Updated statement issued on behalf of the Turks and Caicos Islands Government, emergency services and the Governor’s Office.
Turks and Caicos Islands emergency services are responding to an incident at Providenciales this morning, Wednesday, 25 December 2013.
A sloop believed to be carrying suspected illegal immigrants was intercepted by the Marine Branch of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force (RTCIPF) at 3.21am. The vessel capsized as it was being towed into dock by the RTCIPF to offload the suspects at South Dock at 5.17am.
Thirty two people have been confirmed as having been rescued from the water and who are now in custody at the TCI Government’s Five Cays immigration detention/removal Centre.
The RTCIPF have recovered 18 bodies, two from the initial incident and a further 16 with the assistance of divers. The search efforts are expanding in the area to locate any additional bodies. A US Coast Guard helicopter has been scrambled to assist the TCI authorities in locating any additional bodies.
Police are still searching for the handful of people who reached shore and fled the scene, and their investigations into the incident continue.
The Turks and Caicos Islands Governor, Premier and Ministers are aware of the situation.
Further information will be provided as facts and new information are confirmed.
New Year's Celebrations Ringing in 2014
Fireworks are crackling through the night skies across the globe as revelers celebrate the first moments of 2014.
Crowds gathered in public spaces in major cities across the Asia-Pacific region to ring in the new year with music, fireworks and revelry. As clocks marched toward midnight around the world, crowds massed in Moscow, Dubai, London, New York and other major cities ahead of their celebrations.
Dubai created what it called the world's largest fireworks show. About a million people are expected to gather in New York's Times Square to watch a giant ball drop at the stroke of midnight, the best known of the American New Year's Eve rituals.
Fireworks erupted from Auckland's Sky Tower as people danced in the streets of New Zealand's biggest city. In Sydney, Australia, more than a million people watched fireworks launched for the first time in more than a decade from the sails of the city's famed waterfront opera house. Billowing fireworks soared over Hong Kong's skyscrapers.
In Japan, some celebrators ate noodles and seafood -- thought to bring good luck in 2014 -- and offered prayers at Buddhist shrines and temples.
Celebrations were somewhat muted in the Philippines, where officials say about 260 people were injured by fireworks or stray bullets in the days leading up to New Year's Eve. The mood also was somber in areas still recovering from Haiyan, a November typhoon that killed thousands of people.
Cape Town, South Africa, was set for a particularly poignant celebration to include a tribute to anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, who died December 5.
IOC 'confident' Games will be safe after Volgograd blasts
The International Olympic Committee president says he has confidence that Russian authorities will deliver a "safe and secure" Games in Sochi.
Thomas Bach wrote to President Vladimir Putin to express condolences for the "despicable" attacks that struck Volgograd within 24 hours.
Investigators say the attacks on a railway station and trolleybus, which killed at least 31 people, were linked.
They struck just over a month before the Winter Olympics begin.
Volgograd was also targeted in October, when a suspected female suicide bomber killed six people in an attack on a bus.
It is being widely assumed in Russia that the people who carried out the Volgograd bombings were involved in the Islamist-inspired insurgency against Russian rule in the Caucasus republics of Chechnya and Dagestan, and that the target was the Games, says the BBC's Moscow correspondent Daniel Sandford.
In a statement, Russia's foreign ministry did not blame any particular group but likened the attacks to acts by militants in the United States, Syria and elsewhere.
It called for international solidarity in the fight against "an insidious enemy that can only be defeated together", reported Reuters news agency.
Regional Governor Sergei Bozhenov said the bombings were a "serious test" for all Volgograd residents and all Russians.
Huge fire after US oil train derails in North Dakota
Wagons from a mile-long train carrying crude oil have burst into flames as they derailed after a collision in the US state of North Dakota.
A plume of thick black smoke could be seen many miles away and explosions were heard.
No injuries were reported, but officials ordered the evacuation of about 300 people from the nearby town of Casselton as a precaution.
An investigation into the incident has been launched.
A spokeswoman for the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services said the last 50 wagons of the train had been uncoupled, but another 56 remained at risk.
The derailment, after a collision involving another goods train, is reported to have happened near an ethanol plant.
Emergency and fire-fighting crews have been sent to the scene.
Cass County sheriff's office said it was "strongly recommending" that residents in parts of Casselton and anyone living five miles (8km) to the south and east evacuate.
Sgt Tara Morris said that as many as 300 of the 2,400 residents of Casselton may have to be evacuated.
