VOLUME 12 ISSUE 09

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

Website: www.suntci.com

VOLUME 12 - NO. 09

Email: sun@suntci.com

Tel: (649) 339-5879

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Fax: (649) 941-3281

www.facebook.com/tcisun

SIPT WITNESSES TO TESTIFY FROM NEXT WEEK

by Hayden Boyce Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

T

he prosecution in the highprofile corruption case against former Turks and Caicos Islands Premier Michael Misick and others, will start calling witnesses next week.

This was confirmed to The SUN by Queen’s Counsel Andrew Mitchell, who is the lead prosecutor for the Helen Garlickled Special Investigations and Prosecution Team (SIPT).

Among the first witnesses who will be called are Karen Delancy, a former Cabinet minister in the Michael Misick administration, Clerk of the House of Assembly, Tracy Parker, former Collector of Customs Terry Selver and retired public servant Alfred Been.

Treasurer of the Progressive National Party (PNP) Gordon Burton was scheduled to be called but he was reportedly removed from this current session tom allow him more time to prepare, at the request of Earl Witter, QC, the lawyer for Deputy Premier, Floyd Hall.

Former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Delton Jones has indicated to the court that he will not be able to make it because he is based in Fiji, while former Cabinet Secretary Ruth Blackman indicated that she will be tied up in the House of Assembly.

However, she will be called at a later date.

Mitchell told the SUN that former Governor Richard Tauwhare will be called after the two-week Easter break and he will be on the stand for about three weeks.

Attorney General Rhondalee Brathwaite-Knowles will also be called after the Easter break.

“In order to assist all of the defence counsel, particularly those who

came into the case late, we have agreed to call witnesses that are not controversial for as long as we possibly can so that they (the lawyers) will have more time to prepare,” Mitchell told the SUN.

The veteran prosecutor said that contrary to widespread reports, defence lawyers will be allowed to cross-examine witnesses such as the Governor, the Attorney General and other witnesses who are dealing with matters of fact.

Over the past two weeks the court, which is being presided over by Mr. Justice Paul Harrison, went through more than 5,000 documents that will be admitted into evidence. These included bank statements, Cabinet papers, Cabinet minutes, government documents to establish company ownership, land transactions and transfers, money transfers, credit card payments, etc.

Asked why none of the developers who were involved in alleged bribery were not called as witnesses, Mitchell stated: “When you are looking at a prosecution policy, the people who have the most effect and influence on the way things are managed in a country are the politicians and the lawyers.”

The witnesses who will be called, include the following: The prosecution witnesses whose will be called or relied upon, include:

Kingsley Been, former PS to the Governor’s Office, Tatum Fisher-Clerveaux, Deputy Commissioner of Lands; Johantan Llewelyn, Crown Land Advisor; Jan Fuller of the Department for International Development; Shaaban Hoza, Chief Valuation officer; Leroy Charles Director of Survey and Mapping; Ian Astwood, former acting director of planning; Clyde Robinson, former director of planning; Marc Rawlins of the FSC;

P

rominent businessman and lawyer Bill McCollum staged a one-man protest outside the courtroom where the corruption trial is being held, on Tuesday, March 1st.

The UK-born McCollum, who is a Belonger of the Turks and Caicos Islands, said that SIPT should pack up and go because they are a drain on the public’s purse and they are stopping investors from coming into the country.

In this photograph, McCollum is seen holding the sign outside his office.

Continued on Page 2

Sabotage at South Caicos Airport - Page 2

Beaches denies private beach claims - Page 5

New roads for Blue Hills - Page 7

TCIG records $18million surplus -Page 8

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

LOCAL NEWS

SIPT WITNESSES TO TESTIFY FROM NEXT WEEK

Continued from Page 1

Clayton Been, former Inward Investment manager of the former TC Invest; former Governor Richard Tauwhare, Attorney General Rhondalee Brathwaite-Knowles; Shaun Malcolm, former PNP and PDM politician; Dale Piergiovanni, a developer contractor and resident of North Caicos; Irvin Coalbrooke, former PS Finance; Ian Meredith, developer of Water Cay, Christopher Meredith, managing partner of Water

