Philippine Police Arrest Suspect in Kidnapping of US Missionary Couple
Philippine police say they have arrested an Islamic militant suspected of involvement in the 2001 kidnapping of an American missionary couple.
Security officials said Tuesday the man, known as “Abu Ismael,” was captured on the remote southern island of Basilan.
They said he is a member of the Abu Sayyaf terror group, which is linked to al-Qaida and blamed for a series of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings.
Officials say Abu Ismael was one of the armed guards during the captivity of Gracia and Martin Burnham, fellow American Guillermo Sobero and a number of Filipinos.
Sobero was beheaded, and Martin Burnham was later killed in a raid by Philippine forces that freed Gracia Burnham.
Authorities also said the suspect was trained in bomb-making and helped carry out advanced planning for other kidnappings.
11 sentenced to prison after billionaire burns himself to death in N China
A Chinese court Tuesday sentenced 11 people to prison for illegal financing, eight months after their billionaire boss burnt himself to death in Inner Mongolia autonomous region.
Altogether 11 people, all employees of the Baotou Huilong Trading Co., Ltd., were given sentences from one to seven years for illegal financing of up to 2.22 billion yuan (353 million U.S. dollars), according to a statement released by the People's Court in Jiuyuan District of Baotou city, where the company was based.
In addition to the 11, another employee was found guilty but was not sentenced to prison as she helped pay back investors.
For the same reason, Liu Mei'e, who was among the 11 and sentenced to three years in jail, was given a three-year reprieve.
Jin Libin, born in 1967, late chairman of the company, lit himself on fire in a car on April 13. Subsequent investigations showed the company was 943 million yuan in debt when Jin killed himself.
Police later found that Jin's company had raised 2.22 billion yuan from the public and took 217 million yuan in bank loans from June 2004 to April 2011.
The company initially could make ends meet, but later, in order to polish its image and go public, it borrowed continuously and thus became shackled with huge interest repayments.
At Tuesday's trial, the company was fined 500,000 yuan. Most defendants also received fines ranging from 80,000 to 20,000 yuan.
After the trial, some of the sentenced said they would file an appeal.
Statement from RBC Royal Bank, Providenciales
“We are dismayed that another serious incident has occurred at our branch and concerned at the rising level of bold crime in our community.
Our first concern is always for the safety of our clients, staff and other visitors to our premises.
We take the security of our operations very seriously and regularly review the security strategy at all of our locations with a view to continuously enhancing safety.
In addition, we are working closely with the police to support them in their difficult fight against such bold crimes in our community.
Our thoughts are with the persons impacted by this incident along with their families and colleagues.
RBC values its operations in Turks and Caicos and wishes to assure clients that we are committed to being a part of the Turks and Caicos Islands community. We are enhancing the security at our current location even more but understandably we cannot give specifics. Our entire network of branch locations in the region is under regular review to ensure that they meet the needs of our clients in terms of safety and convenience.
As this is an ongoing police investigation, we cannot provide any information specific to the incident at this time.”
The new CEO to announce this week the proposed five new Ministries and which PS will head them
TCIG Chief Executive Patrick Boyle is expected to host a news conference this week during which he will announce the proposed five new Ministries and which Permanent Secretary will head them. The press conference is scheduled 10:30-11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, 18th January in the NJS Francis Building, Grand Turk and is the first occasion since their appointments that all six PS’s have
formally gotten together and will give media representatives an opportunity to interview Mr. Boyle and meet the five new PS’s as a group for the first time.
48 Hour Crime Recap – Providenciales
Police in Providenciales this afternoon officially confirmed an armed robbery that occurred at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) over the weekend, which landed one young man in the hospital.
Media relations officer, detective Inspector Calvin Chase in a media release to RTC News, reported that three security guards from a security firm were making a deposit at RBC on Leeward Highway
on Friday night 13th January 2012 when one of the security guards was shot by one of two masked bandits,one of whom was armed with a firearm. The bandits got away with a quantity of cash.
The security guard that was shot received serious, but non-life threatening injuries. That officer who RTC News can confirm is Dwayne Fulford, a.k.a. “Footy” of South Caicos, was taken to the Cheshire Hall Medical Centre in Providenciales, where he underwent surgery late Friday
night and later taken to the high dependency unit.
An InterHealth Canada spokesperson told RTC News this evening that Fulford received a gunshot wound to his stomach which exited through his trunk area. She noted that while he has now been
moved to the general ward, he is still not allowed to eat or drink, but is being fed intra-vaneously.
She said he is however making progress.
Meanwhile, on Saturday night 14th January 2012 two masked bandits armed with firearms robbed a restaurant and patrons of cash plus personal belongings. Shots were discharged by the bandits
during the robbery. No one was injured. The incident took place in Lower Bight Providenciales.
