UN inspectors visit Iran as nuclear tensions rise
Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have begun a three-day visit to Iran, to try to determine the purpose of the country's nuclear programme.
The visit comes at a time of escalating tension between Tehran and the West over Iran's nuclear activities.
The director general of the IAEA, Yukiya Amano, says Iran needs to engage and answer the agency's questions.
Iran denies that it is trying to develop a nuclear weapon.
The head of the IAEA team said they hoped to "resolve all the outstanding issues with Iran" over its nuclear programme.
"In particular we hope that Iran will engage with us on our concerns regarding the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear programme," IAEA Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts said before leaving for Iran from Vienna's airport.
Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Asgar Soltaniyeh, said the inspection was aimed at foiling enemy plots and will prove the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear work.
The dispute over Iran's nuclear activities has intensified since an IAEA report in November expressed serious concerns about the possible military dimensions of the programme.
The agency said it had information suggesting Iran had carried out tests "relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device".
Sanctions
Since then the European Union and the United States have introduced a series of sanctions against Iran, including measures targeting the country's lucrative oil industry.
The EU sanctions prohibit the import, purchase and transport of Iranian crude oil and petroleum products as well as related finance and insurance.
All existing contracts will have to be phased out by 1 July.
That timing was intended to give some EU countries time to switch to alternative sources of oil, but Iranian lawmakers are now considering stopping exports to Europe within days, a move likely to drive up fuel prices.
Iran has also threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf, through which more than 20% of the world's traded oil passes.
The United States has said it will use force if necessary to keep the shipping lane open, raising the prospect of a confrontation with Iran.
Embattled Yemeni President Arrives in US
Yemeni officials say outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh has arrived in the United States Saturday to seek medical treatment.
Mr. Saleh arrived at an unspecified location in the United States late Saturday after a stop in London.
His staff has said he is to be treated for injuries suffered during the assassination attempt last June, after which he spent several months recuperating in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Yemeni security officials said a high-ranking police officer, a soldier, and four Islamist militants were killed in the south of the country in the last 24 hours.
The officials said the head of a criminal investigation unit in Hadrawamout province was gravely wounded late Friday when unidentified gunmen attacked him near his house with automatic weapons. The attackers managed to flee, but the police officer later died of his wounds.
In the southern city of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province, a soldier and four Islamist militants died in overnight clashes. Government troops have been trying to regain control of swathes of territory in the province taken last year by Islamist groups.
Mr. Saleh, who is due to step down next month, left the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, for neighboring Oman a week ago. In his farewell speech, he asked the Yemenis to forgive him for any “shortcomings” during his 33-year rule and vowed to return to Yemen as the head of his General People's Congress party.
But thousands of Yemenis want Mr. Saleh to be put on trial for a violent crackdown in which hundreds of people have been killed. They reject granting him full immunity from prosecution, which the country's parliament approved last week as part of a Gulf Cooperation Council-backed deal to encourage him to leave office.
Mr. Saleh signed the plan last November and agreed to transfer presidential powers to his deputy ahead of February elections that will pick his successor. Yemeni state media said the president declared Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Haid responsible for the country and promoted him to the military rank of field marshal.
AU Unveils New Headquarters in Ethiopia Ahead of Summit
A contest for the job of Africa's top diplomat is expected to be the highlight of a continental summit opening Sunday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
On the eve of the summit, the African Union inaugurated its new headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, built and donated by China at a cost of $200 million. China's senior political adviser, Jia Qinglin, officially opened the facility Saturday during an event attended by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, other African leaders, and foreign diplomats.
Jia said the complex, built on the site of a former maximum security prison, is a testament to China's friendship with the African people. He also praised China's growing trade with African countries, which he said reached $150 billion last year, representing a 13-fold increase in the past decade.
He said China is Africa's largest trading partner and Chinese investment there totals $13 billion.
Prime Minister Meles praised what he called the African Renaissance, which he said was modeled on China's state-led economic model. He also took the opportunity to criticize the western economic model of the late 20th century as “medicine that turned out to be worse than the disease.”
He pointed out that The Economist Magazine had in the past called Africa “The Hopeless Continent,” but has recently referred to it as “Africa Rising.”
“The pundits and academics who were publicly advocating for the recolonization of our continent have now refrained from doing so, at least in polite company. The very magazine that came up with the banner headline, “The Hopeless Continent” a decade ago, has recently come up with a new banner headline that simply read, “Africa Rising.” Africa is rising indeed. The African Renaissance has begun.”
