UN Rights Body to Discuss Syrian Slaughter
The United Nations' top human rights body is holding an emergency session Friday in Geneva to discuss last week's slaughter of dozens of men, women and children in the Syrian town of Houla.
The U.N. Human Rights Council is expected to place at least partial blame on the Syrian government for the massacre of at least 108 people, nearly half of them children.
A draft resolution circulated Thursday and seen by VOA condemned the killings, which it said “involved a series of government artillery and tank shelling of a residential neighborhood.” It condemned the use of force against civilians and called for the Syrian government to immediately end all violence.
The council is also expected to call for an investigation into the massacre, which prompted international outrage and rekindled efforts to stem the 15-month-old conflict.
The Syrian government on Thursday said its preliminary investigation into the atrocity found that armed opposition groups had attacked families who did not join anti-government protests. That claim was immediately rejected by U.S. officials.
Meanwhile, a commander in the rebel Free Syrian Army has given the government of Bashar al-Assad a deadline of noon Friday local time to start acting on commitments made to international peace envoy Kofi Annan. Rebel Colonel Qassim Saadeddine said his forces would no longer be bound by the Annan peace plan if the Syrian president fails to comply.
The Free Syrian Army is a loosely-organized and lightly-armed rebel group made largely of Syrian military defectors. The Syrian government and the rebels agreed in April to a truce mediated by Mr. Annan, but the fighting has continued, with each side accusing the other of violating the deal.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday he “demands” the Syrian government abide by its peace pledges. He said the almost 300-member U.N. military observer team in Syria is not meant to play the role of “passive observer to unspeakable atrocities.”
The U.N. chief also warned that more massacres such as the Houla incident “could plunge Syria into a catastrophic civil war … from which the country would never recover.”
U.S. officials on Thursday also warned of a worsening humanitarian situation in Syria. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Russia's failure to take decisive action against Mr. Assad will “help contribute” to the very civil war officials in Moscow say they are helping to avoid.
Speaking in Denmark Thursday, Clinton said she rejects the Russians' “vociferous…claim that they are providing a stabilizing influence” in Syria. Instead, she said, Moscow is propping up Mr. Assad as his government continues a brutal crackdown on dissent U.N. estimates say has killed more than 10,000 people.
Russia, along with China, has repeatedly blocked the U.N. Security Council from taking punitive action against the Assad government, a longtime Russian ally.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday that the U.S. military is prepared for any action against Syria, saying the situation was “intolerable.” But Panetta said he does not foresee a scenario where Washington takes military action without U.N. endorsement.
His remarks came a day after Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., suggested that military intervention may be the only remaining option if diplomatic efforts continue to fail to resolve the crisis.
Aung San Suu Kyi Calls for “Healthy Skepticism” of Burma’s Reforms
Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi called on the international community Friday to exercise “healthy skepticism” as her country implements reforms after half a century of military rule.
In an address to the World Economic Forum in Bangkok, the Nobel peace laureate condemned the lack of change in Burma's corrupt legal system and said she did not want investment to mean further corruption and greater inequality. Instead, she said it was necessary to improve secondary education to defuse what she called the “time bomb” of high unemployment among youth.
The opposition leader participated in a panel discussion on the role of tourism in Southeast Asia when the forum began Thursday in the Thai capital.
Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in Thailand on Tuesday. She is making her first trip outside Burma in 24 years, after spending much of the past two decades under house arrest.
On Wednesday, she was greeted by thousands of impoverished Burmese migrant workers who fled to Thailand to escape decades of misrule in their homeland.
She is also expected to meet with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra during her visit.
The newly elected lawmaker's trip is seen as a landmark moment in Burma's political reform process. She had previously been reluctant to leave the country out of fear authorities would not let her return.
Following her Thailand trip, Aung San Suu Kyi will return to Burma briefly before departing on a European tour that will take her to several countries.
She will give a speech to the International Labor Organization conference in Geneva on June 14. She will also visit Norway on June 16 to formally receive the Nobel Peace Prize that she won nearly 21 years ago but was unable to accept in person because of her detention. She later plans to address both houses of parliament in Britain, where she lived for years with her husband, who is now deceased.
Thunder win Game 3, snap Spurs' 20-game winning streak
Kevin Durant scored 22 points, Thabo Sefolosha set playoff career-bests with 19 points and six steals, and the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped San Antonio's 20-game winning streak by beating the Spurs 102-82 in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals on Thursday night.
Oklahoma City closed its series deficit to 2-1 and will host Game 4 on Saturday night.
