Greece’s FM Resigns to Lead Socialist Party Before Election
Greece's Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos has resigned, one day after being elected to lead the Socialist party PASOK in the run-up to elections.
Venizelos announced his resignation Monday after meeting with Greek President Karolos Papoulias.
Venizelos officially replaced former Greek prime minister George Papandreou as head of the PASOK party on Monday.
Greece has announced plans to hold early general elections in late April or early May to replace the interim coalition government of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos.
Opinion polls show PASOK is badly trailing the conservative New Democracy party.
Venizelos played a key role in recent months in negotiating a second bailout for Greece and new economic austerity measures. Earlier this month, the government cut wages and pensions, and eliminated thousands of government jobs to meet the demands of international lenders so that it could secure a new $172 billion bailout.
That bailout marked the country's second rescue package in two years.
Venizelos said at the time the debt relief would ease financial pressures on Greece and the 17-nation euro currency bloc that has struggled to control Europe's debt crisis.
Romney Positioned for Win in Illinois Primary
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is hoping for a big win in his party's primary Tuesday in the central state of Illinois, as he seeks to enlarge his lead over his top rival, Rick Santorum.
Opinion polls show Romney is 15 points ahead of Santorum in Illinois.
Sixty-nine delegates are at stake. A win would give Romney major momentum heading into upcoming nominating contests. The former Massachusetts governor has already won 521 delegates to 253 for Santorum.
The other two Republican candidates, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, are far behind.
On Monday, Romney and Santorum campaigned in Illinois. Romney met with voters at a diner in the capital, Springfield, before heading to Chicago to deliver an economic address. He pledged to control government spending.
“I want to restore the principles that made America the greatest nation on Earth — and one of them is you don't spend more than you take in.”
Santorum has said that if he wins Tuesday's primary, he will secure the Republican presidential nomination. The former U.S. senator urged supporters to get others to vote for him.
“This could be an amazing time in American history, and right here in Illinois you can usher that in. You can surprise the pundits, amaze them with conservatives.”
On Sunday, Romney won Puerto Rico's 20 delegates, moving him closer to the 1,144 needed to win the Republican nomination. The winner will face
President Barack Obama, a Democrat, in the November election.
North Korea Invites UN Nuclear Monitors to Return
The United Nations nuclear watchdog said Monday it has received an invitation from North Korea to visit, three years after its inspectors were expelled from the communist country.
A spokeswoman for the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said the invitation was received Friday — the same day Pyongyang announced it would launch a rocket carrying a satellite.
The U.S. State Department said that, in principle, it supports all efforts by the IAEA to gain access to North Korea. But spokeswoman Victoria Nuland added that Washington would consider the satellite launch a violation “not only of North Korea's U.N. obligations, but of the commitments it made to the U.S.”
Last month, North Korea agreed to suspend uranium enrichment and allow the return of U.N. weapons inspectors in exchange for desperately needed food aid.
In a joint announcement after talks with the United States, Pyongyang also promised a moratorium on its nuclear development and long-range missile tests.
North Korea has rejected international pressure not to proceed with the launch, saying it has a legitimate right, as a sovereign country, to put into orbit scientific satellites. It also says next month's launch — to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the birth of North Korea's founder and late president Kim Il Sung — is in accordance with international regulations governing the launch of satellites for “peaceful scientific purposes.”
Tensions rose Monday on the Korean peninsula, with Pyongyang releasing video of a major military exercise and Seoul accusing its northern neighbor of using the planned satellite launch as a pretext for testing a nuclear weapon delivery system.
The North Korean video shows leader Kim Jong Un meeting soldiers and watching what is described as a joint strike drill of the North's army, navy and air force. It shows a warship being blown up at sea, soldiers firing missiles and an airplane exploding in mid-air.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak met with his foreign minister and top security advisors Monday to discuss Pyongyang's move. A presidential spokesman described the planned launch as a “grave provocation,” saying the real purpose of the launch is to develop a long-range delivery system for nuclear weapons.
