Crime & Incident Reports for December 17th & 18th, 2013
The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force are investigating a number of incidents reported between Tuesday December 17, 2013 and Wednesday December 18, 2013 within the districts of Providenciales, including:
• (5) Burglary: Initial investigations revealed that during the commission of these Burglaries, a sum of cash, one black Samsung TV 32 inch and two suitcases were stolen. Officers were able to recover a quantity of copper wire and other electronic items.
• (1) Robbery: Early investigations revealed that during commission of this crime a quantity of jewelry was stolen from a business place located on Leeward Highway.
• (2) Malicious Damage to Property: Prelimininary investigations revealed that a vehicle right passenger glass window was damaged and the battery was stolen during the commission of this crime. In the other incident, the right driver’s glass window was damaged.
• (1) Making Off Without Payment: Initial investigations revealed that it is alledged that a male entered a business place and ordered a quantity of alcoholic beverages and exited the business place without paying for the alcoholic beverages. Investigations continue in all of these matters.
The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force are also investigating an incident reported between Tuesday December 17, 2013 and Wednesday December 18, 2013 within the districts of Grand Turk, including:
• (1) Theft: Prelimininary investigations revealed that a red and black bike was stolen during the commission of this crime. Investigations continue.
If you have any information about any criminal activity, please call 911 or Crime Stoppers anonymously on 1-800-8477. Tips can also be submitted anonymously in English, French or Spanish on either www.crimestoppers.tc or on Facebook as a fan of Crime Stoppers Turks & Caicos. Crime Stoppers tips are received in the USA.
TCIG Appoints New EMS Director
The Ministry of Health and Human Services in a release to RTC News told our reporter that Mr. Patrick Riel is no longer employed of Turks and Caicos Islands Government (TCIG) as Director of Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
No reasons were given for the immediate release of Mr.Riel.
In the release, Permanent Secretary Desiree Lewis urged stakeholders and the general public to note, and that effective immediately, Mr. Hugh Green will be acting in that role.
Mr. Green may be contacted via email at: hughmania@yahoo.com or via telephone on (649)347-6818.
Further, TCIG is advising all stakeholders to disregard any correspondence(s) from Mr. Riel, which relate to EMS operations.
All queries should now be directed to Mr. Hugh Green the acting Director of EMS or to Dr. Nadia Astwood – Director of Medical Services, Ministry of Health and Human Services according to the P.S.
Mosquito-borne chikungunya virus detected in the Caribbean island of St Martin
On 12th December 2013, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) received notification of ten confirmed cases of locally acquired chikungunya virus infection on the French side of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. Since four additional probable cases and twenty suspected cases have also been identified, it is likely that the number of persons confirmed with chikungunya disease will increase. There is currently no evidence of cases on the Dutch side of the island, or in other parts of the Caribbean.
Chikungunya has infected millions of people in Africa and Asia since the disease was first recorded in 1952; however, this is the first time locally-acquired cases of chikungunya have been detected in the Caribbean. In the Americas, imported cases had previously been reported from Brazil, Canada, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and the United States of America.
The Aedes aegypti Mosquito, which is widely dispersed in the Caribbean region including the Turks and Caicos Islands, is the primary carrier of the chikungunya and dengue viruses. Symptoms of chikungunya are similar to dengue and include a sudden high fever, severe pain in the wrists, ankles or knuckles, muscle pain, headache, nausea, and rash. Joint pain and stiffness are more common with chikungunya than with dengue. The symptoms appear between four to seven days after the bite of an infected mosquito. The majority of clinical signs and symptoms last three to ten days, but joint pain may persist longer. Severe cases requiring hospitalisation are rare. There is no vaccine or treatment for chikungunya.
The Ministry of Health and Human Services along with other Caribbean health authorities are working with CARPHA to implement public health measures. The Ministry has heightened surveillance at all health care facilities, enhanced mosquito control and prevention measures conducted by the Environmental Health Department and increased health communication and education about chikungunya and dengue; including how to recognize it, prevent mosquito breeding and protect yourself from mosquito bites.
