High of 87 Low of 74 Moderate with wave heights of 3 to 5 feet. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 PENDING ANSWERS, GROUNDING MAX 8 JETS WAS THE RIGHT CALL LOCAL | PAGE 6 NEW ACTING FIRE CHIEF, DEPUTY CHIEFS NAMED ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – WEDNESDAY MARCH 13, 2019 Cayman avoids EU blacklist Must amend legislation by year end MICHAEL KLEIN mklein@pinnaclemedialtd.com The European Union has not added the Cayman Islands to an expanded EU tax black- list, but the council of EU finance ministers said Cayman will have to amend its legisla- tion by the end of this year. On Tuesday, EU governments added 10 new jurisdictions to the tax blacklist, in- cluding Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu and Dominica. The Cayman Islands government last year passed a new economic substance law to ful- fill commitments made to the EU in 2017 in order to avoid being classed as uncooperative in tax matters. The new law requires compa- nies that are part of a multinational group with an annual turnover of more than $850 million to pass an economic substance test by demon- strating sufficient economic activity on island, in terms of staff, office space and expenditure, to be considered resident for tax purposes. The EU is targeting Cayman and other off- shore financial centers for maintaining tax re- gimes that facilitate offshore structures which attract profits without requiring real eco- nomic activity locally. The EU Council said Cayman, the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands committed to addressing the concerns relating to eco- nomic substance in the area of collective in- vestment funds. While the three jurisdictions had engaged in a positive dialog with the EU Code of Con- duct Group on Business Taxation and have re- mained cooperative, the EU Council said, they will “require further technical guidance” and “were granted until end [of] 2019 to adapt their legislation.” The Cayman Islands government said in a statement that the EU Council’s deci- sion reaffirms Cayman’s cooperation in tax matters. “The Government is pleased that the CAYMAN BANS MAX AIRCRAFT FROM THE SKIES JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Cayman Islands Aviation Authority has banned the Boeing 737 Max aircraft from operating in Cayman airspace amid growing safety concerns around the model. Cayman Airways was among the first air- lines in the world to ground its jets fol- lowing an Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday morning which killed 157 people. It was the second fatal accident involving a 737 Max 8 aircraft in less than six months. On Tuesday, U.K. regulators said they were temporarily banning the aircraft, which has only been in commercial use since 2017, from U.K. airspace. Cayman authorities, which are not directly impacted by the U.K. ruling, took the decision to follow suit later on Tuesday. The Cayman Islands Aviation Authority is- sued a directive to pilots and operators of both the Boeing 737 Max 8 and the Boeing 737 Max 9 not to conduct any flights in Cayman Islands air space after 5 p.m. Tuesday. It cited the incidents involving the model in Indonesia and Ethiopia and stated, “Given the similarity of the two accidents, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands has decided as a precautionary measure in the public interest that operations by Boeing 737-8 MAX and Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft in the airspace of the Cayman Islands should not take place until appropriate safeguards are in place.” Though Cayman Airways had already taken the decision not to fly the planes until more May Day: UK Parliament rejects prime minister’s Brexit deal LONDON (AP) – Britain’s Parliament deliv- ered a crushing defeat to Prime Minister Theresa May’s European Union divorce deal Tuesday, plunging the Brexit process into chaos just 17 days before the U.K. is due to leave the bloc. Lawmakers rejected the deal 391-242, ignoring May’s entreaties to back the agreement and end the political chaos and economic uncertainty that Brexit has unleashed. It was a narrower outcome than the 230-vote margin of defeat for the agreement in January, before May secured changes from the bloc – but not by much. With EU leaders warning there would be no more changes or negotiations, and with less than three weeks to go until the U.K. is due to leave, British lawmakers now face a stark choice between leaving the EU without an agreement to smooth the way, or delaying the country’s withdrawal past the scheduled March 29 departure date. May – her voice ragged after days of frantic shuttle diplomacy to secure last- minute changes to the deal – had earlier told the House of Commons, “this is the mo- ment and this is the time – time for us to come together, back this motion and get the deal done.” “If this deal is not passed, then Brexit could be lost,” May said. PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 6 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 6 » Anti-Brexit, pro-remain supporters gather outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Tuesday, prior to a vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s exit deal from Europe. Lawmakers rejected the deal, 391 to 242. - PHOTO: AP PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 6 »2 LOCAL®IONAL WEDNESDAY MARCH 13, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS • Matinees Daily (matinee price before 6pm) • Seniors $8.00, Mon-Fri Before 6pm • Additional charges apply per 3D/VIP tickets Cayman Cinema@cbcinema6cbcinema6 SATURDAY NIGHT: For your viewing pleasure, minors under the age of 18 will not be admitted to any film starting after 6pm, unless accompanied by their parent. - WEDNESDAY - 640-FILM (640-3456) CAPTAIN MARVEL (PG13) 12:30 VIP I 1:10 3D I 3:25 VIP I 4:05 6:30 VIP I 7:00 3D I 9:30 VIP I 9:50 A MADEA FAMILY FUNERAL (PG13) 1:10 I 3:45 I 6:45 I 9:20 HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD (PG) 1:30 I 4:05 3D I 6:40 I 9:15 3D FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY (PG13) 1:55 I 7:20 ALITA BATTLE ANGEL (PG13) 1:10 I 4:10 I 7:10 I 10:00 WHAT MEN WANT (R) 4:30 I 10:00 Very profitable part time business with low operating costs and 6 to 8 months payback. Duty free diesel and no duty on all goods imported for use on the boat. No business licence or work permits required for the crew. 36’ x 13’ x 3’6” – Recently installed 135 hp Ford diesel – 480 gallons of fuel – 3000# ice boxes E xtensive list of regular fish customers and marketing website: http://sea-gems.net is also available LOCAL COMMERCIAL FISHING VESSEL Owner is retiring and selling this Cayman registered vessel in operation locally since 2014 Asking CI$49,000 FOR SALE PLEASE CALL 925-4773 Three years for imitation firearm CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A man who drove away from a police roadblock in 2017 was sentenced on Monday to three years im- prisonment for aiding and abetting another man who had an imitation firearm with intent to resist arrest. The second man, whose identity is unknown, was one of two passengers in a ve- hicle driven by LeShawn Sha- heim Forrester, now 25, who also received an eight-month sentence for dangerous driving. This will run concur- rent with the longer sentence. Mr. Forrester had pleaded guilty to the driving charge and not guilty to the firearm charge. He elected to be tried by judge alone. Justice Mar- lene Carter heard the matter and found him guilty in Oc- tober. Sentencing was then adjourned pending a social inquiry report. Mr. Forrester had said during his trial that, on the night of June 4, 2017, he gave a ride to the two men because it was raining, but he did not know them. When they came to the roadblock, one of the men told him he had drugs on him and Mr. For- rester panicked and drove off, but then came to his senses. He said he went back to the area of the roadblock near the Kimpton hotel site, where his passengers got out of his vehicle and ran. He stayed in the driver’s seat. The court heard that Mr. Forrester had driven away from the roadblock in such a manner that an officer had to jump out of the way. He then continued for almost two kilometers in spite of po- lice signaling him to stop, at times in excess of 80 miles per hour and