The payouts are being sent through direct deposit and checks while a measure to increase the payments to $2,000 is stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate.
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Police investigating non-fatal shooting incident in Lime Kiln
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The Police are investigating a non-fatal shooting incident that occurred in the Lime Kiln area on December 28.
As a result of information received, Officers visited the Joseph N. France General Hospital to conduct enquiries. Preliminary investigations revealed that sometime after 10 p.m. on Monday, 26-year-old Kia Jareth Liburd of Lime Kiln Project was making his way to his vehicle from his residence when a lone gunman fired gunshots at him. He received a gunshot wound to his arm. Liburd was transported to the hospital in a private vehicle, where he is warded in a stable condition.
Personnel from the Forensic Services Unit visited and processed the scene.
Persons with information regarding this matter are urged to contact the Violent Crime Unit by dialing 467-1887, 467-1888, 662-3468, their nearest Police Station or the Crime Hotline at 707 where information can be given anonymously.
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Saturday, January 2, 2021 proclaimed a public holiday
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts –= Acting in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet, H.E. Sir S. W. Tapley Seaton CGMG, CVO, QC, JP, LL.D. Governor-General of St. Kitts and Nevis has proclaimed Saturday, January 2, 2021 as a public holiday.
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Boeing 737 Max resumes flying, almost 2 years after worldwide grounding
The controversial jet was grounded in 2019 after two crashes that killed everybody on board.
No lapse in unemployment benefits for gig workers, long-term unemployed, says Labor Dept.
An estimated 14 million applicants can expect to receive the full 11 weeks of benefits, through March 14, 2021.
Prime Minister offers condolences to Valentine Thomas’ family
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris extends his heartfelt condolences, and those of the Government and people of St. Kitts and Nevis, to the family and loved ones of Mr. Valentine Thomas, a prominent journalist and radio personality who owned and operated Sugar City (90.3) FM.
Val T, as he was affectionately called, died on Sunday, December 27, after an ongoing battle with kidney disease. He was 64-years-old.
“Val T’s strong personality and passion for politics – and for life – imbued his outstanding journalism career with authenticity, intensity, originality and a quest for justice,” said Prime Minister the Honourable Dr. Timothy Harris, while reflecting on the life and legacy of Valentine Thomas.
“He was truly inimitable, not only in his witty style of questioning at press conferences, but also in the substance of his work, which covered subjects of national interest, notably health care and law and order, with dogged persistence and determination that redounded to the benefit of his listening audience and the nation at large,” said the Prime Minister.
“On a personal note, Val T was a valued friend and advisor, who was cherished for his unvarnished opinions that provided keen insight and analysis with an eye toward facilitating the building of a stronger and safer future for his fellow citizens and residents of his beloved country,” said Hon. Harris.
The Prime Minister extended deepest condolences to Valentine Thomas’ mother, Dora; his children, extended family and friends; the media community who has lost an inspirational leader and mentor, as well as to the people of St. Kitts and Nevis who join them in mourning his passing.
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CDC outlines benefits of getting a COVID-19 vaccine
ATLANTA –- Updated information about COVID-19 vaccination has been released by the Centers for Disease Control.
“We understand that some people may be concerned about getting vaccinated now that COVID-19 vaccines are available in the United States,” said a CDC spokesperson. “While more COVID-19 vaccines are being developed as quickly as possible, routine processes and procedures remain in place to ensure the safety of any vaccine that is authorized or approved for use. Safety is a top priority, and there are many reasons to get vaccinated.”
COVID-19 vaccines will not give you the virus
None of the COVID-19 vaccines developed or in use in the United States contain the live virus that causes COVID-19. There are several different types of vaccines in development. However, the goal for each of them is to teach our immune systems how to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID-19. Sometimes this process can cause symptoms, such as fever. These symptoms are normal and are a sign that the body is building immunity.
It typically takes a few weeks for the body to build immunity after vaccination. That means it’s possible a person could be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 just before or just after vaccination and get sick. This is because the vaccine has not had enough time to provide protection.
• All COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the United States have been shown to be highly effective at preventing COVID-19.
• All COVID-19 vaccines that are in development are being carefully evaluated in clinical trials and will be authorized or approved only if they make it substantially less likely you’ll get COVID-19.