Chase also reported during the past forty-eight hours (48) Police in Providenciales responded to ten (10) reports of serious nature. Five (5) Burglaries – Leeward Highway, South Dock, Blue Hills, Kew Town & Kingston the Bight. Three (3) Thefts— Leeward Highway, Blue Hills & North West Point, including the Two (2) Robberies— Outside Royal Bank of Canada & Lower Bight. Five males were arrested on suspicion of Robbery in connection with the robbery outside of RBC on Friday night 13th January 2012. A male was arrested on suspicion of Burglary which occurred on Friday 13th January 2012. Two males were charged for Handling Stolen Goods.
The DECR seeks the cooperation of businesses in helping it to determine the quota of conch for the year
Hotels, restaurants and other businesses must now submit monthly reports on sales of conch to enable the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources to determine how much conch
is taken each year from the nation’s fishery.
The Turks and Caicos Islands are a major exporter of queen conch or Strom-bus gigas to the United States. The Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) monitors the
TCI for sustainable use of conch.
The TCI has, since the 1990s, managed the queen conch fishery using catch quota or total allowable catch. However, that only measures the amount of conch that is exported, not the amount that
is consumed locally. Without information on domestic consumption, an accurate assessment of the fishery isn’t possible.
The Department of Environment and Coastal resources – the DECR – says if this strategy is to continue, then domestic consumption will be depleted for export purposes. In announcing the new
requirement, the DECR gave the assurance that domestic consumption continues without restrictions. However, it says that requires information be obtained from the domestic sector.
Since 2004, the DECR has made attempts to gather domestic information on domestic marine products, however data collection strategy has been met with some level of resistance. Recent recommendations by DECR and various stakeholders were granted by His Excellency the Gov. Ric Todd in November and took effect Dec. 1.
According to Section 3 of the Fisheries Protection Ordinance 23 (3) “The owner or operator of every hotel, restaurant, shop or similar commercial establishment who purchases or sells marine
product, shall upon a request made to him by a Fisheries Officer in writing, submit to the Fisheries Officer an accurate statement as to the quantity of weight of marine product, frozen or otherwise,
in his possession at the date of the statement within 24 hours of the request.” 23 (4) “The owner or operator of a hotel, restaurant, shop or similar commercial establishment who fails to submit to the Fisheries officer an accurate statement in accordance with paragraph (3) shall
be guilty of an offence.”
DECR is requesting that monthly statistical forms be completed by each restaurant, hotel, shop and similar commercial establishment and submitted by the first of each month for the previous month. The DECR is also asking respective persons in the TCI to be proactive in and assist the DECR with ensuring a domestic marine product for retail in your establishment.
Golden Globes: The winners list
The 69th annual Golden Globes wrapped up on Sunday without too many bleeped curse words, fumbled speeches - or surprise wins.
As predicted, George Clooney and Meryl Streep picked up a best actor and best actress in a dramatic motion picture Golden Globe, respectively, while "The Artist" nabbed three awards, including best comedic motion picture.
When it came time to hand out the best dramatic motion picture Golden Globe, that one went to Clooney's "The Descendants."
Here's the list of winners:
Best motion picture, drama
"The Descendants"
Best actress in a motion picture, drama
Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"
Best actor in a motion picture drama
George Clooney, "The Descendants"
Best motion picture, musical or comedy
"The Artist"
Best actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy
Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"
Best actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Best supporting actress in a motion picture
Octavia Spencer, "The Help"
Best supporting actor in a motion picture
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Best animated feature film
"The Adventures of Tintin"
Best director – motion picture
Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"
Best foreign language film
"A Separation" (Iran)
Best TV series, drama
"Homeland"
Best actor in a TV series, drama
Kelsey Grammer, "Boss"
Best actress in a TV series, drama
Claire Danes, "Homeland"
Best TV series, comedy
"Modern Family"
Best actress in a TV series, comedy
Laura Dern, "Enlightened"
Best actor in a TV series, comedy
Matt LeBlanc, "Episodes"
Best supporting actress in a series, mini-series, or TV movie
Jessica Lange, "American Horror Story"
Best supporting actor in a series, mini-series or TV movie
Peter Dinklage, "Game of Thrones"
Best TV movie or mini-series
"Downton Abbey"
Best actor in a mini-series or TV movie
Idris Elba, "Luther"
Best actress in a mini-series or TV movie
Kate Winslet, "Mildred Pierce"
Best original score - motion picture
Ludovic Bource, "The Artist"
Best original song - motion picture
"Masterpiece," from "W.E."
Best screenplay - motion picture
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
Golden Globes Go to Octavia Spencer, Idris Elba & Morgan Freeman
The 2012 Golden Globes were given out Sunday night in Hollywood. Among the many winners were Octavia Spencer, Idris Elba and Morgan Freeman.
Spencer won best supporting actress for her role as a brassy housekeeper joining other black maids to share stories about life with their white employers in the 1960s Deep South tale “The Help.”
