Trinidad police service needs purging says justice minister
Trinidad and Tobago justice minister, Herbet Volney is promising to eradicate criminality within the police service, insisting that this is one of the most significant impediments in the fight against crime.
Volney made the disclosure on Friday afternoon while outlining legislation in the Ministry of Justice Bill in parliament, which seeks to amend certain measures to provide for vesting powers in the minister of justice.
The Guardian newspaper reported that, touching on the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) headed by retired judge, Gilliam Lucky, Volney said this institution would help in eradicating corruption, misconduct and questionable behaviour by police officers in the line of duty.
Volney also noted that the PCA has "seen a doubling in the number of complaints on a daily basis".
The Authority, Volney explained, met a backlog of 1,000 complaints and they are moving speedily to address this.
"Plans are afoot to recruit suitable persons who can assist in the rapid mobilisation of this Authority since the criminality which exists in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service has been identified as one of the most significant impediments in the national fight against crime,” he said.
COMMISSIONER NOT LEAVING HAPPY WITH BARRACKS SITUATATION
Outgoing Commissioner of Police Edward Hall has lamented that one of his biggest disappointments upon leaving in two months time is that the police barracks for his officers were never improved or built under his watch
Hall speaking at perhaps his last press conference as Police commissioner said that for years he complained of the situation to Chief Ministers and now the Governor and nothing was done, but he remains hopeful that there will be better living conditions for his men and women
“It has always been my aim to have officers comfortably housed in accommodations where they feel relaxed and invigorated in terms of coming to work and return to accommodations which are relaxing and ease their minds. It was always my vision to have officers n efficiency apartments as opposed to a barrack room, I have tried to get that for our officers and still trying,” said Hall.
Hall along with his deputy Hubert Hughes will be steping down shortly as new Canadian senior officers take up the post with the aim to reduce crime in the TCI
ENFORCE SEA FOOD BAN
Neighboring Bahamas has called on authorities to adopt a policy that is held in the most stern regards n the Turks and Caicos Islands- the closure of the lobster season
RTC has learnt that assistant fisheries superintendent of the Bahamas Clement Campbell has told Ministers that the Bahamas should follow the example of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and implement a stringent ban on seafood being sold at restaurants outside of the season.
The crawfish season is closed from March 31 - August 1.
Campbell pointed out that there are several eating establishments that can be found during this time period offering menu options made from this crustacean. The popularity of the crawfish as a delicacy has unfortunately led some unscrupulous persons to harvest undersized crawfish in an attempt to meet the demand for it.
He outlined how the TCI uses the full extent of the law and regular sea patrols to ensure that the season remains closed so they can reap a bountiful harvest at the start of every season.
"What I would like to see is that when the crawfish season is closed there is no crawfish available for the four months. If anyone says they can't eat crawfish for four months, something has to be wrong with them," he said. “As small as Turks and Caicos is, that's their law, and they execute it. So why can't we do the same thing?"
Back in November, Campbell brought to the attention of the media the fact that persons catching undersized lobster are becoming cleverer in smuggling the illegal goods, taking the crawfish out of the shell before packaging it for sale, making it nearly impossible to determine its size.
BISHOP MICHAEL HARTLEY ELDON PASSES AWAY
The Anglican Church of The Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos Islands is in mourning due to the death of their beloved Bishop - Michael Hartley Eldon.
The Bishop was born on 8th August, 1931 and he passed away at 12:50 a.m. this morning (Monday 7th February, 2011).
The Bishop fell ill on January 31st 2005, and was hospitalized in Nassau. Shortly thereafter he fell into a coma and was in that state until he died this morning. He was being looked after at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau for the last year.
Bishop Eldon was the first Bahamian to serve as Bishop of the Diocese. He was consecrated Bishop of New Providence on 24 June 1971. He became Diocesan Bishop in April, 1972. He served in that capacity for 24 years until his retirement 31st August 1996. Since 1st September, 1996, he has been an Assistant Bishop of the Diocese.
