Issue No. 459 Tuesday, 5 August 2003

A new Cable & Wireless (C&W) facility on Eastern Avenue that will cost $10 million to build, will not only house all of the company's new telecommunications equipment, but will also provide a higher level of safety for those devices in the case of an emergency.

On the construction site of Cable & Wireless' new $10 million building on Eastern Avenue are (l) C&W Head of Network Services Mr. Albert Anderson, Arch and Godfrey project general foreman Mr. Delano Bush, and C&W Head of Sales Mr. Alee Fa'amoe.

The 38,000 square foot building at One Technology Square, which is scheduled for occupation by the end of this year, will be necessary to make room for the deployment of over many millions of dollars worth of new technologies that C&W will be installing. The new systems will include the Next Generation Network, which combines voice, video and data into a single, unified, broadband network, as well as their new mobile network.

Equally important, the structure will safeguard Cayman's communications in the case of a national emergency. "The building is designed to withstand 200 mph hurricane force winds," says Mr. Albert Anderson, C&W Head of Network Services in the Cayman Islands. "It is also being built to withstand earthquakes."

The two-storey structure will also have a mezzanine floor, but there are no windows above the first floor to ensure the safety of the equipment. All critical equipment will be kept off the ground floor to avoid possible damage from flooding.

The building has 10-inch reinforced concrete block walls, and even the roof is concrete, although a decorative roof will be added for aesthetic purposes. "If the roof blows off, it won't affect the rest of the building," says Mr. Anderson, adding, "but even the decorative roof is being built to withstand 200 mph winds."

In the case of a national emergency, the new building will serve as the C&W's emergency operations centre, complete with a kitchen and beds. "People could live there for a couple of weeks," says Mr. Anderson.
Mr. Anderson says that the building will feature a triple redundancy power source, which will include two stand-by generators.

The new facility will incorporate a smaller existing structure on site that C&W currently utilizes. But instead of keeping the coral colour of the buildings already there, One Technology Square will be painted Cable & Wireless' blue and white colours. Their logo will also be prominent on the building.

When complete, approximately 40-45 employees will work out of the building, a small number considering the size of the structure. "It's primarily for equipment," says Mr. Anderson.

Even though there will be a limited number of employees working out of the building, Cable & Wireless worked along with Public Works to ensure traffic flow from the parking lot does not hinder traffic in the already congested area. "We will widen Liberty Lane, so that the parking lot will access both Eastern Avenue and Shedden Road," says Mr. Anderson With millions of dollars of equipment inside and national security issues at stake, the level of security at the building will be extremely high and will include surveillance cameras and both card and biometric access devices.

Mr. Anderson says that scope of the specifications of the building is pretty much unique to Cable & Wireless' interest in the Caribbean. "I haven't come across anything else like it, except maybe in Barbados."

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Internet University Seeks Cayman Base

A new University has expressed an interest in coming to the Cayman Islands, but this college will not require students to physically attend classes.

Rather, The Commonwealth University LLC is a private company established to provide internationally recognized and accredited higher education degree programs through Internet distance learning, which they describe as learning any time, any place.

According to Ms. Joy Basdeo, Permanent Secretary to the Minister of Education, no decision on the implementation of the University's programs in the Cayman Islands has yet been made, but the Tertiary Education Council will be reviewing the proposals in the coming months.

"This is one of the most progressive islands in the Caribbean," says Commonwealth University CEO, Gregory C. Morgan. "It is also the fifth largest financial centre in the world, and has been extremely progressive with its plans for higher education."

Director of Marketing and Investments, Mr. David M. Vanlandingham, agrees. "From the States, the Cayman Islands has the best reputation in the Caribbean."

The University offers both professional and academic degree programs. While professional degrees are awarded for emphasis on applied knowledge and professional work-related learning, academic degrees focus more on theoretical knowledge and research-oriented learning.

A curriculum for 10 undergraduate and over 50 graduate degree programs will be available, amounting to a choice of over 730 courses. The textbook-based academic programs will be administered through six schools: Education; Professional Studies; Psychology; Health Sciences and Healing Arts; Business and Management; and Computer Sciences and Information Technology.

Although the initial phase of the University would entail one full-time administrator and one secretary, eventually, the directors would seek to employ about 60 staff, mostly for mentoring the students. Efforts would be made to find Caymanians to fill such posts.

Mr. Morgan stresses the importance of making the programs as interactive as possible. "Without interaction," he says, "the graduation rate will be lower."

He also rejects the need to view an Internet university as controversial. "We're trying to turn people into life-long learners," he says. "This type of program forces them to be more independent and self-motivated."
The University maintains the premise that what a person knows is more important than where and how that knowledge was obtained. Emphasis is placed on learning-by-doing, a problem or project-based competency approach, rather than on the traditional lecture method.

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Winning Sand Sculpture at QCO's Flava 500

Working on the Team Kozaily structure that won the award for Best Overall Sand Sculpture at the Flava 500 event are (l-r) Mr. Leonardo Gorospe, Mr. Joy Kozaily, and Mr. Elie Kozaily. While the competition brought a variety of artistic skill levels, Mrs. Angela Martins, Executive Director of the Quincentennial Celebrations Office said, "The overriding purpose was for family and friends to come out to the beach and have a good time."

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News

North Side residents have a plan to control stray animal population

With the number of unwanted stray dogs and cats on Grand Cayman continuing to rise, two local residents trying to bring in a team of professionals that would attempt to alleviate the problem through a spay and neuter program.

North Side residents Mr. David Olson and Ms. Anna Sterling have proposed a plan that would bring a highly recognised team of volunteers from the US for a short-term period to help stop the rising population of stray animals.

The organization, known as the Spay-Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP), is well-known across the United States with clinics in seven locations, including three in Houston, Texas, one in San Antonio, Texas, one in Albuquerque, Texas, one in Los Angeles, California, and one in Monterrey, Mexico.

This not-for-profit organization offers free spaying and neutering, vaccination, and licensing services through its US locations, and makes the services available to a greater number of people by using mobile trucks from where the procedures can be performed.

"We're happy to see the project moving along," said Mr. Olson. "I plan to offer accommodation to the visiting specialists, as well as funding their airfares. Kaibo has confirmed that they would be willing to help us with a fundraiser, and we invite donations from anyone else who finds this a worthwhile cause."

SNAP has engaged in a similar short-term project last year in the Turks and Caicos Islands, which proved highly successful, according to veterinarian Dr. Mark Johnson. In his project summary, he reported that the project was well received by the community. "Every day we provided public education of spay and neutering and animal stewardship through both official gatherings and interactions on the street. We empowered people with ownership of their dogs by passing out free collars and thus allowing them to proudly identify their claimed animals. And as we shuttled each collared animal to and from the veterinarian's for neutering, it was the
first time the people witnessed their government acknowledging and caring for their dogs."

At the time, no animal sheltering organization or official animal control agency existed Turks and Caicos, and the large numbers of stray dogs posed a threat to visiting tourists. The Government hired an American
veterinarian, Dr. Mark Woodring, to shoot stray dogs using a .22 caliber semi-automatic gun with a silencer for $100 per day.

According to Mr. Olson, the new laws in the Cayman Islands requiring the sterilisation of certain breeds of dogs has created a backlog for those seeking to comply with the regulations. He is also concerned about the transmission of diseases such as feline leukemia from feral cats and the potential threat posed by dogs running wild in packs. "Often the solution has been for people to throw down poison," he says, "but that type of problem-solving has to stop."

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Play Therapy Workshop benefits both children and adults

Mr. Larry Levers and Ms. Janet Courtney demonstrate glove puppets at the Play Therapy Workshop.

A two-day play therapy workshop last week provided children with an alternative approach for dealing with the issues that affect their lives.

Child psychologist Dr. Robert Nolan and psychiatric social worker Ms. Janet Courtney led the workshop, which was organized by Ms. Catherine Tyson, Community Development Coordinator with the Ministry of Community Services, Youth, Sports and Gender Affairs.

Originally only slated for one day as the Ministry's annual summer camp, the high level of interest expressed from other childcare professionals led to another day being added.

Play therapy concerns using play to help children resolve issues in their life, and demonstrating to adults that they can help children by entering into their world, rather than imposing their judgment on them. The children in the workshop use play to communicate things to one another, or to an adult.

"There is a difference between a confrontational approach, where the adult will step in and say 'stop doing that,' and getting two kids to resolve the issue themselves," said Dr. Nolan, "When an adult sees children using puppets to fight, instead of saying 'do you come from a family that does a lot of fighting' a less intrusive approach is to say 'this puppet family seems to be fighting a lot' and then wait for the child to tell you about it themselves."

Various techniques were being demonstrated at the workshop. Some of the techniques involved glove puppets, with which the children can interact. There was also a special kind of small white ball, the size of a golf ball, which flashed red when everybody held hands in a circle whilst touching it. "This helps demonstrate the concept of community," said Dr. Nolan, "When we are all connected together, we generate an energy, a connectedness. If we are not connected we cannot make the light go on."

