the Caribbean: Volunteers of African Heritage in the Royal Air Force - an exhibition currently on display at the Royal Air Force (RAF) Museum in Cosford, England. The exhibit highlights the Caribbean people who fought for Britain in two world wars. Though integral to British history, their stories are not well-known hence the reason that the RAF Museum has regularly mounted the ever-growing exhibit since 2014.

Their beginnings

The 1948 arrival of Empire Windrush is thought to be the single Caribbean migration to England. But, here's a fun fact: Of the 500 Jamaicans onboard, more than half served in the RAF. According to the exhibition notes, "In two world wars, African-Caribbean people volunteered to serve in the Royal Air Force. These volunteers fought, and died, for the mother country and for freedom, and thereby helped preserve the values and the heritage they shared with their white comrades." For each World War, approximately 6,000 black people from the Caribbean, Africa and Britain served in the RAF.

Jamaican history-makers

From documented accounts from the Caribbean volunteers: "On arriving in Britain, the volunteers discovered that few British people had met a black person before." This did not deter or hinder many of them from standing out and making history. Sergeant William Robinson Clark from Kingston paid his own passage to England to join the royal flying corps, where he began as a driver. After completing flight training in 1917, he became the first black military pilot to fly for Britain.

Windell "Joe" Walcott MBE from Refuge, Duncans, Trelawny, joined the RAF in 1945 and retired as a warrant officer after 34 years of service. He served in "Cyprus, Germany, Malta and Singapore as an Air Quartermaster supplying military bases across the globe, before retiring in 1979". He passed away in November 2018, but his name will not be forgotten. In August 2021, Building 78 at RAF Brize Norton was renamed 'The Walcott Building' to commemorate his sterling service to the RAF.

Another Jamaican, Sam King MBE, who hailed from Priestman's River, Portland, joined the RAF in 1944. He was posted to the fighter station RAF Hawkinge and served as a skilled aircraft fitter. His career continued with various postings throughout Britain. After World War II, King returned to Jamaica but soon went back to England on the Windrush. He made quite the life for himself in England, where he was instrumental in establishing the Notting Hill Carnival and in 1983 became the first black mayor of Southwark. His campaign was not free from adversity. As stated in his memoir Climbing Up the Rough Side of the Mountain, the racist National Front threatened to cut his throat and burn down his house. Upon his death in 2016, British MP and former Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn noted, "What a legend, what a loss. London is a better place, Britain is a better place thanks to Sam and his family."

Race and sense of place

The RAF had strict rules against racial bias. But the "colour bar" was lowered between the wars and after. Though they served Her Majesty, many Caribbean RAF volunteers were instrumental in the anti-colonialist movement. Those who returned to the Caribbean were key figures in politics, the attainment of independence, and the establishment of trade unions, especially for the sugar industry. According to the exhibit's curators, "They carried with them the dynamic ethos of the RAF, becoming politicians, lawyers and teachers determined to change their homelands for the better."

Those who returned to England fought for equality and kept "Britain free from nazi domination."

Today and the future

British society has dramatically changed since the 1960s. Black people were instrumental in attaining the many freedoms that contemporary English society enjoys. Black people continue to serve in the RAF, which is now a "progressive and highly effective multi-ethnic force, and the service continues to welcome African-Caribbean volunteers today".

Pilots of the Caribbean: Volunteers of African Heritage was curated by the Royal Air Force Museum in partnership with the Black Cultural Archives. The exhibit runs until November.

Photos: Royal Air Force Museum, Forces News, Black Cultural Archives, ITV, The Latest, and RAF Brize Norton News.

And...

"The news is out! Happy to be joining @worldsailingofficial team," was the celebratory note posted to Jamaican-born sustainability expert and double Paralympic bronze medallist Alexandra Rickham's Instagram account last Monday.

The official announcement was released by World Sailing moments before. Rickham was appointed head of sustainability. She joins World Sailing directly from specialist sports sustainability consultancy Earth to Ocean, where she set up SailGP's sustainability programme and later transitioned into being their diversity & impact manager. The sports executive and professional athlete brings a wealth of expertise across sustainability, diversity and inclusion to the organisation.

