TCIG loses case to Emerald Cay
The Turks and Caicos Islands Government has lost a major case involving the multi-million dollar private island Emerald Cay, which was once owned by American billionaire Tim Blixeth.
In the case between Ross Richardson, trustee in bankruptcy of Yellowstone Club and the Attorney General and the Registrar of Lands, Mr. Justice Geoffrey Martin ruled against the Government.
The plaintiffs were represented by Queen’s Counsel Ariel Misick assisted by Akeirra Misick, while Laurence Harris of the Civil Recovery Unit appeared for the Crown.
A statement from the Attorney General’s Chambers said: "TCIG is disappointed at the judgment in the YCW claim.
Deidre Forbes for Cruelty to a Juvenile
The Royal Turks & Caicos Islands Police in Providenciales have charged Deidre Forbes of Providenciales for Cruelty to a Juvenile.
This is in connection with a dwelling fire which occurred in Five Cays Providenciales on Monday the 14th of June 2011 where a two year old infant perished. Deidre Forbes is scheduled to appear in
The Providenciales Magistrate’s Court #2 on Friday 24th June 2011 at 9.00am.
Water Boots goes down to Pink Par
It's the biggest UP-SET of the tournament Dolphins Domino Tournament, with Water Boots going down to the Pink Bar
The Champs are here, or should I say, the champs were here.
The Dolphins Domino Tournament sponsored by 'the bigger better network' Digicel saw what can only be described as a shocking playoff game.
The Pink Bar visited Water Boots bar but, they obviously didn?t get the memo, that they were the underdogs, as they jumped out to a 17 point lead with a half time score of 51 to 68.
Contrary to many predictions the game was not a walk in the park for the Water Boots. In fact as Water Boots concentrated on walking, the Pink Bar brought their spikes and took off running.
Nevertheless, Water Boots, being the champs that they are, regained focus and cut the lead to 6. However, the Pink Bar never showed any signs of fair, as they used strategy and stalling tactics to hand Water Boots a beating that brought Mr. Parker himself out of retirement. Yet that was not enough, as Water Boots simply had no answer for the Pink Bar.
With a final score of 111 to 122 in favor of the Pink Bar this game is considered to be the biggest UP-SET of the tournament thus far.
Now the only question that remains is whether or not Pink Bar's victory was just a fluke, or can they eliminate the defending champs on Monday the 27th June. Only time will tell, as we will have to wait to see.
The next game is schedule for Saturday the 25th June where the Police will be taking on the Mighty Dolphins as they try to avoid elimination.
The game will be held at the Police Canteen and the Dolphin's Aquarium, starting at 7pm.
A member of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force has been slapped with charges of rape.
A release from Detective Sargeant Calvin Chase this afternoon, said Police have charged Police Constable Williamson Premilien for Rape and Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm in connection with a report made to the Grand Turk Police Station on Monday 20th June 2011.
In its release yesterday, Police said the serving officer of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force who was attacked, was off duty at the time of the alleged incident.
Premilien is scheduled to appear in the Grand Turk Magistrate?s Court on Wednesday the 29th of June 2011.
PC Premilien is now suspended from duty pending the outcome of this criminal matter.
The Commissioner of Police and other ranks of the Royal Turks and Caicos Island Police say they are deeply concerned by this alleged incident, but that the integrity of The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police remains foremost.
Bench warrant issued for one man in NIB matter
One man?s failure to show up in a National Insurance Board matter this week, resulted in a bench warrant issued against him.
On Monday June 20, Eustace Devon Williams of Devcon TCI Construction Company, was summoned to appear in the Providenciales Magistrate?s Court #2, Providenciales on 26 complaints of failing to pay national insurance contributions and additional charges.
A bench warrant was issued by the court as a result of Mr. Williams? failure to appear.
The matter was adjourned for mention on Thursday June 30th 2011.
Airbus and AirAsia announce record deal for 200 planes
Airbus piled up the orders at the Paris air show as it announced the largest single order of commercial aircraft in history.
Malaysia's low-cost carrier AirAsia is buying 200 of the A320neo jets, in a deal worth about $18bn (£11bn).
That eclipsed a deal on Wednesday, when India's IndiGo confirmed an order for 180 planes from Airbus.
The new versions of the A320 are in demand as their new engines make them more fuel-efficient and cheaper to run.
The AirAsia deal, worth about $15.6bn, is for 150 A320neos and 30 A320s. It is confirmation of a memorandum of understanding the two companies signed in January this year.
'Historic deal'
Airbus said that the AirAsia deal made the Malaysian carrier its biggest airline customer for its single-aisle product line.
Altogether, AirAsia has now placed firm orders for 375 aircraft from the A320 family, with 89 already in service.
"With this historic deal, AirAsia has secured its future with the ability to meet the huge growth potential offered by the Asian market," said Tony Fernandes, chief executive of AirAsia.
Airbus, owned by EADS, has left rival Boeing far behind in terms of orders at the event, as high fuel costs increase the demand for more fuel-efficient aircraft.
