Some US Nuclear Commanders Face Investigations
The U.S. military has fired a general and an admiral from key leadership roles in nuclear forces for alleged personal misconduct.
The Air Force Friday removed Michael Carey, a two-star general, from his command of the 20th Air Force, which includes hundreds of land-based nuclear missiles.
Officials gave few details about the case, but said the dismissal was not "operations-related."
Also this past week, Tim Giardina, a three-star admiral, lost his job as deputy commander of all U.S. nuclear missiles, bombers and submarines. He is under investigation over allegations he used counterfeit poker chips at a casino.
Giardina is a career submarine officer who previously commanded a squadron of submarines that can launch missiles from underwater to hit distant targets.
Mali Riverboat Capsizes, Leaves 20 Dead, Scores Missing
Authorities in Mali say an overcrowded boat carrying hundreds of passengers and goods sank late Friday on the Niger River, leaving at least 20 people dead and about 170 others unaccounted for hours later.
Officials say the boat was traveling northward from Mopti toward the city of Timbuktu when it sank near the town of Konna with an estimated 400 passengers and crew on board. Search efforts were continuing late Saturday.
The Associated Press quotes a Bamako resident and father of a 7-year-old girl who drowned as saying many of the passengers were children returning to northern Mali for the start of the school year. Others were traveling to visit relatives ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Adha, which begins Monday evening.
Large boats carrying hundreds of passengers and cargo routinely ply the Niger river and other key West and Central African waterways. Safety regulations are lax and accidents are common.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
Karzai, Kerry Closer to Agreement on Troops
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Afghan President Hamid Karzai say they are closer to an agreement on bilateral security but differences remain over the question of immunity for U.S. troops.
The two officials commented in Kabul late Saturday, following extended talks on a possible U.S. presence in Afghanistan after the NATO-led military mission ends next year.
President Karzai said the question of which country had jurisdiction over any crimes committed by U.S. forces after 2014 would have to be resolved by the Afghan parliament and an assembly of elders.
Kerry said the U.S. could prosecute any wrongdoing by American forces.
The U.S. has been pushing for an agreement with Afghanistan by the end of this month.
The talks between Washington and Kabul have been in progress for over a year.
However, they have repeatedly stalled on issues of Afghan sovereignty, the expected role of U.S. forces, and Mr. Karzai's demand for American guarantees against future foreign intervention. If there is no agreement, U.S. forces will leave by the end of 2014.
In another development, U.S. officials announced the capture of senior Pakistani Taliban commander Latif Mehsud.
Word of his capture came as Kerry met with Mr. Karzai on Friday.
A U.S. State Department spokeswoman said Mehsud was captured in eastern Afghanistan.
The spokeswoman said Mehsud's group had claimed responsibility for attacks that include an attempted bombing in New York's Times Square in 2010.
A Powerful Cyclone Hits India
A powerful cyclone has made landfall along India's east coast with winds of over 200 kilometers-per-hour.
Cyclone Phailin came ashore late Saturday in Orissa state, near the border of Andhra Pradesh state.
Weather forecasters predict the storm's winds will continue to be severe through Sunday morning.
Officials blamed the storm's winds for at least three deaths before it moved ashore. The high winds have also uprooted trees, downed power lines and damaged coastal homes.
In a Saturday briefing, Disaster Management Commissioner T. Radha said huts and older buildings in the storm's path could not withstand its wind speed. He also said low-lying areas would likely be submerged.
Indian authorities evacuated nearly a half-million people as they prepared for the cyclone, forecast to be one of the country's most powerful storms on record.
On Friday, the United Nations and European Union's Global Disaster Alert System warned that 6.5 million people are likely to face torrential rains and damaging winds.
Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal are common this time of year, frequently wreaking havoc and causing mass deaths in coastal India and Bangladesh. A cyclone hit Orissa state in 1999, killing at least 10,000 people.
Some weather predictors have likened Phailin's size and intensity to Hurricane Katrina, which tore through the U.S. Gulf Coast and New Orleans in 2005, killing more than 1,000 people.
Macka Diamond injured in Martinique car crash
Deejay Macka Diamond and her personal assistant Leesah Larmond sustained minor injuries Friday evening in a motor accident on the French Caribbean island of Martinique.
Macka Diamond (given name Charmaine Munroe) suffered an injured right shoulder. Larmond sustained injuries to the neck and foot.
Both were treated at hospital and released.
The two were driving to the airport in the Martinique capital of Fort-de-France when the accident occurred. Macka Diamond had performed there the previous evening.
Best known for the songs Bun Him and Dye Dye, Macka Diamond is scheduled to perform in Suriname Sunday evening.
Short Term Revenue Measures by Ministry of Finance
Based on consultation with various stakeholders and recommendations from the Blue Ribbon Commission the Turks and Caicos Government has decided to deferred/withdraw proposals for the introduction of some revenue measures included in the 2013/14 budget statement.
Amendments in three existing revenue heads have been made to compensate for loss revenue as a result of the decision. Please see the attached documents
Mega Yacht White Cloud Captain Found Guilty
On Monday, October 7, the Captain of the mega yacht White Cloud, Benjamin Craig Cameron, was found guilty on three counts related to coral reef damages in the Magistrates Court on Providenciales resulting from damages to the reef in the Northwest Point National Park.
The charges included the following:
1. Violation of National Parks Ordinance Regulation 3(1)(e), which prohibits anchor damage to reef structures and associated marine life;
2. Violation of Fisheries Protection Ordinance Regulation 9(h), which prohibits breaking or causing damage to any coral reef or marine plant within the fishery limits of the Islands; and
3. Violation of Fisheries Protection Ordinance Regulation 10(1), which prohibits disturbance of coral, sand, rock and other substances forming part of the sea bed.