Sefolosha threw a wrench in the Spurs' well-oiled offense at the start, getting four steals in the first 3 minutes. The Spurs ended up committing a postseason-worst 21 turnovers and scoring their least points all season.
Tony Parker and Stephen Jackson led the Spurs with 16 points apiece. Tim Duncan had 11 points on 5-for-15 shooting, taking 11 of San Antonio's first 25 shots as the offense went through the All-Star center instead of Parker.
San Antonio had been averaging 109.4 points during its month-and-a-half winning streak and had been held to double digits only twice.
The Spurs, who already set an NBA record for the longest winning streak carried over from the regular season into the playoffs, were trying to match the league mark for most wins to start the postseason. The Lakers won 11 straight to start the 1989 and 2001 playoffs, getting swept in the NBA finals the first time and winning it all the second.
The Spurs' last loss was to the Lakers at home on April 11.
Parker and Duncan didn't play in the final 15 minutes, and coach Gregg Popovich pulled the plug after another series of three straight turnovers allowed the deficit to reach 23 points early in the fourth quarter.
Sefolosha had a right-handed dunk off a lob pass from Russell Westbrook, who followed with his own two-handed jam on an alley-oop pass and Sefolosha followed with a reverse layup on another turnover-fueled fast-break chance to push the lead to 86-63 with 9:48 left.
The Thunder put together another 9-0 run coinciding with Manu Ginobili coming out of the game, and featuring Serge Ibaka sticking his tongue out after nailing a jumper from the top of the key. Coach Scott Brooks soon followed suit and pulled his own front-line players with the game well in hand.
The Spurs wiped out a 24-point deficit in Game 3 against the Clippers in Los Angeles in the last round, but they weren't recovering in this one.
San Antonio managed only 24 points in the paint after averaging 46 through the first two games of the series and 47.8 through the playoffs.
Oklahoma City already held a 28-8 scoring edge in the paint while taking a 54-41 halftime lead and it never got better for San Antonio, which couldn't get any closer than 11 points in the second half.
The Thunder scored the game's first eight points, feeding off Sefolosha's steals, but San Antonio recovered in time to take the lead with more than 5 minutes left in the opening period.
Oklahoma City took the lead early in the second quarter and there was no looking back.
Sefolosha set up Ibaka's two-handed dunk and hit a 3-pointer during a 13-1 run, with San Antonio's only point coming on a free throw by Ginobili after Durant was called for a technical foul while arguing a call from the bench.
Oklahoma City's lead ballooned to 15 when Kendrick Perkins grabbed Westbrook's airball and dunked it with two hands.
Bolt clicks
Reigning double Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt silenced his detractors yesterday, storming to a world-leading 9.76 seconds to win the 100 metres at the Rome Diamond League.
Questions were raised about cracks in Bolt’s armour after his sluggish 10.04 seconds in Ostrava last week but the Jamaican answered emphatically, bursting from the blocks to take the lead at 50 metres and dismissing his opposition.
Fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell was second in 9.91 seconds, while Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre was third in a season-best 10.04 seconds.
“People expect me to do well all the time and I expect that from myself also, it’s not really pressure for me. I came out here tonight not to prove anything but to tell myself I’ve still got it,” Bolt said.
“After Ostrava I decided I will make sure to go to bed early and start eating right. I feel extremely well, so it’s coming back and I’m feeling good.”
Veteran Kim Collins was away to a great start but Bolt, running out of lane four, drew level after 40 metres and burst to the front with nearly half the race to run.
He then accelerated to reach the line and surpass the world-leading mark of 9.82 seconds he posted in Kingston earlier this month.
“The race was much better than in Ostrava. After Ostrava a lot of people questioned me but I never questioned myself,” Bolt said.“My drive was better and I started well. The transition was also better.”
Powell, a former world record holder, said he didn’t hear “set” or “go” from the starter.
“I’m very upset with my race tonight. I’m not upset that I lost but that I couldn’t execute like I wanted to,” he said.
“I didn’t get out of the starting block like I should. I was all over the track.”
Collins was fourth in a season-best 10.05, while Jamaican Lerone Clarke finished fifth in 10.16.
This was the third Diamond League meet of the year but Bolt’s first.
He will also compete in a Diamond League meet in Oslo, Norway, next week before returning to Jamaica for national trials. He then plans to return to Europe for the 200 metres in Monaco on July 20, his last race before the London Games start a week later.
In the women’s 400 metres hurdles, Jamaican Kaliese Spencer continued her wonderful start to the year by clinching the contest in a season-best 54.39 seconds.
The American duo of Lashinda Demus (54.80) and T’Erea Brown (54.96) were second and third respectively.
