Highlights from the Print Newspaper edition - Issue No. 407
Updated as of |
Wednesday, 21 May 2003
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Up Front
News
Editorial
Letters to the editor
Overseas Feature
Overseas Commentary
Current Commentary
Ask Dr. Brothers
Health News
Overseas People
Overseas News
News From Our Region
Cayman Net News Daily Comics
Sports
Sports SUMMARY
With several capital
projects needed, including a new office accommodation
building, Government is now exploring non-traditional funding
methods with a
Private Financing Initiative
The Cayman Islands Government is considering a private sector financing scheme to fund future capital projects, including the new Government office accommodation building.
At the presentation giving details of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and the new Government office accommodation project are (l-r) Mr. Pearse Rutledge of Ernst & Young in London; Mr. Jim Scott, Project Manager; Mr. Sheldon Taylor, of Ernst & Young in London; His Excellency the Governor Mr. Bruce Dinwiddy; Minister of Planning, Hon. Linford Pierson; Mr. Steven Bond from the Masons law firm in London, and Mr. Philip Thomas, Chairman of the PFI Steering Committee.
In a presentation arranged by the Ministry of Planning, Communications, Works and Information Technology, made on Monday, 19 May to senior Government officials and private sector community leaders, the Hon. Linford Pierson outlined the Private Financing Initiative/Public Private Partnership, commonly known as PFI/PPP.
Though utilized for over ten years in the UK, the scheme is a new concept of financing for the Cayman Islands. "The genesis of the PFI/PPP financing methodology in the Cayman Islands was born out of necessity following the restrictions placed on traditional financing procurement methods," said the Minister in his opening address.
Mr. Pierson pointed out that both the Public Management and Finance Law and the Borrowing Guidelines from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office placed a ceiling on debt servicing of ten percent of recurrent revenue, which at present averages over CI$300 million annually.
According to Mr. Pierson, the Cayman Islands' Debt Servicing Ratio currently stands at 7.4 percent, and when factored against Government's recurrent revenues, equates to a positive annual margin of CI$8,245,000 of available debt servicing funds.
Still, the Government would like to retain
the positive margin, even though several capital projects are
needed. "The Leader of Government Business has wisely taken
the very responsible and prudent position of not wishing to utilize
the credit margin between the current position and the ten percent
ceiling at this time," said Mr. Pierson.
Instead of negatively impacting the country's debt service ratio,
the PFI/PPP scheme would record the funding of capital projects
"off balance sheet." This is primarily accomplished
by structuring the transaction as a lease and service contract
rather than the traditional construction-to-own contract.
Another key advantage to the PFI/PPP plan is that it transfers most of the risks traditionally associated with building from the owner to the builder. These include short-term risks such as construction delays, and design flaws, and long-term risks like technologic obsolescence and poor energy efficiency.
In the case of the new Government office accommodation building, the administration would lease the land upon which the structure would be built to the developer, who would in turn lease a usable building back to the Government. The lease contract would run for a long term 25 years or more during which the developer would be responsible for all maintenance costs.
The office accommodation building is the first capital project to be evaluated under the PFI/PPP system, and is a priority with the administration. "Both the Glass House and the Tower Building are not built to required hurricane standards," said Mr. Pierson. "The Tower Building, in particular, is in need of repairs, the cost of which is equivalent to the cost of replacing the building. In both buildings, there is inadequate workspace, resulting in overcrowding as well as inadequate parking facilities. The proposed new office accommodation building will alleviate these problems."
Mr. Pierson indicated that other projects might also be considered using the methodology. "The Government is in dire need of providing a number of capital projects," he said, "including a new Courts Office, new schools, new roads and other infrastructure facilities."
Should the plan proceed as proposed, the phased seven-storey Government building would begin by next April and be completed within 36 months.
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Gas prices
are falling
With news reports of gas prices dropping significantly in the United States over the past month, Cayman consumers are probably wondering when they might see similar fuel cost savings.
While Texaco has seen a nine to ten cents per gallon reduction, several factors are preventing the kind of drop currently being seen in the States. "The US operates under a different system," explains Texaco General Manager James Tibbetts. "Because of the much larger economy, shipments are received on a daily basis."
Here in Cayman, Texaco's eight stations receive only between nine and twelve shipments of fuel per year. This results in prices that do not necessarily match the prevailing prices in the United States, since pricing must relate back to the time at which it was purchased.
To minimise the impact on consumers, Mr. Tibbetts says Texaco employs an average inventory cost to price their fuel. Nevertheless, operational expenses and the need to make a fair profit must be added to that cost. To keep these costs low, the gas company refrains from using a percentage margin.
On the other hand, Esso looks to the competitive environment in making price recommendations to each of the ten privately owned stations on the island.
"Esso doesn't set prices
at the pump," says General Manager Mr. Alan Neesome. "The
individual owners set their own prices. We do, however, supply
price surveys on a weekly basis, but these are only recommendations."
Mr. Neesome indicated that the individualised setting of prices
at Esso stations across the island could cause a significant range
in pricing. "Last week there was a variation of twelve cents
amongst the different stations," he says.
Both Mr. Tibbetts and Mr. Neesome point to the small amount of storage as one of the main reasons why Cayman prices cannot mirror those in the states. "If we could bring in 250 barrels of a single product on a single tanker, prices would decrease," says Mr. Tibbetts. "But we just don't have the space to store that much."
The costs of transportation and duty must also be figured into the equation. "The US has their own refineries and pipelines," says Mr. Neesome, "and their overhead and transportation costs are much less."
While the price of fuel in the states may have decreased, Mr. Neesome points out that the cost of transportation has not. "We have to use tankers," he says, "and that keeps the price up, too."
In terms of duty, he points out that Hawaii, which also requires tankers to import fuel, has an average price of $2.00 per gallon. "When you add the 50 or 60 cents of duty per gallon that must be paid in the Cayman Islands," he says, "you can see that the prices are not unreasonably high."
Mr. Tibbetts is aware of the difficulty. "We are doing everything we can to keep the price down," he says. "We must maintain a degree of competition and provide good service."
While competitive prices are one thing, there is also some discussion surrounding the number of gas stations on the island. Texaco presently has eight stations, Esso has 10, plus applications have been made for two new Esso stations, one on West Bay Road, and the other on Walker's Road.
Even in such a small place as Grand Cayman, both General Managers think there is a sufficient demand to meet this growing supply of stations, "Business volume has been increasing over the last five years," says Mr. Neesome, "so that the economy can reasonably sustain a new station every one to two years." The cost of creating new stations, however, is "not cheap a good gas station is a very expensive toy," says Mr. Tibbetts, estimating the price to be anywhere between two to three million dollars.
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Taste of Cayman,
the Ultimate Raffle
2003 Blue Corvette Convertible, the grand prize for the Taste of Cayman 2003 raffle.
Taste of Cayman, the Ultimate
Raffle and Restaurant Showcase presents the 2003 Corvette.
Never before has such a prime example of luxury and ultimate driving
enjoyment been up for grabs at a raffle. Sponsored by General
Motors International Sales (GMIS), the 2003 blue Corvette Convertible
is the grand prize for this year's Taste of Cayman
The 2003 Corvette Convertible for the Taste of Cayman is expected to arrive on the island by 28 May with a landed value of CI$63,864.
General Motors International Sales is delighted to support the 16th Annual Taste of Cayman and showcase the 2003 Corvette in the Cayman Islands, stated Eileen Keens, Marketing Coordinator for GMIS. "We are very proud to be part of such a worthy fundraising and family entertainment event in a year that we also celebrate the Corvette's 50th anniversary, commemorating half a century of America's favorite sports car" added Mrs. Keens.
The winner of the 2003 blue Corvette Convertible will be announced on Monday, July 7, at the grand prize drawing at Safehaven, opposite the Westin Resort. Tickets for the weekend event and raffle are on sale now for the early bird price of CI$25. This is a saving of CI$5 on each ticket and is only available for a limited time.
The weekend event scheduled for 5, 6 and 7 July 2003 marks the 16th Annual Taste of Cayman, showcasing a sampling of different cuisines from over 40 of Cayman's restaurants, with live entertainment, fun and games for the kids, prize giveaways for all, tasty cooking competitions and the raffle for the 2003 Corvette. The raffle also includes nine vacation prizes. The proceeds from this community event will benefit various charities.
On Saturday, July 5th, 2003 the public is invited to sample food from Cayman's finest restaurants at Safehaven starting at 5pm. Visitors are promised a feast of magnificent proportions. Then on Monday, July 7th, people can come back for more food and fun at the Taste Chili and Cayman Cook-offs, which is included in the price of the ticket.
The combined booth for Cimboco and Chicken! Chicken! restaurants received first place in the Taste 2002 People's Choice Award for Best Decorated Booth in the restaurant category. The double booth featured hand painted David Bridgeman larger-than-life 30 foot murals.
Entertainment is scheduled for both evenings and well into the night with bands and DJ's playing calypso, soca, rock, reggae, country and pop. Games, including carnival games and dancing competitions, with prizes are an added bonus for adults and children attending. Kids are invited to play at the Tropicana Play Paradise, sponsored by Progressive Distributors, featuring activities like Balloon Making, Bounce About, Craft Making, Face Painting and Clowns.
The Taste of Cayman Golf
Classic, held on the same weekend, invites golf players of varying
expertise to tee off at the Links Golf Course at Safehaven on
Sunday, July 6th for a day of competition, fun and the opportunity
to win various prizes. All are invited to enter the golf tournament
by calling 345-949-8522 or emailing cita@candw.ky.
The proceeds from the weekend's event will benefit the Lighthouse
School, the Pines Retirement Home, the Sunrise Training Center,
and many other local charities. In addition, the event raises
money for the Cayman Islands Tourism Association Scholarship Fund,
which assists Caymanians to pursue a career in the tourism industry.
This is a fun weekend so don't miss this opportunity to be richly fed and entertained and to help the local charities.
