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BRIDGETOWN, Nov 30 (Reuters) – Barbados declared hit singer Rihanna a national hero at its republican celebrations in her hometown of Bridgetown.

This was the first day of the new Republic of Barbados and its hometown girl was center stage.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that the 33-year-old would be conferred with the honour of National Hero of Barbados to cheers. Rihanna was called up before the crowds to be congratulated by Mottley.

“May you continue to shine like a diamond and bring honour to your nation by your works, by your actions,” Mottley told Rihanna, a reference to her 2012 chart-topping single “Diamonds”.

Rihanna was born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, before moving to the United States after she was discovered by New York-based music producer Evan Rogers.

She has since gone on to become one of the biggest artists in the world, as well as starring in movies including Battleship and Ocean’s 8, and launching her own fashion brand, Fenty, in 2018.

Since 2018, Rihanna has had the honorary title of Ambassador for Culture and Youth in Barbados.

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BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS— A church service and a luncheon on Sunday November 28 brought down the curtain on the month-long activities, held under the theme ‘Touching Hearts, Transforming Communities since 1993’, to commemorate the 28^th anniversary of Prime Minister Dr the Hon Timothy Harris as an elected member of the Federal Assembly

“I acknowledge the presence of so many high officials here this morning as I commemorate my 28^th anniversary as a member of parliament for the wonderful people of St. Christopher Seven, Bellevue, Tabernacle, Mansion, Christ Church, Molineux, Phillips, Bourryeau, Lodge Village, Lodge Project, and Ottley’s, and to say a huge, noisy ‘thank you’ to all of my constituents for being so wonderfully good to me,” said Dr Harris

The Honourable Prime Minister, who has been a Federal Parliamentarian since November 29, 1993, made the remarks at the House of Deliverance New Testament Church of God on Main Street, Tabernacle Village, where Senior Pastor Octavia Charles-Warner welcomed the Prime Minister and his delegation to the morning worship service

Present at the service included Governor General’s Deputy His Excellency Michael and Mrs Cynthia Morton, Speaker of the Federal National Assembly the Hon Michael Perkins, Deputy Speaker, Senator the Hon Dr Bernicia Nisbett, and Cabinet Secretary Mrs Josephine Huggins.

“I want to say thank you to all of you who were there in the beginning, (and) who joined only yesterday,” said Dr Harris. “Your presence, your support means quite a lot to me, so thank you.”

He added: “Without your engagement, without your comforting words, without your kindness, without your attempting to put yourselves in my shoes, I would not have made it for the last 28 years, for it has been a journey of good times, and bad times, and the bad times sometimes when they come, because of the message that Octavia Charles-Warner our lead pastor gave, sometimes you have to go through those moments alone.”

Prime Minister Harris is the National Political Leader of the Peoples Labour Party (PLP), one the three parties in the ruling Team Unity Administration. The party’s Deputy National Political Leader, who is also the Minister of Health et al, the Hon Akilah Byron-Nisbett, who was accompanied by Ms Jacinth Francis, on behalf PLP Constituency Number Three Branch, presented him a plaque to thank him for the 28 years he has served the people of Number Seven and the country.

Other gifts followed, including from the Constituency Number Seven Women Group presented by Mrs Sonia Henry, from the House of Deliverance New Testament Church of God presented by Senior Pastor Octavia Charles-Warner, from Gospel Singer Ms Shirley Williams, and from Miss Sheville Franklyn who shares the same birth date with Dr Harris.

While thanking those who sent him gifts, he advised that he would accept them until Monday November 29. However, Ms Violet Williams who moderated the worship service told the congregation not to worry but to hold on to their gifts and bring them out on Monday December 6 when Prime Minister Harris would be celebrating his birthday.

Seven members of the Church’s Youth Group read out Paul’s admonition to Timothy by spelling out the acronym for TIMOTHY. For each letter in the name ‘Timothy’ they quoted the relevant verse, all of them from the two books by Timothy in the New Testament.

Miss Shervincia Charles said ‘T’ stood for Timothy (2 Timothy 1:7); Miss Omicha Crawford said ‘I’ stood for inspiration (1 Timothy 3:14); Miss Glenniqua Williams said ‘M’ stood for motivation (1 Timothy 4:12); Miss Sherné Charles said ‘O’ stood for open minded (2 Timothy 2:7); Miss Nadesha Brown said ‘T’ stood for being TRUE to your calling (2 Timothy 2:22); Miss Jahvela Brown said ‘H’ stood for humility (2 Timothy 2:25); and Master Devon J. Williams said ‘Y’ stood for yielding yourself to God (2 Timothy 4:5).

