UN Opens Human Rights Office in Seoul to Investigate N. Korea
The United Nations officially opened a new field office in Seoul Tuesday to document human rights abuses in North Korea. The world body has been trying to increase pressure on the repressive Kim Jong Un regime to end ongoing systematic human rights violations that it calls “without parallel in the contemporary world."
Phil Robertson, with the non-government group Human Rights Watch, called the opening of the U.N.’s field office in Seoul a critical step forward in the campaign to hold North Korea’s leaders accountable for committing crimes against humanity.
“This is something that Kim Jong Un should be staying awake at night thinking about, because he is going to be facing a determined team of professional investigators looking and speaking to people to find out the abuses that are taking place against them,” said Robertson.
International pressure has been intensifying on Pyongyang since the release of a U.N. report last year documenting a network of political prisons in North Korea holding 120,000 people and a list of atrocities that include murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, and rape.
The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution to refer Pyongyang to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, but the process was stalled in the U.N. Security Council. It has not been brought to a vote there because it is believed that North Korea's allies, China and Russia, would veto any punitive action.
Investigators working in the U.N. human rights field office in Seoul will document further atrocities and cases of abuse inside the North for possible legal action in the future.
Human Rights Watch’s Robertson said North Korean officials at the U.N. initially offered to cooperate in exchange for immunity.
“They also insisted that certain things be granted as a concession upfront to North Korea, that there will be no reference to any sort of leadership accountability. And the international community and the human rights systems don’t work that way,” he said.
Since then, North Korea has responded to human rights criticisms with strong denials, threats of retaliation and further isolation.
This week Pyongyang said it would boycott next month's World University Games in South Korea to protest the opening of the U.N. human rights office in Seoul.
Choi Yong-sang, with the Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights, said it important to clarify that the U.N. office in Seoul is looking into abuses by the leadership and is not targeting the people of North Korea.
Choi said the purpose of the activities of the office is to observe Kim Jong Un and other top members who suppress North Koreans’ human rights. They should know, he added, that the activities of the office are not the suppression or isolation of North Koreans.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry recently said North Korea has also alienated its allies Russia and China by rejecting overtures to restart talks to end Pyongyang’s nuclear program in exchange for increased aid and development assistance.
In 2013, the United Nations imposed harsh sanctions on the regime after North Korea conducted its third nuclear test.
Source-VOA
International food aid, especially from South Korea and the United States, has also been drastically cut.
At the same time the U.N. is trying to pressure the Kim Jong Un regime to curb human rights abuses, the U.N. World Food Program is appealing for over $100 million in food aid for North Korea. The North is suffering through a severe drought that could cause significant food shortages for millions of Koreans.
'Indiana Jones 5' Is Reportedly Coming in 2018
"Indiana Jones V" has reportedly gotten its release date. According to AintItCool, LucasFilm is penciling in a release window for the fifth installment of "Indiana Jones" movie franchise in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Quint from AintItCool writes, "I asked some friendly spies in and around Lucasfilm for confirmation and didn't get it, but also didn't get a denial, either. As with any early rumor take this with a grain of salt, but it makes sense to me even though Indy has traditionally been a summer release franchise."
"Indiana Jones" producer Frank Marshall recently told SlashFilm that there were still no discussion about the movie's release date. "No, there've been no discussions on that," Marshall replied when asked whether Harrison Ford or Chris Pratt will lead the movie. "We've had no discussions on 'Indy 5' to date."
LucasFilm president Kathleen Kennedy confirmed to Vanity Fair back in May that "Indiana Jones V" "will one day be made inside this company." Kathleen, however, stressed that the project was still in early development. "When it will happen, I'm not quite sure," she said, "We haven't started working on a script yet, but we are talking about it."
Source-Aceshowbiz
US Condemns Taliban Attack on Afghan Parliament
A group of heavily armed Taliban suicide bombers stormed Afghanistan’s parliament Monday as the House was in session to decide whether to endorse Defense Minister-designate Masoom Stanekzai.
Witnesses reported a series of explosions and gunfire from inside the building following the raid. The attack began with a massive blast at the main gate.
Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said seven Taliban gunmen with explosives strapped to their bodes took part in the attack and security forces killed all of them, ending a siege that lasted nearly two hours.
The minister said no lawmakers were hurt, but officials say at least 30 other people were wounded, including five women and three children - some seriously.
A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the group was behind what he called a suicide mission aimed at members of the “slave” parliament.