Sri Lankan
Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe
AFULA, Israel: A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up at a shopping mall in the northern Israeli town of Afula, killing three other people and injuring scores in the fifth anti-Israeli bombing in three days.
BEIJING: At least 66 people were feared dead as torrential rains swamped parts of southern China, while a flood crest was moving slowly down a major river towards Changsha, an industrial city of six million.
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe appealed for unity after weekend flooding and mudslides left hundreds of thousands homeless and is feared to have killed more than 200.
GENEVA: The head of the World Health Organisation said the outbreak of SARS had served as a "wake-up call" and called for greater international cooperation in fighting the deadly flu-like illness and others like it.
PRETORIA: Twenty-two white extremists went on trial in Pretoria under heavy security on charges of plotting to overthrow the South African government and assassinate former South African president Nelson Mandela.
CASABLANCA, Morocco: All 14 men who carried out last week's multiple suicide bombings in Casablanca have been identified, and their links with "international terrorism" have been confirmed, Interior Minister Mustapha Sahel said.
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News
Island Heritage scores a double boost
Island Heritage, regional property insurer, has strengthened their team recently by welcoming insurance specialists Paul Mather and Ricardo Bodington to the company.
Joining Island Heritage as Claims Supervisor, Paul Mather brings with him a strong background in insurance claims supervision. "I have been working in this business for many years, and I am now very pleased to be part of such a professional and ethical insurance team," says Paul. A member of the Chartered Insurance Institute, Paul's previous job titles include Senior Claims Supervisor and Claims Negotiator for U.K. based insurers. His professional training includes Liability Value Training and Certificate of Insurance Practice.
Ricardo Bodington's considerable underwriting expertise has helped him acquire his new position as an Island Heritage Insurance Underwriter. "For more than thirteen years I've been working for Caribbean insurance companies," says Ricardo. "I appreciate the importance of understanding our clients' needs and I feel that my experience in the region will be of great value to them." Such experience includes a position as Underwriter with Barbados Mutual Life Assurance and Underwriter & Claims Supervisor with Colin Luke & Associates.
Recently, Island Heritage was assigned an A.M. Best Financial Strength rating of A, representing its 'excellent' security. This rating is a reflection of the company's sound capitalization, excellent balance sheet liquidity, comprehensive reinsurance program, and growing market presence in the Caribbean. A.M. Best is among the world's oldest and most authoritative sources of insurance company ratings. For more information about the A.M. Best rating visit www.ambest.com.
Island Heritage is the Caribbean's only company exclusively dedicated to the property insurance market. Headquartered and licensed in the Cayman Islands, the company specialises in providing policies with special emphasis on catastrophe insurance around the Caribbean. Licensed agents for Island Heritage are also found in the US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Turks & Caicos, Aruba, Anguilla, Bahamas, Dominica and the Netherlands Antilles. For further information please visit www.island-heritage.com.
Head of Airport Operations
at the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of the Cayman Islands, Mr.
Kerith McCoy, recently returned from Bermuda where he carried
out aviation security inspections at the Bermuda International
Airport.
Mr. McCoy qualified as an Aviation Security (AVSEC) Inspector
last year after an attachment at the Department for Transport
(DfT) in the UK. This is consistent with the DfT's policy of implementing
an AVSEC inspectorate within the Overseas Territories. Currently,
there are two inspectors located in Bermuda in addition to Mr.
McCoy here in the Cayman Islands.
Mr. McCoy's selection was
based on his background and role within the CAA, which charges
him with the oversight for implementation and compliance with
international and local AVSEC policies by the CAA and the airlines.
As such, this role requires a close liaison with the UK DfT, quality
control monitoring and advising the Director of Civil Aviation
here in the Cayman Islands on aviation security issues.
To qualify for his role as AVSEC Inspector, Mr. McCoy has completed an International Air Transport Association (IATA) certification in Aviation Security Management, as well as numerous UK and US AVSEC programs since 1989.
"With increased attention being paid to security issues globally, we are fortunate to have someone within the CAA staff with a level of training that enables us to perform this function within the region; and also helps ensure that our own facilities meet international mandates for aviation safety and security," comments Director of Civil Aviation, Mr. Richard Smith.
Inspections at airport facilities
include scrutiny of the policies and procedures existing at the
airport facilities in keeping with directives and mandates by
the UK DfT that focus on the safety and security of passengers
of aircraft.
Mr. McCoy will be performing similar inspections throughout other
British Overseas Territories later this year. To ensure objectivity,
other trained AVSEC inspectors will inspect Cayman Islands facilities.
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Miss Jackie's
School of Dance Scholarship Assistant Teacher
Michelle
Lockwood, Miss Jackie's School of Dance 2002 Scholarship Assistant
Teacher Recipient
In September 2002 Miss Jackie introduced an 'Assistant Teaching Scholarship Program'.
This program is offered to a Caymanian student attending Miss Jackie's School of Dance who may be considering Teaching Dance a profession.
To begin her study the student would assist in the Classical Ballet classes where she will learn all the International Dance Teachers Association Examination pieces. She will keep a portfolio and at the end of her training; and would then take her Assistant Teacher Graduate Examination.
Further down the line the student would
take her International Dance Teachers Associate Examination.
The student selected for this training is required to be responsible
and good with children, while showing a commitment to her class
work, peers and teachers.
Miss Jackie is pleased to announce that this scholarship has been granted to 16-year old Michelle Lockwood, the daughter of Michael and Ella Kay Lockwood.
Michelle is a graduate of St. Ignatius High School. She is an Honour Roll student and will be continuing at St. Ignatius to sit her "A" Level Examinations in two years time. Keeping in her mind her pursuit of a career in Law, she will eventually enroll in the Cayman Islands Law School.
At a very early age Michelle began taking swim lessons and progressed very well. However, dance was her first love and when the timing of her dance lessons and swim training clashed she gave up swimming to dedicate more time to dancing.
Michelle is also very involved with the Drama class at school and has taken part in productions such as Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat, Fiddler on the Roof and most recently The Sound of Music.
Michelle is a keen artist, spends time relaxing with her pencil and sketchpads, loves the outdoors, and is a fully qualified PADI open water diver.
Michelle enjoys caring for young children and quite often spends her time babysitting. Every summer she assists with the Vacation Bible School at the Catholic Church where she is a Member.
With the assistance of their teacher Ms. Walton, Gannon Rutty (right) and Kevin Weber (left) step up to the counter to purchase stamps for their letters.
A highlight of the tour! Dylan Merren takes his turn stamping a piece of mail.
An excited group of youngsters from Merredith Walton's Grace Christian Academy Kindergarten class took advantage of the opportunity to tour the Airport Post Office on Wednesday, 14 May 2003.
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Regional CARIB
Evaluation Conference
The National Drug Council (NDC) has announced that a planning session to develop and refine the anti drug effort will take place November 27th and 28th at the Westin Casuarina Resort. Building on previous planning efforts, the new plan will concentrate on the most critical areas, which require immediate attention.
The session will review anti drug measures in place and revise or add new strategies in response to recent developments. "We plan to finish with a blueprint for the anti drug efforts combining strategies for both legal and illegal substances, on both the supply and demand reduction sides," according to Catherine Chesnut, NDC CEO and National Drugs Coordinator. "It is critical that all levels of the public and private sectors are coordinated in response to the drug problem, we must respond both to the changing nature of the substance abuse problem and the new economic reality here in Cayman."
The participants represent a wide cross-section of the community. Approximately 30 people were selected from the Community at large including representatives from treatment and rehabilitation, social services, education, the police,
customs and the judiciary. In addition, members of the private business and banking community help to round out the participants.
Cathy Chesnut and the staff of the NDC office are facilitating the two-day long sessions. A special presentation will be made by Mr. Larry Covington, the Drugs Law Enforcement Advisor for the Overseas Territories.
The planning team members will also be addressed by the Minister responsible for the NDC, Dr. the Honorable Frank McField, Minister for Community Development, Women's Affairs, Youth and Sports.
The report generated from the planning session will be used to inform anti-drug efforts in the Cayman Islands. It is also anticipated that the report will form a part of the Caribbean Overseas Territories Drug Law Enforcement Strategy as mandated at the Caribbean Overseas Territories & Bermuda Law Enforcement Conference held in the Cayman Islands in April 2002.
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Editorial
Now is right time to build
The announcement that the leaders of the
country are prepared to move forward with the construction of
a new Government office accommodations building should be seen
as good news for the people of these islands.
There can be no denying that the new structures are needed.
The Tower Building is in such bad condition it would cost more to repair than to rebuild. The Glass House (the main government administration building) is overcrowded, not up to hurricane safety standards, and poorly designed for its modern day functions. Parking at both is inadequate, and in the case of the Tower Building, has been so since the day it opened in 1984.
Government office space is so much in need that in order to currently accommodate all the various statutory authorities and departments, space has to be rented from the private sector.
Still, there are those among us who would recommend against undertaking such large capital projects during uncertain economic times. For those who stand on the side of fiscal conservatism right now, remember four these little letters from the past: MGTP.
Those letters stood for the Master Ground Transportation Plan, a well thought out but ill-fated road works plan, which ironically was piloted by the Hon. Linford Pierson, the same legislator who is advocating capital projects now. The Plan included the procurement of land and the building of limited access roads both to West Bay and Bodden Town. If it had been adopted back in the early 90's as proposed, the MGTP would have alleviated much of the traffic problem we experience today.
However, we were living in uncertain economic days back then, funds were lacking for large capital expenditures, and the general elections were looming only a year away, so the project was squashed.
Now, of course, it would be impossible to implement that MGTP with the amount of development that has taken place in the area where the road was planned. Where there was once mostly raw land in the corridor set aside for the roads in Red Bay and Prospect, there are now houses, apartment buildings and canals.
