DIGICEL BRINGS CHRISTMAS CHEER TO DORIS ROBINSON PRIMARY
The students of Doris Robinson Primary School on the island of Middle Caicos were all smiles as they received some early Christmas gifts from Digicel. Staff members from the nation’s leading telecoms company went bearing gifts for both staff and students on Thursday, December 11, 2014 during their annual Christmas visit.
A tradition now for over 5 years, the annual visit has become something not only students look forward to but also the community in general. The school which is adopted by Digicel benefits from a hot lunch programme which ensures that all the students receive a hot lunch every day while at school.
Head of Marketing for Digicel, Ava-Dayne Fulford says, “Digicel is pleased to have an on-going programme that benefits the students of Doris Robinson throughout the year. However we all know that Christmas is extra special so we make an extra effort to bring some cheer to these students and they have all grown to expect this of us and we are pleased to always deliver.”
Principal of the school, Keisha Mills, said, “We appreciate the work that Digicel does for us and especially at Christmas, the children are made to feel extra special. The entire community appreciates the gesture.”
The Doris Robinson Primary school currently has an enrollment of 16 students
JA Motorsport Nano is world’s cheapest car, accelerated
The Tata Nano was meant to be an affordable way to get India off mopeds and mobile. The 21st Century answer to the VW Beetle, if you will. Fair to say it failed in that grand ambition, the Nano managing a deplorable 10,200 sales during the first half of this year.
However, that hasn't stopped some brave men at JA Motorsport from turning the wick up on the world's cheapest car, to create a harder, faster and proper scary version.
In an extraordinary Liberty Walk-esque widebody, negative-camber conversion, this innocent Nano has been stretched and slammed within an inch of its life.
Maybe unsurprisingly, the standard car's 625cc, 35bhp twin-cylinder engine has been binned. Replacing it (and the rear seats) is a 1.3-litre unit producing 230bhp. The result? This rear-engine, rear-drive setup is apparently capable of 120mph, something you'd have to pay us a lot of money to verify.
To cope with the increased power, the all-round drum brakes that normally bring the Nano to a halt have been replaced with AP Racing discs. Meanwhile, diddy wheels wrapped in sticky slick tires with plenty of negative camber give the monster monobox some stance.
A standard Nano only weighs 600kg (1,323lbs), but that hasn't stopped the Indian tuners ripping out the cheap plastic interior and throwing in a lightweight carbon fibre cabin complete with Recaro bucket seats and a full roll cage. Amazingly, they've even given it two - yes two - wing mirrors, something even a £2.8m, 22 carat gold and jewel-encrusted Nano couldn't manage.
How hard will all these changes hit your wallet? A hefty £25,000 hard. That's a £23,300 mark-up on the standard car and puts the little Nano in the same price range as an Audi S1, which just so happens to have the exact same amount of power.
On the one hand, wouldn't this make the basis of an excellent one-make race series? On the other, don't forget the Nano received a zero-star adult protection rating and failed to meet even the most basic UN safety requirements when crash tested. Would you dare drive it?
A version of this story originally appeared on TopGear.com.
Pirate Bay 'copy' goes online after shutdown
Isohunt, a website providing access to mostly pirated material, has cloned the database of its competitor, The Pirate Bay, after it was shut down last week.
The cloned site is online and fully functioning, according to users.
The Pirate Bay, one of the world's most visited websites, has been closed since a police raid in Sweden last week.
Isohunt, which was banned in the UK last month, says it made the move in order to "save the Freedom of information on the Internet".
If The Pirate Bay returns, the cloned site will be taken down, Isohunt added.
The Pirate Bay offered an expansive list of links to pirated content including films, TV shows and music.
The Swedish police carried out a raid near Stockholm last week, seizing servers from The Pirate Bay following an investigation which had lasted "years", the force said.
While its founders have already been convicted of copyright infringement offences and some have been jailed, the site has proved difficult to close down permanently.
In 2012, The Pirate Bay changed its structure to make itself more portable and easy to clone.
When he heard about the raid last week Peter Sunde, one of the site's original founders, said that he did not like what the site had become.
"The site was ugly, full of bugs, old code and old design," he wrote in a blog post.
Mr Sunde went on to criticise the explicit nature of the adverts which appeared on it.
"It never changed except for one thing - the ads. More and more ads were filling the site, and somehow when it felt unimaginable to make these ads more distasteful they somehow ended up even worse."
Greek central bank boss warns of 'irreparable' damage
Greek's economy faces "irreparable" damage from the ongoing political crisis, the boss of its central bank has warned.