A worker with the Young Parents' Programme, Ms. Alice Jackson, said that the workshop was very helpful. "It has shown me how to deal with the needs of children, and how to sort out some of their problems," she said. "It is a privilege for me to be working with children and care for them, to meet their needs and let them know they're special."

Ms. Janette Rivers, who also works with children, also found the workshop beneficial. "It helps me because I work with children, and it helps me understand why they do the things they do."

Rather than using techniques that are outside of their realm of experience, the workshop focused on something familiar to children. "This workshop shows us how we can use what comes naturally to the kids," said Mr. Ian Godet, School Counselor at the George Hicks High School.

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Children's Summer Reading Programme ends

Students participating in the Summer Reading Programme display their Constitution Day Mural.

The Cayman Islands Public Library recently concluded its annual Children's Summer Reading Programme.
Each of the district libraries participated in the exercise, which focused on the Quincentennial Celebrations under the theme, "Celebrate Cayman at the Public Library."

During the three-week session the children participated in several activities based on Cayman's public holidays, including creating a mural entitled "Rights of the Child" for Constitution Day.

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Editorial

Tourism Tsar needed

Anyone paying even passing attention to the state of the Cayman Islands economy must be manifestly aware of the dramatic shift in our tourism fortunes in recent years. As one leading hotel manager put it last week, "My occupancy numbers have been on a steady decline for the past two years, and I don't see many hopeful signs that that will change."

Last week, as well, on a cloudless Thursday evening, a Caymanian family of 6 were the only patrons at a leading restaurant on Seven Mile Beach. Cars for rent are sitting idle; the piano player at a posh hotel is playing to himself. We can say without fear of contradiction that each of us can contribute similar scenarios. Although it is summertime, and traditionally there are fewer tourists here than in the winter season, July is usually a relatively strong month.

To be blunt, the numbers are down, they have been down, and they are not showing signs of coming up. To be blunt, these are desperate times, and desperate times call for desperate measures.

In this climate we can all point at the concerns raised over the years Cayman is overpriced; we need more diverse tourism attractions; we are too Americanised; our advertising is too generic, it should be more subject specific, etc. and probably agree that we have been guilty as charged.

It would also be fair to say that some efforts have been made, and some are planned, to deal with those defects. But in these desperate times, perhaps more dramatic measures should be undertaken, as some of our Caribbean competitors are doing, and undertaken quickly.

One thing that has been lacking in our tourism industry is a visionary individual, in a macro tourism role, who has lived and breathed this Caymanian product, who knows this culture intimately, and who can marshal the resources and capabilities of Cayman to make our tourism robust again.

Such a post, situated between the Ministry and the Department of Tourism, does not exist now; we must create it and find the individual with the imagination, experience and flair to fill it.

This tourism "tsar" can help counteract the influence of the short-term investor, and recommend programmes and ideas to our Cabinet to develop long-term sustainable approaches to reinvigorate this essential part of the Cayman story.

In this different tourism world, we can no longer continue with the traditional and conventional approaches to getting people here in a time when they are clearly showing a lesser inclination to go anywhere. We have to shake up our tourism product with new approaches, new ideas and new energies. As to which direction we should go, the jury is in. The tourism studies have shown us the blueprint: Caymanise your product; trim the cost; promote your difference.

The overseas side of it will require some change in focus; our existing DoT staff can accomplish that with some steering. But it is at home, in the tourism engine room, that we need a tourism engineer to propel the refurbishment; to instil the Ministry with fervour; to push the Department of Tourism, or Tourism Authority if you will, into this new emphasis; to challenge the private sector to get on board the Caymanisation process.
We predict that the various agents in the tourism sector will follow. The private sector will follow because, like the hotel manager, it will make a difference in their numbers. The Ministry of Tourism, with an election on the horizon, will be able to point to success. The Department of Tourism will benefit from improved morale and a sense of ownership.

We are lacking that kind of focused direction now; we are convinced that for all who depend on that tourism dollar and that means virtually all of us such a move will be greeted with enthusiasm and support.

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Local Commentary

The Silent Screams of Abortion Survivors

By Stephanie Bush

There are many places in the world that have legalized the act of abortion. Fortunately Cayman has not been one of them, although there are people on this island that have sought out abortions by going to their doctor.
Doctors will review such cases, counsel the patient and if an abortion is still wanted, an address abroad is given to the patient where they can get the necessary procedure. A local doctor informed me that there was a patient who went to the Attorney General seeking permission to have an abortion locally because it was determined that the baby was severely brain damaged. However, the request was denied, and the patient was said to have gone abroad.

It has since been said that if it is found out that either the child's or the mother's life is in danger, then an abortion can be performed locally and be covered by the Legal Act, but there are no reported cases of that actually taking place.

In the United States however, things are a little different. Abortion is very much legal and practiced daily.
Abortion ends a pregnancy by destroying the developing child either in utero or while the child is being born (Partial Birth Abortion). The victims of abortion are not only the pre-born children who die, but also their mothers who can be subjected to serious physical, emotional, and psychological complications. Fathers and other loved ones may also be at risk for post-abortion complications.

It is something rarely discussed, but there are children who have actually survived abortion attempts. The exact number of abortion survivors is unknown. However, here are two such accounts of babies that survived.
In the US on 6 April 1977, Gianna Jessen's 17-year-old birthmother named Tina sought a saline solution abortion in the seventh month of her pregnancy. Saline abortions involve injecting a caustic saline solution into the amniotic fluid, which usually causes the fetus to be scalded to death and then delivered dead. In this case, however, things did not go according to plan.

In the early hours of 7 April, Tina went into labor and gave birth to a living baby girl, Gianna. Fortunately for Gianna, she was born before the abortionist had arrived at the clinic for the day. As a result, instead of being killed at birth by the doctor who would have preformed the procedure, she was transported to a hospital. Gianna was severely injured by the abortion attempt, requiring a three-month stay in the hospital, but she survived to be placed in a foster family specializing in high-risk babies.

As a result of the injuries from the abortion, Gianna was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Doctors believed she would never be able to sit up, let alone walk. She surpassed all expectations. Today she is able to run, dance, walk and has even taken up rock climbing. She has also become a tireless advocate for the pro-life cause.
Many would expect Gianna to be bitter or angry about the fact her birthmother tired to abort her, especially at such a late point in the pregnancy. However, Gianna does not have any hatred towards her birthmother. She has forgiven her mother for the traumatic circumstances of her birth and treats the pro-abortion women who hear her speak with compassion.

On 22 April 1996, Gianna testified before the Constitution Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee on the issue of abortion. Sadly, out of 13 members of the subcommittee, only two were willing to listen to her testimony; abortion supporters boycotted the meeting.

As unbelievable as this may seem, Gianna's is not an isolated case.

Ximena's odessy with Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) began on 16 Dec 1985, the day she was born. After attempting an abortion at a free-standing mill in Bellingham, Washington, Ximena's birth mother entered VGH, where she gave birth. According to court documents, staff delivered the child into a "hat" a plastic pot and then senior nurse Vera Wood whisked her away. Ximena was placed in a room "where dead fetuses were stored," even though she was "moving, gasping and crying weakly," said Ms. Wood in her testimony.

Court documents said Wood checked back some 26 minutes later to find the child still alive. A nursing supervisor was called and arrived almost an hour after Ximena's birth. She found the child still in the "hat," uncovered, on a stainless steel counter. By the time the Infant Transport Team arrived, Ximena had suffered a severe loss of heat, which in turn caused extensive and permanent brain damage.

Ximena's adoptive family eventually sued VGH for over a million dollars. Hospital officials petitioned to have the case heard before a judge only, but the British Columbia (BC) Supreme court ruled it would be best heard before a jury. In June of this year, facing the prospect of a public trial, the hospital settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money. All that family members will say is that Ximena will be well taken care of.
Meanwhile, pro-life activists are calling for criminal charges to be laid. BC's pro-abortion Attorney-General Ujjal Dosanjh initially balked at the idea of investigating, but then contacted the Vancouver police. As of press time, no announcement had been made on whether further action will be taken. The BC College of Physicians and Surgeons has claimed the incident is out of their jurisdiction.

VGH continues to face heat over the case. Pro-lifers are now handing out literature outside the hospital, warning women of the events surrounding Ximena's birth. Some pro-lifers are suggesting VGH's recent request for a no-protest "bubble zone" around the facility is an attempt to cover up the case and hide it from patients and possible donors.

It seems unlikely officials will be able to put a lid on the story, since it may have happened before. A 30 May 1986 Vancouver Sun article quotes nurse Kathryn Larouche, who spent a year working in the VGH ward where abortions were committed, as saying that she saw three infants die after they were delivered live.

"We were supposed to turn the other way," Larouche said. "We weren't supposed to do anything. There were a couple of people I don't want to say who, that told us, 'Don't do anything. Leave it alone. It will die." The events left such emotional scars, Larouche eventually resigned, and five other nurses along with her.