Cay; attorney Steve Finkelstein; Rebecca Cain and Danzella Jennings of Morris Cottingham; Marsha Cummings from the AG’s office; Athenee Harvey, PS Finance; Andrew Dedman of Water Cay, Richard Sankar, CEO of Tropical Realty; Hugh McClean, Ogail Awad, Doreen Williams, Marsha Cummings, David Green, Karen Biker, Timothy Smith, Timothy Prudhoe, Christian Papachristou, Arthur Robinson,

Catherin Caldwell, Simon Kelly, Hugh O’Neil, Sigrid Lightbourne, Steven Carey and Lourdes Blanco of Beaches, Robert Hall of Provo Water Company, Dion Pratt, Simon Wood, Gary Lightbourne, Garnett Jolly, Willard Williams, Earl Ingham, Sherlock Walkin, Martin Robinson, Paul Dempsey, Henry Harvey, Elliott Harvey, Clay Arthur, Dwight Hall, Chame Williams, Royal Robinson, Keris Simms-Gardiner, Richie Been,

Ethlyn Gibbs-Williams, Andrew Neutelings, Mark Durlait, Irvine Quelch, Felton Clare, Vivienne Bassett, Kenric Hall, Alphonzo Seymour, David Clare, Linley Goldman, Arhur Bassett, David Hartshorn, Olincia Missick, Crystal Robinson, Beryl Lightbourne, LisaRaye McCoy, Tanya Parnell, Tolani Kanchan, Gautam Tolani, Audley Williams, David Bozzer, Patricia Selver, Jai Tolani.

Sabotage reported at South Caicos Airport

The TCIAA regrets to inform the public that an unfortunate wave of sabotage has been taking place on the Island of South Caicos. The most recent incident has rendered the fire equipment inoperable and ultimately resulting in the Authority not being in a position to offer increased airplane coverage as would normally be the case.

Lavern Reynolds, Terminal & Marketing Manager, said: “The TCIAA would ordinarily refrain from making such a release, but we find it necessary to make the public aware of the challenges being faced. Once

Mr Gardiner has made a request to increase aircraft size to enter South Caicos it would ordinarily be approved with no apprehension. This could not be the case recently as the TCIAA is subject to regulations by Civil Aviation that would make this piece of equipment mandatory for extended operations.”

She added: “The Authority views this as a calculated attempt to intentionally damage Airport’s property and cripple its operations.

The Executives and Board are disappointed by this senseless act.

Several engineers were immediately

sent to repair the damage done to the fire trucks. Extensive works were done and the fire equipment is now recovered as it had to undergo extensive testing before usage. Additional Security has been engaged to monitor the facility in a practical manner. Other measures will be taken as seen fit to discourage any and all acts of sabotage to this growing facility.”

Reynolds appealed to the public to come forth with any information relating to this act of vandalism.

“Perpetrators should be

punished for this intentional act as this undermines the safety and good intentions of the TCIAA and it limits our ability to offer adequate service. Local law enforcement will thereafter arrest and prosecute any person or group of persons engaging in these acts,” she said, adding that the TCIAA is constantly working to improve the quality of its service to passengers, airlines and other stakeholders, especially ensuring that the service provided is of high quality, efficient and in compliance with all safety standards and procedures.

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Page 5

LOCAL NEWS

Beaches denies private beach

inaccurate for anyone to assert that we have endeavored to bar locals from

Beaches Resorts and Spa is accessing the beach at Grace Bay. at the center of yet another beach Further, our chairman and founder access controversy in the Turks and grew up by the beach in Jamaica and Caicos Islands. consequently appreciate the value

A wooden boardwalk that of locals and tourists co-existing on stretches from the hotel property beaches. Therefore, both tourists down to the shoreline has sparked and locals must do so responsibly outrage on social media such as and respectfully. Our locals must Facebook and has even led to locals enjoy our Beaches without feeling threatening to protest at the site if unwelcomed and our tourists must the design is not changed. also do so without feeling unsafe.”

The SUN understands that a protest They added: “The dock at was scheduled for Saturday March Grace Bay which lay in front of our 4th, but it has been postponed after resort has been located at the site for management of Beaches met with many years and was constructed with the protestors and promised certain government’s approval. In fact, it has chanegs. received the approval of successive

Although Beaches has administrations for construction altered the boardwalk structure or extension. We are appalled that to allow persons to walk through, former Premier Michael Missick has resident say this is not enough and been calling for the complete removal based on the comments on Facebook of the Pier when approval for its they feel that a strong message must extension was granted under his be sent to the hotel. administration.”

