Car Bomb Toll at Least 42 -Syrian Activists
Syrian rights activists say the death toll from a suicide car bombing in the central province of Hama late Monday has risen to at least 42 people.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack targeted a building used by pro-government militiamen in the town of Salamiyah. It said civilians were among the dead.
Syrian state news agency SANA gave a death toll of 32 people and blamed the bombing on terrorists whom it says are behind a 22-month rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad.
The Observatory also reported deadly battles between mostly Sunni anti-government rebels and minority Kurdish fighters in the northeastern town of Ras al-Ain, on the border with Turkey.
It said at least 56 fighters have been killed in a week of fighting in the area. Syria's minority Kurds have largely remained on the sidelines of the majority-Sunni led rebellion, but have long sought greater autonomy from Damascus.
The Observatory said pro-Assad troops and rebels engaged in more battles in Damascus province on Tuesday.
Dozens of Russians boarded buses from Syria to neighboring Lebanon in the first evacuation organized by Moscow since the start of the Syrian uprising in 2011.
The Russian government had sent two planes to the Lebanese capital Beirut to fly the Russians back home. Syria's main international airport outside Damascus has been largely devoid of traffic in recent weeks due to fighting along the road to the capital.
Russia is one of the few remaining international allies of Mr. Assad's government. But, it has been distancing itself from the Syrian leader, acknowledging that he may be ousted by the uprising.
Separately, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on U.N. members to send senior delegations to an international donor conference for Syria, to be held in Kuwait on January 30. He said the international community must do everything it can to help Syrians in need.
The UNHCR reported Tuesday that it is dramatically scaling up its operations for Syrian refugees. The agency says it is hard to keep pace with the increasing numbers of people fleeing Syria into neighboring countries.
Japan Moves to Stimulate Its Stalled Economy
Japan's central bank is embarking on an American-like plan to stimulate the country's stalled economy by pumping more money into it.
The Bank of Japan, under pressure from the new government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, agreed Tuesday to double its inflation target to 2 percent and stimulate the world's third largest economy for an indefinite period through asset purchases. The economic boost is similar to that undertaken in recent years by the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve.
Japan's economy has been long stalled, restrained by deflation, with falling prices. Mr. Abe said the new policy marked a significant change.
“In terms of making a bold review of monetary policy, I believe (the agreement with the bank) is a ground-breaking statement. A macroeconomic regime change clearly is under way.”
A governor for the Bank of Japan, Masaaki Shirakawa, is optimistic that the stimulus will boost the country's economy.
“They (the government) have again pledged to take concrete steps towards a sustainable fiscal structure. We have high expectations for the government's measures.”
Car Bombs Kill 16 in Iraq Tuesday
A wave of car bombings in and around the Iraqi capital has killed at least 16 people.
The blasts Tuesday included an attack near an army base in Taji, 25 kilometers north of Baghdad, which killed six people and wounded at least 20 others.
Another car bomb killed five people, including two soldiers, near a security checkpoint in Mahmudiyah, south of the capital.
A third attack hit Baghdad's Shula neighborhood, killing five others.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings.
Last week, a string of attacks across the country killed at least 59 people.
Earthquake shakes Antigua
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An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.8 was felt in Antigua and Barbuda and the French island of Martinique Saturday night, but there were no immediate reports of injury of destruction.
The US-based National Earthquake Information Centre said that the quake occurred at 7.50 pm (local time) and had a depth of 20 kilometres. It was located 17.42 north, 62.01 west.
Residents in Antigua and Barbuda said the tremor lasted more than a minute.
Late last month, Antigua and Barbuda and several other countries in the Leeward Islands were rocked by a quake with a magnitude of 5.1 and Saturday night’s earthquake is the latest in a series of tremors that have occurring in several Caribbean countries in recent months.
Earlier this month Trinidad and Tobago was shaken by a quake with a magnitude of 3.7 as officials warn residents of the oil rich twin-island country to be prepared for a major earthquake.
David Cameron warns the TCI & overseas territories about tax
Prime Minister David Cameron has urged the Turks & Caicos Islands & British overseas territories to "get their house in order" and sign up to international treaties on tax.
He wrote to the10 territories and crown dependencies, including the Cayman Islands and the Isle of Man, which operates low-tax regimes.
Some critics claim companies hiding their profits for tax avoidance or evasion use such places.
The plea comes ahead of the G8 summit in June, when the UK is expected to push for tighter tax measures.
In Mr Cameron’s letter, "With one month to go, this is the crucial moment to get our own houses in order,".
"I respect your right to be lower tax jurisdictions... but lower taxes are only sustainable if what is owed is actually paid."
Apart form the Turks & Caicos, the other 9 territories that received the letter were Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Anguilla, Montserrat, Jersey, Guern-sey and the Isle of Man.
Some have been described by the UK government as having "complex tax arrangements".
Mr Cameron urged them to sign international protocols designed to allow tax information to be shared more easily between countries, and also to take measures to improve their own transparency.
"Put simply, that means we need to know who really owns and controls each and every company," he said.
Tax avoidance, where companies operate within the rules to avoid paying taxes, and tax evasion, which is outside the law, have risen high on the political agenda in recent months.