Captain Craig-Cameron was found not guilty on the charge of anchoring a vessel greater than 60 feet in length other than in an anchoring zone (National Parks Ordinance Regulation 3(1)(f). He was also ordered to pay a $30,000 fine within 90 days.
On April 1, 2013, DEMA responded to reports from dive operators that the anchor and chain of the mega yacht White Cloud was causing extensive damage to coral reef within the Northwest Point National Park, at a dive site known as “Boo’s Garden.” Quantitative damage assessments later confirmed that the coral injury was among the most catastrophic in TCI’s history.
Commenting on the verdict DEMA Director Kathleen Wood noted, “DEMA is very satisfied with this outcome, and we are pleased that justice has been served in this case. We want to thank all of the dive operators who responded at the scene and testified in Court. Their dedication and commitment to the preservation of TCI’s fragile marine ecosystem is both humbling and inspiring. DEMA and the entire TCI community are indebted to them”.
In a demonstration of good faith, the White Cloud’s insurer AIG has contributed approximately $150,000 to the Turks and Caicos Reef Fund’s large vessel and dive boat mooring initiatives. Negotiations towards a damage settlement between TCIG and AIG are on-going.
DEMA Sets Conch Quota for 2013-2014 Season
The Department of Environment and Marine Affairs (DEMA) today Friday October 11, 2013 announced the conch quota for the 2013/2014 season.
In preparation for the upcoming opening of the queen conch (Strombus gigas) fishing season on 15 October, the Department met with the CITES Scientific Authority Committee (SAC), Fisheries Advisory Committee (FAC) and industry stakeholders in order to determine a quota that will allow for the sustainable harvest of queen conch this season, while simultaneously supporting fishing livelihoods.
The department noted that queen conch stocks have been in decline in TCI since the passing of hurricanes Ike and Hannah in 2008. As a result, DEMA will undertake a TCIG-approved project to conduct a Conch Visual Survey (CVS), which will help DEMA to determine current stock characteristics and to estimate a total allowable catch (TAC) that can be sustainably harvested. DEMA has begun preliminary work on the CVS, assisted by international expert Dr. Paul Medley; however, results from the CVS will not be available until next year.
The 2012-2013 catch for queen conch showed some improvement over the previous year’s catch; however, improvements were not significant enough to merit increasing the quota at this time. Therefore, the quota for 2013-2014 will remain as follows:
500,000 lbs. for export
320,000 lbs. for local consumption
1,000,000 shells for export
Missing Teen Safe at Home
The 14 year old child reported missing on September 27th 2013 is safe at home after returning home to her parents.
Officers of the Royal Turks & Caicos Islands Police Force and the department of Social Services are conducting further investigations into the matter in which 14 year old Melene Jean Louis ran away from her home.
Last night (Thursday, October 10th 2013) at approximately 9PM, the missing teen returned to her home in Kingston Lower Bight area of Providenciales.
The RTCIPF is thanking members of the public for any assistance that they may have given in the search for the missing teen and ask the public not to harbor any minors in their homes.
Police and Social Services are conducting further investigations into this matter.
LIME introduces MyPlans
LIME is transforming the telecommunications industry again, with the launch of My Plan, a game-changing mobile offering that gives customers the opportunity to sign up for a flexible post paid plan that includes voice, text messages and data, and also gives them the option to customize the plan with bolt-ons.
With MyPlan, post paid mobile customers can sign up for the core plan that provides a combination of voice, text messages and data for one low monthly fee. Customers can then add additional voice, text and data bundles to suit their needs and lifestyle. They can choose the add-ons individually or collectively, and they can also change the package combination monthly.
My Plan also offers a major game changer as unused data will be rolled over into the following month. If a customer has not consumed the full data allocation, the extra amount will be available at the start of the new subscription period. This is unprecedented, not just with LIME, but in telecommunications in the Caribbean. With a slew of exciting and affordable products, LIME is poised to serve the needs of the regional market like no other company possibly can.
In addition, when customers sign up for a 24 month MyPlan contract, they will receive a Samsung Pocket S5310L absolutely free.
Customers who already own a handset but do not wish to commit to a long-term contract can sign up for a rolling one-month plan, which allows them to enjoy the same value and benefits available with the MyPlan long-term plans.
MyPlan also allows customers to share their plans with friends and family. For a low monthly fee you can add extra people to your account and all the users share the core bundles and the bolt-ons.
The minutes in the MyPlan packages can be used for calls to any LIME mobile and landline network locally and regionally, to other local operators (landline and mobile) as well as to the USA, Canada, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands (USVI) and to UK landlines only. The text component can be used for local, regional and international text messages.
LIME’s Acting General Manager Lacal Palmer said the company understands that telecommunications in the Turks & Caicos Islands and the wider Caribbean is constantly evolving, hence the reason for the new enhancement of its mobile offerings.
“LIME is changing the way customers think about mobile calling. Our introduction of MyPlan makes mobile calling more affordable than ever,” said Lacal. “With this ground breaking new offer, we are giving customers the freedom and the flexibility to communicate any way they like by choosing only the services they need and can afford, and they still enjoy the same great value. If they don’t need minutes and have a greater need for data, they don’t have to buy minutes, they can simply buy a data bolt-on. There are no hidden costs or additional charges. You only pay for what you need. “This puts customers in control of their spend while offering them the added convenience of making adjustments to their plans at any time during the course of the contract. Moreover, with a rolling one-month contract, customers get the same great value without committing to a long term plan.
All these fantastic benefits coupled with our offer of a free Samsung Pocket S5310L for customers signing up for a 24-month plan, means you will always be better off with LIME!” Lacal added.