A car has rolled on State Highway 1 in Wellington, blocking a southbound lane.Emergency services are at the scene of a crash on SH1, near Paekākāriki, police said at 11.40am.”Initial indications are there have been injuries,”…
Category Archives: headline
Covid 19: Samoa to go into nationwide lockdown after Brisbane flight cases rise
Samoa will move into a nationwide lockdown from 6pm today.It comes after the number of confirmed Covid cases in quarantine off a flight from Brisbane on Wednesday increased from 10 to 15. Read More Covid 19: Ten cases recorded…
Covid 19 Omicron: Government's red traffic light for outbreak not enough – Dr Siouxsie Wiles
By Craig McCulloch of RNZ Prominent microbiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles is “really worried” about the Government’s plan for an Omicron outbreak, warning the red traffic light setting will not be enough to slow the variant.Prime…
North Otago murderer Anthony Phillip Hitchcock not fit for release, Parole Board says before new bid
After 25 years in prison and 336 counselling sessions, a North Otago killer is still not fit for release, the Parole Board says.But Anthony Phillip Hitchcock — one of the first people in New Zealand to be sentenced to life imprisonment…
Momo diplomacy: Nepali festival in Auckland to use dumplings to unite communities
Auckland’s Nepalese community want to use momos to break down barriers and build an affinity with other dumpling-loving communities.Its business community is organising the first “Dumpling and Music International (DAMI) Festival”,…
NSW records significant drop in COVID-19 cases
New South Wales has recorded yet another day of decreasing COVID-19 cases, reporting 20,148 new infections.
The state reported that 30 people have died with the virus.
There are 2762 people in hospital with the virus, a slight increase from yesterday's admissions, while there are 204 people in intensive care.
READ MORE: Rock icon Meat Loaf dies, aged 74
Premier Dominic Perrottet repeated today the state is "tracking below" in ICU presentations in comparison to predictions made in modelling.
He said many of the people in ICU are unvaccinated, and called for NSW residents to get vaccinated.
"Close to 50 per cent of people in ICU are unvaccinated," he said.
"The facts and evidence speak for itself."
Meanwhile, some NSW doctors are cutting the interval between vaccine doses for children as concerns grow about returning to school.
The interval between the first and second dose of the vaccine for five to 11-year-olds is eight weeks.
However, some doctors are reportedly cutting the interval down to just three weeks to try and have children fully vaccinated by the beginning of term one.
Otherwise some children who received their first vaccine dose this week will wait until mid-March to be fully vaccinated, which is almost the Easter holidays.
Doctors said cutting the interval down is important for immunocompromised children.
"Any child who might be immunocompromised or who has another chronic illness such as asthma, who you might think is higher risk, that's the population we want to protect," Charlotte Hespe, a doctor, said.
"They're the ones we want to target."
Around 22 per cent of children aged between five and 11 have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Supply of the vaccine is also preventing the roll-out from speeding up, some doctors have said.
READ MORE: Toddler's cleft palate operation cancelled amid elective surgery freeze
NSW recorded its deadliest day of the COVID-19 pandemic yesterday with 46 deaths.
The state reported 25,168 new infections yesterday.
There are 2743 people being treated with the virus in hospitals across NSW.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said yesterday NSW is "tracking better than our best case scenario" in terms of hospitalisations and the number of people in ICU.
"In respect of our intensive-care capacity, we currently have 209 people with COVID in our intensive-care units," he said.
"That is once again tracking better than our best case scenario from the modelling that we released two weeks ago … that was at a height where we were expecting 270 on our best case scenario and 600 on our worst-case scenario."
READ MORE: Spike in funnel-web spider sightings across Sydney
The Truth is Out There: US Supreme Ct. Rejects Trump’s Attempt to Keep His Records from Congress Probe
The Supreme Court has rejected former President Trump‘s bid to block a trove of his administration’s records from being handed to the Jan. 6 House committee.
The ruling came in an unsigned, one-paragraph order. Justice Clarence Thomas, a staunch conservative, was alone in indicating that he would have granted Trump’s request.
The move cleared the way for congressional investigators to receive a batch of Trump-era schedules, call logs, emails and other requested documents that the committee says could illuminate key circumstances surrounding the deadly Capitol riot.
The committee said it had begun receiving records Wednesday night just hours after a ruling that chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wy.) hailed as “a victory for the rule of law and American democracy.”
“Our work goes forward to uncover all the facts about the violence of January 6th and its causes,” they said in a joint statement, emphasizing that their effort aims “to ensure nothing like that day ever happens again.”
The order leaves intact a lower federal appeals court ruling that found Trump’s assertion of executive privilege and other legal theories unpersuasive in light of President Biden’s refusal to invoke privilege, as well as the House panel’s pressing task.
The justices wrote that although the unprecedented dispute between a former president and lawmakers raised “serious and substantial concerns,” the Washington, D.C.,-based federal appeals court had suitably analyzed the issues at hand.
“Because the Court of Appeals concluded that President Trump’s claims would have failed even if he were the incumbent, his status as a former President necessarily made no difference to the court’s decision,” the court wrote.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who concurred with the majority’s ruling, wrote separately to note his disagreement with part of the lower appeals court’s reasoning and its prospective legal weight.
