Professional Accountants Annual Conference held at Blue Haven
The Turks and Caicos Islands Society of Professional Accountants in collaboration with the Bankers Association of the Turks and Caicos and the Turks and Caicos Islands Government hosted the first Turks and Caicos Professional Accountants Annual Conference at Blue Haven on Tuesday morning.
Several small business owners, bankers and accountants were at the conference where Tuesday’s topics centered on plans by the TCI government to support and develop small businesses, the role of accountants in small business, plans by TCIG for development of small business and the products available in the local banking sector.
President of TCISPA and Partner HLB TCI Ltd Drexwell Seymour, President of TCISPA and Partner HLB TCI Ltd., was one of the keynote speakers at that conference.
Former Destiny’s Child Member Denies Rumors of Tell-All Book About Beyonce
Former Destiny’s Child member Farrah Franklin has denied reports of releasing a tell-all book about Beyoncé, in which she was rumored to details Bey's alleged nose jobs, breast implant and false virginity claims.
Franklin, who just released a new single called "Magic and Makeup," has squashed the rumor by posted a statement from her management via Instagram.
"Normally we would not address these bogus headlines, however today we will -- Our client Farrah Franklin has worked hard for a very long time to create her latest hit single 'Magic and Makeup.' We do not need the BS or lies from a gossip site to take away the message of empowerment, self love and spreading love," it reads.
Her management adds that the signer does not "need an urban blogger creating a buzz for themselves; from our success with this hit single, while we are continuing to build Farrah Franklin’s brand!! Nor do we need their pathetic attempts and lies to promote her talents or create drama because they chose to make a living from hate and belittling others!"
Franklin was a part of the group for six months before being dismissed back in 2000.
Source-ABC
700,000 cars have 'cheat' emissions software according to SEAT
Seat has said about 700,000 of its cars are fitted with the software that allowed parent company Volkswagen to cheat US emissions tests.
A spokesman said they are currently trying to work out how many were sold in each national market.
In Spain slightly over 3,000 new cars are affected but showrooms have been told to put them aside.
VW says it is working out how to refit the software in the 11m diesel engines involved in the emission's scandal.
Broken down brand-by-brand they are:
-VW - 5m
-Audi - 2.1m
-Skoda - 1.2m
-Seat - 700,000
-Vans - 1.8m
VW said it would inform customers "in the next few weeks and months" about how refits would take place.
Seat also said it planned to contact owners so their cars can undergo tests.
It will also set up a search engine on its website to allow customers to find out if their vehicles are affected.
The Spanish carmaker said it had temporarily suspended the sale and delivery of all new vehicles with the EA 189 engines which contain the software.
The scandal is continuing to hit VW's share price. On Tuesday it fell another 1.5% during morning trade in Frankfurt. The company has lost 35% of its market value since last Monday.
A survey of 62 institutional investors by the investment banking advisory firm Evercore, showed 66% of them would not invest in VW for 6 months or until it clarified what costs, fines, and legal proceedings it faced.
The effects are also spilling over into the local economy around VW's headquarters in Wolfsburg. The city is expecting a fall in business tax revenue from VW and the mayor has announced a budget freeze and hiring ban on public sector workers.
The scandal was revealed after the US Environmental Protection Agency found that some VW diesel cars were fitted with devices that could detect when the engine was being tested, and could change the car's performance to improve results.
The German company has apologised for breaching consumers' trust, and on Friday announced that Matthias Mueller was replacing Martin Winterkorn as chief executive. Mr Mueller promised a "relentless" investigation to uncover what went wrong.
He said the group was "facing the severest test in its history."
German prosecutors announced on Monday that it was conducting a criminal investigation of Volkswagen's former chief executive.
Source-BBC
PUBLIC FORECAST FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT TUESDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER 2015
GENERAL SITUATION: THE BAHAMAS IS LYING BETWEEN TROPICAL STORM JOAQUIN TO THE EAST AND A BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE IN THE NORTHEAST GULF OF MEXICO WHILE JOAQUIN PROVIDE SOME TROPICAL MOISTURE OVER THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS.
SPECIAL WARNINGS: TIDAL FLOODING AROUND HIGH TIDE CYCLES CONTINUES IN COMBINATION WITH HEAVY DOWNPOURS IN LOW LYING AREAS.
THE TCI, NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS
WEATHER: PARTLY SUNNY AND HOT WITH THE CHANCE OF A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON. PARTLY CLOUDY WITH WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT
ADVISORY: SMALL CRAFT SHOULD BE ALERT FOR GUSTY WINDS AND HIGHER SEAS IN HEAVY SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS.
WINDS: WEST TO NORTHWESTAT 10 TO 15 KNOTS OVER OPEN WATERS.
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET BUT HIGHER IN NORTHEASTERLY SWELLS OVER THE OCEAN.
SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS
WEATHER: PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY AND WARM WITH A WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH TONIGHT.
