36-year-old male charged with Attempted Murder
The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force (RTCIPF) continues to investigate multiple incidents of violence which unfolded at Club 2005 on Aviation Drive in Five Cays on Saturday 27 December 2014.
Yesterday (Monday, 29 December 2014), investigators charged 36-year-old Emanjoe Forbes of Kew Town, Providenciales with Attempted Murder after it is alledged that Forbes stabbed a 24 year old from Blue Hills. The 24 year old remains hospitalised at Cheshire Hall Medical Center recovering from a stab wound to his abdomen.
Forbes is presently remanded in Police custody for an appearance in the Magistrate’s Court in Providenciales later this week.
Police have released two persons on bail pending further investigations, number of other persons are in police custody assisting with the murder investigations but police are still encouraging anyone who may have witnessed the events surrounding this incident to assist the police with their investigations.
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. We remind people they should not report crime information via our Facebook and Twitter pages.
WEATHER FOR DECEMBER 31st, JANUARY 1st & JANUARY 2ND,2015
THIS IS THE FORECAST FOR THE TCI & THE BAHAMAS FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT , WEDNESDAY 31ST DECEMBER 2014
GENERAL SITUATION: THE COMBINATION OF A WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY ACROSS THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS AND A WEAK SURFACE TROUGH NEAR THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS WILL INFLUENCE THE WEATHER CONDITIONS ACROSS THE BAHAMAS TODAY AND TONIGHT
FOR THE TCI
WEATHER: PARTLY CLOUDY AND WARM WITH THE CHANCE OF A BRIEF PASSING SHOWER OR TWO NEAR THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY, TURNING FAIR AND MILD TONIGHT
ADVISORY: SMALL CRAFT SHOULD BE ALERT FOR GUSTY WINDS AND HIGHER SEAS IN OR NEAR HEAVY SHOWERS
WINDS: LIGHT AND VARIABLE AT 10 KNOTS OR LESS
SEAS RUNNING: 3 FEET OR LESS OVER THE OCEAN
FOR THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS
WEATHER: PARTLY TO MOSTLY SUNNY AND WARM WITH THE SLIGHT CHANCE OF A BRIEF BUT LIGHT PASSING SHOWER, TURNING FAIR AND MILD TONIGHT
ADVISORY: SMALL CRAFT SHOULD BE ALERT FOR GUSTY WINDS AND HIGHER SEAS IN OR NEAR HEAVY SHOWERS
WINDS: EAST-NORTHEAST TO EAST-SOUTHEAST AT 10-15 KNOTS
SEAS RUNNING: 2-4 FEET OVER THE OECAN
DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURE: 82F 28C
OVERNITE LOW TEMPERATURE: 70F 21C
SUNRISE AT 6.55 AM AND SUNSET AT 5.31 PM
MOONRISE AT 2.07 PM AND MOONSET AT 3.32 AM THURSDAY
LOW TIDE AT 10.04 AM AND HIGH TIDE AT 3.53 PM AND LOW AGAIN AT 10.08 P[M
OUTLOOK FOR THE NEXT THREE DAYS: THE COLD FRONT WILL LINGER OVER THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS FOR THE NEXT THREE DAYS AND EVENTUALLY DISSIPATE, WHILE A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL INFLUENCE THE WEATHER OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE BAHAMAS GENERATING PLEASANT BUT STABLE CONDITIONS ACROSS THESE ISLANDS
FORECAST FOR THURSDAY
WEATHER: PARTLY TO MOSTLY SUNNY AND WARM WITH THE SLIGHT CHANCE OF A BRIEF BUT LIGHT PASSING SHOWER DURING THE DAY, TURNING FAIR AND MILD ATNIGHT
WINDS: LIGHT AND VARIABLE AT 10 KNOTS OR LESS IN THE TCI, NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS AND EASTERLY AT 10-15 KNOTS IN THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS
SEAS RUNNING: 3 FEET OR LESS IN THE NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS AND 2-4 FEET IN THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS
FORECAST FOR FRIDAY
WEATHER: PARTLY TO MOSTLY SUNNY, WARM AND WINDY WITH THE SLIGHT CHANCE OF A BRIEF BUT LIGHT PASSING SHOWER DURING THE DAY, TURNING FAIR AND MILD AT NIGHT
WINDS: EAST TO SOUTHEAST AT 10-15 KNOTS IN THE TCI, NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS AND EAST TO SOUTHEAST AT 15-20 KNOTS IN THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS
SEAS RUNNING: 2-4 FEET IN THE NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS AND 4-7 FEET IN THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS
Haiti president moves to end political impasse
President Michel Martelly may have averted a political crisis in the French-speaking Caribbean Community country after reaching a tentative agreement with the heads of the two houses of Parliament.