Originally from St Ann's Bay, Rickham was born to a Jamaican mother and British father. She became a tetraplegic/quadriplegia and full-time wheelchair user at age 13, after a diving accident during a holiday trip to Jamaica while on break from boarding school in the UK.

Caribbean

Living Standard

Covid spurring political and personal battles

admin — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 08:10:01 +0000

Covid spurring political and personal battles admin Fri, 12/10/2021 - 08:10

Friday, December 3, 2021

Original Publisher

Searchlight

Original Article

Covid spurring political and personal battles

When first the impact of the COVID pandemic hit us over two years ago, there were few among us that thought we would still be grappling with it today, on the verge of the year 2022. Today, not only has the disease accounted for the deaths of over 5 million persons worldwide but it seems to be constantly recharging its batteries in the form of new variants and, as evidenced in the emergence of yet another offshoot, the Omicron, is creating alarm just as controls and restrictions were being eased.

Given the deadly experience over the past two years and the novelty of the new strain, there is an understandable tendency towards panic reaction, especially in the European Union and the United Kingdom, and restrictions of travel to and from Southern African countries are being imposed. Yet, after blaming those countries for the origin of this new strain, it is now being revealed that strains of the new variant had been reported in Europe before the supposed “discovery” in southern Africa.

It immediately recalls the experience with AIDS, originally blamed on African countries, and people of African origin, before scientific facts began to challenge the early assumptions. What is even more worrying is that such unsubstantiated claims about origin only fuels the skepticism, already dangerously high, about official information on the virus.

Southern African countries, led by South Africa, which itself first reported the presence of the new variant, have complained bitterly about what they se as unjustified and discriminatory attacks on their economies. It is not just the restrictions on personal travel which hurts, but even more the economic effects, virtually closing the door to trade and economic transactions especially at this time of year.
Indeed, while the spotlight tends to be on restrictions of personal freedoms on one hand, and the devastating effects of the pandemic on life and limb, it is the longer-lasting damage to the economies of countries big and small, which is of even greater significance.
On both counts though, social as well as economic, the pandemic and the responses to it, are fueling serious political, social and even personal battles all over the world. Whether it is in our own SVG, in Singapore, Australia or France, clashes have broken out between those opposed either to vaccines or the process for the implementation of the vaccination process, and those charged with the responsibility for law and order.

Having mentioned France, it is instructive to note not only the protests in France proper, but what is happening in the so-called French ‘territories’ in the Caribbean, particularly the so-called ‘overseas departments’ of Guadeloupe and Martinique. There, the French have stubbornly refused to respect the demands for an end to colonial rule and to allow the people of these Caribbean territories the right to improve the deplorable conditions of poverty and racial discrimination as the rest of the Caribbean is doing.

It is therefore no surprise that in addition to the open protests about vaccination in France itself and, given the restrictions, the clamour for individual freedom, the conditions, especially in Guadeloupe, have given rise to violent protests and riots. France has responded in typical colonial fashion, refusing to heed calls for dialogue and instead sending in troops to “quell the disturbances”. It is not much different from what was tried in Algeria or North or West “French Africa”.

This combination has complicated the situation and, with the help of the international media, attempted to deflect attention away from the problems caused by continued colonial rule and to blame it all on anti-vaccination protests. Of course, these are present but the root of the problem lies in the racist nature of French colonialism and its stubborn refusal to come to grips with the reality of decolonization. In addition, there are the underlying economic problems, including what the late Professor George Beckford had described as “persistent poverty”.

Guadeloupe is by no means the only country where underlying problems and conflicts are being used to exacerbate the differences on approaches to handling COVID, particularly the vaccination process, the only proven scientific answer so far.
We have our problems here at home, but it is so sad to note the vitriolic language and confrontational approaches by those in opposition to the government’s vaccination policy. The language itself does not suggest any search for solutions. Instead words like “immoral”, “evil”, and “wicked” are used to describe those aiming to try and curb the spread of the virus and to protect the health of the population.

More worryingly, it seems that those who continue to fan the flames of protest are doing so by encouraging workers to make sacrificial lambs of themselves while those organizing the protests have little to lose personally. Significantly, the emphasis has never been on alternative policies to halt the deadly pandemic, indeed it is being dismissed as a figment of the imagination.