• Based on what we know about vaccines for other diseases and early data from clinical trials, experts believe that getting a COVID-19 vaccine may also help keep you from getting seriously ill even if you do get COVID-19.
• Getting vaccinated yourself may also protect people around you, particularly people at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
• Experts continue to conduct more studies about the effect of COVID-19 vaccination on severity of illness from COVID-19, as well as its ability to keep people from spreading the virus that causes COVID-19.
COVID-19 vaccination is a safer way to help build protection
• COVID-19 can have serious, life-threatening complications and there is no way to know how COVID-19 will affect you. If you get sick, you could spread the disease to friends, family, and others around you.
• Clinical trials of all vaccines must first show they are safe and effective before any vaccine can be authorized or approved for use, including COVID-19 vaccines. The known and potential benefits of a COVID-19 vaccine must outweigh the known and potential risks of the vaccine for use under what is known as an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).
• Getting COVID-19 may offer some natural protection, known as immunity. But experts don’t know how long this protection lasts, and the risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 far outweighs any benefits of natural immunity. COVID-19 vaccination will help protect you by creating an antibody (immune system) response without having to experience sickness.
• Both natural immunity and immunity produced by a vaccine are important parts of COVID-19 disease that experts are trying to learn more about, and CDC will keep the public informed as new evidence becomes available.
COVID-19 vaccination will be an important tool to help stop the pandemic
• Wearing masks and social distancing help reduce your chance of being exposed to the virus or spreading it to others, but these measures are not enough. Vaccines will work with your immune system so it will be ready to fight the virus if you are exposed.
• The combination of getting vaccinated and following CDC’s recommendations to protect yourself and others will offer the best protection from COVID-19.
• Stopping a pandemic requires using all the tools we have available. As experts learn more about how COVID-19 vaccination may help reduce spread of the disease in communities, CDC will continue to update the recommendations to protect communities using the latest science.
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Trump To Republicans: ‘I’m With Bernie Sanders Now’.
WASHINGTON, DC–December 29th, 2020 (Daily Mail)–President Donald Trump has backed Bernie Sanders’ plans to filibuster and force the Senate to sit until the new year if a vote is not held on a bill passed by the House to increase stimulus checks to $2,000 from $600.
$2000 for our great people, not $600! They have suffered enough from the China Virus!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2020
Sanders announced his intentions on Monday to slow down the Senate’s vote on overriding the president’s veto of a huge defense bill unless Senate leaders agree to hold a vote on increasing the amount given to Americans in coronavirus relief funds.
In response to a tweet reporting Sanders’ plans and in apparent support of them, the President wrote: ‘Give the people $2000, not $600. They have suffered enough!’
Senator Sanders announced his plans on Monday to object to the overriding of the president’s veto of the $740 billion the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
A spokesman for Sanders also confirmed that he will object to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) setting up a vote on the veto override of the bill until the proposed aid increase is voted on.
‘This week on the Senate floor Mitch McConnell wants to vote to override Trump’s veto of the $740 billion defense funding bill and then head home for the New Year,’ Sanders tweeted Monday.
‘I’m going to object until we get a vote on legislation to provide a $2,000 direct payment to the working class.’
While Sanders cannot ultimately prevent the Senate from voting on whether to override Trump’s veto of the defense bill, McConnell will likely be forced to break a rare filibuster of the veto override efforts.
This will force the bill to overcome a 60-vote procedural hurdle and delay the final vote on Trump’s veto until later this week.
The NDAA initially passed the Senate earlier this month with a 84-13 majority – with Sanders voting against it at the time. The veto override requires a two-thirds vote in order to pass the Senate.
Sanders also received support from Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) who said he would similarly slow down the defense bill with the hopes of increasing the amount given to Americans as part of the $2.3 trillion coronavirus relief package.
‘I will be joining @BernieSanders in blocking the defense bill until we get a vote on $2000 in direct cash relief. That relief passed in the House today with 44 Republicans voting for it. Senate Republicans must do the same and get the American people the help they need,’ Markey tweeted.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is expected to attempt to bring the House-passed bill to the Senate on Tuesday, but because it would only take a single senator to block his request, he is unlikely to succeed.
The House of Representatives passed a bill Monday evening that would increase Americans’ stimulus checks to $2,000 – something President Donald Trump has also demanded.