The accord, announced late on Monday, may result in approval of a "consensus" government that could include Evans Paul, the president's new choice for prime minister to replace Laurent Lamothe, who resigned earlier this month.
The agreement would also extend the terms of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, due to run out on January 12 next year, but only if an electoral law is passed first.
In recent weeks, Martelly has been meeting with several social and political groups in a bid to pave the way for the holding of the long-delayed election to renew two-thirds of the 30-member Senate, the entire Lower Chamber and hundreds of local government bodies.
Out of the 30 senate members, only 20 remain in office, and amendments to an existing electoral law are required to facilitate the vote.
But six opposition legislators have consistently refused to attend the meetings of the Senate, preventing the body from getting the required 16-member quorum needed to hold a session.
Political observers note that by January 12 next year, the Haitian parliament will become dysfunctional with only 10 senators left, while 16 are required to hold a session. The observers note that failure to elect the new Senators could result in President Martelly ruling by decree.
The new agreement reached would extend the terms of the deputies until April 24 next year and senators until September 9.
Political observers say the new agreement is likely to be favourably received by Haiti's foreign donors, particularly the United States and the United Nations, who had expressed concern that the impoverished Caribbean nation was on the brink of political chaos again.
"This is a good step taken towards the resolution of the crisis," Paul told reporters, saying elections could be held within 120 days of a new electoral council being installed.
Lamothe was forced to resign after several weeks of protests led by opposition politicians.
President Martelly accepted the resignation after the 11-member Presidential Commission he appointed to help him deal with Haiti's worsening political crisis recommended Lamothe's removal.
Source-CMC
Venezuela recession confirmed as Maduro attacks US 'oil war'
The Venezuelan economy is now officially in recession after the central bank released figures showing that it has been shrinking all year.
The bank said the economy had declined by 2.3% in the third quarter of 2014.
It also revealed for the first time that GDP contracted by 4.8% and 4.9% respectively in the first and the second quarters of 2014.
President Nicolas Maduro said the economy had been hit by political instability and falling oil prices.
He accused the United States of flooding the markets with oil as part of an economic war against Russia.
The central bank also said inflation had reached 63.6% in the 12 months to November, one of the highest rates in the world.
Mr Maduro announced a number of measures to boost economic growth and control inflation, including reforms to Venezuela's currency control system.
"The details will be extensively explained after the New Year's greeting," Mr Maduro told reporters.
Mr Maduro said speculation had affected inflation but he also praised government efforts to rein in the increases.
He said his country was suffering the consequences of an economic war launched by US President Barack Obama "to destroy" the oil producers' cartel, Opec.
"It is a two-year plan, which is affecting the prices of commodities and many developing economies," Mr Maduro said.
"The US wants to impose a unipolar world controlled from Washington. That is madness."
The crisis offered a "great opportunity for Venezuela to change its economic model," the president added.
Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves, with its economy highly dependent on oil exports.
The Venezuelan opposition blames the socialist policies of Mr Maduro and his late predecessor, Hugo Chavez, for a shortage of many staples, such as corn oil and milk, amid a serious economic crisis.
Source-BBC
Global new year celebrations begin
Revellers across the globe are gathering to welcome in the new year, with New Zealand and Australia leading the celebrations.
A giant clock in Auckland's Sky Tower counted down the minutes until midnight (11:00 GMT), when fireworks erupted.
Up to 1.5m people lined the shores of Sydney harbour in preparation for the city's famous firework display.
