FortisTCI Employees Use Their Energy for Good
FortisTCI encourages all of its employees to donate their time, a task that no doubt they took seriously in 2014. Giving back to the community became a “big deal” for FortisTCI staff who committed in total over 1,600 volunteer hours last year. The top five volunteers among the staff were; Mervin Forbes with 241 hours, Devon Cox with 173.5 hours, Ladonna Bassett with 167.5 hours, Roxie Williams with 155.5 hours, and Callis Jones with 129 hours. In total, FortisTCI staff surpassed their 2014 target ending the year with 1,647.5 hours; over 400 hours more than required to meet their goal.
Mervin Forbes earned his 241 hours serving as the president of the TCI Rising Stars Basketball Club. It is a non-profit youth outreach program that he founded as a result of his personal passions and desire to give back to his community. He also regularly volunteers as a basketball coach and mentor at a local high school in Providenciales. Devon Cox donated a large portion of his hours to his church’s youth ministry and used a significant portion of his vacation time to assist with annual programs abroad with his mentees.
Roxie Williams and Ladonna Bassett both volunteer with the TCI Rising Star Basketball Club and serve as key members of the association. They too gave time to other community projects mainly assisting with children’s programs. Callis Jones donated his time helping with rugby training across the islands and volunteering as a coach for youth and woman’s rugby, in addition to helping out in other community sports activities.
Keeping in line with a part of its mission, FortisTCI continues to support community initiatives and remains devoted to being a responsible corporate citizen across the Turks and Caicos Islands. Activities such as the annual High School Science Fair, graduation programs, annual FortisTCI Spring (or Fall) Walk & Run, the adopt a school program, along with numerous other civic and cultural events, benefited from portions of nearly $97,000.00 in monetary and in-kind donations issued by FortisTCI during 2014.
FortisTCI believes that embracing the community in which you live and work is an integral part of what the company and its employees are here to accomplish. Recognizing top volunteers is a small way in which FortisTCI aims to say to these major contributors, “Thank you for your selfless and tireless work. You make a difference.” With increased volunteerism within the organization over the past three years, FortisTCI employees are looking forward to another record-breaking year in 2015, giving back to the community through volunteering.
MOH Observes World Cancer Day
The Ministry of Health and Human Services joins the world in recognizing World Cancer Day (WCD), which is celebrated each Year on February 4th. This important health awareness day is spearheaded by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), which is comprised of more than 470 cancer-fighting organizations from over 120 countries, including TCI and other Caribbean countries.
World Cancer Day is the singular initiative under which the entire world, including persons affected by cancer, can unite in the fight against the global cancer epidemic by raising awareness and focusing on prevention, early detection, and treatment. It also encourages policy makers in countries and UICC member organizations to make addressing cancer-related health concerns a political priority and to ensure that world leaders keep promises, such as those made at the recent UN Summit, in relation to reducing the impact of cancer.
This would help to achieve the WCD goal of reducing the number of preventable cancer deaths each year.
It is estimated that each year, globally, about 14 million people are diagnosed with cancer, and 8 million people die from the disease. Also, the number of cancer cases and related deaths worldwide are projected to double over the next 20 to 40 years. The greatest increase is expected to take place in low and middle income countries (LMICs), which are least equipped to cope with both the social and economic burden of the disease. Many Caribbean countries are numbered among LMICs.
In the Caribbean, cancers are the second leading cause of death. The TCI is no exception. In 2013, cancers were also the second leading cause of death. Nearly one half of cancers are preventable or treatable if detected early.
Empowering people affected by cancer to make healthy choices; providing universal access to screening, early detection and treatment programmes; and improving the quality of life would make meaningful contributions to achieving the global goal of reducing premature deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by 25% by 2025 and achieving the targets of the World Cancer Declaration.
The following four key areas of focus of the 2015 WCD Campaign under the theme ‘Not beyond us’ have important implications for the Caribbean and TCI:
-Choosing healthy lives
- Delivering early detection
-Achieving treatment for all
- Maximising quality of life
The Ministry of Health and Human Services continues to promote the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviours and obtaining the required screening and check-ups to reduce the risk of developing cancers and other diseases. Reduction in modifiable risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol are also essential to reduce the risk of developing cancer. Early detection is vitally important to the management of all diseases, including cancers. Indeed, cancer prevention and management is “not beyond us” in TCI.
Massive Shake up in the PABA Basketball league
A Major upset in the PABA league over the past weekend, as the Nazarene Kings defeated the Five Cays Knights 77-72 and the Steelers shot their way past the Shottas 53-41.
