HIV/AIDS 14th Annual Inter High School Debate
The youth of the country got a chance to have their say on the ongoing threat of HIV/AIDS when the National AIDS Program/HIV Prevention Unit
hosted its 14th annual HIV/AIDS Inter High School debate under the theme Getting to zero, Community participation towards Eradication at the
Felix Morley Community Center on Thursday, 26th January 2012.
The six participating schools were British West Indies Collegiate, Champions for Christ, Helena Jones Robinson High School, Maranatha High
School, Marjorie Basden High School and Turks and Caicos Institute for Professional Studies (TCIPS) Comprehensive High School.
The moot debated was Be it resolved: It is the Communitys Civic Duty to participate in the Eradication of HIV
This year's winning school was the TCIPS Comprehensive School, followed by Helena Jones Robinson High in 2nd place and the MarjorieBasden High
School in 3rd place. The Best Speaker award went to To-chu-kwu O-tuon-ye of the Helena Jones Robinson High School.
Winners of the Essay competition 2011 World AIDS Day are:
1st Place Chelsea Stubbs of B.E.S.T Institute
2nd Place Davonte Missick of B.E.S.T Institute
3rd Place Lanardia Robinson of Newmans Preparatory
Winners of the Poster Competition 2011 World AIDS Day are:
1st Place Davis Gardiner of the Adelaide Oelmar Primary School
2nd Place Audrea Stubbs of the Adelaide Oelmar Primary School
3rd Place Jada Ingham of B.E.S.T. Institute
'The National AIDS Program/HIV Prevention Unit would like to thank the Judges and time keeper of the debate, the markers and judges of the Essay
and Poster competition for their contribution to making World AIDS day celebrations a success, we could not have done it without you. Thank you
for your commitment and continued support.'
'Finally, in reaching the masses we could not do it without Radio Turks and Caicos, WIV and PTV, thank you for your support, partnership and
commitment to assisting us in bringing HIV/AIDS awareness to the TCI.
Thanks also to the listening audience remember, we each have a responsibility in reducing the impact of HIV on our society. Zero
tolerance of discrimination as we get to zero new infections and zero AIDS related deaths,' said AIDS Coordinator, Aldora Robinson.
The National AIDS Program/HIV Prevention Unit has expressed special thanks to its sponsors:- Digicel, LIME, Scotia Bank, Kishco, AIDSAwareness
Foundation, Circle G food Store, Kiwanis, A1 Business Machine and the National Youth Department for their kind donations and support.
Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports & Culture, reminds public of youth programs
The Department of Youth Affairs in the Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports & Culture, say a number of its youth related initiatives are still
available
The Department of Youth Affairs has given assurance to the community of Grand Turk that a number of its Youth related initiatives are still
currently in operation:
Programs available include the Power of Me 2
Crime Stoppers
Its a Safe Place for men ages 17-30
Little League Soft Ball on Saturdays at 4pm
Little Reader Book Club for ages 4-10 at the Victoria Public Library on Saturdays at 11am
The Department of Youth Affairs says these programs will also soon be available in South Caicos.
The Department is also seeking volunteers for any of the above programs.
Persons who might be interested in any one of these programs, may contact the Department for additional information at
(649)-946-2801/ext 40611 or email them at info@tciyouthdepart.com.
24 Hour Crime Recap in Providenciales for February 1st,2012
Police in Providenciales in providing their twenty-four hours (24) recap,say they responded to three (3) Burglaries Downtown, Grace Bay & Juba
Sound
A male was arrested on suspicion of Handling Stolen Goods in connection with a report made on 25th January 2012.
A male was charged for Rape in connection with a report made on 2nd November 2011. He was later released on Police Bail with a surety to
appear in the Providenciales Magistrates Court # 2 on Friday 10th February 2012 to answer to that charge.
Another male was charged for Incest in connection with a report made on 24th January 2012. He is scheduled to appear in the Providenciales
Magistrates Court # 1 on Thursday 2nd February 2012 to answer to that charge.
DFID’s Minister of State Alan Duncan issues a Written Ministerial Statement to the UK Parliament on the milestones
The Minister of State for the Department for International Development (DFID), Mr. Alan Duncan yesterday Monday, 30th January 2012, issued a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS) to the UK Parliament.
