Buckie Got It : St Kitts and Nevis News

Local Sports, Sports

Teams Jockey for Positions in SKNFA competitions

http://sknfa.com/ #

Published 11 April 2017

The intense schedule of football competitions continue as teams vie to get into the SKNFA Easter Cup

The second round of the SKNFA Premier League was just completed, leaving four teams sitting well and most favoured to compete in the Easter Cup Finals.

Teams that have qualified, based on points accumulated in the second round only, are as follows:

SOL Island Auto Conaree – 20 points from 9 games

RAMS Village Superstars – 19 points from 9 games

HE Garden Hotspurs – 19 points from 9 games

FLOW 4G Cayon Rockets – 17 points from 9 games

These are the four Premier League teams that will compete in the SKNFA Easter Cup Competition from the 13th April. In this competition, No. 1 will play against No. 4, and No. 2 will play No. 3. to determine which teams enter the final of the Easter Cup.

Although Superstars and Hotspurs have the same number of points, Superstars with a better goal average secured the second position.

According to Dexter Tyrell, manager of the SKNFA Secretariat, attention is also being given to the third and final round of the Premier League. As of 14th March, all teams would have played their required matches. The push is now on for every team to get a berth in the Final 4.

“As it is, the teams that are out front would be HE Garden Hotspurs leading the pack with 42 points, followed closely by FLOW 4G Cayon Rockets, with 39 points, and S L Horsford St. Paul’s United now on 38 points,” Tyrell informed.

In the remainder of the points standing:

SOL Island Auto Conaree – 34 points

RAMS Village Superstars – 31

Winners Circle Newtown – 26

ELCO Limited St. Peter’s – 26

United Old Road Jets – 16

Fast Cash SPD United – 15

Delta Petroleum Sandy Point – 3

“The competition, for me, is wide open. It is still open for the first seven teams to have a chance to get into the Final 4. Teams have about eight games to go, and if any team wins all its games, they would accumulate an additional 24 points, but truthfully, it would be fair to say that team Sandy Point has already eliminated itself.”

“I do believe over the next couple of days, you will see some good football.”

Meanwhile, the stage has been reached for what is called ‘The Round of Sixteen” for the 2017 SKNFA – FA Cup Competition – a knock-out competition. Games are being played to get to through the next stages that lead to the SKNFA – FA Cup Finals.

The quarter finals of the FA Cup will be held on the 28th and the 30th of March.

Entertainment, Events

Guinness Knockshore Night

Published 11 April 2017

Buckie Got It….Its this coming Saturday. You can’t afford to miss the live performance by Tommy Lee SPARTA. First time in St. Kitts. Mad thing going down with the DJ Sound clash, exiting performances by Hi-Light, Rodney, R B the Mayor, and much more. This coming Saturday, Sandy Point is the place to be. Early Bird Tickets are on sale now for only $60 until Wednesday 12th. After Wednesday its $70 and $80 by the gate. Get your Tickets at Central Gas Station, Harper’s Office Depot on Fort Street and E & K Minimart in Sandy Point. All Inclusive VIP Tickets Available. Its the Guinness Knockshore Night. Be there!