In addition, land costs have more than doubled in the last decade. The costs of marl and professional services have risen substantially as well. By the time the total cost of taking the Esterlee Tibbetts Highway to West Bay, one part of the old MGTP, is assessed, it will cost more than twice what it would have a dozen years ago.
There's a lesson to be learned here. The cost of Government capital projects goes up with time. What we need today and put off until tomorrow is only going to cost us more, and in the meantime we will still be in need.
High future costs aren't the only reason to build now, either. Interest rates are at their lowest in years, so financing, whether through traditional methods or through schemes like the Private Finance Initiative/Public Private Partnership (PFI/PPP), will cost less and be easier to obtain. When banks are only paying one percent or less on deposits, it's easy to see where investors might want to back Government's capital projects instead.
Another benefit would be the work it gives to the local community. Similar in theory to elements of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal during the Great Depression, Government capital projects during times of economic downturn give people jobs and lets them earn money that they can then spend back in the community.
The time to build is now, and not just the new Government office building. New schools, docks and roads also need to be built, along with other projects. If these projects can be undertaken within the guidelines of the Public Management and Finance Law, our leaders should move them forward now, while the conditions are right.
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Letters
to the editor
Youth violence must be curbed
lest we lose our identity
Dear Sir,
It is a very disturbing sign of the times when a vicious and unwarranted attack against three young men occurs in the middle of George Town during a public event yet the incident is considered to be so insignificant it does not even make the Police Report.
The nature of the injuries and the violent manner in which they were inflicted begs the question of whether it was attempted murder.
It is not the first occasion on which an attack of this nature has occurred and I do not know if the Authorities believe that by ignoring the seriousness of the problems that they will go away. Or do they think that by not reporting them that the incidents have not happened?
It is time for the Government wake up and realise the severe damage that is being done to the image of this country as a peaceful place, conducive to being a safe destination for tourists.
Over the last few weeks there have been a number of violent acts against tourists and the one referred to is very significant in that apparently it occurred because the young Caymanian men were mistaken for tourists.
It is only a matter of a short time before Cayman makes it onto the list of places for which a "tourist advisory" is issued and the reputation as a violent and unsafe country established.
The present system has consistently shown an unwillingness to deal with the matter with more than a mere slap on the wrist. It is time that is changed and these unwarranted acts of violence are dealt with severely.
That this incident has occurred is a clear demonstration of the fact the security was inadequate.
The nature of the weapons used is a clear indication that inadequate steps are taken to ensure glass containers are not available for use as weapons.
It is not the first incident of this nature so there can be no excuse that it is an isolated incident.
Event organizers must realize they have a duty to ensure the safety of people attending the event. Vendors must realize that they have a responsibility to prevent their trash becoming a weapon.
Licence applications to hold public events should contain a review of the safety procedures in place to ensure the safety of persons and the granting of the licence should be conditional on the Licencing Board being satisfied with the arrangements.
It is no longer adequate to rely on a review by the Police who are likely to be responsible for providing the security. The review must be done by an independent trained security advisor.
Times have changed and the people of Cayman must get dragged, kicking and screaming if necessary, to a point of realization that the violence that has occurred in recent months cannot be tolerated. If they don't make the change in attitude they will need to look for a source of revenue to replace tourism.
I am appealing to anyone who witnessed the incident to put behind them the reluctance to come forward and give evidence to the Police so all the persons carrying out the attack which very nearly took two lives can be brought to justice. Some of the people have been identified but there are others.
If they have information about the event but do not wish to give it directly to the Police then they can call CRIME STOPPERS.
Roger Corbin
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World No-Tobacco
Day Saturday, 31 May 2003
From Mrs. Sybil McLaughlin, MBE, JP
Mrs. Sybil McLaughlin
Once again we join with the
Cayman Islands Cancer Society in its efforts to encourage smokers
to quit, government, community organizations, schools, churches,
families and friends are encouraged to help smokers quit.
The theme for WNTD 2003 is "tobacco free films tobacco free fashion ACTION!"
The focus this year will be on the role of the fashion and film world in fostering the worldwide tobacco epidemic and urge them to stop being used as vehicles of death and disease. No one can accuse the world of film and fashion of causing cancer. But they should not be promoting a product that does.
It is known and acknowledged that smoking cigarettes is one of the contributors to Cancer, heart disease. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke and other ailments.
I give my wholehearted support to the Cancer Society and urge everyone, parents, friends, teachers and all those who care to do their share.
King sets Saudi Arabia on course to modernization
By Omar Hasan
Saudi King Fahd bin
Abdul Aziz became crown prince when King Faisal was assassinated
in 1975, and monarch when his brother Khaled died in June 1982.
His rule was marked by four major challenges: the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran
war coupled with Iran's revolutionary proselytism; the fall in
oil prices; Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait and the Gulf war it sparked in 1991; and the crisis over
Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born terror suspect who was stripped
of his citizenship in 1994.
AFP PHOTO PATRICK KOVARIK
RIYADH (AFP) Saudi King Fahd has pledged political and social reforms will go ahead in the conservative Muslim kingdom, and a relentless war on terror after three suicide bombings carried out by Saudis totally opposed to modernization.
The pledge was made to the Shura Consultative Council, coupled with a promise to expand popular participation and open more areas for female employment.
"I wish to assure you that we will proceed on the path of political and administrative reforms ... and expand the scope of popular participation and open more areas for women's employment," the ailing king said in a speech read out on his behalf.
"We are facing a world standing at the crossroads. (Old) concepts died and (new) ones emerged, and (old) alliances perished, while (new) ones have formed," the king said.
"We are a part of this world and we cannot isolate ourselves from it. We cannot stand still while the world changes. We must not remain spectators while all others are racing to form the new world."
Analysts said the king had sent a strong message to the Saudi people, terrorists and the outside world that the terror attacks will not shake the kingdom's resolve to modernize.
Eight Americans were among 25 people who died in last week Monday night's attacks on expatriate housing compounds in Riyadh. Nine Saudi bombers perished.
Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda movement, which
seeks to overthrow the monarchy, has been blamed.
"Undoubtedly, the king has sent a strong message to extremists,
and to the Saudi people," that reforms will continue, said
Anwar Eshki, director of the Middle East Center for Strategic
and Legal Studies.
"It's a determination to confront these
criminal acts ... I believe the king has signalled that Saudi
Arabia will utilise the attacks to accelerate the pace of reforms
and modernization. That was the king's message," he told
AFP.
Fahd also stated that the reforms were not being driven by external
pressure, and rejected outside interference in the country's domestic
affairs.
However he warned that for reform to be
successful there must be an "atmosphere of social harmony
based on national unity," where there is no room for extremism,
and urged religious scholars to promote tolerance.
"This nation is united over the need to stamp out all forms
of the terror scourge, and God willing, is capable (of doing so)
with the cooperation of its people," he said.
The Saudi people "will not allow the
presence of an errant and misguided ideology that promotes and
feeds terror, even when this ideology professes to be religious,"
he said, underlining that Islam opposed terror and its ideology.
Over 100 Saudi intellectuals submitted in January a petition to
Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, the kingdom's de facto ruler,
calling for wide-ranging political and social reform.
Changes demanded in the petition included the separation of powers, the need for an elected legislature with an effective supervisory role and the establishment of institutions of a civil society to spread the culture of tolerance and dialogue in the face of violence and disorder.
The conservative kingdom has an appointed parliament, the Shura council, whose powers are limited to reviewing government-sponsored draft bills and making recommendations to the cabinet, which are not binding.
Saudi Arabia, which sits on a quarter of the world's oil reserves, bans political parties or groups, and has no elected labour associations or unions. Elections are virtually non-existent.
King Fahd said the new government announced in late April did reflect part of the reform efforts, but that more was in the pipeline.
The king has approved the formation of a non-governmental human rights body, and a government-run rights body is to be established. He vowed to continue with an ambitious economic liberalization programme.
"It's the speech of reform," Al-Watan newspaper editor Jamal Khashoggi commented on the king's speech.
"This is our project for the country, and it will not be prevented by terror, nor imposed by external pressure."
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Saudi
lawyers seek royal clemency for jailed Britons
RIYADH (AFP) Saudi defense lawyers appealed to King Fahd to free five Britons and a Canadian convicted of planting a car bomb that killed a Briton here in November 2000.
Lawyers Salah al-Hujailan and Ahmad al-Tuwaijri
said in a statement that after developments in the case, including
a new witness, they believed that continuing on the same legal
course "may not be appropriate."
"Based on the desire of our clients, their families and ambassadors,
the team decided to appeal to king Fahd to take their conditions
into account," and release them after the period they spent
in jail, the statement said.
Sandy Mitchell, 44, from Kirkintilloch, north Glasgow, and Glasgow-born
Canadian William Sampson were sentenced to death and face public
beheading.
The others - James Cottle, from Manchester, Peter Brandon, thought to be from Wales, Les Walker from the Wirral, north-west England, and James Patrick Lee - are serving 12-year sentences. Belgian Raf Schyvens has been jailed for eight years.
The Saudi government says the blasts targeted westerners involved in a multi-million dollar alcohol smuggling business.
The lawyers said that all the defendants have withdrawn earlier confessions, but recently Lee decided to revert to his original confession and a new witness, Glenn Pollard, has appeared.
"The new details provided by the new witness," and Lee's decision are "essential matters that may impact the course of the case," said the lawyers and affirmed that other defendants have insisted on withdrawing confessions.
The defense team has held four meetings
with Lee, attended the interrogation of the new witness, and met
with other clients over the past two months, the statement said,
before deciding to appeal for the king's pardon.
A British businessman, Gary O'Nions, 57, convicted of running
an illegal drinking den in Saudi Arabia was freed from jail earlier
this month during a broad amnesty for minor offences, escaping
800 lashes and a fine of over half-a-million dollars.
O'Nions, who was extradited from the United Arab Emirates, was sentenced to eight years in jail last April.