Lofton Seymour scored 13 points, 2 rebounds , Ralph McKinnon added a career high 29 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists while Dwayne Hamilton chipped in 11 points & collected 9 rebounds for the Kings.
Andujar Gardiner scored 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists & 3 steals, Petrallo Russell added 12 points, 2 rebounds for the Knights. Emanio Williams was the leading scorer for the Shottas with 16 points, 4 rebounds, Wesley Cherry continued to lead all scores for the Steelers with 13 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 blocks and 6 steals while Randy Rigby disciplined guard play earned him 8 points and 3 rebounds for the Steelers.
The only game that was played on Saturday night saw the HAB Sonics suffering another loss to the Spartans 58-53.
This was a much needed win for the Spartans as the team struggled to find a way to win games. TCIPS High School center Jose De Las Santos scored 13 pts, collected 16 rebounds and grabbed 4 steals for the Sonics. Devon Williams led the way with 23 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 3 steals and was supported by Delton Robinson with 8 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals for the Spartans.
Games continue on Wednesday night when the Steelers face the Sonics and the Flyers take on the Coca Cola Classics.
Attorney said a friend found Bobbi Kristina in tub, not Nick Gordon
An attorney said Wednesday that it was his client who found Bobbi Kristina Brown face down in a bathtub last week and called 911, not Brown's partner.
Maxwell Lomas, 24, of Duluth, Georgia — not Nick Gordon — found Brown on January 31 at a town home in suburban Atlanta, said attorney Philip Holloway. Lomas and the 25-year-old Gordon were both listed in the police report as being at the home when investigators arrived.
"He immediately pulled her from the water and called 911 as well as alerting other people in the house," Holloway said of Lomas. "He did whatever he could do to assist in resuscitative measures until first responders arrived."
Previously, police in Roswell, Georgia, where the town home is located, had said that Gordon and Lomas found the woman in the bathtub and that Lomas called 911 while Gordon performed CPR. Gordon has not spoken publicly since then.
Brown is the only daughter of singers Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, who was also found unresponsive in a bathtub on February 11, 2012 and later died. Authorities found a dozen prescription drug bottles in her Beverly Hills Hotel suite and listed heart disease and cocaine use as contributors, but concluded that she accidentally drowned.
On January 15, 2015, Lomas was arrested and charged with weapons offences, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and possession of a prescription anxiety medication. Lomas pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to Holloway, who said the arrest is unrelated to Brown being found in the bathtub.
"He remains in the Metropolitan Atlanta area and has been questioned by police as have many other people," Holloway said. The attorney described Lomas as a close friend and frequent house guest of Brown's.
Bobbi Kristina Brown has commented often about her marriage to Gordon, the orphaned young man she grew up with after Houston brought him into the family. But her father's lawyer says they never wed.
"To correct earlier reports, Bobbi Kristina is not and has never been married to Nick Gordon," reads a statement released Tuesday by R&B singer Bobby Brown's attorney, Christopher Brown.
Legal authority over Bobbi Kristina's health care and money could become a critical issue for the fractious Houston-Brown family, which has said that Bobbi Kristina "is fighting for her life" in a hospital.
Whitney Houston never formally adopted Gordon, but raised the two teenagers together after divorcing Brown.
Bobbi Kristina became the sole inheritor of her mother's estate when she died in 2012, and shortly thereafter, she and Gordon went public with their romantic relationship.
Then, on January 9, 2014, Bobbi Kristina posted a photo on Twitter of the couple's hands wearing wedding rings, with the caption "#HappilyMarried. So #InLove. If you didn't get it the first time that is."
And as recently as December 25, she was still telling the world that Gordon is her husband:
"MerryChristmas!! :)(:Snuggling in a beautiful hotel room with MYbeautiful husband @nickdgordon :)(:Life couldn't be sweeter at the moment!"
Relations between Gordon and some other family members soured last year - He remains subject to a protective order barring him from being within 200 feet of Bobbi Kristina's aunt, Patricia Houston.
Facebook porn: Malware warning over video
The latest threat to users involves a fake Flash Player update which pops up during a preview of a pornographic video.
Once you click on the link to update your video player, malware (the name given to malicious software), downloads onto your computer.
This Trojan horse software gives the creator of the malware remote access to your computer.
They can then download viruses onto your computer.
Security researcher Mohammad Faghani alerted users to the threat in a post on the Full Disclosure blog, which flags up network vulnerabilities.
"The Trojan tags the infected user's friends with an enticing post," he explained.
Faghani warned that the malware then tags up to 20 friends of the victim in the malicious post, thus leading to a larger number of those who could be affected.
