Three Die in Italy Floods
Heavy rainfall and flooding has left at least three people dead in central Italy.
Authorities say three power utility workers died when their car fell off a collapsed bridge in Tuscany late Monday.
Thousands of people lost power as towns were cut off by rising waters that washed out roads, flooded homes and disrupted train service to and from the region.
The floods have also affected parts of northern Italy, including the tourist city of Venice, which saw some of the worst flooding on record.
Water levels in the city are now receding.
H.E Governor Todd Swears in New Premier & Cabinet
His Excellency Governor Ric Todd swore in Dr Rufus Ewing of the Progressive National Party (PNP) as the new Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) today, Tue, 13 Nov 2012.
This ceremony took place at the Governor's Office in Grand Turk following the PNP's victory in the TCI general election which took place on Fri, 9 Nov 2012.
The PNP won eight seats in the House of Assembly, with People's Democratic Movement (PDM) seven.
Following his swearing in, Premier Ewing will now advise the Governor of his intended Ministers.
Once advised, His Excellency intends to swear in the new Ministers at his residence in Waterloo, Grand Turk, at 9.00am on Wed, 14 Nov.
This will be ahead of their first Cabinet Meeting, which is chaired by the Governor, at 10.00am tomorrow in the NJS Francis Assembly Building also in Grand Turk. The other members of the Cabinet include the Deputy Governor, Anya Williams, and Attorney General Huw Shepheard.
One of the first agenda points will be to decide when the TCI House of Assembly will be recalled. This is expected to be w/c 26 Nov, but this is for Cabinet to decide.
"As I have said throughout the election process, this marks the beginning of a new Chapter in the history of the TCI," said Governor Todd.
"It is a real honour and privilege to swear in a Premier. I look forward to working with Premier Ewing and his Ministerial team to continue the ongoing effort to make the TCI a more open, accountable and better managed society. We have much to do and we both look forward to jointly facing our challenges."
Police Incidents and updates
On Saturday 10 November 2012 , members of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Street Crime Unit conducted a stop and search on a vehicle with two occupants - 15 year old and 40 year old males. During the search both males were found in possession of 463.0 grams each of suspected Cannabis.
The 15year old male was charged for possession of controlled drugs and possession of controlled drugs with intent to supply.
The 40 year old male was charged for possession of controlled drugs, possession of controlled drugs with intent to supply, resisting and obstruction.
Both subjects were taken to the court on today’s date where they plead not guilty. Matter is adjourned until the Thursday 11 April 2013.
Also, a 27 year old male of Five Cays was arrested by Traffic Officers on a Commitment warrant for (2) counts of unlicensed vehicle as well as a bench warrant for the offences of unlicensed driving and using motor vehicle without insurance.
Meanwhile, a 52 year old male, Ruben Missick, was arrested by Traffic Officers on a Commitment Warrant for two (2) counts of Dangerous Operation of a Motor Vehicle and was subsequently taken before the Magistrate where he plead guilty and sentence to twenty (21) days Imprisonment.
Governor Election statement
Following the recount of the ballots that resulted in the PNP winning 8 to 7,His Excellency Governor Ric Todd said: “Now that we have the results of the elections, I would like to add my congratulations to those expressed by Minister Mark Simmonds," said Governor Ric Todd. “Both the election and the result are indeed the start of a new chapter in the history of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI).” “I very much look forward to swearing in Premier Elect Ewing later this morning, and then his team of Ministers on Wednesday. As Chair of the Cabinet, I will convene the first session tomorroe and one of the agenda items will be to make the arrangement for recalling the House of Assembly. I hope that this can take place the following week. This is for Cabinet to decide. “Reflecting on the election and its campaign, I would like to extend my gratitude to the parties and candidates for conducting it in such a calm and orderly fashion. “The turnout was quite remarkable and demonstrates the significance of these historic events to the people of these Islands. The patience, fortitude and good humour of the TCI electorate through the clearly lengthy voting process was inspirational. “A special word of thanks, however, must go to the Elections Office and their staff at the 17 polling stations across the Turks and Caicos Islands. They worked unstintingly on Friday through Saturday, and some of them again today at the All Island recount. Their dedication and professionalism to ensuring the proper execution of this election in keeping with our laws was quite simply a fantastic effort. I would like to personally thank them all for making this election so successful. “Finally, I would like to pledge my ongoing dedication to working jointly with the new Premier, Cabinet and Legislative Assembly Members In the interest of the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands.”