The spokesman also said South Korea will work with the international community and discuss the matter with the leaders of related countries, including the United States, Japan, China, Russia and the European Union during next week's Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul.
The U.S., Russia, South Korea and Japan have condemned the planned launch, saying it violates a U.N. ban on all North Korean launches using ballistic missile technology.
Even Pyongyang's long-time ally, China, has expressed rare disapproval. Beijing said it is concerned about the launch's potential to disrupt regional peace and security.
Ashcroft's BCB breached rules of Stock Exchange
BCB Holdings broke London Stock Exchange rules by failing to declare all the directorships held by Andrew Ashcroft, son of the Conservative party donor Lord Ashcroft, The Independent has discovered.
Mr Ashcroft replaced his father on the board of BCB Holdings, the peer's AIM-listed Caribbean banking business, last year and the company was required to disclose all other current and recent board memberships at that time.
Although it declared seven existing directorships and two more where he had sat on the board within the previous five years, public records from the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), where Mr Ashcroft is based, show that he had also been a director of another company that BCB Holdings did not reveal.
A document from the TCI's Financial Services Commission shows that Mr Ashcroft was appointed director of Reef Development Company Ltd on 7 September, 2010. His fellow board members were Peter Gaze and Phillip Osborne, two of Lord Ashcroft's long-time business associates and both board members of BCB Holdings.
Eighteen months ago, BCB Holdings was also revealed to have made incomplete disclosures of Mr Osborne's outside business interests, after an investigation by the BBC's Panorama programme.
AIM's rule book requires that when a company appoints new directors, it reveals the names of all companies and partnerships where they have been a director, going back five years. The rules are designed to give investors complete information about board members' outside interests and the ability to police potential conflicts of interest.
Mr Ashcroft joined Belize Bank, a BCB Holdings subsidiary, in 2002 and, after a period at head office in Belize, transferred to the TCI to become the managing director of British Caribbean Bank Ltd, Lord Ashcroft's bank there. He stepped down as a director of BCB Holdings after less than six months because the TCI operations were spun off.
Lord Ashcroft's bank in the TCI financed a decade-long construction boom that turned sour during the financial crisis when tourism collapsed and the country was beset by political scandal. The British Foreign Office suspended the islands' government and imposed direct rule in 2009 after a commission of inquiry found widespread corruption by ministers, including the former Prime Minister Michael Misick.
Lord Ashcroft and his son were not accused of any wrongdoing by the commission. The peer is taking legal action against the previous owner of The Independent over two reports on his business interests in the TCI from November 2009.
It is not clear from the registration document what Reef Development Company Ltd's business was, or was intended to be. It was created in April 2010 with Mr Gaze and Mr Osborne as directors, with Mr Ashcroft joining only later in the year. The Independent has passed the document to the London Stock Exchange for examination. Cenkos Securities, nominated adviser to BCB Holdings, is also investigating. Mr Ashcroft and BCB Holdings did not respond to requests for comment.
The Stock Exchange can impose sanctions, including public censures and fines, on companies found to have broken AIM rules. The severity of the punishment depends on the nature and seriousness of the breach, and on the general compliance history of the company.
BCB Holdings put out what a Stock Exchange spokesman called a "corrective announcement" in 2009 after Panorama discovered two directorships that Mr Osborne should have declared when he joined the company board in 2007, plus a further one which he took on later in the year that was also not disclosed to shareholders.
Media Statement from Mr. Michael E. Misick, Former Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands
In light of an arrest warrant issued by the SIPT team to Michael Misick, the Former Premier responds with the following statement sent to RTC news:
My fellow Turks and Caicos Islanders, I address you today March 19, 2012,with a heavy heart as I have been left with no other choice than to seek political asylum in a third country other than my beloved Turks and Caicos Islands.
