Royal family security up for review
An urgent review of security for the royal family will be delivered this week following an attack on a car carrying Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, Home Secretary (interior minister) Theresa May said yesterday.
May said anarchists and street gangs had infiltrated student protests that ended in rioting in central London last Thursday. Protesters battered their way into the Treasury and fought with police after parliament approved plans to increase tuition fees for university students.
Blaming police tactics was "ridiculous and unfair" when protesters had unleashed a barrage of stones, paint, golf balls and flares and attacked officers with metal barriers, May said.
One of the defining images of the protests was that of Charles and wife Camilla open-mouthed in horror when protesters attacked their Rolls-Royce en route to a London theatre, cracking a window and spattering the limousine with paint.
Although the couple was unhurt, the attack raised questions about royal security, which will be in the spotlight next year when Charles' son Prince William marries in Westminster Abbey.
A review of how the royal family is protected will be completed by Friday, May told lawmakers.
West Indies cricket needs a catalyst, says Richards
The Master Blaster, Sir Vivian Richards, who was in the West Indies team when it won the first two World Cup tournaments in 1975 and 1979, said that the Caribbean squad needs a catalyst that could inspire them like Ar-ju-na did with the Sri Lanka team in 1996 World Cup.
Sir Viv said that although the West Indies team has players like Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, and Kieron Pollard, they need a talis-man if they are to spring a surprise in the February 11 to April 2 World Cup, which will be played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The Caribbean squad is ranked No.8 in the ICC world rating and the Antiguan national hero said it needs more than prayers for it to be in contention for the World Cup. He stressed it needs to be "organized".
The Caribbean team has been dogged by numerous problems since its glory days with Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards, Malcolm Marshall, Jeff Dujon, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, and others, including controversy between the administration and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), captaincy, and discipline.
Britain urged to restore constitutional government in Turks and Caicos
Another call has been made for the restoration of the Turks and Caicos Islands Constitution.
Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Sir Edwin Carrington, on Friday called on the United Kingdom, through its newly accredited Plen-i-po-ten-ti-ary Representative, Paul Brummell, to restore constitutional government in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Speaking at the Georgetown, Guyana Headquarters of the CARICOM Secretariat, Carrington said that the Community saw the UKs imposition of indefinite direct rule in its associate member country as being totally at odds with the development of good governance, including improved fiscal and administrative management, in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
CARICOM contends that those objectives of Her Majestys Government cannot be met by the continued effective dis-enfranchisement of the Turks and Caicos Islanders or by the denial of their in-alien-able right to shape their own future, he said.
For this reason, Mr. Carrington said that CARICOM looked forward to the restoration by the UKs new administration of the islanders full franchise.
The Secretary-General noted that CARICOM and the UK had benefited over the years, from frank and open dialogue and had co-operated constructively in defense of common values such as good governance, democracy; respect for the rule of law and for the basic, in-alienable rights of all peoples.
We must strive to remain guardians of these all too fragile and important tenets of modern civilization. It is in all of our interests, Mr. Carrington said.
The CARICOM secretary-general said that the 7th meeting of the CARICOM-UK Forum due to be held in 2011 in Grenada, the first meeting between CARICOM foreign ministers and the new foreign secretary of the UK, William Hague, should be a most fruitful opportunity for the strengthening of UK-Caribbean relations.
Cuba opens new cholera treatment centre in Haiti
With the opening of a new centre for cholera treatment in Carrefour, Haiti, the number of such facilities set up by Cuban doctors in an effort to stop the spreading of the disease now totals nine.
The Cuban Medical Brigade is working on the localization and setting up of another 11 treatment centres in addition to 38 that are already providing assistance to people sick with cholera in Haiti, reported Granma newspaper.
According to the newspapers report, Cuban doctors have treated more than 34,000 cases and the fatality rate remains at 0.75 percent.