sometimes in the wrong lane. He told the court he did not know anything about the firearm or the men, but he did not give any explanation to the officers who approached him. He had been told that he had the right not to say any- thing, but it could harm his defense if he raised matters at his trial that he did not tell them when questioned. Evidence about the firearm was given by officers who had chased the fleeing passengers. In her finding of guilt, the judge said she was satis- fied that the unknown male had an item in his hand, that the item had the appear- ance of a firearm, and at the time the male intended to re- sist arrest. Justice Carter accepted that Mr. Forrester had no pre- vious convictions for firearms or traffic or any crime of vio- lence. However, he had been on police bail at the time in relation to another incident. Defense attorney Lee Hal- liday-Davis had asked for a suspended sentence, but the judge said the punish- ment had to be custody. She arrived at the term of three years after considering other cases in which sen- tences had ranged from three to six years. For the dangerous driving, she noted that the maximum sentence is 12 months and gave him one-third discount for his guilty plea. The judge ordered that he be disqualified from driving for three years after he serves his sentence. 10-year-old pension case adjourned Restaurant company to return to court April 15 CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Champion House Ltd. was on the court list for sentencing on Monday, but Magistrate Valdis Foldats adjourned the pension-pay- ment case until April 15. A representative of the restaurant company pleaded guilty in 2010 to failing without reasonable cause to pay $177,000 on behalf of 32 employees be- fore 2008, when the matter first came to court. Attorney Graham Hampson recently took over as defense counsel and he has agreed with the magistrate as to the need for an assessment of the financial state of Cham- pion House Ltd. before sentencing. In September 2018, the company was fined $500 and ordered to pay $10,689 in wages owed to former employees. The fine and compensation were to be paid by March 29, 2019. How you can help DONATE. SPONSOR. VOLUNTEER. 24-Hour Crisis Line 943-CICC (2422) 949 0366 www.cicc.ky email: info@cicc.ky The court heard that Mr. Forrester had driven away from the roadblock in such a manner that an officer had to jump out of the way. FUNDRAISER BENEFITS FOOD BANK Camana Bay donated $7,831.37 to the Good Samar- itan Cayman Food Bank re- cently, following a fundraising campaign at Christmastime. The funds were raised through the annual Camana Bay Christmas Give campaign. Among the several events that helped raise money for the food bank were the pre- miere of “The Grinch” movie at the Camana Bay Cinema, a community Festive Dress Down Day and the fifth an- nual Santa Run. This year, Camana Bay also sold Cayman-themed greeting cards and T-shirts at the Visitor Centre where the community brought non- perishable food items to help stock up the food bank, which strives to help feed the most vulnerable people in the com- munity, including children, families and seniors. Laura Leontsinis, Camana Bay marketing manager, second from right, hands Woody Foster, Cayman Food Bank board president, a check for $7,831.37, alongside the food bank’s Phillip Hyre, left, Lotoya Smith of Camana Bay, and Naomi Law of the food bank. Researchers find hammerhead ‘nursery’ off Galapagos Islands QUITO, Ecuador (AP) – Re- searchers in Ecuador say they have discovered a “nursery” of hammerhead sharks off the coast of the Galapagos Islands, a find that may help them track and protect the endan- gered predators. The head of the project, Eduardo Espinosa, said the group had found 20 ham- merheads in the area along Santa Cruz island, and was able to attach monitors to five of them. “That site, where the babies spent two or three years, is important not only for the Galapagos but on a world scale because it gives hope for the pro- tection and conservation of a species,” he said. The International Union for the Conservation of Na- ture lists hammerhead sharks as endangered species that have suffered sharply declining numbers in recent years around the world. They are vulnerable partly be- cause they breed relatively few times, their schools are sometimes caught in fishing nets and their fins are prized in Asian markets. Marine biologist Alex Hearn of San Francisco Uni- versity in Quito said re- searchers had believed that the hammerheads gave birth along continental coasts, so the discovery of the island nursery opens new lines of study. The hammerheads are an attraction for divers visiting the Galapagos, about 600 miles west of the mainland, and an image of a hammer- head is part of the Galapagos National Park’s emblem. Researchers had believed that the hammerheads gave birth along continental coasts, so the discovery of the island nursery opens new lines of study.The islands’ most-trusted news source 3 CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY MARCH 13, 2019 PERSONAL BANKING | BUSINESS BANKING | FIDUCIARY SERVICES | FUND SERVICES | INVESTMENT SERVICES CAYMAN ISLANDS | ISLE OF MAN | DUBAI Cayman National Corporation Ltd 200 Elgin Avenue, PO Box 1097, Grand Cayman KY11102, Cayman Islands | Tel +1 345 949 4655 caymannational.com | cncshares.ky Republic Group completes its investment in Cayman National A stronger, brighter future for Cayman National Dear Shareholders, Customers and Friends, We are pleased to announce that, having received all required government and regulatory approvals , the Partial Offer to purchase Cayman National shares by Republic Bank Trinidad & Tobago (Barbados) Limited (a subsidiary of Republic Financial Holdings Limited) (“Republic”), expired on Friday, March 8, 2019. We are delighted that Cayman National will now be part of the extended Republic family whilst still retaining our own unique identity. We will continue to provide our local touch, with the mainly Caymanian team providing high levels of services throughout all three of our Islands. As previously announced, lending decisions will continue to be made in the Cayman Islands, and the majority of the board will continue to be comprised of Caymanian directors, but we will now be backed by the resources of a global financial player. This is a major milestone in the history of Cayman National and is a very favorable step towards securing the stability of the organisation for years to come. We look forward to growing with you and the Cayman economy well into the future. Sincerely, About the Republic Group Established in the Caribbean in 1837 as the Colonial Bank and becoming Barclays Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, the Republic Group is today one of the region’s largest and most successful financial institutions. Now a global player with assets in excess of US$9.4 billion and equity of US$1.4 billion, the Republic Group has more than 117 branches and 5,574 staff across the Caribbean and Ghana. Learn more about the Republic Group at republicfinancialholdings.com Information on Payment to Tendering Shareholders Shareholders resident in the Cayman Islands and entitled to consideration under the Partial Offer may pick up their cheque from 12pm (Cayman Islands time) on 13 March 2019 at Cayman National Securities Ltd., 2nd Floor, Suite 6201, 62 Forum Lane, Camana Bay, Grand Cayman. Thereafter, cheques will be available for collection at the same address during regular business hours. Currently valid government issued photo identification will be required for collection. Shareholders not resident in the Cayman Islands will receive payment via wire transfer. Stuart J. Dack President and Chief Executive, Cayman National Corporation Ltd. Truman M. Bodden OBE, LLB (Hons), ACIB Chairman of the Board of Directors, Cayman National Corporation Ltd.The islands’ most-trusted news source 4 – EDITORIAL – Opinion & Letters The Cayman Compass welcomes comments, opinions and viewpoints from readers. Letters to the editor can be emailed to editor@pinnaclemedialtd.com, submitted via www.caymancompass.com, sent by post or hand-delivered to the Compass office. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY: Caymanian Compass Limited Compass Centre Shedden Road, George Town SEND US YOUR VIEWS OR NEWS: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman KY1-1108, Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@pinnaclemedialtd.com ADVERTISE WITH US: Telephone: (345) 949-5111 Email: sales@pinnaclemedialtd.com Website: www.caymancompass.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR PATRICK BRENDEL A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will find their own way” Cayman Airways officials were right to ground the fleet’s two Boeing 737 Max 8 jets after Sunday’s horrific crash in Ethiopia. Their quick action, and the Cayman Islands Aviation Authority’s subsequent decision to ban the Max 8 from Cayman’s airspace, sends a clear signal that our top priority is the safety of passengers and crew. Cayman Airways was among the first airlines in the world to ground its Max 8 planes after Sunday’s tragic incident, which killed 157 people. We applaud their abundance of caution. Taking the planes out of service while investigators search for answers may cause a few scheduling headaches, but it was the right thing for officials to do. It is not yet known what caused the accident, or last fall’s fatal crash of another Max 8 in Indonesia – a Lion Air flight which crashed minutes after takeoff, killing all 189 people on board. Aviation experts say there simply is not enough information to determine whether the planes malfunctioned or otherwise con- tributed to the crashes. That has not assuaged the fears of worried trav- elers or prevented them from drawing their own con- clusions. By midday, dozens of carriers in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa and Asia had grounded their Max 8 jets as a precautionary measure. Entire countries prohibited their operations. The planes had been banned from airspace in the United Kingdom and the European Union. Indonesia-based aviation expert Gerry Soejatman told the Associated Press on Tuesday that airlines were being flooded with inquiries in a global response he likened to “mass hysteria.” Both Boeing and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration gave assurances on Tuesday that they believe the Max 8 jet is safe. Founded or unfounded, there is no question that travelers’ concerns are deeply felt. As the Compass reports on today’s front page, Cayman’s visitors and residents overwhelmingly applauded officials’ decision on social media. Traveler Robert Smith wrote on the Compass Facebook page, “Cayman Airways has an exceptional safety record and this decision shows one reason why.” There is no cause to panic. Nor is there any lasting harm in grounding the planes until more is known. It is also worth remembering that air travel is normally an exceptionally safe way to travel. As heart- breaking as they may be, that two crashes a half-year apart and half a world away can generate this type of strong response, is a testament to just how unusual an occurrence air-related accidents truly are. As the New York Times noted in an article on Tuesday, more than 340 Max 8 planes are currently registered with aviation authorities. In a single week last month, Max 8 planes flew more than 8,500 fights, flight tracking service Flightradar24 told Times reporters. If the two accidents do prove to have been nothing but terrible coincidence, the world will breathe a col - lective sigh of relief. But there are times when our perception of safety, and officials’ response to troubling situations, is as important as the actual truth. Pending answers, grounding Max 8 jets was the right call WEDNESDAY MARCH 13, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS The opportunities and challenges of health tourism DAVID JESSOP Health tourism is an enor- mous and highly competitive global business. Reliable estimates indi- cate that by 2021 the world- wide health tourism market will reach somewhere be- tween US$46.6 billion and US$125 billion per annum and is experiencing a com- pound annual growth rate of somewhere between 13 and 19 percent. In contrast, the World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that av- erage growth rates for Ca- ribbean tourism is about 3.8 percent per annum. Confusingly, however, health tourism as a concept is ill defined. At one end of the spec- trum, it involves medical tourism in the form of ad- vanced medical procedures, elective interventions, facili- ties for convalescence, care homes and sheltered housing for the elderly. At the other, it involves wellness in the form of spas and a range of non- medical ancillary services. While medical tourism is mo- tivated by a need for treat- ment, wellness tourism is more proactive and related to improving an individual’s quality of life. Taken at face value, Ca- ribbean nations with good connections by air, advanced medical facilities, and having either the ability to attract well-qualified physicians, support staff and therapists, or in the case of Cuba with a surplus of local healthcare professionals, ought to be well placed to capitalize on all aspects of health tourism. Cuba apart, which is something of a special case, it is possible to iden- tify Cayman and Turks and Caicos, as having private and public-private medical tourism models that work. For example, Health City Cayman Islands has bene- fited from having the support of Narayana Hrudayalaya, a profitable global medical group. Health City is associ- ated with a high-profile in- ternational medical figure, has a wealthy expatriate and Caymanian domestic market, has good air access from North America and the wider world, has state-of- the-art technology, and op- erates within the regulatory constraints of a U.K. offshore jurisdiction. Much the same holds true of the Canadian InterHealth- operated Turks and Caicos Islands Hospital on Provi- denciales and Grand Turk, which provide services to an increasing number of tour- ists and uninsured patients – typically Haitian migrants whom government requires it to treat – but has the added advantage of an arrangement whereby islanders have full access at no cost under the country’s National Health In- surance Plan. In most of the rest of the region, the same confluence of factors does not exist, making the Cayman and Turks and Caicos medical models hard to replicate. Moreover, some recent Australian and Canadian ac- ademic studies suggest that, given the size of most Carib- bean islands, the throughput of visitors may be not be sufficient to keep medical pricing competitive, or to be able to maintain high levels of continuing invest- ment needed to meet interna- tional patients’ expectations about surgical interventions using robotics and artificial intelligence. This suggests that most successful future invest- ments in medical tourism in the Caribbean are likely to be focused on small spe- cialized private clinics pro- viding limited services, such as cosmetic sur- gery, the replacement of joints, dentistry, in vitro fertilization, full medical checks, and facilities for convalescence. Management consul- tant-produced studies in- dicate that there is a huge and growing United States and Latin market for such services and procedures, as well as a unique opportunity with some of the four mil- lion or so in the Caribbean diaspora who might prefer treatment “at home,” and a growing demand for recu- peration in a warm, pleasant environment. Separately, wellness tourism offers a different but just as significant economic opportunity. The not-for-profit Global Wellness Institute estimates that international wellness visitors spent 53 percent more than the average inter- national tourist in 2017, and that primary and secondary wellness spending in Latin America and the Caribbean was US$34.8 billion, although the Caribbean did not figure among its top 20 global destinations. Significantly, wellness tourism avoids the health inequity that sophisticated large private medical facili- ties can cause, does not dis- tort public healthcare sys- tems, or alienate voters or committed public health- care professionals. It also has little, if any effect on the already alarming def- icit in healthcare profes- sionals in some parts of the region caused by recruitment agencies enticing individ- uals away to work in Europe, North America and other parts of the world. The Caribbean continues to face a serious challenge