He believes it could "infect more than 110,000 users in two days".
Faghani also said the malware was able to hijack keyboard and mouse movement.
In response, Facebook said it was aware of the problem and was working to block it.
In a statement issued to security news website Threatpost, a Facebook spokesperson said: "We use a number of automated systems to identify potentially harmful links and stop them from spreading.
"In this case, we're aware of these malware varieties, which are typically hosted as browser extensions and distributed using links on social media sites.
"We are blocking links to these scams, offering cleanup options, and pursuing additional measures to ensure that people continue to have a safe experience on Facebook."
Last week, a hacker group called Lizard Squad had hinted it was responsible for the Facebook, Instagram and Tinder going down.
Facebook denied it was hacked, saying the access issues were "not the result of a third party attack".
Sony Pictures hack causes co-chair Amy Pascal to quit
Sony Pictures' Amy Pascal has stepped down as co-chair of Sony's movie studio following a debilitating cyber attack that revealed her private emails.
Ms Pascal will start a production company that will launch in May 2015.
She has already apologised for certain revelations that came as a result of the leaked emails.
Last month, Sony condemned the "vicious" attack, which led it to suspend the release of the film 'The Interview'.
"I have spent almost my entire professional life at Sony Pictures and I am energized to be starting this new chapter based at the company I call home," said Ms Pascal in a statement.
She added that her transition to a production role had been discussed "for some time".
As part of the agreement, Sony will fund her production company for at least the next four years, and it will retain distribution rights.
Sony did not immediately name a successor to Ms Pascal, leaving Michael Lynton as the sole head of one of Hollywood's biggest production studios.
Ms Pascal was one of the highest profile Sony names whose emails were leaked as part of the hack.
She reportedly commented on the viewing habits of President Barack Obama in a derogatory manner in an email to producer Scott Rudin.
Ms Pascal and Mr Rudin both subsequently apologised for the emails, with Ms Pascal saying in a statement at the time: "The content of my emails to Scott were insensitive and inappropriate but are not an accurate reflection of who I am.
"Although this was a private communication that was stolen, I accept full responsibility for what I wrote and apologize to everyone who was offended."
New T&T Attorney General under query
Forty-eight hours after Garvin Nicholas was appointed this country’s new attorney general, a matter has been referred to the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) for investigation, involving him.
The issue is he may have attempted to practise as an attorney, even though he was not yet called to the local Bar.
Lawyers familiar with the issue are calling on LATT to probe whether due diligence was conducted before Nicholas was appointed AG to replace Anand Ramlogan.
The incident occurred in 2001 when Nicholas was on a six-month pupilage at Trinity Chambers, Edward Street, Port of Spain, when he was cautioned in writing about breaching the Legal Profession Act (LPA) by Desmond Allum SC (now deceased), who was head of Trinity Chambers at the time, after it was discovered he printed call cards representing himself as an attorney-at-law, admitted to practise in Trinidad and Tobago.
A copy of the letter penned by Allum was sent to LATT late yesterday.
Nicholas’ curriculum vitae (CV) states he was awarded a barrister-at-law degree in 2001 and was a door tenant at 3PB Chambers in the United Kingdom. The CV states he was called to the local Bar in 2002.
However, at the time Nicholas was undergoing his pupilage (2001), he had no permission to practise at the local Bar or distribute call cards to solicit business for law.
Allum had also frowned upon a matter where it was alleged Nicholas was requesting a percentage of fees from work he had referred to attorneys while at the chambers.
Excerpts of a letter from Allum written to Nicholas and obtained by the Express reads: “I refer to the meeting held with you in the presence of attorney Gregory Delzin, in the course of which during the meeting, I expressed concern over the printing of call cards which, when taken at face value, could be construed as calling yourself a practicing member of Trinity Chambers. You will recall that you were reminded that it is a breach of the LPA to hold yourself out as being entitled to practise law without having been admitted to practise, in accordance with the provisions of the LPA.
“During the course of the meeting, you protested vehemently that you had never ever held yourself out
to members of the public about being admitted to practise but, on the contrary, you had been referring work to members of chambers. It has come to my attention that whilst there is an element of truth in your assertions, such work had been referred on the basis that you were entitled to a percentage of the fee charged by the attorney to whom the work was referred. This points to an even graver act of professional misconduct.”
Specifying to whom Nicholas was to report to while completing his pupilage, Allum further stated: “It is only upon successful completion of your pupilage by the standard required by our chambers as satisfactory that I will find myself being able to issue the certificate required under the LPA. The above is of course predicated upon there being no further violations of the LPA.”
