Attempted Robbery in Provo at a Financial Institution
The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force (RTCIPF) are investigating the report of an attempted Robbery at a Financial Institution on Providenciales.
It was reported that around 9:33pm on Friday 17th January 2014 two (2) men were seen in the area of the Financial Institution on the Leeward Highway where gunshots were heard being fired.
Police Officers were dispatched to the scene and upon arrival, a male Police Officer was seen with what appeared to be blood coming from his right forearm. He told officers that as he got out of his private vehicle, which he parked in front of the financial institution, two armed men came from the eastern side of the Institution and shouted at him to drop what he had in his hand and started shooting in his direction. As a result he ran through the parking lot of the institution towards the main road while the two assailants were still in pursuit and firing shots in his direction.
The male officer was taken to the Cheshire Hall Medical Centre where his injuries were deemed serious but none life threatening. He was treated and later discharged.
During the shooting, a bullet from one of the assailants weapon entered the left rear window and exit through the front windshield of a motorist vehicle as it drove past the entrance of the institution heading in a western direction on the Highway. The motorist received a few scrapes on his face from the glass fragments. The motorist went to the Cheshire Hall Medical Centre where medical treatment was received and the driver later discharged.
On-going investigation has revealed no description of the gun men up to news time.
Police are urging anyone with information about this incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 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.
CABINET MEETING HELD IN THE CAPITAL
His Excellency the Governor, Peter Beckingham, chaired the meeting of the Turks and Caicos Islands’ (TCI) Cabinet on Wednesday, 15th January 2014 at 10am at the Hilly Ewing Building, Providenciales.
All Ministers were present.
At this meeting Cabinet:
· Reviewed and approved a paper from the Minister of Finance entitled ‘2014 Business Transformation Strategy: A Reform Strategy for Growth and Empowerment.’ The document sets out a strategic roadmap for economic recovery and prosperity in the Turks and Caicos Islands based on improving the business environment over the next 3 years. It is the Government's intention to table the strategy at the next sitting of the House of Assembly;
· Reviewed a paper from the Ministry of Finance on Domestic Capital Accumulation Vehicles for Economic Development in the TCI;
· Approved a Resolution to be forwarded to the House of Assembly on the Adoption of a Credit Union Policy in the Islands;
· Noted the recommendations of the Procurement Board on the award of a contract in relation to the construction of a replacement Dock Jetty for South Caicos. Further details will be provided by the Director of Contracts;
· Agreed to a recommendation from the Minister of Education Youth Sports and Library to form a National Youth Advisory Committee consisting of representatives from the following areas: Senior Youth Leader/Representing the Church; the Business Sector; a Leader/Non-Governmental/ Volunteer Agency; a Government Agency; a representative from Tourism and a representative from a Parliamentary Association;
· In line with the recommendation of the Minister of Home Affairs, Cabinet approved an Update on the Building Code of the Turks and Caicos Islands pending further review by the Ministry of Home Affairs;
· Heard from the Minister of Border Control and Labour (BCL) who raised the issue regarding the grants of cleaning contracts in Middle Caicos. Cabinet agreed that the policy on grants of contracts should be reviewed jointly between the Ministry of BCL and the Ministry of Government Support Services (GSS) to ensure that there is a transparent and fair system of awarding contracts in place. Cabinet further agreed that the Ministry GSS should review the grant of the particular contracts in Middle and North Caicos which were the subject of the demonstrations earlier this week and where it is determined that the contracts were awarded outside the established policy or that the awardee did not possess a Business License on the date the contract was granted, the contract should be cancelled and the awardee struck from the list of approved contractors.
Further details will be provided by Ministers in due course.
TCI Community College Foundation Board update on Gala
On November 8, 2013, the resurrected TCI Community College Foundation Board, chaired by Ms Claudette Monroe Clare, and supported by a hard-working, dedicated cast of residents, hosted a gala affair at the Regent Palms Resort & Spa in Provo.
The primary purpose of the event was to raise much needed funds to support the TCICC in its efforts to provide scholarships to academically deserving students who wish to matriculate at the institution and to enhance the academic offerings and infrastructure at the two campuses in Grand Turk and Provo.
The commitment to the tertiary educational development of the young and not so young people of this country, evidenced by the generous financial support of businesses and individuals (one who anonymously gave $20, 000 and Mr. Mervin Cox who donated a refrigerator and a stove to the Hospitality Department), resulted in approximately $55, 000 to benefit students and the TCICC.