A shelter has been set up in Fargo, about 25 miles away.
Casselton resident Eva Fercho said she first noticed black smoke and then heard two explosions, WDAY News reported.
"I could almost feel the house shake... it was loud," she said.
Correspondents say it is the latest in a string of incidents that have raised alarm about a rise in crude oil traffic on the railways.
Israel releases Palestinian prisoners
Israeli authorities have freed a group of 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of a US-brokered agreement to resume direct peace talks.
The prisoners were greeted by cheering crowds on their return to the West Bank and Gaza.
Israel approved the releases on Saturday, but they were delayed to allow victims' families to appeal.
The prisoners committed murder or attempted murder before the 1993 Oslo accords and have served 19 to 28 years.
They make up the third tranche of a total of 104 prisoners to be freed.
Eight of the men were driven late at night to checkpoints leading into Gaza and East Jerusalem.
The other 18 prisoners were heading to Ramallah in the West Bank.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas greeted the prisoners at his headquarters in Ramallah and pledged to continue pressing for the release of other long-serving and sick prisoners.
"We will not sign a final peace deal with Israel before all the prisoners are released," he said.
President Abbas has previously hailed the prisoners as heroes of the Palestinian cause.
Michael Schumacher's family in bedside vigil after ski accident
The family of German motor-racing champion Michael Schumacher is at his bedside as he fights for life following a skiing accident in the French Alps.
Schumacher's manager, Sabine Kehm, said his wife, Corinna, daughter Gina Maria and son Mick are in a state of shock at the Grenoble hospital.
The seven-time Formula 1 champion suffered head injuries on Sunday in a fall at the resort of Meribel.
He has been put in a medically-induced coma to relieve pressure on his brain.
"The family is not doing very well, obviously. They are shocked," Sabine Kehm told reporters.
Prof Jean-Francois Payen, of Grenoble University Hospital's intensive care unit, told a news conference that they could not give a prognosis for the 44-year-old driver.
"He is in a critical state in terms of cerebral resuscitation. We are working hour by hour," he said.
Prof Payen said that if Schumacher had not been wearing a helmet "he wouldn't be here now".
"We had to operate urgently to release some pressure in his head," the anaesthetist said.
Neurosurgeon Stephan Chabardes said that a post-operative scan had shown "diffuse haemorrhagic lesions" on both sides of Schumacher's brain.
The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Grenoble says there are precedents for people surviving such injuries.
Induced comas can last several weeks while a patient's condition is stabilised, she adds, and there can be many months of therapy in order to achieve as full a recovery as possible.
Doctors have lowered Schumacher's body temperature to 34-35C (93.2-95F) as part of the coma, slowing his metabolism to help reduce inflammation.
The driver had been skiing off-piste with his teenage son when he fell and hit his head on a rock.
He was first evacuated to a hospital in the nearby town of Moutiers.
Prof Chabardes said the driver was in an "agitated condition" on arrival in Moutiers and his neurological condition "deteriorated rapidly".
He was taken from Moutiers to the larger facility in Grenoble.
Messages of support have come from around the world.
Source-BBC
Andy Murray & David Beckham overlooked in New Year's Honours
Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and former England captain David Beckham have been overlooked in the New Year's Honours list.
The duo, who both have OBEs, had been tipped to be knighted.
Murray, 26, became the first Briton in 77 years to win the Wimbledon men's singles title in the summer, while Beckham, 38, retired from football in May after a 20-year career.
Former Football Association chairman David Bernstein has been made a CBE.
Bernstein was appointed to the role of chairman in 2010 but was forced to relinquish the post under FA rules when he reached the age of 70. He was replaced by Greg Dyke in July.
"I think this honour relates to all my 20 years in football and I am really delighted," said Bernstein.
"I had 10 years at Manchester City and it was a fantastic period to be involved at a key moment in its history, getting the club back on its feet and organising the deal for the new stadium.
"It was then enormously satisfying to be involved with Wembley through its construction phase to see it become the greatest stadium in the world."
There was speculation that Murray, who was voted Sports Personality of the Year 2013, would be honoured following his triumph in the summer, a year after he was awarded an OBE, having won Olympic gold and the US Open title.
Following his victory at Wimbledon, Prime Minister David Cameron said: "I can't think of anyone who deserves one more."
People are nominated for their achievements by members of the public and whether they are given an honour - and the type of honour - is decided by a committee.
The committee's decision goes to the prime minister and then to the Queen.