My reason for doing so is simple because of the political persecution that is taking place to me and my family, former Cabinet Ministers and their families and a select few developers who supported me and my Progressive National Party during my tenure as Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
I am convinced that this whole persecution is because of my views and firm plan to move our country towards Independence. This plan goes counter to the British and their supporters in theTurks and Caicos Islands. That is why stories were fabricated by the opposition, the British and their supporters in order to call for a Commission of Inquiry.
It is unprecedented for a Commission of Inquiry to be comprised of a sole commissioner. It is my view that Sir Robin Auld came to Turks and Caicos Islands with specific instructions from the Foreign Office as to what the outcome of the Commission of Inquiry will be. In short, the outcome was pre-determined.
To add insult to injury, they have bypassed the entire legal system by appointing a Special Prosecutor whose primary goal is to get rich of the backs of Turks and Caicos Islands' tax payers and to make a name for herself. Helen Garlick has already collected over $20 million of Turks and Caicos Islands tax payers' money and is slated to collect at least another $10 million in 2012, at a time when the interim government is laying off hundreds of civil servants, cutting pensions and other benefits and increasing taxes.
There is no way that I, or any of the persons that have been accused by Helen Garlick and her team, can get a fair trial. The British Government, aided by two governors, Gordon Wetherell and now Ric Todd, have abolished our fundamental right to jury trial.
They have also suspended democracy. The Governor and the prosecutor control the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. They have changed so many laws such as the Proceeds of Crime Bill, laws pertaining to evidence, laws pertaining to hearsay all in an attempt to convict me and my colleagues.
If we have done something illegal why is there a need to change so many laws in order to secure a conviction? Why could we not be tried under the same system that thousands of people were tried under over the years? Why did they have to abolish our Parliament and the Executive? Is it so that they, including the prosecutor, can change the laws and the entire judicial system uninhibited without the normal checks and balances that exist in a democracy to ensure their goal which is the conviction of me and my colleagues?
If another country had done this, the British would have been outraged and they would seek international sanctions against that country. This is double-standard and political persecution of the highest order. They have sought to politically persecute us because we desire to live in an independent Turks and Caicos Islands, where the rule of law applies to everyone; where the rules and laws can't be changed to get rid of a person or government because you disagree with their political views and goals.
Finally, we can never get a fair trial considering the changes that were made and the interference with the justice system by the Governor, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Special Prosecutor Helen Garlick.
You have the situation where the Governor appoints the prosecutor, she will choose the judge and the Governor appoints who she chooses. The Governor at a public meeting has already announced that we are guilty, therefore the whole notion of a trial is a show. We know, and all Turks and Caicos Islanders know, that the verdict has already been decided by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Governor the prosecutor and the Judges that they have chosen.
All of the laws and rules that have been changed, were done on the recommendation of the Special Prosecutor to ensure a conviction. This is a complete set-up for a modern-day John Crow political lynching. I will not be part of that. I have therefore sought protection from another country in accordance with the United Nations Convention on Human Rights and the human rights laws of that country, as it is my right to do and the right of any person that is being politically persecuted.
Let be clear. I am not a fugitive, and will never be a fugitive. I have applied for political asylum from another country and I am merely seeking protection from political persecution.
I will continue to bring challenges to clear my name and that of my government and colleagues. I dream to return to my homeland as an independent, victorious, proud and free nation.
My Brothers and Sisters my prayers continue to be that May God of Jacob, Isaac and Johna protect us and deliver us out of the hands of the Philistines and restore our pride, human rights and democracy so we can resume building a prosperous nation with both political parties continuing to make their contributions as we chart our own course and fulfill our God-given destiny.
Michael Misick
Former Premier of
Turks and Caicos Islands.