President of the TCICC Lee Ingham thanked the Administration, Faculty and Staff, “I want to take this opportunity to thank all the corporate and individual citizens of the TCI, especially those in Provo, for their generous support.
I look forward to a continuous, symbiotic relationship with the TCI community, welcome suggestions and ideas as we all strive to meet the educational objectives of our students-clientele and our country.”
The Community College will now be able to commence the implementation while working on other projects in 2014.
Seahawks parlay 49ers' mistakes into Super Bowl trip vs. Broncos
All season long, the Seattle Seahawks' defense carried them at times the offense sputtered. Its biggest challenge yet will come in Super Bowl XLVIII.
The Seahawks forced turnovers on the San Francisco 49ers' final three drives, the last an interception by Malcolm Smith on a deflection by Richard Sherman in the end zone with 22 seconds to go that sealed a 23-17 victory in Sunday's NFC Championship Game.
"This team was ready to finish," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said during the George Halas Trophy presentation to the conference champions.
But they're not done just yet.
Next up is a title date with Peyton Manning and the high-powered Denver Broncos on Feb. 2 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
It's the second Super Bowl trip in the 38-year history of the Seahawks, who also went after the 2005 season and lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL.
This NFC title triumph was particularly sweet. They rallied from an early 10-point deficit against the division rival 49ers, who lost last year's Super Bowl to the Baltimore Ravens.
San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick fumbled and threw an interception on the 49ers' two drives before the late interception. But the Seahawks scored only one field goal off those turnovers, keeping the outcome in doubt.
Given the ball once more with 3 minutes, 15 seconds to go, Kaepernick completed four consecutive passes, including a fourth-and-2 crossing strike to Frank Gore as the 49ers drove to the Seattle 18.
But Sherman got a piece of Kaepernick's jump-ball throw for Michael Crabtree in the end zone, and Smith corralled the carom, allowing Seattle to run out the clock.
It set off a celebration during which Sherman leaped into the stands at CenturyLink Field and New York, New York played over the stadium speakers.
"That's as sweet as it gets, man," Sherman said.
No players remain from that 2005 Seahawks team, and no one on Seattle's roster has appeared in a Super Bowl. Neither has Carroll, who did take the University of Southern California to two BCS championship games before becoming the Seahawks' coach in 2010.
They took their first lead at 20-17 with 13:52 to go in regulation after Carroll reconsidered a field-goal attempt on fourth-and-7 from the 35-yard line. Russell Wilson drew Aldon Smith offside and took advantage of the free play to throw a TD strike to Jermaine Kearse.
Minutes later, Cliff Avril came around the edge to strip Kaepernick as he tried to throw and Michael Bennett scooped the ball on a hop, giving Seattle a chance to push the lead to 10. But a botched exchange at the goal line left the Seahawks with nothing.
They made it 23-17 with 3:37 left on a field goal after Kam Chancellor intercepted a bad-idea throw from Kaepernick for Anquan Boldin at the sideline.
Then came the final drive that had tension high from an announced crowd of 68,454 that had seen the Seahawks offense stumble again and again from the time the game began.
Wilson finished 16-of-25 passing for 215 yards and the go-ahead touchdown but struggled all day to find anyone open in a Percy Harvin-less receiver group.
Smith sacked and stripped Wilson and recovered the fumble on the game's opening play, setting up a 49ers field goal in a first half the visitors owned.
Kaepernick racked up 98 rushing yards on eight carries before halftime. That included consecutive scrambles of 12 and 58 yards to set up the game's first touchdown, a 1-yard Anthony Dixon plunge on fourth-and-goal that made it 10-0 with 10:03 left in the half.
The Seahawks got on the scoreboard before halftime with a field goal after a 51-yard Wilson strike to Doug Baldwin. And Marshawn Lynch knotted the score after halftime, juking rookie safety Eric Reid in the hole and racing 40 yards for a touchdown to make it 10-all.
The 49ers regained the lead on the next drive, with Kaepernick gaining 22 yards on a designed keeper, catching a break when center Jonathan Goodwin recovered his fumble on a Bennett strip-sack and firing an off-balance bullet to Boldin for a 26-yard TD.
But Baldwin returned the kickoff 69 yards to set up a field goal that pulled Seattle within 17-13, and then Carroll's bold decision to forego the field goal led to a touchdown and a lead the Seahawks never gave up.