as to how it sustains the de- livery of free or low-cost high-quality public health- care. While wellness tourism and small clinics providing specialist services offer no immediate panacea, they should be seen as impor- tant primary and secondary adjuncts to the staple long- stay visitor offerings of beach and sun. David Jessop is a consultant to the Caribbean Council. © 2019, David Jessop. The not-for-profit Global Wellness Institute estimates that international wellness visitors spent 53 percent more than the average international tourist in 2017 ...5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY MARCH 13, 2019 SPECIALIZED CARE WITHIN REACH. Connect with a local representative at +1.242.557.3915 floridaGPS@ccf.org clevelandclinic.org/caribbean WITH CLEVELAND CLINIC JUST A SHORT FLIGHT AWAY, YOU’RE CLOSE TO WHAT’S BEST FOR YOUR HEALTH. Why? Because you’re close to the best healthcare providers and state-of-the-art medical technology. You’re close to the best facilities and quality of services. And you’re close to the healthcare you deserve. After all, what’s more important than your health? Every life deserves world-class care. New acting fire chief, deputies named SPENCER FORDIN sfordin@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Cayman Islands Fire Service has new leadership. Brevon Elliot has been named as the acting chief fire officer and the deputy chief fire officer for aviation. Mr. Elliot will replace Witney Tatum, whose term as acting fire chief expired on Friday. Mr. Tatum was named acting fire chief in February following the exit of David Hails at the end of his three- year contract. The Cayman Islands Fire Service also announced last week that Roy Charlton is the new deputy chief fire officer for domestic and Tina Choy is the new deputy chief fire officer for administration. The service will begin a search for an interim fire chief shortly. Mr. Elliot will lead and pro- vide strategic direction for all aerodrome fire services. He has worked primarily in fire safety and inspections over the last few years. The new officers, all of whom are Caymanian, took up their new responsibilities on March 4. Chief Officer Dax Basdeo announced the promotions on Thursday, and he said the in- ternal promotions will create stability and support for the Fire Service staff. “As the Ministry continues to recruit qualified persons to fulfill other essential roles within the Fire Service,” he said in an official statement, “we will ensure that officers con- tinue to be provided with a variety of professional devel- opment opportunities so that they are well equipped to com- pete for promotional opportu- nities and can take on the same with pride and confidence.” Mr. Tatum, who served as acting chief fire officer for a month, will return to working as a divisional officer on Cayman Brac. Audit company PwC re- leased an organizational re- view of the Cayman Islands Fire Service in 2018, which found that five of then-Fire Chief Hails’s six senior of- ficers were operating in an “acting” capacity, which led to significant uncertainty in the department’s organization. The Fire Service set out to iron out those problems, and Mr. Charlton, Mr. Elliot and Ms. Choy all participated in the first round of coaching administered by RESOLVE, a local company the ministry tapped to assist in grooming future leaders. Tara Rivers, minister for home affairs, issued a statement regarding the new officers. “We are extremely pleased to have three experienced and highly capable Cayma- nian officers fill these crit- ical senior management roles within the Fire Ser- vice,” Ms. Rivers said. “I am confident that they will con- tinue to work hard, strive for excellence and be the am- bassadors of our mission to develop and promote the highest quality of fire offi- cers and create a world-class fire service.” Mr. Charlton’s new role will see him providing stra- tegic direction for all do- mestic operations, as well as managing and supporting op- erational personnel. He will also assume the role of inci- dent commander as required and will be responsible for provision of inshore marine search and rescue. He has worked in the service for 31 years, primarily in the do- mestic division. Ms. Choy has served the Fire Service for more than 21 years and has worked in areas including domestic op- erations, fire prevention and investigations. She most re- cently served as the deputy chief fire officer in administra- tion, where she monitored the budget and helped deal with provision of officers. Ms. Choy also presided over training and the development of poli- cies and procedures that guide the fire service. Franz Manderson, the deputy governor and head of the civil service, said in the statement, “I commend the three officers for answering the call to serve in these key leadership positions within the Fire Service.” New trial for immigration scam case CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Grand Court Judge Tim- othy Owen on Tuesday halted the trial of Judith Francia Douglas, who is charged with obtaining more than $1.9 mil- lion by deception. The judge, who discharged the jury, said a new trial date would to be set, and ordered the media not to report on the reasons why the trial was being stopped. Ms. Douglas, 53, pleaded not guilty to dishonestly ob- taining $1,946,437 from an individual by allegedly falsely representing that the money was required for pay- ment to the Cayman Islands government for applications for permanent residence, Caymanian status and a Cay- manian passport. The offense allegedly oc- curred between November 2010 and January 2016. Trial began last week, with Crown counsel Toyin Salako calling the complainant as her first witness. Defense at- torney Anthony Akiwumi had begun his questioning of this witness on Monday. From left, Brevon Elliot, Tina Choy and Roy Charlton have all been selected for internal promotion by the Cayman Islands Fire Service.The islands’ most-trusted news source 6 WEDNESDAY MARCH 13, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS Cayman Islands has not been included on the EU’s updated list of noncooper- ative jurisdictions for tax purposes (known commonly as the EU blacklist),” the statement said. “This was expected as the Cayman Islands has lived up to the December 2017 commit- ments made by the Govern- ment to implement legislation to introduce substance require- ments for relevant Cayman en- tities; to remove the restriction on certain types of Cayman companies from conducting business locally; and to intro- duce additional accounting and regulatory requirements for Cayman entities.” At the same time, the gov- ernment noted that the EU expressed concerns regarding economic substance require- ments for investment funds and that further discussions are needed to define accept- able requirements for collec- tive investment vehicles. “While the government has committed to continuing its engagement and dialogue with the EU on this issue, it should be borne in mind that the global standard requiring economic substance for rele- vant financial and corporate entities, set by the OECD’s Forum on Harmful Tax Prac- tices, does not include [collec- tive investment vehicles].” The government statement added, “As such, Cayman’s legislation is based on the global standards, and we will continue to adhere to global standards with regard to eco- nomic substance require- ments for relevant entities.” Expanded blacklist The addition of the 10 new jurisdictions to the tax blacklist brings the total number of listed countries to 15, including the previously listed Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, and three U.S. territo- ries: American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Citing the minutes of a meeting of EU envoys, news agency Reuters reported ear- lier this week that Britain had pushed other EU states not to include Bermuda on the list, but then lifted its objections after the European Commis- sion argued that the island had “been playing games” to dodge EU requirements. According to the docu- ment, the Commission noted that Bermuda was required to change its tax rules by the end of February, but had added new loopholes in its revised legislation and did not provide a final text by the deadline. The EU Council said it