Turkey: Gunfire From Syria Wounds Three
Turkish officials say Syrian forces fired across the border at a refugee camp, wounding a Turkish translator and at least two Syrian refugees, in the first such incident since Turkey began sheltering thousands of refugees last year.
Monday's attack occurred near the southeastern town of Kilis where Turkey has set up a camp for Syrians fleeing a bloody crackdown on a 13-month anti-government uprising. About 25,000 refugees are currently housed in camps in Turkey's three provinces bordering Syria.
International envoy Kofi Annan will visit a camp for Syrian refugees in Turkey on Tuesday, in a previously scheduled trip.
Meanwhile, activists said Syrian rebel fighters killed at least six members of President Bashar al-Assad's security forces in fierce clashes close to the Turkish border. Syrian forces are escalating attacks across the country as they attempt to crush the revolt against Mr. Assad.
In Beijing, China's Foreign Ministry urged the Syrian government and opposition groups to abide by pledges for a cease-fire. The appeal was issued after Syria's demand for written guarantees from its opponents threw doubt on the prospects that a cease-fire brokered by Mr. Annan would take hold.
Separately, a leading international rights group said Syrian forces have summarily executed more than 100 people, most of them civilians. Monday's report by Human Rights Watch said this includes several mass executions in the restive provinces of Homs and Idlib. The New York-based group says it only included cases corroborated by witnesses, but has received more reports of similar incidents. The executions took place over the past four months, mostly in March.
On Sunday, Mr. Assad's government said it wants iron-clad “written guarantees” that insurgents would stop fighting before it withdraws troops from cities.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Syria would not allow a repeat of what happened during the Arab League's observer mission in January, when he said the government pulled its forces back only to see rebels re-arm and take control of entire neighborhoods.
But the commander for the rebel Free Syrian Army, Riad al-Asaad, said Sunday that while his group is ready to abide by the truce set for April 10, it will not give guarantees to the Syrian government.
An escalation of violence Sunday killed at least 45 people across Syria. The country's main opposition group said nearly 130 people – mostly civilians – were killed Saturday.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has sharply criticized the Assad government for its continued assault on civilians and said the cease-fire deadline “is not an excuse for continued killing.”
U.N. officials say more than 9,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began 13 months ago.
Foreign Press Shown North Korean Rocket
North Korean space officials took the rare step Sunday of allowing foreign journalists to see a rocket, that, despite the objections of the United States and South Korea, is being prepared for launch this week.
The rocket viewing came as South Korean intelligence photos, obtained by VOA, showed what appear to be preparations for a third North Korean nuclear test.
Reporters said all three stages of the Unha-3 rocket were on the launch pad at the new Tongchang-ri space facility in North Phyongan province on the west coast. The reporters were also shown a command center where white-coated technicians labored over computer terminals.
Pyongyang maintains that the rocket, to be launched between April 12 and 16, will carry only a weather satellite, but the U.S. and South Korea say the event is a test of a ballistic missile.
Jang Myong Jin, general manager of the launch site, told reporters that under the Space Treaty, every country has the right to develop space technology for peaceful purposes.
“The United States-sponsored United Nations Security Council resolution did talk about the technology of ballistic missile launches. However, there is a more important treaty than this resolution and that is the Space Treaty. The Space Treaty clearly states that every country has the right to develop space technology and explore space for peaceful purposes.”
But South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said at a news conference in Seoul that his government sees the launch as a provocation.
“We want to clarify that it (the launch) is a provocation that threatens the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and northeast Asia. We (the South Korean military) are fully prepared to protect the South Korean people and respond firmly against any acts of provocation (by North Korea) that threaten the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula.”
China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi acknowledged that Beijing — Pyongyang's most important ally — is troubled by the launch plan. At a press conference after talks Sunday with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts, he called for more diplomacy.
