Jamaica ranked #1 for cyber security in the C'bean
Jamaica's efforts to boost Cybersecurity have been given international recognition after the country was ranked number 1 in the Caribbean region on the Global Cyber Security Index.
According to a report produced by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Jamaica was among one-hundred and thirty-four member states which responded to questions based on the core areas of the ITU Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA).
The survey conducted in 2016 through an online platform, measured the commitment of all 193 ITU member states to improving cybersecurity through legislation, projects and programmes, capacity building and cooperation.
Minister of Science, Energy and Technology, Andrew Wheatley says that while he was optimistic about the latest rankings and applauds the efforts of the Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT), MOCA, & Communications Forensics and Cybercrimes Unit (CFCU), there is still a lot more work to be done.
Adding that the Government through the Cyber Incident Response Team continues to strengthen its Cybersecurity responsiveness and boost its public education programme, Minister Wheatley says that he is confident that Jamaica's ranking will continue to improve.
The overall picture for Jamaica suggests that Jamaica's Cybercrime efforts have improved significantly even as the country continues to strengthen all four elements of its national cybersecurity strategy.
“There is room for capacity building and cooperation between the public and private sector at all levels but we remain committed to meeting all international standards and best practices” Minister Wheatley said.
Brazil judge freezes ex-president assets
A Brazilian judge leading an anti-corruption probe has ordered assets belonging to former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva frozen after last week convicting and sentencing him to prison for graft.
Lula, as he is widely known, remains free pending an appeal of the verdict. He denies any wrongdoing and says he will attempt a political comeback next year by contesting presidential elections.
Ordering the asset freeze, Judge Sergio Moro said, was in response to the charge that Lula accepted a bribe of a luxury beachside apartment and US$1.1 million in cash from one of Brazil's biggest construction companies, OAS.
Moro put the value of Lula's assets in property and bank accounts as US$4.3 million, according to court papers released Wednesday.
They comprised three apartments, a plot of land, two vehicles and two accounts holding more than the equivalent of US$190,000 in cash.
Lula was a week ago given a nine-and-a-half-year sentence after his conviction.
The 71-year-old has portrayed the judicial blow as an attempt to keep him out of the running for the presidency.
One of the most popular Brazilian leaders of modern times, Lula held power from 2003 to 2010, the maximum two consecutive terms permitted by the constitution.
His protegee and fellow Workers Party member, Dilma Rousseff, then took the reins, winning two elections. But she was impeached and ousted last year for fiddling government accounts to hide liabilities.
Her vice president from another party, Michel Temer, has taken over. But he, too, is accused of taking bribes, as have several of his ministers who have resigned.
Lula had been leading in voter intention polls up to his conviction. He has vowed to "be criss-crossing the country" to win support for his bid to return as president in the October 2018 elections.
Moro, however, is also a popular choice for possible candidate, thanks to his unflinching anti-corruption drive.
Source-AFP
Trump, Putin Met Twice at G-20
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a second, previously undisclosed meeting at the G-20 summit earlier this month in Germany, White House officials confirmed Tuesday night.
The two presidents met face-to-face for the first time in Hamburg on July 7, for more than two hours of talks that were extensively covered at the time.
But it has now emerged that Trump and Putin had a second discussion during a dinner that same evening for the heads of state from the Group of 20 and their spouses.
Trump took to Twitter quickly to repudiate the media reports: "Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is 'sick.'"
There was no immediate word on what was discussed at the meeting, which lasted roughly an hour, according to Ian Bremmer, president of the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.
The White House had a sharply different account of what happened. Officials speaking on background, which meant they could not be identified, said: “There was no ‘second meeting’ between President Trump and President Putin, just a brief conversation at the end of a dinner.”
Bremmer first reported the Trump-Putin meeting Tuesday in a newsletter sent to his clients. Appearing on U.S. networks as the news spread, Bremmer said he had been told about the Trump-Putin exchange by others attending the formal dinner. The press was barred from the proceedings.
The two presidents were joined only by Putin's translator as they spoke in a conference hall on the banks of the Elbe River. Others dinner guests were seated nearby, but the spacious table setting made it possible to keep the conversation private.
Source-VOA
PUBLIC FORECAST THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT WEDNESDAY 19TH JULY 2017
GENERAL SITUATION: A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS OVER THE BAHAMAS WHILE AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH CONTINUES TO TRIGGER UNSETTLED WEATHER OVER THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS.
SPECIAL WARNINGS: BOATERS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR POTENTIAL WATERSPOUTS... MARINERS AND BEACHGOERS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR THE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT BEACHES MAINLY ALONG THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN SHORELINES IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS.
