Police 24 hour crime recap for 08-03-12
DETECTIVES have recovered the vehicle they believe was used in the attempted theft of an ATM in Grace Bay.
Three masked men entered the car park of the IGA Gourmet at 2.40am on Wednesday in a white van, which they used to smash a large window in the foyer.
The culprits, who were all dressed in black, then tried to drag the International Bank ATM out of the supermarket with a metal chain tied to the bumper.
They were unsuccessful in their bid and escaped empty-handed, however the registration plate from the vehicle was left at the scene.
Investigations revealed the van, a white Chevy, belonged to the Seven Stars Resort and was stolen from the complex shortly before the attempted theft.
Police officers on patrol later discovered a white Chevy van with smashed rear windshields and a chain tied to the bumper, abandoned in the Long Bay area.
Witnesses to the incident are still being sought and anyone with information is asked to call 911 or Crimestoppers on 1-800-8477
POLICE are investigating a burglary in Blue Hills.
A house was broken into and ransacked with a number of items stolen.
The incident took place between 12.15pm and 5pm on Wednesday March 7.
A MAN was arrested by police in Provo on suspicion of causing malicious damage to property.
A WOMAN was arrested on suspicion of causing malicious damage to property. She was charged with the offence and released on police bail.
IN GRAND TURK
A MAN was arrested on the suspicion of possessing a controlled drug, believed to cannabis.
GRAND Turk police arrested a teenager in connection with an alleged wounding offence.
Cure Clears the Air
REGGAE artiste Jah Cure has apologised to fans who were disappointed when he failed to turn up at a show at the Victoria Park venue in St Vincent on Saturday night.
The Unconditional Love singer had been slated to headline 'Irresistible Temptations' which also featured Trinidadian artiste Orlando Octave.
Jah Cure, whose real name is Siccature Alcock, contends he was not given a deposit and that the promoter violated his contractual obligations.
Many Jah Cure fans left the venue disappointed having paid as much as EC$50 ($1,535 approximately).
Jah Cure tweeted: "St Vincent, I'm sorry for every thing that happened tonight due to the lack of organisation on the part of the promoters who have been giving nothing but excuses! I look forward to returning to deliver great music in a show by a legitimate promoter some time soon. Jah live!"
He later tweeted again: "Promoter failed to meet his contractual obligations so I could not perform. Sorry St Vincent, I shall return, I'm super disappointed."
The show would have been his first performance in St Vincent and the Grenadines since 2008.
Olivier Martinez Confirms Engagement to Halle Berry
Halle Berry, who has famously said she will never get married again, is now confirmed to be getting married again.
“Yes, of course it’s true,” her fiancé Olivier Martinez, 46, told the Miami Herald over the weekend, confirming his engagement to Berry, 45.
Martinez, who was in Florida to promote the opening of his new restaurant, Villa Azur, took the opportunity to correct reports about the jeweler who made Berry’s engagement ring: Robert Mazlo, a Parisian jeweler, created it.
“There is a jeweler taking credit for doing the ring, and it’s a lie! They have nothing to do with this,” Martinez told the Herald.
Usher Not Trying to Pay for Tameka’s Lawyers in Custody Battle
New documents filed in the ongoing legal battle between Usher and his ex Tameka over the custody of their two kids reveal that the singer is refusing to pay her request to foot her $50,000 legal bill, reports TMZ.
In the court docs, Usher claims that Tameka has consistently defied court orders and filed frivolous motions, like the one trying to force him to take a drug test.
Usher claims he’s already paid $25,000 for her attorneys and has shouldered the brunt of the finances associated with this case, especially when it comes to their kids.
In the documents, Usher states that Tameka’s actions “directly harm the best interests of the minor children. Clearly, such actions should not be tolerated, much less rewarded.”
A judge has yet to rule.
Jay-Z, Kanye West Settle Federal Lawsuit over ‘The Joy’
Jay-Z and Kanye West have settled a federal copyright lawsuit over their song “The Joy,” TMZ reports.
Syl Johnson sued the “Watch the Throne” rappers in October, claiming they used an unauthorized sample of his song “Different Strokes.” Johnson had claimed Kanye tried to get the song cleared for his solo album, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” but couldn’t get the deal done in time.