Meanwhile, reigning Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica suffered a defeat in the 100 metres when she finished second to Murielle Ahoure of the Ivory Coast.
Ahoure was clocked at 11 seconds flat while Fraser-Pryce crossed the line in 11.06. (CMC/AP)
Mayweather headed to jail
Free time is about to run out for Floyd Mayweather Jr., who is due to begin a three-month jail sentence in Las Vegas stemming from a hair-pulling, arm-twisting attack in September 2010 on the mother of three of his children.
The unbeaten five-division champion's legal and ring advisers weren't immediately commenting Thursday about Mayweather's scheduled Friday morning surrender before Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa.
The judge sentenced him Dec. 22 for his guilty plea to reduced charges in the domestic battery case.
Mayweather's lawyers, Karen Winckler and Richard Wright, said previously they didn't plan to seek another postponement or delay.
Mayweather, now 35, was initially due to begin his sentence on Jan. 6. But Saragosa agreed at the last minute to let him remain free long enough to fight Miguel Cotto on May 5 in Las Vegas. The fighter, who goes by the nickname "Money", won the bout and a guaranteed $32 million. Cotto was paid $8 million.
Mayweather's stint in the high-rise Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas is expected to limit his ability to train for another fight.
At least for the first week, Mayweather will be segregated for his protection from the other 3,200 inmates, Las Vegas police officer Bill Cassell said. He'll get one hour of exercise time a day outside his cell.
Saragosa said when she sentenced Mayweather that she was particularly troubled that he threatened and hit ex-girlfriend Josie Harris while their two sons watched. The boys were 10 and 8 at the time. The older boy ran out a back door to fetch a security guard in the gated community.
However, the judge accepted the plea deal that avoided trial on felony and misdemeanor charges that could have gotten Mayweather 34 years in state prison if he had been convicted on all counts.
Mayweather's pending jail term will be capped at 87 days. Saragosa gave him credit for three days previously served.
ESPN
Learn and Lead Disaster Consultancy releases 'Family Emergency Plan'
During the month of June 2012, the official beginning of the Atlantic Hurricane Season, LIME Turks and Caicos and Caicos Express Airways are partnering to sponsor seven (7) Family Emergency Plan Development Workshops on six (6) islands in the Turks and Caicos, which are being facilitated by Learn and Lead Disaster Consultancy.
Families and the community where they live could be affected by hazardous events at any time, hence the purpose of a Family Emergency Plan is to help persons in our communities to increase their resilience to the impact of hazard events by planning for and mitigating against the potential adverse effects of a significant emergency or hazardous event. To ensure families are aware of the hazards that could affect their community, plans should include all hazards, which can impact the community, and should be documented. Families can cope with a disaster by preparing in advance and working together as a team.
LIME CEO, Mr. Drexwell Seymour noted “As we approach the 2012 Hurricane Season, it is important that all residents are informed and prepared adequately not only for the Hurricane Season but throughout the entire year. We cannot take anything for granted and LIME believes that the best way forward is to ensure that all residents are fully informed. LIME is happy to partner with Learn and Lead Disaster Consultancy who are well experienced in this area.”
Operations Manager of Caicos Express Airways, Mr. Stephane Menelas stated “As an airline we at Caicos Express Airways know and live by planning. In our business it is important to be ready for any emergency. We are living in the TCI where we are prone to be hit by hurricanes, and being prepared is very important. So it is our pleasure for Caicos Express Airways to be a part of this initiative to prepare the people of the TCI for any emergency situation. We are committed to the people and want to contribute to them for their support in any way possible”
Learn and Lead Disaster Consultancy is the premier private Disaster Management Company in the Turks and Caicos whose motto is “Learn to Prepare to Lead in Crisis”. L and L DC specializes in: Disaster Risk Management; Business Continuity Management; Geographic Information Services and Systems; and Community Outreach and Research.
Workshop Schedule
Salt Cay – Thursday 7th June 2012, 10:30am at the Salt Shed
Grand Turk – Thursday 7th June 2012, 6:00pm – Location TBD
South Caicos – Monday 18th June 2012, 6pm at the Community Center
Middle Caicos – Thursday 21st June 2012, 10:30am Conch Bar Community Center
North Caicos - Thursday 21st June 2012, 6pm at the Adelaide Oemler Primary School Auditorium
Providenciales – Saturday 30th June 2012, 10:30am and 3pm at the LIME Training Facility
New Move takes Turquoise Morning to 62 million viewers
Telly Award© nominated, Turquoise Morning™ TV show is will see its viewing audience figures explode in June, when the morning magazine styled programme adds twenty countries and popular cruise lines to its reach, thanks to the One Caribbean Weather Channel.