ADVISORY: SMALL CRAFT SHOULD BE ALERT FOR GUSTY WINDS AND HIGHER SEAS IN HEAVY SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS.
WINDS: WEST TO NORTHWEST AT 10 KNOTS OR LESS OVER OPEN WATERS.
SEAS: 3 FEET OR LESS BUT HIGHER IN NORTHEASTERLY SWELLS OVER THE OCEAN.
DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURE: 91°F 33°C
OVERNITE LOW TEMPERATURE: 75°F 24°C
SUNSET: 6:59PM
SUNRISE: 7:01AM (WED)
MOONRISE: 8:27PM
MOONSET: 9:37AM WED
LOW TIDE: 3:34PM 3:48AM WED
HIGH TIDE: 9:34PM 10:04AM WED
WEATHER OUTLOOK: TROPICAL STORM JOAQUIN IS EXPECTED TO MOVE WESTWARD TODAY THEN BEGIN TO TURN WEST NORTHWEST TONIGHT SPREADING TROPICAL MOISTURE ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH TOMORROW.
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK: SEE THE LATEST NEWS ITEM ON TROPICAL STORM JOAQUIN. A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE LOCATED OVER THE NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO CONTINUES TO PRODUCE DISORGANIZED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO AND PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES WITH A LOW CHANCE FORMATION THROUGH THE NEXT FIVE DAYS.
A LARGE AREA OF DISTURBED WEATHER OVER THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC SEVERAL HUNDRED MILES NORTHEAST OF THE NORTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS IS ASSOCIATED WITH A FRONTAL TROUGH AND THE REMNANTS OF IDA. SOME SLOW DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM IS POSSIBLE LATER THIS WEEK WITH A LOW CHANCE OF FORMATION THROUGH THE NEXT 48 HOURS AND MEDIUM CHANCE THROUGH THE NEXT FIVE DAYS.
PREMIER EWING MOVES TO ESTABLISH CRIME FIGHTING UNIT
The Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands, Dr. The Hon. Rufus W. Ewing, on Monday expressed grave concern for the rising level of crime in the country, and particularly for that of serious and fatal nature. This came on receiving news of yet another gun related murder which ironically occurred after a successful weekend of activities which sought to begin the national conversation gun-related crime and focused on educating young people and adults to "break the silence and stop the violence".
In recent months the Premier has continuously registered his dissatisfaction with the level of crime fighting and solved cases with the Commissioner of Police and the Governor, who holds responsibility for national security, and has charged them to step up their efforts to prevent, detect and solve crimes in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Last week, the Premier and his Cabinet approved funding in a supplementary budget for the establishment of a Serious Crimes Investigation Unit that would assist in the investigation and apprehension of those persons responsible for the many murder cases that remain unsolved.
In the meantime, the Premier continues to push for immediate action and during a recent meeting with the Governor, the Premier requested and received commitment from His Excellency and the Commissioner of Police for the immediate recruitment of expert investigators from the UK and the Caribbean region to provide the necessary skills that are required to solve these crimes and also transfer knowledge to local police officers.
The Premier and the Governor have also agreed to the establishment of a National Security Council which will be co-chaired by the Governor and the Premier and will consist of lead persons from the various law enforcement agencies. The role of the Security Council would be intelligence gathering and sharing and the development and coordination of crime fighting strategies.
These initiatives will complement and enhance the ongoing efforts to fight crime and illegal immigration in the islands.
On the matter of crime the Premier commented, "The senseless loss of life and especially that of young people is unsettling and vexatious and one can only imagine the pain that their families must be experiencing. I wish to express my deepest condolences to those families who have lost love ones to violence and I promise you that my Government will put the financial resources behind crime fighting and the development of intervention programs that will reduce interpersonal and gang related violence in our communities."
GM's new diesel pickups first to get extra scrutiny
General Motors is the first automaker to feel the backlash from the Volkswagen diesel emissions cheating scandal.
GM has been told by the EPA and the California Air Resources Board that the new diesel-powered versions of the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups will not be certified until they have been tested on the road as well as in the lab.
The sales launch of the trucks, which is scheduled for the fourth quarter, could be delayed slightly by the additional testing, GM says.
“The EPA and CARB told us they are going to do on-road testing,” Scott Yackley, Chevrolet Trucks assistant chief engineer, said on the sidelines of a media event here for the diesel-powered Colorado.
Last week -- in the wake of VW's violation of diesel emissions rules -- the EPA said it would begin more stringent testing to ensure that vehicles meet emissions in the lab and on the road. It is not clear if the EPA road tests will be done with CARB or separately.
The four-cylinder diesel engine GM slated for the Colorado and Canyon has been used in global markets without some of the emissions equipment required for U.S. sales. That includes the Selective Catalytic Reduction system that periodically sprays urea fluid into the exhaust system.
