Bolivia: Coca-chewing protest outside US embassy
Indigenous activists in Bolivia have been holding a mass coca-chewing protest as part of campaign to end an international ban on the practice.
Hundreds of people chewed the leaf outside the US embassy in La Paz and in other cities across the country.
Bolivia wants to amend a UN drugs treaty that bans chewing coca, which is an ancient tradition in the Andes.
But the US has said it will veto the amendment because coca is also the raw material for making cocaine.
The protesters outside the US embassy also displayed products made from coca, including soft drinks, toothpaste, sweets and ointments.
They were supporting a Bolivian government campaign to amend the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs to remove language that bans the chewing of coca leaf.
The convention stipulates that coca-chewing be eliminated within 25 years of the convention coming into effect in 1964.
Bolivia says that is discriminatory, given that coca use is so deeply rooted in the indigenous culture of the Andes.
The US is opposed to changing the UN convention because it says it would weaken the fight against cocaine production.
In a statement, the US embassy said Washington recognised coca-chewing as a "traditional custom" of Bolivia's indigenous peoples but could not support the amendment.
"The position of the US government in not supporting the amendment is based on the importance of maintaining the integrity of the UN convention, which is an important tool in the fight against drug-trafficking," it said.
The US is the world's largest consumer of cocaine and has been leading efforts to eradicate coca production in the Andes for decades.
Bolivia is the world's first biggest producer of cocaine after Peru and Colombia, and much of its coca crop is used to make the illegal drug.
Bolivian President Evo Morales has long advocated the recognition of coca as a plant of great medicinal, cultural and religious importance that is distinct from cocaine.
As well as being Bolivia's first indigenous head of state, Mr Morales is also a former coca-grower and leader of a coca-growers trade union.
The Bolivian amendment would come into effect on 31 January only if there were no objections.
BBC World Service cuts outlined to staff
The BBC has confirmed plans to close five of its 32 World Service language services.
Staff have been informed that up to 650 jobs will be lost from a workforce of 2,400 over the next three years.
The Macedonian, Albanian and Serbian services will be axed, as will English for the Caribbean and Portuguese for Africa, in a bid to save £46m a year.
The BBC estimates audiences will fall by more than 30 million, from 180 million to 150 million a week.
Director general Mark Thompson said it was "a painful day" for the BBC.
Writing in the Telegraph, he said the cuts would "inevitably have a significant impact on the audiences who use and rely upon the relevant services".
Yet he said they were "consistent with our long-range international goals and strategy" and that "supporters of the international role of the BBC should not despair".
The service, which started broadcasting in 1932, currently costs £272m a year and has an audience of 241 million worldwide across radio, television and online.
Last October the government announced the BBC would take over the cost of the World Service from the Foreign Office from 2014.
According to Mr Thompson, the cuts were necessary due to last autumn's Spending Review.
Radio programming in seven languages - Azeri (the official language of Azerbaijan), Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Spanish for Cuba, Turkish, Vietnamese and Ukrainian - will end as part of the plans.
Instead there will be more focus on online, mobile and TV content distribution in these languages.
The World Service will also cease short-wave transmission of six more services in March 2011 - Hindi, Indonesian, Kyrgyz, Nepali, Swahili and the Great Lakes service (for Rwanda and Burundi).
In a written statement to MPs, Foreign Secretary William Hague said the cuts in funding required "difficult decisions to be made".
"We agreed with the BBC that the overall objective was to ensure the World Service should remain an articulate and powerful voice for Britain in the world, and a trusted provider of impartial and independent news."
In Parliament, Mr Hague said the World Service had initally suggested to the Foreign Office the closure of up to 13 language services but he had refused to give permission.
He said the World Service had a "viable and promising future", but was "not immune from public spending constraints".
"It is absolutely right for the World Service to move more services to online and mobile," he said. "That is the way the world is going.
"The World Service has to move with the future, and of course some services have to close."
The BBC said two-thirds of jobs would go in the first 12 months.
Unions have called the moves "ferocious" and have condemned the "drastic cuts".
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Jeremy Dear, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), said that the World Service was "vital" and "should be protected".
The NUJ said it would hold a demonstration outside the World Service headquarters in central London on Wednesday.
It has also written to the chairman of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, Richard Ottaway, and the chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, John Whittingdale, calling on them to review the plans.
According to the NUJ, the "drastic cuts" would "severely damage the national interest of the UK".
"These ferocious cuts to a valued national service are ultimately the responsibility of the coalition government, whose policies are destroying quality public services in the UK," Mr Dear said.
Broadcasting union Bectu has also expressed dismay, saying the cuts "must be challenged".
It said the union "expects calls for industrial action" and that "at this stage we cannot rule anything in or out".
BBC global news director Peter Horrocks said the closures were "not a reflection on the performance of individual services or programmes".