Thomas, the lone dissenter, did not explain the source of his disagreement.
Trump turned to the Supreme Court last month after lower federal courts rejected his request to halt the National Archives from passing along his administration’s records. His attorneys had asked the justices to shield the disputed materials from disclosure while they considered his formal appeal, a request Wednesday’s ruling rebuffed.
The Jan. 6 committee has not established a hard deadline for completing its investigation, but its chairman, Thompson, has said the panel hopes to wrap up by early spring.
The committee faces separate legal challenges to its investigative authority in ongoing court clashes with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, as well as Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich and post-election legal adviser John Eastman.
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Newspaper Cover for 21st January, 2022
The post Newspaper Cover for 21st January, 2022 appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.
Haiti’s Future Topic of Online Meeting Between Regional Leaders
OTTAWA (Toronto Star) – The U.S. State Department says it is looking forward to a productive meeting today when Central American leaders gather online with Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly to talk about the future of Haiti.
The embattled, poverty-racked Caribbean nation has been roiled by unrest since the summer, when President Jovenel Moïse was killed in a shooting at his house that also injured his wife.
Joly is convening the virtual summit while she is in the midst of a three-country European trip to talk with leaders there about the Russian military buildup on the Ukraine border.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden said Los Angeles would play host this June to the Summit of the Americas, where leaders from across the two continents and the Caribbean gather every three years to talk about shared priorities.
The causes of — and potential solutions to — irregular migration will be a priority item on the agenda.
Migrants from Haiti and a number of Central American countries have been regularly moving northward, putting pressure on the southern border of the United States and creating widespread instability in the Western Hemisphere.
“Canada will host a ministerial meeting … and we look forward to a strong commitment from countries, both within the Americas and around the world, in support of the Haitian people,” said Brian Nichols, the assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.
Nichols was briefing reporters Thursday on Biden’s priorities for the Summit of the Americas, which is taking place in the U.S. for the first time since the inaugural event in Miami in 1994.
“As we approach the summit, I expect that we will continue efforts among the nations of our hemisphere, as well as partners from around the world, to support those nations in the Americas that need more help, and Haiti’s obviously very much among them,” he said.
“I hope that the Haitian people will come together around a unified way forward that will put that nation back on the path to democracy and economic growth.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry are scheduled to speak at today’s meeting.
They will be joined by representatives of the United Nations, the Caribbean Community, or CARICOM, the International Organisation of la Francophonie and the Organization of American States for what Global Affairs Canada describes as an attempt to co-ordinate security efforts and foster political stability and sustainable development.
Joly also confirmed Thursday that her counterpart from France, Jean-Yves Le Drian, would also attend, and that the pair “agreed on the importance of international collaboration to address the challenges faced by Haiti and Haitians particularly with respect to security issues.”
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Taiwan (MOFA and ICDF) Scholarships 2022
NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (January 20, 2022) — The Ministry of Human Resources in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) has received the call for the Taiwan MOFA and ICDF Scholarships 2022. Interested persons are encouraged to exploit the opportunities made available to pursue undergraduate and graduate degree studies.
The programmes are diversified in leadership and management development; journalism and mass communication; health care administration; cultural and creative industries; aquaculture technology and management; environment sustainable development; and more.
The scholarship benefits include airfare, housing, tuition fees, insurance, textbooks, and monthly allowances.
General Application Guidelines:
1. One must apply to their preferred university as well as to the Taiwan Embassy in St Kitts. The university will present a permission slip which must be included with the embassy’s application.
2. Please note that each applicant can ONLY apply for one (1) programme, either ICDF or MOFA.
3. Applicants are advised to complete a medical test after their application has been approved.
4. Along with the completed application form, must also be ORIGINAL passport and education certificates as well as two (2) copies of all documents. Copies must be clear (easily read) and precise (no cut-offs).
5. Completed applications must be submitted to the Ministry of Human Resources by Thursday, February 17, 2022 (ICDF) and Tuesday, March 8, 2022 (MOFA). Other notifications will specify later deadlines; however, these dates are for applications to be received by the Embassy, not Human Resources. Therefore, the ministry will not accept any applications received after the aforementioned dates.
For further information regarding the application, eligibility etc., kindly visit the following links, refer to the attached documents and/or contact the following persons:
ICDF
§ http://www.icdf.org.tw/ct.asp?xItem=12505&CtNode=30316&mp=2
§ http://web.icdf.org.tw/ICDF_TSP/WelcomeStart.aspx
MOFA
§ https://www.mofa.gov.tw/en/cp.aspx?n=1325
§ https://taiwanscholarship.moe.gov.tw/web/pages.aspx?p=7
§ https://www.studyintaiwan.org/ (Programme List)
Ms. Carol Boddie
Ministry of Education
Government of St. Kitts
Tel. 467-1484/1508
Mrs. Shanola Murrey-Gill/Mrs. Shelly Liburd
Ministry of Human Resources
Nevis Island Administration
Mr. Damien I-Ching Liu
Embassy of the Republic China (Taiwan)
Taylor’s Range
Basseterre
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