He was ordained Deacon on 22 July 1954 and priest on 10 August 1955. Because of his scholastic attainment at an early age, a young Deacon Michal Eldon taught Mathematics at St. John’s College, the first Bahamian to teach there.
Michael Eldon was a popular, beloved, gentle people’s person. He had a deep faith in God and high hopes for people. He was passionate about improving people and their lot. He loved the Church, loved being in Church and loved the worship of the Church.
As a priest and as a bishop he was known as a pastor, a carer and a listener. He was particularly passionate about developing indigenous clergy and about helping our clergy to be their best.
As a Bishop he travelled the islands extensively. He knew every island and community well and had a phenomenal memory; it was absolutely amazing how he knew Anglicans and others from all over the Bahamas and could say who they were and who their parents were and which settlement they were from. On many visits to Salt Cay, he promised church members that when he retired he would come to live there.
Michael Eldon made his contribution and employed his passion for Anglicans and for the wider Bahamian and Turks and Caicos Islands community.
In every respect he was a GIANT OF A MAN.
The TCI Community extends its condolences to his sister and other relatives; and the Anglican Church Family – especially Canon Mark Kendall, Canon Lamuel Been and Fr Bernard Been.
CAPTAIN TON ENSURES POLICE ADVANCE TO THE FINALS
A superb century from Police Captain Garvin Bruno ensured that Police beat the Jamaican All-Stars to advance to the Finals as the Minster Energy Drink Cricket Competition continued on Saturday 5th February 2011 at the Down Town Ball Park.
The All-Stars won the toss and asked the Police to take the first Strike who then posted a massive total of 261 runs for 6 wickets from 20 overs. Garvin Bruno made 112 runs which was decorated with13 fours and five sixes and Damian St Ange made boundary –filled 56 Runs ten fours and one six and Marcus Charlemagne chipped in with forty runs which consisted of six fours.
Bowling for The All-Stars Tyrone Wright claimed 3wickets for forty eight runs from four overs and Ian Heath took two wickets for forty two runs from four overs.
When the All- Stars batted the reached 155 runs for 8 wickets from 20 overs.
Top scorers were Calvin Aaron with 32 runs and Gareth Butler with 31 runs
Bowling for the Police Vaurice Jervis Captured 3 wickets for 31 runs from 4 overs and Garvin Bruno
had 2 wickets for 12 runs from 3 overs.
Meanwhile as the competition continued on Sunday 6th February 2011 at the same venue, Beaches remain unbeaten to move on to the finals as the washed away Quality.
Quality won the toss and elected to bat first and made 134 runs for 8 wickets from 20 overs .The topscorer was Naga kuthalingham with 38 runs and Pawan Kumar contributed 31 runs
Bowling foe Beaches Odayne Ewart bagged 3 wickets for 23 runs from 4 overs and Jesse Alexander took 2 wickets for 16 runs from 4 overs.
Beaches, in reply reached 135 runs for 2 wickets from 13.4 overs .Jesse Alexander was the top scorer with an unbeaten 59 runs and Odayne Ewart scored 33 runs.
Bowling for quality Andy Kuthalingham took 1 wicket for 24 runs from 4 overs.
The final is set for Sunday with Police taking on Beaches .Match Starts at 12 pm.
AOL buying Huffington Post for $315 million
Online company AOL Inc. is buying online news hub Huffington Post in a $315 million deal that represents a bold bet on the future of online news.
The deal announced early Monday puts a high-profile exclamation point on a series of acquisitions and strategic moves engineered by AOL CEO Tim Armstrong in an effort to reshape a struggling Internet icon. AOL was once the king of dial-up online access known for its ubiquitous CD-ROMs and "You've got mail" greeting in its inboxes.
Perhaps just as important as picking up a news site that ranks as one of the top 10 current events and global news destinations, AOL will be adding Huffington Post co-founder and media star Arianna Huffington to its management team as part of the deal.
After the acquisition closes later this year, Huffington will be put in charge of AOL's growing array of content, which includes popular technology sites Endgadget and TechCrunch, local news sites Patch.com and online mapping service Mapquest.