will also monitor how Ber- muda addresses economic substance concerns in the area of collective investment funds by the end of 2019. Blacklisted countries face restrictions on EU funding and investments from the European Investment Bank. They are likely to be sub- ject to stricter controls on transactions with the EU, but member states have not agreed any uniform sanc- tions as yet. The Cayman Is- lands Chamber of Commerce welcomed news that Cayman was not included on the re- vised list of noncoopera- tive tax jurisdictions, stating that, given the islands’ his- tory of commitment to cross- border cooperation, this re- sult was expected. “The Cayman Islands has always struck the right bal- ance between meeting truly global international stan- dards while ensuring that the jurisdiction remains at- tractive to legitimate in- ternational business,” said Chamber President Chris Kirkconnell in a statement. Mr. Kirkconnell said over the past months various Chamber representatives have worked with the government in industry working groups on the EU initiative. “The Chamber of Commerce re- mains committed to working closely with the public sector and other industry bodies to ensure that the jurisdiction maintains its success as a leading international financial services center,” he added. Eugen Teodorovici, min- ister for finance of Romania, which currently holds the EU presidency, said the council of finance ministers com- pleted its first comprehensive revision of the EU list of non- cooperative jurisdictions. “Since it was first ad- opted in late 2017, the list has proven its worth in pro- moting forward in a coopera- tive manner the EU’s agenda of improving global tax prac- tices, fighting tax avoidance and improving good gov- ernance and transparency: more than 30 jurisdictions have already delivered on their commitment to pass tax reforms,” he said. Currently, the EU re- quires that non-EU jurisdic- tions meet certain standards in connection with tax trans- parency, fair taxation and the OECD initiative against tax base erosion and corporate profit shifting (BEPS). However, the EU says that its list of non-cooperative ju- risdictions is “a dynamic pro- cess.” The EU Council plans to regularly review and up- date the list in the coming years, taking into consider- ation both how jurisdictions deliver on their commit- ments, as well as changes to the criteria that the EU uses to establish the blacklist. When it was first released in December 2017, the black- list originally included 17 ju- risdictions. After some listed states changed their tax rules, the list was whittled down to five, before the latest expansion to 15. Cayman avoids EU blacklist CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 But prominent Brexit supporters whose sup- port May needs were un- convinced. Hard-core Brexit supporters in May’s Conser- vative Party and the prime minister’s allies in Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party both said they could not support the deal, which Parliament re- jected by an overwhelming margin in January. The DUP, which props up May’s minority government, said “sufficient progress has not been achieved” on the key issue of the Irish border. The European Research Group of pro-Brexit Conser- vatives, which has dozens of lawmakers as members, said the amendments “do not deliver ‘legally binding changes’” to the withdrawal agreement, as the govern- ment promised. “In light of our own legal analysis and others, we do not recommend accepting the government’s mo- tion today,” group member Bill Cash said. At a late-night news con- ference Monday in Stras- bourg, France, May and European Commission Pres- ident Jean-Claude Juncker announced changes de- signed to overcome law- makers’ concerns about provisions designed to en- sure the border between EU member Ireland and Brit- ain’s Northern Ireland re- mains open after Brexit. The mechanism, known as the backstop, is a safe- guard that would keep the U.K. in a customs union with the EU until a perma- nent new trading relation- ship is in place. Brexit sup- porters in Britain fear the backstop could be used to bind the country to EU reg- ulations indefinitely. May said documents to be added to the deal pro- vided “legally binding” as- surances that the back- stop would be temporary and that Britain would have a way to get out of it if the EU failed to nego- tiate in good faith. However, the text of the 585-page withdrawal agreement re- mained unchanged. May hoped the changes would be enough to over- turn the 230-vote margin of defeat for the deal in January. But her hopes were dashed when Attorney Gen- eral Geoffrey Cox said the changes “reduce the risk” Britain could be trapped in- side EU regulations – but do not eliminate it. The two- page opinion said the U.K. could still not extract it- self from the terms of the divorce deal unilaterally, a key demand of pro-Brexit British politicians. In a written legal opinion, Cox said that if U.K.-EU ne- gotiations became stalled through “intractable differ- ences,” Britain would have “no internationally lawful means of exiting the Proto- col’s arrangements, save by agreement.” John Whittingdale, a Brexit-supporting Conserva- tive lawmaker, said the at- torney general’s advice was “pretty terminal” for May’s plan. The main opposition Labour Party also said it would reject the deal. “In terms of the sub- stance, literally nothing has changed,” Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said. The pound, which had risen on hopes the deal would be passed, slumped by more than 1 percent against the dollar after Cox’s assessment, to trade at $1.3108. Other EU nations had urged British politicians to seize the chance to back the deal and ensure an or- derly departure. German EU affairs min- ister Michael Roth, called it “a far-reaching compro- mise.” Dutch Prime Min- ister Mark Rutte tweeted that he was “pleased with the agreement,” adding: “An orderly #Brexit is crucial for both the EU and the UK. There is no alternative.” The EU warned British politicians that negotia- tions will not be reopened if Parliament rejects the deal again. “In politics, sometimes you get a second chance. It is what you do with this second chance that counts. Because there will be no third chance,” Juncker said. Britain’s political im- passe over Brexit has raised fears of a chaotic “no-deal” Brexit that could mean major disruption for busi- nesses and people in the U.K. and the 27 remaining EU countries, with tariffs and border checks imposed on trade between the two. Lawmakers are now due to vote in the next two days on whether to leave the EU without an agree- ment – an idea likely to be rejected – or to ask the EU to delay Brexit. information about Sunday’s incident becomes available, several U.S. carriers have con- tinued to fly the Max aircraft. American Airlines, South- West Airlines, United Airlines and JetBlue are among the car- riers operating in Cayman that have Max 8 aircraft in their fleet and could potentially be im- pacted by the directive. South- West has previously used the Max 8 on its Cayman routes. Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell said Tuesday, “We fully support the safety mea- sures implemented by our na- tional flag carrier Cayman Air- ways and now the CAACI.” The decision by var- ious countries and airlines to ground the aircraft comes amid a growing passenger back- lash against the aircraft model, the latest off the Boeing pro- duction line. Ethiopia, Singapore, China, France, Ireland, Germany, Aus- tralia, Indonesia and Malaysia were among the countries that had suspended the 737 Max as of press time Tuesday. The U.K. Civil Aviation Au- thority said in a statement that it had taken the decision be- cause there was not enough in- formation about the cause of the crash. “As we do not cur- rently have sufficient infor- mation from the flight data recorder we have, as a precau- tionary measure, issued in- structions to stop any commer- cial passenger flights from any operator arriving, departing or overflying U.K. airspace,” the U.K. authority said. The U.S. Federal Aviation Ad- ministration was still standing by the aircraft Tuesday. Southwest Airlines, the largest operator of 737 Max 8s in America, is offering passen- gers scheduled to fly on one of the planes the chance to change their bookings. Senators Mitt Romney and Elizabeth Warren were among a handful of senior U.S. poli- ticians to call on the FAA to ground the planes. President Donald Trump did not make any direct statement on the issue, but remarked on Twitter that “airplanes are becoming far too complex to fly.” Boeing said in a statement that it had full confidence in the 737 Max: “We understand that regulatory agencies and cus- tomers have made decisions that they believe are most ap- propriate for their home mar- kets. We’ll continue to engage with them to ensure they have the information needed to have confidence in operating their fleets. The United States Fed- eral Aviation Administration is not mandating any further ac- tion at this time, and based on the information currently available, we do not have any basis to issue new guidance to operators.” The Max 8 is Boeing’s fastest selling aircraft ever. The company’s share price dropped more than 5 percent Monday in the aftermath of the crash. Cayman Islands residents and tourists applauded Cayman Airways’ quick decision to ground the Max 8 aircraft in the wake of the tragedy that claimed 157 lives in Ethiopia. Commenting on the Cayman Compass Facebook page and in other web forums, travelers overwhelmingly en- dorsed the decision. Most commenters said the airline had made the right call to suspend the use of the air- craft until more information is available. “I think Cayman Air- ways made a good call. A lot of my family fly Cayman Airways and I’m so glad that until the problem can be resolved I don’t have to worry about them being on the Max 8,” Erlene Hudgins, wrote in a post in the Compass Facebook page. Charlotte Hicks agreed. “I’m avoiding Max 8 flights until this is sorted. Definitely the right call,” she said in a post. Robert Smith was another traveler to give credit to the air- line for the decision. “I applaud the abundance of caution our great national car- rier has shown in light of recent events. Cayman Airways has an exceptional safety record and this decision shows one reason why. Thank you CAL. The en- gineers will sort this out soon enough and we’ll be back in the new birds soon,” he wrote on the Compass Facebook page. Another poster, Patrick Murphy, summed up some of the fears among tourists: “I’m flying down in December and really do not want to be on these planes … just saying.” Cayman bans Max aircraft from the skies May Day: UK Parliament rejects prime minister’s Brexit deal Cayman Airways’ first Boeing 737 Max 8 lands in Cayman in November last year. The airline took possession of a second Max 8 last week. Both jets are now grounded. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY MARCH 13, 2019 Tired of not getting enough sleep? 1 (345) 945-4040 | 1 (345) 640-4040 | healthcitycaymanislands.com | info@healthcity.ky Health City Cayman Islands offers compassionate and affordable diagnosis and treatments for a wide range of sleep disorders. We also have the only state-of-the-art Sleep Lab in Cayman, where our highly skilled sleep team will analyse your night’s sleep. To mark World Sleep Day on Friday, March 15 th, Health City is offering free tours of the Sleep Lab and free screening assessments. If you need a good night’s rest, join us anytime between 10am - 4pm on Friday for a free tour and test. Email info@healthcity.ky or speak to our staff at reception. OfReg proposes rules to prevent anti-competitive behavior KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Utility Regulation and Competition Office, known as OfReg, has released a set of proposed rules designed to curtail price fixing, bid rig- ging, and other anti-com- petitive practices among the companies it regulates. OfReg initially proposed anti-competitive preven- tion rules about a year ago, but the proposal was widely criticized. For instance, Flow and Digicel slammed OfReg’s proposed minimum penalty of $10,000 for anti-competi- tive behavior. “The Draft Rules do not explain why the Office be- lieves minimum penalties are required or how the levels of such minimum penalties were established,” Digicel said in a statement, adding that minimum penalties are contrary to best practices in- ternationally. “Digicel believes that even if the Office had the statutory power to set min- imum penalties, it would not be appropriate to set a min- imum penalty of approxi- mately US$12,000 [CI$10,000] for minor infringements that could be easily cured.” Flow also stated that it found OfReg’s proposed max- imum penalty of $3 million to be unreasonable. “We understand this max- imum amount is permitted law, but we do not believe that this justifies or condones its application,” Flow stated. “Absent an empirical basis, such as past history or legiti- mate suspicion of future mis- conduct, the application of this maximum amount is an unnecessary exercise of the Office’s authority.” Additionally, Rubis stated that OfReg should provide guidance on how penalties are determined. In response to those and other criticisms, OfReg revised its proposal and released a new set of rules last month. “The Office held the posi- tion that it would redraft the rules in order to expand on the calculation methodology that the Office will utilise when determining amounts of penalties to be imposed,” OfReg explained in its latest proposal. “In addition, the Of- fice also outlined how it will enter into leniency agree- ments with parties guilty of participating in concerted practices.” The new set of proposed rules removes the $3 mil- lion maximum and $10,000 minimum penalties, and re- places them with a six-step procedure. Under that proce- dure, OfReg first determines the seriousness of the offense and the relevant turnover of the guilty party in order to determine an appropriate starting point. “After determination of the starting point has been made, adjustments will be made in relation to duration of the infringement, and ag- gravating or mitigating fac- tors, as well as for the pur- poses of specified deterrence and proportionality as the second, third and fourth steps respectively,” OfReg stated. “The Office, as the fifth and sixth steps of the calculation methodology, will then make further ad- justments if the maximum penalty exceeds total turn- over and if a reduction needs to be applied as a result of a leniency agreement.” OfReg will also offer po- tential leniency for com- panies who come forward and admit to anti-competi- tive practices. Companies have until 5 p.m. on Wednesday to re- spond to OfReg’s new pro- posal. OfReg will review the responses and issue a deter- mination on the matter by the end of July. Free health screenings will be provided from 8 a.m. to noon on Thursday at the Cayman Islands Hos- pital atrium as part of World Kidney Day. Health officials will be on hand to check the blood pres- sure and glucose and cho- lesterol levels of those at- tending the event. A physician, clinicians and a dietician will be on hand to answer questions. World Kidney Day is aimed at increasing aware- ness of kidney disease, which affects 850 million people worldwide and is the sixth fastest growing cause of death. Call 949-8600 or visit www.hsa.ky for more information. FREE CLINIC HIGHLIGHTS WORLD KIDNEY DAY MARKETING WORKSHOP AIMED AT ARTISTS The National Gallery of the Cayman Islands will be hosting a marketing work- shop for artists at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in its Dart Auditorium. Led by local artist Kaitlyn Elphinstone, who also works as a marketing manager, gal- lery officials said the work- shop “aims to help artists navigate the fast-changing marketing landscape.” The workshop will cover such topics as brand values, digital marketing and public relations. The event is free and re- freshments will be served. Queries can be addressed to info@nationalgallery.org.ky. The new set of proposed rules removes the $3 million maximum and $10,000 minimum penalties, and replaces them with a six-step procedure.The islands’ most-trusted news source 8 WEDNESDAY MARCH 13, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS 2 arrested in killing of Brazil councilwoman Police on Tuesday arrested two suspects in the killing of Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver. Former police officer Ronnie Lessa