It has taken firm orders for 586 aircraft, worth about $55.8bn, with a further $29.5bn in provisional orders.
Boeing, meanwhile, has taken firm orders for just 47 planes, worth $7.5bn, with another $14.9bn placed in provisional orders.
Other manufacturers have also been signing contracts with airlines at the show.
Canada's Bombardier has received firm orders for 36 planes, with options for airlines to buy up to 26 more.
Russian-Italian joint venture Superjet International has signed a provisional deal to sell 12 Superjet 100 airliners to Italian carrier Blue Panorama Airlines for $370m.
The company, jointly-owned by Russia's Sukhoi and a unit of Italy's Finmeccanica, has 170 firm orders to date and delivered its first aircraft earlier this year.
Boeing's dilemma
Airbus estimates it has sold more than 700 A320neo jets so far.
"There is a possibility that we will be at 1,000 by the end of the show," said Airbus sales chief John Leahy.
According to the BBC's aerospace industry specialist, Jorn Madslien, the A320neos are proving popular because their two new engines are 15% more fuel efficient and 30% cheaper to maintain than current models.
But Airbus' success leaves Boeing with a very tough dilemma, our correspondent at the air show says.
The US planemaker's A320 rival is the 737, but the plane is very low, so fitting modern, fuel-efficient engines under its wings would be a tight squeeze.
Making it happen would require a new undercarriage, which is costly and difficult, as well as time-consuming, he says.
Saab says cannot pay employee wages
Swedish carmaker Saab has said it does not have enough money to pay its employees' wages.
Owner Swedish Automobile said it was in discussions with lenders to try and obtain short-term funding.
Earlier this month, the company said it had reached a deal with two Chinese firms to invest a total of 245m euros ($350m; £218m) in the company.
Production at Saab's main plant in Sweden is currently on hold after it was unable to pay suppliers.
Swedish Automobile and Saab Automobile are in discussions with various parties to obtain short-term funding, including via the sale and lease-back of the real estate of Saab that was announced previously, and with their financiers in connection with current financing arrangements," the company said in a statement.
However, it gave no assurances that it would be able to obtain the funding needed to pay wages.
Swedish Automobile, formerly known as Spyker Cars, bought Saab last year from General Motors following major restructuring at the US car giant.
The company is still struggling, however, selling only about 30,000 cars last year.
Chinese hope
Saab is hoping that the provisional deal struck with the two Chinese investors will help solve its longer-term financial difficulties.
Under the non-binding deal, Zhejian Youngman Lotus Automobile would invest 136m euros for a 29.9% stake, while Pang Da Automobile would increase its investment to 109m euros, retaining its previously-agreed 24% stake.
However, the deal needs approval from Chinese and European regulators and the European Investment Bank.
If the agreement does go through, both Swedish carmakers would have Chinese ownership.
Volvo was bought by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in August 2010.
Greece bail-out to dominate EU summit in Brussels
The threat of a Greek debt default undermining the euro overshadows an EU summit getting under way in Brussels.
The 27 EU leaders are expected to reaffirm their determination to defend the single currency.
But the BBC's Europe editor says there is little they can do until the Greek parliament votes on a new package of tough austerity measures next week.
Many economists think a Greek default is inevitable sooner or later - and that would hit confidence in the euro.
Prime Minister David Cameron is likely to insist again that the UK - which did not contribute to the first Greek bail-out last year - should not be involved in any second Greek rescue, our Europe editor Gavin Hewitt says.
Migration pressures are also on the agenda at the two-day summit.
The key question is whether, following an influx of migrants from North Africa this year, the EU's open borders policy should in exceptional circumstances be suspended.
Leaders are also expected to endorse and set a date for Croatia's accession to the EU - likely to be July 2013.
Anger on Athens streets
Greece's EU partners are anxious to see the Greek parliament approve a five-year austerity package of tax increases and spending cuts worth 28bn euros (£25bn; $40bn).
Greece will not get the next instalment of its 110bn-euro bail-out unless it adopts the measures. Yet many Greeks are angry, believing that their country is being sacrificed for the sake of the euro, and they have held mass protests and strikes against the EU's stringent bail-out conditions.
Trade unions in Greece have called a two-day general strike to coincide with next week's debate in parliament on the package.
Both private and public sector unions are protesting against the cuts.
Eurozone ministers recognise that Greece will need another big EU lifeline. On Sunday they agreed to put together a second bail-out package worth 120bn euros to fund Greece into late 2014.
In an interview on the BBC's Hardtalk programme French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe spoke of "a very strong determination in the [EU] member states to save what has been done in the past 50 years".
"We've no choice. If the eurozone disappeared the EU itself would be in danger - we can't afford such a situation," he said, insisting that "there will not be any default of Greece".
Former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt told the BBC that the Greek crisis was an opportunity for the 17-nation eurozone to build a closer economic union. He now leads the liberal bloc (ALDE) in the European Parliament.