The death of right and wrong
By HORACE COOPER
WASHINGTON (UPI) - Who would have guessed that the latest patriot in America's 21st century cultural battles would be a pro-choice lesbian feminist, but who better than Tammy Bruce, a former chapter head of the National Organization for Women, to give us the inside information about how serious is the challenge that American civilization faces?
Her thesis is that the battle we are in is literally about whether "right and wrong" will continue to exist.
This former leftist warrior shares her experiences of working with gay activists and other cultural radicals. Her revelations tell us that things are not as bad as we feared. They are worse.
In "The Death of Right and Wrong: Exposing the Left's Assault on Our Culture and Values," Bruce reveals the Left's bold shock-and-awe campaign to eviscerate America's culture and moral standards. Why? Because the Left is attempting a cultural regime change in order to impose a radical nihilism in its place.
Bruce pulls no punches. She acknowledges the Left's open season on children. She explains how the Left uses sex-education programs to promote sexual activity for them at the earliest ages. Bruce cites the texts of school workbooks and textbooks to show that bizarre and abhorrent behavior is encouraged for kids as young as 5 years old.
Bruce says what social conservatives have been afraid to say.
"Last I checked," she says, "it was good for children to be afraid of incurable STDs, HIV, depression and suicide. But the call to normalize and promote sexual activity among children has made advocacy for abstinence the deviant position."
Bruce's revealing discussion about the radical feminists' agenda puts into context the recent NOW official's complaint that charging alleged killer Scott Peterson with double homicide might cause people to think of the unborn as a person.
Presenting example after example of both eyewitness and documented news accounts, she exposes the hidden agenda of the radical nihilists who push their dangerous agenda under the cloak of tolerance and open-mindedness. But the truth is that these activists have a powerful hatred of U.S. institutions and our national identity.
Bruce leaves no stones unturned. She explains that the Left's attacks on the Catholic Church and people of faith in general is part of a concerted effort to take out key cultural foundations that stand in the way of their objectives. These counter-cultural hedonists use scientific analysis and academic research to eradicate any knowledge or awareness of our nation's intellectual and cultural foundations because "ignorance sustains the moral relativists, and knowledge is to them as water is to the Wicked Witch of the West."
But she doesn't stop there. Other supposed sacred cows of the Left are exposed as well. Bruce acknowledges that Mike Tyson, Michael Jackson and O.J. Simpson are "the sickest and most dangerous" in the black community yet they are "protected, supported and celebrated." Why? Because Leftists within the black community are motivated by a "deep-rooted hatred for their country and themselves." What Bruce calls the "Cult of Victimhood" provides "graphic and distressing examples of how much damage can be inflicted" on blacks when the "malignant narcissists are in charge." She charges that, "Black Americans are facing nothing less than libel at the hands of their so-called leaders."
If presidential candidate Bob Dole had claimed that the film "American Beauty" "hammered home the idea that there are no values, no morality, nothing virtuous to strive for" he would have been dismissed as a cultural crank. Bruce does so with the conviction of someone who has witnessed the intellectual vacuity of the Left and is willing to sound the alarm.
The deer looks up and sees the headlights
By James C. Bennett
WASHINGTON (UPI) The problem of Europe is not Europe itself, but the European myth: This is the story beloved of promoters of the process of "ever-closer integration" of the European Union. It is the folly of believing that lumping together a number of high-tax, high-regulation, high-unemployment economies will somehow make the whole more competitive than the sum of its parts, without addressing their root problems of structure and demographics.
It is true that lowering barriers to economic activity among the various member-nations of the European Union reduced certain transaction costs, and permitted new economies of scale to emerge. These benefits, however, have not been sufficient to offset the real problems facing Europe.
During the late 1990s, it was popular among
Europeanist circles to maintain that the bugs in their economic
programs were in fact features. This held that "Rhenish capitalism"
(to link together thematically the disparate economies of France,
Germany and the Benelux countries) was actually superior to the
"Anglo-Saxon model" because of the stability that government-directed
funding and immobile labor arrangements imparted it.
Now, however, it is apparent that this "stability" was
in fact stagnation, making it less likely that bad companies and
bad managers would ever have any incentive to disclose or fix
their problems.
In reality, Continental Europe has been heading for a collision for the past decade, a collision caused by their rapidly approaching demographic-economic crisis and their inability to take the appropriate corrective measures in time. Simply put, the massive cross-subsidization practices of the continental European states, which transfer substantial percentages of national wealth between regions, classes, and generations, were sustainable in past times when these nations' populations and economies were steadily expanding. Large families meant that each worker entering the workforce had to pay only a small fraction of his paycheck to support the retirees, most of who died within a few years of retiring.
After postwar baby boom (much less pronounced than the American one) birthrates began to decline. This was offset for a while by the wealth effects of the expanding, rebuilding economies, spurred by the postwar lowering of tariffs and easy access to the previously closed American market. The Common Market and increased internal free trade helped as well. However, these trends began to run out of steam in the Eighties and Nineties. Japanese and East Asian companies began to out-compete Europeans for the American markets, while American companies themselves became more competitive.
Meanwhile, the European social market economy burdened their competitiveness with high labor costs and inflexible practices, protecting un-needed positions while marking it difficult to raise capital to create new jobs in newly emerging sectors. At the same time, the European social-democratic political systems made it easy for politicians to add new and more lavish social benefits, without having any idea where the funds would eventually come to pay for them. Furthermore, unlike the Anglosphere economies, most Continental European economies paid for retirement almost entirely from government funds raised by current taxation. Only the Netherlands has significant private pension funds.
For the past decade or so, those politicians bothering to address these issues at all have assumed that economies of scale of European integration, improved productivity from technology, or magic pixie dust would eventually square the circle and prevent them from having to tell the electorate that not all (or even most) of the implicit promises of their social provisions. The other assumption has been that Anglo-American "savage capitalism" would eventually collapse, and that the new, dynamic unified Europe would begin to draw more and more of the world's footloose investment capital, which for the past two decades has been flowing disproportionately to the Anglosphere.
In short, Europe has been in the position of a deer standing on a highway at night, oblivious of the oncoming eighteen-wheeler diesel. Now some Europeans have begun to at least look up and notice the headlights. The French "semi-official" think-tank Ifri (Institute Francaise des Relations Internationales), which has in the past been more of the pixie-dust school of forecasting, has issued a startlingly frank and honest report entitled "World Trade in the 21st Century".
In it, they construct a number of scenarios. The reference scenario accepts the demographic and social trends discussed above, and accepts that America will continue to attract the bulk of free-floating worldwide capital. Its results paint a graphic picture: by 2050, the EU, despite its expansion to 30 members, will see its share of the world's economy decline from the current 22 percent to only 12.
Its population declines from 331 million to 243, North America advances from 269 million to 355 million. Their big elephant is "Greater China" (including Taiwan) which sees its growth rate level out at 2.6 percent, ahead of North America's 2.3 percent, and far outpacing Europe's 1.1 percent.
Their solutions, however, are disingenuous. One involves a massive increase in immigration, at least 30 million persons by 2020. Another is the creation of a "co-prosperity space" between Europe, Russia, and the Arab Mediterranean region. Continental European social ideology has already resulted in the presence of a large population of hostile, non-assimilated immigrants.
These populations already hold out the threat of polarizing the coming political conflict between young taxpayers and retired benefits-payers along racial, religious, and ethnic lines. As things stand now, young Ahmed is looking at having to pay a huge chunk of his paycheck for old Pierre's lavish retirement benefits, the like of which he will never see himself. Unless the pension systems are seriously reformed, and unless immigrants are given better incentives to feel a sense of solidarity with the populations they are joining, further immigration, never mind expanded immigration, is likely to be a recipe for social disaster.
As for a "co-prosperity space" with Russia and the Arab world bringing a competitive edge against America and China, that also has problems in a dynamic environment. To begin with, Russia's most promising long-term partner is America. It is America, not Europe, that can best provide both the economic cooperation Russia needs, and the military pre-eminence to address Russia's biggest long-term problem over the next two decades, which is protecting its Siberian assets against an expanding and potentially destabilized China.
In the short term, the Ifri report accurately identifies a number of problems, but a different set of conclusions is called for. The first and most obvious one is that there is no need for Britain and Ireland to share in the fate of the Continent, and every reason to insulate them from the coming EuroCrash. Their demographic and economic profiles resemble North America's more than Continental Europe's. Creating buffers between their sound institutions and Continental Europe's failing ones is the first step in disaster control. The second step is rapid and thorough economic integration between Britain and Ireland and North America. This will create an anchor that the Continental European economy, once reformed, can use as an aid to rebuilding.
The ultimate conclusion, however, is that the Ifri report seems to overlook the most obvious solution for Europe. Rather than constantly defining themselves in rivalry to America, the long-term solution, once some economic reforms have been carried out, is a much closer integration of Europe and America. A healthy, dynamic Anglosphere economy could serve to reinvigorate the Eurosphere, just as American market access aided in the rebuilding of postwar Europe. A Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Area linking Europe with the Anglosphere could offset many of the longer-term issues raised in the Ifri report, again assuming the bullet is bit on structural reform. Who knows they might even start having a few more babies again.
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Family
values warning
By Paul M. Weyrich
WASHINGTON (UPI) Recently, a meeting took place between the leaders of the pro-family movement and Republican National Committee Chairman Mark Racicot.
It would make sense that Racicot would solicit
our input given that some 4 million evangelicals who turned out
to vote in 1994 helping the GOP sweep that year's off-year
election failed to turn out six years later when George
W. Bush was fighting his close battle with Al Gore. Given the
closeness of the outcome of that election, the evangelical non-voters,
had they turned out, would have turned Bush's narrow margin into
a solid victory.
That election should have taught the Republican Party the importance
of the pro-family vote. Unfortunately, the meeting was held instead
to protest Chairman Racicot's failure to understand our importance
to the GOP's chances in 2004.