“I want to say thank you especially to all the prayer warriors, in this church, in every church, who have been holding me up, holding up my leadership, and holding up the Team Unity in Government in prayers,” said Prime Minister Harris in conclusion. “Challenges will come but I hope at the end of it, I would have proven myself worthy of service to you the people who I love.”

Also present in church were Ambassador His Excellency Sydney Osborne, Ambassador His Excellency Vance Amory, Ambassador His Excellency Kevin Williams, Resident Ambassador of the Republic of China on Taiwan His Excellency Michael Lin, and Charge d’ Affaires of the Embassy of Venezuela Mr Marco Antonio Guzman Adrian.

Others included the entire Peoples Labour Party’s National and Branch executives, led by National Chairman Mr Warren Thompson, and Secretary Ms Myrtilla Williams who organised the entire calendar of activities to mark the anniversary, PLP Founder Member Mr William Phillip, Director of Social Security Mr Antonio Maynard, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health Dr Delores Stapleton-Harris, and National HIV/AIDS Programme Coordinator, Dr Mathia Afortu-Ofre, among others.

All in the congregation were invited by Prime Minister Dr the Hon Timothy Harris to join him for a luncheon which was hosted on the grounds of the neighbouring Edgar T. Morris Primary School. At the school, a cake specially baked for the occasion, was cut by the Prime Minister assisted by Speaker of the National Assembly the Hon Michael Perkins, and Minister of Human Settlements et al, the Hon Eugene Hamilton, who is also the Leader of Government Business in Parliament.

 

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Covid: Face masks rules return in England amid Omicron spread

By Alex Kleiderman & Doug Faulkner
BBC News

Related Topics

• Coronavirus pandemic

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NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS — The Nevis Health Promotion Unit (HPU) is urging members of the public to adorn the colour red and join them in an event dubbed “Light up the town,” and a walk on December 01, 2021, in support of those who have been afflicted with HIV/AIDS.

Ms. Shevanee Nisbett, Senior Health Educator, at the Nevis HPU says the event will be held on World AIDS Day on December 01 beginning with a small ceremony from 5:30 p.m. at the #Nevis Nice sign, next to the Artisan Village at Pinney’s. Following at 6 p.m., participants will walk to the Charlestown ferry terminal with red flameless candles which will be provided. Interested persons can register at: https://forms.gle/RBSzX4xgDCgrGAW97  . The theme for World AIDS Day 2021 is “End inequalities. End AIDS. End pandemics.

Meantime, Ms. Nisbett used the opportunity to address the status of HIV/AIDS on Nevis

“Our first case was recorded in 1987. The number of recorded cases we have from then until now is at 78. The number of deaths we’ve had from then until now would be 30. Our active cases are 21 and that would be 12 male and 9 female,” she said.

The age ranges of the 21 active cases are: three persons between the ages of 20 and 24 years; one person between the ages of 30 and 34 years; one person between the ages of 35 and 39 years; one person between the ages of 40 and 44 years; one person between the ages of 45 and 49 years; five persons between the ages of 50 and 54 years; four persons between the ages of 55 and 60 years; and four persons who are 60 years and older.

The Senior Health Educator urged persons to continue to get tested because of the importance of knowing their HIV/AIDS status.

Ms. Nisbett also pointed to the provisions made by the Ministry of Health to facilitate those who have contracted the disease.

“The health care facilities that we have in place for persons with HIV or for HIV/AIDS, we have persons who are affected with HIV who are registered, they are offered free treatment from the Ministry of Health, and so that’s an ongoing programme we have that’s manned by our persons who deal specifically with HIV/AIDS, the cases that we have.

“We also have free testing for HIV that is offered at the Health Promotion Unit as well as the health centres and we are asking persons who would like to get tested [to] call your health centre and make an appointment, and of course you could always go to your doctor and ask them to recommend you for HIV testing,” she said.

In addition, the HPU is also offering free condoms. Interested members of the public can access them by making a request at the office which is located in the Ricaldo Caines Building on Prince Williams Street in Charlestown. The unit is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Monday to Friday.

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NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS — Hon. Mark Brantley, Premier of Nevis and Minister of Finance in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), will present the 2022 Budget at a sitting of the Nevis Island Assembly Chambers at Hamilton House on December 07, 2021 at 10 a.m.

Ms. Myra Williams, Clerk of the Assembly, in the Order Paper dated November 29, 2021, which was issued ahead of the sitting, stated that the Minister of Finance will lay on the table the Draft Estimates 2022.

Mr. Brantley will also seek leave to introduce and have read for the first time the Nevis Appropriation (2022) Ordinance, 2021, and he will later move to have the second and third reading of the ordinance.