Democrats used a fast-track procedure to get the bill through, meaning two-thirds of the House needed to sign on.
All but two House Democrats who voted Monday were joined by 44 Republicans to get the bill through, with the final vote total being 275 yeas to 134 nays.
Twenty-one lawmakers didn’t vote.
After the House of Representatives passed the $2,000 bill, Sanders said he would hold up the expected veto override of the National Defense Authorization Act in order to get it across the line in the Senate.
‘I’m going to object until we get a vote on legislation to provide a $2,000 direct payment to the working class,’ Sanders said.
Now the bill’s fate is in the Senate’s hands – where Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not been openly supportive.
On Sunday night when Trump signed the giant spending and COVID-19 stimulus bill – after flirting with vetoing it for several days – he repeated his demand for Americans to receive $2,000 checks, instead or the $600 payments outlined in the legislation.
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Grenada Gets $25 Million Christmas Gift From World Bank For Covid-19 Response And Recovery.
Saturday, December 29th, 2020 — WASHINGTON — The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved the US$25 million Grenada COVID-19 Crisis Response and Fiscal Management Development Policy Credit just before Christmas.
This quick-disbursing financing will support the country’s efforts to respond to the COVID-19 crisis in the short term and enhance long-term sustainability and resilience.
“In recent years, the Government of Grenada has made significant progress on economic reforms and fiscal consolidation. The COVID-19 crisis, however, has had a disproportionate socio-economic impact on highly tourism dependent small island economies, including Grenada,” said Tahseen Sayed, World Bank Country Director for the Caribbean. “This operation aims to help Grenada weather the current crisis, support livelihoods and enhance resilience.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Grenada hard. Although the number of COVID-19 cases has been relatively low, the economic contraction has been severe: GDP is projected to contract by 12 percent in 2020.
This World Bank financing is intended to help the government to strengthen the country’s health systems and protect livelihoods through financial assistance to the tourism sector, the agriculture sector, and small businesses.
The operation also supports the country’s medium-long term structural reforms to improve fiscal management and debt transparency, enhance climate resilience, and strengthen public accountability.
This operation builds on Grenada’s strong collaboration with the World Bank on strengthening resilience to disasters, building the Blue Economy, and further enhancing fiscal sustainability. The financing, which is from the International Development Association (IDA), is interest-free with a maturity of 40 years, including a grace period of 10 years.
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I’m Not That Fast! Female Race Car Driver Refused To Pose Topless For Sponsors.
December 29th, 2020–After a brief period of success in motorsports, Finland’s Emma Kimiläinen, who in the junior series competed alongside future Formula 1 drivers Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen, went on a four-year hiatus. What she had never admitted before is that the break from the sport had a creepy undertone.
Finnish racer Emma Kimiläinen has spoken about sexism in motorsports and how a requirement to pose topless almost cut short her career.
In 2010, Kimiläinen, then a young and promising driver, was to participate in the IndyCar racing series, but was rejected, ostensibly due to lack of sponsors.
In a recent appearance on the Shikaani Formula 1 Podcast, Kimiläinen complained of sexism throughout her career and finally revealed the circumstances that shooed her away from the sport.
By her own admission, Kimiläinen was told by the team that she wouldn’t need to bring any partners or sponsors to the seat, as that had already been taken care of.
During the subsequent negotiations for the seat, it became clear that the team’s sponsor was a “high-end men’s magazine”, which demanded that Kimiläinen pose topless. Apparently, the team had already negotiated with the magazine that she would pose in a bikini (without even asking her opinion), but the magazine demanded more.
An indignant Kimiläinen apparently declined, thus quashing her hopes of the IndyCar series for good. Publicly, she has since claimed that the reason for her four-year break from the sport, during which she didn’t race competitively, was that the funding dried up.
Apart claims of the failed photo session, the Finnish racer revealed that her car was often incorrectly tuned, which was “remedied” by her starting to date the mechanic, who subsequently lost his job because of this.
Following the four-year hiatus, Kimiläinen returned to the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship. At present, 31-year-old Kimiläinen is competing in the W Series. Her best finish in 2019 is fifth.
In the junior series, she raced with future Formula 1 drivers Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen and won a series of rookie awards.
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