"They are all extremely important to their audiences and to the BBC," he said.
"It is simply that there is a need to make savings due to the scale of the cuts to the BBC World Service's grant-in-aid funding from the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
"We need to focus our efforts in the languages where there is the greatest need and where we have the strongest impact."
Former World Service managing director Sir John Tusa described the cuts as "bad, bad, bad".
Protesters in Egypt greeted by a police crackdown
Protesters taking to the streets in Egypt on Wednesday felt the wrath of security forces, a day after an unparalleled display of public rage at the government and full-throated cries for the ouster of the longtime president.
Police turned water cannons and tear gas on protesters in the early hours of Wednesday morning to try to break up anti-government demonstrations as the Interior Ministry warned it "will not allow any provocative movement or a protest or rallies or demonstrations."
In the heart of Cairo, where people were being beaten with sticks and fists and demonstrators were being dragged away amid tear gas. Witnesses saw security forces harassing journalists and photographers. Demonstrations continued into the nightime hours.
A minor clash happened in Suez, as well, according to the Interior Ministry.
The ministry urged "citizens to renounce attempts to bid and trade their problems and not lose sight of the consequences of provocation for those who attempt to try to open the door to a state of chaos or portray the situation in the country this way."
The clampdown comes after thousands of protesters spilled into the streets of Egypt on Tuesday, an unprecedented display of anti-government rage inspired in part by the tumult in the nearby North African nation of Tunisia.
At least four people died in the Tuesday clashes, the Interior Ministry reported -- three protesters in Suez and one police officer in Cairo. It also said at least 102 security personnel were injured.
The Interior Ministry put the size of the Tuesday demonstration in Cairo's Tahrir Square at 10,000 at its peak, falling to 5,000. CNN estimated that demonstration peaked at 15,000 to 20,000.
But Wednesday is a work day in Egypt, so the numbers on the streets of Cairo were lower than they were on Tuesday, a holiday known as Police Day.
Protesters had been expressing their anger over the rising cost of living, failed economic policies and corruption, but all those concerns were distilled into one overriding demand: the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, a reliable American ally who's been in power for three decades.
Egyptian authorities have been aware of complaints, but protesters widely believe that the government has simply paid lip service to their grievances.
Protest organizers on Facebook called for "strikes and marches in populous neighborhoods" Wednesday, but did not outline specific plans.
"Tomorrow has to be spontaneous and must be in the more populous neighborhoods and not set for any particular time," the post said.
"Entering Tahrir Square will be dangerous and the response of security forces will be overwhelming," the post said, referring to the location of the largest protest Tuesday.
There is talk among protesters about staging a big demonstration on Friday, after Muslim prayers.
Twitter was blocked in Egypt on Tuesday, the microblogging site said, adding: "We believe that the open exchange of info & views benefits societies & helps govts better connect w/ their people."
Protesters used social media including Twitter and Facebook to organize the demonstrations and to communicate during the day.
Magdi Radi, spokesman for Egypt's prime minister, told CNN that the government "didn't block Facebook, Twitter or any other website. He said that "the websites may have been slow because of the heavy usage."
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, a human rights group, on Wednesday underscored a "national demand" -- the dismissal of Interior Minister Habib Al-Adli.
"Yesterday, disengagement of peaceful gatherings by using excessive force was added to his crimes as well as arbitrary arrests of hundreds of citizens and detaining them in illegal locations, such as security camps of Darrasa in Cairo and Madinet elSalam at the outskirts of Cairo, two locations completely controlled by the Interior Ministry."
The group said police "turned into monsters attacking demonstrators , especially small clusters in side streets, without distinction between an elderly man or a woman or youth."
Organizers said they hope to capture the regional momentum for political change set by Tunisians, who forced the collapse of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's 23-year rule.
But Mubarak, unlike Ben Ali, remains in his country. Stories that Mubarak or any other member of his family left Egypt are categorically false," said Karim Haggag, Egyptian Embassy spokesman in Washington.
Calling its relationship with Egypt "strong and friendly," the U.S. State Department regards Mubarak's help in maintaining security in the Mideast as critical.
The government, which has diplomatic relations with Israel, has helped forge peace between Israel and the Palestinians and has helped in efforts to stabilize Iraq, the State Department said.
It contributes to U.N. peacekeeping missions, "played a key role during the 1990-1991 Gulf crisis," and is a "key supporter of U.S. efforts against terrorists and terrorist organizations such as Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, the department said in a background note about Egypt.
U.S. military aid to Egypt totals over $1.3 billion annually, and the U.S. Agency for International Development has passed along over $28 billion in economic and development assistance to the country since 1975.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says the Obama administration continues to monitor the situation. He believes all parties should refrain from violence and that authorities should lift bans on protests.
He reiterated the position that "Egypt is a strong ally."
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh spoke to reporters about the ferment in the Arab world.