allegedly shot Franco, and former police officer Elcio Vieira de Queiroz allegedly drove a car involved in the shooting. US pulling last diplomats from Venezuela amid power crisis CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – The U.S. said late Monday that it is pulling its last remaining diplomats from Venezuela, saying their continued pres- ence at the country’s em- bassy in Caracas had be- come a “constraint” on U.S. policy as the Trump admin- istration aggressively looks to oust socialist President Nicolas Maduro. The announcement came from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a tweet shortly be- fore midnight comes as Ven- ezuela struggles to restore electricity following four days of blackouts around the country. The U.S. has led an in- ternational effort to re- place Maduro with opposi- tion leader Juan Guaido, who vows to hold a new presi- dential election. Guaido is backed by some 50 countries, while Maduro maintains support from countries such as China, Russia and Cuba. Maduro ordered all U.S. diplomats to leave Venezuela in late January because of its support for Guaido, but he later retreated and al- lowed them to stay. The U.S. still withdrew the bulk of embassy personnel, leaving a skeletal staff led by ca- reer foreign service officer James Story. Pompeo said the re- maining diplomats would be out of Venezuela by the end of the week but gave no indica- tion of future policy steps de- spite past warnings that “all options” – including the use of military force – are on the table for removing Maduro. The move came after another day of chaos as power outages that began Thursday evening continued to cause problems for Ven- ezuelans, leaving them with little power, water and communications. People converged on a polluted river to fill water bottles in Caracas, and scat- tered protests erupted in several cities A 3-year-old girl with a brain tumor languished in a Caracas hospital, awaiting treatment after doctors started surgery but then sus- pended the operation when nationwide power outages first hit on Thursday, said the girl’s fearful mother, who only gave her first name, Yalimar. “The doctors told me that there are no miracles,” said Yalimar, who hopes her daughter can be transferred Tuesday to one of the few hospitals in Venezuela that would be able to finish the complex procedure. The girl’s story high- lighted an unfolding horror in Venezuela, where years of hardship got abruptly worse after the power grid col- lapsed. On Monday, schools and businesses were closed, long lines of cars waited at the few gasoline stations with electricity and hospi- tals cared for many patients without power. Generators have alleviated conditions for some of the critically ill. President Nicolas Maduro said on national television Monday night that progress had been made in restoring power in Venezuela. He also said two people who were allegedly trying to sabotage power facilities were cap- tured and were providing information to authorities, though he gave no details. Guaido, who heads the opposition-controlled con- gress, and the United States say Maduro’s claims that the U.S. sabotaged the power grid with a “cyberattack” are an attempt to divert atten- tion from the government’s own failings. There have been acts of kindness during Venezue- la’s crisis: People whose food would rot in refrigerators without power donated it to a restaurant, which cooked it for distribution to charities and hospitals. The blackouts also have hit the oil industry. The country has not shipped $358 million in oil since the power failures started, and “the whole system is grinding to a halt,” said Russ Dallen, a Miami-based partner at the brokerage firm Caracas Cap- ital Markets. Two large tankers are sit- ting empty at the Jose off- shore oil-loading dock, and at least 19 other ships are waiting their turns there, Dallen said. Engineers have restored power in some parts of Ven- ezuela, but it often goes out again. There have been a few protests in Caracas and re- ports of similar anti-gov- ernment anger elsewhere. Guaido tweeted about re- ports of looting in some cities, but details were diffi- cult to confirm. Security forces in the city of Maracaibo dispersed “criminals” trying to take ad- vantage of the power cuts, Mayor Willy Casanova told local media. However, nu- merous videos posted on so- cial media that purported to be from Maracaibo showed crowds roaming the streets and people running from looted, damaged buildings with no police in sight. In Caracas, some people reported more sightings of “colectivos,” a term for armed groups allegedly operating on behalf of the state to intimi- date opponents. The mood in Caracas was desperate. Marian Morales, a nurse working for a Catholic youth group, and several colleagues handed out diapers and food from a car parked near a hos- pital. Police and men in ci- vilian clothing ordered them to leave, saying they did not have permission. Morales said the needy are cautious about approaching to collect the handouts be- cause of the presence of se- curity forces. Early Monday, an explo- sion rocked a power station in the Baruta area of Ca- racas. Residents gathered to look at the charred, smol- dering equipment. Guaido said three of four electricity transformers ser- vicing the area were knocked out. He has blamed the black- outs on government corrup- tion and mismanagement. Winston Cabas, the head of Venezuela’s electrical en- gineers union, which opposes the government, disputed government allegations that the country’s main hydroelec- tric dam was sabotaged last week. He blamed a lack of maintenance as well as the departure of skilled workers from the troubled country over the years. “The system is vulnerable, fragile and unstable,” he said. Spain’s airline pilots union asked for Spanish air- line Air Europa to stop flying to Venezuela after one of its crews was attacked at gun- point in Caracas. The Sepla union said two pilots and eight more crewmembers of a flight from Madrid were assaulted on Saturday while going from the airport to their hotel in the Venezuelan capital. None of the crew- members was injured. Air Europa responded by ordering the crews of flights to Venezuela to not spend the night in the country, ac- cording to the union. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on a Moscow-based bank jointly owned by Russian and Ven- ezuelan state-owned compa- nies, alleging it tried to cir- cumvent U.S. sanctions on the South American country. The U.S. said it is targeting Evrofinance Mosnarbank for supporting Petroleos de Ven- ezuela SA, the state oil com- pany previously targeted by sanctions in January. Evrofinance said it was carrying out its activities normally despite the an- nouncement and pledged to “meet its obligations to the clients and partners in full.” The U.S. and the other governments that recognize Guaido as Venezuela’s in- terim president say Maduro was not legitimately re- elected last year because op- position candidates were not permitted to run. Maduro says he is the target of a U.S. coup plot. Pompeo said the remaining diplomats would be out of Venezuela by the end of the week but gave no indication of future policy steps despite past warnings that “all options” – including the use of military force – are on the table for removing Maduro. People collect water falling from a leaking pipeline along the banks of the Guaire River during rolling blackouts Monday, which affect access to running water in people’s homes, offices and stores, in Caracas, Venezuela. – PHOTO: AP9 WORLD®IONAL CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY MARCH 13, 2019 Honda recalls 1.2M more vehicles DETROIT (AP) – A type of Takata air bag inflator once thought to be safe has now come under scrutiny after a crash and explosion in Mary- land injured the driver of a Honda minivan. The incident forced Honda on Tuesday to recall about 1.2 million vehicles in North and Central America from the 2001 to 2016 model years that were not included in the massive string of Takata re- calls for air bags that can hurl shrapnel into the pas- senger compartment. Takata used ammonium nitrate to create a small ex- plosion and inflate air bags in a collision. But the chem- ical can deteriorate when exposed to high tempera- tures