Anti-crime protestors in the Bahamas say enough is enough
ORGANISERS of an anti-crime protest in the Bahamas, yesterday accused the Christie administration of “giving a deaf ear to the cries of the people” as the country’s murder rate continues to climb.
Chanting “enough is enough” and “sick and tired of being sick and tired,” protesters occupied Rawson Square from 9am to 5pm.
During the House of Assembly’s afternoon recess, National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage walked past protesters as they chanted: “Help us Nottage, help us”, offering only a thumbs up and a smile.
The Tribune reported Dr Nottage as refusing to give a statement when pressed for a comment on the state of crime in the country.
The Bain and Grant’s Town MP has been noticeably silent in recent weeks despite a spike in homicides. According to The Tribune’s records, 15 homicides happened in the month of July alone, making it one of the deadliest for the year.
Khandi Gibson, president of Families of All Murder Victims (FOAM), one of the groups responsible for the event, said the “hurt of violence” has become too much to bear for many people.
Reflecting on the country’s murder toll, which stood at 90 up to press time, Ms. Gibson said Bahamians are beginning to develop a passive nature towards violent crimes.
“We are out here today to let the government know that we are sick and tired of where the murder rate is going now, we are sick and tired of ‘Marco’s law’ not being (implemented) as yet,” she insisted.
“Marco’s law” was passed in Parliament in 2013 as an amendment to the Child Protection Act and the Sexual Offences Act. The amendments were expected to create a MARCO alert system, similar to the United States’ AMBER alert for missing children, and a sex offender registry implemented for the first time in the Bahamas. But despite being promised by the government, the amendments have not been enacted and the changes have not come into effect.
Ms. Gibson said they are mostly sick and tired of the government acting as if they don’t hear their cries. “A lot of persons are being murdered in the Bahamas and we (as a country) have become so passive that we keep going as if it is a cat or a dog; but that is someone’s life and we want the government to know that we care and this issue matters,” Gibson added.
FOAM was founded in 2012 with the aim of assisting persons affected by violent crimes.
FNM Leader Hubert Minnis who spoke to the protestors moments before entering the House of Assembly endorsed their stance, calling it an important step to defeating crime in the country.
“When an individual is murdered within a particular family, you must remember that not just him is affected by his death, the whole family is affected by his death,” he said.
“Members of that family may internalise that and we are missing that aspect of the picture in that we are not reaching out to the families.
“We have to reach them, we have to counsel them and ensure that they aren’t internalising anger.
“I think we are missing the big picture. If anger is internalised and suppressed it can overtime manifest itself in violent ways. Then we see the picture years later and wonder what happened,” he said.
Dr Minnis maintained that the opposition party remains greatly concerned with crime.
The Killarney MP said as far as he was concerned, “one murder is too much”.
The group Rise Bahamas, founded by activist Terneille Burrows, also helped to organise the protest.
Insider Trading Hack Scheme
US authorities have now charged 32 members of an alleged international hacking and insider trading ring.
The group, operating in the US and Ukraine, allegedly netted more than $100m (£64m) in illegal profits.
Nine members had already been charged by district attorneys in New York and New Jersey.
Hackers are accused of accessing data being processed by financial "wires" in order to obtain information about companies before it was made public.
The information was then used to buy and sell shares, according to indictments.
The total of 32 fraud charges was made by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and relate to individuals in several countries including the US, Russia, Ukraine, France and Cyprus.
Source: BBC
PDM ADDRESSES GUN CRIMES AND RECENT SHOOTING DEATH
Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition People’s Democratic Movement Hon Sharlene Robinson today expressed her sadness to once again learn of the shooting death of yet another young man in these Islands.
She said that we as a people must first accept that we have a problem on our hands and we cannot ignore it and that all sectors of society - from Governor, to Government to People must realize we have a problem.
While we are cognizant of the fact that we remain among countries with the lowest crime rate and that it is politically correct to not alarm our tourists, Hon Robinson said we must question at what time, should we be alarmed? We cannot continue to be satisfied that we have one of the lowest crime rates and safest countries when residents are becoming fearful and when gun related incidents are becoming common place. In a little, developing country like ours, one crime is too much and now, it appears to be trending.
A passionate opposition leader said as colloquial as the phrase is, it is true, that crime is everyone's business and we need to be about the business of crime fighting from where we stand.
