Carlos Keyes

Lakeland Regional Health’s recently opened Grasslands campus has earned LEED gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, which recognizes buildings that are designed and built and operated “for improved environmental and human health performance.“ Construction of the Grasslands campus in Florida started in early 2015 and was completed in June 2016. It houses physician offices and a physical rehabilitation program, reports The Ledger. “The design of the building was created with the concepts of ‘body, mind and soul’ as part of the patient healing experience,” according to a news release from Lakeland Regional Health. Examples of what earned the certification for Grasslands Campus include: - Reduction of total building energy use of 39 percent over the calculated baseline building. - 76 percent of construction waste was recycled and kept out of the landfill. - 28 percent of building materials were manufactured using recycled materials. - 33 percent of the building material...

More than 30,000 Indians overstayed in the United States in 2016, according to a new report by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) becoming the latest hobble for Delhi-Washington ties after President Donald Trump tightened norms for Indian H-1B visa holders. The annual "Entry/Exit" report of DHS provides country-wise data of entry, departure, and overstay of people who came to the US as non-immigrants and were expected to leave the country in 2016. More than 1.4 million Indians who entered the US were supposed to leave in 2016. Of these at least 30,000 are reported to have overstayed. The report also indicated that close to 6,000 Indians left the US in 2016 after reportedly overstaying the time they were allowed while entering. The report also says that 339,076 Indians who entered the US in other categories of visa were supposed to depart in 2016 but 8,061 of them overstayed. It said that 2,402 Indians left the US after their visas expired. A 2015...

Mexico’s real estate up over 17% YTD Among the emerging markets (EEM) (VWO), Mexican real estate has been doing exceptionally well so far this year. Mexican real estate equity that is part of the Guggenheim Emerging Market Real Estate ETF (EMRE) portfolio is up 17.6% YTD. PLA Administradora Industria, with a 39.3% return YTD (as of May 5) has been the top performing Mexican real estate company in this regard. Valuations are attractive, growth promising From a valuation perspective, Mexican real estate equity is relatively inexpensive at 8.65 times price-to-earnings. Mexican real estate equity also comes with an attractive dividend yield of 6.36%. We maintain a positive outlook on the real estate market in Mexico (EWW), given the following: The over subsidy in the Mexican real estate market that was prevalent before the 2013 crash, is now down to normal levels. The Mexican economy, in general, is recovering, despite the Trump administration’s protectionist pledges and...

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — People in Washington state likely won't have to worry next year about the identification they take to the airport after Gov. Jay Inslee signed a measure Tuesday seeking to make the state one of more than two dozen in compliance with federal identification requirements. Washington and several other states have struggled for years to comply with the REAL ID Act, a 2005 federal law that requires state driver's licenses and ID cards to have security enhancements and to be issued to people who can prove they are legally in the United States. The law was passed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to strengthen rules for identification needed at airports and federal facilities. Some liberal and conservative states have objected to the new rules, with concerns ranging from discrimination to worries that law-abiding U.S. citizens could be tracked using the new system. Others have opposed the U.S. government unilaterally setting standards in an a...

Manchester, UK-based payments router AccessPay has secured £2 million in debt financing from Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank amid plans for a recruitment drive and expansion into US markets. A specialist in cloud-based payments technology, with hundreds of UK-based customers and 35 employees, AccessPay enables payment routing through all of the major UK and international networks including Bacs, Swift, Faster Payments, Sepa and Direct Debit. With a focus on organic growth, the orgnisation has its sights on increasing its business-reach to more than 10,000 organisations, who will join with other current high-profile clients such as Clifford Thames and European research organisation Cern. Anish Kapoor, CEO of Accesspay says the funding will enable the business to recruit up to 60 new members of staff, including developers, sales, operations and marketing, before the end of 2017 and provides the platform for expansion into the US market later this year. The firm has previously r...

Lodha Group plans to resume sales at Trump Tower Mumbai after a post-election hiatus, providing a test for India’s languishing luxury home market, and the U.S. president’s brand. Lodha, one of India’s largest property developers, will resume marketing apartments in the 75-story development in the next few months, said Abhishek Lodha, managing director of the privately held firm. The building is about 60 percent sold and on target to be completed in 2019, he said. “We made a conscious decision to not sell in the immediate aftermath of his win because we didn’t want to be seen as taking advantage of the changed political circumstances,” Lodha said in an interview at the company’s offices in Mumbai. “We will start sales in June or July and we’ll know better then.” Enthusiasm for the Trump brand has faded in some parts of the world since Donald Trump was elected president as he moved to enact controversial policies, including a travel ban on several predominantly Muslim nat...