Premier Ewing on Official Tour of Turks and Caicos Islands
Premier Hon Rufus Ewing commenced his official tour of the Turks and Caicos Islands Monday January 14, 2013, the first since being elected on November 8, 2012. The tour began on Grand Turk and will end on Salt Cay on Monday January 21, 2013.
During the tour of the islands, Premier Ewing will visit key developments, government sites and departments and host several community meetings.
The first of six planned Town Hall meetings will take place this evening at the Dillon Church Hall, Grand Turk at 6:30pm. On Tuesday January 15, the Town Hall meeting will take place at 7:00pm at the Gustavos Lightbourne Sports Centre, Providenciales.
On Wednesday, January 16, the Premier will visit South Caicos and convene a Town Hall meeting at 7pm at the Regatta Village. The next day, Thursday January 16, Premier Ewing will visit and tour Middle Caicos and host a Town Hall meeting at the Conch Bar Community Centre at 4 pm.
On Friday January 18, and Monday January 21, respectively the Premier will travel to North Caicos and Salt Cay. A Town Hall meeting will be held at the Kew Community Centre, North Caicos at 3pm and on Monday at 11:30am on Salt Cay.
TCIG Promotes Job Estimation Training for Small Contractors
The Ministries of Government Support Services and Border Control and Labour are partnering with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in a bold initiative to promote national skill development among contractors within the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Under the programme, small and petty contractors will be trained in the use of a computerised job estimation tool (CJET) developed by the CDB through its Caribbean Technological Consultancy Services (CTCS) Network. A project coordinator has already been named and an ‘ad hoc’ committee established to advance plans for the workshop. Training is set to start in February 2013.
The CDB's Caribbean CTCS Network has experience in working with Petty, Small and Medium Contractors in the Bank’s Borrowing Member Countries (BMC’s). They have consistently highlighted areas of weaknesses among this group, specifically with respect to their inability to accurately and reliability prepare job estimates ensuring that they are able to manipulate and present their bids; in particular the bill of quantities, in a manner to ensure competitive advantage.
TCIG’s support of the training comes against the need to level the playing field for small contractors who bid for work against larger and more structured business entities which have the capability to employ or hire the services of consultant engineers, quantity surveyors and accountants.
CJET will consequently give Petty, Small and Medium Contractors a better competitive advantage through the use of the simple but effective tool developed by the CTCS. It allows the small contractor to always know his finite cost as he progresses through preparation of each line item in the bill of quantities.
The tool also puts the contractors in position to determine and manipulate the quality of his bid, see the impact of given bid ratio/bid rate on the overall line cost and to anticipate the projected earnings in excess of each line cost. This capability, therefore, allows the contractor to intentionally bid high or low on given line item, while maintaining the option to spread any projected line losses over other items. To date, the CTCS Network has successfully trained over 300 petty, small and medium contractors in ten of Bank’s BMCs.
The Deputy Governor along with the ministers of GSS and BCL have pledged their commitment and support to this event.
More information on the workshop will be communicated in due course and will be posted on the websites at www.labour.tc or www.gov.tc.
Mexico violence 'kills 38 in three days'
A wave of violence in Mexico has left nearly 40 people dead in three days, authorities say.
At least 16 bodies were found in the Toluca region on Monday and another 22 in Mexico City over the weekend.
Police said organised crime is thought to be involved in the Toluca killings.
Recently inaugurated President Enrique Pena Nieto has said that reducing violence in Mexico is one of his government's top priorities.
He has recently enacted a law to trace and help thousands of victims caught up in drug violence and other crimes.
The bill sets up a compensation fund and establishes a national registry to record what happened to victims.
Notes left
Authorities have said the high death toll in Mexico City was "unusual" for the capital, but ruled out the involvement of organised crime.
On average, there are fewer than two violent deaths a day in the city.
In Toluca, however, many of the bodies had been dismembered and showed signs of torture.
Next to some of them, police found notes reportedly left by drug gangs.
President Pena Nieto has promised to reduce violence levels in the country.
His predecessor, Felipe Calderon, launched a war on the powerful drug gangs in December 2006.
Critics say the deployment of the army to fight the cartels has led to an escalation in violence, affecting mostly innocent victims.