TCI
WEATHER: PARTLY SUNNY, BREEZY AND HOT WITH THE CHANCE OF A FEW PASSSING SHOWERS OR AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY AND WARM TONIGHT.
ADVISORY: SMALL CRAFT CAUTION IS IN EFFECT.
WINDS: EAST TO SOUTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 KNOTS OVER OPEN WATERS
SEAS: 4 TO 7 FEET OVER THE OCEAN.
DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURE: 91°F 33°C
OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURE: 79°F 26°C
SUNSET: 08:01 PM MOONSET: 04:17 PM HIGH TIDE: 05:02 PM
SUNRISE: 06:31 AM MOONRISE: 03:40 AM THU LOW TIDE: 11:30 PM
HIGH TIDE: 05:19 AM THU
LOW TIDE: 11:33 AM THU
OUTLOOK FOR TOMORROW: HIGH PRESSURE COMBINED WITH UPPER LEVEL TROUGHING ACROSS THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS IS EXPECTED TO GENERATE HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY ACROSS THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS ......MOSTLY SUNNY AND HOT ELSEWHERE
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK: AN ELONGATED LOW PRESSURE AREA LOCATED ABOUT MIDWAY BETWEEN THE CABO VERDE ISLANDS AND THE LESSER ANTILLES IS PRODUCING A LARGE AREA OF DISORGANIZED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. SOME GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM IS POSSIBLE DURING THE NEXT DAY OR TWO WHILE IT MOVES TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST OR NORTHWEST AT 10 TO 15 MPH. AFTER THAT TIME, ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST TO BECOME UNFAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT. IT HAS A 30% CHANCE OF FORMATION THROUGH THE NEXT 48 HOURS TO 5 DAYS.
Flow Sports Gives Viewers Anytime, Anywhere Access to 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games
Caribbean viewers will have a front row seat to watch the best young athletes from the across the Commonwealth in action at the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games, as Flow Sports, the Home of Sports in the Caribbean, airs 8 hours of live coverage each day, from July 19 to 23rd.
The largest-ever edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games will be hosted this year in The Bahamas and presented by the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC).
Flow Sports will once again deliver anytime, anywhere access so ‘on-the-go’ viewers can have the option of watching the coverage on the Flow Sports App or via the website, www.flowsports.co.
According to Sean Riley, Managing Director of Flow Sports, “We are pleased to announce that Flow Sports has worldwide distribution rights to broadcast the Commonwealth Youth Games. We are truly proud of this development as it gives our talented young regional athletes significantly more exposure while allowing their families, friends and fans the opportunity to see them in action as they compete on the world stage. This will no doubt delight Caribbean people in the diaspora who wish to catch up on the action of our up and coming star athletes.”
As with the highly successful coverage of the 2017 Flow CARIFTA Games in Curacao this past Easter, the Flow Sports team of well-known Caribbean sports media personalities will cover a variety of disciplines such as aquatics, boxing, beach volleyball, beach soccer and judo, anchored in the highly anticipated track-and-field events.
The Commonwealth Youth Games is the largest sporting competition to ever take place in The Bahamas and at the official press conference to announce the Games, BTC Interim CEO Dexter Cartwright said, “Today is a very special day for BTC, our sister company Flow Sports l, as we open our arms here in The Bahamas to welcome hundreds of young athletes from almost 70 countries. Continuing our mission to invest heavily in sports, we are proud to officially announce our $250,000 investment in the sixth edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games – and we’re confident it’s going to be the best yet. Good luck to all the competitors!”
For a full listing of the daily times for live event broadcasts, please visit the Flow Sports website at www.flowsports.co/tv-guide/.
This is the first time the event has been held in the Caribbean in over 50 years – the last being the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.
TCIG SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDS $200m CLAIM brought BY TWI
TCIG has successfully defended itself against a series of massive claims totalling nearly $200m brought by Trade Wind Industries Limited (TWI). The claims, first brought in the TCI Courts in 2012, and then in an international arbitration, were almost wholly dismissed, TWI winning just $255,010 in damages together with some interest and limited costs.
TWI brought claims for (a) breach of its leases by permitting of the building of the Leeward Marina in 2007/8; (b) massive damage to its stock of conch and its farm caused by dredging in 2008/9; (c) massive damages for breach of a development agreement in 2012; (d) defamation by the Governor in 2012; and (e) expropriation of its assets. Altogether the damages claimed across all five claims totalled nearly $200m.