In a press release issued “We remain open to having Thursday, the hotel said, “We have a comprehensive discussion about never operated a private beach beach use in Turks and Caicos anywhere in the Caribbean and as indicated in several written have never attempted to do so. It is communication to successive

By Todeline Defralien

governments. While it is our firm view that all beaches should remain public, it undermines the prestige of the number 1 beach award, if any interest-group is disadvantaged. We are committed to ensuring that beach use on the island, not only profit the economy via the tourism industry, but also meet the recreational and therapeutic needs of the resident population. This much is evident in our investment of a USD 2million vendors arcade which has generated much dividends to several TCI nationals who ply their trade with thousands of our guests,” they stated.

Former Premier Michael Misick led the charge against Beaches when he posted a photo of the boardwalk on his Facebook page and called on resident to take action.

Due to photos linked to social media Facebook, a lot of locals and visitors were furious about the state of the s beach and some claim that it was done to stop locals from accessing the beach. He said, “Beaches Resort has Block the world’s Best Beach in Providenciales making it impossible for islanders and tourist alike to walk freely on the Beach. I call

on the Government to remove the obstacle or Have Beaches to Unblock the Beach immediately. This can get Ugly.”

Some of the facebook comment stated: “Rockell Turner said, “That needs to be removed there should be no border line on the beaches. Soon the people of the Turks and caicos will not be able to enjoy the beach. They will be told where to swim and where not to swim. And if you disobey you will be likely to be arrested for loitering. I know that how it is in Jamaica rise up Turks and caicos people to stop this tyranny.”

Quincy Cartwright added: “Let's go down there and break the shit down. It's on the beach and the beach doesn’t belong to them. People need to stop being scared of fighting for their rights. Stand for something or fall for anything.”

The Controversy over the beach access at the Beaches property comes at a time when there is a similar situation in the Bahamas which caused several residents to tear down a structure which they claimed was preventing persons from freely accessing the beach.

Margaritaville seeks to identify: Maintenance Supervisor et al.

This self motivated individual must be an all rounder, with certification and at least 2 years experience in the field. Skills in plumbing and carpentry would be an asset. Salary will be based on experience.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE: Certification in Industrial Electronics (at least at level 2) and 2 years experience

REQUIREMENTS:

- Must be able to install, service, repair and maintain gas & electrical equipment - Manage water treatment, sewage treatment and life fire safety systems - Be able inspect and evaluate equipment and facility to determine work required.

- Able to work flexible hours including, weekends, night shift and public holidays - Able to keep accurate logs of repairs and maintenance activities carried out & to be completed.

Other available positions are Chef, Bartenders, Servers, Cost Control Clerk, Retail Captain, Retail Associate, Store Clerk, Dining Room Captain, Cook, Stilt Walker and Kitchen Helpers.

APPLICATION PROCESS: Application along with curriculum vitae must be submitted by 21st March, 2016 to the office of : Margaritaville Grand Turk Grand Turk Cruise Center South Base, White Sands Beach Grand Turk, T.C.I. B.W.I While we welcome and appreciate all applicants, only persons short-listed for an interview will be contacted.

This picture shows the beach at Beaches Resorts & Spa blocked off

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

LOCAL NEWS

TCI records $18million surplus

The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) recorded a budget surplus of $18.9 million for the third quarter according to the latest quarterly financial statement issued on February 26.

The quarterly report records savings in Turks and Caicos Islands Government (TCIG) expenditure, as well as a significant boost in revenues in the third quarter of this financial year (October-December 2015).

Minister of Finance, Washington C. Misick stated; “Government revenues continued their strong performance in the third quarter of this financial year, however, we cannot become complacent, as these revenues are subject to external factors, such as weather, although the fourth quarter should continue this positive trend.”

Key statistics from the Turks and Caicos Islands 2015/16 financial report for the third quarter (October, November and December 2015):

•TCIGs finances showed a recurrent revenue of $59.2 million, $7.2 million or 14% higher than expected, due to strong performance in the tourism and real estate sectors.

million or 5% below the results for the same period last year.