The U.S. Embassy strongly condemned the attack saying in a statement that it "shows blatant disrespect for democracy and the rule of law."
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families at this time," the statement said, expressing sympathy to the Members of Parliament who were targeted in the attack.
Television footage showed heavy smoke coming out of the area where the parliament building is located, with Afghan soldiers and police deployed on roads leading to the site.
Afghan media circulated pictures from inside the parliament showing the main hall full of smoke and lawmakers rushing outside.
The area where Monday’s attack took place also houses offices of foreign aid organizations and diplomatic missions.
Reacting to news of the attack, the top U.N. envoy in Afghanistan, Nicholas Haysom, told the Security Council Monday greater regional cooperation is necessary to address the threat.
“Foreign fighters from Afghanistan’s northern neighbors and elsewhere present a particular challenge," Haysom said. "There also remains considerable concern that ISIL, referred to in Afghanistan as Da’esh, is seeking to establish a foothold.”
The Taliban attack happened a day after the insurgent group captured a key district in the northern Kunduz province and Afghan security forces are battling the insurgents just outside the provincial capital.
Margaret Besheer contributed to this report from the United Nations
FORECAST FOR TONIGHT AND TOMORROW MONDAY 22ND JUNE, 2015
FORECAST FOR TONIGHT AND TOMORROW MONDAY 22ND JUNE, 2015
GENERAL SITUATION: A WEAK LOW LEVEL TROUGH ACROSS THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS WILL EXIT THE AREA TONIGHT AS ANOTHER WEAK LOW LEVEL TROUGH ENTERS THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS EARLY TUESDAY WITH SOME ASSOCIATED WEATHER. MEANWHILE, HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS THE DOMINANT SURFACE FEATURE.
SPECIAL WARNINGS: BEACHGOERS AND MARINERS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS ALONG NORTHERN AND EASTERN COASTLINES OF THE BAHAMAS.
FOR ALL AREAS
WEATHER: PARTLY CLOUDY TO MOSTLY FAIR SKIES WITH A FEW SHOWERS OR A THUNDERSTORM MAINLY NEAR THE TROUGHS TONIGHT; PARTLY SUNNY, HOT AND HUMID WITH FEW SCATTERED SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS NEAR THE TROUGH TOMORROW.
ADVISORY: BOATERS SHOULD CONTINUE TO EXERCISE CAUTION IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS.
WINDS: EAST TO SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS IN THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS AND EASTERLY AT 15 TO 20 KNOTS IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS.
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET OVER THE OCEAN IN THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS AND 4 TO 6 FEET OVER THE OCEAN IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS.
.
OVERNIGHT LOW TEMP.: 76°F 24°C
DAYTIME HIGH TEMP.: 91°F 33°C
SUNSET: 8:03PM MON. SUNRISE: 06:21AM TUE.
MOONSET: 12:24AM TUE. MOONRISE: 12:36PM TUE.
LOW TIDE: 7:00PM MON. HIGH TIDE: 01:08AM TUE.
LOW TIDE: 07:36AM TUE. HIGH TIDE: 1:46PM TUE.
Mitsubishi Electric Win Cricket Opener
The TCICA T20 Summer Cricket League began on Sunday the 14th of June 2015 at the Downtown Ballpark Providenciales. Mitsubishi Electric formerly KB Homes won the toss and batted closing on 157 runs for the loss of seven (7) wickets from their allotted 20 overs.
Marlon Graham led the way with 62 runs which was decorated with 8x4 and 1x6 and while his opening partner; Paul McKenzie supported with twenty-eight (28) runs consisting of 3x4 and 1x6 and Blair Mason added 26 runs 4x4 1x6. Bowling for Kischo: Sanjay Fatnani Clamied two (2) wickets for 36 runs from 3 overs.
In their chase Kischo was dismissed for 119 runs from 16.4 overs. Top scorer was Lloyd Lynch with 31 runs: 7x4 and Jettu Ganglani made 26 runs: 3x4 and 1x6 and Pawn Kumar contributed 24 runs. Bowling for MitsubishI Electric: Winick Caleb snatched four wickets for 21 runs from four over and Ajay Vyas captured 3 wickets for 17 runs from 4 overs.
Meanwhile, the competition continued on Saturday, 21st of June and Sunday 22nd June 2015 at the Downtown Ballpark. Five teams will be participating at the competition, namely: Kischo, Mitsubishi Electric, Police, Beaches and Quality Super Kings.