Source-USA Today
TNT Soca Princesses collapse - World Cup dreams crash at final hurdle
T&T’s dream of becoming the first team to represent the Caribbean at the Fifa Under-20 Women’s World Cup came to bitter end in the Cayman Islands, yesterday, when the Soca Princesses suffered a heartbreaking 7-3 defeat in overtime to Costa Rica in the third-place play-off of the Concacaf Under-20 Women’s Championship.
This was a result of a tired second-half performance from the team which closed the first half with a 3-1 lead. In fact, the T&T team which stormed to a two-goal lead by the half-hour mark, courtesy of a classy brace from Anique Walker, before she drifted out of the match, showed signs of slowing down. Khadisha Debesette, did, however, score the goal of the match, a blistering effort midway into the Costa Rica half, but it seemed only to invite a more determined response from Costa Rica.
Without taking too many risks, Costa Rica patiently capitalised against a tired looking T&T, who ran out of steam in the last 20 minutes of regulation time.
Costa Rica pulled a second goal back in the 71st minute from Yesmi Rodriguez Talavera, at which point a total collapse was imminent.
Second-half substitute Michelle Montero beat on a messy T&T defence with four minutes left to take the match into extra-time.
Another second-half substitute Nicole Araya Munoz scored two simple goals in the first half of overtime, before Katheryn Arroyo and Benavidez Arguedas put the match to rest with one item each in the closing moments. T&T never looked likely to reply to Costa Rica’s second-half efforts as most plays were broken down in the final third of the pitch, unlike that from T&T’s energetic showing in the first half-hour.
As a result of its deserved victory, Costa Rica joined finalists, USA and Mexico as the teams to represent Concacaf in August’s 2014 Fifa Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Canada. The two finalists were in action in the second match which concluded after press time last evening.
Proposal for ICC re-vamp bad for WI says director
A working paper for a revamped International Cricket Council (ICC) will come before members as early as the ICC’s quarterly meeting in Dubai on January 28 and 29 and if it is passed, West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) director Baldath Mahabir, believes cricket in the region could suffer.
The major news coming out of the working paper produced by the ICC's finance and commercial affairs committee, is that Test cricket be played using a two-tier system. If this happens the West Indies will be in the second division based on current rankings . Another major recommendation by the committee which includes WICB president Dave Cameron, is that the major power brokers of the revamped ICC be England, India and Australia.
Even under the proposed two tiered system England, India and Australia will not be demoted. Teams like West Indies and New Zealand would find themselves in the second tier and this is worrying for Mahabir. If this new working paper is passed, seven of the 10 full member nations would have to support it.
While not being able to state the WICB’s position on it, Mahabir gave his personal view. “Anytime you have a situation where people are looking to divide and rule it could never be good. Looking at the proposals, this is a situation where power broking and sharing will go to three of the members and this cannot be healthy.
“We are at a point where we need to expand the game and by bringing a model that is not inclusive would do damage to the sport down the road. This model would only lead to monopolising of the sport and I cannot see how this could be good for cricket.”
Mahabir said the WICB is sure to discuss this soon to come up with a position. “We have not set the date for our next ordinary meeting but an emergency meeting may be called. This is very serious as with West Indies playing second tier cricket, we may lose interest among the fans and this could prove detrimental.”
Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe, commenting on the issue in Cricinfo, said it would be sad for the West Indies because they have made a tremendous contribution to the sport of cricket.
“Cricket is cyclical and to ask the West Indies to play second tier cricket will be unfair. They had ruled the sport for quite a while and now although they are not doing that, they have shown glimpses of getting back over the last year. They have fallen away a bit over the last few months but a nation that has done so much for cricket to suffer that fate now will be cruel.
“That is there national sport and to receive a blow like that would hurt the game in that region.”
Summary of working paper
1 New executive committee (ExCo) to be set up with permanent memberships for BCCI, CA, ECB, to override all other committees.
2 Promotion and relegation in Test cricket, with exceptions made in the cases of BCCI, CA, ECB.
3 ICC to be delinked from FTP arrangements, with bilateral agreements only taking over.
4 New finance model of ICC revenue distribution.
5 Key positions in ICC—ICC chairman, chairmen of ExCo and finance & commercial affairs committee—to be nominees of BCCI-CA-ECB.
6 Reinstatement of Champions Trophy in 2017 and 2021 in place of the World Test Championship.
Source-Guardian Media
Obama: Marijuana is not more dangerous than alcohol
President Barack Obama said he doesn't think marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol, "in terms of its impact on the individual consumer."