“We considered and exchanged views about the situation on the Korean peninsula, including the announcement by the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) that they plan to launch a satellite. The Chinese side once again pressed our point. The China side is troubled by the developments, and strongly encourages everyone involved on all sides, at high and low levels, to remain calm and reasonable. These issues need to be worked out in a diplomatic and peaceful manner.”
VOA meanwhile has obtained South Korean intelligence photos showing that North Korea appears to be preparing for a third nuclear weapons test.
An accompanying intelligence document, first disclosed Sunday by Yonhap news agency, says the images show workers digging a new tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the northeast. The North conducted two previous nuclear tests in tunnels at the site — first in October 2006 and again in May 2009.
The report says it appears the tunnel work is in its final stage.
North Korea agreed in February to stop nuclear tests, uranium enrichment and long-range missile launches. At the same time, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced U.S. plans to provide the impoverished North with more food aid. That aid was canceled following the announcement of this week's rocket launch.
The United States, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan have jointly negotiated with the North to end its nuclear program. But those talks broke down in late 2009, when Pyongyang expelled international inspectors and then conducted its second nuclear test.
CRIME REPORT FROM THE TCI
PROVO
Police are appealing for witnesses following a break in at a property in the New Subdivision, Five Cays.
A Blackberry Torch cell phone was taken during the incident which happened between 12:30am and 7:30am on Tuesday April 3.
Items valued at more than $2,000 were taken during a burglary at Palm Circle Drive, Leeward Palms, sometime between 8:45am and 1:30pm Tuesday April 3.
A Samsung Laptop Computer and a quantity of jewellery were taken after intruders broke into a property in Blue Hills, yesterday.
Police are appealing for information following a break-in at a house in Juba Sound.
Intruders ransacked a number of rooms after forcing their way into the property sometime between 8pm on Tuesday March 3 and 5:50am the following day.
A man was arrested on suspicion of wounding following an incident in Provo on Tuesday.
GRAND TURK
Grand Turk Police are questioning a man on suspicion of disorderly conduct on a liquor licence premises.
Dr. Ewing eyes PNP Leadership
Former Director for Health Services and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Rufus Ewing appears to be eying the leadership of the Progressive National Party (PNP), but for right now would rather settle for securing the one of the five At-Large places on the party’s ticket in anticipating for the announcement of national elections that is expected later this year.
Dr. Ewing, who was a leading voice for civil servants especially during the twilight months as President of the Civil Service Association, promised The SUN that he would declare his hands during an address at the PNP Headquarters that was scheduled for this past Friday, March 30.
Ewing said that, while he was interested in the leadership of the party, he would not be challenging the current leader Clayton Greene, but would readily avail himself in the event that Greene decided to call it a day.
“I would not announce my candidacy for leadership; that is not up in the air as yet. There is a leader right now in that position, but if he steps aside, I would consider running, but my intention now is to run At Large,” Dr. Ewing pointed out. In the recent past, few voices have come forward urging Greene to demit office, as a result of him being charged with money laundering by the United Kingdom-commissioned Special Investigation and Prosecution Team (SIPT). Greene was charged earlier this year, and like most of the others who had been charged, made one court appearance.
When he was first notified by the SIPT of possible charge, the party leader said that in the event that he was charged, he would consider on whether or not to demit office. But since charges were formally brought against him, at least two prominent figures – talk show host Robert Hall and QC attorney Carlos Simons - had raised objections to Greene remaining as leader.
And while he did not respond to Hall, Greene and Simons veered off into a war of words that was played out through the internet. At that time Greene hinted that he would not be forced the party’s top job, but would rather make up his mind in the interest of the party on whether or not to toss in the towel.
But Dr. Ewing said while he was interested in the party leadership position, now was not the time for having a public jostling, but rather to focus on the future of the country, while endeavor to burnish the image of the PNP so that it would be attractive enough to form the next government.