Workers are being encouraged to give up their jobs, because “we will win in courts”. When will be the court cases and who will mind the suffering families in the meantime is another issue, Opposition politicians vow to reinstate those who surrender their jobs? But that same Opposition has failed to win elections for 20 years now, how could one have confidence in reinstatement when it has failed to demonstrate it can win, much more reinstate?

Now we are even having attacks on Cuban health workers, being recruited in case there are gaps in our health system which we can ill afford at this time. Do we forget it is to the same Cuba to which we had to turn to fill gaps in our health personnel needs? These misguided attacks must be firmly rebuffed.

Caribbean

News

President Mwinyi outlines plans to make Zanzibar transportation hub

admin — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 23:10:01 +0000

President Mwinyi outlines plans to make Zanzibar transportation hub

/sites/default/files/imported_articles_images/node__9639.jpg

admin Thu, 12/09/2021 - 23:10

Saturday, December 4, 2021

Original Publisher

The Citizen

Original Article

President Mwinyi outlines plans to make Zanzibar transportation hub

Dar es Salaam. The President of Zanzibar, Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi, has outlined plans to construct the Manga Pwani Port that is expected to be the continent’s transportation hub.
He said investment and completion of the project will reduce costs of transporting cargo from different parts of the world and increase their levels of competitiveness.
The auspicious Islands of Zanzibar Head of State said the government has started looking for investors in the project constituting the six sectors forming the blue economy.
He said Singapore and Dubai have made significant development steps and a vibrant economy through the port economy, hinting that the same was possible for Zanzibar.
The eighth president was speaking at the Zanzibar State House during an exclusive interview with Mwananchi Communications Limited (MCL) journalists on the government’s performance and future plans after completing a year in office.
During the interview - led by the MCL Managing Director, Mr Bakari Machumu - Dr Mwinyi said Zanzibar was blessed to have the Mwanga Pwani area that has a sea level depth that allows construction of a port that can allow large ships to dock.
According to him, the 800 metres long berth will be constructed in the area to allow the Five Generation (5G) ships carrying many containers to dock.
“Singapore and Dubai depend on the ports’ economies. Cargo passes their ports for distribution in different countries. Why shouldn’t the same take place through Zanzibar?” he wondered.
The Port of Singapore is the biggest and busiest in Southeast Asia - and the second worldwide after Shanghai.
In 2019, it carried 37.2 million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEU containers)” about 1.6 percent more as compared to 2018.
The Maritime Port Authority (MPA) plans to build the Tuas Port that will top other ports with the capacity to handle 60 million TEU after completion in 2040.
However, the Mina Jebel Ali in Dubai is a major port, currently handling 22.4 million cargo to Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Europe.
It services ships from over 150 ports with container terminals divided into T1, T2, and T3 zones with construction plans of T4 underway.
T1 is the busiest terminal with 15 berths, 51 cranes and a nine million TEU capacity, while T2 has eight berths and 32 cranes with annual capacity to hold 6.5 million TEUs.
T3 is highly advanced, possessing semi-automatic cranes capable of processing Ultra Large Container Vessels (ULCVs).
The terminal also has five berths capable of handling 3.8 million and store over 18,000 TEUs.
The proposed T4 is expected to add 3.1 million TEUs to existing facilities.
Dr Mwinyi believes that like the ports in Singapore and Dubai the Mwanga Pwani project could turn Zanzibar a transportation hub in Africa.
“This is our plan. We have started negotiating with investors. Some of them have expressed interest in investing in the project,” he said.
According to him, investment will involve construction of tank farms that will facilitate storage of oil and gas imported from Arab countries, Singapore and Europe and later distributed to other parts of the continent.
Dr Mwinyi who was speaking confidently said the completion of the project will benefit businessmen who dig deeper now for importation of cargo to African ports such as Dar es Salaam and Beira through the use of small ships.
Tourism
Speaking on the other components of the blue economy, Dr Mwinyi said his government was attracting investment in the tourism sector, which is the mother of the blue economy.
“Investment in hotel constructions worth $250 million, $70 million, $15 million, etc., is underway. Islets have been offered for similar investment, the move that has given a good response,” he said.
He said his belief was that the tourism sector will continue performing well due to the given incentives, good business environment and market availability,” he said.
Fisheries
The Zanzibar’s president said fishermen in the Isles used poor fishing gear, getting an average of two kilogramme of fish per day that are sold at an average of Sh10,000 to Sh15,000.
“They have now been provided with boats that will increase production to 1,000 kilos (one tone) per day. Besides, investors’ attraction continues to enable Zanzibar to export processed sea products,” he said.
Oil and Gas
According to him, abundant discoveries of oil and gas have been made in Zanzibar, saying his government was now working to extract the natural resources for power generation, domestic use, etc.
Seaweed
Dr Mwinyi said government institutions including the Zanzibar Social Security Fund (ZSSF), People’s Bank of Zanzibar (PBZ) and Zanzibar Insurance Corporation (ZIC) have been advised to mobilize funds for construction of a seaweed processing factory.
“I’m told processed seaweed exports fetch Sh12,000 per kilo. This would take our seaweed farmers out of poverty, compared with the Sh500 they are paid per kilo today,” he said.