"As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol," the president said an interview with "The New Yorker" magazine.
Smoking marijuana is "not something I encourage, and I've told my daughters I think it's a bad idea, a waste of time, not very healthy," Obama said.
Obama's administration has given states permission to experiment with marijuana regulation, and laws recently passed in Colorado and Washington legalising marijuana recently went into effect. The president said it was important for the legalisation of marijuana to go forward in those states to avoid a situation in which only a few are punished while a large portion of people have broken the law at one time or another.
The president said he is troubled at the disproportionate number of arrests and imprisonments of minorities for marijuana use. "Middle-class kids don't get locked up for smoking pot, and poor kids do," he said. "And African-American kids and Latino kids are more likely to be poor and less likely to have the resources and the support to avoid unduly harsh penalties."
He said in the interview that users shouldn't be locked up for long stretches of time when people writing drug laws "have probably done the same thing."
But Obama urged a cautious approach to changing marijuana laws, saying that people who think legalizing pot will solve social problems are "probably overstating the case."
"And the experiment that's going to be taking place in Colorado and Washington is going to be, I think, a challenge," the president said.
Ethan Nadelmann, the executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance praised Obama's words, saying his use of the word "important" about the new Colorado and Washington laws "really puts the wind in the sails of the movement to end marijuana prohibition.
Critics of the new laws raise concerns about public health and law enforcement, asking whether wide availability of the drug will lead to more underage drug use, more cases of driving while high and more crime.
Source-AP
Andy Murray targets Australian Open quarter-finals in Melbourne
Andy Murray will face a surprise opponent in French "lucky loser" Stephane Robert as he attempts to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals.
The Wimbledon champion takes on the world number 119 not before 0530 GMT on Monday in Melbourne.
Robert, 33, is the first man to reach the last 16 having lost in qualifying, only to get a place in the main draw following a withdrawal.
"It makes a story. I'm really happy to be this guy," Robert told BBC Sport.
"I waited all day on Monday and came back on Tuesday thinking it would be the same.
"I was in the player lounge and filling out some papers for the ATP and the referee called me to his office and told me I could play on Court Seven.
"He said, 'Are you ready to play?' and I said, 'I'm ready'. I think it was like five minutes. I was unbelievably happy to get in.
"It's a strange feeling. I'm playing without any pressure because I already lost but I'm still in the tournament."
Murray, 26, has yet to drop a set in three matches and said he is happy with how his back is responding in only the second tournament since he under went surgery in September.
He will play Robert for the first time when they meet on Hisense Arena, but the Scot is aware of the challenge posed by a player who has already won five matches at Melbourne Park.
"It's obviously a big achievement," said Murray. "I know him a little bit from when I was coming through the Futures and Challengers.
"Playing in Europe and in the UK. I've seen him play a little bit then, obviously quite a while ago now.
"It's good to see. He's obviously 33 years old and it could be easy to stop playing if you're not in the top 100 or necessarily making a great living.
"But it does show if you stick at it, you're professional, when your chance comes, you take it, you can do great things. It's great for him and good for tennis as well.
"He's played a lot of matches here. He's played six or seven matches already. He'll be match tight, that's for sure."
Robert, from Montargis, is relishing the chance to play the fourth seed.
Source-BBC
Serena Williams loses to Ana Ivanovic in Australian Open
Serena Williams went out of the Australian Open as a back injury hindered the five-time champion against a rampant Ana Ivanovic.
The Serb came back from a set down to win 4-6 6-3 6-3 - her first ever victory over Williams in five attempts.
There had been reports before the match that Williams had a back problem, and so it proved.
"I almost pulled out. I'm such a competitor, I probably should have," said the world number one.
"I don't want to blame anything. I feel like Ana deserves all the credit. I feel she played unbelievable today. I think she went for her shots."
Williams revealed that she did not know the exact nature of her injury but had been dealing with it for "a few days".
She added: "It's not anything that's life threatening or anything. I feel like it will get better. I just need a couple days off.
"Unfortunately I don't have that in a Grand Slam."
The reigning French and US Open champion had been tipped by some to complete the Grand Slam of all four major titles in 2014.
"I have given up on that a long time ago," said the 32-year-old. "I feel like I don't even think about winning four in a row.
"Maybe I can win four in a row, but it seems like in the one year it's kind of difficult for me for whatever reason."
Ivanovic, 26, goes on to face Canada's Eugenie Bouchard in the last eight.