The centerpiece of the discussion was Racicot's recent visit with the Human Rights Campaign, the most powerful of the organizations pushing the homosexual agenda. Our group made it clear that we were not against homosexuals as they were created in the image and likeness of God, even though we believe they most likely lead sinful lives.
But we most certainly are against their group's organized agenda.
Racicot defended his meeting with the Human Rights Campaign by saying, "I meet with everyone and anyone." Pressed by the Rev. Donald Wildmon, president of the American Family Association, as to whether he would meet with the North American Man Boy Love Association, which advocates consensual sex between men and boys, the chairman indicated he would not meet with such an "aberrant" group.
Many in the group made the point that by meeting with the Human Rights Campaign, Racicot had elevated their stature and helped to legitimize them. Racicot agreed that this idea gave him pause and confessed to a certain naiveté in this respect.
The group also addressed what we felt was
a tepid response on the part of the party when Sen. Rick Santorum,
R-Pa., talked to the media about his views on an impending Supreme
Court decision on the Texas sodomy laws. The chairman insisted
that his committee had been stout in its defense of Santorum,
yet they had not issued any statement defending him. The chairman
said they defended him in phone interviews with the news media.
In many different ways, the group tried to make clear to Racicot
that if the Republican Party drifts toward embracing the homosexual
agenda, it will alienate millions in the religious right while
gaining very little support of consequence from the homosexual
community.
Richard Land, president of the Ethics and
Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, emphasized
that the flirtation between the GOP and the homosexual community
"divides its friends and unites its enemies."
The Rev. Donald Wildmon, president of the American Family Association,
which has a network of approximately 400 owned and affiliate radio
stations in the South and Southwest, said he and his organization's
members were tired of watching the GOP drift in the same direction
as the Democrats when it comes to courting the homosexual movement.
As a supporter of the president, I wanted
to make clear to Racicot that this issue is one that needs to
be taken seriously by the RNC and the White House. Our voters
vote their values and they feel very strongly about this issue.
"It won't matter what we say," I emphasized to the party
chairman, "people will leave in droves."
That is when Gary Palmer, president of the Alabama Family Council chimed in to recall 2000 and the sudden dampening of support among evangelicals for candidate Bush when in the last week questions were raised about his character. Up until that time, George W. Bush had been working very hard and was succeeding in gaining support from evangelicals.
As president, Bush has done much to support the pro-family agenda, most notably on pro-life legislation. That leads someone like Racicot to believe that conservative Christians see no choice but to support the president, but he fails to fully understand important constituencies.
Southern Baptists, for example, have grave reservations about homosexuality based on their interpretation of the Bible. To them, homosexuality represents a weakening of society. It is their concern for their country's future and belief in their religion that lead them to this position. They feel this keenly, even above economic issues, and will vote on it.
I would hope that Racicot understood the importance of what we were saying. The meeting may have been contentious, but we were there to be helpful to the president.
We wanted to make clear that the homosexual movement within the Republican Party is loud and vocal, but it certainly does not have many members and its agenda is diametrically opposed to that of the pro-family groups who have not only votes but an agenda fully compatible with conservatism in a broader context.
Racicot is slated to take the helm of the re-election campaign for Bush so it is imperative that he fully understands the concerns expressed by our group. If not, he may end up trading away millions of votes to try wooing the relative handful of homosexual votes.
The significant moral implications aside, the GOP's flirtation with the homosexual movement is simply bad politics.
So far, the pro-family movement has proven itself to be a reliable supporter of Bush and the GOP, as exemplified by the 2002 mid-term election results. Our support can even help the president surmount a middling economy, and that support for the president would be transferred down the ticket as well, provided the party holds firm by stopping its flirtation with homosexual groups.
President George Herbert Walker Bush failed to heed our warning to stay true to his pledge of "no new taxes" and even the bounce in his popularity after the Gulf War could not sustain him in his reelection year. We knew how keenly the grassroots felt about that pledge.
This is a little different in that it is not yet an issue that draws notice from the mainstream press, who have little understanding of the importance of evangelicals to the GOP base. But evangelicals, Christian radio and Web sites certainly are paying attention to the GOP's courting of homosexual groups.
Right now, there is anxiety within pro-family circles. I shudder to think of the consequences in fall 2004 if that feeling among the conservative rank-and-file turns to active disgruntlement because the GOP hierarchy failed to heed our cautionary advice that was intended in a helpful context. A great deal of good that has been done over the past few years stands to be undone.
Return
Ask Dr.
Brothers
You and your age
Dr. Brothers
Is growing older always synonymous with
crisis time? Can there be good sex after 60? Is there any way
to actually reverse the effects of aging? Does our belief system
have any influence on how well we age? At what age are most people
the closest to danger in terms of accidents? Are older people
more subject to boredom? How much do you know about aging? Here's
a chance to find out.
1. When you're old enough to be eligible for Social Security,
you're also likely to have a serious emotional crisis related
to aging.
TRUE ( ) FALSE ( )
2. Sex is always best from the late teens
to the late 20s.
TRUE ( ) FALSE ( )
3. Aging is aging, and there's no way to
reverse any of its effects.
TRUE ( ) FALSE ( )
4. Older people those over 55
seem to suffer from the most boredom.
TRUE ( ) FALSE ( )
5. Your belief system can play a big part
in how you age.
TRUE ( ) FALSE ( )
6. Not surprisingly, older people live much
closer to danger, and these years are the most dangerous in life.
TRUE ( ) FALSE ( )
7. If a younger person refers to someone
as "old," it's accepted as simply being protective or
realistic and is rarely offensive.
TRUE ( ) FALSE ( )
8. Genes alone are basically responsible
for how long a person lives and how well he or she ages.
TRUE ( ) FALSE ( )
ANSWERS:
1. FALSE. If you do, it's more apt to be a very minor crisis.
Some, especially females, look forward to the benefits. The person
who hasn't experienced what we know as a midlife crisis might
feel a bit more anxiety at this later date.
2. FALSE. The quality and the enjoyment of sex are often much greater when the couple knows each other well enough to feel secure. As far as actual fulfillment goes, it's the quality of the sex rather than the quantity that's important.
3. FALSE. Apparently, specialists in geriatrics have learned that moderate exercise late in life has been found to reverse many of the effects of aging.
4. FALSE. Young people are actually more subject to boredom than any other age group. By the time one is in middle age, he or she usually has found more interests in life and in the world around him or her.
5. TRUE. Attitude is extremely important in how people age. Those who buy into the many negative stereotypes regarding aging often turn them into self-fulfilling prophecies.
6. FALSE. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the peak time of danger from accidents is between the ages of 15 and 24. Nearly half of all young men in this bracket are injured annually.
7. FALSE. Even though age is respected, honored and even revered in many societies, we live in a youth-oriented society. The term "old" is rarely a compliment, as some of our country's leaders discovered recently when they referred to France and Germany as "Old" Europe. Unfortunately, in these nations, too, the word is associated with powerlessness, impotence and irrelevance.
8. FALSE. While genes can play a significant part in how long we live, there are many, many other determining factors. Doctors have observed that some "survivors" live for decades with chronic diseases that began in their 60s and 70s.
If you answered six of these eight questions correctly, you're better informed than most on this subject.
Return
Health
News
Lung Cancer
Each year the World Health Organization (WHO) declares May 31st World No Tobacco Day and this year the Cayman Islands Cancer Society, National Drug Council and the Public Health Department have joined forces to observe the day in Cayman.
Tobacco usage is associated with the development of many lifestyle related medical conditions including cardiovascular disease, hypertension and cancer. The majority of individuals when asked what type of cancer developed as a result of using tobacco products correctly answered lung cancer. Despite the awareness of this risk, people still continue to smoke.
Statistics on the incidence of this type of cancer are not available for the Cayman Islands but lung cancer is expected to account for 13% of all new cancer diagnoses in the United States this year. While the incidence of lung cancer is declining in men it is increasing in women. This is largely due to the fact that fewer men and more women are smoking now than ever before. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States more people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast and prostate cancers combined.
What is lung cancer?
Cancer is a group of diseases characterized by uncontrolled growth and the spread of abnormal cells. When this originates in the lungs it is referred to as lung cancer.
What are the symptoms of lung cancer?
- Chronic cough
- Hoarseness
- Coughing up blood
- Weight loss and loss of appetite
- Shortness of breath
- Fever without a known reason
- Wheezing
- Repeated bouts of bronchitis and pneumonia
- Chest pain
It is important to remember that these symptoms are associated with many other medical conditions, so if you are experiencing any of them please contact your doctor who will order tests and make a diagnosis.
Smoking as well as exposure to second hand smoke is the number one cause of lung cancer (87% of all cases in the United States). A nonsmoker married to a smoker has a 30% greater risk of developing lung cancer than that of a person married to a non-smoker. Cigar and pipe smoking are just as likely to cause lung cancer as cigarette smoking and, contrary to popular belief, smoking low tar cigarettes does not reduce the risk of developing lung cancer. The good news is that 87% of lung cancer cases CAN be prevented by not using tobacco products.
The longer you use them for and the greater the quantity that you use, the greater your risk becomes of developing lung cancer. However, when you stop smoking the risk begins to decline and after ten years your risk drops to a level that is 30 50% less than if you had continued smoking. When you quit smoking you also reduce the risk and incidence of developing other tobacco related respiratory conditions and other serious medical conditions.
What is the message with regard to smoking and tobacco use? If you want to reduce your risk of developing lung cancer and are a non-smoker, do not start to use tobacco products and avoid environments that will expose you to second hand smoke. If you are a smoker, QUIT smoking NOW! The Cayman Islands Cancer Society has programs that can help you.
For more information on lung cancer or on how to quit smoking call the Cayman Islands Cancer Society at 949 7618.
