Maritime law enforcement agencies seize near $1 million in drugs in Bahamas
Law enforcement agencies have seized over 985 pounds of marijuana estimated to be worth $1 million and arrested two suspected drug smugglers intercepted in Bahamian waters.
The drugs and suspects were held when officers from the United States Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), Office of Air and Marine (OAM) aircrew and Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos (OPBAT) tracked a suspicious, 35-foot go-fast vessel, with low lights, about 20 miles southwest of Andros Island on Monday.
After the vessel was intercepted, Bahamian authorities took two men into custody in Andros and seized dozens of sacks containing the illegal drugs.
“These collaborative efforts are crucial in disrupting illicit activity and potential threats,” said William Gibbon, director of CBP’s Miami Air and Marine Branch. “We’ll continue to deter and detect the illegal entry of people, weapons and drugs to secure our maritime borders.”
OPBAT is a joint partnership with the US Drug Enforcement agency, the governments of the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands as well as the US. Coast Guard and CBP to combat drug smuggling to and from the Bahamas.
OPBAT also regularly assists with prosecuting human smuggling and search and rescue cases.
With 1,200 federal agents, 267 aircraft and 283 marine vessels operating from 91 locations throughout the United States, OAM uses sophisticated fleets to detect, sort, intercept, track and apprehend criminals in diverse environments at and beyond US borders.
Source-Caribbean360
Raid on Chicago home over celebrity nude leaks
Newly-released legal documents have revealed a building in Chicago was raided after hundreds of nude photos of female stars were leaked last year.
The FBI seized computers and mobile phones from the home in October, after celebrities including Jennifer Lawrence had pictures stolen - apparently via a hack on their Apple iCloud accounts.
Court papers have identified eight celebrities by their initials only.
The FBI said no charges have been filed at the current time.
Last summer's scandal highlighted the vulnerabilities of cloud computing - which allows personal information to be stored on the Internet and accessed from any device.
The affidavit - a sworn statement to the court - has identified eight celebrities by their initials only: AS, CH, HS, JM, OW, AK, EB and AH.
One of the identified stars learned she was a victim of the leak through the news media. The papers have stated that "all photos were taken with her iPhone and sent through iMessage to her boyfriend".
Actress Jennifer Lawrence has since spoken about the leak. Speaking to Vanity Fair, the 24-year-old said: "It is not a scandal. It is a sex crime. It is a sexual violation. It's disgusting."
In September, a significant amount of nude and racy photos alleging to be of Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Ariana Grande, and other celebrities leaked online.
Source-BBC
Venezuela wants peaceful solution to border dispute
Venezuela Tuesday denied it has any intention of forcibly taking over land it claims to be its own in Guyana and rejected statements from the new administration in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country that it was moving to enforce a recent shift in its maritime boundary.
“It is unacceptable that the new Government of Guyana assume this position with a territory that is subject to controversy, and is also expressly recognized that this sea area is subject to the amicable settlement of the territorial claims, as envisaged in the Geneva Agreement,” Caracas said in a statement.
In a strongly worded statement on Monday, Georgetown said that it “wishes to make it pellucid that Decree No 1787 cannot be applicable to any part of Guyana’s territory and any attempt by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to apply that instrument in an extra-territorial manner will be vigorously resisted by the Cooperative Republic of Guyana”.
The new administration of President David Granger, which has since received the support of the main opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) on the border issue, said it plans to formally bring to the attention of the international community what it termed “this aggressive and illegal act by Venezuela”.
Guyana said the decree is a “flagrant violation of international law and is inconsistent with the principle that all States should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other States, large and small.
”The Cooperative Republic of Guyana rejects this illegality which seeks to undermine our efforts at development through exploitation of our natural resources off-shore.
“Guyana will continue, undeterred, to access and develop its resources in accordance with the Constitution and laws in keeping with the principles of International Law.”
But Venezuela said that Guyana may have created an artificial crisis over the decree that was issued by the President of Venezuela and which highlighted a widening of Venezuela’s claim to Guyana’s waters and territory.
