St Lucia government approves Christmas barrel concessions

Jamaica Gleaner - Oct 21, 2026

CASTRIES, St Lucia, CMC – The St Lucia government Wednesday said that it had approved Christmas barrel concessions, allowing citizens to import various goods without having to pay the necessary taxes. It said that the policy will be in place from November 1 this year to February 2027, and that the Order amending Schedule 3 of the Value Added Tax (VAT) Act provides the VAT exemption for qualifying items contained in barrels during this period.

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Govts, companies take websites offline over PHP vulnerabilities
Oct 23, 2026

Govts, companies take websites offline over PHP vulnerabilities

Several government, school and hospital websites across Europe and beyond were taken offline on Wednesday as organizations rushed to protect themselves from two critical security flaws in PHP, a programming language that powers a large share of the internet. Cybersecurity agencies across the world warned that organizations unable to apply fixes in time should consider taking affected sites offline. PHP's developers said a set of new updates fixing two previously identified critical vulnerabilities was available. Here are some major websites and services taken offline or otherwise affected: Germany A spokesperson for the German digital ministry said on Wednesday the federal IT service provider ITZBund had taken several websites offline due to the discovery of PHP vulnerabilities. The temporary deactivation was purely preventive and no security incidents were known to have occurred, the spokesperson said. France The Interior Ministry said it had temporarily taken offline the websites of prefectures, which are local government administrative offices, while awaiting a security fix for the PHP

Worldwide drops for AI stocks send Wall Street toward its worst day since July
Oct 23, 2026

Worldwide drops for AI stocks send Wall Street toward its worst day since July

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Iran says 7 oil tankers attacked in Strait of Hormuz amid fears of return to war
Oct 23, 2026

Iran says 7 oil tankers attacked in Strait of Hormuz amid fears of return to war

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Almost all coral reef ecosystems face risk of collapse in 50 years, study warns
Oct 23, 2026

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Japanese novelist Ryu Murakami dies aged 74
Oct 23, 2026

Japanese novelist Ryu Murakami dies aged 74

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US colleges scale back cooperation with Chinese institutions after Pentagon's push
Oct 23, 2026

US colleges scale back cooperation with Chinese institutions after Pentagon's push

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US bans BYD from air base in Japan over security concern, news report says
Oct 23, 2026

US bans BYD from air base in Japan over security concern, news report says

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Taiwan shuts down ahead of Typhoon Champi, hundreds of flights canceled
Oct 23, 2026

Taiwan shuts down ahead of Typhoon Champi, hundreds of flights canceled

YILAN, Taiwan — Almost all of Taiwan shut down on Friday ahead of the arrival of Typhoon Champi, which is forecast to bring strong winds and torrential rain, and though the storm is weakening it could still make direct landfall on the island. At one point a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year, Champi was still packing gusts of around 191 kph (119 mph) near its center, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration (CWA). The storm was about 320 kilometers (198 miles) east of Taiwan's southern tip, the CWA said. The storm's forecast track shows it will pass just off northeastern Taiwan, turn north toward the Chinese coast and eventually move into southern Japan. One person was killed and 94 were injured in Taiwan, where the government said almost 1,300 people had been evacuated from mountainous areas. CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng told Reuters that landfall could not be ruled out if it "stalls, loops, or wobbles from side to side" on approach to Taiwan. "The storm's wind radius is quite large, among the bigger ones in recent years," Liu said. "If th

New York votes to ban Central Park horse carriages after decades of debate
Oct 23, 2026

New York votes to ban Central Park horse carriages after decades of debate

NEW YORK — New York's city council on Thursday voted to ban horse-drawn carriages in Central Park, signaling the end of a tourist ritual that's been subject to years of heated debate. Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who must sign the measure into law, had previously voiced support for such a ban but has also expressed concerns regarding protections for workers in the industry. If the mayor signs it, the ban will go into effect in June of 2028. The lead-up is meant to help the approximately 150 active carriage drives find new employment, city council speaker Julie Menin told journalists ahead of the vote. The Transport Workers Union representing those laborers have vowed court action. Legislative battles over the fate of the cultural tradition that's nearly as old as Central Park itself have been ongoing for nearly two decades. Critics say the animals suffer, pointing to deadly collapses and dangerous escapes, while advocates point to the jobs they create and the heritage they uphold. The bill includes a provision for exploring potential compensation for license holders, Menin said. It mandates that

Airbnb guests no longer have to wash the dishes or strip the beds at checkout
Oct 23, 2026

Airbnb guests no longer have to wash the dishes or strip the beds at checkout

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Europe's killer heat this summer claims 50,000 lives. Climate change blamed for two-thirds of deaths
Oct 23, 2026

Europe's killer heat this summer claims 50,000 lives. Climate change blamed for two-thirds of deaths

WASHINGTON — Blistering record heat in Europe this summer helped kill more than 50,000 people, with nearly two-thirds of that death toll blamed on human-caused climate change, a new study found. Researchers modeled heat-related deaths for different age groups in 854 European cities during repeated heat waves in June, July and August and found that 50,391 people died from warmer temperatures, and of those, 32,619 died because of the extra heat caused by the burning of coal, oil and gas, according to a study in an upcoming issue of Nature Health . That's 71 percent higher than the previous deadliest summer, which was 29,480 in 2022, according to the same researchers, who produced a study earlier this month tracking yearly summer heat-related deaths in those European cities. And this summer's death figures are underestimates because they don't count a deadly heat wave in May and they only look at deaths in those 854 cities, which are about 40 percent of Europe's population, study authors said. About one-third of the deaths were from June 17 to July 1, a particularly intense heat wave whe

Powerful earthquake in China's Tibet collapses hundreds of homes and kills at least 16 people
Oct 23, 2026

Powerful earthquake in China's Tibet collapses hundreds of homes and kills at least 16 people

BEIJING — A magnitude 7 earthquake hit China's Tibet region on Thursday evening, killing at least 16 people, injuring 54 and collapsing hundreds of homes in the northern regional city of Nagqu, official media said. Search and rescue efforts continued following the collapse of at least 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds, the Nagqu media office said, citing city government officials. More than 1,600 people from the local county were deployed for rescue efforts. Supplies including 1,000 prefabricated housing units, around 3,000 tents and folding beds, as well as flashlights and winter clothing arrived in the region. China’s official news agency Xinhua said on Friday that communication in part of the region has been down. Local railway authorities have taken emergency actions to halt trains passing through the region. The earthquake also caused rockfalls that have forced local authorities to close a section of National Highway 317, allowing only emergency, rescue and official support vehicles through as crews worked to clear debris, according to Xinhua. Intermittent snows are expected in th

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