Premier Wants To Eradicate Illegal Guns
While Police say a male is currently assisting them with their enquiries in connection with the latest heinous crime, that saw a 31 year old man murdered in cold blood – shot in the head by a lone masked gunman as he sat playing a slot machine at Tropical Vibes Bar in Blue Hills Wednesday night, they have made no arrests in connection with this crime..
Police are still however urging anyone who may have information that could assist with their investigations to please come forward by calling 649-941-8083 or Crime Stoppers on 1-800-8477 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page: www.crimestoppers.tc. Information you provide will be treated in the strictest of confidence. All calls are answered by Miami Dade Police and no one from the RTCIPF will know who called. Only the information received will be provided to the RTCIPF. We remind people they should not report crime information via our Facebook and Twitter pages.
This latest execution style shooting has prompted the Premier during his post cabinet press conference, to call on the Commissioner of Police and his force to get their act together and assemble a task force to eradicate illegal guns off the streets of the Turks and Caicos Islands and help to save our young people.
Three Men Parachuted off New York's One World Trade Center
Two base jumpers who parachuted off New York's One World Trade Center "sullied the memories" of 9/11 victims, a judge has said. Andrew Rossig, 34, and James Brady, 33, were convicted of reckless endangerment and unauthorised climbing in connection with the jump in September 2013. They were fined $2,000 (£1,285) each yesterday and given community service. The pair leapt from the top of the 104-storey skyscraper after sneaking through a hole in a construction fence. A third jumper, Marko Markovich, will be sentenced on 17 August.
Base jumping is an extreme sport, which involves leaping from high structures with a parachute. The jumpers filmed their night-time exploits at One World Trade Center using helmet cameras and posted the video online. The building, which was still under construction at the time, is located at the same site where 2,700 lost their lives in the Islamist attack on 11 September 2001. It contains a museum and memorial garden dedicated to those who died.
Judge Juan Merchan said: "These defendants tarnished the building before it even opened and sullied the memories of those who jumped on 9/11, not for sport but because they had to." In June, a jury acquitted each of the three men of the more serious charge of burglary.
Speaking after sentencing, Rossig apologised for his actions and vowed never to parachute in New York City again. "We understand that what we did could possibly have endangered other people and it's never going to happen again," he added.
Coldplay Tries To Save The Treehouse
Coldplay are "looking at options" to save the Treehouse, a facility run by the defunct Kids Company charity.
The venue in north London provided education and therapeutic help for vulnerable children.
The band, led by singer Chris Martin, have previously donated an estimated £10m to the charity, which closed down last week amid claims of financial mismanagement and sexual abuse.
Coldplay's manager Phil Harvey said: "It's very early stages."
He added: "We're incredibly proud of Treehouse's work with children in great need over the past six years. We're not going to give up on the centre without looking at all options for the future."
Germany Government Gains From Greece
The Greek debt crisis has saved the German government some €100bn (£70bn; $109bn) in lower borrowing costs because investors have sought safety in German bonds, a study has found.
Even if Greece defaults on all its debt, Germany would still benefit, says the German IWH institute.
Greece is hoping to reach a third bailout agreement, worth up to €86bn, with its creditors this week.
Germany has funded €90bn so far and wants tough conditions for a new deal.
Starwars.co.uk owner strikes back against Disney
A fancy-dress retailer is appealing against a ruling it must surrender its starwars.co.uk web address to Disney.
For more than a decade, the Berkshire-based company has used the address to direct shoppers to a Star Wars section of its Jokers' Masquerade store.
But in July, Nominet, which oversees .uk domains, backed Disney's ownership claim.
The last time anyone successfully appealed against a Nominet ruling was in 2013.
The costume store's parent company, Abscissa, was also told to give up a further six domain names used for the same purpose:
starwars.uk
star-wars.uk
star-wars.co.uk
starwarsco.uk
starwarsco.co.uk
star-warsco.co.uk
Chief executive Mark Lewis said Abscissa had used two of the addresses for more than 12 years without being challenged.
"I can't believe that over the last two decades that someone from either Lucasfilm or Disney did not do a WhoIs [search] and find that that starwars.co.uk and star-wars.co.uk were not registered to them," he told the BBC.
"There has to be a point in time, surely, where a registrant has to be able to hold some title."