Several drug lords have been arrested or killed. But an estimated 70,000 people have died in drug-related violence in the past six years.
BVI enhances tourism product through heritage site project
The Government of the British Virgin Islands has thrusted its support behind a project to stabilise one of the Territory’s most significant heritage sites: the St. Philip’s Anglican Church also known as the Church of the Freed Africans.
This as the Virgin Islands reaffirm its commitment to conserve and promote the island's natural and historical heritage as attractions for visitors and residents alike,
Premier and Minister for Tourism Dr. the Honourable D. Orlando Smith, OBE says part of Government’s tourism strategy is to preserve and restore historical sites on all islands and promote their importance and significance to the Territory.”
The Government through the Premier’s Office has donated $15,000 towards the stabilisation project, which was recently started through efforts by Mrs. Xandra Adamson, member of the local Millennium History Committee and Mr. Jon Osman, resident architect with a keen interest in heritage sites.
The funds donated by Government will cover the rebuilding of the church’s altar; re-enforcement of the church’s support beams; refurbishment of the church’s window cills and the clearing of vegetation in the adjacent cemetery.
Source-BVI-news
Trinidad record five murders on the weekend
The murder toll in Trinidad has jumped to 12 following five murders on the weekend.
The latest victim was discovered by officers of the Inter Agency Task Force yesterday while they were on patrol in the Laventille area.
The man was found in a pool of blood, with gunshot wounds to his head, chest and arm, around 3 am yesterday. He remained unidentified up to press time. The discovery was made by officers who were on patrol at Eastern Quarry, Laventille.
Four murders were recorded in 11 hours on Saturday.
- Around 5 a.m. on Saturday Mark "Teets" Joseph, 26, was shot dead inside his Mahogany Drive apartment at Malabar in Arima.
- Kerron Decarreau, 22, also of Mahogany Drive, was shot standing outside his home a short while after. Police believe Joseph and Decarreau were killed as a reprisal for the murder of Jeremy James, 22, last Thursday.
- In a separate incident, Marvin Harewood, 31, was shot dead outside his Riverside Drive, La Puerta, Diego Martin, home around 5 a.m. on Saturday. Harewood's girlfriend was also shot during the incident.
- The fourth of the victims to be killed in the 11-hour timeframe was 24-year-old Kevin Brown.
Guatemalan mayor Carlos Castillo Medrano shot dead
The mayor of the eastern Guatemalan town of Jutiapa has been shot dead as he waited to have his hair cut at a barber's.
Witnesses say Carlos Enrique Castillo Medrano, 39, was killed by two unidentified men who shot at him six times before escaping on a motorbike.
His death came as President Otto Perez Molina addressed the nation to mark his first year in office and hailed "a historic decline in violence".
Murders were down by some 10%, he said.
"We have had 526 fewer homicides in 2012 than in the previous year," said Mr Perez Molina in his state-of-the-nation address.
According to government figures, there were 5,174 violent deaths in Guatemala in 2012.
The president also highlighted a reduction in other crimes.
"Kidnappings are down by 33% and we have managed to dismantle many criminal organisations," he said.
Brother in jail
In recent years, Guatemala has had one of the highest per capita murder rates in the world, according to the United Nations.
Figures from 2010 indicated a rate of 40 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.
Guatemala has struggled to deal with the violence generated by the drug gangs.
Much of the cocaine and other drugs produced in South America is smuggled through Central America to reach the United States.
Powerful gangs, with ramifications across the region and the United States, are behind much of the crime and are known to co-operate with the big Mexican drug cartels, such as the Zetas.
Mr Castillo Medrano is one of many mayors and local government officials who have been killed, kidnapped or injured in the last few years.
He was an experienced politician, who had served as mayor of a nearby town for three terms before being elected to the same post in Jutiapa in 2011.
The motive for his killing is unclear.
His brother, former congressman Manuel de Jesus Castillo Medrano, is serving a jail sentence for the murder of three politicians from neighbouring El Salvador.
--BBC
Grenadians will go to the polls next month
Grenadians will head to the polls on Tuesday February 19th 2013.
The date has just been announced by Prime Minister Hon Tillman Thomas as he addressed supporters at a rally, hosted by the New Democratic Congress (NDC).
The Prime Minister did not announce a nomination date.