Clinton urged freedom for people and called on Egyptian authorities not to block social media. She urged the countries in the region to enact reforms and expressed optimism that the leaders there can do so.
"It is something that everyone knows must be on the agenda of the government as they -- not just respond to the protests -- but as they look beyond to what needs to be done economically, socially, politically. And there are a lot of very well-informed, active, civil society leaders in Egypt who have put forward specific ideas for reform and we are encouraging and urging the Egyptian government to be responsive to that."
Jordan has experienced demonstrations over economic issues, and the foreign minister was asked whether the protests that raged in Tunisia and Egypt will spread.
Judeh said Jordan doesn't exist in an economic bubble and faces hardships other lands endure. But he said the country is tackling a political and economic reform agenda and its system promotes freedom of expression.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela hospitalized
Former South African President Nelson Mandela has been hospitalized for "routine tests," his foundation said Wednesday.
"Mr. Mandela is at Milpark Hospital undergoing routine tests," the Nelson Mandela Foundation said in a statement. "He is in no danger and is in good spirits."
Mandela was flown to the Johannesburg hospital Wednesday from Cape Town, where he was on vacation, said a source close to the Mandela family who is not authorized to speak to the media.
Activity at the hospital continued as usual Wednesday afternoon, the South African Press Association said.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa told the press association on Tuesday that Mandela is "frail."
"I saw him last week," Tutu said from Cape Town. "He was all right. I mean, he's 92 ... and he's frail."
Mandela rarely makes public appearances. His last appearance was at the closing ceremonies of the World Cup in South Africa over the summer.
He recently released a new memoir, "Conversations With Myself."
Under South Africa's apartheid regime, Mandela spent 27 years in jail after being convicted of sabotage and attempts to overthrow the government. He was released in 1990 and returned to the leadership of the African National Congress party. South Africa repealed apartheid in 1991.
TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS SHOWCASED AT CHTA MARKETPLACE 2011
The Turks & Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association (TCHTA), the Tourist Board and several resorts attended the annual Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) Marketplace in Montego Bay, Jamaica. This much anticipated event spanned over a period of four days, January 15th to January 18th, 2011.
Caribbean Marketplace 2011 had the third largest attendance over the past 10 years with 1,518 delegates as compared to 1,362 in 2010. CHTA Marketplace is one of the most important annual sales and marketing event on the region’s tourism calendar, with the main objective of providing an avenue for suppliers and buyers to conduct negotiations that benefit the entire region. Destinations, airlines, car rental and ground handlers had the opportunity to meet with tour operators and wholesalers to discuss plans for the 2011-2012 season.
President Karen Whitt represented the TCHTA, along with delegates from The Somerset, Amanyara, The Gansevoort, Point Grace, Seven Stars, The Sands, Royal West Indies, Parrot Cay, Ocean Club Resorts, Alexandra Resort & Spa, La Vista Azul, The Regent Palms, Turks and Caicos Club, West Bay Club, and Ralph Higgs, Director of Tourism at the Tourist Board.
Overall the feedback from the wholesalers, tour operators and other industry partners was very positive for the TCI. TCHTA’s President, Karen Whitt was extremely pleased with the outcome of this year’s Marketplace and commented that, “It was a very productive event for us and many of us signed some very lucrative contracts and forged new business relationships. There was a 22% increase in the wholesaler buyer companies and this is a very good indication that interest in vacations to the Caribbean is returning. We look forward to seeing an increase in packages, promotions and ultimately bookings for TCI and the Caribbean on a whole. We definitely had really positive discussions which left us optimistic about the future of our tourism industry.”
Karen also added that, “This year in particular we were able to use Marketplace as an opportunity to further promote the Providenciales International Airport’s expansion project. We highlighted that the expansion of the runway will be completed next year and will allow us to accommodate long-haul aircrafts as large as Boeing 777s. Additionally, we were able to make specific mention of the recently added flights to Providenciales with JetBlue and Continental Airlines coming on board from February 2011.”
CROWN LAND SOLUTION STILL NOT IN SIGHT
The issue of crown land and its allocation continues to be a major talking point in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The latest proposed Crown Land Policy drew criticism from some members of the Consultative Forum who saw it as a further example that the interim government is treating Turks and Caicos Islanders like “a bunch of crooks.”
Forum member Dr. Linda Williams said recently at meeting that “Too many of the things that are now being put to us seem to be saying to the world, ‘This is a bunch of crooks, and we have to design things in a way to put them in order.’”
Her comments came in response to the suggestion that the administration of the country’s Crown Land Policy be moved from control of TCI elected ministers and Cabinet to the Attorney General’s Office. Crown land advisor Jon Llewellyn suggested the change “in order to ensure independence of Crown land management and to restore confidence in wider land administration by government.”