Yackley said GM engineers have conducted extensive lab and road tests and are confident that the trucks will pass the additional testing.
“Part of our development process is on-road and off-road [laboratory] testing,” he said.
VW, in violation of environmental rules, installed software that switched on the emissions system when certain diesel-powered vehicles were being tested in the lab. On the road, a vehicle's computer switched off the emissions system, causing as much as 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide.
Source-Automotive News
Medical devices vulnerable to hackers
Thousands of critical medical systems, such as MRI machines, are available for hackers to access online, according to researchers.
Some 68,000 medical systems from a large unnamed US health group have been exposed, they said.
Security researchers Scott Erven and Mark Collao presented their findings at hacker conference Derbycon.
They also revealed that they had created fake medical devices which attracted thousands of hackers.
Interfaces connected to medical systems were available via search engine Shodan, the researchers told conference-goers.
The researchers used Shodan - a search engine specifically for internet-connected devices - to look for exposed software from a range of health treatment providers, such as radiology and paediatric clinics, as well as one large healthcare organisation.
They told tech news website the Register that they ended up with "thousands of mis-configurations and direct attack vectors".
Hospitals whose networking equipment and administrative computers were exposed online risked attacks and the exposure of patient data, they said.
Such information would allow attackers to build up details on health organizations, including exact information about where medical devices were housed, they added.
Then it would be a case of "crafting an email and sending it to the guy who has access to that device with a payload that will run on the machine", Mr Collao said.
Presenting their findings at hacking conference Derbycon, the researchers said they had reported dozens of vulnerabilities to big-name medical device manufacturers over the last year.
The pair also ran an experiment to illustrate how hackers were already targeting medical devices.
For six months, they ran fake MRI and defibrillator machines in the form of software which mimicked the real devices.
The two fake machines attracted tens of thousands of login attempts and some 299 attempts to download malware, the researchers said.
The fact that their "honeypot" devices attracted so much interest suggests that medical devices are a target for hackers, said security researcher Ken Munro.
He emphasised the need to make the real-life versions more secure.
"Medical devices should not be available on the public internet. They should be behind multiple layers of protection," he said.
"Based on their research, we can see that hackers will have a go at devices that are clearly critical medical systems. That is scary, if unsurprising.
"What is even scarier is that the research shows that some medical devices have already been compromised."
Source-BBC
Jack Warner banned for life from football activities
Former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner has been banned from football for life.
The 72-year-old Trinidadian is the former head of Caribbean and North and Central American football (Concacaf), but quit Fifa in 2011.
He is fighting extradition to the US on corruption charges and denies accepting millions of dollars in bribes.
Warner committed "many and various acts of misconduct continuously and repeatedly" said the football world governing body's ethics committee.
Fifa's ruling follows its own investigation into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which began looking at Warner's activities in January 2015.
On Tuesday, Fifa said Warner had been found guilty of violating the organization's code of ethics several times.
A statement read: "In his positions as a football official, he was a key player in schemes involving the offer, acceptance, and receipt of undisclosed and illegal payments, as well as other money-making schemes."
Source-BBC
Jah Cure arrested in T&T
Jah Cure is the latest Jamaican artiste to face legal troubles in Trinidad and Tobago.
Yesterday, the singer appeared in court in the country's capital, Port of Spain, to answer charges of accepting money to perform there and not showing up.
The 36-year-old singer (real name Siccature Alcock) was arrested by marshals of the Port of Spain High Court shortly after completing his performance at the O2 Park in Chaguaramas on Sunday night.
According to the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian newspaper, after lengthy discussions between Jah Cure's lawyer Mario Merritt and attorneys for the local promoter whom he owes over TT$83,000 in performance fees, the artiste was allowed to go free.
The newspaper said Jah Cure paid US$6000 in cash to the court and agreed to pay the remainder Monday evening.
In July, deejay Busy Signal was arrested by police before performing in Port of Spain. A promoter sought emergency court intervention for him not honouring a concert date which left the promoter US$37,000 in debt.
Busy Signal negotiated an agreement with the authorities and was allowed to leave the country.
Source-Jamaica Observer
US Coast Guard seized $41M in drugs in Caribbean Sea
The United States Coast Guard says it seized about $41 million worth of cocaine and marijuana during two recent operations in the Caribbean Sea.
On Tuesday morning, officials will offload about 1,100 kilograms of cocaine and 4,420 pounds of marijuana at the Coast Guard Station Miami Beach.
The drugs were seized during operations to stop the flow of illegal drugs from South America.
In one case, a Coast Guard aircraft located a suspicious go-fast boat near the Dominican Republic on September 20. The agency's cutter Richard Dixon responded and seized the vessel after suspects tossed four packages into the water. Multiple packages were also found on board. The Coast Guard recovered 49 bales of marijuana.
The suspected smugglers have been transferred to US authorities for prosecution.
Source-AP