International news, News

United loses $1 billion in market value after man dragged off flight

Published 11 April 2017

Updated 1:59 PM EDT April 11, 2017 London
Shares in United Airlines slipped by close to 3% Tuesday as the company scrambled to address a video showing a passenger being forcibly dragged off an overbooked flight.
United Continental Holdings weathered the initial waves of anger caused by the video on Monday, with shares closing with a 0.9% gain. But momentum shifted by Tuesday morning.
Earlier in the day, the stock was even lower, knocking off close to $1 billion off the company’s market value. By the afternoon, the stock had recovered from the worst losses — but its market value was still off by $600 million.
The video, which surfaced Monday, showed a passenger removed on Sunday from United flight 3411 at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
Several passengers recorded the incident on their phones and posted video on social media showing three Chicago Department of Aviation security officers dragging the man, who has not been identified, down the aisle by the arms and legs while other passengers shout in protest.
He continued to resist after he was removed and ran back onto the airplane, face bloodied from the encounter.
The incident sparked a massive reaction online.
Following the backlash, United CEO Oscar Munoz issued a statement calling the incident “upsetting” and apologized “for having to re-accommodate” customers.
But that failed to appease many customers. Public relations analysts have also panned the company’s public response to the incident.
Anger was not limited to the U.S. The incident was the number one trending topic Tuesday on Weibo, China’s answer to Twitter, attracting more than 100 million views.
China is one of United’s most important growth markets.
The Chicago-based carrier is the U.S.’s third largest airline by passenger traffic, operating more than 4,500 flights a day to 339 airports across five continents.
United released its traffic figures for March on Monday afternoon, reporting 3% growth over the previous year.
The company has been trying to revamp its image after ranking near the bottom of airline customer satisfaction indexes for several years. It is updating its fleet and last year added free snacks, premium coffee, better Wi-Fi and upgraded airport lounges.
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Business, Travel

Port in St Lucia To Make Way For Mega Cruise Ships

Published 11 April 2017

CASTRIES, St Lucia, Friday April 7, 2017 – St Lucia wants some mega cruise ships to come calling.

And it’s preparing for the first one by December. The Breasting Dolphin Berth at Pointe Seraphine is to be extended to facilitate that and other mega cruise vessels at a cost of US$15 million.

Minister for Ports Stephenson King said that due to the growth projections for the cruise sector “there is a greater need for us to place emphasis on the improvement, development and the enhancement of the cruise facilities and infrastructure on the island.”

“This Government has made a firm commitment not only to improve Port Castries and to consider a new location for the establishment of a new commercial port but also to continue to improve on the cruise ship facilities and by extension to look to the south of the country to establish a major cruise port in the south in Vieux Fort that will compliment a number of the economic initiatives that the Government has committed itself to,” he said.

“This is a holistic approach, a global initiative, on the part of the Government looking beyond the shores, beyond the sand and sea, and looking to the international arena to see how St Lucia can maintain its position and be able to offer two world class facilities, one in the north and one in the south.”

Minister King said government also hopes the project will place the island as the number one cruise ship destination in the Caribbean.

Once the berth is completed, St Lucia is expected to see an increase of 20 percent in the call of vessels to Port Castries and an increase in passenger arrivals by 19 percent.

Business, Health

Trump Refuses Funding to UN Agency that Helps Caribbean

Published 11 April 2017

WASHINGTON, United States, Monday April 10, 2017 – United States President Donald Trump is pulling his country’s funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), an agency that assists 22 Caribbean countries in their efforts to tackle teen pregnancies and other reproductive health issues.

The US State Department has announced that it will not forward congressionally-approved uS$32.5 million to the UNFPA because of its partnership with a Chinese government programme that includes forced abortions and sterilizations.

“While there is no evidence that UNFPA directly engages in coercive abortions or involuntary sterilizations in China, the agency continues to partner with [China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission] on family planning, and thus can be found to support, or participate in the management of China’s coercive policies,” it said.

But the UNFPA has insisted that it does no such thing. It said the decision to deny funding for its life-saving work is based on the erroneous claim that UNFPA “supports, or participates in the management of, a programme of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization” in China.

“UNFPA refutes this claim, as all of its work promotes the human rights of individuals and couples to make their own decisions, free of coercion or discrimination. Indeed, United Nations Member States have long described UNFPA’s work in China as a force for good,” it said.

It noted that the support from the US in previous years has saved tens of thousands of mothers from preventable deaths and disabilities, and helped UNFPA combat gender-based violence and reduce the scourge of maternal deaths.

UNFPA works in more than 150 countries and territories. Those include the Caribbean nations of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Sint Maarten, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands.

In those countries, UNFPA works to improve the reproductive health of the most vulnerable, including responding to the high numbers of unintended pregnancies and gaps in maternal health.

Family planning associations and similar agencies in the region benefit from the work of the UNFPA.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric has predicted the US funding loss “could have devastating effects on the health of vulnerable women and girls and their families around the world”.