“Venezuela regrets that an administrative rule directed to organize, with the assistance of the new technologies of information, daily supervision and maritime security within the framework of its unlimited jurisdiction and constitutional exercise which nothing can affect the Cooperative Republic of Guyana – will be exploited to shock and trying to create an artificial crisis, inventing irrational situations against a brother country like Venezuela, using a highly offensive language.”
Venezuela said that the only appropriate channels to resolve this dispute are those of International Law, the Geneva Agreement and continue the Good Officer mechanism under the figure of the Secretary General of the United Nations.
“It is an offense to the libertarian tradition of the people of Simon Bolivar consider imperial clear language that Venezuela is a threat to the region, when, was reflected in the recent Summit of the Americas the unanimous recognition and support of the fraternal peoples of the Venezuelan foreign policy of peace and solidarity.”
But Caracas has maintained its objection to the presence of the oil rig of the US-based ExxonMobil in Guyana waters, with Caracas noting that “the unique and surprising aggression, is that the government of Guyana has allowed such a powerful transnational as Exxon Mobil venture into disputed territory between the two countries, which in no way seeks to address the right to development of Guyana.”
“It is imperative to remember that thanks to the eternal Commander Hugo Chavez, various programmes of cooperation, solidarity and brotherhood such as PETROCARIBE, for stability and energy security of the region were implemented.
“This policy puts into practice humanistic sublime to the people of Guyana principles, has been of great impact and success for true prosperity of our brother Guyanese people, and President Nicolas Maduro and has been continued.
“The new Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana exhibits a dangerous policy of provocation against the Bolivarian Venezuela of peace , supported by the imperial power of a US multinational , Exxon Mobil , which must be rectified in the short term.”
Venezuela said “this unfriendly policy of provocation will be defeated by the force of reality imposed by the foreign policy of peace and friendship between Venezuela and the people of Guyana itself”
“The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reiterates its desire for peace feelings and the brotherly people of Guyana, and reaffirms the invitation to his Foreign Minister to an early meeting so through political dialogue between brothers, continue along the path of cooperation and overcoming the historical dispute , which had its genesis in fraudulent actions of former colonial powers against Venezuela”
Prior to the decree, Venezuela had twice written to the local subsidiary of the US-based Exxon-Mobil warning against continued exploration for hydrocarbons in the area. On both occasions, the Guyana government had issued strong objections.
In its latest statement, the Guyana government said that the “land boundary between Guyana and Venezuela, which was defined by the Arbitral Award of 1899 is recognized by all States.
Venezuela also recognized its border with Guyana as settled for over sixty years having also participated in the demarcation of its established boundary which was demarcated in 1905,” the statement said, adding “it is international law that must reign supreme and not the ambitions of a larger State which wishes to trample upon the rights of a smaller country in order to obstruct the sovereign right of Guyana to develop its natural resources”.
Source-CMC
RBS government stake to be sold, chancellor announces
The government plans to sell its stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland, Chancellor George Osborne has announced in his annual Mansion House speech.
Mr Osborne said the "decision point" had been reached.
Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney said the phased sell-off "would promote financial stability" and benefit the wider economy.
Mr Osborne also set out more details of the sell-off of the Government's remaining stake in Royal Mail.
Royal Mail employees will share a further 1% tranche in the the firm, while 15% will be placed with institutional investors.
The government provided RBS with a £45.5bn bailout in 2008, paying around 500p a share. The share price currently stands at 354.8p.
The chancellor argued that the sale must be seen as a whole and the share price will increase in subsequent offerings as confidence grows.
Mr Osborne said: "It's the right thing to do for British businesses and British taxpayers. Yes, we may get a lower price than that was paid for it - but we will get the best price possible. For the longer we wait, the higher the price the whole economy will pay."
A review from Rothschild investment bank said that, despite this price gap, taxpayers can expect to make £14bn more than it paid out in bank bailouts if the sale of bank assets and fees already received are taken into account.