Election Observer's makes statement
The 9 November elections in the Turks and Caicos Islands were an important step in returning to democratically
elected government. The voters had a genuine choice from amongst candidates. The process was transparent, accountable and the results reflect the will of the people.
The observer mission was impressed by the clear commitment to the democratic process shown by the citizens of Turks and Caicos, their level of participation in the elections and the manner in which voters conducted themselves notwithstanding the long lines requiring them to wait many hours to exercise their right to vote.
– I want to add a warm message of congratulation to the citizens and point out that in my 40 years in public life, I have yet to see an equal level of commitment to participating in the parliamentary electoral process – said the Head of Mission Hon. Joe Bossano MP (Gibraltar).
Voting took place in an orderly manner despite organisational shortcomings.
During the course of voting, observers visited all 17 polling stations (some of them several times) and evaluated the process as good or very good in the majority of cases. There were examples of polling stations where the process was very well organised. No one was observed voting more than once, and no incidents were noted of anyone trying to inappropriately influence voters who to vote for.
Procedural steps were generally followed – voters’ fingers were inked and identification documents checked in nearly all cases. Notwithstanding efforts and professionalism of election officials, time-consuming voting procedures resulted in long lines in most polling stations visited.
The counting of votes was conducted in a largely transparent manner in presence of candidates, party agents and observers. While there was a degree of variation of counting procedures adopted by election officials, votes were counted accurately and results reported without delays.
The announcement of preliminary results of all-country votes led to one of the candidates requesting the recount, as was his right. This inevitably delayed the process before the elected parliament can begin in effect.
This statement is released before the tabulation and announcement of results as well as the complaints and appeals process. The observation of the elections have been done in a spirit of constructive criticism looking at areas that might in future be organized differently and specifically fewer, shorter lines and delays. The preliminary report with key recommendations will be issued after the recount of
votes and it will be followed by a final report that will go into greater detail and will include more recommendations for possible improvements in the electoral process.
2012 Election Results: The Story behind the numbers.
GSS Updates Residents on Grand Turk Water Supply System
The Ministry of Government Support Services (GSS) Water Undertaking has how completed several projects that is expected to improve the water supply on Grand Turk. Last week a project to improve the level of service to Breezy Brae, The Ridge and North Creek was completed and the pipeline is being pressurized in improve the supply. Water Undertaking is therefore we urging customers to check all valves and internal plumbing to avoid wastage of water. This practice will help to accelerate the pipeline pressurization process.
It is expected that by November 16, 2012 working pressure will be reached in the Breezy Brae area, and The Ridge and North Creek by November 30, 2012
As a further streamlining measure, the Central Issue Point in Back Salina will be re-commissioned by December 10, 2012. This facility is being put back in service to better serve customers purchasing water in bulk, small users at the North Issue Point and improve the congestion of traffic on Hospital Road.
GSS has also undertaken to keep the Grand Turk Hospital supplied with water after the failure of the institution’s Reverse Osmosis plant. A pipeline has been constructed and commissioned into service to keep the facility supplied with water.
Britain Releases Radical Cleric on Bail
British authorities have released radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada from prison on bail, a day after he won his appeal against deportation to Jordan to face terrorism charges.
Qatada was transported Tuesday from a high-security prison in central Britain to his family home in London. A few protesters had gathered near his home, calling for continued efforts to deport him. Qatada, described by British officials as the top European deputy to former al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, has been detained in Britain for most of the past decade under Britain's anti-terrorism laws.
Qatada will be allowed to live at home, but he will be under curfew 16 hours a day. He will be allowed to leave his home only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Britain's Home Office says it strongly disagrees with Monday's ruling and will appeal.
Home Secretary Theresa May had ordered his extradition after being given assurances by Jordan that no information obtained through torture would be used against him.
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission on Monday blocked Qatada's extradition order, saying it could not be guaranteed that he would get a fair trial in Jordan.