•Recurrent revenue for the first nine months of $189.1 million was $20.8 million or 12% higher than the budgeted amount and up 6% from last year’s outturn of $178.3 million, due to continued strong performance in the real estate sectors and a better than expected tourist arrivals.

•Recurrent expenditure of $129.1 million was $15.1 million or 13% above the results for the same period year.

•TCIG’s total outstanding debt as of December 31, 2015, was $181.9 million; including the $170m Bond guaranteed by the United Kingdom, which was repaid on February 22, 2016.

Minister of Finance Hon. Washington Misick

delays in various litigation has also resulted in

•Recurrent expenditure was $44.1 million, significant savings on funds obtained during the 4th down $10.3 million or 19% from the 3 months Supplementary. However it is envisioned that these estimates for the quarter, due mainly to savings funds will be disbursed and this trend reversed in Personal Emoluments of ($2.2 million), savings during Q4. of ($3.0 million) on SIPT Court Costs due to delays in the start of the SIPT trials. Funds appropriated •The Operating surplus for the first nine during the 2nd Supplementary for SIPT security months for the financial year of $58.3 million was will be spent in Q4 ($2.0 million). Savings due to $51.5 million higher than expected while being $3.4

The Sinking Fund balance as at the end of the third quarter stood at $110.0 million, with $60.0 million invested in a term deposit at Scotiabank (Turks and Caicos) and $50.0 million at CIBC First Caribbean International Bank. Both term deposits will mature in February 2016, in time for the repayment of the principal amount outstanding on the $170.0 million Bond. Net public debt outstanding at the end of the second quarter is therefore about $71.9 million when the Sinking Fund is taken into consideration.

The National Forfeiture Fund had a balance of $1.8 million at the end of the third quarter. No funds were collected through the criminal recovery process during this period.

water sports equipment.

•Complete setting up and breaking down of all guest lounge areas as designated by management and to ensure that all pool chairs and tables are in a clean and orderly fashion.

•Constant walk-through of pool area and beach area to make certain it is clean (no trash on the grounds) and tidy. Inspect entire pool area replacing any missing items and/or repairing (when possible) any items needing attention. (I.E. Umbrellas, Hobie Cat, Chairs, etc.)

•Pool & Hot Tub Cleaning (I.E. vacuuming, filtering, scrubbing, sifting, chemical testing, checking skimmers, etc.)

The Sands is now accepting applications/résumé for the following positions.

Only highly self-driven & motivated, personable and professional individuals, whom have the desire to serve others, need apply: MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORY & SKILLED POSITIONS GENERAL MANAGER Responsibilities: •Full responsibility for operating success of the Resort •Ensuring that the selection, training and ongoing direction for Resort associates is such that it maintains high level of job satisfaction, morale and teamwork among associates in all areas •Achieve financial/budgeting goals and expectations as established in the annual business plan for all areas of responsibility, and organize/ implement strategic and tactical plans to facilitate this aim •Achieve high levels of quality guest service and customer satisfaction for Resort guests Requirements: •Must have at least 8 years managerial experience at a property of similar size and quality.

•Strong operational expertise in rooms; marketing; facilities/systems (including preventive maintenance); recreation and other ancillary disciplines •Must have managerial experience in the Condo Strata Management •Ability to inspire, train, and develop people for promotion by encouraging and supporting career development, and driving continuous learning •Ability to implement a highly consistent customer service culture •Ability to instill a highly consistent guest service attitude in all employees POOL & BEACH ATTENDANT Responsibilities: •Greet all guests and assist with towels, umbrellas, questions, and/or

Requirements: •A secondary diploma is an asset •Experience as a Pool & Beach Attendant is preferred •Must be able to work long hours in all weather conditions •Must be able to be CPR certified, First Aid certified, and AED certified •Must be a good swimmer and perform rescue when needed •Must be able to operate rescue boat •Must be experienced in sailing, kayaking, and wind-surfing and operator all equipment •Must be able to clean and chlorinate pool •Must handle pool chemicals and equipment maintenance and functions •Life Guard experience a plus •Must speak, read, write and understand the primary language(s) (English) used in the workplace.