The opening of the new AU headquarters was accompanied by the dedication of a memorial to victims of torture and executions at Addis Ababa's notorious Akaki prison. Other events included a celebration of the one-year anniversary of the revolution that ousted Egypt's leader Hosni Mubarak from power.
TCI 2012 Population Count Begins January 25th
The 2012 population and housing census which will count every person and house in the TCI, officially begins Wednesday, January 25th 2012.
Months of preparatory work concluded today Monday 23rd January when the census field workers, including enumerators, supervisors and interpreters,
took their oath of secrecy in separate ceremonies on Grand Turk and Providenciales.
HE Governor Ric Todd administered the oath at the Providenciales ceremony.
Head of the Census team Shirlen Forbes has stressed that all residents of the TCI are required to participate in the census exercise.
- The Census Ordinance entrusts to the Census Officer the legal authority and responsibility to conduct the census. There is a fine or penalty for persons who do not cooperate with census officers.' Forbes cautioned.
- During the census period, enumerators with easily recognizable census photo IDs, will visit every household in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
When visited, be sure to cooperate by responding to all the questions on the census questionnaire. If you are not visited please call or email the Statistical Office, he added.
- Ideally each adult in the household (18 years or older) should be interviewed. If this is not possible because persons are off island during the census period then any responsible adult will be interviewed provided that he/she knows all the required answers, Mr. Forbes noted.
Forbes assured residents that the information provided on the questionnaire will be held in the strictest confidence, which is guaranteed by the compulsory oath of secrecy taken by all census workers, for which any breech could lead to strong penalties.
The Census questionnaire will seek to capture information on the age, sex, religion, education, occupation and other important characteristics of each person. It also seeks to capture where a person lives in terms of type of housing and access to essential facilities.
Compilation and analysis of the census data should be completed by April this year and will provide government with accurate and reliable statistical data to guide policy formulation. The exercise is an essential step before setting up a Boundary Commission and compiling a new Electoral Register in preparation for new elections, which are scheduled for 2012.
Two accidents in Grand Turk
Two young men in Grand Turk, are lucky to have escaped with their lives when the vehicles they were driving in, received extensive damages over the weekend.
The first accident occurred during the early hours of Saturday morning when Roderick Williams was driving one of GQ jeeps south along Lighthouse Road, when according to a couple of persons who witnessed the accident, Williams tried to veer away from an oncoming vehicle travelling in the opposite direction which had overtaken another vehicle, also traveling in the opposite direction.
Our sources tell RTC News that in order for Williams to avoid a head-on collision, he veered to his left and lost control of the vehicle, which came to rest atop of one of the flower-beds next to Cool Beans.
The other accident occurred during the early hours of Sunday morning when Kevino Smith allegedly hit a pole in the vicinity of Morris Cottingham, spun out of control and hit another pole before the pile of broken and twisted metal came to rest opposite the Cottingham offices at Hibiscus Square.
Friends and families of Smith, as well as hospital officials say the outcome for this youth could very well have had a different ending.
Both Roderick Williams and Kevino Smith are said to have sustained non-life threatening injuries and were taken to the Cockburn Town Medical Centre.
Meanwhile, both vehicles are said to have received extensive damages.
Police are continuing their investigations.
48 Hour Crime Recap for 23rd January
The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force in its 48 Hour Crime Recap for Providenciales has noted that Police on that island responded to eight reports of serious nature, inclusive of Seven (7) Burglaries; one on Leeward Highway, Blue Hills, Five Cays, Kew Town, Windward Road and 2 on Grace Bay Road.
There was also one (1) Attempted Burglary in South Dock.
Police reported that they arrested a male on suspicion of Forgery.
A male was also arrested on suspicion of Robbery in connection with that robbery outside of RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) on 13th January 2012.
A male was arrested on suspicion of Possession of Cannabis. This arrest is in connection with a quantity of suspected cannabis that was seized at the Providenciales International Airport on 22nd January 2012.
Also in Provo, a female was charged for Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm and two males were charged for Burglary in connection with a report made on 3rd January 2012.
Here in Grand Turk in that 48 hour period, Police responded to one report of serious nature; that of aggravated Burglary in the Close Hall Road area.