HJ Robinson High School Basketball Team supports International Day Against Drug Abuse & illicit trafficking
Sporting houses of the HJ Robinson high school to engage in a basketball match-up in support of International Day Against Drug Abuse and illicit trafficking
There will be a basketball match between the sporting houses of the HJ Robinson high school today June 22nd and Tuesday 23rd 7:00 pm at the Palm Grove basketball court.
During half time there will also be an open slam dunk competition where the winner will receive a $50 cash prize.
This event is being held in observance of International Day Against Drug Abuse and illicit trafficking.
So come on out and support your house and see who will be crowned the winner and MVP!
TCIs Ifeanyi Otuyonye named Male Athlete of the Year
The Turks and Caicos recently recorded a new long jump National record thanks to young Ifeanyi Otuonye, and quite significantly the college student set a new indoor record for the triple jump and was named by the US Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association as the mid-west Field Male Athlete of the Year.
In her ministerial statement, Deputy Premier Akiera Missick congratulated Otuoyne on the feats as she announced that Akia Guerrier has qualified for the World Youth Track and Field competition which will be held next month in Colombia.
It was also revealed that a team of primary schoolers will represent the TCI at the Caribbean Primary School Competition within the second week of July and came the announcement of the September UK Territory Games; it was not revealed who will represent the country at that track & field meet but local trials were organized by the TCAAA and said to be supported by sprinter, Angelo Garland.
Source-MMTV
Fatal shooting claims the life of a young man on Bible Street, Providenciales
The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force (RTCIPF) have launched an investigation after a man was found on a roadway and later died, in Blue Hills yesterday morning.
At approximately 12:06AM (Sunday, 21 June 2015), officers attached to The Beat & Patrol Unit were called to Bible Street, after reports of multiple shots were heard being fired.
Police arrived to find a man, aged 22, with serious injuries lying on the road.
The man was taken to Cheshire Hall Medical Centre, where he later died. The name of the deceased is known to police but is not being released at this time.
And while Astwood did not release the name of the young man who succumbed to his injuries, social media was immediately flooded with a posting of the young man’s photo, along with condolences & prayers for the grieving family of young Robert Martinez who was gunned down just yards away from his home on Bible Street in Blue Hills.
Astwood noted there was also a second man, aged 20 who sustained a gunshot wound during the same incident on Bible Street. He was taken to hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries. He remains in a stable condition.
Meanwhile, a press release from the Public Relations Officer at the TCI Hospital, Ms. Takarra Bain, in response to media queries, confirmed that during the early hours of Sunday June 21st, 2015, the Turks and Caicos Islands Hospital received a 23-year-old male patient following a shooting in Blue Hills. “The patient was immediately treated by our medical team; however he succumbed to his injuries. Another male patient, age 21 was transferred to the Cheshire Hall Medical Centre, following the same shooting incident in Blue Hills; that patient was treated and discharged.
Also, on Sunday June 2st 2015, the Turks and Caicos Islands Hospital received a 21 year-old male patient following an incident on the Leeward Highway, Providenciales. The patient was treated and later transferred overseas for further medical treatment,” confirmed Ms. Bain.
Astwood said an investigation has commenced and a crime scene established that was examined by detectives and forensic specialists.
Police are in search of two males who they believe can assist them with their investigations. Both males were last seen wearing short pants and black hoodies.
Police have not arrested any suspects at present.
Police are urging anyone with information about this incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1-800-8477 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page: www.crimestoppers.tc. Information you provide will be treated in the strictest of confidence. All calls are answered by Miami Dade Police and no one from the RTCIPF will know who called. Only the information received will be provided to the RTCIPF. We remind people they should not report crime information via our Facebook and Twitter pages.
The Turks and Caicos Islands is one of fourteen Caribbean countries among 30 territories blacklisted by the European Union
The Turks and Caicos Islands is one of fourteen Caribbean countries among 30 territories blacklisted by the European Union (EU) as the world’s worst tax havens.
The list published by the EU on Wednesday, also includes Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, and the US Virgin Islands.
Each of those countries, and the other 16 on the blacklist, had been suggested by at least 10 EU member states as problematic because they were not doing enough to crack down on tax avoidance.
Jurisdictions commonly labeled as offshore tax avoidance hubs, including Luxembourg, Jersey and Switzerland, were not on the list.
European Commissioner for economics, taxation and customs Pierre Moscovici said that publishing the list of “non-cooperative jurisdictions” was a decisive step in pushing the territories to adopt international standards.