•Must work weekends and holidays LINE POSITIONS HOUSEKEEPING ROOM ATTENDANT HOUSEMAN FRONT DESK AGENTS

LABOURER GROUNDSMEN

For the above line staff positions, resort experience is an asset but not a requirement. Applicants must have a willing, positive and personable attitude as well as be willing to work holidays and weekends. They should also enjoy serving people and be willing to learn. Minimum experience in the areas of interest required. Turks & Caicos Islands citizens only need to apply to the Assistant Human Resources Manager, Kitchandra McDonald at The Sands Resort located on Grace Bay Road, Providenciales or e-mail: humanresource@thesandstc.com, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands.

Deadline is March 18th, 2016.

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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LOCAL NEWS

Alternative and wider roads planned for Blue Hills

By Todeline Defralien

Government is working on cutting new and alternative roads out of Blue Hills to ease traffic congestion.

Speaking in the House of Assembly in Grand Turk on Monday February 29th, 2016, Premier Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing said they are currently working with the Minister for Infrastructure in designing that road as well as redesigning the Blue Hills round about corner that would relieve congestion.

He added: “In trying to promote and advocate for one road we should not really remove in anyway the need for others to have roads because last time I checked we had more than lizards and iguanas walking the roads in that district and that community. “

In a press release sent to media houses, the TCIG office said, “The Government has in the past year, been actively seeking solutions to the problem of traffic congestion at the Blue Hills roundabout in Providenciales.

The difficulty experienced by motorists particularly in the early working morning hours of the day, has not gone unnoticed by elected officials, who for many months, have been working along with the Ministry of Infrastructure, Housing and Planning to find a solution to a problem that has long caused much frustration to

members of the motoring public. The following describes the proposed two phase project designed to address this issue:

The first of the two phases involves the redesign of the entry to the Blue Hills roundabout, allowing the development of an additional exit lane on the Blue Hills Road through to the Leeward Highway. This will involve the widening of the Blue Hills road to four (4) lanes at a point just before it approaches the Walkin Marine premises, this widening continuing through to the Blue Hills roundabout. This new lane will allow for the separation of traffic going left up the Leeward Highway, from traffic traveling around the roundabout going into the Downtown area. This Premier Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing will significantly relieve congestion by diagrams show the proposed redesign allowing the free flow of traffic.” of Blue Hills roundabout and the

The second of the two options for alternate routes out of Blue phases involves the development of Hills which are being considered. an alternate road out of Blue Hills Commenting on the proposal, connecting into Kew Town. This second the Hon. Premier said that; “I am exit road out of Blue Hills will allow well pleased with the work completed motorists to access the airport and thus far by the Public Works Team southern regions of the island without and look forward, as do the residents having to negotiate the Blue Hills and visitors of Providenciales, to roundabout. the finished project” while the Hon.

The engineering design work Minister Amanda Missick stated that for Phase One of the project has ‘This is yet another infrastructural already begun and works are expected project undertaken by my Government to commence this year. Phase Two will to alleviate the congestion of vehicular follow thereafter. The attached traffic conditions in the downtown area

INVEST TURKS & CAICOS

VACANCY

Job Title: Vice President - SME Job Summary: The Vice President-SME (VP-SME) will be responsible for leading efforts to implement the TCI Government’s Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Ordinance and encourage all other aspects of domestic investment.

The incumbent will be responsible for facilitating applications by domestic investors for duty concessions and cash grants as outlined under the MSME Ordinance and for providing funds to clients of the Center for Entrepreneurial Development who have been approved for technical assistance.

The incumbent will be responsible for reviewing project proposals, following up with investors to ensure that there is a complete package of materials, arranging for materials to be distributed to the Development Advisory Group for their input, providing feedback to their investor clients on issues, supporting the CEO in negotiating with Government and clients on investment incentives.

The VP-SME will be required to prepare Cabinet submissions with respect to specific projects under their care and to provide advice and support to Ministers related to those projects. As well, the VP-SME will need to develop and implement guidelines for the provision of cash grants for domestic investors who have applied for grants and to provide contribution (grant) agreements to clients of the CED who are approved for technical assistance.

Education and qualifications: Post graduate degree in a relevant discipline such as Business Management, Marketing, or Economics.