The price that AOL is paying is "really just the hiring fee to get Arianna," said technology analyst Rob Enderle. "This is one of those out-of-left-field moves that actually makes a lot of sense. This could put AOL back on the map."
Armstrong, a former Google Inc. executive, has been trying to turn AOL into a go-to place for a wide variety of news since he was hired to turn around the company in April 2009 while it was still a part of Time Warner Inc. The makeover is designed to give Web surfers a reason to visit AOL's websites more frequently to help boost online ad sales.
'Gutsy move'
At the same time, Armstrong has laid off hundreds of employees in an effort to boost AOL's financial performance and stock price. It has been a slog so far. AOL lost $782.5 million last year, largely because of accounting charges, and the company's stock is now worth slightly less than after it was spun out of Time Warner 14 months ago.
AOL eliminated an estimated 2,500 jobs last year, The New York Times reported, while Huffington Post has increased its staff threefold in recent years to its current group of more than 200.
As part of the deal AOL news sites such as Politics Daily and Daily Finance could shut down, their writers transitioning over to Huffington Post, The Times report said, citing sources with knowledge of the deal who asked not to be identified because the final plan is still in the works.
The deal "will create a next-generation American media company with global reach that combines content, community, and social experiences for consumers," Armstrong said in a statement announcing the deal.
Founded in 2005, Huffington Post is owned by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer and a group of other investors. The site attracts 25 million monthly visitors. AOL will pay $300 million of the purchase price in cash.
On a conference call with analysts, AOL Chief Financial Officer Arthur Minson said the company expects Huffington Post will generate $50 million in revenue this year, with a profit margin of 30 percent.
Minson said the deal will save AOL $20 million a year by allowing it to eliminate operations that overlap with Huffington Post.
Putting Arianna Huffington into a position of power could eventually threaten Armstrong's job security if AOL still struggles, Enderle said.
"This is a gutsy move (Armstrong's) part because Arianna could end up running AOL," Enderle said.
'To the next level'
In a blog post about the deal, Arianna Huffington praised Armstrong's vision for AOL and said they were on the same page as they discussed their ambitions for online news. "We were practically finishing each other's sentences," Huffington wrote about their discussions. She wrote that the deal was signed at the Super Bowl in Dallas, which she and Armstrong attended.
"The Huffington Post has already been growing at a prodigious rate. But my New Year's resolution for 2011 was to take HuffPost to the next level — not just incrementally, but exponentially," Huffington said on her blog.
She said the Huffington Post decided early this year to expand into more local news coverage, launch international sections (starting with HuffPost Brazil) and increase original video content.
Purchase by AOL, with its network of blogs such as AutoBlog, Music, AOL Latino, Black Voices, its local news operation Patch.com and new video-production studios, will allow these goals to be met, she said.
"Far from changing our editorial approach, our culture, or our mission, this moment will be for HuffPost like stepping off a fast-moving train and onto a supersonic jet," she said.
If it wins expected regulatory approval without any hitches, the deal will likely close in late March or early April.
Armstrong has been an aggressive deal maker since his arrival, but this marks by far the biggest acquisition of his tenure. Various published reports quoting unidentified people have also said he has talked to private equity firms about the possibility of trying to buy Yahoo Inc., another struggling Internet pioneer that remains a household name. Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, though, has shown little interest in working with AOL.
AOL had just a 5.3 percent share of the U.S. display advertising revenue in 2010, down from 6.8 percent in 2009, according to eMarketer. Facebook, meanwhile, accounted for 13.6 percent of display revenue last year, up from 7.3 percent in 2009.
Huffington Post grew quickly from startup to online colossus and ranks as one of the top 10 current events and global news sites. Over time, it launched city-specific pages and developed a roster of sections such as food and books. The work of its paid staff is augmented by content from news outlets and 6,000 bloggers who write for free.
Source: The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Egypt protesters unmoved by talks
Talks between the Egyptian government and opposition groups on tackling the country's political crisis have failed to end protests in central Cairo.