Source-BBC
American Hustle cast tops SAG awards
The cast of 1970s crime caper American Hustle have taken the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild awards.
Representing his co-stars, Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams and Christian Bale, actor Bradley Cooper praised film director David O Russell.
"He is an actor's director," he said. "That notion is tossed around. He is the embodiment of it."
As actors form the biggest voting bloc in the Oscars, the SAG awards are seen as a key indicator for that ceremony.
Last year, the guild chose hostage drama Argo for its top honour, with that film going on to receive the Academy Award for best picture.
However, this year's field is more competitive - with 12 Years a Slave and Gravity expected to give American Hustle's A-list cast a run for their money when the Oscars roll around on 2 March.
Newcomer Lupita Nyong'o, who plays an abused plantation worker in 12 Years a Slave, was given the best supporting actress award by SAG voters.
The Kenyan actress also thanked her director, British film-maker Steve McQueen, "for taking a flashlight and shining it underneath the floorboards of this nation and reminding us what it is we stand on".
She also recounted the story of phoning her father to tell him she had got the part.
"'Daddy, do you know who Brad Pitt is? I'm going to be in a movie with him!"' she recalled.
"And he said, 'I don't know him personally but I'm glad you got a job.'"
Both best actor and best supporting actor went to the stars of Dallas Buyers Club, a small film that cost just $4m (£2.4m) to make.
It is based on the true story of a homophobic Texan who gets Aids and smuggles unapproved anti-HIV drugs into the US in the 1980s.
Matthew McConaughey, in the lead role, and Jared Leto, as a transgender woman with Aids, both endured dramatic weight loss to play their parts.
McConaughey said of his SAG honour: "It really shines a great light on this bull ride we call acting.
"I've been able to recently find some characters that I can humble myself to their humanities and get feverishly drunk on their obsessions."
Warming to his theme, the 44-year-old started musing on the "magic place" that actors reach when "you're seeing the character from the inside out".
"That doesn't always happen but, boy, when it does, it feels like they can put a blindfold on you and put you in a spaceship and take you to Neptune," he added.
Cate Blanchett took home the best actress prize for her complex, cracked portrayal of a socialite fallen on hard times in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine.
It was her 17th best actress prize of the awards season - and she is considered a near-certainty for the trophy at both the Baftas and Oscars.
But when her acceptance speech was cut short, the actress protested: "29 seconds? Matthew McConaughey spoke about Neptune!''
The SAG Awards also recognise actors working in TV, with sitcom Modern Family winning best ensemble in a comedy series and best male actor in a comedy series for Ty Burrell's dumb-but-loveable patriarch Phil Dunphy.
In his speech, Burrell outlined his steps for becoming a successful actor, which included: "Be born into a family that never had an actor in it; Use that false sense of confidence to woo and attract a spouse who's better than you; Have no skill other than being a needy extrovert; Use that lack of skill to stumble into a job."
Accepting the show's cast award - its fourth in a row - Colombian star Sofia Vergara said the honour was "mind-blowing", adding: "I can barely speak English."
Breaking Bad, which left TV screens last year, continued its victory lap around the awards shows, winning outstanding dramatic cast and for best lead actor Bryan Cranston, for his indelible performance as teacher-turned-meth dealer, Walter White.
Looking out at his former cast-mates, Cranston remarked: "We have the nicest bunch of white supremacist Nazis I have ever worked with.
"I swear to you I would kill you all over again."
British Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Helen Mirren won best actress awards for Downton Abbey and the TV movie Phil Spector respectively.
Dame Maggie was not present to accept her award, whereas Dame Helen lingered on stage, examining the trophy she'd just received.
"I love this little guy," she said. "He's so sexy, isn't he? Sort of naked but not quite..
Michael Douglas picked up a best actor prize in the TV category for his performance as Liberace in the movie Behind The Candelabra, which was only shown on cable channel HBO in the States.
The lifetime achievement award was given to Rita Moreno, the 81-year-old actress who played Anita del Carmen in West Side Story, alongside roles in Singin' in the Rain and The King and I, and on Broadway in The Ritz and The Odd Couple.
Introduced by Morgan Freeman, the Puerto Rican star danced her way up to the podium and, upon receiving a standing ovation, let out an unscripted expletive.
"I am sorry about that word.... Actually, I am not," she said.
The star thanked the guild for honouring her "early in the third act of my life" before serenading the audience with a few lines from This Is All I Ask.