VGH officials insist that, according to their records, there has been no other case where a "viable" infant was born and allowed to die. They have not provided an explanation of what "viable" means.

Not many people know that there are people who actually survive abortion. It's practically unheard of, but not impossible. There are not any statistics to tell us just exactly how many children survive, but there are statistics to tell us how many are killed. To many it seems like a senseless tragedy, but to others it may seem like the only way out. It is not really up to us to judge. The judgment comes from a Higher Power, we just have to decide what's right for us.

Stephanie Bush is a 17-year-old Caymanian High School Student

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Special Report

Controversial film cut from festival to mark beatification

Mother Teresa

CALCUTTA (AFP) A controversial film on Mother Teresa, Hell's Angel, has been dropped from a film festival planned here to mark her beatification later this year, an organiser said.

"Hell's Angel, produced by Italian Channel 4 and directed by Christopher Hitchens, would be withdrawn as Missionaries of Charity and Bishop Lobo who was in the diocesan team probing the life, virtue and reputation of Mother Teresa's sanctity for the cause of her sainthood, opposed its screening," said Father C.M. Paul, a member of the organising committee.

"Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, postulator of the cause of Mother Teresa's sainthood and Missionaries of Charity priest, now in Rome, also faxed a letter to the organising committee of the film festival to drop Hell's Angel," he added.

"Hell's Angel" is based on the 1997 book "The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice" by US-based British author and columnist Christopher Hitchens, who breaks with orthodoxy by questioning the work of the Missionaries of Charity.

Hitchens faulted Mother Teresa for using her political clout on behalf of conservative causes and accepting money from dodgy sources, and contended that her work was focused on the dying and made little real effort to improve the bleak circumstances behind Calcutta's public health woes.

The film had stirred up a controversy as Missionaries of Charity, the order of nuns founded by Mother Teresa, and Bishop Salvador Lobo, a member of the Diocesan team shepherding her candidacy for sainthood, said the film distorted the work she did.

They had written a letter to ask the Archbishop of Calcutta Lucas Sircar to exclude "Hell's Angel" and another film "In The Name of God's Poor" from the festival planned to be held in November.

"In the Name of God's Poor," was going to be screened by the organisers of the film festival as they felt that it had some positive points.

"French author Dominique Lapierre's film, 'In The Name of God's Poor,' which revolves around Mother Teresa's life with Charlie Chaplin's daughter Geraldine Chaplin playing the role of Mother Teresa, would, however be screened," said Father Paul.

The film had been criticized by the Missionaries of Charity as they said the writer sensationalized the nun's life and refused to make changes to what was supposed to be an authorised biography.

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Regional Commentary

CARICOM official sees Caribbean-Americans as "untapped" resource

By Felicia Persaud

Ambassador Colin Granderson (c) receives an award from Farouk Samaroo (r), of NYS Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin's office. Organizer Annan Boodram is at left. Alim Hasim Photo

"Caricom is not just our physical boundaries but the Diaspora and we have to find a mechanism to 'tap' this 'untapped' resource." So said Assistant Secretary General of CARICOM (the Caribbean Common Market), Ambassador Colin Granderson, during a recent address to Caribbean nationals in Brooklyn.

Mr. Granderson, in recognizing the economic contribution of Caribbean-Americans to their homelands through remittances, said that the regional body must find a way to use this collective wisdom and human resource to move the community and region forward.

Addressing the second annual CARICOM Day Awards at the Brooklyn YWCA auditorium on Saturday July 26th, Mr. Granderson, the Secretariat's representative on Foreign and Community Relations, said the time has come for regional leaders to see migration of qualified nationals in a positive light. "We have to change our negative attitudes," said the Trinidadian-born ambassador. "We have to see it as a brain gain, not a brain drain. Greater thought needs to be put in place to tap this resource."

Pointing to Jamaica and Haiti as prime examples of this "gain," Granderson explained that about 50 percent of Jamaica's Gross Domestic Product comes from money transfers while Haiti gets more from its nationals overseas than it gets from multi-national lending agencies. This is excluding personal savings in their home countries as well as homes, added the assistant secretary general.

"CARICOM must acknowledge the population (overseas) and find a way to tap them here in the U.S. and in the entire of North America," said Ambassador Granderson. "It is only by pulling our resources together that we can make an impact."

This he said must be done, particularly in light of the increasing hardships being encountered by small, agro-dependent economies in the global market. New products, he said, must be sought to fill the financial void.

The ambassador also took the opportunity to bring Caribbean Americans up to date on the "progress" of the regional body.

Among the issues discussed was the freedom of movement of skilled Caribbean folk, such as artists, musicians, sports players and media personnel. The pilot policy went into effect on August 1st and Mr. Granderson said it is left to be seen whether the system will work, in light of some regional immigration officers' preconceived bias towards other CARICOM nationals at airports like Barbados, where he said there is a Jamaica and Guyana "bench."

Nationals of Guyana have been especially singled out for interrogation and, recently strip-search, as revealed by widespread media reports. Guyana's President Bharat Jagdeo has intervened, asking Prime Minister Owen Arthur of Barbados, to implement a system where immigration officers from both countries could serve on an exchange program that will monitor the treatment at the respective airports of their nationals.

Mr. Granderson also touched briefly on the Caribbean Court of Justice, which will be inaugurated in November in Trinidad. He said that the formation of a regional Apellate Court is a "very important step forward in any regional integration effort."

"In many ways we are cutting our last link to the Mother Country," said the ambassador.

The CCJ is set to replace the British Privy system, which has since colonization, served as the final judicial decision making body of the region. Opposition to the court has varied with some calling it the "hanging court," because of many regional governments support of the death penalty, as well as many legal associations and even opposition parties urging for a referendum before the court is fully established.

But CARICOM and governments have argued that the establishment of the CCJ means cutting the last link to their former colonial master and allowing Caribbean justices to rule on their nationals' behalf. They have also shot down questions about whether the judges will be politically biased in favor of governments, noting instead that the CCJ will be run without political interference.

And on the issue of political integration that is being pushed by the body and some countries, Mr. Granderson noted that a major obstacle to this process is the indecision by many countries to give up their
individual sovereignty.

"It's going to be a long, slow, complex process," he said. "But I think it is a very important step forward in any regional integration effort."

The second annual CARICOM Day awards ceremony was organized by Guyanese national Mr. Annan Boodram, publisher of the Caribbean Voice newspaper. Honorees this year included Ambassador Granderson, Haitian-born Mr. Ricot Dupry of Radio Soleil, Trinidadian-born fashion designer Mr. Francis Hendy, Guyanese Mr. Tony Shafiek of First Republic Mortgage Bank, Jamaican Mr. Garfield Comrie of Western Union, Mr. Jared McAllister of the Daily News Caribbeat Magazine and Dr. Stephen Carryl, a Guyanese surgeon and head of an overseas medical association that provides medical assistance to Caribbean countries. Another speaker at the event was Guyanese-born motivational orator, Mr. John Haricharan, who urged Caribbean nationals to search for and locate their mental "pot of oil."

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Overseas Analaysis

Texas Democrats again flee state

By PHIL MAGERS

DALLAS (UPI) A new walkout by Democrats has intensified the growing political feud in the Texas Legislature over a Republican plan to redraw lines of the state's 32 congressional districts.

Eleven of the Texas Senate's 12 Democrats left the Statehouse late Monday, much like some of the Texas House Democrats did in the regular session in May. Instead of Ardmore, Okla., the senators headed west to chose Albuquerque.

In a Monday night news conference, Sen. Leticia Van De Putte, D-San Antonio, called on Perry to put an end to the new redistricting session called only hours earlier.

"We also ask our Lieutenant Governor (David) Dewhurst to return to the Senate the long-standing, long-respected bipartisan tradition of the two-thirds rule," she said, referring the vote needed to bring up legislation for floor action.

In Austin, Dewhurst, the Senate's presiding officer, pleaded for the Democrats to return to the Capitol.
"I'm asking the Democrats to come back and join us in this process to continue to work together so that we can not only address congressional redistricting but the other very important pieces of legislation before us," he said.

Although the two dramatic walkouts by Democrats have made for some amusing political entertainment the political stakes are very high for the two major political parties.

Republicans want to strengthen their grip on the U.S. House where they currently have a 229-205 advantage, with one independent. In Texas, Democrats hold 17 of the state's 32 congressional seats but Republicans from U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, to Perry argue that breakdown fails to reflect GOP strength in Texas.

Dewhurst says "an overwhelming majority" of the state's voters supports President Bush and his policies. "Incredibly, a majority of our congressional delegation to Washington does not," he said in a recent Dallas Morning News op-ed piece.

The last plan considered in the first special session could boost Republican strength in the Texas delegation to 22 seats, giving the GOP more control of the U.S. House and probably ending the career of Rep. Martin Frost, a prominent Texas Democrat.

Dewhurst declared redistricting dead Friday after the Senate failed to muster the two-thirds vote to bring the plan up for a vote. He dropped that rule in the second session, which is what sent the Senate Democrats packing.