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Overseas
People
Pope John Paul II celebrates 83rd birthday
Pope John Paul II waves to pilgrims gathered at St. Peter's Square for a canonisation ceremony 18 May 2003, on the day of his 83rd birthday. AFP PHOTO/Paolo COCCO
By Bruno Bartoloni
VATICAN CITY (AFP) Pope John Paul II celebrated his 83rd birthday on Sunday, 18 May by canonising four new saints, including two fellow Poles, at a ceremony in St. Peter's Square.
"Ad multos annos (many more years), very holy father!", hailed one of the pope's great friends and aides, German cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
"Today, on the occasion of your birthday, I would like to be the spokesman not only for the faithful present here, but also for the countless people all over the world, far beyond the boundaries of the Catholic Church and even the boundaries of the Christian world," Ratzinger proclaimed.
"Believe and love. That is the programme of your pontiff," the 76-year-old said reflecting upon the pope's 25-year reign.
Around 50,000 pilgrims attended the ceremony, including 20,000 Polish citizens led by President Aleksander Kwasniewski and about 30 cardinals and bishops from the ex-communist country.
The pope, appearing in relatively good form despite recent health problems, was visibly moved when the crowd sang birthday wishes in several different languages.
Afterwards, he asked the pilgrims to join him in prayer to ask "God to help me to faithfully fulfill the mission he bestowed upon me".
"You are young", read a special edition of the Vatican's newspaper Osservatore Romano, echoing young Spaniards' calls out to the pope during his visit to Madrid earlier this month.
After Ratzinger's birthday address, the pope canonised four new saints.
Two were Poles, bishop Joseph Sebastien Pelczar and nun Julie Ledochowska who died early in the 20th century. The others were two Italian nuns, Maria de Mattias, who died in 1866, and Virginia Centurione Bracelli, who died in 1651.
In all, John Paul II has canonised 469 saints, more than any of his predecessors.
Meanwhile, 1,316 "blesseds" he beatified during his 25-year pontificate are in sainthood's "waiting room" having completed the penultimate step in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church.
John Paul II was elected to lead the Catholic
Church in October 1978, and is the fourth longest-serving pontiff.
Historians believe St. Peter, the first and longest-serving pope,
reigned for between 34 and 37 years.
The Vatican's spoke-sman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, brushed off suggestions
that the long
canonisation ceremony would put too much strain on the pope on
his birthday.
"(The pope) does not know the meaning of the word weekend," he said.
The Vatican no longer hides Pope John Paul's health problems, especially the debilitating Parkinson's disease and his crippling arthrosis which have withered and slowed him.
"His infirmities have become an instrument rather than a handicap," Navarro-Valls insisted, adding: "Despite the effort required by his travels abroad, he draws comfort from his trips."
Following a brief visit to Madrid on May 4, he is due to embark on his landmark 100th foreign trip on June 5 when he travels to nearby Croatia.
Other short visits to Bosnia and Slovakia are also planned, as well as a possible trip to Mongolia that has yet to be confirmed.
Return
Overseas
People
Mega-socialite and arts patron Ayoub makes a splash at Cannes
Lebanese billionaire Mouna Ayoub waves a french flag as she arrives at the Palais des festivals to attend the screening of 'Swimming pool' by French director Francois Ozon during the 56th Cannes film festival 18 May 2003. AFP PHOTO/Francios GUILLOT
Five economic tests key to British euro fate: Brown
By Daniel Rook
|
Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown |
Conservative
Party leader |
By Daniel Rook
LONDON (AFP) The British government remains in favour in principle of adopting the euro, but only if membership is deemed to be in the country's economic interests, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said.
With Britain just three weeks away from a June 9 decision on whether to recommend euro entry and hold a referendum, Brown made clear that he expected the verdict to be based on the results of the government's five self-imposed economic tests for joining.
"The five tests effectively define the national economic interest for our country," said Brown. "It is a guarantee that we can ensure jobs, investment and the future profitability of industry and the prosperity of the country.
"When I make the statement to parliament on June 9, the focus will be on these five economic tests," he told BBC television.
Last week the government announced that Prime Minister Tony Blair's team of top ministers would make a collective decision on whether to drop the pound in favour of the euro, the common currency already used by 12 of the 15 members of the European Union.
Senior ministers were this weekend poring over 18 studies by the treasury on the implications of euro entry, ahead of a series of cabinet meetings leading to a decision to be announced in parliament by the chancellor.
In an effort to present a united front over the controversial issue, Blair and Brown late Friday took the unusual step of issuing a joint statement denying that there was a rift between them over the euro.
The pair rubbished reports that the Blair
is determined to lead Britain into the euro before the next election
due by mid-2006 at the latest regardless of the results
of the economic tests, while Brown was determined to stop him.
In his interview Sunday, Brown also denied that he was less enthusiastic
than Blair about euro entry.
"Of course, if there were a referendum, then I would be urging, on the basis of the five-test assessment, a 'Yes' vote," he said.
It remains to be seen whether a strong score card for the common currency would reverse a eurosceptic trend among Britons.
A positive verdict would also go some way to soothing fraught relations with European partners such as France and Germany.
But polls show that the diplomatic rift over Iraq has only produced more doubt among voters, with a YouGov survey published on Wednesday, 14 May showing that almost two-thirds of respondents said they would vote against joining the single currency.
The opposition Conservative Party meanwhile is seeking to score points over the issue, with leader Iain Duncan Smith charging that government infighting over the euro had now descended to the level of a "pantomime".
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw
BRUSSELS (AFP) British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw rejected a call to hold a referendum on a future EU constitution, saying it was not a significant enough issue.
He said the new constitution, to be decided on by an inter-governmental conference based on recommendations from the Convention on the Future of Europe, would not change Britain's fundamental ties with the EU.
"We don't think it appropriate to have (a referendum) on the outcome of an intergovernmental conference which won't take place until the end of this year on some very complex changes, but ones that aren't fundamentally going to alter the nature of our relationship with the European Union," he said.
He was speaking after a former Labour government minister, Frank Field, called for a referendum on the future EU constitution saying he will bring a bill to parliament calling for a such a vote.
Eurosceptics fear the future European constitution will weaken Britain's sovereign powers, especially in the areas of foreign affairs, monetary policy and defence.
Straw compared the importance of a referendum on a constitution to one on the euro, which London is planning to hold if it concludes that five economic tests have been passed.
"There is no doubt that the likely outcome from the convention... will be less significant in terms of our future history than whether we keep the pound or join the euro," he told reporters.
Straw was speaking before talks between the man who is drawing up the new constitution, former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London. Straw said he would be attending those talks.
Iraq's top Shiite leader Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim delivers a speech in the southern city of Nassiriya, 11 May 2003. On his second day back home after 23 years exile in Iran and in his third public speech, Hakim told a crowd in Nassiriya to reject any 'imposed government' and not to fear the US troops controlling their city. AFP PHOTO/Behrouz MEHRI
By Maher Chmaytelli
BAGHDAD (AFP) Two of Iraq's main parties blasted the United States accusing Washington of going back on what they said was a firm US commitment to give Iraqis a free hand in running the country.
Officials from one of the two main Kurdish factions and the leading Shiite movement said the new US overseer, Paul Bremer, turned back the clock on months of talks that began before the war to prepare a post-Saddam Hussein government.
The charges stem from a meeting Friday night at which they said Bremer had announced he planned to prolong the US coalition's control over the country and sideline Iraqis from the political decision-making process.
"What we're hearing now from Bremer is what we heard several months ago," said Adel Abdul Mahdi, a political advisor from the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI), the top Shiite movement.
"It's a return to square one," he said, referring to negotiations before the war about the role of anti-Saddam Hussein groups in a future government.
Abdul Mahdi and other officials interviewed by AFP said they were angered by Bremer's handling of the meeting, his first announced talks with the groups since taking over as US administrator last Monday from Jay Garner.
They said Garner and Zalmay Khalilzad, the White House envoy involved in talks with anti-Saddam parties since before the war, pledged just two weeks ago to give those parties a leading role in forming a future Iraqi government.
But that commitment, they said, was rejected by Bremer, a career diplomat who now oversees Garner, Khalilzad and the entire US civilian administration governing the country since Saddam's ouster.
"The Americans are doing as they please," said Adel Murad, spokesman for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). "Iraq is a big country. Foreigners cannot run it."
The emotionally and politically explosive issue of when the United States would be prepared to hand over power to an Iraqi government was largely left untouched in the immediate aftermath of Saddam's fall on April 9.
But at a Baghdad conference of around 250 people late last month, headed by Garner, there was a broad agreement that a national conference would be held by the end of May to select around 20 ministers to form the interim government.
Garner said May 5 that a handful of the main groups, including SAIRI and the PUK, would form the nucleus of the new government.
The following day, at a hastily arranged
press conference, US President George W. Bush announced Bremer
would take over from Garner.
There was no suggestion that Garner's comment played a role in
Bremer's appointment, which had been rumoured in the US press
for days before, and the Iraqi officials said they had heard similar
pledges from Khalilzad in the previous weeks.
But the latest flap has intensified unhappiness here with US plans for Iraq, already rising since the United States unveiled a proposal at the United Nations to put Iraqi oil revenue under coalition control for at least one year.
There is also mounting displeasure over
the coalition's decision to appoint senior advisors to each of
the key ministries, which officials said was tantamount to giving
control of Iraq to the
US-British coalition.
"The ministers (of the interim government) will have neither the power nor the means to decide," said Abdul Mahdi.
At a meeting on Friday 16 May, which was closed to the press, Bremer appeared to back down from what they said had been a commitment by Garner and Khalilzad to let the handful of groups help select the new government.
"We did not hear (that commitment) with the same clarity" from Bremer, Abdul Mahdi said.
There was also frustration over a request for the US administration here to begin setting a timetable for a US military withdrawal from the country.
"We have asked but did not hear a response," Abdul Mahdi said, adding that the Iraqi groups had recalled the Afghan war, where Hamid Karzai was quickly installed as leader in the aftermath of the war.
"In Afghanistan, an independent government was formed that has all the prerogatives of a government," he said.