The Arbitrators' Awards were previously confidential, but a recent agreement between the parties means publication is now permitted. The First Award, dated 13 October 2016 is 280 pages long and followed many weeks of hearings earlier that year; a short summary of it has more recently been prepared by the Tribunal. The First Award decided that:
(a) permitting of the building of the Leeward Marina in 2006/7 including associated dredging was a breach of TWI's then existing leases but TWI were entitled to only $250,000 damages for that breach;
(b) TWI failed to prove that dredging caused any damage to its conch or farm. TWI's business was loss making so it was entitled to no damages in respect of that claim;
(c) although a development order issued by the interim administration in 2012 did not strictly comply with the terms of the development agreement and TWI were therefore entitled to a revised development order, TWI failed to prove it suffered any loss as a result, so it was awarded nominal damages of only $10;
(d) although most of the defamation claims were dismissed, in one respect what was said by former Governor Todd was defamatory; however TWI were entitled to damages of only $5,000 taking into account the "sometimes dishonest and provocative way in which TWI's senior personnel had dealt with TCIG and the Governor";
(e) TWI did not have any assets expropriated and its claim in that respect was dismissed entirely.
Total damages awarded to TWI were $255,010. These were paid by TCIG to TWI in late 2016 shortly after the First Award was provided to the parties. The arbitration began in 2013 after TWI's claim in the TCI Supreme Court was stayed on TCIG's application in favour of the arbitration process. Three Arbitrators - all senior lawyers in London - were selected as arbitrators to hear the case. . As well as the First Award, the Arbitrators also produced a Second Award dated 10 April 2017, which is also now being published. That Award deals with various supplementary matters including:
finalising the terms of a development order for TWI. TCIG has now granted that Development Order; whether TWI should be entitled to 31 declarations dealing with the Tribunal's First Award. The Tribunal decided TWI was entitled only to one, namely that TWI is entitled to farm fin fish; legal costs of the arbitration process. The Tribunal decided that the parties should largely bear their own costs, save that TWI would be entitled to receive 20% of its legal costs from TCIG. The Tribunal came to this conclusion because it said that although TWI had won something, "its financial recovery was extremely small compared to what it claimed, the rights it has vindicated may or may not be of any substantial value, and a large part of the costs were incurred on issues that TWI lost";
TWI was entitled to interest on its damages of $135,986.30. TCIG has paid that interest to TWI;
The Tribunal left open some final matters including some remaining legal costs. It is shortly expected to issue a third and final award dealing with all remaining outstanding matters, bringing the litigation to an end.
The Attorney General commented: "TCIG is delighted to have been able to see off this massive damages claim and long-running litigation. The claim - for nearly $200m - would have been potentially catastrophic for the Government if TWI had been awarded anything like the sum theywere claiming, and the fact that TWI has brought this enormous piece of litigation lasting years, alleging their business has been destroyed by the Government, and seeking these huge damages, but in the end has been awarded only $255,010 in damages, some interest and some limited costs is a very good result for the Government."
FIVE DIGICEL CUSTOMERS TO SEE BRUNO MARS LIVE IN CONCERT IN CHICAGO
Digicel has announced that five lucky customers will get a chance to jet off on a VIP experience to see Bruno Mars live in concert during his 24K Magic World Tour at the United Centre in Chicago on Saturday 19th August 2017 – thanks to its d’Music streaming app.
By simply subscribing to d’Music and streaming Bruno Mars’ XXIV playlist or activating a Quick Pick plan, these lucky customers will get to enjoy this amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience with a loved one. The VIP experience package includes roundtrip airfares, accommodation, ground transportation to and from the concert and of course, tickets to see the popular five-time Grammy Awards artist in live and in living colour.
Designed to give customers access to music right at their fingertips, whenever they want it, wherever they are, d’Music allows Digicel customers to stream and download their favourite music from a library of over 30 million local and international songs covering all genres. The app is fun, hip and easy to use for all music lovers.
“It’s all about delivering unique experiences to our customers and rewarding them with exclusive opportunities and content that they can get only from Digicel,” said Peter Lloyd, Digicel Group Director of Marketing. “d’Music has received great response so far and now we’re excited to be partnering with Warner Music Group to bring them even closer to more of the things they love. This is just another example of us staying true to our commitment of valuing its customers and putting them at the forefront of everything we do.”
The promotion has already been launched in Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, BVI, Cayman, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines and is set to be launched in all other markets across the region in the coming weeks.
Police News in the TCI
A 21 year old male of Providenciales was arrested and charged by Detectives of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force with Burglary in connection with a report made on Tuesday 13th June 2017.
The complainant told officers that he secured his shed located at the Kids Park on the Lower Bight on Sunday 11th June 2017 and upon arrival around 3:30pm the day of the report he noticed the corrugated door slightly up and inside was ransacked. A number of items were reported missing. An investigation commenced.