In May, 51 House Democrats holed up in an Ardmore motel in a four-day, quorum-blocking move until the deadline for consideration of a GOP remap passed and the bill died. Two more sessions have been called now to pass the measure.

Most political observers say Texans have taken little interest in the continuing debate. Although 89 percent of the witnesses who appeared at Senate hearings were opposed to changing the districts, Republicans said the sessions were packed by Democrat activists.

The Justice Department is required to clear any Texas redistricting law to ensure there is no systematic dilution of minority voting strength. There are questions about lines drawn for Frost's 24th district in the Dallas area and some other proposed districts in South Texas.

Democrats argue there is no need to change the districts because a three-judge federal panel approved the current lines in late 1991 after the Legislature failed to agree. Now the Republicans are in charge, however, they want the 32 districts to reflect their strength.

said national political leaders from both parties are watching Texas closely because the outcome could impact the political climate across the country.

"A lot is riding on what happens in Texas," he said. "If Texas pulls it off and Tom DeLay works his will down here that is going to intensity the partisan bickering."

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Overseas Feature

Saddam's eldest daughter accuses aides of "betrayal"; says Saddam was good father

Deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's eldest daughter Raghad speaks during an interview with the al-Arabiya satellite television station in Amman, 01 August 2003.
AFP PHOTO/AL-ARABIYA

DUBAI (AFP) Saddam Hussein's eldest daughter, Raghad, on Friday accused his aides of "betraying" the deposed Iraqi president and causing the fall of Baghdad to US-led forces in April.

"The main betrayal came from the people whom he trusted fully, those he considered his right hand... (in fact) they betrayed their country before betraying Saddam Hussein," she told the Dubai-based al-Arabiya satellite news channel in Amman.

Raghad, who arrived in the Jordanian capital with her sister Rana and their nine children on Thursday after being granted refuge, termed the sudden fall of Baghdad on April 9 "a great shock."

Describing the hours leading up to the abrupt end of her father's 24-year rule, Raghad said she spent them in Baghdad's posh Mansur district with Rana and their children, knowing it was "all over."

Raghad said she last saw Saddam, whose whereabouts have been unknown since his ouster, five days before the start of the US-led war on March 20, during a family meeting at her mother's palace in Baghdad during which the former Iraqi strongman was typically brimming with confidence.

"I miss you very much, Dad," she said, wiping away tears when asked what she would tell her father.

She said she had also not seen her mother, Sajida, whose own whereabouts have been the subject of much speculation, and youngest sister Hala since the US capture of Baghdad.

In a separate interview with CNN, Raghad said Saddam was "not going to tell anyone where he is now, even my mother and family."

Asked how it had been to say goodbye to her nearest and dearest, she said: "Horrible."
Raghad insisted that despite his brutal reputation, Saddam had been a caring father, whom she missed a great deal.

"He was a very good father, loving and with a very big heart. He loved his daughters, sons, grandchildren. He was a very good father," she said, speaking in fluent English.
Asked what she would say to him, if he could hear her, she said: "I love you and miss you as a father, if not more than that."

Asked the same question, Rana, who spoke through an interpreter said: "I hope that God will protect him and keep him safe ... If God is willing, we will see him again."

Raghad 35, and Rana, three years her junior, first took refuge in Jordan in August 1995, along with their husbands General Hussein Kamel Hassan al-Majid, at the time military industrialization minister, and his brother Saddam Kamel Hassan al-Majid, who was in charge of a presidential guard.

The brothers had defected to Jordan, along with around 30 other members of the al-Majid family, and Hussein Kamel at the time made open calls for an overthrow of the Baath Party regime in Iraq.

But Hussein Kamel's defection came to a tragic end.

In February 1996, believing in an amnesty issued by the Baath Party and guarantees from Saddam's elder son Uday that they would be safe, the families returned to Iraq, only for Hussein and Saddam Kamel Hassan to be assassinated on charges of treason along with several family members.

She also evaded a question about how she had felt over the deaths of Uday and Saddam's second son Qusay in a US raid in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on July 22.

Raghad said: "Excuse me, I won't answer this question, if you please, it's so difficult for me to answer it."

Sources close to Raghad and Rana told AFP Friday the two women would claim the bodies of Uday and Qusay in order to give them a proper Muslim burial despite the estrangement that followed their husbands' assassination seven years ago.
In the interview with Al-Arabiya, Raghad blamed Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" for his role in gassing Kurds, for the killing of her husband, brother-in-law and family members.

"You forgave them as head of state, but we as a tribe did not forgive them," Ali Hassan al-Majid told Saddam during a leadership meeting, according to her.

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Mexico is run by organized crime says Giuliani

Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani. AFP PHOTO/Omar TORRES

MEXICO CITY (AFP) In this megalopolis of 22 million, organized crime has taken over from street punks, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani told Mexico City officials who paid 4.3 million dollars for his advice.

Giuliani concluded that "crime has overwhelmed the authorities," according to a government official who read the document.

"Even more than the lack of police investigation, he highlights the control organized crime exerts over the streets of the city."

Giuliani earned worldwide fame for calmly shepherding his city through the chaos that followed the September 11 2001 terrorist attack that leveled the city's twin World Trade Center towers.

He had also earned a reputation for toughness on crime, staunch support for the police and dramatically lowering New York's crime rate with the "zero tolerance" policy that he now counsels to other crime-ridden cities.

His Giuliani Brothers consulting firm is to release the findings of his report on Mexico City next week.

Not surprisingly, he "suggests adoption of a different, but not necessarily better, system of policing, something more like that of the United States and especially like that of New York," criminologist Rafael Ruiz said. Ruiz is a critic of the Giuliani contract.

Globally, Mexico is second only to Colombia when it comes to kidnapping for ransom, third in frequency of armed robbery and eighth in homicides, according to a study by the Patronal Confederation, a business group.

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US Immigration Korner

US Immigration Korner

Felicia Persaud

This is a column created especially for immigrants concerned or unsure of issues pertaining to the US Immigration Law. The column will answer some of our readers frequently asked questions and provide answers from qualified immigration attorneys and advocates lobbying for the US immigration cause.

Q: Can an American citizen sponsor a house keeper/babysitter from the Caribbean? If so, what are the procedures required and how long does this process take?
A: There are a few ways a U.S. citizen can sponsor a babysitter to migrate to the U.S, says Attorney Andre Pierre. The easiest way he says is for the sponsor to go to the U.S. Embassy along with the babysitter and the kids and request a B1/B2 visa. If the U.S. citizen can make a strong case, the embassy will issue the visa for a period of time so the babysitter can accompany the citizen and the kids to the U.S. for a vacation or an event among other situations.
Another way for the U.S. citizen to sponsor a babysitter is to file a petition under the employment-based immigration. Pierre says this option is strongly recommended but the services of an immigration attorney who specializes in employment-based immigration needs to be garnered to accomplish this process.

Q: Does the birth of child in the U.S. by a person on a visitor's visa help in attaining LPR status before the child attains the age of 21?
A: The birth of a child within the U.S. by a visitor does not immediately entitle the parent to any immigration benefits to stay in the U.S., says immigration counselor at the Emerald Isle Center of Queens, John Stahl. A U.S. citizen child may sponsor their parent(s) for permanent residence once they reach the age of 21 years. Otherwise, under most circumstances a U.S. citizen child cannot pass residence or citizenship benefits on to their parent.

Q: Can an American citizen come to the Caribbean and marry his girlfriend and how long does this procedure take?
A: Yes, says Attorney Pierre. The girlfriend will be considered an immediate relative since she is the spouse of a U.S. citizen. Therefore, she will be exempt from the general quotas. She will not be subject to the numerical limits. A visa will be immediately available to her. However, the Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services will take some time to process the application which will take roughly 12 months for her to be armed with a visa to enter the U.S. The citizen boyfriend, after the marriage, will have to file the I-130 with the BCIS along with the supporting documents showing the marriage is real.

About the writer: Felicia Persaud is a New York-based journalist and head of Hard Beat Communications. If you or someone you know has an immigration question, then email Felicia directly at hardbeatinc@aol.com. Individuals can keep their anonymity if preferred, since questions will not be answered personally!

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Health Today

'Solar' surgery much cheaper than lasers

NEW YORK (UPI) Israeli scientists say concentrated sunlight could be used to burn away tumors and other dangerous growths, much as laser surgery does now, but at only a fraction of the cost.

"Solar surgery offers an alternative that could be 10 to 100 times less expensive," researcher Jeffrey Gordon, a physicist at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Sede Boqer, Israel, told United Press International.

We have just completed clinical trials of solar surgery on live healthy rats, with gratifying success," Gordon said. "The next experiments we are planning will target malignant tumors with solar surgery."

Conventional laser surgery pumps laser beams through optical fibers to zap diseased cells. The method is both highly effective and minimally invasive, but it is unavailable to many patients worldwide because of its prohibitive cost, Gordon said. "Current laser fiber-optic surgical systems commonly cost upward of $100,000," he explained.