The PUK's Murad said the US was trying to reduce the Iraqi role in running the country to "simple decoration" which would be "de facto run by advisors."
"The inhabitants know the place better than the visitors," he said.
BAGHDAD (AFP) One million Iraqi civil servants will next week receive their salaries for May, totaling the equivalent of 178 million dollars, a bank manager was quoted as saying last Sunday.
"Civil servants' salaries range from a minimum of 100,000 dinars (111 dollars) to a maximum of 300,000 dinars (333 dollars), according to the posts" they hold in the administration, Rafidain Bank manager Dhia Habib al-Khaoun told the daily Az-Zaman.
The salaries will be paid in coordination with the US Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA), and the money will come from Iraqi funds frozen in the United States, according to Iraqi sources close the US administration running post-war Iraq.
Khaoun said pensions of retired civil servants would also be disbursed as of Sunday in Baghdad and at a later, unspecified date in other parts of the country.
The Iraqi dinar firmed up again on Sunday, trading at 900 to the US dollar, its highest level since 1997, compared to 1,000 to the greenback on Thursday, before the Muslim weekend.
The dollar bought 1,300 dinars on Wednesday, down from 3,500 just after the war, 4,000 during the war, and 1,800 before the US-led invasion kicked off on March 20.
Confusion over new Bermudian work permit rules
By Amanda Banks,
Tax-News.com, London
Responding to a report in the Royal Gazette last weekend, the Bermuda Immigration department has denied that the international business community is frustrated with the way it processes work permits.
In response, an official from the Ministry of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety read a statement which stated: "We have spoken to prominent members in the international community who we regularly meet with and they are as surprised as we are by this story."
However, a member of the immigration committee, a quarterly forum held between the relevant government ministers and immigration department officials, said concerns over work permit processing delays and the imminent work permit term limits comes as no surprise.
"We have serious concerns about what it will be like to operate under this policy... We've definitely made it clear that our competitors outside the jurisdiction will use this work permit term limit as a marketing tool against us," the member told the Gazette.
The major concern regarding the new rules appears to be the lack of clarity surrounding the 'key worker' issue. Work permit term limits do not apply to so-called 'key' workers.
The work permit policy paper of 2001 states that "key persons can be found at all levels and in all areas of a business and are to be found not only among chief executive officers, chief financial officers and other senior managers. They can be technical, professional, clerical or service as well as managerial staff. It is up to the employer to make the case to the Minister that a particular individual or post is key to the organisation."
It is also unclear how many applications a firm may make to the immigration department, though legal experts take this omission from the policy to mean that a firm may make unlimited applications.
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Barbadians
go to the polls 21 May
Prime Minister and BLP Leader Mr. Owen Arthur
It's down to the wire as Barbadians gear up for the May 21st general election this Wednesday. But the big question on analysts' minds is whether nationals will show up in numbers. Political scientist Peter Wickham says voters turnout may be low based on the unusually high number of people who remained uncommitted during his most recent poll.
"So over half of the people we interviewed were either not sure or wouldn't say and this is up from January. What this says to me is a low turn-out at the polls," Wickham told StarCom Network's Point Of Issue.
Prime Minister Owen Arthur of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) will face off with Mr. Clyde Mascoll of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) to see who will lead the country for the next four-years. PM Arthur is seeking a third term.
With just three days to go before election, the DLP has already accused the government of wastage and squandermania as well as influencing the selection process of police officers.
"The first thing we need to do is to bring about transparency and accountability within the operations of government," DLP leader Mr. Mascoll said during a weekend television debate.
Mascoll said the main difference between the two parties was that his was far more "people-centred" than the ruling party.
Mr. Arthur has pledged that if the BLP is reelected, he would seek to further diversify the economy by focusing on a new sector the Creative Sector.
"This will mobilise, for economic reward, the creative capacities of our country's artists, artistes, artisans and other generators of intellectual property which will be a significant contributor in reaffirming identity and self-worth in all Barbadians even as it presents unprecedented economic opportunity to those who epitomise the term: 100 per cent Bajan." Arthur was quoted in the Barbados Nation as saying.
Caribbeans
on 'Most wanted criminal alien' list
By Felicia Persaud
Three Caribbean nationals have made the top ten 'Most Wanted Criminal Alien,' list, issued by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement late last week.
They are Trinidadian-born Richard Burt Haynes, Jamaican-born Albert Pusey and the lone female, Guyanese-born Vidwatti Harcharn. The three are wanted for crimes ranging from manslaughter to rape, assault and cocaine possession.
Harcharn, 43, who was born in Berbice, Guyana, is a former Queens housekeeper who was convicted of a first-degree manslaughter charge in 1990. Her current address is unknown.
Haynes, 47, who was born in Port-of-Spain, was convicted of assault in 1993 and cocaine possession in 1987. His last known address was Highlands, Texas, but he is now on the lam.
Pusey, who also goes by the name, Leroy
A. Harris, was born in Kingston, Jamaica and worked as a security
guard in Bridgeport, Connecticut before he was convicted on a
second-degree rape charge. He is also on the lam.
The seven other wanted immigrants are from Mexico, Ecuador, Nicaragua,
Iran and Portugal.
Officials of the ICE, in a prepared statement, said the issuing of the list is a move "to apprehend and remove dangerous criminal aliens from the United States."
The Most Wanted Criminal Aliens list comprise of all foreign nationals who have been convicted of committing serious crimes in the U.S. Each has been ordered deported from the United States, but remain at large.
"To those criminal aliens who have eluded apprehension in the past, be forewarned: ICE agents will seek you out, apprehend you, and remove you from the United States," said ICE Acting Assistant Secretary Michael J. Garcia. "As a new agency under the Department of Homeland Security, ICE is committed to ensuring the safety of the American public. Reducing the number of dangerous criminal aliens hiding in this country is a crucial part of that mission. "
The creation of a Most Wanted Criminal Aliens list is part of an aggressive new strategy at ICE known as the National Fugitive Operations Initiative. The aim of the effort is to reduce the number of alien "absconders" in the United States. Absconders are foreign nationals who have been ordered removed by an immigration judge, but have failed to comply with that order.
The ten Most Wanted Criminal Aliens list is posted on the ICE website at http://www.bice. immigration.gov.
Return
Sports
India summon spin doctors to revive forgotten art
Indian spinner Anil Kumble practises his action. AFP PHOTO/William WEST
NEW DELHI (AFP) India's spin bowling, once the envy of world cricket, has declined to such a point that past masters of the art are being recruited to keep the "decaying art" alive.
Indian cricket supremo Jagmohan Dalmiya has summoned 11 past masters of spin for a brain-storming session in Calcutta on May 30 to stop the rot.
The group includes the famed quartet of Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghvan, who mesmerised batsmen with their spin tricks in the 1960s and 1970s.
"We were once the masters of spin, so I want to know why it has become a decaying art in the country," Dalmiya said.
"We want to keep those traditions alive. We need to find good spin bowlers."
There was a time when Indian captains used opening bowlers with the sole purpose of removing the shine off the ball so that Bedi and company could come on to bowl as early as possible.
India's attack now is built around seamers like Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan, with just two quality spin bowlers in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh to keep the old tradition alive.
Kumble, 32, only the second bowler in history to take all 10 wickets in a Test innings, is nearing the end of a decade-old career in which he has scalped 349 Test wickets.
Harbhajan, 22, is regarded as one of the game's foremost off-spinners, his 144 Test wickets including a magnificent haul of 32 in three matches against world champions Australia at home two seasons ago.
But the wealth of talent that once made India a spin force is drying up fast with few youngsters on the horizon who could be considered future Test prospects.
Bedi, Prasanna and Chandrasekhar, who claimed 701 Test wickets between them, quit the scene together in 1979, while Venkataraghvan played for five more years to finish with 156 wickets.
Their retirement coincided with the rise of a brilliant new ball bowler in Kapil Dev, who dominated Indian cricket for 16 years before ending with a world record tally of 434 wickets.
Kapil was later surpassed by West Indian fast bowler Courtney Walsh, the current record holder with 519 wickets, and two spinners, Shane Warne of Australia and Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka.
Kapil ushered in a pace revolution that led to the establishment of a fast bowling academy in the southern city of Madras under the guidance of Australian great Dennis Lillee.
Now a similar learning school for spinners is on the cards which Dalmiya hopes to start soon by roping in some of the spin greats of the past.
Till Harbhajan came along in 1998, many
young spinners were tried in a bid to find the right partner for
Kumble.
Sunil Joshi, Murali Kartik, Sarandeep Singh, Rahul Sanghvi and
Sairaj Bahutule managed just 64 Test wickets between them and
were discarded by the selectors.
Kumble is the only current spinner called for the meeting with Dalmiya. The others are Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar, Venkataraghvan, Bapu Nadkarni, V.V. Kumar, Rajinder Goel, Padmakar Shivalkar, Shivlal Yadav and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan.
Return
Tour de
France snub for world champion Cipollini
Italian Mario Cipollini raises his arms as he crosses the finishing line to win the 175-km-long third stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico cycling tour from Tarquinia to Foligno 15 March 2003. AFP PHOTO/Ansa CRISTIANO CHIODI
PARIS (AFP) Italy's world road race champion Mario Cipollini has been ruled out of this year's Centenary Tour de France.
Tour director Jean-Marie Leblanc announced the last four teams for this year's race which starts July 5 but overlooked Cipollini's Domina Vacanze team.
"Cipollini hasn't had a very convincing start to the season despite the fact he won a stage in the Giro yesterday," Leblanc said Monday.
"At the age of 36 we felt he doesn't fit into the profile of the race which after a week of racing on the flat will head into the mountains."
Cipollini has never completed a Tour de France in seven attempts although the formidable sprinter is usually in contention in the mass finishes that dominate the first week of racing.
"On the centenary of the Tour we also
wanted to give a little boost to French cycling," Leblanc
added.