When the sample popped up on “Watch the Throne,” Johnson filed the lawsuit in Illinois federal court.
According to TMZ, it was dismissed this week because the two sides reached a settlement, though no further details were made available.
Johnson, meanwhile, has filed similar lawsuits against Michael Jackson, Jefferson Airplane and Cypress Hill.
50 Cent On Why he Loves Oprah … His (Little Ugly) Dog!
Guess who was on “The View” this week? None other than rapper and entrepreneur 50 Cent.
Although it was a very entertaining episode, he couldn’t help but look a little uncomfortable when he talked about his reasons behind naming his dog Oprah.
He told the audience, quite hesitantly, that he named his dog, which he loves, after Oprah Winfrey as an insult to the media mogul.
But 50 isn’t a bad guy. He went on the show to talk about his new book he wrote about bullying and his new line of headphones linked to a charity that provides meals to people in third world countries.
The rapper explained that his interests lie in fixing world hunger and has the goal of helping to feed one billion people.
Brazil football boss Ricardo Teixeira resigns
The head of Brazil's football federation, Ricardo Teixeira, has stepped down from his post, days after taking sick leave.
He also resigned from the 2014 World Cup organising committee.
Mr Teixeira, who led the federation for 23 years, had come under pressure over corruption allegations, which he has denied.
He has been investigated on suspicion of crimes including tax evasion but has never been convicted of any offence.
Former Sao Paulo Governor Jose Maria Marin, 79, will be replacing Mr Teixeira in both posts.
Mr Marin read out the letter in which Mr Teixeira announced his "permanent resignation".
Mounting speculation
Mr Teixeira said he was leaving with a sense of "mission accomplished".
"Football in our country is associated with two things: talent and disorganisation," he wrote.
He said he had done what was within his reach, sacrificing his health.
Last week, Mr Teixeira announced he was taking leave of absence for medical reasons. However, he did not specify the nature of his health problems.
Mr Marin said nothing would immediately change at the football federation or at the World Cup organising committee under his command.
Pressure started growing on Mr Teixeira to resign after new corruption allegations surfaced earlier this month.
But state federations voted unanimously to confirm him in the posts.
In 2001, the Brazilian Congress investigated Mr Teixeira on suspicion of 13 crimes, including tax evasion, money laundering and misleading lawmakers, but no charges were brought.
He has also been investigated for allegedly taking kickbacks from a marketing firm that worked closely with Fifa in the 1990s.
And the English Football Association accused him of improper conduct during bidding for the 2018 World Cup.
He has denied all the allegations and has never been convicted.
Chile’s call for deepening relations with Caribbean nations welcomed
A call by Chile’s President, His Excellency Sebastián Piñera Echenique, for the strengthening and deepening of relations between CARICOM and Chile through enhanced cooperation in a wide range of areas has been welcomed by Caribbean leaders.
President Pinera, who was invited to the Twenty-Third Inter-Sessional Meeting in Suriname also called for improved relations through the adoption of common positions in hemispheric and international arenas.
According to the communiqué issued at the end of he two-day meeting, the President of Chile highlighted the shared feature of political and institutional stability in Latin America and the Caribbean in an era of democracy and economic growth.
This, he said provided a unique opportunity, through education, to reduce poverty and collaborate in dealing with challenges such as global warming and climate change, organized crime, drug trafficking, terrorism and corruption.
Underscoring the importance of promoting cultural exchanges and people to people contacts between the two sides, Heads of Government reiterated an invitation to the Government of Chile to participate in CARIFESTA XI to be held in Suriname in 2013. They were pleased that this invitation was warmly accepted by Chile
The Heads of Government congratulated Chile on its assumption of the high responsibilities of President Pro Tempore of the Community of Latin America and Caribbean States (CELAC) as well as that of Chair of the European Union-Latin America and the Caribbean forum (EU-CELAC) for the period 2012-2013, and expressed the Community’s full support for both processes.
They further expressed the Community’s appreciation for the Government of Chile’s willingness to advocate on behalf of CARICOM countries, at the upcoming G-20 Summit in Mexico, in June 2012 on issues of concern to small vulnerable economies. Included among these issues are the reform and restructuring of the international financial system, the strengthening of financial regulations, debt relief, combating commodity price volatility, addressing food and nutrition security and renewed access to concessionary financing for highly indebted middle income countries.