and humidity and blow apart a metal can- ister, spewing out shrapnel. At least 23 people have been killed by the compa- ny’s inflators and hundreds more injured. The inflators in the Tuesday recall contain a moisture-absorbing chem- ical called a dessicant that was added to keep the am- monium nitrate stable. They were believed to be safe and were never part of the broader recall. They had even been used to replace older inflators under recalls that began in 2014. But Honda and the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that a crash on Jan. 19, 2018 involving a 2004 Honda Od- yssey initiated an investi- gation and Tuesday’s recall when investigators discov- ered that the driver’s air bag inflator ruptured. The probe determined that inflators made at Takata’s Monclova, Mexico, factory were faulty due to a manufacturing de- fect, Honda said. It’s unclear how many inflators with the dessi- cant were used by other automakers or whether the government is investi- gating if they should be re- called as well. The driver suffered an arm injury. The recall covers certain Honda and Acura models largely in the U.S. and Canada. Included are the 2001 to 2007 and 2009 Honda Accord, the 2001 to 2005 Civic, the 2002 to 2007 and 2010 and 2011 CR-V, the 2003 to 2011 Element, the 2007 Fit, the 2002 to 2004 Odyssey, the 2003 to 2008 Pilot, and the 2006 to 2014 Ridgeline pickup. Also included are cer- tain 2003 Acura 3.2CL cars, as well as the 2013 to 2016 ILX, the 2003 to 2006 MDX, the 2007 to 2016 RDX, the 2002 to 2003 3.2TL, the 2004 to 2006 and 2009 to 2014 TL, and the 2010 to 2013 ZDX. NHTSA, the government’s highway safety regulator, is- sued a statement Tuesday ac- knowledging the recall and saying that not all vehicles that received replacement air bag inflators are affected. Some had replacement parts from other manufacturers that are safe. The agency urged owners to check for open recalls by keying in their 17-digit vehicle identification number on the NHTSA web- site www.nhtsa.gov/recalls. Honda said in a statement that owners will be notified by mail in early April, but re- placement parts from manu- facturers other than Takata are available to begin the re- call immediately. Honda is of- fering free loaner cars while vehicles are being repaired. A NHTSA investigation into Takata air bag infla- tors remains open. Under the terms of an agreement with the agency, Takata has until the end of this year to prove that inflators with the mois- ture-absorbing chemical are safe or they all will have to be recalled. The Takata recalls to- gether are the largest se- ries of automotive recalls in U.S. history, with as many as 70 million inflators to be re- called by the end of next year. About 100 million inflators are to be recalled worldwide. INDIAN OCEAN MISSION MAKES HISTORIC BROADCAST ALPHONSE ISLAND, Sey- chelles (AP) – A British-led scientific mission to docu- ment changes taking place beneath the Indian Ocean has broadcast its first live, television-quality video transmission from a two- person submersible. Monsoon storms and fierce underwater currents continued to present a challenge at greater depths as scientific work began in earnest on Tuesday off the Seychelles. The Associated Press has successfully broad- cast the first multi-camera live signal in full broad- cast quality from manned submersibles using optical video transmission tech- niques, in which the pic- tures transmit through the waves using the blue re- gion of the electromag- netic spectrum. Previous real-time video transmissions from the world’s deep oceans were livestreams sent from re- motely operated unmanned subsea vehicles, with the video moving via fixed fiber optic cable. The first transmis- sion came from 200 feet down. Previous deep-sea livestreams cataloguing the world’s oceans have been via fiber-optic cable. The new broadcast uses cut- ting-edge wireless tech- nology, sending video opti- cally through the waves. The Associated Press is the only news agency working with British sci- entists from the Nekton re- search team on its deep-sea mission that aims to unlock the secrets of the Indian Ocean, one of the world’s least explored areas. The multinational team of scientists is gathering data to help policymakers frame protection and con- servation measures. Nekton Mission director Oliver Steeds said the expe- rience battling the waves underlines the need to ex- pand scientific knowledge of the waters off the island nation, which the team is there to do. Species by the dozen moved north during marine heat waves SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Dozens of species of sea slugs, jel- lyfish and other marine life from toastier southern waters migrated into the Northern California region over an un- usually long two-year period of severe heat waves, says a new scientific report. The 67 species identified in the report include a car- nivorous sea slug that preys on other sea slugs and a sea snail “butterfly” usually spotted hundreds of miles away off the coast of Mexico. The study by the University of California, Davis is to be published Tuesday in Scien- tific Reports. Not all the species stuck around, but the abundance of migration provides a glimpse of what the Northern Cali- fornia coast might look like in the future, said Eric San- ford, lead author and UC Davis professor. “I’ve been working here for 14 years and before our very eyes we are seeing a shift in the local marine com- munities,” he said. The 2014-2016 period studied by researchers began in the Gulf of Alaska as a per- sistently warm patch in 2013 known as the “warm-water Blob” that spread south. Later, an El Nino event along the equator moved north, and the two factors led to unusu- ally warm waters. Temperatures in Northern California waters, which nor- mally range from 50 to 55 de- grees Fahrenheit, increased 3.5 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit. Larry Crowder, a pro- fessor at Stanford Universi- ty’s Hopkins Marine Station who is not affiliated with the study, said the report is im- pressive in documenting how species respond to change differently and, in some cases, dramatically. He said the report could help studies in fisheries management. “We’re not sure what it means in terms of positive or negative consequences,” Crowder said, but he says “the system is changing under our feet.” Of the 67 species, researchers docu- mented 37 had set new re- cords in traveling north. Sanford said the first species they noticed was a purple striped jellyfish that washed up by their re- search laboratory in Bodega Bay, about 70 miles north of San Francisco. That was in July 2014. “That was the first indica- tion that we were starting to see unusual things,” he said. From there, researchers catalogued chocolate porce- lain crabs, a species that has been in Northern California for about a decade but which boomed in population in warmer temperatures. They found violet sea snails, only the fourth known re- cord of the species north of Santa Barbara County, and a type of sea slug called the Janolus Nudibranch, usu- ally found south of Mon- terey County. Sanford does not neces- sarily view the changes as negative, but migration will affect the ecosystem. Re- searchers, for example, dis- covered that a species of sea slug that eats other sea slugs has moved north –and ap- pears to be sticking around. “There’s potential for that species to change the com- munity by eating other spe- cies,” he said. A Janolus Nudibranch is seen in Bodega Harbor, California. A new study reports that dozens of warm-weather species of sea slugs, jellyfish and other marine life migrated into the northern California region over an unusually long two-year period of severe heatwaves. - PHOTO: JACQUELINE SONES VIA AP Lucy Woodall, Nekton Mission principle scientist, left, sits alongside pilot Randy Holt inside a submersible 60 meters below the surface during a descent near the Seychelles, Tuesday. - PHOTO: AP Honda is recalling 1.2 million vehicles in North and Central America from the 2001 to 2016 model years. - PHOTO: AP The inflators in the Tuesday recall contain a moisture-absorbing chemical called a dessicant that was added to keep the ammonium nitrate stable. They were believed to be safe and were never part of the broader recall.Next >