Crowds of protesters, who have occupied the city's Tahrir Square for two weeks, say they will only leave when President Hosni Mubarak stands down.
The government offered a series of concessions at Sunday's talks, but the opposition said they were not enough.
US President Obama has said Egypt will not "go back to what it was".
Opposition groups met members of the government on Sunday to discuss how to resolve the stand-off which has paralysed the country and left some 300 people dead.
Vice-President Omar Suleiman hosted the talks. Six groups were represented, including a coalition of youth organisations, a group of "wise men" and the banned Muslim Brotherhood in its first ever meeting with the government.
Egyptian state TV said the participants had agreed to form a joint committee of judicial and political figures tasked with suggesting constitutional amendments.
But opposition leaders said they were sceptical of the government's motives and that the measures did not go far enough.
The Muslim Brotherhood said it would only take part in future talks if the government made progress on meeting its demands that Mr Mubarak resign, parliament be resolved, emergency laws lifted and all political prisoners released.
Senior Brotherhood figure Essam el-Erian told reporters the authorities had responded to some of the demands but only in "a superficial way."
'Grapple with reality'
Leading opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei - who was not at the talks but sent a representative to meet Vice-President Suleiman separately - described the process as "opaque".
He said he was proposing a one-year transitional period where Egypt would be run by a three-member presidential council as it prepared for elections.
President Mubarak has so far refused to resign, saying that to do so would cause chaos. He has instead said he will not stand for re-election in September.
But US President Barack Obama has insisted that an "orderly transition" must begin immediately.
In an interview with Fox news on Sunday, he said: "The Egyptian people want freedom, they want free and fair elections, they want a representative government, and so what we've said is, you have to start a transition now."
He added that the US could not dictate to Mr Mubarak what he should do, but that it could advise him "the time is now for you to start making a change in that country".
Later on Sunday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared to caution Egypt against a rush to replace its leader of 30 years.
"As I understand the constitution, if the president were to resign, he would be succeeded by the speaker of the house, and presidential elections would have to be held in 60 days," she said.
"Now the Egyptians are going to have to grapple with the reality of what they must do."
Mrs Clinton also praised Mr Mubarak for the compromises he had already put in place, including his pledge that neither he nor his son, Gamal, would run for office in the next elections.
It was widely believed that Gamal Mubarak was being groomed to take over the leadership from his father.
"They have to be viewed as an important set of steps that he has taken," the AFP news agency quoted Mrs Clinton as saying.
Tens of thousands again joined demonstrations in Cairo and other cities on Sunday, although the authorities have been attempting to restore a sense of normality to the capital.
The government is seeking to revive an economy said to be losing at least $310m (£192m) a day.
Many shops, factories and the stock exchange have been closed, and basic goods have been running short.
On Sunday banks in Cairo opened for the first time in a week, drawing long queues as people waited to withdraw money.
Correspondents say many Egyptians have been wondering how quickly daily life will return to normal regardless of the outcome of the struggle for power.
Christina Aguilera goofs up the national anthem
Perhaps she was too concerned with breaking Patti LaBelle's record for turning single-syllable words into entire paragraphs during the singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner," but noted ex-teen queen Christina Aguilera botched the national anthem something fierce before the Super Bowl. Aguilera started out all right, but she had a problem with the ramparts -- specifically, the "O'er the ramparts we watched" line, which she left out altogether.
Aguilera tried to make up for it by combining two lines -- "What so proudly we watched," instead of "What so proudly we hailed", but let's just say that it was too late to reverse the error. Twitter blew up, and all Aguilera could do was to oversing every word from there on out, which she most certainly did.
It was a fitting tribute for a Super Bowl that has seen procedural errors all over the place, from the inability of the city of Dallas to deal with unusual weather to the last-minute news that 400 unlucky people would not get to sit in their paid-for seats.
Bonus goof-up points for the flyover at the end of the song -- too bad nobody saw it, what with the roof closed at Cowboys Stadium and all.