Experience and Knowledge: 1.At least three years’ experience in a management role in a business or economic development organization.

2.Extensive research and analysis experience involving industry or economic development issues 3.Experience in destination and/or investment marketing.

4.Strong background in sales and business development and the ability to proactively seek out and call on senior executives of commercial organizations and advise them on their business operations 5.Experience in lead generation and supporting customer service.

6.Experience in the writing, designing and production of marketing materials.

Minister of Infrastructure Hon. Amanda Misick of Providenciales.”

The Premier said Government is also working on providing drainages for South Dock Road.

“We have been asking for that to be done for quite some time now but the Hon. Minister promised me that it will get done even though it is something insignificant, it is something significant because a life has been lost and I thing each of us who travel to South Dock can be a victim across that particular junction so we will be looking forward to getting that done in a short order,” Ewing said.

7.Experience in using website management and other communication channels Skills: 1.Creativity.

2.Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

3.Use of MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook 4.Experience making presentations to large and small groups 5.Motivated self-starter with ability to work independently.

6.Ability to effectively manage time.

Personal Qualities: 1.Open and engaging demeanor.

2.Able to generate and share ideas.

3.Hands-on approach.

4.Willing to take personal responsibility 5.Able to win trust and personal credibility 6.Persistence and personal resilience.

7.Willingness to personally deliver quality to business clients.

8.Willingness to understand different cultures, lifestyles and associated points of view.

9.Willingness to understand the values associated with small communities.

Other Requirements: 1.Fluent English 2.Willingness and ability to travel by air and sea.

Salary and Allowances: Negotiable in the range of $65,000 to $71,000 based on qualifications and experience.

Application Procedure Interested persons should submit a resume, along with their contact information, cover letter, two letters of reference (one from a former employer), and copies of educational certificates, a Police Certificate and a copy of the Passport photo page. To obtain a copy of the Vice President - SME job description please send an email to investturksandcaicos@gmail.com.

All applications must be received by 12 noon on Wednesday, March 10, 2016 and should be emailed to investturksandcaicos@gmail.com. Only persons considered for an interview will be contacted.

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

LOCAL NEWS

CFO approval limit raised to $75,000

The amount of money which •Agreed to commission Government officials must seek an econometric modelling report approval from the Chief Financial by professional consultants on the Officer has been increased from $10, economic, environmental and other 000 to $75,000. impacts of the possible restriction

This was approved at the 7th of imports into TCI of vehicles over meeting of the Cabinet on Tuesday, 1 10 years old as well as the possible March 2016, at the Hon. N J S Francis reduction of the import duty rate Building on Grand Turk, which was on newer or more environmentally chaired by His Excellency the Governor, friendly vehicles to make newer models Peter Beckingham. more affordable and to help TCI deliver its international climate change and All Ministers were present At this environmental commitments; meeting Cabinet:

•Noted the recommendations of the Public Procurement Board to

• Advised His Excellency the award contracts in line with the Public Governor to approve amendments Procurement Ordinance 2012 as to the Public Finance Management follows – TR 15/13 Replacement vehicle Ordinance (PFMO) 2014 for forwarding for Central Information Technology to the House of Assembly for approval. Unit; TR 15/15 Replacement garbage The amendments will up-date existing truck for South Caicos; TR 15/16 legislation to include reference to TCI Purchase of a transport vehicle for adopting the International Public the EMS (Ambulance) Department; Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS); TR 15/22 Design, supply, installation to incorporate enabling provisions and commissioning of one (1) 50,000 within the PFMO 2014 to allow the gallons per day salt water reverse Development Fund commitments to be osmosis plant on South Caicos; TR carried over to the following financial 15/26 Vehicles for the judiciary in year; Grand Turk and Providenciales;

TR 15/33 Supply and installation of generators at the Bottle Creek Clinic on North Caicos, the Conch Bar Clinic on Middle Caicos and at the Salt Cay Clinic; TR 15/38 Purchase of vehicles for the Agriculture Department; TR 15/43 Upgrading of sporting facilities at the Gustavos Lightbourne Sports Complex (Grandstand and Weights Room); TR 15/46 Upgrading training and vocational rooms at the TCI Community College; TR 15/47 Construction of a new Community Clinic at Kew, North Caicos; TR 15/65 Replacement vehicle for His Excellency the Governor;

•Received a briefing on His Excellency the Governor’s proposals to draw on private sector expertise to improve customer service and delivery in the TCI public service;

•Received a briefing by the Premier on his recent visit to Brussels to attend the 14th European Union/ Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) meeting.