Precautions to prevent and control the spread of chikungunya and dengue in TCI
• Avoid mosquito bites here in TCI and when traveling to areas where dengue and chikungunya occur.
• Eliminate mosquito breeding sites (avoid leaving drums/barrels with water uncovered and get rid of stagnant water as water sitting stagnant for 4 days or more will quickly become a breeding ground for mosquitoes).
• Pour small amounts of oil (kerosene, cooking oil, brake fluid oil) in stagnant water near homes to prevent mosquito breeding.
• Fix screens on windows and doors to prevent indoor mosquito invasions.
• Ensure your windows and doors are closed tightly especially at dusk and dawn.
• Stay in air-conditioned or screened areas when indoors.
• Use bed nets if sleeping areas are not screened or air-conditioned.
• Use mosquito repellents on skin and clothing especially when going outdoors.
• Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants tucked into socks when outdoors during times that mosquitoes are biting.
• Report your travel history to your doctor if you have signs and symptoms of dengue fever or chikungunya disease.
• Call Environmental Health Department to treat large bodies of stagnant water on or around your property.
The Ministry is asking all to work together to prevent mosquito borne diseases. Protect yourself, your home and environment today!
US Transfers 2 Guantanamo Detainees to Sudan
The United States has sent two detainees who were held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility back to their native Sudan.
The U.S. has sped up efforts to transfer detainees out of Guantanamo, roughly half of the remaining 158 detainees have been cleared of charges, but remain in custody.
The Defense Department announced late Wednesday that Noor Uthman Muhammed and Ibrahim Othman Ibrahim Idris have been transferred to the Sudanese government. They had been held at the base in Cuba for more than a decade for suspected terrorist activities.
Muhammed, who admitted to working at an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan, was released after serving 34 months of a 14-year sentence handed down in 201.
Idris was released after his lawyers petitioned the court, saying long-term mental and physical illness made it "virtually impossible" for him to engage in hostilities if he were freed.
Earlier this week, the U.S. sent two Guantanamo detainees back to their native Saudi Arabia.
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U.S. Prosecutor Says Indian Diplomat Was Well-Treated in Custody
A U.S. federal prosecutor in the case against an Indian diplomat facing visa fraud charges says the diplomat was well-treated while in detention, contrary to her claims.
Addressing a case that has strained U.S.-Indian relations, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara issued a statement Wednesday saying Devyani Khobragade was given courtesies far beyond what other defendants, most of whom are American citizens, are accorded.
Bharara also questioned why Khobragade's case has garnered more sympathy in India than that of her employee, who was allegedly paid only a third of the amount Khobragade had reported to U.S. officials.
U.S. State Department spokesman Marie Harf said Secretary of State John Kerry called a top Indian official Wednesday to express regret over the incident. She said Kerry, who has daughters near Khobragade's age, empathized with India's sensitivities over the case. Harf said Kerry was concerned that this "unfortunate public issue" not hurt the "close and vital" U.S. relationship with India.
In an email published earlier Wednesday, Khobragade said after her December 12 arrest she faced repeated handcuffing and cavity searches while being held on visa fraud charges. She said she broke down in tears multiple times during the ordeal and was held in a space with common criminals and drug addicts despite her repeated assertions that she has diplomatic immunity.
Supporters of a small opposition party staged an anti-U.S. protest in New Delhi on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Indian authorities asked U.S. consular officers to return their identity cards, rescinded airport passes and removed concrete security barriers from in front of the U.S. embassy in New Delhi.
The 39-year-old Khobragade is accused of making false statements in support of the visa application of an Indian national she brought to the United States to serve as household staff.
Khobragade, who says she is innocent, has been released on $250,000 bail.
In a diplomatic rebuff, Indian Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde cancelled his meeting with a five-member delegation of U.S. Congress members visiting New Delhi. India's ruling Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi and opposition leader Narendra Modi also cancelled meetings with the group.