French teams La Boulangere, AG2R and Jean Delatour plus Spanish
outfit Euskaltel were given wild cards Monday to make up a field
of 21 teams.
"We're taking about a dictator," Cipollini said when told of the news at Arezzo in Italy.
"How can you leave out a world champion.
The Tour is about riders, not about teams and I think I deserve
a place."
He did not rule out making an appeal to the International Cycling
Union (UCI).
"I don't know if the UCI can intervene, I'll have to see," he added.
Cipollini, who won the eighth stage of the Tour of Italy on Sunday to claim his 41st stage victory in the race, announced his retirement when he was overlooked for last year's Tour de France.
But he quickly changed his mind and bounced back to win the world championship.
Cipollini, the sport's biggest showman, has won 12 Tour de France stages without ever finishing the race and has notched up 180 wins all-told.
Jan Ullrich, the 1997 winner, was hoping to line up a return to the world's biggest race with the new Bianchi team following the suspension of the German's former team Coast by the UCI.
Leblanc said the UCI had yet to clarify the situation but added a 22nd team could be included.
Bianchi stepped into the fold after Coast began to face financial difficulties only weeks after luring Ullrich from the Telekom team.
Ullrich, who on March 23 returned from a ban for taking recreational drugs while he was out with a knee injury, is considered one of the few riders who, when fit, could threaten four-time winner Lance Armstrong.
The US Postal team leader is aiming for a record-equalling fifth consecutive Tour victory this year. Spaniard Miguel Indurain is the only rider to have done so.
Return
Boing! Spring-loaded
boots give footballers the edge
PARIS (AFP) British scientists have devised a spring-loaded football boot that, they claim, could reduce wear and tear on the fragile joints of the feet.
Conventional fixed studs focus pressure on particular areas of the foot and this causes repetitive stress on specific joints, inflicting trauma that can often end a player's career prematurely.
The problem has worsened in recent years because the trend towards lighter boots has been achieved by making soles thinner and thinner, thus accentuating the studs' pressure points.
British technology development company Generics Group says its springy boot eliminates the pressure by nearly a third when used on typical football surfaces, the British weekly New Scientist reports.
The gadget comprises a plastic stud that is bonded to a spring plate made out of pressed steel.
Any force on the stud causes the springy plate to flex into the boot, absorbing energy as it bends and reducing the pressure on the foot at that point.
The ends of the plate bend downwards at the same time, bringing secondary studs into contact with the ground, the idea being to provide extra grip and spread the load across the sole.
Previous attempts have been made in the past to have spring-loaded studs, but they have been thwarted by mud, which quickly clogged them up.
Generics says it can get around this by encasing the whole mechanism in a strong plastic, New Scientist says.
Return
Hopeful
track & field officials await exam results
Participants and instructors of the recently completed Level 1 officiating course pose at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex after nine days of intense training.
The Cayman Islands Athletic Association (CIAA) will receive a major boost its officiating ranks when the results of 15 written examinations taken 11 May become known.
The Association held a level one officiating course from Saturday 3 May to Sunday 11 May. The course was held at the Truman Bodden Complex and conducted by former Jamaican sprinter Vilma Charlton. It also attracted one Trinidad based official, John Andalcio.
The programme falls under the authority of the IAAF and is part of a three-tier qualification system known as the Technical Officials Education and Certification System (TOECS). Level one officials are recognised as National Technical Officials (NTO), level two, Area Technical Officials (ATO) and Level three, International Technical Officials (ITO). NTOs qualifying under TOECS are qualified to officiate not only locally, but also at international meets throughout the region.
President of the local track and field association Bernie Bush is excited about the potential for further development in the sport given the new human resources at his disposal.
"It didn't make sense for the athletes to train really hard, come out here in competitions and then have officials giving wrong judgements or giving wrong measurements and so forth," Bush said as he spoke with Cayman Net News at the Truman Bodden Complex shortly after the completion of the course.
Bush explained that having previously hosted a coaching course in track and field, an officiating course was always next on the agenda.
According to Bush the association now has close to 200 athletes, hence the need to improve the standard of officiating.
But the CIAA boss will not be taking his new officials for granted.
"For people to give up nine days of their time, two full Saturdays and two full Sundays and every evening after work, shows dedication and it can only make the sport better."
"I now have to keep the officials motivated and make sure they are rewarded. No one is asking for anything but there are ways you can do things to make them know they are appreciated and rewarded," said Bush.
The former Deputy Sports Director plans to supply course graduates with tracksuits and shoes.
"This is something they can wear anywhere with pride," Bush said.
The president also revealed plans by the CIAA to provide opportunities for the successful officials to officiate in other countries at the expense of the association and where possible to accompany national teams to overseas meets.
"These people are contributing something to my country. A lot of them are expats, so you have to treat these people fairly because they are giving back to this country in a lot of ways many people don't."
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NBA assist
leader Stockton retires from Jazz
Utah Jazz's guard John Stockton (l) tries to get around Sacramento Kings' guard Mike Bibby during the first period at ARCO Arena 16 April 2003 in Sacramento, California. AFP PHOTO/John G. MABANGLO
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AFP) Utah Jazz guard John Stockton, the National Basketball Association all-time leader in assists and steals, announced his retirement here earlier this month.
Stockton, 41, had been considering retirement for the past two years but confirmed the decision two days after the Jazz were eliminated by Sacramento in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
"I think that it is time for me to move on," Stockton said.
The decision had Utah coach Jerry Sloan in tears as he contemplated the magnificent career of Stockton, whose departure combined with the likely farewell of Karl Malone to free agency ends an era for the Jazz.
Malone, 39, is expected to go to a title contender when he becomes a free agent on July 1. Stockton spent much of his career passing to Malone, making them one of the best combinations in the league.
Stockton had 15,806 regular-season assists and 3,265 steals in an 18-season career spent entirely with Utah, the most NBA seasons ever by one player with the same club.
Stockton leaves with a long, impressive resume that also includes 10 All-Star berths and a pair of Olympic medals.
It is a bit incomplete as it is missing a championship, although not for lack of effort.
"I'm sure there are people that have won championships that haven't had to work very hard at it, and we worked very hard and haven't done it," he said Wednesday night. "Yet I feel a lot of reward out of the effort that it took to compete for that."
From his short shorts to his flashless game, Stockton was a throwback in every sense of the word. As the NBA became more athletic, Stockton continued to confound foes with uncanny fundamental skills.
Despite being just 6-1 and 175 pounds, Stockton displayed stunning durability during his career. His 1,504 games are third all-time, and he missed just 22 games in 19 seasons.
But Stockton did not just play; he played exceedingly well.
Always a good shooter, he developed into a dependable scorer and a dangerous 3-point threat. He averaged 13.1 points per game and shot 51.5 percent in his career.
However, Stockton was at his best as a playmaker
and defender.
He won nine straight assists titles from 1988-1996 and won a pair
of steals titles during that span.
The departure of one of the NBA's greatest duos will require a
massive rebuilding plan. Sloan, who has the longest current tenure
of any coach in the four major pro sports, may not want to be
part of that.
"I hope he stays," Stockton said. "He is a great man. He is great for this game, for this league."
Regardless of what happens, the Jazz will
be looking for a point guard for the first time in nearly two
decades.
Stockton won a gold medal as an amateur with the 1984 Olympic
team. He and Malone also were members of the "Dream Team,"
the first Olympic squad of NBA players which won the gold at the
1992 Games.
Stockton did not think there was any way he would change his mind about his decision.
But that does not mean he will not play again.
"Tomorrow, probably out in the yard," he said. "It's still a great game."
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John Gray
track team heading to Tampa
The John Gray High School Track & Field team will attend the Tampa International Track Meet, better known as the BAYTAF Classic, on 24 25 May, at the University of South Florida campus in Tampa, Florida.
This is the second time that the students from John Gray will participate at this highly recognized event. Last year the team was very successful and gained four gold, three silver and one bronze medal.
Included in the athletes traveling with the school are some of our National Athletes, who will be accompanied by The National Coach for Track & Field, Mr. Kenrick Williams.
The athletes traveling with team are:
Boys
Andrew Ibeh (Captain)
Christopher Clarke
Nicholas Peralta
Daric Ebanks
Carl Morgan
Carlos Morgan
Rhymiech Rockett
Rashad Seales
Jerrique Seymour
Perry Anglin
Phillip Anglin
Girls
Jenna Gaio (Captain)
Shelese Kelly
Denicia Cranston
Abigail Pusey
Kristie Hurlston
Shenika Williams
Return
Sports
SUMMARY
Sports SUMMARY
Anna Kournikova
of Russia.
AFP PHOTO/RHONA WISE
Kournikova plans double warm-up for Wimbledon
BIRMINGHAM, England (AFP) Struggling glamour girl Anna Kournikova is doubling her effort in a bid to get her career back on track at this year's Wimbledon.
The Russian starlet, a former semi-finalist at the All England club, confirmed Monday that she would be playing in the DFS Classic tournament in Birmingham from June 9-15 as part of her preparation for Wimbledon.
Kournikova had already announced that she will be playing in the traditional warm-up event at Eastbourne the following week.
Gebrselassie on track for London meet
LONDON (AFP) Athletics legend Haile Gebrselassie has signed up for the London Grand Prix meet on August 8, joining an already star-packed cast headed by Britain's Paula Radcliffe and Australian Cathy Freeman.
Ethiopia's Olympic champion will tune up for his latest world championship bid by running the 5,000m at the Crystal Palace stadium.
"I love racing in London," Gebrselassie said. "This meeting has got bigger and bigger since I first ran here and now it's one of the best in the world.
The 30-year-old Gebrselassie, who first ran at Crystal Palace
10 years ago, won his second Olympic 10,000 metres gold in Sydney
in 2000 but lost his world 10,000m crown in 2001.
His main goal this year is reclaiming the 10,000m title at the
world outdoor championships in Paris in August.
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