Africa

News

Richie fights back

admin — Sat, 09 Oct 2021 11:00:02 +0000

Richie fights back

/sites/default/files/imported_articles_images/node__9386.jpg

admin Sat, 10/09/2021 - 11:00

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Original Publisher

Jamaica Observer

Original Article

Richie fights back

ATTORNEY-AT-LAW Christopher Townsend yesterday confirmed that Australian police have thrown out the sexual abuse case involving singer Richie Stephens.

"The matter never made it to the court. The police conducted their investigation and determined that the accuser's story was too incredible, so it was thrown out. Mr Stephens is just continuing with his life. He's glad that the Australian police has come out and confirmed everything he has been saying. He's also happy people are now seeing the truth. He isn't giving this matter any more attention," Townsend told the Jamaica Observer.

Last Friday, Elaine Lim uploaded a YouTube video alleging that Stephens sexually assaulted her between November 12 and 13 2019 in Melbourne during the Australian leg of the Jamaica Flava Tour.

The Singaporean is an art educator and former soldier in the Singapore Armed Forces.

Townsend said her defamatory allegations have not impacted Stephens' career. He is unsure why the matter resurfaced almost two years later.

"These allegations have been made for some time. They were made in 2019 and he's gotten bookings and gone on tour since then," the attorney said.

"It's a construct of her mind. I don't know if she thinks she can gain anything from it now why she's brought it up again. I was listening to her on Mr Vegas's podcast [on Sunday], and her story was just so incredible. Her husband or boyfriend joined and he just made things even worse," Townsend continued.

During The Mr Vegas Show on Sunday - viewed by almost 5,000 across various social media - Lim alleged that she rejected Stephens' alleged sexual advances multiple times.

"The extent I thought he would go to was, he would try to fondle me, he would try to kiss me 'cause these are all things he has done. During that time, every single time, I said 'No'...I thought in my head, 'Okay. When I say no, I'm gonna be respected,' " she said.

Lim added that prior to the alleged rape, she developed a certain level of trust for Stephens.

"...I ended up calling him uncle because he called me his niece. I thought he would protect me, he wouldn't try to hurt me. Maybe he would try something funny, try to flirt, but beyond that, nothing else. So, that was the line we all thought was the threshold," she said.

On Saturday, Stephens (given name Richard Stephenson) uploaded a three-minute, 50-second video to his social media platforms to counter all claims Lim made in her video the day before.

"I owe it to my family, to my friends and to my fans to come out and set the record straight...She [Elaine Lim] was on tour with me in Australia in 2019. She made a formal report to the police against me, she did a rape kit...What she did not tell you [is that] a thorough investigation was done by Australian police. I was detained. They took a statement from me, a statement from her, a statement from other people and there were cameras around," Stephens started.

"...At the end of their investigations they found that her allegations were simply baseless. I'm really sorry for her to know that she would go that far to try and get some recognition...Some people believe that likes are far more important than the truth," the entertainer added.

Stephens began recording music in the late 1980s. In the 1990s he was part of the powerful Main Street Records crew, led by producer Danny Browne. His popular songs include Trying to Get to You, By Your Side, Fight Back ft Garnet Silk, and Legacy ft Cobra.