“With regard to domestics in this country, now and then, I think Dr. King said it best: ‘All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance.’ And I thank you for recognizing that with our film,” Spencer said.
Idris Elba of “Luther” won the Golden Globe award for actor in a series, miniseries or motion picture made for television.
Morgan Freeman, awarded this year’s Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, is well aware of how influential movies and the film industry can be on its audiences.
“One of the more effective avenues for learning American history is movies. I was always a big reader when I was a kid, but movies -– they’re so impactive,” Freeman told reporters backstage at the Globes on Sunday.
Since Meryl Streep won the Golden Globe for best actress in a drama for her turn as Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady,” that means Viola Davis didn’t win for her lead role as Aibileen in “The Help.” That could portend things to come for Davis as some see the Globes as a key step to winning an Oscar. On the other hand noted and super snarky Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke says that the Globes very seldom pick Oscar winners. She gave the best film category as an example.
She also dropped this lug about Tyler Perry and Idris Elba winning for his “Luther” role.
“Considering that Tyler Perry stole Elba’s Alex Cross role, this is small comfort indeed for Idris. Really, Tyler, stick to cross-dressing in your movies and holding Oprah’s handbag the rest of the time.”
Dayuum, like we told you, she’s super snarky and straight crazy, we think. Anyway, she’s no joke. In fact, check out her Deadline blog for the full scoop on who won what at the 2012 Golden Globes.
Nicki Minaj and Bruno Mars to perform at Grammy Awards
Nicki Minaj, Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars are set to perform at next month's Grammy Awards, it has been announced.
Minaj is nominated for four awards at the ceremony, including best new artist and rap album for Pink Friday.
Taylor Swift and Kelly Clarkson have also been announced as performers at the annual event, which takes place on 12 February this year.
Kanye West has the most nominations with seven, including song of the year for All Of The Lights.
The rapper reached the top five in the UK album chart last year with Watch The Throne, a collaborative album with Jay-Z.
Adele is nominated for six Grammys after her hugely successful year in America, where she scored both the best-selling single and album of 2011.
It is not yet known whether she will perform at the ceremony following surgery on her vocal cords in November.
Bruno Mars, who has previously topped the UK singles chart with Grenade, The Lazy Song and Just The Way You Are, is also nominated for six awards.
Foo Fighters released their seventh album Wasting Light last year.
The band, who were formed by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl in 1994, also headlined Radio 1's Big Weekend in Carlisle last May.
In November, Nicki Minaj was named Billboard's Rising Star 2011.
The 29-year-old is best known for her hits Your Love, Fly and Super Bass, which reached number eight in the UK singles chart last year.
The Grammy Awards 2012 take place in Los Angeles on Sunday 12 February.
First online TV network to hit the region
Jamaican and Caribbean content providers and users are set to benefit from eMedia Interactive’s iVu online TV network, a new media company based in Jamaica, offering ad-supported and premium on-demand streaming of TV shows, plays, movies and webisodes to PCs, tablets, smartphones and TV.
The first of its kind in the Caribbean, the organisation is saying the programming will revolutionise the region’s Internet experience by providing a unique means to access content and earn online. It is scheduled to launched on February 15.
By creating a single global destination for the best in Jamaican and Caribbean content, it will be streamed with geo-targeted advertising (viewers can select their preferred choice of ads), allowing Jamaican and Caribbean countries to reach consumers like never before, at home, in the diaspora and worldwide.
“With a single click, anyone, anywhere in the world, will have instant access to world-class content from the region. eMedia Interactive is very excited about this new initiative because we’re bringing to the Caribbean what Hulu has done for content providers around the world, but with an exclusive focus on regional content,” said Tyrone Wilson, CEO of eMedia Interactive.
“The media landscape has changed tremendously over the last few years. Internet-powered smartphones, tablets and connected TVs have changed the way people consume content. iVu Tv will change entertainment in Jamaica, providing a new way for people to access content,” said Wilson.
“There is no shortage of talented content providers, but currently they do not have the funding to take their projects to the next level for the enjoyment of viewers here and abroad, who can enjoy greater choice and better quality content. Our iVu online TV network is the best way to ensure that their content moves from the Caribbean to the world.”
Available via free and premium subscriptions, the service is underpinned by world-class technology from our partners Brightcove, a leading global provider of cloud-content services.
Targeting a social media and tech-savvy, content-hungry population, iVu TV is set to be the leader in regional online content and is available on-the-go via BlackBerry, Android, iPhone and iPad mobile applications.
Through a unique partnership with Roku Roku streaming player, iVu will also be instantly available on television sets.
“We not only offer content providers a chance to earn from their content online; protection and enforcement of their intellectual property rights online; but also a chance to reach a global market – why should a Cabbie Chronicles or a Contender not also be watched or syndicated in other markets such as the United States and or South Africa? iVu gives them that opportunity,” added Wilson.