Bermuda Outlaws Gay Marriage, Less Than a Year After It Became Legal

By MEGAN SPECIA

FEB. 8, 2018

Tourists in St. George’s, Bermuda, in 2015. Credit Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Bermuda has forbidden same-sex marriage, only nine months after legalizing it, in what advocates for gay and lesbian rights called a disappointing setback.

Same-sex marriage became legal in Bermuda, a British overseas territory, in May as a result of a ruling by the island’s Supreme Court.

But the unions are unpopular with some voters.

In 2016, Bermudians voted against same-sex marriage in a referendum, and after the court ruling in May, the territory’s legislature drafted a bill banning same-sex marriage but giving all couples legal recognition as domestic partners. Parliament adopted the Domestic Partnership Act in December, and on Wednesday the territory’s governor, John Rankin, signed it into law.

The British prime minister, Theresa May, said Britain was “seriously disappointed,” but the Foreign Office said on Thursday it would be inappropriate to block the measure.

Same-sex marriage became legal in England, Wales and Scotland in 2014, but it is not permitted in Northern Ireland. The issue has been divisive in Britain’s overseas territories, which control their own internal affairs but rely on Britain for defense and for representation in the international community.

Related Coverage


Bermuda Legalized Same-Sex Marriage 6 Months Ago. Now, It’s Going to Be Banned. DEC. 14, 2017

Fed Announces New Round of Bond Buying to Spur Growth

By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM

Published: September 13, 2012

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve opened a new chapter Thursday in its efforts to accelerate the economic recovery, saying that it would expand its holdings of mortgage-backed securities, and potentially undertake other new policies, until unemployment drops sufficiently or inflation rises too fast.

Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press

Ben S. Bernanke, the Fed chairman, last month made the case for the bank to act again.

The Fed said that it will add $23 billion of mortgage bonds to its portfolio by the end of September and then announce its plans for October as part of a new process that aims to prioritize the Fed’s economic objectives.

The Fed also said, in a statement following a meeting of its policy-making committee, that it now expects to hold short-term interest rates near zero until at least mid-2015, extending the forecast it made in January by about half a year.

The statement said that the economy had continued to expand “at a moderate pace,” but that the Fed had concluded “growth might not be strong enough to generate sustained improvement in labor market conditions.”

That has been true for months, perhaps years, but implicit in the statement was the Fed’s conclusion that the situation was no longer acceptable. Eleven members of the committee voted for the action; Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, dissented, as he has at each meeting this year.

The Fed said that its actions “should put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative.”

The scale of the new effort is significantly smaller than the Fed’s previous rounds of asset purchases. The Fed purchased about $100 billion in securities each month during those campaigns. It said Thursday that it would target a rate of about $40 billion a month during the current campaign, although unlike those earlier efforts, the volume is now subject to adjustment.

The new purchases will mark the first time in more than two years that the Fed has expanded its holdings of mortgage bonds. That decision reflects the Fed’s view that the housing market still needs help, and that lower rates on mortgage loans could provide significant benefits for the broader economy.

Seeking to increase the impact of its new policies, the Fed also said Thursday that “a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy will remain appropriate for a considerable time after the economic recovery strengthens.”

The language is intended to make clear that this latest intensification does not solely reflect the Fed’s increased concern about the economy, but also reflects an increased determination to make a more forceful response. It suggests that the Fed is willing to tolerate somewhat higher inflation later to encourage stronger recovery in the coming months, something it once insisted was unthinkable but has gradually come to consider a necessity in order to revive the economy.

The Fed had given unusually clear indications in recent weeks that it was ready to act. An account of its last meeting, published in mid-August, suggested action was imminent unless the economy showed “substantial and sustainable” improvement.

A few weeks later, Mr. Bernanke spoke of his “grave concern” about the high rate of unemployment and said that in his judgment, the likely benefits of additional action outweighed the potential costs. A number of longtime observers of the central bank said they could not recall a Fed chairman using stronger language.

Since then, the economy has shown little evidence of substantial improvement. The government estimated last week that employers added only 96,000 jobs in August, and other economic indicators have been similarly lackluster.

Fed officials focused on two options in response: expanding the scope of its current efforts by purchasing more securities, or extending the duration by promising to maintain those efforts beyond the end of 2014.