“Basically, I am willing to speak to the PNP as an organization and the achievements over the years. We will speak to where we ought to be going and where we ought to go, and where we will go in the future. From my perspective, some of the major areas that we ought to be focusing on are education, jobs and employment opportunities and health care issues,” Ewing said.
The aspirant leader told The SUN that one of his main missions was to craft ideas on how to make a push towards independence, so that the Turks and Caicos Islands would be able to chart its own destiny not too long from now. “Another area that I will be focusing on is the push and drive towards independence for sometime in the near future. Right now we should be preparing ourselves for independence, and as time goes by, beginning with the meeting, I will be outlining my vision in that regard,” Ewing asserted.
In the meantime, Ewing pointed out that he was leaving the sector with his head held high, since he had worked tirelessly to make the lives of Turks and Caicos Islanders much better in terms of health care. “Some of them (health care plans that he put in place) people would understand; some of them my staff would understand more that the average man on the street, which include the plan to the strengthening the Ministry of Health to ensuring that there was adequate staff to carry out the Ministry of Health’s policies – that was under my direction and guidance.
The health care system, as it stands now, even though it was put in place by other persons such as Floyd Hall and the PNP, I would still take some responsibility for what is there, even though the policy direction to shape all of it was not my decision, but in terms of having to drive that process, I would take that as well as the health insurance plan.
“There are some challenges with them, and those challenges need to overcome. And those challenges are there partially because of the policies that were implemented, and some of them, because the British Administration just does not know how to manage it, and has not put the policies in place to support it to serve the best interest of the people,” Ewing noted.
He also hailed his passion for the civil service, which he revived and headed up until his last day as a civil servant, as another of his signature achievements. Ewing said he got the Interim Administration to realize how important the civil service was to the running of any country. He last day in office as Director for Health Services and Surgeon came to an end on Friday, March30.
The SUN
Kim Kardashian's Low-Key Dinner With Kanye West
Romance rumors refuse to leave Kim Kardashian and Kanye West alone. Just one day after the alleged couple went to see "The Hunger Games" together, they were seen going out again for a low-key dinner. Both PEOPLE and Hollywood Life have details of what's going on during the particular outing.
On Thursday, April 5 night, 31-year-old Kardashian and 34-year-old West spent an evening at Cafeteria, a swanky Chelsea restaurant in New York City. Per PEOPLE, they were joined by three friends, including makeup artist Joyce Bonelli, and shared a plate of fried chicken, waffles and macaroni and cheese.
"They entered through a secret door and dined in Cafeteria's brand new [private dining room] to have some privacy," one source informed the magazine. Offering more details, the source dished on, "Kim and Kanye sat together, and she kept taking pictures of him on her cell phone. It was cute. They had fun, but were very low-key."
Another eyewitness spilled to Hollywood Life that Kardashian and West "requested to sit in the private dining area in the back of the restaurant." The observer added, "They made the staff block it off so no other diners could see them. We get a lot of celebs in here, but they were pretty demanding about maintaining their privacy. It was pretty weird since they've been spotted all over NYC together."
While Kardashian came wearing a creme-colored blouse and sky-high black heels, Hollywood Life's source said the reality star "looked pretty plain" for the dinner, noting that "she wasn't all glammed up like she usually is." The source went on to say, "She seemed really comfortable with him. I saw Kim grab his hand when she was leading him to the back area."
Earlier the same day, Kardashian and West were seen smiling at each other the whole time they were together at FAO Schwartz. According to Life & Style, they played a duet of "Heart and Soul" on the toy store's giant piano, browsed children's books and watched the demonstration of a magic trick.
The next day, on Friday, Kardashian stopped by the "Today" show. When asked about the dating rumors, she told host Ann Curry, "I completely respect and understand that you have to ask these questions, but as I've said before, Kanye and I have been friends for years," before adding, "You never know what the future holds or where my life will take me."