RBS has already paid back about £5bn in fees and repayments for insurance systems set up by the government as part of the bailout.
Country Music Awards sees early winners
Music beauties stepped out to attend the 2015 CMT Music Awards held at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday evening, June 10. Among those who shone on the red carpet were Carrie Underwood, Nikki Reed and Rumer Willis.
Other celebrities in attendance like Brittany Snow, Nicole Kidman, Erin Andrews and Cassadee Pope also glammed up on the red carpet. Brittany showed off her long legs in a black-and-white long dress with front high slit while Nicole wore a black-and-white tube top and black pants. Erin donned a sleeveless white long dress with a waist cutout and side high slit. Cassadee, meanwhile, sported a long-sleeved, sheer gold mini dress with her hair styled in half updo.
Carrie Underwood, who led the race at the 2015 CMT Music Awards with five nominations, has already bagged two awards. The former "American Idol" winner and Miranda Lambert shared the Collaborative Video of the Year prize for their "Somethin' Bad" clip.
"This is so amazing," said the new mom, who showed off her stunning post-baby body in a skin-tight white dress. "I, of course, accept this award on behalf of the one and only Miranda Lambert." Her collaborator Lambert, unfortunately, wasn't present to collect the trophy.
Underwood additionally won Female Video of the Year for her "Something in the Water" clip, beating out Lambert, Lee Ann Womack, RaeLynn and Reba McEntire. Underwood was nominated twice in the category, the other was for "Little Toy Guns" visuals.
Florida Georgia Line was another early winner at Wednesday, June 10 ceremony, taking home Duo Video of the Year for their "Dirt" music video. The group comprising of Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard was also nominated for their "Sun Daze" music video in the same category.
The winner for Breakthrough Video of the Year has already been announced as well and it went to Sam Hunt for his "Leave the Night On" clip.
More winners will be revealed at the annual CMT Music Awards which is currently taking place at the Bridgestone Arena. Lady Antebellum and Zedd kicked off the ceremony with a medley of their singles "Long Stretch of Love" and "Beautiful Now". Other performers tapped for the event included Underwood, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Sam Hunt, Kenny Chesney, Florida Georgia Line and Keith Urban.
Source-Aceshowbiz
Rick Ross Arrested For Marijuana In Georgia
Rick Ross was taken into custody after cops pulled over the Maybach Music Group boss in Fayette County, GA on Wednesday afternoon.
WSBTV Atlanta reported that cops smell Marijuana inside Rozay’s Bentley after he was pulled over for having tints that were too dark.
Cops found a total of five blunts after searching the vehicle. The Miami rapper was booked in the Fayette County jail on drug misdemeanor.
This is not Rick Ross first running with cops for marijuana. In 2011, he was busted in Philadelphia after cops found the band substance in his hotel room.
Source-
Safaree Raps About His Breakup With Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj’s ex Safaree has done a few interviews since his much publicized breakup but he is using his music to truly vent about the heartbreak. On a clip of his new track “Love the Most,” he raps candidly about their split and being the man behind hip-hop’s biggest female rapper.
On the snippet obtained by TMZ, it seems like Safaree feels like he never got the credit he deserved from his former love, whom he thought he would have a family with one day.
“You ain’t do it all alone we took ourselves up out the hood…Twelve years up in flames thought you would’ve had my kid,” he rapped.
The Brooklyn native also revealed that he was not always okay with watching Nicki put on a show with other male rappers, saying he forced himself to take the bad with the good.
“Had to watch you kiss Nas and pretend it’s all cool / Inside I was feeling like a *%$# fool,” he said.
Source-Allhiphop
Kaspersky Lab cybersecurity firm was hacked recently
One of the leading anti-virus software providers has revealed that its own systems were recently compromised by hackers.
Kaspersky Lab said it believed the attack was designed to spy on its newest technologies.
It said the intrusion involved up to three previously unknown techniques.