He added that Lucasfilm had owned star-wars.co.uk for a time prior to 2003, but had chosen not to renew it.
Source: BBC
Wimbledon 2015: Serena Williams crushes Sharapova to reach final
One of the most enticing rivalries in all of tennis continues to be one of the most lopsided.
Together, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova have earned more than $100 million in prize money, with the glamorous duo boosting that lofty total through endorsements -- especially the latter, who is habitually named the world's richest female athlete.
They are also considered the two most mentally tough active players in women's tennis.
But when Williams crushed Sharapova 6-2 6-4 in southwest London on Thursday to reach the Wimbledon final against Gar-bine Mu-gu-ru-za -- a 21-year-old who hadn't advanced past the second round in two prior visits to SW19 -- it was her 17th consecutive victory over the U.S.-based Russian.
"Whenever I know I have to play Maria, I know I have to be focused because she wasn't the best in the world for no reason," Williams told reporters, referring to Sharapova’s former ranking of No. 1.
Sharapova last defeated Williams at the year-end championships in 2004 and has dropped the past 14 sets to her.
"I expect myself to be a champion of these events, and it's disappointing to come out as a loser because I know my level can be there, and my level can be at the point of holding these championship trophies," the fourth seed told reporters. "I know that that's what keeps me going forward."
Having brushed aside Sharapova, Williams can now focus firmly on Saturday's final, when she will attempt to overcome Mu-gu-ru-za to complete the "Serena Slam" for a second time and land a 21st major.
The 20th seed earlier edged 2012 finalist Ag-nie-szka Rad-wan-ska 6-2 3-6 6-3 in a less talked about but ultimately more compelling semifinal to become the first Spanish woman to make a grand slam final since Conchita Martinez -- her Fed Cup captain -- at the French Open 15 years ago. The Spanish men, led by Rafael Nadal, have no such drought.
Mu-gu-ru-za is bidding to become the second Spanish woman to triumph at Wimbledon after Martinez in 1994.
Only two other Spanish women, A-rant-xa Sanchez-Vi-ca-rio and Lili de Alvarez -- in the 1920s -- have ever contested the final of the most prestigious event in tennis.
Drug abuse council launches ganja education campaign
THE National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) says it is taking action to stem the prevalence of drug use among young people by educating them.
Executive Director of the NCDA, Michael Tucker told the Jamaica Observer that their primary responsibility right now is protecting young people from the negative consequences of using drugs.
This comes on the heels of reports that students were ingesting marijuana in candies and the recent legislative amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Act, which created several opportunities for the use of marijuana in Jamaica because of the de-criminalization of small amounts of the weed.
The NCDA, with the support of the Ministry of Health, yesterday launched a public education campaign themed "Ganja: Know the Facts, Know How to Act".
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Tucker told journalists that the campaign is expected to inform the public on the boundaries of the legislation, an individual's rights and liabilities under the Act, behavioural responsibilities in the new legislative environment and the NCDA's role in supporting and protecting vulnerable populations.
"The council will be taking a multi-tiered, collaborative approach to managing and preventing or reducing harm to high risk groups through a public health strategy, which includes mass media; advocacy and regulations; education programming and surveillance," Tucker said.
He said that through the campaign, the council is hoping to reduce by 30 per cent the number of persons arrested for the possession of more than two ounces of ganja in public places and the caseload of criminal courts for ganja possession. He said the council was also hoping to see a decrease in the number of students ages 13-18 who start smoking ganja while still in school.
The director said the NCDA was working outside of the public education programme to inform the youth.
The minister of health, Dr. Fenton Ferguson, has given his stamp of approval to the campaign as he lauded the work of the NCDA to target vulnerable populations.
"The youth population, persons with mental illness, pregnant women and other vulnerable populations are being specifically targeted. The general population needs to be made aware and to be encouraged to know all they can about the new legislation such as the boundaries of the legislation, individual rights and liabilities under the Act and most importantly, behavioural responsibilities in the new legislative environment," Dr. Ferguson said.
According to the Jamaica Secondary School Survey of 2013, the overall lifetime prevalence of marijuana use in the youth population is 20 per cent, with the average age of marijuana first use being 13 years.
The minister urged parents to acquaint themselves with the information on the new legislation in order to protect themselves and their children.