Media Reports: US to ban electronics on flights from a dozen countries
Passengers travelling from about a dozen countries will be barred from carrying most electronic devices on US-bound flights, officials tell US media.
Airlines from certain countries in the Middle East and Africa will require passengers heading to the US to check laptops and tablets in the hold.
The directive is reportedly the result of a security threat and could be announced as soon as Tuesday.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declined to comment on the issue.
"We have no comment on potential security precautions, but will provide an update when appropriate," DHS said in a statement to the BBC.
It is unclear which airlines would fall under the ban.
But Royal Jordanian Airlines tweeted on Monday that it would ban passengers from carrying on most electronics to and from its North American flights, CNN first reported.
The tweet was later deleted.
The Jordan-based carrier said that starting on Tuesday, it will only allow phones and medical devices on its flights. All other electronics would be "strictly prohibited".
The airline said that laptops, tablets, DVD players and electronic games must be checked with baggage.
Source-BBC
Fifa bans Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey for life
Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey has been banned for life by Fifa for what it calls "match manipulation".
The ban results from a penalty he awarded to South Africa in a 2-1 win over Senegal in a 2018 World Cup qualifier in November.
He penalised Kalidou Koulibaly for handball, but replays showed the ball hit his knee.
Football's world governing body says it will give more details "once the decision becomes final and binding".
Lamptey can now appeal to Fifa and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
One of his assistants, David Laryea, also from Ghana, had charges against him dismissed by Fifa's disciplinary committee.
The win for South Africa left them in second place in the four-team group after two matches, with Senegal in third.
Lamptey, who also officiated at the Rio Olympics last year, declined BBC Sport's invitation to comment, saying he would do so later.
The Senegal Football Federation (FSF), who made a complaint to Fifa over Lamptey, is happy with the decision.
"Today there are many reasons to be happy about this decision - a decision that will be remembered as being significant but will also warn everybody that they are being watched," FSF vice-president Abdoulaye Sow told our affiliated partner BBC Sports.
"All cheating and stealing will be punished according to its gravity.
"Fifa has clearly struck a big blow and has promised in its decision to talk again about the match when the decision is final and binding."
Bill Gates tops Forbes' rich list
Microsoft founder Bill Gates again tops Forbes' list of the world's richest people, in a year when the number of billionaires rose 13% to 2,043.
According to the magazine's annual rich list, Mr Gates' fortune rose to $86bn, from $75bn, followed by investor Warren Buffett, up $14.8bn to $75.6bn.
It was bad news for US President Donald Trump, who slipped 220 spots to 544 and must now rub along on just $3.5bn.
Forbes said the $1bn fall in his wealth was due to the slow US property market.
There were 183 tech billionaires on the Forbes list, with a combined $1tn in wealth. The list is dominated by US billionaires.
Others in the top 10 included Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who moved up to number three with the biggest gain of any person on the planet, a $27.6bn rise in his fortune of $72.8bn.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was number five and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison was number seven.
The global population of billionaires, now put at a record 2,043, marks the biggest annual increase in the 31 years since the magazine began compiling the list.
The number of US billionaires on the list was 565, which Forbes attributed to the recent stock market surge since Mr Trump's November 2016 election.
China was second with 319 billionaires, and Germany was third with 114.
Forbes' top ten:
Bill Gates (Microsoft co-founder): $86bn
Warren Buffett (US investor): $75.6bn
Jeff Bezos (Amazon founder): $72.8bn
Amancio Ortega (Inditex founder): $71.3bn
Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook founder): $56bn
Carlos Slim (Mexican magnate): $54.5bn
Larry Ellison (Oracle co-founder): $52.2bn
Charles Koch (US businessman): $48.3bn
David Koch (US businessman): $48.3bn
Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg founder): $47.5bn
The number of women on the list rose to 227 from 202, giving them a collective net worth of $852.8bn. For the second year running France's Liliane Bettencourt, the L'Oreal cosmetics heiress, was the world's wealthiest woman with a $39.5bn net worth.
Ben Stiller Leads Online Somalia Aid Campaign
A group of celebrities led by Hollywood actor Ben Stiller has joined a social media campaign to send food and water to Somalia through Turkish Airlines.
Last weekend, the group raised more than $1 million online in less than 24 hours. Stiller said in a Twitter message posted Monday that the money has been used to purchase 60 tons of food that the airline will fly to Somalia next week.
Somali diaspora youth groups have been spearheading a similar movement online, following warnings from the U.N. that more than six million Somalis are at risk of severe malnourishment and starvation because of drought.
Celebrities got involved at the urging of French Snapchat star Jerome Jarre, who launched a movement called Love Army for Somalia last Wednesday.
