Policymakers and experts have identified ways in which persons with disability can enjoy the benefits of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs). This, during a meeting hosted by ECLAC Caribbean.

While ICTs can break down barriers and ensure that everyone can participate actively in society, many people with disabilities are currently not able to use computers, access the internet or handle smartphones and other mobile technology. In the Caribbean, this is particularly worrisome, given that there are approximately 1.3 million persons with a disability of some kind and around 250,000 persons with a significant disability.

It is for this reason that ECLAC Caribbean undertook a study to research ways to bridge the digital divide that affects persons with disabilities. One of the solutions identified is the use of Universal Service Funds (USFs), which are instruments that can finance equal access to ICTs. USFs aim to increase access to telecommunication services through a levy on telecommunication providers.

In the subregion, there are currently ten USFs, and a further nine countries have legislation that would enable the establishment of a USF. Historically, USFs have faced challenges ranging from high levels of undisbursed funds to low levels of transparency and mismanagement.

Until recently, these shortcomings engendered a cautious approach to USF adoption for improving access to ICTs for persons with disabilities and other marginalised groups. However, new opportunities for increasing the effectiveness of USFs emerged today, during discussions among key stakeholders at the ECLAC Caribbean meeting.

Participants provided feedback on the findings of ECLAC’s latest study, offering perspectives on its conclusions and recommendations.   The meeting identified best practices and robust suggestions for countries wishing to establish or improve an existing USF to increase access to technology for persons with disabilities.

Participating today were persons with disabilities and their organisations, representatives from universal service funds, telecommunications departments and regulatory bodies from a number of Caribbean countries as well as from regional telecommunications organisations, including the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU)…[+]

WASHINGTON– President Donald Trump yesterday proposed tighter monitoring of the internet, mental health reform and wider use of the death penalty in response to two mass shootings over the weekend that left 32 people dead in Texas and Ohio.

Trump, a Republican, whom Democrats have accused of stoking racial divisions, said Americans must “condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy,” a day after Texas officials said racial hatred was a possible motive in the killings of 22 people in the southern border city of El Paso.

A 21-year-old white man has been charged with capital murder in Saturday’s shooting spree at a Walmart store. Police in El Paso cited a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto posted online shortly before the shooting, which they attributed to the suspect, Patrick Crusius.

Trump did not address accusations that his own anti-immigrant and racially charged comments have contributed to a rise in race tensions, nor did he call for broad gun control measures. “These sinister ideologies must be defeated,” he said in remarks at the White House. “Hate has no place in America. Hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart and devours the soul.”(Reuters)…[+]

The Kingston-based Harvest Temple Apostolic Church has vowed to press on, declaring that it has nothing to be ashamed of as its disgraced pastor awaits sentencing on sex-related charges after impregnating a 12-year-old girl.

Last week, Pastor Kenneth Blake pleaded guilty to two counts of having sex with a person under 16 years old and one count of sexual touching in the Home Circuit Court. He had been denying the charges for two years, despite DNA tests revealing that there was a 99.9 per cent chance he was the father of the minor’s child.

At yesterday’s first Sunday service since the guilty plea, senior church leaders insisted that the pastor’s sins would not be the congregation’s shame.

“God doesn’t deal with wrong. If somebody is wrong, then they will receive their pay for what they do. I am free through the Son of God and there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus,” a female elder, who did not wish to be identified, told The Gleaner after yesterday’s service. “What happened cannot affect the church, which is built on Jesus Christ. I am not afraid and I am not cast down because the church didn’t do anything wrong,” she added.(Jamaica Gleaner)…[+]

July this year was the warmest month ever recorded worldwide, satellite data has confirmed. The assessment was carried out by researchers at the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).  Scientists say it’s the latest sign that Earth is experiencing unprecedented warming. Scorching heatwaves saw records tumble across Europe last month, with unusually high temperatures within the Arctic Circle as well. Globally, July 2019 was marginally warmer – by 0.04 degrees Celsius (0.072 Fahrenheit) – than the previous hottest month on record, July 2016. July was ‘marginally’ world’s warmest month ever. (BBC)…[+]

A Cedros couple watched helplessly on Friday evening as fire destroyed their home amounting to an estimated $1 million in losses. Siparia fire-fighters responded to the report of a house on fire at Bell View Trace, Chatam, Cedros at about 7 pm. The homeowners Steve Joseph, 57, and his wife Shirley Charles, lost their two bedroom one two-storey house and four vehicles which were parked on the ground floor.

A devastated Joseph said he could not believe that he lost everything he owned within an two hours. “I got the hose and started straying the fire but the water pump went out and there was no water to extinguish the fire,” said Joseph, an employee of the Siparia Regional Corporation.

He was unable to save anything as the fire spread rapidly through the house. He was downstairs fixing a car when the house lights began to flicker. When he went to check on what was happening with the electricity, he saw his home was on fire.

Joseph told Sunday Newsday that the Siparia firefighters took just over an hour to reach his house which was completely engulfed in flames by the time they arrived. He believes part of the property could have been saved if they responded earlier.

“There is no fire service station in Cedros. Therefore, we are at high risk when a fire takes place in this part of the country,” he said.(Trinidad Newsday)…[+]

TEGUCIGALPA-Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez on Saturday denied reports from a U.S. court filing linking him to drug trafficking, accusing criminals of seeking revenge against him.