The television show, hosted by Deandrea Hamilton, a broadcast journalist features ‘the people, places and plans’ of The Turks and Caicos Islands and The Bahamas in an hour long show.
“It has always been the vision of Turquoise Morning™ to bring a sort of unity to our region by having each of us see what other countries are up to in the comfort of our own homes and with bright bursts of colour, amazing adventures and infectious fun. The things and people we feature are rarely the headliners but are always vivacious with a wonderful, inspiring story to tell,” said the host of the show.
Turquoise Morning™ began filming in the Turks and Caicos in April 2008 and branched out to Hamilton’s home country of The Bahamas in November 2011; her company Magnetic Media produces the show.
“While our media company, Magnetic Media is based in the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas – we find ourselves journeying to regional neighbours like Jamaica, Haiti, Florida, Bermuda and most recently to Colombia where we gave coverage to the Sixth Summit of the Americas,” said Deandrea Hamilton, who is also Managing Director of Magnetic Media.
Magnetic Media currently distributes daily news reports to CBS/One Caribbean Weather channel from The Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos which is seen in 46 Caribbean and Latin American countries. A strategic alliance with TropikTV, a Caribbean-centric TV station headquartered in Miami is responsible for airings in South Florida, New York and New Jersey over Comcast and Time Warner.
“We are thrilled to have fostered such influential relationships at home and abroad. In The TCI People’s Television Ch8 carries the show, three times a week and in The Bahamas we are aired similarly on Cable Bahamas Ch12. While we want our home audiences to enjoy the riveting experiences, it was always important that we take our show to the world.”
Ms. Hamilton adds: “Our TV websites (www.BahamasonTV.com and www.TurksandCaicosonTV.com) give anyone, anywhere the anytime opportunity to delight in professional programming.”
Magnetic Media has shown an uncommon flexibility, often packing up a production team to move to where the intriguing stories are unravelling. Exploits have taken the crew to Niagara Falls in Canada, to the Haiti Reconstruction Forum hosted by the City of Miami and the Inter-American Development bank; to the World Travel Awards in Montego Bay, Jamaica and to the Global Economic Forum held in Bermuda among other events.
“As Caribbean people, we sometimes have a lot of limiting notions about each other – even within our own countries. Turquoise Morning™ is that balmy breeze and refreshing indulgence that for at least 60 minutes helps viewers to embrace the differences, be inspired to see somewhere or do something new and we are ever hopeful that people will pause and enjoy the view!”
Turquoise Morning™ debuts on One Caribbean Weather channel to Antigua, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Dominica, El Salvador, Grand Cayman, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Maarteen, St. Vincent, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico, Guyana and on Carnival Cruise and Holland America Cruise Lines on June 4, 2012. The show will air on Mondays at 7 a.m., with rebroadcasts on Thursdays at 9 p.m.
DIGICEL TCI CEO E. JAY SAUNDERS, TELLS EUROPEAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANIES TO FOLLOW THE CLOUDS
E. Jay Saunders, CEO of Digicel TCI who just last month was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil informing Latin American and Caribbean telecommunications companies on why they are better positioned to financially benefit from their 4G investments – specifically their Long Term Evolution (LTE) investments – than North American telecommunications companies, was in Barcelona, Spain on the 23rd May speaking at the LTE World Summit 2012 on the topic “Business Opportunities that ‘scream’ out for LTE: How operators can utilize LTE to become relevant again”. While at the summit, E. Jay also shared the stage with Mark Harrop, (Director of Devices, Mobility and Innovation, BT Wholesale, UK) for a panel discussion on “Accelerating Broadband Access in Rural Areas”; and he participated in a TV interview for Telecoms.com (to be aired in June).
During his presentation, E. Jay pointed out that combined global revenues from Cloud services and mobile advertising was approximately US$44 billion dollars in 2011 and that total revenues from the same are expected to grow to US$121 billion dollars in 2015. Turning to the telecommunication companies in the audience, E. Jay asked “What percentage of those revenues are you going to capture?” Currently telecommunication companies globally are not well positioned to capture any of those revenues, and it would be remiss of them after having financed the huge CAPEX requirements to rollout LTE – the most advanced wireless telecommunications standard to date – which by its very design will cannibalize traditional voice and SMS revenues, to not attempt to capture some of the revenues coming from the new areas that their investments in LTE is making possible such as Cloud services, video streaming, and mobile advertising, stated E. Jay.