Jordan convicted Qatada of terrorism charges related to two bomb plots in 1998. He was tried in absentia.
Britain has been trying to deport Qatada since 2001, but its efforts have repeatedly been blocked by the courts. In January, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against the deportation because evidence used against him in Jordan may have been obtained using torture.
Eurozone interest rates remain at 0.75%, economy 'weak'
The European Central Bank (ECB) has held the benchmark eurozone interest rate at the record low of 0.75%, as had been expected.
The rate has been at this level for four months, after July's cut from 1%.
Explaining the decision, ECB president Mario Draghi said that economic activity in the euro area was "expected to remain weak".
Earlier on Thursday, the Bank of England also kept its main interest rate unchanged, leaving it at 0.5%.
"Inflation is likely to remain above 2% for the remainder of 2012," said Mr Draghi at the ECB's news conference, citing high energy prices and increases in taxes in some euro area countries.
But he said price rises were "expected to fall below that level in the course of next year".
"The underlying pace of monetary expansion continues to be subdued."
Confidence 'improved'
In September, the ECB announced a bond-buying programme to try to ease the financial woes of a number of member states.
Under the initiative, called outright monetary transactions or OMTs, the ECB will buy a country's government bonds after the administration in question has made a formal request for assistance.
The scheme has already been viewed as an effective insurance policy. This has eased the pressure on the bond yields of Spain and other indebted nations.
"As we said before, we are ready to undertake OMTs, which will help to avoid extreme scenarios," said Mr Draghi.
"Financial market confidence has visibly improved on the back of our decisions as regards outright monetary transactions," he said.
In response to questions, Mr Draghi said the ECB stood ready to help eurozone governments, but it was up to individual governments to make a request for help.
"On a Spanish request I will decline any comment. It's entirely in the hands of governments."
So far, no eurozone nation has asked for help.
On Wednesday, Greek MPs narrowly backed a fresh round of austerity measures, despite violent protests across the country.
The austerity package aimed at securing the next round of bailout funds for Greece was passed with the support of 153 MPs in the 300-member parliament.
Welcoming the move, Mr Draghi said "It's a very important step that the Greek government and the Greek citizens have undertaken. It really represents progress from what it was a few months ago."
Dexia gets further aid from France and Belgium
France and Belgium have agreed to pump a further 5.5bn euros ($7bn; £4.4bn) into struggling bank Dexia, after it reported another large loss.
The bank, which was bailed out by France and Belgium last year, posted a third-quarter net loss of 1.23bn euros.
Meanwhile, French bank Societe Generale saw third quarter net profits sink 86% to 85m euros as it dealt with the cost of exiting from Greece.
In Germany, Commerzbank reported net quarterly profits of 78m euros.
Dexia's troubles
Under the terms of the aid for Dexia, Belgium will inject 53% of the funding, with France providing the rest.
The prospect of injecting more money into Dexia threatens to undermine both countries' efforts to rein in their deficits, as the European Union is putting eurozone budgets under intense scrutiny.
Dexia's latest loss brought the total loss for the first nine months of the year to 2.4bn euros.
Part of the reason for the loss in the third quarter was a loss of 599m euros after Dexia sold its Turkish business DenizBank.
Uncertain outlook
Societe Generale's third-quarter results were hit by one-off losses which resulted from the sale of its Greek business Geniki and fund-management unit TCW.
Excluding these items, Societe Generale joined rival investment banks, such as BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup, in reporting a strong rebound in revenues from trading financial instruments like bonds.
However, the company warned the outlook for 2013 was uncertain.
"Economic growth should remain sluggish overall, with a key uncertainty in the US - the fiscal cliff - in the beginning of the year, said chief executive Frederic Oudea, in an interview with Reuters TV.
Germany's second-biggest bank, Commerzbank, had good news for investors as it said it was back in profit in the third quarter of this year.
The bank unveiled a net profit of 78m euros for the July-to-September period, although that was lower than analysts had expected.
Commerzbank's chief executive, Martin Blessing, signalled challenges ahead saying the market environment would "remain volatile in the coming months".
"We are, therefore, continuing with our strict cost management, consistently reducing non-strategic portfolios further and strengthening our profitability," he said.