Both parties contesting the general elections are at this time holding separate rallies and both have attracted thousands of supporters.
Meantime.....
The two parties have voiced their concern about the voters registration list, noting that thousands of names are missing.
The National Democratic Congress and New National Party say names that appeared on a list in September are missing from the newest list.
NNP's Gregory Bowen during a rally tonight again made mention of the more than 1,200 names alone were removed from a constituency in the capital of St. George's.
Golden Globes: Ben Affleck's Argo scoops two awards
Ben Affleck has won best director for his film Argo at the Golden Globe awards.
Argo, set amidst the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, also won best drama.
Best actor in a drama went to Daniel Day-Lewis for his role in the biopic Lincoln, while Jessica Chastain won best actress in a drama for Zero Dark Thirty.
Earlier, British singer Adele won best song for the theme to the James Bond film Skyfall.
Collecting her trophy, she said: "Honestly, I've come out for a night out with my friend Ida - we're new mums - I have literally come for a night out. I was not expecting this."The Golden Globes gives a separate accolade for best film musical or comedy, which was won by Tom Hooper's film of stage hit Les Miserables - the only British film to win an award.
It won three in total, with actress Anne Hathaway winning best supporting actress for her portrayal of Fantine in the film.
"Thank you for this lovely blunt object that I will forevermore use as a weapon against self-doubt," she said as she collected her trophy.
The film's lead Hugh Jackman won best actor in a musical or comedy.
Eric Fellner, producer of Les Miserables and co-chairman of Working Title Film, said: "Making this film was an incredibly risky proposition.
"But so much passion and love was put into the making of it and that's what seems to have won out."Dame Maggie Smith won best supporting actress in a series for her role in Downton Abbey.
Homeland took best TV drama, with Damian Lewis winning best TV actor for his role in the series.
Quentin Tarantino, accepting the best screenplay award for his film Django Unchained, said: "This is a damn surprise, and I'm happy to be surprised."
Christoph Waltz took best supporting actor for his role in the film.
But the western lost out to Argo in the best drama category along with Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, Life of Pi, Ang Lee's adaption of the Yann Martel novel, and Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow's film about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden.
Amour, directed by Austria's Michael Haneke, won best foreign film.
In the drama actor category, Day-Lewis was shortlisted alongside fellow Oscar candidates Denzel Washington and Joaquin Phoenix.
Silver Linings Playbook star Bradley Cooper was also nominated for the award, with both men also nominated in the best actor category at the Oscars.
The best actress in a musical or comedy category was won by Cooper's co-star in Silver Linings Playbook, Jennifer Lawrence.
Accepting her award, Lawrence thanked producer Harvey Weinstein for "killing whoever you had to kill to get me up here"The ceremony was also visited by former President Bill Clinton, who praised historical drama Lincoln.
"President Lincoln's struggle to abolish slavery reminds us that enduring progress is forged in a cauldron of both principle and compromise," he said. "This brilliant film shows us how he did it and gives us hope that we can do it again."
The ceremony's co-host Amy Poehler, said after Clinton left the stage, "Wow, what an exciting special guest! That was Hillary Clinton's husband!"
Comedy actresses Poehler and 30 Rock star Tina Fey took over presenter duties from Britain's Ricky Gervais, who had hosted the ceremony for the last three years.
The pair were both nominated for the best TV comedy actress prize for their work in 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation respectively.
"Tina, I just want to say that I very much hope that I win," said Poehler, as the ceremony beganHowever, they were both pipped by Lena Dunham, creator and star of sitcom Girls, which also won best comedy TV series.
Assisting Poehler and Fey on stage were Mr and Miss Golden Globes, the recipients of honorary titles that are traditionally awarded annually to the children of celebrities with their own ambitions in the industry.
Sam Michael Fox, son of Michael J Fox, and Clint Eastwood's daughter Francesca were the two scions selected this year by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HPFA), organisers of the awards.
Two-time Oscar winner, Jodie Foster, who has also won two Globes from seven nominations, received the Cecil B DeMille Award for lifetime achievement.
She used her thank-you speech to make an impassioned plea for privacy.
"If you had been a public figure from the time that you were a toddler, if you'd had to fight for a life that felt real and honest and normal against all odds, then maybe you too might value privacy above all else. Privacy. Some day, in the future, people will look back and remember how beautiful it once was."