The WMS informed Parliament on the progress made in the Turks & Caicos Islands towards achieving the milestones set out by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Henry Bellingham in an earlier WMS on 9 December 2010.
The progress report notes some of the main achievements against each of the eight milestones.
The WMS states that much work has been done by the TCI Government with support from the UK Government, the Canadian Government and the European Union and acknowledges the commitment made across the public service and by the people of the TCI.
The statement further notes that much is still to be achieved and a date for elections will be set when the milestones have been achieved.
The ministerial statement ends by indicating the UK Government still hopes they will be met for elections to take place during 2012.
Further details on the progress made against the milestones, were published in a paper from the Governor’s Office on 19th January 2012.
More on Minister Duncan’s contribution to parliament, in tomorrow’s newscast.
Businessman Charlie Palmer dismisses rumors that he threw Lands Survey staff out of his building
Businessman Charlie Palmer dismisses rumors that he threw Lands Survey staff out of his building today.
A source told RTC News today that the doors to the Lands and Survey department were locked today so that staff of that department was unable to go
inside and perform their daily duties. Our source further noted that non-payment of bills seem to have been the reasoning behind the decision
to shut down the office today.
However, RTC News caught up with Mr. Charlie Palmer this evening. He said nothing could be further from the truth. Palmer said he had received
correspondence from TCIG sometime in November last year that the departments that were housed in his PALMCO building on the Leeward
Highway, would be relocating to Butterfield Square effective 31st January.2012.
The three departments housed in the PALMCO building, were the Social Development, Valuation and Lands and Survey departments.
RTC News spoke further with a government official who reiterated that there was no truth to the circulated rumors of the staff of these
departments being locked out of their offices.
The government official noted that the decision to relocate these was to sort of create a one stop shop by centralizing these departments, which
would make it easier for the customer as they would not now find themselves having to for example, get a bill and then have to go to the
other side of town to go pay for and get a receipt for the same.
He said in addition to addition to reducing rent, the TCIG is seeking to promote efficiency and effectiveness by centralizing these functions.
He said TCIG will be undertaking similar moves in the islands of Grand Turk, South and North Caicos.
Philippine military 'kills three wanted militants'
The Philippine military says it has killed three senior militants from al-Qaeda-linked groups in a raid in the south of the country.
The air raid took place on Thursday in an area known as a militant stronghold.
Officials said two Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leaders and one Abu Sayyaf leader were among a total of 15 people killed.
Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir, or Marwan, who was on the US FBI's most wanted list with a $5m (£3.2m) reward offered for his capture, was reported killed.
According to the military, the militants were killed in the town of Parang on Jolo island, Sulu province, in the Mindanao region.
Regional military commander Maj Gen Noel Coballes told Agence France Presse news agency that troops on the ground had confirmed the deaths.
Marwan, a top JI leader, is said to have been behind a series of bomb attacks in the southern Philippines since 2006.
The military identified the other two senior militants as Jemaah Islamiyah leader Abdullah Ali, aliases Muhamda Ali or Mauwiya, and an Abu Sayyaf leader, Gumbahali Jumdail alias Doc Abu.
According to the FBI, Marwan is "an engineer trained in the US" and has conducted bomb-making activities for militant groups, especially Abu Sayyaf.
Muawiya, also a top JI leader, is said to be a Singaporean national who came to the Philippines after the Bali bombings in 2002. A reward of $50,000 had been offered for his capture.
JI has links to al-Qaeda and has a long track record of attacks in Indonesia. It is believed to have been behind the Bali bombings of 2002.
Doc Abu, a Filipino, is said to be a regional Abu Sayyaf leader wanted for multiple kidnappings. Abu Sayyaf is one of the most radical of the Islamic separatist groups in the southern Philippines.
A military spokesman told the BBC that the operation was ordered after reports that a group of militants had arrived in the area on 30 December.
The islands in the south-west Philippines are known to harbour various militant groups - some of which also operate as kidnap-for-ransom gangs, reports the BBC's Kate McGeown.
Just this week, Abu Sayyaf is thought to have kidnapped two European tourists from the area.