During that decade, Stephens was signed to Motown Records, and later established his Pot of Gold label.

In 2006 Stephens was awarded the Jamaican Governor General's Achievement Award for contributing to civic, social and recreational projects in his home parish of Westmoreland.

Caribbean

Entertainment

General Ling sticking to her guns

admin — Sat, 09 Oct 2021 00:00:01 +0000

General Ling sticking to her guns

/sites/default/files/imported_articles_images/node__9227.jpg

admin Sat, 10/09/2021 - 00:00

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Original Publisher

Entertainment

Original Article

General Ling sticking to her guns

Despite the Australian police confirming the Richie Stephens rape case has been closed, Elaine Lim is vowing to continue her fight. It was midnight in Singapore when The Gleaner spoke to Lim, but the former soldier in the Singapore Armed Forces,...

Caribbean

Entertainment

Pandora Papers: An offshore data tsunami

admin — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 16:20:02 +0000

Pandora Papers: An offshore data tsunami

/sites/default/files/imported_articles_images/node__465.jpeg

admin Mon, 10/04/2021 - 16:20

Sunday, October 3, 2021

Original Publisher

Offshore havens and hidden riches of world leaders and billionaires exposed in unprecedented leak

admin — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 16:00:01 +0000

Offshore havens and hidden riches of world leaders and billionaires exposed in unprecedented leak

/sites/default/files/imported_articles_images/node__8914.jpg

admin Mon, 10/04/2021 - 16:00

Sunday, October 3, 2021

Original Publisher

Every corner of the world

The Pandora Papers investigation unmasks the covert owners of offshore companies, incognito bank accounts, private jets, yachts, mansions, even artworks by Picasso, Banksy and other masters – providing more information than what’s usually available to law enforcement agencies and cash-strapped governments.

People linked by the secret documents to offshore assets include India’s cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar, pop music diva Shakira, supermodel Claudia Schiffer and an Italian mobster known as “Lell the Fat One.”

The mobster, Raffaele Amato, has been tied to at least a dozen killings. The documents provide details about a shell company, registered in the United Kingdom, that Amato used to buy land in Spain, shortly before fleeing there from Italy to set up his own crime gang. Amato, whose history helped inspire the highly praised movie “Gomorrah,” is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Amato’s attorney did not respond to ICIJ’s request for comment.

Tendulkar’s attorney said the cricket player’s investment is legitimate and has been declared to tax authorities. Shakira’s attorney said the singer declared her companies, which the attorney said do not provide tax advantages. Schiffer’s representatives said the supermodel correctly pays her taxes in the U.K., where she lives.

In most countries, it’s not illegal to have assets offshore or to use shell companies to do business across national borders. Businesspeople who operate internationally say they need offshore companies to conduct their financial affairs.

Africa

News

'Strictly professional', says Richie Stephens of relationship with Elaine Lim

admin — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 15:20:02 +0000

'Strictly professional', says Richie Stephens of relationship with Elaine Lim

/sites/default/files/imported_articles_images/node__8898.jpg

admin Mon, 10/04/2021 - 15:20

Sunday, October 3, 2021

Original Publisher

Entertainment

Original Article

'Strictly professional', says Richie Stephens of relationship with El…

Veteran recording artiste Richie Stephens has denied the sexual-abuse accusations made by the Chinese entertainer and entrepreneur, Elaine Lim. On Friday, Lim, who is also a beatboxer, art educator and former soldier in the Singapore Armed Forces...

Caribbean

Entertainment

No decision yet on next move, says Richie Stephens’ attorney

admin — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 15:20:02 +0000

No decision yet on next move, says Richie Stephens’ attorney

/sites/default/files/imported_articles_images/node__8897.jpg

admin Mon, 10/04/2021 - 15:20

Monday, October 4, 2021

Original Publisher

Entertainment

Original Article

No decision yet on next move, says Richie Stephens’ attorney

Richie Stephens’ lawyer Christopher Townsend says no decision has yet been made on the next step for his client. On Friday, Elaine Lim, a Singapore-based beatboxer and video editor, who goes by the moniker General Ling, uploaded a video to YouTube...

Caribbean

Entertainment