"The crisis in recent days is now taking serious dimensions...and the risk of irreparable damage for the Greek economy is now great," said Yannis Stournaras.
Greek politicians will start voting on Wednesday for a new Greek president.
There will be a snap general election if the government nominee loses.
The political uncertainty has rattled Greek markets over the past week.
Greece's economy emerged from a six-year long recession in the first quarter of the year.
However, the size of Greece's economy is still about a quarter below the peak it reached before the severe recession and debt crisis triggered by the global financial crash.
And conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's decision to call an early vote in parliament to elect a new president has caused fresh concerns.
His conservative-led coalition needs the support of other parties if its candidate is to obtain the backing of MPs.
On Thursday an official in the governing coalition said it was still short of the support needed to stop the government collapsing in the parliamentary vote.
Greece's government has warned of a catastrophe if snap elections are called and left-wing anti-bailout party Syriza wins, but Syriza has accused the government of fear mongering.
Source-BBC
MARINE FORECAST FOR MONDAY
GENERAL SITUATION: A WEAK HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE EXTENDS ACROSS THE ISLANDS WITH PLEASANT CONDITIONS.
FOR ALL AREAS
WEATHER: SLIGHT CHANCE OF A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS.
ADVISORY: SMALL CRAFT CAUTION CONTINUES.
WINDS: N-NE AT 10-15 KNOTS IN THE NW AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS AND TCI AND N-NE AT 15-20 KNOTS IN THE SE BAHAMAS.
SEAS: 2-4 FEET IN THE NW AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS AND TCI 4-6 FEET
MOONRISE: 12:39AM
MOONSET: 12:49PM HIGH TIDE: 1:52AM LOW TIDE: 8:04AM HIGH TIDE: 1:59PM LOW TIDE: 8:23PM
Sydney Police Storm Cafe, End Standoff
A daylong standoff in Sydney, Australia, ended after heavily armed police stormed the cafe where a man, who was known to authorities, reportedly held at least a dozen people hostage for about 16 hours.
Heavy gunfire and loud bangs from stun grenades filled the air around 2 a.m. local time (1500 GMT on Monday) after security forces in tactical gear surrounded, then entered the storefront.
Moments earlier at least six people believed to have been held captive managed to flee the cafe.
There were unconfirmed reports of casualties. Several people were wheeled away from the scene conscious and alert on stretchers.
Only minutes before police stormed the cafe, officials had identified the gunman as Man Haron Monis, an Iranian refugee and a self-proclaimed Muslim cleric.
Monis is believed to have started the siege on the Lindt chocolate cafe in the city's central business district about 9:45 a.m. local time Monday.
Monis, who is facing charges including sexual assault and accessory to murder in separate cases, was found guilty in 2012 of sending offensive and threatening letters to the families of Australian soldiers killed overseas, according to media reports.
Media said that two people, including the gunman, had been killed. New South Wales police declined to comment on the reports, and it was not clear whether the fatalities occurred during the rescue operation itself.
Local media reported that Monis, who was known as Manteghi Bourjerdi before he changed his name, was 49 or 50 years old.
Early in the crisis, hostages were seen standing with their hands pushed up against the windows. A black flag with the Islamic creed known as the Shahada written in white could be seen through the glass.
New South Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione on Monday refused to call the situation a terrorist act. But Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the incident at the cafe may have been politically motivated.
Nearby buildings, including the U.S. Consulate in Sydney, had been evacuated. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the department is monitoring the hostage situation and the mission's personnel are accounted for.
The New South Wales state parliament house is also just a few blocks away.
Source-VOA
Denmark challenges Russia and Canada over North Pole
Denmark has presented a claim to the UN, arguing that the area surrounding the North Pole is connected to the continental shelf of Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory.
Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard said it was a "historic and important milestone" for Denmark.
Canada and Russia have already asserted their own sovereignty over the energy-rich Arctic territory.
Arctic nations have agreed that a UN panel will settle the dispute.
The focus of the dispute is the Lomonosov Ridge, a 1,800km-long (1,120 miles) underwater mountain range that splits the Arctic in two.
Back in 2008, a US Geological Survey report estimated that as much as 22% of the world's undiscovered and recoverable resources lay north of the Arctic Circle, but the North Pole itself is unlikely to have much oil or gas beneath its deep waters.
A team from the Danish mission at the UN presented three boxes to the commission on Monday, a spokesman told the BBC.