The Silence Of The Lambs star also addressed her sexuality for the first time in public, saying she had come out to "trusted friends and family", then "gradually, proudly" to everyone she met.
"But now I'm told, apparently that every celebrity is expected to honour the details of their private life with a press conference, a fragrance and a prime-time reality show."
The 50-year-old went on to thank her former partner Cydney Bernard, her two sons and her mother Evelyn, before pledging to keep making films.
"Here's to the next 50 years."
The ceremony was shown live in the US on the NBC network, with edited highlights to follow in the UK on the 5USA channel.
BBC
Crime novelist Patricia Cornwell sues finance firm
Author Patricia Cornwell has sued her former financial firm for $100m (£62m).
The writer, best known for crime novels featuring medical investigator Dr Kay Scarpetta, has accused the firm of negligence and breach of contract.
She said she fired the firm in 2009, after discovering her fortune had shrunk to under $13m (£8m)— the equivalent of one year's net income.
On trial in Boston, defence lawyers portrayed Cornwell as a big spender, who wasted money on a lavish lifestyle.
Cornwell's case has been brought against Anchin, Block and Anchin, a New York firm that handles accounts and wealth management, as well as Evan Snapper, a former principal in the firm.
She alleged that Anchin borrowed several million dollars from her fortune, including mortgages for property and a loan for the purchase of a helicopter. The firm also lost millions by moving her money into a high-risk investment portfolio without her permission, it has been alleged.
The multi-million-selling writer also claimed to have found cheques written for expenses she had not authorized, including one for a $5,000 (£3,100) gift to Evan Snapper's daughter.
When the case was first filed in 2009, Snapper pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws by buying $50,000 (£31,100) in tickets to an Elton John concert benefiting Hillary Clinton, using Cornwell's money. He paid a fine.
However, lawyers for Snapper and Anchin argued that their clients were not to blame for the depletion of Cornwell's fortune, and that the fees they charged were reasonable.
They suggested Cornwell and her spouse Staci Gruber, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, were spendthrifts who made frequent impulse purchases.
Among their expenses were a $40,000-a-month (£25,000) apartment in Trump Tower in New York, a $5m (£3.1m) private jet service, and $11 million (£6.7m) to buy properties in Concord, Massachusetts.
"Where did the money go? Ms Cornwell and Dr Gruber spent the money," said defence lawyer James Campbell.
"You have to consider the large lifestyles involved, the spending habits, impulsive buying."
During his opening statement, Mr Campbell described Cornwell as "a demanding client" who "tends to push off responsibility and assign blame when things go off track".
Cornwell, who is notoriously private, is expected to appear at the trial, which is entering its second week.
She suffers from bipolar disorder, she revealed in court papers relating to the case, and this was one of the reasons she employed an outside firm to handle her business affairs and investments.
"This case is, at its core, about trust," her lawyer, Joan Lukey, told the jury at Boston Federal Court.
"There is no amount of money that is enough to properly compensate her for what Anchin, Block and Anchin did."
Bin Laden drama Zero Dark Thirty tops US box office chart
Zero Dark Thirty was the top draw in the US and Canada this weekend, taking an estimated $24m (£14.8m) in its first three days on wide release.
Kathryn Bigelow's film about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, which had a limited cinema run last month, was last week nominated for five Academy Awards.
Its leading lady, Jessica Chastain, was crowned best actress in a drama at the Golden Globes on Sunday.
The fact-based film opens in the UK and Ireland on 25 January.
Bigelow's follow-up to her Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker has been the subject of much controversy in the US, with critics attacking its depiction of aggressive interrogation methods.
Yet that did not impede its performance at the North American box office, which was considerably stronger than that of two other new releases.
A Haunted House, a horror parody starring Marlon Wayans, opened in second place with a three-day tally of $18.8m (£11.6m), according to studio estimates.
Crime caper Gangster Squad, meanwhile, could only manage a third-place finish with a less-than-expected $16.7m (£10.3) haul.
The rest of this week's Top 10 is dominated by such awards hopefuls as Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook.
Overall business this weekend came in at $142m (£88m), up more than 7% on the same period last year.