In thanking Chile for its active involvement in assisting the CARICOM Member State of Haiti, Heads of Government and State of CARICOM and of Chile reiterated their commitment to the continued support to that nation in its reconstruction and development efforts.
SKN Vibes
CARICOM: Security strain
CARICOM governments seem to be in a bind over what to do with their Implementation Agency for Crime And Security (IMPACS).
The security agency was set up for the ICC Cricket World Cup which was held in 2007, but it is still in existence and is placing financial strain on some CARICOM member countries.
Prime Minister Freundel Stuart disclosed on Saturday on his return from the CARICOM Heads of Government meeting in Suriname that the agency was widely discussed, with some leaders suggesting that IMPACS be discarded.
But Stuart said he made it clear that Barbados’ position was against “throwing it overboard”.
“The big issue is the financing of IMPACS – it has become a very expensive exercise,” he told reporters. “They are those who believe that it should be jettisoned but the position I put – and I put Barbados’ position in this way – is that we take security in the region so seriously that regional Heads of Government elevated security to a fourth pillar of CARICOM.
“You can’t take a decision to elevate crime and security to a fourth pillar and then your principal institution that deals with crime and security you want to toss overboard. You may want to restructure it, or you may want to re-christen it, but you certainly cannot contemplate throwing it overboard.”
IMPACS has two sub-agencies, the Regional Intelligence Fusion Centre, which operates in Trinidad and Tobago, and the Joint regional Communications Centre (JRCC), which operates in Barbados.
Nation News
Haitian director of tourism optimistic about tourism sector
A Haitian tourism official has expressed optimism about his island’s tourism sector in the after math of the 2010 earthquake which caused severe devastation to the island.
Director General of Tourism in Haiti, Daniel Fouchard, told an interview with the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Communications Specialist Johnson JohnRose at the International Tourismus Borse (ITB) in Berlin last week, that the tourism sector is still “very active”.
He graded himself as 8/9 on a scale of 1 to 10 in being optimistic about the growth and development of the sector although the island’s preoccupation is focused on rebuilding.
“After the earthquake every Haitian thinks about reconstruction; rebuilding the country, giving the faith to the huge population, creating new schools, new opportunities for the youth of the country and giving the people the necessary hope to go further”.
He explained further that several steps within the island’s tourism master plan are underway including the construction of two airports and new investments.
“We are building two new airports in the country; one in Capiche and one in La Cai and then we have already signed a few contracts with other big companies who are investing in the hotel industry; Best Western, Marriott, Occidental”.
Fouchard noted that although the tourism sector is very active he must wait until his minister has full powers so that the sector can operate more effectively, as the resignation of the former Haitian prime minister Garry Conille after four months into office has disrupted the government.
He is also hopeful that Caribbean leaders particularly those in the Antillean; Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico among others will find a solution to issue of island hopping.
According to Fouchard; these islands present a “mosaic of culture” which many people are interested in therefore the onus is upon them to find a way for easier travel within to and from these islands.
“We are at a distance of 1 hour/2 hours from each other and every time we have to see one another we have to go up north or down south to go back to the Caribbean, we have to change that. I understand that there are a lot of countries now who are trying to do their best”.
“We are young countries and trying to do the best to promote our countries” he said, recognizing the fact that the success of these islands sector is dependent on several factors some which they are unable to control as with the occurrences of natural disasters.
ITB is a five day trade show which “enlightens visitors and qualified buyers about global travel, tourism and hospitality sectors and highlights the exotic destinations of more than 180 countries including Dominica under one roof in a friendly environment.
The ITB trade show welcome more than 11163 exhibitors from various countries to exhibit their newest tour locations, hotel services, resort facilities and many more to render the perfect holiday and travel experience to all the interested visitors.
The ideal business to business platform provides an ideal opportunity for the exhibitors to generate sales and meet with their industry peers and qualified buyers among 170000 visitors.
Some of the highlights of the event are convention programs, business presentations and conference and workshops.
Dominica Vibes News