The 21-member panel investigating the competing claims to the pole will have to decide whether the scientific evidence put forward is valid. If the claims overlap, the relevant states will then have to negotiate, the spokesman said.
Mr Lidegaard said data collected since 2002 backed Denmark's claim to an approximate area of 895,000 sq km (346,000 sq miles)- roughly 20 times the size of Denmark - beyond Greenland's nautical borders.
Denmark, along with Russia, Norway, Canada and the US said in 2008 that the territorial dispute should be settled under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
After ratifying the convention, a country has 10 years to submit a claim to extend its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from its borders. Canada expressed formal interest last year, and Denmark's deadline is about to run out.
Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen of Denmark's Syddansk University said the government in Copenhagen had staked its claim, partly to show the world that Denmark could not be pushed about, but also to prove a political point to the people of Greenland.
"There's a strong push for independence in Greenland, and Denmark wants to show it's capable of taking its interest into account," he told the BBC.
"By taking this step, Copenhagen is sending a signal [to Greenland]: 'Listen, we're on your team'."
A Russia submarine planted a rust-proof titanium flag 4,200m (14,000ft) beneath the North Pole in 2007, provoking an angry response from Canada.
However, Danish scientists were firm in their claim on Monday. "The Lomonosov ridge is the natural extension of the Greenland shelf," Christian Marcussen of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland told AP news agency.
Bill Cosby speaks out against sexual assault claims
Bill Cosby has spoken out for the first time against allegations of sexual abuse, saying he only expects the "black media" to remain "neutral".
In an interview with the New York Post, the comedian praised his wife Camille for her "strength" in standing by him.
Cosby, who has been accused of assault by more than a dozen women, said he'd been advised not to discuss the claims.
The 77-year-old actor declined to address the allegations but asked reporters to remain impartial.
"I only expect the black media to uphold the standards of excellence in journalism and when you do that you have to go in with a neutral mind," Cosby said.
New York Post reporter Stacy Brown said the actor sounded "upbeat" on the phone from his home in Massachusetts.
He said "love and the strength of womanhood," had helped him weather the controversy.
"Let me say it again, love and the strength of womanhood. And you could reverse it, the strength of womanhood and love."
But the actor later cut his conversation short, saying: "They don't want me talking to the media."
Police in Los Angeles have recently opened an investigation into claims made by Judy Huth that Cosby molested her when she was 15 years old.
In her legal action, Ms Huth claimed the actor gave her alcohol and forced her to perform a sex act on him in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion around 1974.
Cosby is counter-suing the 55-year-old, saying she attempted to extort money from him, and has described her claims as "absolutely false".
His lawyers, who have continued to deny the allegations, recently issued a strongly worded statement condemning the "media frenzy".
The actor has never been charged with a crime but the accusations have led to his stand-up tour being called off and the cancellation of a number of TV projects.
Source-BBC
Russian rouble falls to new low against US dollar
The Russian rouble has dropped to a new low against the US dollar, as falling oil prices and Western sanctions continue to weigh on the country.
As of Monday afternoon, it takes more than 60 roubles to buy a single dollar.
The 60 mark is considered a "psychological barrier" for Russia's national currency, says the BBC's Moscow correspondent, Steve Rosenberg.
Since the start of the year, the rouble has lost more than 45% of its value against the dollar.
Russia's central bank has tried unsuccessfully to stabilise the currency, buying roubles in the markets and raising its main lending rate to 10.5%.
But those efforts have been overwhelmed by the fall in the price of crude oil - one of the country's main exports - and by concerns that international sanctions over Ukraine might be stepped up.
Russian authorities appear unable to bring down inflation either - prices are expected to be 10% higher by the end of the year.
Source-BBC
Haiti PM resigns after protests
Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe has resigned less than a week after President Michel Martelly had received a report from an 11-member presidential commission established to help deal with Haiti’s worsening political crisis.
The Commission had also recommended the resignation of the members of the Electoral Council.
Haiti has seen several violent street demonstrations led by opposition figures in recent weeks and in a nationwide radio and television broadcast on Saturday night, Lamothe said “I am leaving the post of prime minister this evening with a feeling of accomplishment”.
The protestors have been calling for the resignation of both Martelly and Lamothe after the country failed to hold elections in October.
Late November, Martelly announced the establishment of the commission as opposition demonstrators planned to continue their streets protests to force him out of office.
Martelly has been holding talks 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 is required to hold a session Lamothe should resign, along with the head of the Supreme Court and the country’s election commission.
Martelly said earlier that he had accepted the commission’s findings, and would meet government officials on Monday to discuss them.