After the group began raising donations online, they convinced Turkish Airlines to help deliver one immediate aid shipment to Somalia's most vulnerable people, prompting the airline to create a Twitter hashtag, #TurkishAirlinesHelpSomalia.
Celebrities who have made donations include American football quarterback Colin Kaepernick, NBA player Wilson Chandler, YouTube star Casey Niestat and Scottish record producer Calvin Harris.
"And Jerome wants to keep this thing going, because he believes we can raise a lot more money and do a lot more good and really make a dent in what's going on over there," Stiller said Monday.
Total donations had risen to more than $1.8 million as of Monday, according to the "Love Army for Somalia" site on GoFundMe, a social fundraising platform.
"For the first flight, we will buy the food in Istanbul, as a thank you to our Turkish friends that support the movement!" said a message on the page. "Later on, we are hoping to learn how to buy food directly from local businesses in Somalia. We want to support the Somalian economy."
Turkish Airlines was the first carrier outside East Africa to establish regular service to the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
Turkey has become one of the most prominent donors in Somalia, eclipsing many traditional donors both in quantity and quality of its assistance.
Likewise, Ankara has become a major trading partner with Somalia, particularly in the construction, transportation and service sectors, according to a report by Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, a Mogadishu-based research group.
Source-VOA
Children Suffer Under Threat of Deportation
The four children of undocumented farm worker Lucia de la Cruz dive into the bushes on their way home from school when they see anybody who might be an immigration agent.
"They live in fear," De la Cruz said, afraid they will be deported on the way to or from school in Homestead, Florida. Her children no longer want to attend classes.
"It's like a ghost that can separate us. I'm the only one left because their father was already deported," De la Cruz said.
She wants her children to grow up in the U.S., and not in her homeland of Guatemala where she fears the armed gangs that are there.
But "imagine if I am deported; it is just like a death sentence. There is not much justice there," De la Cruz said.
Reports of recent crackdowns on illegal immigration have sparked alarm among advocates, citizens and immigrants in the United States, who worry about the effects on the children of undocumented parents.
Witnessing a loved one being arrested and deported may have significant effects on the mental health of children, says Lawrence Palinkas, a professor of social policy and health at the University of Southern California.
"The most common impact is anxiety and depression. Anxiety over the lack of stability and security in the family unit," Palinkas said. "Certainly, children tend to observe very closely the behavior of parents."
The long-term impacts can vary, he added, from experiencing elevated levels of anxiety and fear to being more likely to report depressive symptoms during adulthood.
Source-VOA
Uruguay Pulling Troops out of UN Mission in Haiti
Uruguay will soon pull its soldiers out of a United Nations stabilization mission in Haiti that began operations in 2004 and is facing sharp cutbacks, the leader of the South American country announced Monday.
President Tabare Vazquez said at a public event that his country's troop contributions to the Haiti mission will end this month and the roughly 250 Uruguayan peacekeepers will return home in early April. The country had as many as 1,000 forces deployed in Haiti at the height of the mission.
U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq in New York expressed appreciation for Uruguay's contribution and said, "If their rotation is going to be ending now and they'll be moving out, what we're going to try to do is make sure that they can be quickly replaced so that there's no security void in the country."
The announcement by the Uruguayan leader comes days after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the world body's Security Council that he believed that "the military component should undergo a staggered but complete withdrawal of the 2,370 personnel" in Haiti. The soldiers come from 19 countries.
In a March 16 report, Guterres called for the military component of the Haiti mission to be wrapped up six months after its current mandate expires in April.
He also wrote that the number of U.N. police officers should be cut from 1,001 to 295 to continue efforts to strengthen the Haitian National Police and ensure "a progressive testing" of their capacity to assume full security responsibilities.
The U.N. Security Council is due to debate Guterres' recommendations and vote on the future of Haiti operations in mid-April.
The U.S. administration of President Donald Trump has pushed for cutbacks in an operation that costs $346 million a year. Washington, the Haiti mission's main check-writer, is reviewing all 16 U.N. peacekeeping missions.
Col. Luis Antonio Ferreira Marques Ramos, deputy commander of the Brazilian peacekeeper contingent in Haiti, recently told The Associated Press that "the important thing is to leave in a good way."
The U.N.'s first-ever "stabilization" mission came to Haiti in 2004 following a rebellion that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and had the chronically troubled country on the brink of collapse.
Source-VOA
Police Investigate weekend vehicle collisions
Traffic Officers of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force are investigating two Motor Vehicular accidents that occurred over the weekend on Providenciales.
Around 8:43pm on Saturday 4th March 2017, Police and Medical Services responded to the vicinity of Glass Shack on the Leeward Highway to an accident involving two motor vehicles. Upon arrival at scene Police noticed a Black SUV and a White Daihatsu Terios Jeep with extensive damages. The passengers of the Terios Jeep who received serious injuries were removed from the vehicle by using Jaws of Life. The driver of the Black SUV receives no injuries.