The Russian firm added that it was continuing to carry out checks, but believed it had detected the intrusion at an early stage.
Although it acknowledged that the attackers had managed to access some of its files, it said that the data it had seen was "in no way critical to the operation" of its products.
"Spying on cybersecurity companies is a very dangerous tendency," said the company's chief executive Eugene Kaspersky.
"The only way to protect the world is to have law enforcement agencies and security companies fighting such attacks openly.
"We will always report attacks regardless of their origin."
Remote computers
Kaspersky Lab said that it had detected the breach in the "early spring", and described it as "one of the most sophisticated campaigns ever seen".
The malware does not write any files to disk, but instead resides in affected computers' memory, making it relatively hard to detect.
Kaspersky linked the attack to the unidentified creators of an earlier Trojan named Duqu, which made headlines in 2011 after being used in attacks on Iran, India, France and Ukraine.
As before, the hackers are said to have exploited Microsoft software to achieve their goal.
Last time they made use of a flaw in Word.
This time, Kaspersky said, the malware was spread using Microsoft Software Installer files, which are commonly used by IT staff to install programs on remote computers.
"This highly sophisticated attack used up to three zero-day [previously unknown] exploits, which is very impressive - the costs must have been very high," commented Costin Raiu, director of Kaspersky Lab's global research and analysis team.
He warned that the firm had evidence "Duqu 2.0" attacks had also been made on other targets, including several venues used for talks between Iran and the West about Iran's nuclear programme.
The chief research officer of a rival computer security firm said he had had only a brief chance to look into the allegations, but added that it did appear to be a "big deal".
"Duqu 2.0 seems to be the biggest [cybersecurity] news of the year so far - it's major new malware from a major source," said Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure.
"But we have previously seen security companies used as a way to reach other targets.
"The prime example of this was RSA, which got hacked four years ago, when we believe the target was a defence contractor in the US, which used RSA's technology."
Kaspersky said that it was "confident" that its clients and partners remained safe.
Source-BBC
Caribbean at risk of not meeting goal of reducing deaths from NCDs
Based on current trends, and despite measures implemented to reduce the impact of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and address their risk factors, Caribbean countries will not meet the goal of reducing NCD deaths by 25 per cent in another 10 years, a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) official has warned.
It is against that background that health leaders from throughout the Caribbean, including the TCI, are meeting in Barbados with representatives of United Nations agencies, collaborating agencies from Canada and the United States, development banks, academia and civil society to discuss actions that can be taken to reduce the impact in the Caribbean of NCDs.
The TCI team is headed by the Premier Hon Dr. Rufus Ewing, who holds responsibilities for Health and Human Services and includes Permanent Assistant in the Premier’s office, Mrs. Darlene Clearvaux-Forbes and Ms. Charlene Higgs, Health Educator and National Communicable Disease focal point.
In 2012, Caribbean countries joined other PAHO/WHO Member States in endorsing the goal. Since then, Caribbean governments have been implementing measures addressing NCDs,; and premature mortality from NCDs has started to decline, but not fast enough to be on target to reach the 2025 goal.
“We need to intensify the public policy and health service response if we want to reduce the burden of NCDs and their risk factors on individuals, families and societies and prevent an even greater burden in the future,” Anselm Hennis, director of PAHO/WHO’s Department of Chronic Diseases and Mental Health, told those attending the ‘Forum of Key Stakeholders on NCDs forum: “Advancing the NCD agenda in the Caribbean’ which has been organized by PAHO/WHO in collaboration with Barbados’ Ministry of Health.”
“Current trends clearly show that the Caribbean countries will not achieve the 25 per cent relative reduction in premature mortality due to NCDs by 2025, if we continue the business-as-usual model,” Hennis added.
Compared with other sub regions of the Americas, the Caribbean has the highest rates of premature death (among people ages 30 to 69) from the four major NCDs: cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases.
In addition, NCDs are a major cause of suffering and disability, which, combined with direct and indirect economic costs, places a heavy economic and social burden on families, communities, health systems and economies.