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Erdogan: Corruption Probe 'Dirty Operation'
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says a corruption probe in which dozens of people have been detained is part of a "dirty operation" against his administration, linking it to a summer of anti-government protests.
Mr. Erdogan's comments come a day after police raided the offices of several prominent businessmen close to his inner circle and detained a number of government officials - including the sons of three Cabinet ministers - in the biggest corruption investigation since he swept to power in 2002.
In a sign that Mr. Erdogan was fighting back, he said Wednesday that five top police officials have been removed from their posts in Istanbul for abuse of office, and that more could follow in other cities.
Turkish media reported that police searching the home of the state-run Halkbank's chief executive, Suleyman Aslan, seized shoeboxes stashed with $4.5 million in cash. The bank's office's were raided and Azerbaijani businessman Reza Zarrab, who is married to a Turkish pop star, also was detained.
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters that 51 people were being questioned.
Tuesday's raids and detentions are controversial in part because the Istanbul prosecutor said to be leading the investigation is believed to be sympathetic to U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose followers are influential in the police and judiciary.
That has raised suspicions among Mr. Erdogan's circle of an anti-government conspiracy.
Tensions have grown in recent months between the Turkish government and Gulen's Hizmet movement over plans to close private test preparation centers, including those run by Hizmet.
Hizmet runs schools in more than 100 countries and owns many of the tutoring centers the government is trying to shut down.
Mr. Erdogan told reporters his government is fighting "to make Turkey in the top ten countries of the world [while] some are engaged in an effort to halt our fast growth. There are those abroad...and there are extensions of them within our country."
Source-BBC
Panel Recommends Limits on NSA Spying
A special panel appointed by President Barack Obama has released its report on U.S. surveillance activities. Obama ordered the report and a wider government-wide review earlier this year amid leaks by exiled former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
Leaks by Edward Snowden about NSA eavesdropping programs created a huge problem for the U.S. intelligence community, and for Obama.
Obama has described the programs, approved and modified at various points by Congress and overseen by a special court, as important to keeping Americans safe, but has called for more "self-restraint" by the NSA.
Revelations added significant new layers to what is known about government information gathering, including data on telephone calls and activities on the Internet.
In its 300-page report, the Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies makes 46 recommendations.
One is to end bulk storage of so-called "metadata" of the telephone records of Americans by the government, in favor of storage by private companies or a third party, rather than the NSA.
It also says the government should not "as a general rule" and without "senior policy review, be permitted to collect and store all mass, undigested, non-public personal information about individuals to enable future queries and data-mining for foreign intelligence purposes."
Other recommendations include: requiring a court to approve individual searches of phone and Internet data, and limiting the NSA's emergency authority regarding tracking of known targets of counterterrorism surveillance who enter the United States.
The panel urges a new process to identify "uses and limits of surveillance on foreign leaders and in foreign nations." It says decisions should consider negative effects, and whether other means or targets of collection could reliably reveal needed information.
The review group met with Obama on Wednesday although its report was submitted last week.
Press secretary Jay Carney said the decision to release the report was made because of "inaccurate and incomplete" media reports about its content.
He said Obama will be "very deliberate" in assessing the document during his upcoming holiday vacation and speak to the nation in January, when a separate overall internal U.S. government review is completed.
"The president has made clear that even as we review our efforts and make some changes in how we do things, we will not harm our ability to face those threats; that is his number one obligation as commander-in-chief," he said.
Carney said there is no doubt that the Snowden leaks created an intense focus on the surveillance issue, both in the U.S. and abroad.
The official U.S. position on Snowden remains unchanged, with the White House saying he should return to the U.S. to face felony charges.
The White House disagrees with suggestions that Snowden receive amnesty to prevent him from releasing additional information that could further damage U.S. security and relations with allies.
The Obama administration faced more pressure this week from a federal court ruling that found the bulk collection of data about telephone calls made by Americans is likely unconstitutional.
Obama also faced pressure from high-tech executives who met with him. They are reported to have urged aggressive reforms, and voiced concern about damage to U.S. credibility and business interests abroad.