Injured passengers were transported to the hospital and have underwent surgery. They are in stable condition.
Police and Emergency Services also responded to another collision involving two vehicles in the Grace Bay area of Providenciales around 9:36pm on Sunday 5th March 2017. Upon arrival at scene police noticed an overturned grey Toyota Sequoia SUV with extensive damages, also a black Toyota Scion car with extensive damages to its front and left fender. Both male drivers of 23 years-old were transported to Cheshire Hall Medical Centre to seek further assistance for injuries sustained.
If you have any information regarding these accidents, contact the police at Chalk Sound Police at 338-5901/941-8067 or contact Crimestoppers at 1-800-8477. The information you provide will be treated in the strictest of confidence. We remind you not to report crime information via our Facebook and Twitter page.
Women robbed while exercising
A male in a Black SUV robbed a woman and attempted to rob another one earlier this morning (Monday 6th March 2017) at two separate locations as they were out exercising on Providenciales
Complainant one reported to the police that around minutes to 6am as she was jogging in the vicinity of the Sands Resort, a tall unknown male about 6ft came of the vehicle, attacked her and demanded cash. She fought him off and he ran.
Another complainant reported that around 6:05am she was walking along the Leeward Highway in the vicinity of Napa when a short height, dark complexion male who came out of a black SUV, ran across the streets and tackle her to the ground. The male took her cellphone and ran back to the vehicle and drove off.
No one was injured during these incidence.
If you have any information contact the police at Chalk Sound Police at 338-5901/941-8067 or contact Crimestoppers at 1-800-8477. The information you provide will be treated in the strictest of confidence. We remind you not to report crime information via our Facebook and Twitter page.
Safety tips for Joggers
• Jog or run with a known companion.
• Jog or run in a familiar area.
• Do not jog or run in a heavily wooded, poorly lighted or secluded area.
• Particularly if jogging or running alone, don’t wear radio or recorder earphones.
• Do not jog or run after dark.
• Do not jog or run near bushes which can provide concealment.
• Wear bright colored clothing to improve your visibility.
• Vary your route and pattern of jogging or running.
• Carry a whistle or high decibel battery powered personal alarm device when you jog or run.
• If followed, go to the nearest residence, open business or group of people.
Statement by HE the Governor, Dr John Freeman
"The assault on a visitor to TCI on Saturday March 4th has understandably caused further public anxiety about security. I have been in touch with the Commissioner of Police over the week-end and also with the Hon. Premier. Clearly what is immediately important is the care of the victim and the investigation of the crime. The Police are fully engaged on this.
But of course what most concerns the public is not just this particular incident, but a sense of an upward trend in instances of violent crime. As well as the immediate response and investigation - led by the Police - all of us in government have a responsibility to address the causes of crime and to respond properly and intelligently and with the right resources.
With others in government I am very engaged on this larger issue, both in terms of analysis and of resourcing. And this involves many government bodies, i.e. not only the Police but others as well as Border Control, Immigration and also Customs.
I will be speaking to certain groups next week as part of an ongoing effort to reach out and provide responsive reassurance. There is however no magic wand in all this. It requires due consideration, proper application and steady determination, as the Police Force is showing already and with some real success. All of us however have a part to play in this process, including all relevant agencies of government."
Appeal to remove image of female on social media
The female whose image has been circulating on Whatsapp and Social Media indicating that she is the mastermind of a robbery and shooting incident that occurred yesterday (Saturday 4th March 2017) at a Resort in the Lower Bight Providenciales, has voluntarily reported to Police stating she has no involvement with this incident.
Detectives did not have any suspicion of this particular female, however her image including Social Media profile has surface and had since went viral accusing her of being a part of the set-up.
The public is reminded to act responsibly when publishing statements that are non-factual about persons on the internet and since this can cause damage to a person’s reputation, character or integrity, civil suits may be taken.
If the Police have reasons to believe that a person has committed a crime, they may issue wanted images to the public for assistance.
Persons must also be careful of their Whatsapp Interactions. A voice-note sent from one person to the next may go viral. Living in a small community it makes it easier for a voice to be identified. If the voice-note entails information regarding a potential suspect or criminal, it makes the author of that voice message vulnerable for attacks. Written conversations that are screened shot, can be screen shot with person’s phone number or names of the contact in that conversation and be sent viral via Whatsapp or Social Media, and some of these conversations have contained private information.
It you have images or information of any possible suspect, it is suggested that you email it to ncib@tcipolice.tc instead of sending on Whatsapp or posting on Social Media.