Discussions during the two day forum, which began Monday, will focus on how to reduce the impact of NCDs by addressing their main risk factors, by strengthening health systems and improving care for NCDs, and by engaging sectors beyond health to support and participate in efforts to tackle NCDs.
“Healthier lifestyle choices are not simply a matter of individual choice,” said Hennis. “We really must impact the social, economic, cultural and living conditions through whole-of-government and whole-of-society actions to make the healthy choice the easier choice.” He added.
Among specific areas to be discussed at this week’s meeting are: the role of legislation and regulations in modifying unhealthy environments and reducing exposure to tobacco, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity – the top four NCD risk factors; multi-sectoral action; a comprehensive health-system response to NCDs that includes prevention and affordable access to health care, in the context of universal access and universal health coverage; innovative ways to efficiently and sustainably finance health systems and especially their response to NCDs and related risk factors, given the rising costs of care; and strategies for ensuring that NCDs remain a high priority on the Caribbean political agenda.
The 2nd Annual Primary School’s Cricket Competition held in Provo
The Second Annual Inter Primary School Cricket Competition organized by the Turks and Caicos Islands Cricket Association and sponsored by Scotiabank took place at the Down Town Ball Park on Saturday 6th June, 2015.
The participating schools were:
Oseta Jolly, Prove Christian, Enid Capron, British West Indies Collegiate (BWIC), Community Christian Academy, New International School, and combined Grand Turk Primary Schools.
The teams were placed in two groups.
Group 1 Group 2
BWIC Community Christian Academy
Grand Turk Combined New International
Oseta Jolly Enid Capron
Provo Christian
Results of Group 1
Match 1: BWIC defeated Oseta Jolly
Match 2: Grand Turk defeated BWIC
Match 3: Grand Turk defeated Oseta Jolly
Grand Turk combined were the winners of that group with 4 points.
BWIC second with 2 points.
Results of group 2
Match 1: Provo Christian defeated Community Christian Academy
Match 2: New International defeated Enid Capron
Match 3: Community Christian defeated Enid Capron
Match 4: New Internatioanl defeated Community Christian
Match 5: Provo Christian defeated Enid Capron
Match 6: New Int defeated Provo Christian
New International were the winners of group 2 with 6 points.
The finals were contested between Grand Turk combined and New International School.
Batting first New International made 42 for 5 in the allotted 10 overs. In reply Grand Turk Combined marched to victory in 8 over losing only two wickets.
The presentation ceremony took place immediately after the finals. The trophies were presented by the Managing Director of Scotiabank Mr. Sean Braithwaite, the captain of Beaches TCI and 1st Vice President of the Cricket Association, Mr. Ancell Williams and the President of TCICA Mr. Colin Sterling.
Mr Sterling thanked all the school principals, teachers’ parents and students for making the event a success. Special mention was made of Scotiabank for their continued support to cricket in the Turks and Caicos Islands, and interCaribbean Airways for their contribution.
The day’s proceedings went smoothly with the participation of 70 students from the various schools and full support was given by parents and teachers of the participating schools.
20 players of Providenciales will be selected to continue training on Saturdays under the guidance of the cricket development officer, Mr. Rawle Gill and his assistant Mr. Paul Mc Kenzie, to build a Youth team to represent the Turks & Caicos in regional competitions.
To date, in excess of 200 students participate in the Youth Development School’s Programme.
Full Scoreboard Finals: New International
-42 for 5 after 10 overs, top scorer was Joe with 26 runs.
-Bowling for Grand Turk, Jamal Jean took 3 for 7 after 2 overs.
-In reply Grand Turk scored 45 for 2 after 8 overs
-Jamal Jean scored 13 and Divanae Williams was not out on 24
-Parris and Dillan claimed one wicket a piece for 10 and 15 respectively.
In a few weeks’ time, there will be matches played between Clement Howell High and British West Indies Collegiate.