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/business/economy/fed-announces-new-round-of-bond-buying-to-spur-growth.html?emc=na

Women's Ordination Debate Heats Up In Bermuda

On 26 February 2011 in Bermuda, the very first woman elder was ordained at Restoration SDA Church. This act now paves the way for the ordination of the first woman pastor in the region. It has also sparked a great debate in the membership of the church. Many individuals are searching their Bibles to see what it has to say on the subject and taking sides on which side of the argument they ascribe to. With all that is going on, we have found it necessary to assist CRCB members in understanding why arguments are being made against women's ordination. Therefore, please read the whole book, Searching the Scriptures by Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, now available here. If you do not have time to read it in its entirety, please read chapter 5. Thanks!


Source

Mass. Under Tropical Storm Warning

By CHRIS GILLETTE,
AP

HAMILTON, Bermuda (Aug. 22) - Hurricane Bill shut the airport and caused flooding but no casualties on Bermuda on Saturday, then prompted tropical storm warnings for parts of Canada and the U.S. coast — including President Obama's planned vacation spot.

Bill had winds of 100 mph after blowing between Bermuda and the East Coast of the U.S.

Also See: Check Out Hurricane's Location and Projected Path

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami warned that Bill could bring "extremely dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents" to parts of the U.S. East Coast over the weekend before making a direct hit on Canada's Maritime Provinces as a tropical storm on Sunday.

Officials declared a tropical storm warning for the Massachusetts coast, including Obama's planned vacation spot of Martha's Vineyard, though the storm's eye was expected to stay offshore and pass that island before the president arrives on Sunday.

The warning, which also includes Nantucket, means meaning tropical storm-force winds of 40 mph or more could hit in the next 24 hours.

Bill was expected to start weakening Saturday night, but the Canadian Hurricane Center issued tropical storm and hurricane warnings for parts of the province of Nova Scotia.

A ferry service between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland announced it would shut down Sunday morning due to severe weather.

In Bermuda, the storm mostly spared the pink-sand shores though it cut power to about 3,700 customers and flooded some roads along the northern coast. The airport was closed overnight and all ferry service was canceled until Sunday.

Bermudians and tourists awoke to some water on the roads, rain and gusting winds.

"It was something to behold. I've never been in a hurricane before," said Kenny Mayne, 50, of Connecticut, a vacationer who hopes to head back to the U.S. on Sunday.

Heavy surf pounded Bermuda but neither the island's main hospital nor its urgent care center reported any patients with storm-related injuries.

"Believe it or not we've had a very quiet night with Hurricane Bill," said Lieutenant Dana Lovell of the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service.

At the 9 Beaches resort on Bermuda's western coast, general manager Robin Gilbert said about 10 guests slept on mattresses in the lobby because they were worried about staying in beachfront cabanas overnight. The resort had no power for about 12 hours, but there was no damage.

On Friday night, the streets of Bermuda's capital were mostly empty and blanketed with rain. Luxury boutiques boarded up their windows. At the bar of the Fairmont Hamilton Princess hotel, a few guests sampled the "Dark 'n Stormy" cocktail as Bill's outer bands raked the island.
Canadians, meanwhile, were getting ready for a blow.

Mark Perry, a government worker in Halifax, Nova Scotia, said his family had readied for severe weather with batteries for flashlights, extra water and propane for the barbecue.

"We're concerned enough that we're going to tie things down, move the lawn furniture into a safer spot," Perry said.

Another Halifax resident, James Burchill, said he learned a lesson from last storms: he bought a manual can opener because power cuts made his electric model useless.

"Most of the time they blow past," Burchill said. "But they can do a lot of damage."

At 11 a.m. EDT Saturday, the center of Bill was about 435 miles south of Nantucket and about 710 miles south-southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Hurricane force winds extended as much as 85 miles from the Category 2 storm's center, and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 275 miles.

On the U.S. East Coast, forecasters warned of offshore waves of 20 feet or more and rip currents at the beach during one of the summer's last weekends.

Bill was the first Atlantic hurricane this year after a quiet start to the season that runs from June through November. It peaked as a Category 4 hurricane with 135 mph winds on Wednesday.

Associated Press Writer Amanda Dale in Hamilton, Bermuda, contributed to this report.

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