The sitting will commence with the formal entry of Hon. Farrel Smithen, President of the Assembly followed by Prayers; Motion for the approval of the Order paper as circulated; Messages from Hon. Hyleeta Liburd, Deputy Governor General of Nevis; Announcements by the president; Papers to be laid; Statements by ministers; Personal explanations; Introduction of Bill and first reading; Public business; and Resolutions before adjournment.

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Zenz said the top secret and confidential documents are significant because they show multiple links between the demands of the Chinese leadership of 2014 and what subsequently happened in Xinjiang, including mass internment in re-education camps, coercive labour transfers and optimising the ethnic population by increasing Han population shares.

Zenz alleges that the documents show the leadership’s long-term intent to commit cultural genocide with the specific purpose of safeguarding the rule of the CCP

The documents were handed in full in digital form to the Uyghur Tribunal – an independent people’s tribunal based in the UK – in September, but have not been published in full in order to protect the source of the leak.

Instead transcripts from some of the documents, lengthy quotations, summary and analysis have been published. The transcripts were peer reviewed by Dr James Millward, professor of inter-societal history at Georgetown University Washington and Dr David Tobin lecturer in east Asian studies at the University of Sheffield. Some have been redacted to remove reception stamps. The leak covers 11 documents and 300 unique pages. They range from April 2014 to May 2018.

Zenz said some of the documents were drawn upon by the New York Times in a report in 2019, but that the leak also comprises previously unseen information.

In late 2016, just before the implementation of a set of unprecedented measures in Xinjiang, the leaders’ statements were handed to Xinjiang’s cadres as crucial study material, preparing them to implement the measures.

In one 2014 speech covered by the leak, Xi argues that the belt and road initiative, his signature foreign policy project, requires a stable domestic security environment. He asserts that the entire country’s national security and the achievement of China’s major goals in the 21st century will be in jeopardy if the situation in southern Xinjiang is not brought under control.

Chinese effort to gather ‘micro clues’ on Uyghurs laid bare in report

The speech was delivered weeks after Xi called for “all-out efforts” to bring to justice assailants who murdered 31 people and wounded more than 140 with knives and machetes in a bloody killing in the south-western city of Kunming on 1 March. Beijing blamed Xinjiang separatists for the attack.

In the speech Xi demands that the region engage in an all-out battle to “prevent Xinjiang’s violent terrorist activities from spreading to the rest of China”, argues that “stability across Xinjiang and even across the whole country depends on southern Xinjiang”, and calls for “a crushing blow to buy us time”.

He notes that since violent acts had already spread to other regions of China, “therefore we propose that Xinjiang is currently in … a painful period of interventionary treatment”. Religious extremists, he says, are “devils who will kill without blinking an eye”.

He also warns religious extremism is “a powerful psychedelic drug”, and calls for reform through education, as opposed to a practice of arrest and release – a reference to re-education and detention camps.

In another document, Xinjiang’s party secretary, Chen Quanguo, personally commands officials to “round up all who should be rounded up” and says the region’s vocational re-education facilities should be “unswervingly operated for a long time”.

In one of Xi’s speeches, he argues that “population proportion and population security are important foundations for long-term peace and stability”. This statement was later quoted verbatim by a senior Xinjiang official in July 2020, who then argued that southern Xinjiang’s Han population share was “too low”.

Other classified documents lament “severe imbalances in the distribution of the ethnic population” and a “severely mono-ethnic” population structure (an over-concentration of Uyghurs) in southern Xinjiang. They mandate that by 2022, 300,000 settlers (mostly Han from eastern China) are to be moved to regions in southern Xinjiang administered by the Xinjiang Construction and Production Corps, also known as “bingtuan”, a paramilitary entity, with the explicitly stated aim of increasing Han population shares in the region.

Xi himself ordered the abolishment of preferential birth control policies for ethnic groups in southern Xinjiang that had previously allowed them to have more children than the Han. He demanded that birth control policies in the Uyghur heartland were to be made “equal for all ethnic groups”.

The fresh leak was first mentioned at a special session of the UK-based tribunal on Saturday.

Government reports indicate that in February 2017, just weeks prior to the start of an internment campaign, leading cadres in prefectures and counties were subjected to an intensified study schedule of two of Xi’s speeches for at least two hours every week.

Zenz has been denounced by defenders of Beijing as a Christian fundamentalist determined to destroy Chinese communism. The Chinese government has sanctioned him. It has always maintained that political, economic and religious freedoms in the Xinjiang region are “fully guaranteed”.

Zenz claims the new material shows that top Chinese leaders viewed the achievement of “stability maintenance” and related goals such as religious “de-extremification” in Xinjiang to be a matter of China’s national security, crucial to achieving primary long-term political goals.

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