Micaela Giuhat, vice president of product marketing at GENBAND, a company who is poised to play a major role in assisting mobile operators in meeting subscribers' future expectations for innovative, empowering and personalized services through a unique portfolio of LTE and IMS-enabled security, control and application layer products, such as Mobile Life and Office, stated that “GENBAND considers LTE to be the catalyst of a new and dramatic advance in the evolution of the communications industry, and one of the highlights of the LTE World Summit was the presentation from Digicel's E. Jay Saunders. It was by far one of the most positive and well thought out presentations, with concrete examples on how to really take advantage of LTE. Amongst long discussions on what makes an LTE business case, E. Jay's speech was not only reaffirming that there is a business case for LTE, but also a huge upside that service providers can easily capitalize on."
Some of the other speakers at the conference were:
Micaela Giuhat, Vice President Product Marketing, GENBAND;
Mark Harrop, Director, Devices, Mobility and Innovation, BT Wholesale, UK;
Luis Angel Sanchez, Head of Innovation 2.0, Telefonica, Spain;
Carlos Domingo, President & CEO, Telefónica R&D. Director of Product Development and Innovation, Telefónica Digital;
Takehiro Nakamura, Director & 3GPP Chairman, NTT DoCoMo;
Karim Lesina, Executive Director of International External Affairs, AT&T;
Daniel Lönnblad, Director, Sony Ericsson;
Royal Party in Grace Bay
GRACE Bay will be a sea of red, white and blue on Tuesday in celebration of the Diamond Jubilee.
A Royal Party is being held at Island Scoop Ice Cream Store to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s 60 years of reign.
The event will be packed full of great British traditions with all proceeds going to Crime Stoppers in support of the RTCI Police.
Organiser, Cally Affleck, explained: “We wanted to celebrate this great occasion in history and also give something back to the community.
“We came up with the idea of a Royal Party which will be held in the Plaza that surrounds the Island Scoop Ice Cream Store.
“In terms of supporting the community, we wanted to give all the proceeds to a good cause and so we will be making a donation to the RTCI Police through Crime Stoppers.”
She added: “As both a resident and a business owner, I and many others rely on the Police Service and we want to say thank you for the wonderful job they do.”
Attractions at the Royal Party include the sale of popular British cuisine such as scones and jam, fish and chips, cucumber sandwiches and plenty of cups of tea.
There will also be refreshments, face painting, a children’s play area and other entertainment for all the family, while also available to purchase on the day will be a variety of special ice creams celebrating The Queen, Britain and the RTCI Police.
And a Royal Party wouldn’t be the same without a Royal visitor, as Cally explains.
“It promises to be a fantastic day”, she added, “and we are all really looking forward to it.
“And who knows there may be a very special Royal visitor of sorts, which would give everyone a rare opportunity to be photographed with a member of the Royal Family!
“Everyone is welcome and it will be great to see lots of people there, having fun and raising money for a fantastic cause.
“We are asking people to wear red, white and blue if they can while crowns, tiaras and jewels are optional, but recommended.”
The Royal Party starts at 4pm on Tuesday and RTCI Police will have a range of vehicles on display at the event.
Inspector Nigel Couch said: “It is great the organisers have chosen to donate the proceeds to Crime Stoppers in their support of the Police Service.
“Already we have seen the donation of the All Terrain Vehicles through Crime Stoppers this year and we thank the Royal Party organisers for their fantastic gesture.”
Lil Wayne’s Trukfit Brand Heading to Macy’s Stores
Rapper Lil Wayne continues to expand his Trukfit clothing brand with a new distribution deal via Macy’s department stores.
Lil Wayne’s new Trukfit clothing line will land in select Macy’s across the country, in addition to Macy’s.com.
T-shirts, sweatshirts, and hats will be available from the brand starting on June 1.
“Trukfit is a state of mind,” said Mike Morris, Trukfit brand director. “It is about being oneself, having fun, being free and being able to express all these elements. We are thrilled to be able to offer Trukfit at Macy’s, an iconic retailer with as much as energy and heart as our brand. Lil Wayne is a favorite rapper and Macy’s is a favorite shopping destination – a perfect fit!”
Trukfit, which is an acronym for “The Reason You Kill For It,” is a streetwear brand, that draws influence from music, art, and action sports.
To celebrate the launch of Trukfit at Macy’s, Lil Wayne will make a special appearance at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles on June 1.
He will be accompanied by close friend and professional skateboarder, Stevie Williams, who is the founder of the company, DGK.
The first 10 fans to purchase $150.00 in merchandise from Trukfit, DGK, or both, will be invited to a special meet and greet with Lil Wayne and Williams.