Gordon and his partner Daniel Feuerman have worked with solar energy for years. They began thinking about harnessing sunlight for surgery after hearing about laser surgery's exorbitant prices keeping their university's medical center and many others around the world from employing the potentially life-saving technology.
Instead of using lasers, the duo began attempting to concentrate light from commonplace sources. "Conventional light sources were not bright enough. But the surface of the sun is adequate," Gordon commented.

Their prototype employs a highly reflective, eight-inch-wide concave dish, which collects and focuses sunbeams and funnels them down a flexible optical fiber. The sunlight emerges in an operating theater, a narrow beam of light rays deployed from the one-millimeter-wide tip of a surgeon's tool.
Each square yard of the Earth's surface receives about 950 watts of solar energy during the day. "Our solar surgery prototype concentrates sunlight to about 12,000 times its ambient level," Gordon said.
So far, Gordon and Feuerman have focused the device on soft tissue, but they also want to be able to use the solar technology on bone and other hard targets, so they have developed sculpted optical fiber tips for even higher sunlight concentrations. At the opposite end of the power curve, they have developed a means to modulate the device's energy.

"A simple iris on the solar concentrator controlled from within the operating theater can reduce the solar power delivered to the patient as required," Gordon noted.

The obvious limitation of solar surgery is its dependence on sunlight. Clearly, nighttime is precluded and solar surgery must be restricted to days and locations with clear skies, leaving out perennially rainy cities such as Seattle.

Still, Gordon noted, even laser surgery often is planned well in advance and is not considered an emergency procedure. In Sun Belt climes, he estimated, there should be operating windows of seven to 10 hours a day for 250 days or more each year.

"A great deal of the planet would qualify," he said, including parts of Africa, the Middle East, South America, India, the southwest United States and Australia.

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Overseas People

Thanks to Vanessa, Johnny Depp kicks drink and drugs

US actor Johnny Depp.

BERLIN (AFP) US actor Johnny Depp has turned his back on alcohol and drugs since meeting his wife, the French actress Vanessa Paradis, Depp told the German magazine TV Movies which appeared Friday.
"I'm no longer the guy who fights in bars, drinks and snorts cocaine as if there was no tomorrow," the 40-year-old star told the magazine.

Depp claims the "pressure of success" drove him into a hole, which he dug his way out of in 1998 when he met Paradis, with whom he now has two children.

"I lived in a fog for 35 years, there was nothing important in my life. Then I fell in love with Vanessa, and she fell pregnant," said Depp, known for his roles in "Sleepy Hollow" and "Blow", in which he plays a cocaine kingpin.

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Movie star Cameron Diaz sues to block over exposure

US actresses Cameron Diaz poses for photographers in Berlin 08 July 2003 during the presentation of the film 'Charlie's Angel's Full Throttle'.

LOS ANGELES (AFP) Hollywood star Cameron Diaz is suing to stop a photographer from releasing topless pictures of her taken before she became a well-known movie actress, court documents showed Wednesday.
The blond star of films such as "Charlie's Angels" and "Something About Mary" filed suit in Los Angeles earlier this month to stop snapper John Rutter from selling the apparently compromising photographs.

Diaz, 30, alleged in documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court that a signature purporting to be hers that appears on a release form, which Rutter produced as evidence of his right to sell the pictures, had been forged.
Her publicist, Brad Cafarelli, declined to characterise the photos, but according to Rutter, they include topless shots of a then-21-year-old Diaz, who went on to become a hot Hollywood property.

Cafarelli accused Rutter of attempted extortion, prompting Los Angeles County investigators to go to the photographer's apartment last month. No criminal charges have been filed against Rutter.

But the photographer denied any attempt to extort money from the actress, telling the "Inside Edition" entertainment television show that he had offered to sell the pictures to her first as a courtesy.
"This was a negotiation for a right of first refusal with Cameron Diaz's lawyers," Rutter said. "A few hours after her lawyers offered to buy the photos my place was raided."

A hearing on Diaz's request for an injunction blocking sale of the pictures will be held on August 18.
Diaz has also appeared in films that include "My Best Friend's Wedding," "Vanilla Sky," and "Gangs of New York."

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US rap mogul Suge Knight back in jail for 10 months after assault

Marion "Suge" Knight

LOS ANGELES (AFP) US "gangsta" rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight was jailed for 10 months Thursday after allegedly getting into a fight outside a Hollywood nightclub, officials said.

The 37-year-old, who has had repeated brushes with the law, was put back behind bars by California's Board of Prison Terms after violating an earlier probation order by getting involved in a scrap, said the board's Bill Sessa.

The day-long hearing was held at a Los Angeles prison where the colourful Knight has been held since his June 27 arrest following the nightclub incident, in which a parking attendant was hit.

The founder of the Death Row Records label, now renamed Tha Row, went to prison for five years in 1996 after violating a 1992 probation order by beating up a gang rival in the desert gambling town of Las Vegas.
He was convicted in 1992 for assault and weapons violations.

Thursday's ruling was the second in less than a year for Knight who served 61 days in jail and was ordered to complete 200 hours of community service in February for associating with known gangsters in violation of his parole.

That arrest came during a major crackdown on gang warfare in Los Angeles where the murder rate soared last year as gangsters settled scores with the barrel of a gun.

Knight's lawyer, Rose Kogeman, said earlier this month that her client was not involved in the scuffle outside the Hollywood night spot.

"Another patron, while waiting for his vehicle, got angry and shoved the valet (parking attendant)," Kogeman said.

"There were numerous individuals present and many of them have already given statements indicating Mr. Knight was not involved in this altercation," she said.

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Overseas News

'Hit man' who killed toddler executed

HOUSTON (UPI) - Texas executed a man who shot a toddler to death as part of an inheritance scheme.

Remorseful and prayerful, Allen Wayne Janecka was executed for the 1979 murder of the 14-month-old boy in his crib.

"For many years I have done things my way, which has caused a lot of pain to me, my family and many others," Janecka, 53, said as he lay on the death chamber gurney, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Janecka, who spent 22 years on death row, was the 20th prisoner Texas put to death this year. He was the second inmate executed in the slayings of Houston toddler Kevin Wanstrath and his parents.

Recruited by a middle man, Janecka was the "hit man" who erased a man's four immediate family members in return for a few thousand dollars. The scheme was designed for the man to inherit the bulk of his family's $800,000 estate.

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Grisley end for Russian grizzly bears

KAMCHATKA, Russia (UPI) - Dozens of Siberian grizzly bears whose lives were catalogued for eight years by Canadian naturalists have been brutally killed.

The slaughter was being viewed as a message to the Canadians to abandon the project, the Globe and Mail reported.

Charlie Russell and Maureen Enns' research was the subject of a PBS documentary, a best selling book and numerous news stories.

The researchers spent eight years proving bears and humans could co-exist with humans in the snowy Russian wilderness.

But Russell told the newspaper that when he arrived at the outpost in May to greet the bears after hibernation, he found a baby bear's gallbladder nailed to the wall.

Russell said he and Enns searched unsuccessfully for any sign of the bears, who were trained not to fear humans.

Realizing they had all been slaughtered, Enns and Russell closed their outpost last week and returned home for good.

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Security gates coming down

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (UPI) - South African authorities have begun pulling down security gates erected by Johannesburg residents.

The BBC reports city workers plan to tear down some 1,100 gates, fences and swing barriers erected on the streets to enforce a new law requiring residents to get prior legal approval for such work in a city that has the dubious distinction of being one of the crime capitals of the world.

As the new law goes into force, authorities have received about 300 applications from residents to keep their blockades.

Residents say they need the gates because of the growing crime rate. Last year, there were nearly 1,000 murders in Johannesburg - 16 times higher than that of London, a far larger city. There were also over 15,000 house burglaries and nearly 8,000 serious assaults.

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Nicaraguan coffee workers march in protest

Unemployed Nicaraguan coffee workers along with walk their families along the Pan-American highway 110 kms to the north of Managua, 1 August 2003. About three thousand farmers without land or work initiated the march of about 130 kilometres towards the capital demanding of the government of Enrique Bolanos the fulfillment of their promises to provide land and work for them. AFP PHOTO/Miguel ALVAREZ

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Father orders pit bull to attack son

CLEVELAND (UPI) - A Cleveland man is on trial accused of unleashing a pit bull on his son for discipline, a newspaper reported.

Testimony began with the 14-year-old boy describing also being whipped with a belt, the Cleveland Plain Dealer said.

The teen said Tyrone Williams beat him with a belt as punishment for a bad report card, jurors were told by prosecutors and witnesses at the outset of Williams' trial on charges of felonious assault and child endangering.

Williams, 34, is acting as his own attorney.

The young victim said he had only seen Williams about five times in his life before his mother, Zunna Anthony of Cleveland, asked Williams to discipline him in February for worsening grades and behavior.

Williams reportedly said a command in Spanish, and the dog charged, ripping the son's pants and puncturing the skin on his calf.