Of course, Aguilera's not the first person to goof up the National Anthem in front of a huge audience -- we all remember what Roseanne Barr did to the poor song at a San Diego Padres game a few years back, and the considerably more talented Macy Gray messed it up at the 2001 Hall of Fame game in her hometown of Canton, Ohio, drawing boos from the crowd.
It's a nervewracking situation, and flubbing a line is understandable. However, newly-minted Hall of Famer Deion Sanders of the NFL Network has already tweeted some damage control on Ms. Aguilera's behalf. It's about as feasible as the league's take on all the other mini-disasters of the week
Black Eyed Peas Vs. Tron: A Super Bowl Contest No One Wins
As it turns out, there are far, far duller ways to pass the time at a half-time show than counting the wrinkles on classic rockers. Like counting the times in just the past few months we've seen the Black Eyed Peas on television doing pretty much this same schtick they did at the Super Bowl. If you want to make sure you have the least anticipated Bowl half-time in modern history, a sure bet is to book a group that would show up to play a supermarket ribbon-cutting.
We all know why this happened. The Super Bowl's producers spent the last few years trying to avoid any chance of another wardrobe malfunction, after the Janet 'n' Justin fracas, resulting in a succession of post-50 superstars like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, and the Who. But the Bowl honchos were apparently susceptible to the criticism that this made them appear old and out of touch. So when they reversed that trend and booked the Black Eyed Peas this year, it was clear they were out to court the youth audience and avoid age malfunction.
But there might not have been this uneventful a Bowl intermission since the Up With People era of no-name half-time shows. Come back, AARP-rockers... all is forgiven.
What could the Peas possibly do that we hadn't already burned out on? Bring out the Tron dancers, as it turns out. If you felt like Tron Legacy missed a bet by not having Jeff Bridges lead a war platoon's worth of boogying hoofers at the climax, Super Bowl XLV made up for that missed opportunity.
Also, Usher did the splits. We can only imagine the legions of seamstresses employed to make sure those pants could survive nuclear fission.
Otherwise, it was been there, seen-and-heard that. Special guest star Slash, playing lead guitar while Fergie sang "Sweet Child of Mine"? That was a yawner back when they did it on the U2 tour a couple of pop eons ago. Dancers with boxes on their heads? That conceptual gambit isn't any fresher now than it was when the Peas brought out the box-heads on multiple TV appearances last fall.
The live-or-Memorex questions that typically fly after a halftime show were rendered moot here. The Peas' hits usually involve more shouting than singing, anyway, so staying on pitch was not going to pose many problems except in a handful of Fergie moments. When Will.i.am sings nowadays, it's through the most blatantly distorted AutoTune in the first place, so the real question is how faithfully his vocals' robotic nature could be replicated just as robotically. Usher's singing was clearly less live when he came out to perform "Oh My God," but the camera angles made it tough to tell if he was even pretending to sing, before he pulled off the leap-and-spread stunt that was his cameo appearance's sole raison d'etre.
Still, the cast of seeming thousands on the field was more fun to watch than the usual fake fans brought in to cheer the oldies acts. Initially appearing all in white, they appeared like the universe's most enthusiastic cult, before scattering across the field like schools of fish and switching on their Christmas lights.
It all seemed like a commercial for something, following directly on the heels of an ad for a product having to do with "the cloud" that featured animated versions of the BEPs. But what were they selling? Was it "love"? (Or "LOIE," as the lighted platforms seemed to spell it out, possibly due to a short-out from one of those dancing black lights?)
As Steve Martin tweeted after halftime: "I learned so much about love during the halftime show. Andthen at the end when it said, 'The Beginning,' I thought 'Wow.' Just. Wow."
Ah yes—in lieu of the obvious soda deal, this was all a commercial for The Beginning, the BEPs album that currently sits at No. 26 on the sales chart, after just nine weeks of release. That's right: This week, the Black Eyed Peas are less popular than the Black Keys (see: chart position No. 20).
Way to anticipate that youthful zeitgeist, Super Bowl producers! For 2012, we can only hope for P. Diddy and some swing-dancing Star Wars stormtroopers.