Interviewed on CBS's 60 Minutes, NSA chief General Keith Alexander denied that the agency is collecting email or monitoring the phone conversations of Americans, saying the NSA's job is foreign intelligence.
He said the NSA can target communications of a U.S. person only with a probable cause finding under a court order. But he voiced concern about any decision to allow phone records to reside with private phone companies.
Source-VOA
UK to airlift Britons from South Sudan amid fighting
The UK has sent an aircraft to South Sudan to evacuate Britons amid fighting following a reported "coup attempt".
The Foreign Office said British nationals in the country should make contact if they wish to leave from Juba airport on Thursday.
There has been fighting this week in the capital Juba, and President Salva Kiir has declared a night-time curfew.
The Foreign Office has temporarily withdrawn some staff and dependants from the British embassy in Juba.
Some commercial flights have resumed at Juba airport.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "To date over 150 British nationals have contacted us, many of whom want help leaving the country."
These included some non-embassy staff, the spokeswoman added.
The Foreign Office said its embassy in Juba remained open although the situation was being reviewed on a "constant basis".
It has advised against all travel to within 40km of South Sudan's northern border with Sudan, Jonglei State and Juba, and all but essential travel to the rest of South Sudan.
President Kiir has accused ex-vice-president Riek Machar of staging the coup - a claim he denies.
The UN called for political dialogue to end a crisis that has left hundreds dead and sparked fears of a civil war.
On Wednesday, Mr Kiir said he was willing to enter into talks with Mr Machar but that he did not know what the result would be.
The United Nations has estimated that up to 500 people have been killed in fighting between rival factions following a coup attempt against the president by soldiers loyal to his former deputy.
Secretary general Ban Ki-moon said that about 20,000 people had taken refuge with the UN in Juba.
Tunisia's Ennahda and opposition 'agree on caretaker PM'
Tunisia's governing Islamist Ennahda party and the opposition have agreed in principle on a new prime minister to lead a caretaker government.
The deal will reportedly be presented to other political parties at national talks later, aimed at ending the political deadlock.
Ennahda agreed to relinquish power in September, following anti-government protests.
A cabinet of independent figures is to supervise new elections.
"We reached an agreement that will be presented tomorrow (Friday)," said Houcine Abassi, leader of the UGTT labour union, which is mediating the talks between Ennahda and the National Salvation Front-led opposition.
No further details were given.
The current political crisis was triggered by the assassinations of two opposition leaders earlier in this year.
The murders of prominent left-wing figure Chokri Belaid in February and opposition politician Mohammed Brahmi in July led to intensified anti-government protests.
Ennahda condemned the killings but the opposition accused it of failing to rein in radical Islamists.
The political wrangling that followed has threatened to disrupt a democratic transition that began after Tunisians threw out their decades-old authoritarian government at the beginning of the 2011 uprisings, widely referred to as the Arab Spring.
Ennahda agreed in September to three weeks of talks, after which it was due to hand power to an independent transition leadership and set a date for parliamentary and presidential elections.
After months of deadlock, negotiations began October 25. But the talks were suspended shortly afterwards with the two sides unable to agree on a future prime minister.
The UGTT then gave political leaders until Saturday to reach a decision.
Before the 2011 ousting of Tunisia's longtime leader, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, the country had been known as one of the most secular in the Arab world.
The opposition has accused Ennahda of being too tolerant of radical Islamists trends.
Source-BBC
NZ defeat Windies by an innings and 73 runs
New Zealand defeated West Indies by an innings and 73 runs on the third day of the second test at the Basin Reserve on Friday.
Scores: New Zealand 441 all out (Taylor 129, Watling 65, Best 4-110, Gabriel 2-86, Sammy 2-92)
West Indies 193 (Samuels 60, Edwards 55, Boult 6-40, Southee 2-58, Anderson 2-20) and 175 (Powell 36, Edwards 35, Chanderpaul 31 not out, Boult 4-40,Southee 3-24, Wagner 2-67)
Source-CMC