The bite and the belt left permanent scars.

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Niger leader wants uranium charge proof

LONDON (UPI) - The prime minister of Niger wants British Prime Minster Tony Blair to show evidence that Iraq tried to buy uranium from the west African state.

The British Broadcasting Corp. reported Prime Minister Hama Hamadou reminded Blair that Niger was the first African country to send troops to fight Saddam Hussein after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1991.

"Would we really send material to somebody whom we had fought against and who could destroy half the world with a nuclear bomb?" he said in an interview with the London Sunday Telegraph.

Hamadou said if Britain has evidence to support its claim then it should produce it for everybody to see.
Blair has stuck by the claim that Iraq tried to buy uranium for nuclear weapons from Niger.

The Niger leader said the uranium is tightly controlled and that his government's priority is to feed and educate its people.

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Florida police targets lobster poachers

KEY WEST, Fla. (UPI) - Florida conservation officials are in high gear in the Keys as lobster poachers converge to fish before the legal two-day season begins.

Locally known as "Bug Bandits," poachers can earn about $8 to $12 a pound for their clandestine catch, the Miami Herald reported.

Because the two-day recreational lobster "mini-season" begins soon, poachers are eager to grab their goods before thousands of visitors legally stalk local waters.

"(Poachers) might not be able to come down during the mini-season because they might be working, so they will go out ahead of time," Chuck Collins, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, told the Herald.

Unmarked police vessels will be dispatched to lobster hot spots and manned by about 25 visiting officers from across Florida in addition to more than two dozen local officers.

At least two surveillance planes will be flying over the key's waters.

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Anti-spam provision shows support

WASHINGTON (UPI) - The man behind a Congressional drive to clean up e-mail says 74 percent of U.S. Internet users want a national do-not-spam registry.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., based his figures on a new survey on his proposal to keep unwanted matter out of e-mail directories. It's similar to the new do-not-call registry to combat telemarketing that 28 million U.S. residents have signed up for since late June.

He said he had "a lot of support" in Washington and, best of all; "The American public supports it. Usually, that works around here."

Schumer introduced his Stop Pornography and Abusive Marketing Act in June but, it has yet to receive a hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Additionally, staff at the Federal
Trade Commission have expressed concerns a do-not-spam list would be to tougher to administer than the telemarketing list.

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UNICEF sounds alarm over UK child abuse

LONDON (UPI) - A report from the United Nations Children's Fund says child trafficking and exploitation are becoming serious problems in England.

The UNICEF report, "Stop the Traffic," claims an increasing number of children are being smuggled into Britain from West Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia, then exploited by their captors, the Telegraph reported.

The children, some as young as seven, are used for prostitution and running drugs, the report said.

Some of the children are sold by their families, then subjected to months of sexual and physical abuse by victimisers masquerading as protectors, UNICEF charged.

Others are forced into servitude, working as domestic helpers without pay. There are also reports of children forced to work in restaurants, sweatshops and as beggars, the Telegraph said.

The report calls on the British government to close legal loopholes that allow children to be smuggled into the country.

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Russian Orthodox church celebrates saint

A woman talks with nuns after the prayer in front of Preobrazhensky Cathedral in the village of Deveyevo, some 400 kms from Moscow, 01 August 2003. Thousands of faithful from all over Russia came here to celebrate the 100th anniversary of canonization of the most respectable Russian Orthodox Saint St. Seraphim of Sarov.

AFP PHOTO/ Alexander NEMENOV

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News From Our Region

Former Haitian police spokesperson flees into exile

Jean-Dady Simeon, ex-spokesman for the Haitian National Police, has gone into hiding.

First it was the police chief who fled into exile to Florida. Now it's the former spokesman.
Jean-Dady Simeon,

the third highest-ranking member of Haiti's police force, fled the country for Canada recently, saying he feared for his life, the Associated Press reported.

In a telephone interview with Haitian broadcaster Radio Caraibes, Mr. Simeon said, "I was threatened by police officers." He was the spokesman for the 4,000-member force until he was appointed head of public relations in May.

Haitian officials declined to comment on the claims, according to AP, but Minister of Culture and Communication Lilas Desquirono said, "Mr. Simeon wanted to leave Haiti to settle his personal affairs, and he needed a pretext."

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Tourism sector will create more jobs says minister

Minister of Tourism of Jamaica Ms. Aloun Ndombet Assamba.

Jamaica's Minister of Industry and Tourism, Ms. Aloun Ndombet Assamba, is optimistic about the future of the island's tourism sector. Over the next two years some 958 jobs will be added as well as six more new hotels and 274 rooms.

The minister said the hotels will be built under the Hotel Incentives Act approved in the last fiscal year, JIS News reported.

But it's the rise in growth in the industry that has the ministry most pleased. Jamaica recorded a 6.7 per cent growth between May and December last year.

"I am very happy to report that despite all the threats which hovered over tourism the sector rebounded in the latter half of the year," said the minister. "When we take a closer look at the figures, we see that stop-over arrivals from Italy increased by a whopping 121.3 per cent while the United Kingdom (UK) market went up by 21 per cent and stop-overs from the critical United States of America (USA) market improved by 4.7 per cent."
She said in comparison to other Caribbean neighbours, Jamaica was doing quite well. "The Caribbean Tourism Association indicates that last year, stop-over arrivals declined by 2.5 per cent and cruise passengers by five per cent. The decline in arrivals from the United States was some four per cent and the Caribbean had a double-digit decline in arrivals out of Europe. So, comparatively speaking, Jamaica is doing well in its tourist arrivals in relative terms to its neighbours," the minister explained.

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Haiti facing a hunger crisis as UN aid arrives

Nearly half of Haiti's 3.8 million people are suffer from hunger. So says the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, which warned recently that the issue is fast turning into a "silent" food crisis.
The FAO, in a statement released this week said increased social and political tensions have contributed to a vicious cycle of marginalization and increased vulnerability, eroding social, economic, infrastructural and environmental assets. A majority of the hungry live in rural areas, added the statement.

Anne M. Bauer, director of the FAO Emergency Operations and Rehabilitation Division, observed, "Haitians somehow manage to survive from day-to-day, leaving many observers questioning whether there is really a humanitarian emergency. (But) the indicators, however, show that there is a crisis, albeit a 'silent' one, and one that risks becoming deeper."

Agriculture, the main source of income, has been damaged by drought in the northwest over the last four years and by floods in the northeast over the last season, FAO officials said. While national food production is decreasing due to insufficient investment, infrastructure and access to agricultural inputs.

UN News reports that out of a labour force of 4.1 million, only 110,000 are employed in the formal sector, with 35,000 working as civil servants. About 23 per cent of children under five are suffering from chronic malnutrition and over 1.2 million are affected or infected by HIV/AIDS or other diseases.

In April the UN and its various agencies launched an $84 million appeal to address the emergency needs of the most vulnerable in Haiti over the next 18 months.

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Caribbean media conference for Barbados

Mr. Lelei LeLaulu, president of Counterpart International, a conference partner.

Caribbean and global companies will be placed in the spotlight when media professionals gather in Barbados later this year for the fifth Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism (CMEx).

Set for the Almond Village resort from 4-8, December, the focus this year will be on "Tourism and The Media: The Next Generation." In a prepared statement, Mr. Lelei LeLaulu, president of Counterpart International, one of CMEx's partner organisations, said it was critical to the growth of an industry that contributes to the employment of one in every four people in the region that tourism was "the first and not the last resort for the best and brightest sons and daughters of the Caribbean."

CMEx, a premier media conference of its kind, enhances flows of information to strengthen Caribbean tourism policy and increases understanding of the multi-sectoral value of sustainable tourism, the statement added.

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Caribbean celebrates emancipation from slavery

Jamaica's PM P.J. Patterson

Barbados' PM Owen Arthur

Prime Minister Sam Hinds of Guyana

Trinidad & Tobago's PM Patrick Manning

Friday, 1 August, marked the end of slavery in several Caribbean countries, including Guyana, Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad. Nationals, especially those of African descent, as well as government, marked the day with speeches and celebration of the freedom from the horror that was slavery.

In Guyana, Prime Minister Sam Hind, acting for President Bharat Jagdeo who is in Brazil, marked the 165-year anniversary by urging all Guyanese to "embrace each other with love and respect."

In Barbados, Prime Minister Owen Arthur used the day to urge that "a national roll call" be established in honour of national hero Bussa and other Black freedom fighters, who took part in the 1816 slave revolt on the island.

In Trinidad & Tobago, Prime Minister Patrick Manning urged nationals there "to strive unceasingly after a society about which we can all be proud, characterized as it should be by the elimination of fetters and prejudices of the kind that stood in the way of our ancestors and forefathers, and towards which we therefore must apply all our diligence against that which might debilitate us, in our own time or that of generations to come."
Both countries suffer from racial tensions between the two main race groups who are descendants of African slaves and Indian indentured servants.

