With a look at some of the top stories making the news today, April 2, across your Caribbean-American community in South Florida, I’m…for CNW 90.
Today’s newscast is brought to you by the Florida Department of Health;
To help stop the spread of COVID-19, The Florida Department of Health in Broward County reminds everyone to practice social distancing, wash your hands often with soap and water and cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or sleeve when coughing or sneezing.
Coming up in the newscast, Jamaican-American congresswoman Yvette Clarke wants Shirley Chisholm statue in US Capitol, Jamaica bans travel from six South American countries and Barbados raises minimum wage.
Now for the news in the detail
Jamaican-American Congresswoman Yvette Clarke has collaborated with Georgia’s newly-elected Democratic Senator, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, to reintroduce a bill that would put a statue of Shirley Chisholm in the US Capitol. In 1968, Chisholm, the daughter of a Barbadian mother and Guyanese father, was elected to represent New York’s then 12th Congressional District. In doing so, she became the first Black woman to serve in the US Congress. Congresswoman Clarke said that the Capitol currently houses one full-length statue of a Black woman – that of civil rights icon Rosa Parks. She said that Chisholm should be honored because her legacy has shown Black girls and Caribbean migrants the greatness they can achieve in the United States.
Now for Caribbean News,
In Jamaica,
The Jamaican government has imposed a travel ban on six South American countries – Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru. According to a statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister on Wednesday, the ban came after a review of the COVID-19 situation in South America. Brazil has over 12 million cases of COVID-19, the second-highest in the world. Cases in several other South American countries are also on the rise. The travel ban which takes effect on Thursday, April 1, is to remain in place until April 13. The travel ban on the United Kingdom also remains in effect. Jamaican nationals traveling to the island from these countries will be tested and detained in state quarantine at their own expense for a minimum of 48 hours.
And in Barbados,
On April 1, Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley announced the official adjustment of the national minimum wage. The rate has been moved from $6.25 Barbados dollar to $8.50 an hour or $4.25 US dollar. In the last few weeks, the Barbados Private Sector Association had called on the government to delay the implementation until January 2022. The association said a delay would give businesses time to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic. But Prime Minister Mottley insisted that the Government must stand by the country’s most vulnerable to ensure they have “a fair wage or even a livable wage”.
For more information on these and other stories, visit
CNWNETWORK.com. Remember to pick up this week’s copy of our Caribbean National Weekly at your nearest Caribbean – American outlet.
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