AceShowbiz
Keri Hilson Accidentally Exposes Nipples in See-Through Top
Another celebrity has fallen victim to wardrobe malfunction while hitting the red carpet. A little over a month after Adrienne Bailon accidentally flashed her private parts at Caesars Entertainment's "Escape to Total Rewards" event, Keri Hilson unintentionally put her nipples on display at the Hennessy Wild Rabbit campaign launch event in New York City.
Coming to the Thursday, April 5 night event, the 29-year-old singer donned blue, orange, white and black color-blocked sheer top that she paired with a black skirt, yellow nails, round white granny glasses and bright orange lipstick. Her top, however, went completely see-through under the flashbulbs, giving also a glimpse of her belly button.
Hilson isn't the only celebrity who had been caught going braless while wearing a sheer top though. Both Miley Cyrus and Rihanna have also left little to the imagination during separate outing. The former was snapped wearing nothing under her black v-neck top after dinner with boyfriend Liam Hemsworth in January, while the latter wore a sheer black mesh top when going for dinner in March.
Young Buck’s Music To Be Auctioned Off Next Month
Nashville, Tennessee rapper Young Buck will lose the rights to his back catalogue this May, as part of his bankruptcy liquidation.
Young Buck’s intellectual-property will be put up for sale on May 14, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The trademarks, copyrights, licenses and royalties for Young Buck’s catalog will be auctioned off at Nashville-based law firm of Harwell Howard Hyne Gabbert & Manner.
Young Buck was forced to file bankruptcy in 2010, after piling up a $300,000 debt to the IRS.
He has also been locked in a contractual dispute with G-Unit Records, which has shelved all releases by the rapper.
Young Buck was kicked out of G-Unit in 2008, although he was still signed to the label with a $171,000 debt.
During Young Buck’s bankruptcy proceedings, 50 Cent filed a $10 million breach of contract lawsuit against the Nashville rapper, preventing him from releasing material on any other label.
The sale of Young Buck’s intellectual-property will complete his bankruptcy filing and allow him to exit Chapter 7 bankruptcy, although he may also lose the rights to use the “Young Buck” moniker.
Heidi Klum Files for Divorce from Seal
With the way their marriage break up has been reported over the last couple of months, you’d a thought that they had someone had already filed the legal papers. Well, until a day ago that hadn’t happened.
On Friday in Los Angeles, Heidi Klum moved to formally end her marriage from singer Seal a little over two months after they separated.
Klum’s divorce filing draws to a closes the book on a romance that included numerous testaments to their affection for one another, including renewing their wedding vows annually and throwing elaborate Halloween costume parties.
The couple has four children together, including Klum’s daughter from a previous relationship. They had been married for more than six and a half years when they announced their separation in January, vowing to keep their breakup amicable.
Klum’s filing cites irreconcilable differences. It provides no details about their split, other than that they entered into a financial agreement after they were married on how to divide their assets.
The model and star of the TV competition series “Project Runway” is asking for sole physical custody of the children, with Seal getting visitation and joint legal custody.
The Grammy-winning soul and R&B singer’s real name Henry Samuel. He released an album days after the couple announced their breakup and told talk show host Ellen DeGeneres that their split didn’t mean a total end to their relationship.
“We will be connected in many ways ’til the rest of our lives,” the singer said, “through our children and also through this tremendous admiration, respect and love that we have for each other.”
Marvel announces 'Captain America' sequel set for April 2014
Captain America is being redeployed.
The coda to last year's "Captain America" set up "The Avengers" and, in turn, "The Avengers" is apparently setting up a "Captain America" sequel. Marvel Studios and parent company Disney announced today that Chris Evans' patriotic superhero will go straight into a stand-alone followup scheduled to debut April 4, 2014.
While the original "Captain America" began in the 1940s and saw scrawny Steve Rogers become a chemically enhanced super-soldier who helped save the Allies during World War II, the sequel will, understandably, keep him in his chronological position in the present day. After being frozen for decades, and resuscitated in the strange new world of contemporary New York City, Cap is now planning to take it one day at a time.