"They need to create an economic union next to the monetary union, because monetary union cannot work alone," he told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.
"To have 17 different governments, with 17 different economic strategies, with 17 different markets, that doesn't work in monetary union.
"They have no choice. They are maybe not courageous enough to make the choice today, but I am very sure that this Greek crisis is not finished.
Federal Reserve cuts its US economic growth forecast
The Federal Reserve has cut its growth forecast for the US economy in the face of the impact of higher energy prices.
It now estimates that the US economy will expand between 2.7% and 2.9% this year, down from its April forecast of 3.1% to 3.3%.
The US central bank also warned that unemployment would remain stubbornly high throughout 2011.
Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said higher prices had hit consumer spending, but that they should start to fall.
Yet he further cautioned that weakness in the financial sector, and the continuing slump in the housing market, could also be holding back the economy - problems he said "may be stronger and more persistent than we thought".
Falling prices?
Regarding higher prices, Mr Bernanke said they were likely to only be "temporary".
"In particular, consumers' purchasing power has been damaged by higher food and energy prices," he said. "However some moderation in gasoline prices is now a prospect."
Mr Bernanke added that the US manufacturing sector, especially the car industry, had also been hit by supply problems due to the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.
However, he said such supply chain disruptions were "likely to dissipate in coming months".
Despite downgrading its growth forecast, the Federal Reserve confirmed that it would complete its $600bn (£373bn) bond buying programme by 30 June as planned, and announced no further measures to boost the economy.
Analyst Nick Bennenbroek at Wells Fargo in New York said that the Federal Reserve's statement "disappointed investors".
Rates held
The central bank's latest economic growth estimate was released after its policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to keep US interest rates on hold for the 22nd meeting in succession - as had been expected.
US interest rates have now been between 0% and 0.25% since December 2008 in an effort to boost economic growth.
The Federal Reserve said rates would probably remain at this level "for an extended period".
Regarding unemployment, the central bank said the jobless rate would probably average between 8.6% and 8.9% towards the end of the year, down from 9.1% in May.
On its inflation estimate, the Federal Reserve said the picture was little changed, and that it should average between 2.3% and 2.5% this year.
Greek situation
Mr Bernanke also addressed the continuing debt woes of Greece in his press conference.
With the Greek parliament now due to vote next week on the latest round of spending cuts the European Union says is necessary before it gets another vital loan, Mr Bernanke said the situation was of concern to the US.
"If there were a failure to resolve that [Greek debt] situation it would pose threats to the European financial system, the global financial system, and to European political unity," he said.
"So yes, we did discuss it and it is one of several potential financial risks that we are facing now."
Obama Orders 33,000 Troops Out of Afghanistan
U.S. President Barack Obama goes to New York Thursday to promote his plan to withdraw 33,000 American troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2012.
Mr. Obama is due to meet with soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York. It is one of the most frequently deployed
divisions to Afghanistan.
In a White House address Wednesday, President Obama declared that “the tide of war is receding” and said the first 10,000 American troops will pull out of Afghanistan by the end of this year. The remaining troops from the surge announced in December of 2009 will come home next year, with U.S. forces continuing their withdrawal at a “steady pace” as Afghan forces take the lead.
Some 100,000 American troops are serving in Afghanistan.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Thursday that he welcomes the withdrawal of U.S. troops, adding that “the people of Afghanistan will be protecting their homeland.” He said he considers the decision to be in “the interest of both countries.” However, the Taliban in Afghanistan said the plan was “only a symbolic step” that will not satisfy “the war-weary international community or the American people.”
The Afghan war has become increasingly unpopular with the American public. With a trillion dollars spent on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in the last decade, President Obama acknowledged it was time to focus on “nation-building at home.”
The president said that by 2014, the process of transition in Afghanistan will be complete, with Afghans taking responsibility for their own security.
Mr. Obama's announcement Wednesday on troop levels is seen as more aggressive than a slower drawdown called for by some military commanders. Still, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he supported the president's decision.
In his 13-minute speech, President Obama noted that al-Qaida is under more pressure than at any time since the September 11 terrorist attacks and is on a “path to defeat.” U.S. special forces killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on May 2.
In Afghanistan, the president said U.S. forces have inflicted losses on the Taliban and taken a number of the insurgent group's strongholds.
Mr. Obama acknowledged that the war in Afghanistan can not end without some kind of political settlement. He expressed support for Afghan-led reconciliation talks with members of the Taliban who are willing to break from al-Qaida, abandon violence, and abide by the Afghan constitution.
The president also said U.S. efforts must address terrorist safe havens in Afghanistan's neighbor, Pakistan.
Mr. Obama added the United States will work with the Pakistani government to root out the “cancer of violent extremism” and insist that Pakistan keep its commitments.
The president also said the United States must chart “a more centered course, ” responding to threats with a “targeted force” and not necessarily deploying large armies overseas.
At least 1,500 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of the war in 2001. The United States spends more than $110 billion a year on the conflict.