Meanwhile, a male was arrested on suspicion of aggravated Burglary in connection with a report made on 4th January 2012.
Strengthening Primary Health Care in the TCI - Blue Hills Community Clinic
In keeping with the decisions of the Health Care Funding Challenge, the Ministry of Health and Human Services (MOHHS) is pleased to announce that plans are being put in place for the opening of the Blue Hills Community Clinic in Providenciales in February 2012.
The Clinic will serve the Blue Hill Community, providing preventive,holistic and patient centered care. Initial services will include Antenatal, Child Health and Family Practice Clinics, along with various healthy lifestyles and health promotion programmes. There will also be home visits and community outreach.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health Judith Campbell in welcoming the latest development said Primary Health Care is the cornerstone of a quality health care system. Improving access to care at the primary health care level will prevent persons from waiting to go to the hospital when their health condition becomes more serious. As strengthening Primary Health Care is one of the essential pillars of the Health Care Renewal Strategy, the MOHHS is committed to ensuring that the Blue Hills Community Clinic is opened and that primary health care is accessible to all persons living in the TCI, she said. 'We hope in future to provide additional services in line with the needs of the community.' 'To this end, plans are in place to formulate Community Coalition Groups with all stakeholders, both public and private in order
to provide a service which best fit the needs of the Blue Hills community,' Ms. Campbell added.
A list of services and clinic schedules will be made available closer to next months opening date.
His Excellency Governor Ric Todd to host a media briefing on the civil recovery programme
His Excellency the Governor will on Tuesday January 24th host a media briefing by Mr.Laurence Harris, partner in charge of Edwards Wildman Palmer, the international law firm undertaking the civil recovery programme here in the TCI.
The briefing will provide an overview of:
* the 51 civil recovery cases currently being auctioned by Edwards Wildman Palmer
* the importance of this to the TCI: Edwards Wildman Parker's five largest cases would see 1,200 acres of land and over $50m in damages returned to the Crown
* Edwards Wildman Palmer already securing $2.4m in damages and recovering 900 acres for the Crown and
* All major cases scheduled, or expected to be scheduled, for trial in 2012
This civil recovery work pursues civil actions to recover land and damages where this course of action is more appropriate than criminal proceedings, and is a direct action from the publication of the report of the Commission of Inquiry headed by Sir Robin Auld and the suspension of parts of the 2006 Turks and Caicos Islands Constitution Order.
This report also led to the establishment of the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team (SIPT) to investigate, and where appropriate, prosecute allegations of corruption and other improper practices revealed by Sir Robin's Report.
There are, therefore, two ways in which civil recovery can take place, either through a civil claim under the general law brought by Edwards, Wildman Palmer, or through a civil action under the Proceeds of Crime Ordinance brought by SIPT following a criminal investigation.
The media briefing by His Excellency the Governor and Laurence Harris is expected to take place from 11:30am until 12:30pm tomorrow Tuesday, 24
January in the Conference Suite of the Department of Disaster Management and Emergency in Providenciales.
After loosing the T20, the Jamaican team said 'We need to work together'
A lack of team unity and the need for more national Twenty20 competitions were some of the reasons highlighted as to why Jamaica were trounced by Trinidad and Tobago in the final of the Caribbean Twenty20 Tournament on Sunday at Kensington Oval, Barbados.
The Trinidadians, who scored 168 for six, won by 63 runs after limiting Jamaica to 105 for five.
Dwayne Bravo (49) and Kieron Pollard (39) made most runs for Trinidad and Tobago, who were winning the tournament for a second straight year.
"As a team, it is about sticking together and we are kind of lacking in that department at the moment," said fast bowler Andre Russell shortly after the team's return, at the Norman Manley International Airport yesterday.
"It's not professional for some people to go on the field and some are doing that and some are doing that.
"We need to work together more as a team and if we can do that then just like how we win the other tournaments we can win the T20 as well," he declared.
Russell, who was among a handful of players who boarded the team bus on arrival at the airport, was supported by batsman Shawn Findlay.
"The team spirit was not the best as it could be. Some of the players were not pulling foreach other as we wanted it to be," he said.
"We are not unified as we should be. On match days you tend to have one set of players pulling to one side and the others to a next.
"You're never going to win a tournament like that. When we won the Super50 tournament everybody was gelling together," he noted.
"We know we can win Twenty20 tournaments if we get to gel, as it is the gelling and chemistry that teams like Trinidad have over us," added Findlay.