BBC
French Prosecutors to Investigate Italian Cruise Ship Disaster
French prosecutors have launched an investigation into the cause of last month's Costa Concordia cruise ship grounding off the coast of Italy.
The Paris prosecutors's office said Thursday that it has asked police to question French survivors to establish criminal liability and establish psychological damage caused by the accident.
More than 450 French people were on board the Costa Concordia when it ran aground January 13 off the coast of the Tuscan island of Giglio. Seventeen people, including four French citizens, were killed in the shipwreck. Some 15 people, including two French, are missing and presumed dead.
The cruise line has offered $14,000 in compensation to each survivor. But many in France and elsewhere have rejected the deal.
US Groundhog Predicts Six More Weeks of Winter
Winter is here to stay for at least for six more weeks, according to a furry little resident of a small town called Punxsutawney in Pennsylvania.
A groundhog dubbed Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his cozy tree stump home early Thursday, as he does each year, and he saw his shadow.
Tradition has it that if Phil sees his shadow , there will be six more weeks of winter. If not, it means spring will arrive soon.
If Phil is correct in his 2012 forecast, the U.S. may get the winter weather that it has been missing since the season began nearly two months ago.
Last Groundhog Day, more than half of the continental U.S. was covered in snow. Less than a fifth of was the nation was covered Wednesday.
Organizers expected a crowd of 15,000 or more to gather for the traditional Groundhog Day observance.
Groundhog Day is traditionally observed each February second at cities and villages throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Punxsutawney Phil is the most famous of the furry prognosticators. Generations of groundhogs have been predicting the weather since 1887.
Other states have their own groundhogs, like Sir Walter Wally of North Carolina. In West Virginia, there is French Creek Freddie. Georgia has General Beauregard Lee.
Canada's most famous groundhog is Wiarton Willie of Ottawa.
Afghan Roadmap Stands Despite US, French Announcements
NATO Secretary General Anders-Fogh Rasmussen says the coalition's timeline for the security transition in Afghanistan still stands, despite recent announcements from the United States and France.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have each suggested the coalition should end its combat role in 2013, more than a year ahead of previous plans, and switch to training and advising Afghan troops through 2014.
Rasmussen said ahead of Thursday's NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels that the alliance will stand by its previously agreed to plan to wind up operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
But the NATO secretary-general noted that international troops will hand over security control of the last Afghan provinces to Afghan forces by the middle of next year. He said starting in mid-2013, Afghan security forces will “take the lead” and coalition troops will gradually change from “combat to support.” He said “in that, there is nothing new.”
Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters traveling to Brussels with him that “hopefully by the mid-to-latter part of 2013 we will be able to make a transition from a combat role to a training, advise and assist role.”
French President Sarkozy announced earlier this month that his country will withdraw its combat forces from Afghanistan in 2013, a year earlier than planned.
The U.S. defense chief called 2013 a crucial year for the final transfer of remaining areas to Afghan security forces. He said no decisions have been made about the level of U.S. forces remaining in Afghanistan once that combat role has ended.
Thursday's NATO meeting in Brussels is being held just days after a leaked coalition report revealed that members of the Taliban insurgency are confident they can regain power in Afghanistan once coalition troops have departed.
The meeting is meant to lay the groundwork for a larger NATO gathering set for Chicago in May.
Hundreds Rescued from Papua New Guinea Ferry Disaster
Scores of passengers are still missing after a ferry sank early Thursday off the northern coast of Papua New Guinea.
Nerae Marimahu, a spokeswoman with the Pacific nation's National Maritime Safety Authority in Port Moresby, told VOA the MV Rabaul Queen sank about 16 kilometers off Cape Fortification. She said it was not immediately clear why the ferry sank.
The maritime agency says at least 300 passengers were believed to be aboard the ferry when it sank.
Australia's maritime authority has dispatched a special plane to help in the rescue efforts. A spokeswoman for the authority says more than 230 people have been pulled alive from the waters.
Several merchant ships have also been deployed to assist in the search for survivors.
The ferry's operator says it lost contact with the vessel as it was traveling between the island of New Britain and the town of Lae.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard described the disaster as “a major tragedy” and said her country was helping Papua New Guinea respond.