High-profile companies like Google, Amazon and Starbucks have faced criticism in the UK for the low levels of tax, they appear to pay compared with the size of their businesses.
On Sunday, Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt defended the company's tax affairs.
He said the search engine giant "has always aspired to do the right thing", but added that "international tax law could almost certainly benefit from reform".
Two Americans released
The Royal Turk & Caicos Islands have decided not to prosecute the two Americans accused of having one bullet each in their luggage at the Providenciales International airport.
Director of Public Prosecutions JoAnn Meloche says police decided to discontinue criminal proceedings after a "thorough investigation" into the incidents. The decision was announced in a statement Friday to RTC News.
The two Americans were arrested and jailed separately after a single bullet each was found in their luggage on subsequent days in April. Both 60-year-old Cathy Davis of Dallas and 80-year-old Horace Norrell of Sarasota, Florida, denied knowing anything about the bullets. They both drew support from members of the U.S. Senate and the tourism officials here in the Turks and Caicos.
THE FORCE VISITS TCI
Over the next three months, four marine scientists from Newcastle University, will be conducting research into the coral reefs of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Dr. Pia Schuchert, Sarah Young, Katharine Hart and Georgina Beresford are from FORCE. Future of Reefs in a Changing Environment. (FORCE),
The team has made substantial efforts to tackle a number of these issues. The FORCE project carried out extensive field studies in four Caribbean countries: Barbados, Honduras, St. Kitts and Nevis and Belize. A new project, Future of Reefs (FOR), will be extending the project to three additional Caribbean countries. Following four months in Anguilla, the team has recently arrived in the Turks and Caicos Islands, after which they will work in the Cayman Islands.
The team will be based in the Turks and Caicos Islands, and hope to have the opportunity to interview many residents. According to Force, they are interested in hearing local knowledge and perceptions of the reefs around the Turks and Caicos Islands, including their different uses and how they are managed.
The first two months of research will be spent in Providenciales, and the team will move to Grand Turk for the third month.
Community meetings will be held in the Bight and Turtle Cove at 5pm today Monday May 20th in the National Environmental Centre, and in Five Cays on Thursday May 23rd at 5pm.
The team will give an overview of the project, run workshops exploring past changes in the marine environment and help participants create their own use of maps of the area.
Crime & Incident Reports for May 16,2013
The Royal Turks & Caicos Police are investigating a Burglary, which was reported on Thursday May 16, 2013 at 11:40AM. An owner of a Beauty Salon in Residence Yard in Five Cays reported that the establishment was secured at 10PM on Wednesday May 15th, 2013 and upon returning at 9AM the next day, it was discovered it was broken into. Missing are a quantity of fashion jewelry, women watches, one (1) black TV box, one (1) TV and one (1) black RCA radio. The Criminal Investigation Department is carrying out further investigations into this incident.
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The Royal Turks & Caicos Police is investigating an Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm incident, which occurred on Reese Street in Five Cays. A female told officers that she was at her workplace when an unknown female who was throwing stones at her, assaulted her.
Responding officers later arrested a 44-year-old female in Five Cays area in connection with this report.
The complainant was taken to the Cheshire Hall Medical Center where she was examined and treated for a non-life threatening injury. This incident was reported on Thursday May 16, 2013.
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The Police are also investigating a residential Burglary, which was reported on Thursday May 16th, 2013.
It has been determined that the burglary occurred between 11:45AM & 4:00 pm on Thursday May 16th, 2013.
Upon investigation Police found several rooms ransacked, the resident of the property noted one (1) black Samsung 32 inch television, one (1) X-Box game, one (1) HP 17inches laptop and three Dominican passports missing.
The Criminal Investigation Department is carrying out further investigations into this incident.
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The CID Team are also investigating a Burglary at a business in Five Cays, which was reported in the early hours of Friday May 17th, 2013.
According to management, The business was secured in the early evening hours of Thursday May 16th, 2013 and was discovered broken into early on Thursday. The business was ransacked and checks are underway to determine what is missing. Investigations are ongoing.
Tributes to OJ Lewis from PABA
The PABA will resume action tonight at the Gus Lightbourne Sports Complex in Providenciales.
It wont be your typical PABA game as there are emotions hovering over the members of both teams.
TRIBUTEs will be paid tonight to OJ LEWIS #21 of the Five Cays Flyers who passed away just under a week!!
Mr. Lewis was a member of the PABA family. He was a part of the fiver Cays flyers better known as FLYERNATION!! His jovial and friendly personality will surely be missed. The PABA executive members, players and fans send their condolences to the family of OJ and please know, that you are in our Prayers.
President of the PABA, Mr Glasgow President said:
‘All games for the rest of this season will be played in honor of our dear player OJ Lewis.’
St.Monica’s beats Methodist
In the softball games held last night at the National Stadium, St. Monica's went all out for the first major win defeating Methodist church 15-8 in game 1.
Following that game our sports correspondent spoke with one of the players from St. Monica's: 'It was just another great night to play ball and that's what we did.'
In game 2, Prophecy Church won 7 to 5 over Jericho Baptist.
Games will continue on Monday at 6:30pm with Paradise taking on Bethany and St Monica's VS Prophecy.
Top spots in the softball church league is Prophecy 1, Bethany 2 & Jericho is no 3.