On Saturday 8th July 2017, the suspect was arrested and immediately charged and cautioned for the offence mentioned.
He was taken to court for the charges and remanded into custody.
In another story, Detectives of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force are continuing their investigation into the death of 24 year old Guillot Pierre who died on Tuesday 11th July 2017 at the Cheshire Hall Medical Centre.
Detectives are treating this investigation as a Homicide and two males, ages 21 and 29, have been arrested on suspicion of Manslaughter in connection to this incident.
Richard Gail also known as ‘Richardson’ or ‘Rich Boi’ who is a suspect in the matter is being sought by the police. Investigations into this matter are ongoing.
We are appealing to persons who may have any information of Richard’s whereabouts or any information that may assist in this investigation, to please contact us at 338-5901 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-8477.
Finally, At around 12:21am on (Tuesday 18th July 2017), Officers of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force were dispatched to a home in the Millennium Highway area of Blue Hills after a report of a shooting was made.
Upon arrival on the scene a 49 year old male victim was located, he informed officers that as he arrived home from work, three (3) males wearing hoodie and white shirts covering their face and armed with a handgun approached him demanding money and the key for his vehicle. He threw the keys in the nearby bushes and after doing so, one of the males shot him in the back then ransacked his car and took an undisclosed amount of money before running away into the nearby bushes.
The male was taken to the Cheshire Hall Medical Centre for treatment.
Investigations into this matter are ongoing.
We are appealing to persons who may have any information that may assist in this investigation, to please contact us at 338-5901 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-8477.
THE MINISTRY RESPONSIBLE FOR SPORTS CONGRATULATES MRS. RITA GARDINER
The Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports and Library Services extends heartfelt congratulations to Mrs. Rita Gardiner on achieving the Commonwealth Games Award of Merit.
The Commonwealth Games Federation awards membership of the Order of Merit for distinguished services rendered to the Commonwealth Games movement, including the games themselves, to the federation and to a Commonwealth Games Association. The honour is awarded on the recommendation of the Executive Board at the General Assembly.
The recipients of this special award are individuals whose voluntary contribution and achievements have significantly impacted on society and its work, or represent the society in an exemplary way, in particular in the fields of sport and youth.
The Minister responsible for Sports, Hon. Karen Malcolm, is delighted to hear this good news. She stated; "Mrs. Gardiner is well deserving of this award for all the hard work and dedication she gave to the world of sports." Hon. Malcolm also commented that Mrs. Gardiner, a trailblazer in many ways, has committed extensive time and knowledge as she travelled and worked with athletes from all disciplines of sport.
She further stated that; "I am proud that my government has redoubled efforts to support all sports. We are making provisions to enhance opportunities for all athletes to participate in sports, and to ensure athletes and coaches have access to the training and competition opportunities."
The Ministry responsible for Sports is thrilled that Mrs. Gardiner received this accolade for her outstanding service to sports, including her years of commitment to the Games movement and would like to thank her for her many years of service to sports.
The Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports and Library Services also wishes the best for the team of young men and their coaches who travelled to Puerto Rico this weekend to represent the country in Puerto Rico International Basketball Tournament.
Minister of Home Affairs Transportation and Communication Attends CANTO 2017
Minister of Home Affairs, Hon. Vaden Delroy Williams is attending the 33rd CANTO’s Annual Conference and Trade Exhibition in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic during the course of this week, July 16 to 20, 2017. CANTO is a non-profit association made up of operators, organizations, companies and individuals in the telecommunications sector. The Association has a Caribbean and Latin American focus as it relates to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) issues for the region and global perspective.
Deliberations are being held under the theme “Reimagining ICT as a tool for National Growth and Development” and the Turks and Caicos is proud to be featured on the agenda through presentations by Economist, Adviser, Author and Publisher, Professor Gilbert Morris and Country Manager for Cable and Wireless Communications, Mrs. Delleriece Hall. Professor Morris will be presenting the feature address on “Technology, Disruption and the Economics of Genuine Democracy” while Mrs. Hall will be a panelist on “Caribbean Women in ICT CEO’s Forum.” Both are scheduled for Monday, July 17th and Wednesday, July 19th, respectively.
Attending this years’ conference is the Prime Minister for Antigua and Barbuda, the Hon. Gaston Browne who brought the feature address at yesterday’s Opening Ceremony and eleven Ministers with responsibility for Telecommunications in the region.
Turks and Caicos Islands regulators, operators and a senior Ministry of Home Affairs Transportation and Communication official, are also in attendance.