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Events from the year 2016 in the British Virgin Islands.
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Events from the year 2016 in the British Virgin Islands.
The National Health Insurance scheme is a form of national health insurance established by the Government of the British Virgin Islands through the Ministry of Health, with a goal to provide access to and financial coverage for health care services to British Virgin Islands residents. It came into effect on 1 January 2016.
BVI Airways is a possibly defunct airline of the British Virgin Islands. Its headquarters are located at its hub at Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport serving the territory's main island of Tortola with the capital, Road Town. It suspended inter-island operations in late 2014, shortly after a change of ownership to concentrate on a non stop schedule directly to the United States.
The Virgin Islands General Legal Council is a body established under the Legal Professions Act, 2015 of the British Virgin Islands. The Act was passed on 25 March 2015 by the House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands, and came into force on 11 November 2015.
The so-called Richter scale – also Richter magnitude or Richter magnitude scale, more accurately but informally Richter's magnitude scale – for measuring the strength ("size") of earthquakes refers to the original "magnitude scale" developed by Charles F. Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 paper. This was later revised and renamed the Local magnitude scale, denoted as "ML" or "ML". Because of various shortcomings of the ML scale most seismological authorities now use other scales, such as the moment magnitude scale (Mw ), to report earthquake magnitudes, but much of the news media still refers to these as "Richter" magnitudes. All magnitude scales retain the logarithmic character of the original, and are scaled to have roughly comparable numeric values.
An earthquake is the shaking of the surface of the Earth, resulting from the sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in size from those that are so weak that they cannot be felt to those violent enough to toss people around and destroy whole cities. The seismicity, or seismic activity, of an area is the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time. The word tremor is also used for non-earthquake seismic rumbling.
The Panama Papers are 11.5 million leaked documents that detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. The documents, some dating back to the 1970s, were created by, and taken from, Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca, and were leaked in 2015 by an anonymous source.
The House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands, until 2007 known as the Legislative Council, has 15 members: 13 directly elected for four-year terms, and two ex officio members.
The Virgin Islands pledge is a pledge of allegiance to the Virgin Islands, a British overseas territory. It was officially adopted by the territory's House of Assembly on 23 June 2016. It's intended to be commonly recited by Virgin Islanders in unison at public events, especially in schools, and during public celebrations. The pledge was first publicly recited on 1 July 2016 at Territory Day celebrations by Premier Dr. D. Orlando Smith and members of the government. The pledge reads:
I pledge to my country, the Territory of the Virgin Islands, to encourage national pride and dignity, render patriotic service, promote justice for all, be true to God and remain dedicated to these Virgin Islands.
The 2016 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad and commonly known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event that was held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events in some sports beginning on 3 August. These were the first Olympic Games ever to be held in South America and the fourth to be held in a developing country, after the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico, the 1980 Summer Olympics in the Soviet Union, and the 2008 Summer Olympics in China.
The Premier of the Virgin Islands is the head of government for the British Virgin Islands. As a British Overseas Territory, the Premier is appointed by the Governor on behalf of the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. Until 2007, the head of government was known as the Chief Minister.
Daniel Orlando Smith, OBE is the former Premier of the British Virgin Islands. He also formerly served as Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands from 2003 to 2007. He first won the office when his National Democratic Party won the 2003 general election, being the party's first victory at a general election in its history.
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is a British business magnate, investor, author and philanthropist. He founded the Virgin Group in the 1970s, which controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Virgin Gorda is the third-largest and second-most populous of the British Virgin Islands (BVI).
In early 2015, a widespread epidemic of Zika fever, caused by the Zika virus in Brazil, spread to other parts of South and North America. It also affected several islands in the Pacific, and Southeast Asia. In January 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the virus was likely to spread throughout most of the Americas by the end of the year. In November 2016 WHO announced the end of the Zika epidemic.
The blacklisted state-owned China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) that gifted Malta a ‘free’ €4 million feasibility study on building a bridge between Malta and Gozo has a history of greasing the palms of officials in third world countries.
The British Virgin Islands, officially simply the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and north-west of Anguilla. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.
The economy of the British Virgin Islands is one of the most prosperous in the Caribbean. Although tiny in absolute terms, because of the very small population of the British Virgin Islands, in 2010 the Territory had the 19th highest GDP per capita in the world according to the CIA World factbook. In global terms the size of the Territory's GDP measured in terms of purchasing power is ranked as 215th out of a total of 229 countries. The economy of the Territory is based upon the "twin pillars" of financial services, which generates approximately 60% of government revenues, and tourism, which generates nearly all of the rest.
Tortola is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a surface area of 55.7 square kilometres with a total population of 23,908, with 9,400 residents in Road Town. Mount Sage is its highest point at 530 metres above sea level.
Necker Island is a 30-hectare (74-acre) island in the British Virgin Islands just north of Virgin Gorda. The island's land is entirely owned by Sir Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group, and is part of the Virgin Limited Edition portfolio of luxury properties. The whole island operates as a resort and can accommodate up to 34 guests, with additional room for six children.
Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport, previously known as Beef Island Airport, is the main airport serving the British Virgin Islands, a British overseas territory in the Caribbean. The airport serves as the gateway to just about all of the islands within the BVI. The airport is also a gateway for inter-Caribbean travelers headed to the nearby U.S. Virgin Islands. Many travellers fly into Beef Island, with the intention of taking a ferry to the other smaller British Virgin Islands. The airport is located on Beef Island, a small island off the main island of Tortola, to which it is connected by the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the British Virgin Islands face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in the British Virgin Islands since 2001.
The British Virgin Islands sent a delegation to compete at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia from 7–23 February 2014. This was the second Winter Olympic Games appearance for the territory, after the 1984 Winter Olympics. The team consisted of one athlete, the freestyle skier Peter Crook, who became the territory's second Winter Olympian ever. In the men's halfpipe, he came in 27th place.
Healthcare in the British Virgin Islands is predominantly provided by private healthcare providers with an overlay of public support. There is a single public hospital in the British Virgin Islands - Peebles Hospital in Road Town on Tortola. There is also one private hospital - the Bougainvillea clinic. On Anegada, Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke, there are day clinics to serve non-emergency medical needs of residents of those islands. Although there is period discussion about the possibility of building another hospital on Virgin Gorda, to date there has been no commitment to doing so. For emergency medical evacuations from other islands a boat is maintained.
There are presently four principal British Virgin Islands news websites publishing news focused upon current affairs in the Territory:
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 25 February 2019. For the first time, four parties with at least one incumbent member were contesting an election.
Among the 14 British Overseas Territories, nine – Akrotiri and Dhekelia, Bermuda, the British Antarctic Territory, the British Indian Ocean Territory, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, the Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands – recognise and perform same-sex marriages. In the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, only British military and civilian personnel can enter into same-sex marriages and civil partnerships.
Events from the year 2017 in the British Virgin Islands.
Events from the year 2015 in the British Virgin Islands.
Events from the year 2014 in the British Virgin Islands.
Events from the year 2018 in the British Virgin Islands.
The effects of Hurricane Irma in the British Virgin Islands were significant in terms of both human and socio-economic impact on the Territory. Hurricane Irma struck the British Virgin Islands as a Category 5 hurricane during the daylight hours of Wednesday, 6 September 2017. It caused widespread destruction, and killed a total of four people. The eye of the hurricane traveled over the three major islands in the group: Virgin Gorda, Tortola and Jost Van Dyke.
The Panama Papers are 11.5 million leaked documents that detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. The documents, some dating back to the 1970s, were created by, and taken from, Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca, and were leaked in 2015 by an anonymous source.