In record time, the Cuban doctors finished assembling of tents making up the centre in Carrefour, with 100 beds total. The community has more than 400,000 inhabitants and it is located by the side of a hill 20 kilometres from Port-au-Prince. The centre includes seven areas for the general treatment of patients, with 32 Cuban doctors. Besides being home to one of the largest marginal populations of the country, Carrefour has critical hygiene and environmental conditions and its infrastructure, particularly housing, was badly damaged by the earthquake that shook the country in January this year.
Haiti's Public Health Ministry has reported more than 97,500 cases of cholera and 2,193 deaths from the disease.
On Sunday, the third Cuban medical brigade of 56 members arrived at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince. The group is part of the Cuban Henry Reeve International Contingent of Doctors Specialized on Emergencies and Serious Epidemics.
Appointment of new Barbados chief justice runs into legal snag
The appointment of a new chief justice of Barbados has run into a legal snag.
According to the Barbados Nation newspaper, on the eve of Chief Justice-designate Marston Gibson taking up the job, investigations have revealed that a challenge has been made to the pending appointment, since it does not appear that he meets all of the legal criteria to qualify for the top judicial post.
Gibson, who has been residing in New York for the past 20 years and has been practicing and teaching law there, was just two weeks ago in Barbados making final preparations to take up the vacant chief justice position.
But, reached over the weekend on Long Island where he lives and is Judicial Referee of the New York State Supreme Court, Gibson confirmed that a question had been raised about his qualification to serve as Barbados' chief justice under the Supreme Court of Judicature Act.
"My immediate response was to text and speak to the prime minister, Freundel Stuart, he explained without disclosing the details of the conversation.
He added, "I have also spoken to the Attorney General Adriel Braithwaite, and the position I take is that I am going to leave it in their hands.... I have not done anything and I don't know what they are planning to do.
"I am sure that in the fullness of time they would get back to me with the outcome of their discussions," Gibson said.
Under section 7 of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act, anyone who wants to become chief justice or court of appeal judge in Barbados must have been practicing for no fewer than 15 years in a Commonwealth jurisdiction, or serving during the prescribed period as a parliamentary counsel or as a professor or teacher of law at the University of the West Indies (UWI), or at a school for legal education approved by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission.
Gibson, a Rhodes Scholar with law degree from the UWI and Oxford University in England, had been poised to succeed the retired chief justice, Sir David Simmons, and was expected to take up office next month.
The latest development has reportedly reopened the door for the top judicial spot, with legal sources suggesting that Justice of Appeal Andrew Burgess was the front-runner.
Also mentioned as possible choices were Acting Chief Justice, Sherman Moore, and Justices of Appeal Sandra Mason and Peter Williams.
T&C in tax dispute with former US billionaire
The British Caribbean dependency of the Turks and Caicos Islands announced Monday that it has begun civil proceedings against a former U.S. billionaire who is fighting for what remains of his luxury real estate empire.
The territory's government claims Timothy Blixseth, founder of an uber-exclusive resort in the Montana Rockies that went into bankruptcy after he diverted hundreds of millions of dollars for his own use, helped conceal the true value of his private island retreat called Emerald Cay and significantly underpaid a stamp duty tax on the land deal.
Blixseth's Boston lawyer rejected the charge, however, accusing the Turks and Caicos of an "outright hold-up." He said his client would fight the case to the highest court in Britain, if necessary.
"This is an extortionate attempt to extract money from Mr. Blixseth because he owns property in TCI while the responsible parties -- the corrupt government of Michael Misick and the seller of the property -- appear to have played some role in the original stamp tax transactions," attorney Michael Flynn said Monday.
Blixseth bought the ritzy 5-acre island in the Turks and Caicos Islands in 2005, when the territory was governed by Misick, a high-flying former premier who is being investigated for the alleged misuse of public money and profiting from the sale of government-owned land to developers.
Widespread allegations of corruption against Misick and other local officials led British authorities to impose direct rule in August 2009.