Marvel's announcement said the sequel will pick up where "The Avengers" (out May 4) leaves off, "as Steve Rogers continues his affiliation with Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. and struggles to embrace his role in the modern world."
What we can infer from that (apart from the obvious, that "Captain America" survives the ordeal of "The Avengers") is that Samuel L. Jackson sounds like he will be a significant part of the sequel, as opposed to the glorified cameos he has done in other Marvel movies.
No other details about the project were released. "Captain America 2" (or whatever it is eventually called — let's pray it's not "Cap2n America," or some such) won't be the first sequel to hit theaters after "The Avengers." That honor goes to "Thor 2," which is aiming for release Nov. 15, 2013, with "Game of Thrones" director Alan Taylor taking over for Kenneth Branagh.
One question, though: After all he's been through, isn't it time Captain America got promoted?
"Major" America?
Guess that doesn't have the same ring.
CARIFTA 2012 results for Day1
Results of events completed in the first session of the 2012 LIME CARIFTA Games at the National Sports Centre, Devonshire, Bermuda.
Abbreviations: LCA – St Lucia. ANG – Anguilla, TRI – Trinidad & Tobago, JA – Jamaica, FGU – French Guiana, BAR – Barbados, BAH – The Bahamas, CUR – Curacao, GUD- Guadeloupe.
Open Girls’ Pentathlon 100M Hurdles
- Sharnique Leonce (LCA) 15.26 seconds, 2. Dee-Ann Rogers (ANG) 15.76, 3. Ayana Glasgow (TRI) 15.84m
Under-20 Boys’ Discus
- Fedrick Dacres (JA) 58.57 metres, 2. Dean-Nick Allen (FGU) 53.50m, 3. Ashinia Miller (JA) 50.37, 5. Tristan Whitehall (BAR) 44.40m, 6. Romario Antoine (BAR) 41.91m
Under-17 Boys’ Shot Put
- Demar Gayle (JA) 17.31m, 2. Kenejah Williams (TRI) 16.75m, 3. Drexel Maycock (BAH) 15.67m
Under-20 Girls’ Triple Jump
- Sabina Allen (JA) 12.18m, 2. Tamara Myers (BAH) 11.62m, 3. Anthonique Butler (BAH) 11.45m
Under-17 Girls’ High Jump
- Jehvania Whyte (JA) 1.60m, 2. Nargolis Statie (CUR) 1.60m, 3. Samara Spencer (JA) 1.55m
Open Girls’ Pentathlon Shot Put
- Gleneve Grange (JA) 13.11m, 2. Sharnique Leonce (LCA) 9.46m, 3. Ayana Glasgow (TRI) 7.79m
Under-17 Girls’ Triple Jump
- Yanis David (GUD) 12.73m, 2. Marine Vidal (GUD) 12.21m, 3. Tamara Moncrieffe (JA) 11.57
Meanwhile in Waterpolo: TRINIDAD AND Tobago earned a hat-trick of convincing victories over hosts Jamaica on Friday night as the CARIFTA Water Polo Championships continued at the National Swim Pool, Kingston.
The most lop-sided result of the night saw the TT Under-19 men’s team annihilate the hosts 40-0. Jonathan Gillette was the leading scorer with 10 goals, followed by Ryan West with six.
Daniel Alvarez and Kieron Emmanuel each contributed five goals, with four coming from the hands of Russell Ferreira.
Marc Stauble and Andrew Clarke each registered hat-tricks, Daniel Tardieu scored twice with Christian Chee Foon and Andrew Chin Lee adding one apiece.
The Under-15 boys’ contest saw the TT outfit romp to a 24-3 triumph, with Adrian Hinds leading the way with seven items. And the TT Under-19 women’s team got five goals from Anya Welch, four from Jordan Van Reeken and a hat-trick from Tianna Joseph to defeat the home nation 12-4.