March 19, 2012
UNCLASSIFIED: Michael Misick International Arrest Warrant
Earlier this afternoon RTC news received the following from SIPT:
“An arrest warrant has been obtained and ‘Red Notice‘ authorised by Interpol for the arrest of Michael Eugene Misick, former Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
“For the past several months the SIPT has sought to secure the attendance of Mr Misick at its offices in Providenciales in respect of allegations of corruption and money laundering during his time in office. Every opportunity has been given to Mr Misick to voluntarily surrender to the SIPT’s jurisdiction for interview. Despite previous indications from Mr Misick’s solicitors that he would attend for interview, he has failed to do so.”
CEO Continues Dialogue with Firefighters
In keeping with his stated commitment, Chief Executive Patrick Boyle met staff at the Provo and Grand Turk airport fire stations last Wednesday 14th and Friday 16th March 2012.
The CEO toured both facilities and held extensive discussions with fire fighters on ways to improve the current work environment and ensure the best possible delivery of this essential service. The visits were a follow up to discussions between Mr. Boyle and the fire fighters during their recent industrial action. The firefighters have decided to elect a small group of representatives to continue the dialogue with the CEO and incoming Permanent Secretary responsible for the fire services, Ms Susan Malcolm.
I have found my engagements with the two groups of fire fighters very useful in establishing where we need to go in ensuring we have a fit for purpose fire service in the TCI, said CEO Patrick Boyle.
I look forward to continuing the dialogue with the representative group of fire fighters and to working along with the PS and her Ministry to put the best possible solutions in place.
50th Anniversary of Splash Down – Mural Unveiling Ceremony
In celebration of the John Glenn Splash down, this week marks a special celebration in the TCI to mark that occasion.
HE Governor Todd stated the following in his address to mark the occasion:
50 years ago the eyes of the world were on Grand Turk. I am delighted to be here today at the first event of this busy anniversary week to commemorate the splashdown of Colonel John Glenn and Friendship 7 from the Mercury space programme. The new murals will be a permanent reminder of the historic bond between NASA and TCI.
I should like to extend a special welcome to our visitors from overseas, in particular to our guest speakers, Janet E. Petro, Deputy Director of the John F. Kennedy Space Center and former Mercury Program radar technician, Alan Rakofsky, whom I understand worked here on Grand Turk during the Mercury Program.
In recognition of the strategic importance of the Turks and Caicos Islands at the time, the United States Government constructed a Guided Missile Tracking Station here at the south end of Grand Turk in 1953 - just a short distance from where we are today.
Fortunately although the capabilities of the base were never tested in anger, the facility was instrumental in the safe management of a second historic land fall on Grand Turk (or rather “splashdown” on this occasion) when, on 20th February 1962, Colonel John Glenn was picked up by an aircraft carrier near the island after completing three orbits in space in the capsule Friendship 7.
We now know that John Glenn landed safely and others followed him, to the moon. But let us remember, no-one knew that at the time. He was a pioneer. A risk taker. A hero. We recall another inspired and risk taker pioneer who came to these waters 500 years ago, Christopher Columbus. What these men have in common with each other and many others is that the pioneer faces real challenges. To succeed inspiration is needed. So is perspiration. I am sure both Senior Glenn and Mr Rakofsky would agree. As all my second favorite Spanish proverb says “There are no roads, stranger, roads are made by previous travelers”
The arrival on Grand Turk of Colonel Glenn meant Grand Turk had the distinction of being the first dry land he set foot on after being launched from Cape Kennedy. One of the significant highlights of the events of 1962 was the visit of the then Vice President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson, on 23 February, three days after the land fall, to escort Colonel Glenn home. History records that, despite the early hour of the arrival of the Vice President (4am), a large number of people on Grand Turk thronged to the airport to greet Mr Johnson and Colonel Glenn.
The Splashdown of John Glenn was soon followed by the arrival of Commander Scott Carpenter on 24 May 1962 at the end of his space flight in the Aurora craft. Commander Carpenter, despite being a few hundred miles off course, was met by members of the government and Colonel Glenn who had returned here to welcome Aurora safely back to earth.
Over many years, with the existence of the United States Tracking Station the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands developed a strong relationship with the United States.