Captain David Bernard Jr. called for better preparation.
"A better preparation period, including the playing of more Twenty20 competitions and matches going into the next tournament will go a long way towards helping us to get better," said Bernard.
"But to do this more resources are needed and one can only hope that the JCA can get the support from corporate Jamaica to do this going forward," he added.
Jamaica will turn their attention to the upcoming WICB Regional Four-day Tournament, which is slated to get underway next week Friday.
Jamaica, who are the defending champions, will open their account against the Windward Islands at Sabina Park.
JA.Gleaner
Tiger Woods looking for strong start to 2012 season in Abu Dhabi
Healthier than he has been in nearly a decade, Tiger Woods comes into the 2012 season full of confidence and said Tuesday that he is hoping his strong showing at the end of 2011 will carry over into this week's Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.
Woods ended 2011 with his first victory in two years at the Chevron World Challenge and said Tuesday he is looking to pick more than that one win this year. His Chevron victory moved him up to 25th on the world rankings after he fell out of the top 50 last year.
``Actually, it's been quite a few years since I've been physically fit,'' said Woods, who estimated it had been at least eight years since he wasn't dealing with an injury. ``So I'm looking forward to getting out there and then playing and give it a full season, which I haven't done in a while, so I'm really looking forward to it.
Woods opens his season in Abu Dhabi for the first time and will compete against a star-studded lineup that includes U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy, top-ranked Luke Donald, defending champion Martin Kaymer and second-ranked Lee Westwood.
``I'm looking forward to this year,'' Woods said. ``That's something that I have to say, because I was able to prepare and get fit enough to prepare last year and towards the end of the year. I demonstrated to myself what I can do with implementing what (coach Sean Foley) wants me to do on the golf swing.''
Woods took part in a traditional Emirati ayala dance earlier in the day with Westwood and McIlroy, and was in good spirits for most of the news conference. But he appeared slightly agitated when the questions turned to a book written by Hank Haney, who was Woods' swing coach for six years.
The book due out in March chronicles the time Haney began working with Woods at the Bay Hill Invitational in 2004 until they parted ways a month after the 2010 Masters, where Woods made his return to golf after being exposed for multiple extramarital affairs that shattered his image and led to divorce.
Woods said he was unhappy that those he had worked with, including Haney and former caddie Steve Williams, who had spoken out.
``Certainly it's something that I have to deal with. I get asked at press conferences what these guys have done, and that's just part of it,'' he said. ``Am I disappointed? Yes. Frustrated? Certainly, because I have to answer the questions. ... So I've answered them and I guess I'll have to continue doing it. Hopefully, this will come to an end.''
After missing much of 2011 with injuries, Woods said he finally was ``healthy enough to practice'' toward the end of the season and it paid off.
He finished third at the Australian Open, and then delivered the clinching point for the American team in the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne before winning the Chevron.
``I think Australia was pretty big for me to go down there for two weeks and play in that type of wind, and to hit the ball as well as I did, I really controlled my golf ball for two weeks, and you know, I think that led to what I did at the World Challenge,'' Woods said. ``I hit the ball just as well there, and made a couple of putts, and especially on the last two holes there. You know, consequently, got a W.''
The 14-time major winner would only say his goal this year is to win more than he had last year and was hopeful one of those victories would be another major. He is four short of Jack Nicklaus' record of 18.
``The game plan is still the same. Every event I play in is to try and win,'' Woods said. ``That's what's going to hold me back is obviously if I don't play well, and there's also going to be 155 other guys in the field that are going to have a chance, as well. There's a number of factors, and that's what makes golf so interesting; that it is very difficult to win golf tournaments. And to do it consistently over a long period of time, it's not easy to do.''
Woods has traded Torrey Pines for Abu Dhabi this year and admitted his scheduling decisions are influenced by the appearances fees he is offered. Unlike the PGA Tour, the European Tour allows for appearance fees, which can reach into the millions of dollars for the top stars.
``You know, I'd have to say yes, it certainly does,'' he said of the fees. ``That's one of the reasons why a lot of the guys who play in Europe, they do play in Europe, and they do get paid. I think the only tour that doesn't pay is the U.S. Tour. But, you know, a lot of the guys play all around the world and they do get appearance fees.''
Woods refused to say how much he is getting at Abu Dhabi, the season-opening event on the European Tour.