Source:Stop the Press
Thailand, Cambodia trade shots, charges over ancient temple
Fighting flared for a third straight day Sunday along the Thai-Cambodian border over a disputed ancient temple despite a reported ceasefire and international efforts to soothe tensions.
At least seven people -- two villagers and five soldiers -- were wounded after a new gunfight broke out shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday evening, Thai Army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd told his nation's state-run MCOT media outlet.
The skirmish came a day after the two sides agreed to a ceasefire, according to the official Thai report.
Earlier, Thai Army Lt. Gen. Thawatchai Samutsakorn told MCOT that the situation along the border was returning to normal Sunday.
Several shops in the Kantharalak district reopened earlier Sunday, and some villagers had gone back to their homes -- though the later report noted that residents were evacuated again to temporary bunkers. Twenty schools planned to remain shuttered through at least Wednesday on the government's orders.
The clashes stem from a longstanding conflict related to the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple. The building sits on a cliff in Cambodian territory, but the most accessible entrance to the site is on the Thai side.
Gunfire erupted Friday near the site, followed by more skirmishes Saturday. A Thai Army spokesman said one soldier was killed Saturday, and four others were injured. Earlier, the country's health minister told the MCOT news agency that one Thai villager was killed by artillery shells fired by Cambodian troops.
A Cambodian official, who was not named, said 10 of its soldiers and civilians were killed or injured in Friday and Saturday fighting, state-run Cambodian news outlet AKP reported. The official said Cambodian authorities had also captured five Thai troops, including four on Friday.
The United Nations weighed in on the dispute Sunday, with a statement from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's press office saying he is "deeply concerned" by the clashes. The world body's leader urged discussion over military confrontations, in "a spirit of dialogue and good neighborly relations."
"The Secretary-General appeals to both sides to put in place effective arrangements for cessation of hostilities and to exercise maximum restraint," the U.N. statement said. "The United Nations remains at their disposal to assist in these peaceful efforts."
On Saturday, Cambodia had formally complained in a letter to the U.N. about what it described as "intense shelling" with mortar rounds Saturday morning following an alleged armed incursion by Thai troops on Friday, according to state-run AKP news.
In the letter, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen pointed to the "explosive situation at the border," alleging that 300 Thai troops on Friday "entered Cambodian territory and attacked Cambodian troops at three locations" about 500 meters (a third of a mile) from the temple. The letter also alludes to similar "acts of aggression" in 2008 and 2009 by Thai forces.
Besides the human toll, the letter claimed that the temple itself had suffered damage in the shelling and firefights.
"Facing this flagrant aggression, Cambodian troops had no option but to retaliate in self-defense in order to safeguard Cambodia's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the letter states.
The recent Thai military actions violate the 1991 Paris Peace Accord, U.N. Charter and a 1962 judgment from the International Court of Justice, the letter claims.
Thai Prime Minister Abhist Vejjajiva denied that his nation's troops had attacked Cambodian forces, telling reporters they only acted in self-defense to protect their homeland's own sovereignty, according to MCOT. That report indicated Thailand, too, had sent a letter to the United Nations about the situation.
On Sunday, the Thai leader tried to downplay the need for outside intervention to resolve the dispute, including an offer from ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan -- Thailand's former foreign minister and now head of the southeast Asian alliance -- to mediate.
The United States urged Thailand and Cambodia on Friday to show "maximum restraint." Events were being closely monitored, according to State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, and both sides were called on to "take all necessary steps to reduce tensions and avoid further conflict."
Conflict over the Preah Vihear site has taken place periodically for years. In 1962, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, ruled that the site was in Cambodia, adding that the structure was "an outstanding masterpiece of Khmer architecture."
But Thailand says that the 1.8 square-mile (4.6 square-kilometer) area around Preah Vihear was never fully demarcated, and blames a map drawn at the beginning of the 20th century during the French occupation of Cambodia.
In July 2008, the United Nations approved Cambodia's application to have the temple listed as a World Heritage Site -- meaning the U.N. believes the place has outstanding universal value.