Meanwhile, rumours that Beckham, who was made OBE in 2003 for services to football and played a key role in securing the London 2012 Olympics, was to be knighted, proved unfounded.
Source-BBC
IPC said new prosthetic leg was 'completely fine' to Heather Mills
Heather Mills says the International Paralympic Committee approved the new prosthetic leg which caused a row with disability skiing's governing body.
Mills, 45, abandoned her dream of competing at the 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympics on Monday after the IPC ruled the device ineligible.
"I was told that my leg was completely fine, that it didn't pose any problem," said Mills in a video statement.
The IPC deny Mills was ever given permission to compete on the device.
"No adaptive equipment paperwork was ever submitted or received and therefore it [the prosthetic leg] was never formally approved," said IPC spokesperson Craig Spence.
Mills, who lost the lower half of her left leg after a collision with a police motorbike in 1993, was competing at the Pitzal Europa Cup event in Austria on Monday when race officials noticed she was skiing on a different device to that which had been approved by the IPC in July.
The former wife of musician Sir Paul McCartney attended a meeting for race officials and team coaches that evening against the wishes of the British team and it is claimed she "threw a tantrum" after being told by IPC technical official Sylvana Mestre that the device would have to be revised.
An IPC statement, backed up by Mestre herself, alleged that Mills then "physically harassed" the official - something the former model strongly denies.
"I never physically touched her," said Mills.
"I just said to her very loudly - I was very upset I have to admit - that I'd had enough of this and wouldn't be involved in these ridiculous rules."
In July, all athletes with adaptive skiing equipment - such as Mills - were asked to submit their device specifications for assessment.
The limb Mills was using was approved, but she subsequently switched to a new device created by the London Prosthetics Centre.
Source-BBC
T&T Baller Dies In Hungary
Trinidad and Tobago footballer Akeem Adams, who suffered a stroke in Hungary earlier this year, has died, his uncle, Ivan Dick, has confirmed.
His club Ferencvaros also said Adams, 22, died yesterday after suffering a brain hemorrhage on Saturday.
He had been hospitalised since the heart attack and his left leg had been amputated to alleviate circulatory problems.
Adams, who played as a defender, passed away shortly after his mother Ancilla decided against taking the player off life support.
Adams, who joined Ferencvaros in August, played just a handful of games for Hungary's most popular team. His last game was Septembef 22, a 3-1 victory over Ujpest, Ferencvaros' traditional rivals.
FOUR OPERATIONS
Adams had undergone at least four operations at the Varosmajori Heart Clinic in Budapest, including the insertion of a mechanical heart and the amputation of his left leg from below the knee in late September and early October, respectively.
His health improved in November and doctors were fairly confident he would have been strong enough for a heart transplant before Christmas. But the anticipated heart transplant never materialised as doctors continued to fret over the slow recovery of Adams' left leg.
On Boxing Day, he spoke to friends and relatives in Trinidad and said he was in good spirits and that doctors expected to perform the transplant in February.
Adams played nine times on Trinidad's national team and started three matches for the Caribbean country at the Under-20 World Cup played in Egypt in 2009.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho accuses Luis Suarez of diving
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says Liverpool striker Luis Suarez should have been booked for diving in a 2-1 win for the Blues over the Reds.
Suarez was chasing Cesar Azpilicueta when he went to ground in the Chelsea penalty area after appearing to be caught by a Samuel Eto'o challenge.
"It is not a tackle. Suarez lost the duel with Azpilicueta, who has the ball and is leaving the box," said Mourinho.
"Now he is doing an acrobatic swimming pool jump to try to get a penalty."
He added: "He is so clever because he also knows he is in the area with the Liverpool supporters behind him.
"But [referee Howard] Webb is 10 metres away and I think the only mistake he did was not to give him a yellow card."
The incident occurred in the closing stages with Liverpool 2-1 down - Chelsea had taken the lead through goals from Eden Hazard and Eto'o following Martin Skrtel's opener for the Reds.
"I am always happy when I see him [Suarez] play because I love his quality, his commitment, his ambition to win. He is absolutely a fantastic player," continued Mourinho.
"But this country is a special country. I'm not English or British but I feel I have also responsibility in defending some values in this football.
"One of the things that we have good is that we don't like people with simulations.
"This situation in the box with Azpilicueta and Eto'o, stop with this or give him a yellow card because it is not good for our game."
Uruguay international Suarez has scored 19 goals in 14 games since his return from a 10-game ban for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic during a game last season.
Source-BBC