Celebration plans have been muted in Indonesia, however, in the wake of the AirAsia Flight QZ8501 crash.
West Indies team heads to Cape Town for third Test
The West Indies cricketers are scheduled to travel to Cape Town today to prepare for the third and final Test against hosts South Africa at Newlands.
The Test starts on Friday.
South Africa leads the series 1-0 following its innings and 220-run victory in the first Test at Centurion.
The second Test ended in a draw in Port Elizabeth yesterday after rain washed out the final day.
West Indies assistant coach, Stuart Williams, says the Caribbean side had shown signs of improvement following the heavy defeat at Centurion .
The Caribbean team watched as South Africa piled up 417 for eight declared but then responded strongly as 22-year-old opener Kraigg Brathwaite, 106 runs, and the experienced Marlon Samuels, 101, both struck hundreds.
Their record third wicket partnership of 176 lifted the West Indies to 231 for two during the second session on Monday, before the tourists lost seven wickets for 44 runs to decline significantly.
West Indies entered the final day on 279 for nine, 142 runs behind South Africa’s first innings total.
DIGICEL ANNOUNCES $5,000 CHRISTMAS PROMOTION WINNER
Christmas came early for one lucky Digicel customer this year! Ms. Patrice Capron-Walker, a 40 year old Day Care Teacher with Wesley Methodist School and native of Blue Hills, Providenciales was the lucky $5,000 grand prize winner of Digicel’s “Come together this Christmas” promotion.
Digicel launched it’s ‘Come Together this Christmas’ Promotion on November 11th in its flagship store in Providenciales and unveiled the latest additions to its range of Smartphones.
The Christmas Promotion allowed customers who purchased select Samsung and DL Smartphone models to automatically enter the $10,000 cash giveaway. Five lucky customers won $1,000 each and Ms. Capron-Walker walked away as the grand prize winner of $5,000 cash!
Ms. Capron-Walker was elated to be the recipient of the Grand Prize of $5000 Cash and stated that her prayers were answered right in time as she could really use the cash. She went on to say “I never win anything! So you can imagine that I was in disbelief when I received the phone call. But it just goes to shows that anyone can be a winner!” She further stated that she will be donating a portion of her winnings back to church and will be using the balance to do upgrades to her home.
Marketing Specialist for Digicel, Trina Adams, told RTC News that the Christmas promotion was extremely successful and that she was happy that Digicel is continuing to bring smiles to its customers during the holidays. “We are delighted to be able to help our customers to have an enjoyable Christmas and to spread the joy to as many of our customers as possible.”
Other Christmas promotion winners included Decarlo Williams, and Marylene Antonie of Grand Turk, Courtella Forbes and Jolani Amador who resides in North Caicos and James Menelas of Providenciales. Each winner walked away with $1000 each while Ashley Parker and Leticia Hall of Grand Turk were the winners of home makeovers. Atiba Grant, Yelena Roberts and Karen Cox emerged as winner of Digicel’s Together Christmas Social Media Video Contest, winning brand new Samsung and Digicel DL Smartphones.
RTC congratulates all of Digicel’s Christmas Promotion winners.
Lions' Ndamukong Suh to appeal
The Detroit Lions and Ndamukong Suh have been informed that the defensive tackle will be suspended for Sunday's wild-card playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Suh's punishment comes a day after he stepped on the leg of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Suh "unnecessarily stepped on [the] opponent's unprotected leg as he lay on the ground unable to protect himself," according to a statement released by the NFL.
Suh is appealing the suspension, and his appeal will be heard by Ted Cottrell.
Lions center Dominic Raiola, who himself returned from a one-game suspension Monday, defended Suh's actions.
"He was getting pushed back, you know," Raiola said. "... There's no way at that point in the game that he did something like that on purpose."
Lions safety James Ihedigbo said missing Suh will create a large void on defense.
"I don't know if you can put it into words," Ihedigbo said. "He's a dominant force in our defense. He's kind of the key centerpiece. We have faith in guys that can step up and fill that void and do the best job they can to get this win and help us out.