“The drug traffickers are looking for revenge against the only president who’s done what he’s needed to do,” he told a news conference, detailing his efforts to curb illegal drug sales in the small Central American country where drug gangs have prominent strongholds. Hernandez specifically opposed a report from U.S.-based Spanish language broadcaster Univision in which he said he was described as implicated in a campaign finance conspiracy.

Univision had detailed a 44-page document related to the upcoming drug trafficking trial in New York of Hernandez’s brother, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernandez, that contained testimony from someone who appeared to be a former official. “These are false accusations made by a drug trafficker,” Hernandez said, while acknowledging that such a document had been put before a U.S. judge.(Reuters)…[+]

BRIDGETOWN- The United States Government and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) are working together to improve opportunities for vulnerable youth in Castries, Saint Lucia. The two entities today formalised their commitment to this collaboration, signing a Letter of Agreement that reaffirms their joint partnership with the Government of Saint Lucia on comprehensive violence prevention projects being funded by both institutions. During a brief ceremony held at CDB’s Barbados-based headquarters, Acting Mission Director, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Eastern and Southern Caribbean, Julia Henn, signed the agreement on behalf of the United States Government, while CDB Vice-President (Operations), Monica La Bennett, did so on behalf of CDB.

The signing formalises ongoing collaboration on the implementation of complementary youth initiatives – USAID’s regional Youth Empowerment Services (YES) Project and CDB’s Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) – in Saint Lucia. The agreement follows the establishment of a National Advisory Board to ensure effective in-country coordination, and facilitates sharing of information and best practices, maximisation of opportunities for communication to joint stakeholders and reduction in duplication of efforts to maximise impact.

Addressing the signing ceremony, CDB Vice-President (Operations), Monica La Bennett said, “The [Youth Empowerment] Project is intended to enhance the capacity of the Government of Saint Lucia and its implementing and participating agencies to deliver results-based youth empowerment responses to build the resilience and improve the life chances of vulnerable children, youth and their families. In this regard, CDB is pleased to partner with USAID to support the Government of Saint Lucia in addressing the complex citizen security challenges facing the country. CDB welcomes this partnership as we recognise that Saint Lucia’s development can only be enhanced through collaboration with partners such as USAID.”…[+]

NEW DELHI– The apparent suicide of India’s coffee baron V.G. Siddhartha, under investigation by tax authorities, has inflamed anger towards the government among business leaders who feel it is going too far in its crackdown on fraud and tax evasion.

Drastic measures taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration include stringent action to enforce tax compliance, probes into bank lending practices and threatening auditors with five-year bans for alleged lapses in their work. In particular the push by tax collectors has been labelled ‘tax terrorism’ by T.V. Mohandas Pai, a former director of Indian IT giant Infosys Ltd, even before the Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd founder disappeared and his body was later found floating in a river in southern India on Wednesday.

In a letter circulating on social media since Tuesday and purportedly written by Siddhartha to the firm’s board and employees, he said he “gave up”, blaming tax authorities for “harassment” and decisions that caused a liquidity crunch as well as an unnamed private equity partner for pressuring him into a share buyback.(Reuters)…[+]

Un­der Gary Grif­fith’s tenure as Po­lice Com­mis­sion­er so far, an es­ti­mat­ed 485 peo­ple have been mur­dered. In this coun­try’s his­to­ry, the mur­der toll in a cal­en­dar year has on­ly ever crossed the 475 mark on four oc­ca­sions. And there are still more than two weeks left un­til Grif­fith cel­e­brates his first an­niver­sary as Po­lice Com­mis­sion­er.

With the cur­rent rate of blood­let­ting tak­ing place in the coun­try, it is not im­prob­a­ble that 500 mur­ders can be record­ed un­der Grif­fith’s first year in of­fice. Grif­fith took the oath of of­fice as this coun­try’s sub­stan­tive Po­lice Com­mis­sion­er on Au­gust 17 last year when the mur­der toll was around 345. Last year, even­tu­al­ly end­ed with 517 mur­ders, ac­cord­ing to sta­tis­tics from the Trinidad and To­ba­go Po­lice Ser­vices’ Crime and Prob­lem Analy­sis (CA­PA) branch. It is this coun­try’s sec­ond-high­est mur­der toll ever. (Trinidad Guardian)…[+]

The Bank of England has cut its forecasts for UK growth over the next two years.

It also warned that a no-deal Brexit would hit the economy and trigger a further drop in the value of the pound. The Bank left interest rates unchanged at 0.75% against a backdrop of weaker global growth and ongoing trade tensions between the US and China.

It said the UK economy was expected to grow by 1.3% this year, down from a previous projection of 1.5% in May. The Bank also cut its outlook for growth in 2020 to 1.3%, from a previous projection of 1.6%. The forecasts are based on the assumption that the UK leaves the EU with a Brexit deal – however it suggested growth could be much slower in the event of no deal.

The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that sets interest rates said the UK was likely to have stagnated in the three months to June. Its quarterly Inflation Report predicted only modest growth in the coming months due to ongoing uncertainty over the UK’s future relationship with the European Union.

It said there was a one-in-three chance that the economy will shrink at the start of next year, with global trade tensions also weighing on the UK outlook. And it said there had been a “material and broad-based slowdown” in world growth since the end of 2017.(BBC)…[+]