In Jamaica, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, urged Jamaicans to reflect on their past in order to be guided into the future.

"Let us be guided by the example of our ancestors in their struggle for freedom, and unite to build a secure future for generations of Jamaicans to come," said Mr. Patterson.

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T&T closes sugar Co. leaving workers out in the cold

Claiming it has lost hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade, the state-owned Caroni sugar company halted its mills and closed its doors, leaving about 8,000 workers without jobs.

Sugar, once a mainstay of the island's economy, has fast given way to manufacturing, offshore industries and the service sector, AP reported. Laid off workers will receive a payout totaling over $100 million. They will also be given the option to lease land.

But authorities say the company could reopen under a new name next year, although it will be much smaller with only 1,000 employees.

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Grenadian ambassador dies suddenly

Grenadian Ambassador-at-Large Bartholomew Lawson died suddenly in Grenada earlier this week, much to the shock and dismay of colleagues, among them, Prime Minister Keith Mitchell.

Prime Minister Mitchell said he was completely taken aback by the news. "Mr. Lawson was a true friend of Grenada. He has done so much for the development of the country. The government and people of Grenada are very saddened. Our prayers and thoughts are with his family and friends," said the PM.

Mr. Lawson, who was based in New York, was appointed Ambassador-at-Large in 2002, according to a Grenada government statement. He apparently arrived in Grenada on Wednesday, 30, July, and met with Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Elvin Nimrod.

He was scheduled to tour the new play ground, which he donated, that was recently completed at Queen's Park but died suddenly. His remains will be returned to the U.S. for burial.

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Community Calendar

Community Calendar

1 August- 5 September

The International College of the Cayman Islands is now enrolling new and continuing students for fall quarter on weekdays at 1 5 pm. Registration continues until 5 September. Classes begin on 8 September and end on 13 November. For Information telephone 947-1100.

30 July- 29 August

Summer lap swimming is now being offered at the Lions Aquatic Centre. This service is available each weekday from noon 2:00 pm, and will continue until 29 August.

4-8 August

Bodden Town Football Club in conjunction with the Ministry of Youth. Sports & Community Development will hold football camp from 4-8 August at the Bodden Town Primary School.

Youngsters aged 5 to 16 are invited to attend the camp, the cost is only $10 for the week and includes lunch and refreshments daily as well as a ball and a T-shirt for each child that completes the week. For more information, please call 244-4823.

4-8 August

Youngsters aged between 5 and 16 are invited to attend the Ninth Annual East End Football Camp from the 4-8 August at the Donovan Rankine Playing Field from 8:30 am until noon each day.
Each youngster who completes the week will receive a free T-Shirt and football. Refreshments will be provided during the day. The camp is free.
For more information contact Al McLean at 949-7822 during the day or Darrel Rankine at 914-0585

9 August

Light of The World Christian Fellowship presents its annual boat cruise. The boat leaves on 9 August at 7:00 pm sharp, from Safehaven dock. The Cost: $15.00 adults, and children $10. For more information contact Odette at 927-4392

11-15 August

The F.C. International Annual Football Camp runs from 11 August to 15 August at the Annex football field in George Town and again on Monday, 18 August to 22 August 2003 at the North Side football field. The camp will commence at 9:00 am and conclude at 1 pm. Lunch will be provided for ages 6-16. These camps are totally free. No registration is needed, just show up. For further information please contact Ray Ebanks, telephone 917-1049.

Saturday, 30 August

Future Sports Club players, members and supporters are selling tickets for their Annual Fair which will take place on Saturday, 30 August 2003 at the West Bay Town Hall Field. Proceeds will be used to purchase property and build an Educational and Training Facility.

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Sports

"Sportsmanship gone for six" claims Gavaskar

Indian cricket great Sunil Gavaskar. AFP PHOTO/Raveendran

LONDON (AFP) Indian cricket great Sunil Gavaskar lamented here Tuesday the decline in player behaviour throughout cricket, saying the sportsmaship on which the game traditionally prided itself had "gone for six".
"What does it tell us to have put the Spirit of Cricket into black and white?," asked Gavaskar in a reference to the new section included in the sport's rulebook.

"It tells us that the old adage that, 'it's not cricket', which applied to just about everything in life, is no longer valid and that's a real pity.

"In the modern world of commercialisation of the game and the advent of satellite television and the motto of winning at all costs, sportsmanship has gone for a six."

Gavaskar, who made a world record 34 Test hundreds, was speaking at Lord's where he was delivering the annual Cowdrey lecture set up by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in honour of the late former England captain Colin Cowdrey.

Gavaskar added that coaches had to tell children, "while the kids are at an impressionable age, that cricket has been played for years without indulging in personal abuse."

However, the 54-year-old International Cricket Council (ICC) committee member said he had not given up entirely on modern players' manners.

"While there is life there is hope.

"To see both the England and South African teams last week sporting black armbands to mourn the passing of Jacques Kallis's father (during the first Test at Edbgbaston), shows that there are people who believe that sharing in a fellow player's grief does not take away anything from their competitiveness but does help to lessen the grief."

Gavaskar himself was involved in a famously 'unsporting' incident when, after being given out during a Test in Australia, he tried to take his opening partner Chetan Chauhan off the field before the team manager persuaded Chetan to keep batting in a match India eventually won.

But Gavaskar insisted it was the fact that he had been referred to by a "part of the female anatomy" that had prompted the "most regrettable incident of my career".

On a lighter note Gavaskar, once refused admission to Lord's by an over-officious steward, joked that his audience must have thought the lecture would take place only if he was "allowed through the gate."

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Beckham not a rival, Figo says

British footballer David Beckham. AFP PHOTO/LIU Jin.

Real Madrid's Portuguese star Luis Figo. PHOTO LUSA / ANTONIO COTRIM

KUNMING, China (AFP) Real Madrid's Luis Figo insists there is no rivalry between himself and David Beckham, and says he will play wherever the coach wants him to.

"I don't think (a rivalry) exists because we play in the same team and we have the same objective," Figo said after a training session here Monday.

"I think everyone wants his integration into the team to be as smooth and fast as possible."
The England captain's 40 million-dollar transfer from Manchester United has sparked speculation that the two would be forced to fight it out for the right to play in right midfield - both player's favoured position.

Figo said he would play wherever he was needed.

"During my career I've had to adapt myself to some positions in order to play football and depending on the needs of the team I will play wherever the coach wants me," he said.

Coach Carlos Queiroz has already indicated he is considering switching Beckham to central midfield so Figo can continue on the right-hand side.

Another option could be for Figo to switch to the left flank - the position he occupied for Portugal's youth team when Queiroz was coach - with Beckham free to stay on the right side of midfield.
Meanwhile Figo rejected talk that he was unreceptive to Beckham's arrival, saying he probably communicated more with him than most.

"Because I speak a little bit more English I talk a little more with him," he said.

Queiroz warned at the weekend that Beckham and Figo would have to put egos aside for the good of the team.
"What is important to understand is they serve Real Madrid and not themselves," he said. "As coach, when you don't have good players, that is the nightmare."

Real Madrid are in southwestern China for a week-long training session ahead before a series of exhibition matches in Asia.

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Smith sets new South Africa record

South Africa's captain and opening batsman Graeme Smith keeps his eye on the ball after playing a shot during the first innings of the second test against England at Lords in London, 31 July 2003. South Africa bowled England out for 173 runs.
AFP PHOTO/Adrian DENNIS

LONDON (AFP) Graeme Smith became the fastest South African to 1,000 Test runs here on last Thursday.

Smith reached the landmark in his 17th Test innings, four fewer than the previous South African record of 21 held by Eddie Barlow.

Smith, at 22 South Africa's youngest ever captain, needed just a single to reach his 1,000 coming into the second Test against England which started at Lord's here last Thursday.

The Western Province opener got it off the first ball of the innings, bowled by Darren Gough.

It was the second Test in a row where Smith had broken a record after making 277 against England in the drawn first Test at Edgbaston the highest individual Test score by a South African surpasssing the 275 held jointly by Daryll Cullinan and Gary Kirsten.

That match also saw Smith score the most runs in a Test by a South African (362) surpassing Bruce Mitchell's mark of 309 set against England at The Oval in 1947.

However, Smith was still well short of the all-time record of 12 innings for 1,000 Test runs held jointly by England's Herbert Sutcliffe and West Indies' Everton Weekes.

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Angels cast out struggling pitcher

Anaheim Angels starting pitcher Kevin Appier. AFP PHOTO/Joshua ROBERTS

ANAHEIM, California (AFP) Pitcher Kevin Appier was cast out by the Anaheim Angels here Wednesday, one day after the right-hander failed to get past the first inning for the reigning Major League Baseball champions.

Appier, 35, retired just two batters in Tuesday's 6-2 loss to the New York Yankees while getting tagged for four runs and five hits before being released.

That marked the third time in the last five starts that Appier failed to finish the third inning, a 1-3 span in which he allowed 19 runs and 27 hits in 15 2/3 innings.

