SXMElections.com

Notices September 8

Tuesday, September 9

DYSLEXIA STRATEGY

WORKSHOP

For Elementary Educators. Love of Kids Foundation's follow-up workshop from its Dyslexia for a Day programme. Hands on classroom strategies to assist younger struggling students. Parents and other caregivers are welcome. Space is extremely limited. Instructor: Lorraine Leacock

Place: University of St. Martin campus

Time: 7:00-8:30pm

Cost: NAf Read more

Obama says key allies ready to join military action in Iraq

NEWPORT, Wales--President Barack Obama said key NATO allies stood ready to join the United States in military action to defeat Islamic State militants in Iraq as he vowed to 'take out' the leaders of a movement he said was a major threat to the West.

Obama said the Washington would hunt down and dismantle the organisation, which has seized swathes of Iraq and Syria, in the same way it had tackled al Qaeda since the Sept Read more

Ukraine, pro-Russian rebels reach ceasefire deal

MINSK--Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels reached a ceasefire agreement on Friday, the first step toward ending fighting in eastern Ukraine that has caused the worst standoff between Moscow and the West since the Cold War ended.

The ceasefire deal was struck in the Belarussian capital Minsk along with a deal allowing for prisoner exchanges, deliveries of humanitarian aid and the withdrawal of heavy weapons after five months of a conflict that has killed more than 2,600 people.

Despite some initial shelling in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk after the truce began at 6 p.m., the ceasefire appeared to be holding Read more

Editorial - No reason not to

It was obviously well-intended and the objective is clear, but the Windward Islands Chamber of Labour Unions (WICLU) calling the relief afforded by utilities provider GEBE to pensioners "discriminatory" indeed seemed a bit far-fetched (see related stories). While it's undoubtedly true that the government-owned company's concession prohibits discriminatory practices, one also could claim creating special lines for seniors to pay their bills falls in the same category.

What should be taken into account as well as is that the discount is being applied only to people 62 years of age or older and below a certain income level, who in many cases depend on their AOV old age pension to survive Read more

Notices September 6

Saturday, September 6

STORY TELLING,

READING & FUN

Part of Beyond Writing Foundation's Beyond Storytelling-Reading pilot project will continue until the end of October. Children 5-12 years are welcome to participate. There will be a raffle at the end of the programme whereby children can win a book.

Place: St Peters Community Centre.

Time: 5:00-6:00pm

Price: Free of charge

Saturday, September 6

BODYBUILDING AND

FITNESS CHAMPIONSHIP

Presented by St Read more

Seniors grateful for GEBE relief

~ Seniors association hopes for other positive developments ~

PHILIPSBURG--President of the St. Maarten Seniors and Pensioners Association (SMSPA) Patricia Flanders has shared that seniors were very thankful for GEBE NV's recently implemented Senior Relief Programme Read more

Ukraine and rebels back peace plan, ceasefire from Friday

NEWPORT, Wales/DONETSK, Ukraine--Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the main pro-Russian rebel leader said they would both order ceasefires on Friday, provided that an agreement is signed on a new peace plan to end the five-month war in Ukraine's east.

The breakthrough came after a week in which the pro-Moscow separatists scored major victories with what NATO says is the open support of thousands of Russian troops Read more

Iran, US meet as search for nuclear agreement intensifies

GENEVA--Iran and the United States met in Geneva for bilateral talks on Thursday as international diplomacy intensifies to end a decade-old dispute over Tehran's atomic activities by a new deadline in late November.

The office of European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton confirmed Iran and six world powers would hold their first negotiating round since they failed to meet a July 20 target date for an agreement in New York on Sept. 18. The deadline was extended until Nov. 24 after six months of talks because wide gaps persisted over the future scope of Iran's uranium enrichment programme, which can have both civilian and military applications.