“Our citizens can no longer tolerate that certain companies, often the most prosperous, avoid fair tax contributions and that certain tax regimes encourage them on this path,” he said.
The European Commission, the EU’s tax watchdog, issued the list at the same time it unveiled a plan for tackling corporate tax avoidance.
The aim of that plan is to tax companies where they earn their profits, rather than allowing firms to shift money into low-tax jurisdictions.
Moscovici said corporate tax needed a “radical reform” and all member states needed to “pull together” to ensure companies paid their way.
Meanwhile, Barbados’ Minister of International Business Donville Inniss said the move was unjustified and government would be objecting, saying Barbados had no right on that list.
“I can’t speak for all the jurisdictions but I know that this labeling of Barbados is extremely unfortunate and as minister responsible for international business I am not going to sit back and take this lightly,” he told the Daily Nation.
Cayman Finance, which represents the financial services industry in the Cayman Islands, said it was disappointed to see the territory included on the list, based on the views of 11 EU countries with which it does little international business.
“It is not clear what standards have been used by these 11 countries to come to such a conclusion, in particular when the Cayman Islands has exchange of information mechanisms in place with all but one of these countries,” it said.
“The Cayman Islands has consistently evolved and maintained its international tax cooperation practices to meet robust, balanced and globally implemented standards for regulation and cross border cooperation that apply equally to G20 countries and all International Financial Centres . . . .
It was just this past February that Premier Hon Dr. Rufus Ewing defended the Turks and Caicos when the UK’s Ed Miliband labeled the country as a ‘tax haven’ and it was just last October that the TCI signed the US FATCA agreement which now compels all financial institutions to report on US citizens regularly to the Financial Services Commission, who in turn reports to the US IRS.
RTC News understands that representatives of the various Caribbean countries are being called upon to fight this injustice, together. A joint position by the BOTC’s (including the Turks and Caicos Islands), is expected to be communicated in a press release that RTC News will share with you as soon as it’s made available to us.
The other countries on the blacklist are: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Guernsey, Monaco, Mauritius, Liberia, Seychelles, Brunei, Hong Kong, Maldives, Cook Islands, Nauru, Niue and Marshall Island.
TCI Cabinet Meeting for June 2015
His Excellency the Governor, Peter Beckingham, chaired the 16th meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday 17 June 2015 at the NJS Francis Building on Grand Turk.
All Minister were present.
At this meeting Cabinet:
· Received a presentation from Turks and Caicos Environmental Management who updated Cabinet about the work they have carried out so far under Phase 1 and also briefed Cabinet about a proposed Phase 2 of the Solid Waste Programme and other Public-Private Environmental Programmes. The Ministry and Cabinet will review the costings of Phase 2 before making decisions.
· Reviewed the draft Turks and Caicos Islander Status Bill 2015 and made amendments where appropriate. Advised H.E the Governor to approve a public consultation on the same and to approve the provision of instructions to the Honourable Attorney General to make amendments to the draft Bill as the consultation may suggest.
· Reviewed the draft Immigration Bill 2015 and made amendments where appropriate. Advised H.E the Governor to approve a public consultation on the same and to approve the provision of instructions to the Honourable Attorney General to make amendments to the draft Bill as the consultation may suggest.
· Cabinet received information on the proposed schools’ summer maintenance program, which will entail upgrading the various aspects and repairs and fixing of some of the identified issues in the Government schools throughout the islands. Renovation and replacement works will begin immediately following the schools' closing for the summer break.
· Received information about the proposed re-profiling of planning application fees in regards to developments, and discussed changes. Further details will be announced in the Gazette.
· Advised H.E the Governor to approve Nikita O’Neil Skippings "Chef Nik" to act as a Culinary Ambassador for the Turks and Caicos Islands for a period of 2 years with effect from 1 July 2015.
· Cabinet approved the instatement of the Appeals Tribunal of the National Health Insurance (Appeals) Regulations 2010. The following are being recommended to serve on the Appeals Tribunal; Mr Norman Hamilton, Rev. Conrad Howell, Dr. Euan Menzies and Ms Yvette Marcelin.
· Cabinet approved the appointment of the following members to the Health Practitioners Board (HPB); Dr Jameika Harvey (Chairman), Dr Kendra Hall (Deputy Chair), Dr Raquel D. Lightbourne, Mrs Audrey Ewing, Mr Shanwell Gardiner and Mrs Trammaine Swann-Harvey.