Following the meeting, the Express learned Nicholas tendered his resignation on November 7, 2001.
His letter read: “I will like to thank you and the members of chambers for allowing me to spend the last three months with you. I thank you for all the support and advice given to me over the period. It is my belief that my career goals will be realised more readily in a changed environment.”
Contacted by the Express Wednesday by e-mail and told investigations revealed in 2001, he (Nicholas) resigned from Trinity Chambers while on training after it was discovered he issued call cards to people indicating he was a barrister from Wales – Inner Temple in England, he replied: “I underwent training at Trinity Chambers with Desmond Allum SC, that is correct. I resigned after the issue of my call card was raised, not because of the call card per se but because I felt some personalities were being petty and I didn’t want to be there as a result.
“I was a barrister of England and Wales and a member of the Inner Temple, however, as I had not yet been called to the local Bar, it was felt that I should not state same on my card, which when pointed out to me.
I accepted and complied. I left on very amicable terms with Desmond Allum SC, who remained my friend until passing. I then completed my in-service training with Robin Montano.”
Asked if he was told about the other issue involving a request by him to get a percentage of fees from
attorneys at Trinity Chambers, Nicholas said: “You are asking me about a matter that took place some 14 years ago. To the best of my memory, there was a meeting held to discuss allegations that were unfounded. Mr Allum reduced the meeting into writing and I continued to be a pupil. Having felt betrayed by false allegations, I decided to continue my pupilage elsewhere. That is what I recall.”
When the Express contacted Trinity Chambers on the matter yesterday, all enquiries were referred to LATT.
The Express asked LATT president Seenath Jairam if he had received the file sent to him on the matter involving Nicholas. He said: “I have not yet received it. I know you all have sources, but I am now leaving to go over to the LATT. I will know when I arrive there, but my phone will be off because we will be in a meeting.”
Source-Trinidad Express
Argentine president's tweet on Chinese accent ridiculed
Many twitter users in Argentina and China have ridiculed Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner for poking fun at how the Chinese speak.
During a visit to China, Ms Fernandez made reference to how some Chinese struggle to pronounce the letter "r".
Tweeting in Spanish, she wondered whether those at an event about trade were there for "lice" and "petloleum".
Her supporters said it was a light-hearted joke, but others disagreed.
"Cristina Fernandez's lack of judgement and respect is incredible," wrote @FaundezLafarga. "She goes to China looking for (economic) agreements and she makes fun of their accents."
Financial Times' journalist @GuyChazan wrote: "Faux pas in China. Really, this sort of joke went out of fashion in the 70s."
President Fernandez suggested that the Chinese struggled to pronounce "rice", "petroleum" and "Campora", the Spanish name given to the youth wing of her political party.
"More than 1,000 participants at the event... Are they all from the Campola and in it only for the lice and petloleum?" she tweeted.
It was a play on a domestic political joke: her critics accuse her supporters of attending party events only so they can get a free sandwich and a soft drink.
Leaders in new diplomatic push for peace in Ukraine
Diplomatic efforts are under way to end renewed fighting in eastern Ukraine.
French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have arrived in the capital Kiev to present a new peace initiative.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is also in Kiev, said the US wanted a diplomatic solution, but would not close its eyes to Russian aggression.
Fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels has killed more than 5,000 people since last April.
Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of arming rebels in eastern Ukraine and sending regular troops across the border.
Russia denies direct involvement but says some Russian volunteers are fighting alongside the rebels.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Mr Kerry, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said: "We need to get peace. But we will never consider anything that undermines territorial integrity... of Ukraine."
Mr Kerry said the US was committing an additional $16.5m (£11m) in aid to support Ukrainians affected by the conflict in the east.
He accused Russia of violating Ukraine's sovereignty, saying that Russia had been acting with "impunity", crossing the Ukrainian border "at will with weapons, with personnel, with the instruments of death".
"The only way that it ends is through diplomacy. We have no illusions that there is a 'military solution'... we are choosing a peaceful solution through diplomacy - but you cannot have a one-sided peace," Mr Kerry said.
However, he added that Mr Obama was "reviewing all options", including the possibility of providing "defensive weapons" to Ukraine, due to the dangerous escalation in violence.
The US is currently only providing "non-lethal" assistance.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said any decision by the US to supply weapons to Ukraine would "inflict colossal damage to Russian-American relations".
Several senior Western officials have also expressed concern at the prospect of US arms being sent to Ukraine.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier likened the option to "throwing more weapons on the bonfire", while Nato commander Philip Breedlove said governments must take into account that the move "could trigger a more strident reaction from Russia".