Although the Base went on to close officially in 1983, this relationship between the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the United States remained important to the people of these Islands, not least today because of the large number of tourists visiting us by way of the Grand Turk Cruise Centre.
Almost the first thing visitors to Grand Turk coming by air see, as they leave the airport, is a replica of Friendship 7. Indeed we will be gathering next to that site tomorrow to name a road after John Glenn. Almost the first thing those arriving by ship at the Grand Turk Cruise Centre will now see is the interactive exhibition commemorating the same event and the new murals we are unveiling today. This serves to underline the place of Grand Turk in a very special moment of history.
I would like to remind you that this year 2012 we also celebrate HM The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. HM The Queen came to TCI, and Grand Turk, when she visited in 1966. The Royal Couple visited the American missile tracking base and heard about Grand Turk’s role. And the Turks and Caicos Police Force gained the title Royal in recognition of their work during the visit.
In closing, I should like to pay tribute to our distinguished visitors, to Carnival Corporation, the Grand Turk Cruise Centre and government colleagues for their work in organising this week’s events. This exhibit and the work of the NASA educators, who are visiting local schools during this week, will go a long way in educating our residents and many visitors on the significant and important role played by these Islands early in the space age.
Chair of the Consultartive Forum Ms Lilliam Missick issues statement
RTC News received the following statement, issued on behalf of the Chair of the Consultative Forum Ms Lillian Missick.
Like all TCIslanders I was shocked and dismayed when I heard the Governor use a profane word during a radio call-in show last week. For this was ill-advised even if, as he claims, he was merely repeating what he thought he heard a caller say.
It is important to appreciate however that the Governor not only apologized immediately but later issued a formal apology to the nation for the obvious offense he caused. He should be commended for this; not least because it stands in instructive contrast to the failure of some local leaders to apologise for causing us far greater offense.
Even in this case, it troubles me that while Mr. Robert Hall, the host of radio show at issue, demanded an apology from the Governor for his momentary lapse in judgment, he did not apologize to the Governor (and to the nation) for sitting by and allowing his callers to show such sustained and appalling lack of respect towards His Excellency.
For it is short-sighted and misguided to think that aiding and abetting our people in showing disrespect for this Governor will not misled them into showing disrespect as a matter of course for all public servants (expatriate and local alike). I fear we will still be suffering the consequences of such contempt for government officials long after this Governor is gone.
Finally, I have been asked by many to comment on the statement former Premier Michael Misick issued on this incident and on the Governor's response to it. But given that he has yet to offer a single word of contrition for treating our national treasury like his personal piggy bank and is now a fugitive from justice, I do not believe Mr. Misick is in any position to offer anything constructive to our national debate on current affairs.
Therefore, I shall not dignify his statement with any comment. I regret that the Governor did not see fit to do the same.
Lillian Misick
Chair Consultative Forum
MILLS INSTITUTE STUDENTS AMAZED BY THE SKIES
Kindergarten students of the reputable Mills Institute of Lifelong Learning and Success visited Providenciales International Airport as the highlight to the students week of learning about air transportation.
Sixteen students ranging between the ages of four and five made their way through the terminal facility to learn about domestic and international flights.
The tour, guided by Terminal Manager, Ms. Lavern Skippings and Curbside Supervisor, Mr. Terrance Smith began with the curbside passenger drop off area and continued throughout the building. The students were very inquisitive in asking questions and keen on answering questions about their experience on airplanes. They were greeted by the Airport Police Officer, Airline Representatives, Security Officers, Customs Officers and even Immigration officials.
As airplanes began their morning operations, students were allowed to watch a local flight depart the runway and take off to the skies. When asked "what was the best part of your tour?" a bright eyed bouncing male student replied "I liked seeing the planes".
As a part of Education Week teachers were encouraged to take learning outside of the classroom and the TCIAA was happy to lend a helping hand by welcoming students to see air transport through our eyes.