Under the Crown land policy enacted in 2005, the former government gave huge discounts on Crown land worth billions of dollars to individuals and developers, making little money for government and leaving only 23 percent of all developable land for Belongers to seek ownership today.
Some of those allocations are being challenged by the interim government’s Civil Recovery Team of lawyers to reclaim property for the government. Those claims include huge tracts on Joe Grant Cay and Salt Cay, while other allocations on Dellis Cay and the Third Turtle development are under review. Several individuals also are accused of obtaining Crown land for personal residential use, then wrongly flipping the property to developers for huge profits.
The new policy would require people who have pending applications for Crown land to make new applications, but forum members argued that those people should be given preference under the new policy in the order in which pending applications were submitted.
Llewellyn said it would be inefficient to do that with more than 6,000 pending applications, given the limited resources of the Crown Land Unit. “There are literally just boxes of them,” he said. Llewellyn said he would look into finding a way to prioritize pending applications under the new policy.
RAPPORT HITS THE STREETS
Rap Port, the youth Arm of the National AIDS Programme for the Turks and Caicos Islands will tomorrow be hosting a workshop on STIs, Condom Demonstrations, Handing out pamphlets, etc. at the TCI Community College from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
That will be followed by ‘Talk on the Block‘ at “Freddiez Yard” opposite IGA, where Male and Female Condom Demonstrations in Creole and English will be done at 4:30-5:30 p.m.
Rap Port is committed to providing relevant social support services to youth to enable them to cope with and overcome the challenges of daily life; to assist young persons in acquiring negotiating skills; to empower persons to make informed choices; to increase their knowledge of safer sex practices and to encourage healthy lifestyles.
The public is asked to attend.
TWO PERSONS STABBED IN PROVIDENCIALES
An InterHealth Canada spokesman has confirmed to RTC News that,"A man and a woman arrived at the Cheshire Hall Medical Centre in Provo a few minutes after 2.15pm on Monday.
The spokesman has confirmed that "Both were suffering serious stab wounds and were immediately treated in the emergency department by a team of specialist doctors and nurses."
"The man had suffered injuries to his leg while the woman had injured her hand"
The spokesman further added: "Both patients are now stable and due to undergo further treatment at the hospital.”
BEACHES AND TCI INVESTIGATION
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }
Attorney for Sandals Resorts International, Dmitri Singh has said that the hotel chain had been voluntarily co-operating with international authorities investigating the former Turks and Caicos Islands administration.
Dmitri Singh, the general counsel for Sandals, said in a statement that during its own internal investigations, Sandals had unearthed various unauthorised transactions that were traced to a former senior employee who was close to that administration. The information was turned over to the investigators.
Following is Singh's statement:
"International authorities have been conducting an ongoing investigation in the Turks and Caicos Islands concerning activities connected to the Islands' former governing administration.
"Sandals Resorts International, which operates a Beaches Resort in the Turks and Caicos, has voluntarily agreed to co-operate with this ongoing investigation and as a result also launched its own internal investigation.
"In the course of our internal investigation, various unauthorised transactions were discovered which have been linked to a former senior officer of Sandals Resorts who was also closely associated with the governing Turks and Caicos administration at the time. This information has been turned over to the relevant authorities.
"We are satisfied with the progress of the investigation thus far and are committed to co-operating with the authorities as required.
"We wish to clarify that contrary to assertions made by another former director of Sandals Resorts, Mr Patrick Lynch, in his recent statement, this issue is not linked to Mr Lynch and is a completely separate investigation.
"As stated, this matter is in the hands of investigative authorities and we are therefore constrained in making any further comments at this time."
AIR TC TO FLY TO PUERTO RICO
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }
Reliable sources have confirmed that local airline Air Turks and Caicos is about to add the Puerto Rico to its list of available destinations once approval has been granted.
The announcement was made at a lavish reception hosted for the airline by the Dominican Tourism Authorities at the upscale Hemingway’s Cafe in Puerto Plata on Monday, January 17th, and was attended by the Deputy Minister of Tourism, César José de los Santos, the Chamber of Commerce as well as representatives from local hotel and tourism organizations.
The airline was represented by its top executives, Chairman Lyndon Gardiner, CEO Darrell Richardson, VP, Business Development Deborah Aharon and VP of Flight Standards Capt. Harold Williams.
The Air Turks and Caicos flights would all originate in Providenciales, thereby offering connections between Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico and points beyond in the Eastern Caribbean.
Gardiner told the crowd that this new route was an important step in realizing his dream to unite the Caribbean Islands through more convenient and expanded connections that promoted trade and tourism. He expressed his wish that the separate Caribbean nations would focus more closely on cooperative marketing for the benefit of the entire region.
Deputy Minister De los Santos thanked the airline executives for choosing Puerto Plata as their new gateway to San Juan and assured them that the initiative would have the full support of the Minister of Tourism Sr. Francisco Javier Garcia and his Ministry.