The six powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain - aim to persuade Iran to scale back its nuclear programme in exchange for phasing out sanctions that have severely hurt its oil-dependent economy Read more

Candidate #11 On The National Alliance Slate Says "Thank You"

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Candidate #11 on the National Alliance slate, Mr. Cedric Peterson would like to take this opportunity to express his sincerest gratitude to the people of St. Maarten.

A statement from the first-time political candidate reads:
"I am truly grateful to my family, friends and supporters for their generous contributions of time, energy, money and effort to my campaign during the recent Parliamentary elections.

The people of St Read more

Coalition NA/DP/USP

Dear Editor,

The results of the elections of August 29, 2014, asked for a coalition government.

And there were four possibilities, to know: UP/NA with 11 seats; UP/USP with nine seats; UP/DP with nine seats; and NA/DP/USP with eight seats.

The election campaign clearly showed NA/DP/USP campaigning against the UP.

So if UP wanted to continue governing, UP needed a clear mandate from the electorate.

UP won, but failed to accomplish a majority on its own Read more

Legacy vs history

Dear Editor,

My twelve-year-old niece in hearing them speak about what kind of a legacy President Obama will leave, wanted to know more about this; I tried to explain it to her this way. People in their 20s and beyond still refer to me as the police who liked to dance in Carnival. Even though I personally do not consider that part of my legacy it is part of history, which even though not being my intention, also contributed to the attraction of tourism.

Many years ago on stepping into a travel agency in New Haven Connecticut, out of curiosity I asked if they had a brochure or anything on St Read more

Editorial -- Intriguing landscape

The voters have spoken. Compared to four years ago UP replaced NA as the largest party but fell short of a majority, while DP held steady after its setback in 2010 and newcomer US party not only got into Parliament but earned two seats, making for an intriguing new political landscape Read more

>People of St. Maarten,

The first Parliament of our Country is nearing its end. In a few weeks the first four-year term, which started on October 10th 2010, will be over. As your first appointed Prime Minister in 2010 I promised you then that I would amongst other things build a strong foundation for our new country. Bridge the social and political divides and work for all of the people of St. Maarten. I would work to strengthen the delicate social fabric with strong and lasting fibers and to make it work Read more

Editorial - Regardless of the result

That the electoral reforms discussed in Parliament not too long ago were never realised is old news by now. Other than the police and VROMI officials regulating how close to each voting bureau the candidates can promote themselves, employees receiving two instead of four hours to vote and the polls staying open until 8:00 rather than 7:00pm, not much has changed since four years ago as far as Election Day goes.

Even concerns about the use of electronic devices to take pictures of filled-in ballots as invoices to collect when selling votes was not tackled Read more

Ukraine accuses Russia of new troops incursion

KIEV/DONETSK, Ukraine--Ukraine accused Russia of launching a new military incursion across its eastern border on Wednesday, as hopes quickly faded that Tuesday's talks between their two presidents might mark a turning point in a five-month-old crisis.

Accusations of direct Russian support for pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine have prompted Western governments to impose sanctions on Moscow, despite its denials, and fanned tensions with NATO to levels not seen since the Cold War.

Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said a group of Russian soldiers had crossed the border in armoured infantry carriers and a truck and entered the town of Amvrosiyivka, not far from where Ukraine detained 10 Russian soldiers on Monday.

Ukraine's Security Services also said in a statement it had detained another Russian soldier in the east of the country who has confessed his unit provided military support to separatist rebels.

Lysenko said fighting in two other towns, Horlivka and Ilovaysk, had killed about 200 pro-Russian rebels and destroyed tanks and missile systems Read more

Court hears girl’s attacker ‘paranoid schizophrenic’

PHILIPSBURG--Another chilling reminder of the lack of a closed mental health facility was highlighted yesterday as the court heard the case of A.S.P. (37), born in Curaçao, who stood accused of the attempted murder of nine-year-old girl S.B.