Source-BBC
TCI celebrates this Historic Day for the Hon. Dr. Rosita Butterfield
In an unparalleled ceremony which has the entire nation buzzing, the former speaker of the House of Assembly for the Turks and Caicos from 1991-1993 will be laid to rest following a State Funeral set to begin promptly at 10am this morning at the Down Town Ball Park.
It has been a long journey home for Dr. Rosie, who died on January 10th, 2015 at Doctor’s Hospital in The Bahamas due to complications from a series of heart attacks. Close friends told us she was singing Gospel songs just days before; that Dr. Rosita who had been hospitalized for quite some time was, as they put it, ‘ready’. Today we will see just how ready family and friends are to say goodbye to the Matriarch of the Butterfield Clan.
A regal send off from The Bahamas, a Parliamentary sized welcomed in Grand Turk, three days of lying in state between the Capital and Providenciales, a memorial service last night and today an historic happening; the country’s first modern day State Funeral where it appears no holds have been barred.
Magnetic Media told RTC News that when they visited the site late yesterday, we learned there is seating capacity for likely 5,000 people; around half of them will be under tents or on the actual field, the remainder will take the stands. There are areas designated as special for the Nurses Association; Dr. Rosita was a career nurse delivering some 103 babies and earning scores of awards over the years for her prowess in the medical field. There is a special section for high ranking Civil Servants and for Civic Organizations and Invited Guests.
Dr. Rosita’s grandson, CEO of Royelle Communications, Courtney Robinson gave us a site tour and explained there are tents for media interviews, early arriving guests including the elderly and very comfortable seating for the family which will fill the tent, set up at the heart of the service.
Current and Former Members of Parliament have designated spots and seating will be managed by a team of ushers and protocol officers. The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force will escort the body of Hon. Dr. Rosita Butterfield from Faith Tabernacle Center this morning; taking it to the Ball Park for the State Funeral. Yesterday, we caught them in practice where we learned as many as 70 members of the Force are likely to participate in the procession to and fro.
Today, all Public Sector workers have the day off; this means among other things, government schools are closed.
Officiating the Service will be Rev. Emmanuel Rigby, Rev. Julia Williams and Bishop VG Clarke. Organist is Craig Archibold; with singing and music by the reunited Turks and Caicos Mass Choir and the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force Band; and Corey’s Funeral Chapel is directing the State Funeral.
The Governor, HE Peter Beckingham and Leader of the Opposition, Sharlene Robinson will both read scripture. The Obituary of the late Dr. Rosita Butterfield, a founding member of the now governing Progressive National Party will be read by current party leader and Premier, Hon Dr Rufus Ewing. A Reflection on the Life and Times of the CEO of Butterfield Gold Group of Companies will come from Speaker of the House, Hon Robert Hall with the Eulogy by Bishop VG Clarke and Prayer for the Family by Father Bernard Been.
The interment Service will take place at the grounds of Faith Tabernacle, where a brand new Butterfield Mausoleum is expected to be completed. The work on the mausoleum was commissioned by Dr. Rosie’s husband: Hon. Dr. Albray Butterfield Sr. about ten days ago.
At the site there will be the National Anthem, Fanfare of Trumpets, Gun Salute and Flag Ceremony. Rev. Emanuel Rigby will commit her body with the final hymn being: “I will meet you in the Morning”.
Hon. Dr. Rosita Butterfield leaves behind her husband, four children, 16 grandchildren, three great grandchildren, a sister and brother and scores of nieces and nephews, close friends and loved ones. She is a pioneer in Parliament as the first woman elected to serve for her home settlement of Kew in North Caicos.
Dr. Rosie, as she is affectionately called has sworn in Governors, welcomed royalty with an address to HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; hosted country leaders including the late Sir Lynden Pindling of The Bahamas and was in 1992 bestowed the honor of Member of the British Empire, MBE, by Queen Elizabeth II.
This lady has preached God’s word, taught school curricula, chaired board meetings, paid off debt, supplied scholarships and added to the infrastructure of communities. As with any life, she has fostered true friendships and made some people quite mad with her decisions over time.
With her passing, a lot of wide ranging emotions and feelings and opinions have emerged; and MM has found an overarching view of Rosie Beatrice Missick Butterfield from Kew, North Caicos is that she was and is a nation builder, worthy of a grand farewell.… perhaps, even the status of a National Hero.
Dr. Rosita Beatrice Missick Butterfield, MBE was 78 years old when she died.
Source-MM