The islands' current government asserts Blixseth paid $28 million for Emerald Cay while land transfer documents recorded the purchase at just $10 million. They accuse him and other defendants of conspiring to avoid payment of taxes of $2.73 million and instead paying $975,000. They are seeking an outstanding stamp duty of $1.75 million as well as a penalty of $7 million.
Flynn contends Blixseth does not owe the tax, never signed the land transfer document and is blameless in the entire matter. He puts the fault on the seller, Gary di Silvestre, and Misick's administration. He said Blixseth intends to "expose all of the corruption."
Blixseth's Emerald Cay property has a nine-bedroom mansion featuring a man-made sandy beach, several docks and a retractable bridge linking it with the island of Providenciales. Blixseth had planned to include the island in his Yellowstone Club World luxury residence group before filing for bankruptcy.
An advertisement in the Robb Report, a magazine that caters to the wealthy, once said Blixseth would accept $75 million for Emerald Cay or he would be willing to swap it for a Gulfstream jet or a luxury New York apartment. He later lowered his price to $48.5 million.
Blixseth was once proclaimed a billionaire in Forbes magazine's list of the 400 richest Americans. He founded the Yellowstone Club, a millionaires-only resort that counts former Vice President Dan Quayle and Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt among its members. The ski and golf club fell into bankruptcy two years ago, and CrossHarbor Capital Partners of Boston bought the 13,600-acre resort for $115 million last year.
About 23,000 people live in the Turks and Caicos, a sparsely populated tourist destination and financial haven near the Bahamas. (AP)
Warner wants Digicel Cup added to FIFA calendar
Caribbean football strongman, Austin 'Jack' Warner, says he will urge FIFA to add the Digicel Caribbean Cup (DCC) to its international calendar.
Warner, who is president of CONCACAF, said there were problems with teams not being able to access their foreign-based players and this move would force clubs to release their players for national duty.
As it stands currently, the DCC does not fall within the FIFA calendar and clubs are not obligated to release players.
"I intend to approach FIFA with a proposal to include the 2011 dates of what has now become the premier football tournament in the region," said Warner.
"I have also heard the numerous complaints of our members over the difficulties they encounter in gaining access to their foreign based players during this competition. If we succeed in our quest to include the tournament in the FIFA calendar, then this challenge would be significantly reduced.
"This competition must be used as a device to propel our talent onto the world stage and by allowing our local federations greater access to their international talent we will ensure that the standard of the competition is lifted.
"We cannot and must not waste this glorious opportunity afforded to us, but we also must alter the rules of engagement to ensure our players are given the best possible opportunities."
The current situation meant that Trinidad and Tobago were without their top professionals from the foreign leagues and with only domestic-based players to choose from they slumped out in the group stages of the finals in Martinique.
Jamaica's Reggae Boyz, who won the tournament when they beat Guadeloupe in the final, were, however, boosted by the presence of their foreign players who had completed their campaigns in the American MLS league.
The Jamaicans though, were also without their British-based professionals.
Tremendous growth
A powerful FIFA vice-president, Warner said the Digicel Cup had grown tremendously and stressed the time had come to have the best players involved in what was the Caribbean's premier football tournament.
"The football has been truly exciting. The players have become more tactical and technical and have given to us a level of hope that we can raise our game to that of world competitors," Warner pointed out.
"The 2010 edition of this competition has truly marked the dawn of a new era in Caribbean football. Our players are developing and we as administrators must continue to pursue strategies which will foster further growth, we must all strive for excellence."
He said his vision was to ensure the DCC became a world class competition.
"Progress lies not in enhancing what is but in advancing to what it could be and we in the Caribbean will be transforming this competition into one comparable to all other international competitions," he said.
"No longer will we stand in awe and wonder after others for in the Digicel Caribbean Cup we can see our beginnings as a football region. No longer will we be intimidated by others because as we play together we grow stronger and become bolder."
The Digicel Cup serves as a qualifier for the CONCACAF Gold Cup with the top four teams automatically qualifying as the Caribbean representatives.
The Gold Cup will be played from June 5-25 in the United States next year.(CMC)