Five years' imprisonment of which two years are suspended with a three-year probation period and a condition to be treated as an inpatient by the Mental Health Foundation for a minimum of 12 months was the demand of Prosecutor Tineke Kamps for P., who was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, and as such, was deemed to suffer from diminished responsibility at the time of the offence.

Relatives of the young girl sat in court as the judge heard the case, in which it was described how S.B Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The National Alliance (NA) is reminding the public that its final public meeting before Friday's parliamentary election will be held on Scott's Property on the LB Scott Road near the entrance of St. Peters on Wednesday August 27th.

The meeting will be televised live on St. Maarten Cable TV channel 120 as well as broadcast on PJD2 1300am from 6pm.

"We would like to see all of you at the meeting, but if you can't make it NA has made provisions for you to watch the proceedings live on television or listen to it live on radio," NA leader Member of Parliament William Marlin said in a press release.

"This public meeting will be a last chance for the public to hear the plans of the National Alliance before going to the polls on Friday Read more

Van Raak, Bosman shocked by ruling in vote-buying case

THE HAGUE--Members of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament André Bosman of the liberal democratic VVD party and Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP) said on Tuesday that they were shocked by the decision of the Court in St. Maarten's vote-buying case.

The Court of First Instance on Monday declared inadmissible the Prosecutor's Office's cases against five persons who were allegedly involved in the selling and buying of votes on behalf of the United People's (UP) party in the September 2010 election.

"I am truly shocked by the Court's decision," Van Raak told The Daily Herald in a reaction Read more

Don’t forget us, say fire victims

ST. PETERS--Victims of the St. Peters fire are struggling to get their lives back in order. Although they have received support from individual people, Tzu Chi Foundation and the community centre, organised support from the government has been sadly lacking, other than in the days immediately after the fire, one of the victims complains.

Next week it will be a month since the fire in Magnolia Drive, which is mainly remembered as the fire where a group of brave young men worked together with fire officers to ensure the damage was minimised.

A number of people were made homeless and lost everything apart from the clothes on their backs Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Lawyers and the three living suspects that were involved in the Masbangu investigation namely Carolina, James and Roy Heyliger escaped slightly on Monday when Judge C.T. M Luijks deemed the entire case inadmissible because he felt that the main suspect Theodore Heyliger was not charged and taken before him. Judge Luijks said based on what he has seen the Masbangu case created what can be considered as "class justice" and the Landsrecherche along with the Prosecutor's Office are holding their hands over Theo Heyliger's head Read more

DP calls for Central Bank to assess claim against Harbour

PHILIPSBURG--Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament Roy Marlin says his party wants Finance Minister Martin Hassink to get the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten to assess the risk for St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies as a result of a US $100 million claim against the company and its Chief Executive Officer Mark Mingo by Zebec NV.

"The risks associated with this claim can pose a serious threat to the survivability of this group of companies Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- As the countdown for the 2014 Parliamentary Elections begins with just four more days before voters of this great nation head to the polling station to cast their votes for the country's first Parliamentary Election. SMN News thought it fitting to remind the voters of some of the things that transpired within the last four years since St. Maarten obtained its country status, most of which caused the Dutch to use their power and microscope to force an integrity investigation on St Read more

Democratic Party Concerned about Zebec Claim.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The Democratic Party is seriously concerned about the claim of US 100 million dollars, filed recently against the harbor group of companies. The risks associated with this claim can pose a serious threat to the survivability of this group of companies. When a company like the harbor has litigation claims pending against it, its bond holders, which includes the Central Bank of Curaçao and St Read more

Atletico's Mandzukic strikes early to clinch Super Cup

SPAIN-- Atletico Madrid striker Mario Mandzukic's early goal secured a 1-0 win over Real Madrid and a 2-1 aggregate success to clinch the Spanish Super Cup and gain some revenge for last season's Champions League final defeat.
  Croatia striker Mandzukic, who joined Atletico in the close season from Bayern Munich, fired into the corner of the net from the edge of the area after Read more