The Angels are in danger of being unable to even make the playoffs after claiming the World Series crown last year. They are 3-9 since the All-Star break, falling 11 games behind Boston in the American League wild-card race.

Appier was in the third year of a four-year contract worth 42 million dollars. He was to make 11 million dollars this year and 12 million dollars in 2004.

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CIFA welcomes first ever Women's National Coach

By Kenisha Morgan

CIFA General Secretary Bruce Blake (l) welcomes Thiago Cunha (c), National Women's and District Coach and Marcos Tinoco (r), National Coach.

Brazilian Thiago Cunha was recently named the first ever Cayman Islands Woman's National and District Football Coach.

The appointment was made after Mr. Cunha was recruited by the Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA) in accordance with the Ministry of Community Services, Gender Affairs.

Mr. Cunha started his career as Head Coach of the U17 team at the Bonsucesso Football Club in Rio de Janeiro some seven years ago. Since then he has served as assistant and fitness coach for a slew of other Brazilian clubs, including Vasco Da Gama.

Joining Cayman's national coaching team on 14 July, he immediately began preparing the U23 National Women's Team for their Olympic Qualifiers in December with Jamaica and the US Virgin Islands. For the next few years, Mr. Cunha says he plans to focus on developing younger players.

General Secretary Bruce Blake welcomed Cunha to the football family noting that with two professional football coaches now, great things could be expected. He said it was a privilege to have such high calibre coaches and highlighted CIFA's efforts to provide the resources they will need.

"CIFA is currently taking steps towards the development of a National Training Center. The project should be up and running in the next 3-5 years." He added that work on the fields and dormitories would be the first leg of the project and that negotiations had been completed with the Cayman Islands Government for the land.

Both under-23 teams are scheduled for the first leg of their Olympic Qualifiers before 2004. The Men's under-23 team is scheduled to face Grenada in that country on 6 September, and then here on Cayman soil on 12 October, while the women will face their challengers in Cayman, 3-7 December.

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Public encouraged to use Cayman's many Community Parks and Sports Centres

There is a wide range of public recreational and sporting facilities on Grand Cayman, and Minister
of Community Services, Youth, Sports, and Gender Affairs, Dr. the Hon. Frank McField is encouraging people to use them, but to do so responsibly.

A government programme of expanding the sporting faculties, often working in conjunction with associations, has resulted in a range of facilities to date. Some parks have been developed in a public-private partnership with the Dart Foundation, with government providing the property and infrastructure, and the Foundation providing the park design, equipment, landscaping and maintenance for a number of years.

In West Bay, three large facilities are located adjacent to each other: The Scholars Park is open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. It is not yet lit and therefore, at present, does not allow nightime use. It has playground equipment, picnic benches, BBQ grills, restroom facilities, water fountains and security. Permission is needed for special celebrations such as birthday parties, but is not necessary for normal use.

Behind this park is the Jimmy Powell Cricket Pavilion. Additional facilities are being developed on the site. Adjacent to this is the baseball field, which is lighted for night use. Permission from the Department of Youth, Sports and Community Services (DYSCS) is needed to use these two fields.

Across the road from these parks is the Ed Bush Field, which features bleacher seating for over 1,500 people. Special permission from DYSCS is also required to use this field. It caters to football and special events. Lighting is available, and the field has restroom facilities, water fountains, and a concession stand.

In George Town, facilities include the T.E. McField Sports Field (Annex) off Eastern Avenue. There, bleacher seating, lighting, restrooms, water facilities and a concession stand are available. Permission from DYSCS is needed to use this field.

Also off Eastern Avenue is the basketball court adjacent to the National Trust. It is open to the public except during basketball leagues. Restroom facilities are open only during official matches. Lighting is available nightly.

The Windsor Park Basketball Court, off Walker's Road, is open to the immediate community and public. It is lighted, but there are no restrooms or water facilities.

The Airport Park is available to the public for general daily use. Permission is needed for special celebrations and parties. It features playground equipment, a volleyball court and restroom facilities. Lighting is available until 10:00 pm, when the park is closed.

The country's main sporting centre, the Truman Bodden Sports Complex, is located off Walkers' Road.

Permission is needed to use the football field and track for special events. Other amenities at this site are a netball court, multiple changing rooms, meeting areas, as well as restroom and drinking fountains. The complex also houses the offices of the Football, and Track and Field Associations, as well as the Duke of Edinburgh programme.

Adjacent to this complex is the Lions Aquatic Centre. A formal swimming programme is in place, from Learn to Swim to competitive training and swim meets.

The Smith Road Cricket Oval on Thomas Russell Way/Smith Road offers restroom facilities but no lighting. This site is managed by the Civil Aviation Authority and maintained by DYSS.

A new George Town park, situated seaside at Jackson Point, on South Church Street, will open this summer.

In Bodden Town, extensive facilities are now available next to the Civic Centre. Lighting is available, as well as basketball courts and a football field. Water is available, and access to the restrooms and changing facilities located inside the Civic Centre is restricted to official functions.

The Bodden Town Primary School's field is also available. It is the Bodden Town Football Club's practice field. Lighting is available, as is access to restrooms and water.

The Frank Sound Park is located on Mercator Street, just before the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park. It has playground equipment, a netball/volleyball court and restroom facilities. This new park is open daily for public use, with lighting until 10:00 pm. Permission is needed for celebrations and parties.

Plans are also being developed to construct a new park in Bodden Town.

In North Side, the Old Man Bay Playing Field is open daily for public use, but permission needed to use this field for organized games. Restroom facilities and lighting are available.

The Hutland Park, which will soon be officially opened, is available for general public use. It has playground equipment and restroom facilities. Permission is needed for celebrations and parties.

The new East End Park also offers playground equipment, restroom facilities and drinking fountains. For more information on these or other government fields and parks, please contact the Department of Youth, Sports and Community Services at 949-7082, or the Ministry of Community Services, Youth, Sports, and Gender Affairs at 244-2424.

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Montoya takes German GP as title contenders crash out

Colombian BMW-Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya (r) leads the pack as Finnish McLaren-Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen (c) crashes against German BMW-Williams driver Ralf Schumacher on the Hockenheim racetrack, 03 August 2003, after the start of the German Formula One Grand Prix. AFP PHOTO/Pierre ANDRIEU

HOCKENHEIM, Germany (AFP) Juan Pablo Montoya left his rivals in the shade and staked a serious claim for the world championship title here Sunday when he cruised to victory in the German Grand Prix.

Colombian Montoya closed the gap to world championship leader Michael Schumacher to six points at a sizzling Hockenheim circuit after dominantly leading the race from start to finish to claim his second victory of the season.

He had been forced to settle for second place behind team-mate Ralf Schumacher and Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello in the last two events, but both they and championship contender Kimi Raikkonen were forced out in a first lap collision.

That left the way clear for Schumacher, who started from sixth on the grid, to challenge for second, but he was cruelly denied a podium finish when he suffered a puncture three laps from the end.

Montoya made a clear run at the start but team-mate Ralf Schumacher was slow to get away and squeezed Barrichello as Raikkonen tried to move past the pair on the outside into turn one.

Schumacher tapped Barrichello's rear tyre with his front left wheel and knocked him into Raikkonen, who speared right and hit Schumacher's sidepod before spinning and crashing heavily into the tyre barriers.

Raikkonen's McLaren lost three of its four wheels and emitted a lick of flame before it came to rest.

He was taken to the circuit medical centre but later released with a bruised leg and a stiff neck.

Barrichello also parked up his Ferrari at the side of the track and Ralf Schumacher retired in the pits at the end of the lap when his car was deemed impossible to repair.

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Sports SUMMARY

Sports SUMMARY

Brazillian long jumper Maurren Higa Maggi. ELECTRONIC IMAGE

Brazilian long jumper tests for steroids

RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) Maurren Higa Maggi, who set a world-leading 7.06m long jump this season, has tested positive for banned anabolic steroids, the Sao Paulo daily Folha reported Wednesday.

International Athletic Association Federation secretary general Istvan Gyulai told AFP he could not confirm the news until the second, or B, test result came through.

Eduardo de Rose, a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) medical commission, said Maggi had used a cream after waxing which produced the steroid.

Maggi has set four of the five best long jump marks seen so far this year.

Kenya to bid to host 2007 world cross country championship

MOMBASA, Kenya (AFP) Kenya, whose athletes have dominated international long distance running for decades, will bid to host the 2007 world cross country championship, Sports Minister Najib Balala said here Wednesday.

"We hope to bring the event to the low-altitude city of Mombasa. It is Kenya's and Africa's time now to host this glorious event," said Balala.

He said the government will soon post tenders internationally for the upgrading of Mombasa's main stadium to conform to International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) standards.

Kenyan runners have won 12 of 18 international cross country events since the first victory by John Ngugi in 1986. Ngugi and Paul Tergat each won five times and William Sigei twice.

"Kenyan athletes, known for their supremacy in the event, shall bring the glory and honour of hosting and winning closer home," he added.

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