"It's unfortunate, whatever way you want to slice it. You're losing one of your best defensive players and one of the best D-linemen in the league, it's unfortunate."
If Suh's appeal is denied, Detroit would be without both of its first-round defensive tackle selections. Coach Jim Caldwell said Monday it would take "a miracle" for defensive tackle Nick Fairley to play against the Cowboys. Fairley has not played or practiced since injuring his knee against Atlanta in Week 8.
If neither Suh nor Fairley is available, the Lions likely would start C.J. Mosley and Andre Fluellen or Jason Jones at the defensive tackle spots.
This isn't the first time Suh has had issues with Green Bay. He was suspended for two games in 2011 after stomping on the arm of then-Packers center Evan Dietrich-Smith. Suh was also fined $100,000 last season for an illegal low block on Minnesota center John Sullivan.
Source-ESPN
VW recalls 2015 Jettas for headlight glitch
Volkswagen is recalling 25,007 Jetta models from the 2015 model year in the U.S. to fix a software glitch that can affect the operation of the low-beam headlights.
Because of incorrect software within the headlight control module, the low-beam headlights may turn off when the high-beam lights are turned on. As a result, light output from the headlights may be insufficient.
Insufficient headlight output may increase the risk of a crash.
The cars were manufactured between July 11 and Nov. 13, VW said.
VW said the recalled models fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 -- "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."
Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will update the headlight control module software, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in January 2015, the company said.
Tor's most visited hidden sites host child abuse images
Most traffic to sites hidden on the Tor network go to those dealing in images of child sexual abuse a study suggests.
The six-month study sought to catalogue hidden services on the so-called "dark net" and work out which were the most popular.
It found lots of sites peddling illegal drugs but the most popular were those involved with abuse.
However, the researcher behind the study said it was hard to conclude that people were behind all the visits.
Tor, or The Onion Router, is an anonymising system that lets people use the web without revealing who they are or which country they are in. The anonymity offered by the network has encouraged many people to set up hidden .onion sites that offer content, services and goods that it is illegal to sell openly.
Carried out by Dr Gareth Owen from the University of Portsmouth, the study set up servers to join the Tor network and catalogued hidden services found on it. The system was also able to visit the sites to download HTML content so they could be categorised and to track how many visits each one received.
Traffic to hidden services on Tor represents about 1.5% of all the data passing across the network on any given day.
Over the six months of the study, Dr Owen and his colleagues saw about 80,000 hidden sites on Tor.
"Most of the hidden services we only saw once. They do not tend to exist for a very long time," he said during a speech at the 31st Chaos Communications Congress in Hanover, where he presented his findings.
The top 40 hidden services were involved with controlling botnets - networks of home computers compromised by malicious programs. Many of these botnets have been shut down which has left their client computers fruitlessly polling Tor seeking the now dormant command systems.
The study found that the biggest number of hidden services were dedicated to selling illegal drugs. Also in the top five were underground markets, fraud sites, mail services and those dealing in the virtual currency Bitcoin.
Although the number of sites dealing in images of abuse on Tor is small, traffic to them dwarfs that going to other sites, said Dr Owen.
About 75% of the traffic observed in the study ended up at abuse sites, said Dr Owen.
"When we found this out we were stunned," he said. "This is not what we expected at all."
Despite the findings, Dr Owen cautioned against drawing too many conclusions since he did not know which visits were done by people and which by machines.
"It's not as quite as straightforward as it looks," he said. "It might look like there are lots of people visiting these sites but it is difficult to conclude that from this information."
"What proportion are people and which are something else? We simply don't know." he said, adding that "crawlers" run by law enforcement and other agencies that police abuse sites could be responsible for the steady stream of traffic.
Roger Dingledine, one of the original developers of Tor, also said the methodology of the study - which only scanned long-lived sites to see what content they offered - made it hard to draw conclusions about what people did on the network.
"Without knowing how many sites disappeared before he got around to looking at them, it's impossible to know what percentage of fetches went to abuse sites," he said.
"There are important uses for hidden services, such as when human rights activists use them to access Facebook or to blog anonymously," he added.
"These uses for hidden services are new and have great potential."