Further information on these matters will be provided by Ministers in due course.

Business licences must be collected and displayed

The Revenue Department (RD) hereby reminds the general public that Business Licence Certificates are available for collection at the various assigned Revenue Department Offices.

Business Owners are urged to collect and display their Business Licenses prominently in the place of business.

This is in regards to section 16 of the Business Licence Ordinance which

states:

“The Holder of a licence shall display the licence in a conspicuous place on any premises occupied by him for the purpose of carrying on business and shall produce such licence for inspection when requested to do so by the Permanent Secretary, Finance or a person authorized by him in that behalf, or a Police Officer not below the rank of

Turks and Caicos Sun Suite#5, Airport Plaza Providenciales Turks and Caicos Islands Tel: (649) 339-5879 Fax: (649) 941-3281 Email: sun@suntci.com Read us online at www.suntci.com Publisher & Editor-in-Chief: Hayden Boyce Office Manager: Dominique Rigby Graphic designer Information Technology and Production Manager: Kelano Howell Todeline Defralien Reporter

The Turks and Caicos SUN is a subsidiary of The SUN Media Group Ltd.

Sergeant.”

A Business Owner may be liable for a fine of $1000, if he or she fails to We are committed to excellence in properly display the business licence journalism, educating and informing within his/her business. our readers, serving and satisfying

Business Licence holders are our advertisers and assisting in the hereby urged to collect outstanding overall development of the licences immediately. Officers of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Revenue Department are available to address any concerns.

CRITICAL GOVERNMENT INSTITUTION ACHIEVES MAJOR MILESTONE The Shore Club is now accepting applications/résumé for the following position.

Only highly self-driven & motivated, personable and professional individuals, whom have the desire to serve others, need apply:

PROJECT MANAGER The Developer is seeking a suitably qualified and experienced Project Manager to join the Construction Management, site based, project team. The project is in progress.

Ideally the successful candidate will have overall, at least 20 years of building construction experience, with minimum 10 years in the role of Project Manager / Construction Manager on resort / residential projects in excess of US$20M. The candidate must be degree qualified in a suitable Building discipline.

Together with essential high quality building construction experience, the successful candidate will have excellent technical skills and well developed management expertise.

Experience and construction skills will include all stages of the construction process from structural works to high quality exterior and interior finishes, including the installation, coordination and commissioning of residential and commercial MEP services.

These technical and management skills will include a thorough understanding of the Architectural, Engineering and Interior Design construction drawings and specifications.

The Project Manager/CM will be required to raise RFI’s and communicate directly with the Architect and other consultants. Good communication skills are therefore essential including with employed contractors.

The Project Manager/CM will be required to manage the construction schedule and monitor the progress of the works to successful completion, commissioning and handover.

International construction experience would be considered a distinct advantage, in particular on projects successfully completed in the Caribbean region.

Applicants must have a willing, positive and personable attitude as well as be willing to work holidays and weekends. They should also enjoy serving people and be willing to learn. Minimum experience in the areas of interest required. Turks & Caicos Islands citizens only need to apply to The Shore Club located on Long Bay Beach, Providenciales or e-mail: careers@theshoreclubtc.com . Deadline is March 11th, 2016.

The Turks & Caicos Islands Civil Aviation Authority (TCICAA) headed

by Managing Director Mr. Tom Swann has recently reached a significant mile stone by achieving full designation of all ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) Annexes, except Annex 9 - Facilitation, Annex 13 Aircraft - Accident Investigation and Annex 17- Aviation Security, which are not transferable under current policy. (Annexes are the International standards and Recommended practices that governs International Civil Aviation.

The TCICAA has now joined the ranks of its OT counterparts, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda in having full responsibility for the regulatory oversight of aviation in the respective territory.

The achievement of this milestone demonstrates the maturity, stability and professionalism of the TCICAA. It shows the steady progress of the TCICAA since coming into being in mid 2006, and is a credit to the managerial, technical and administrative capacity that has been cultivated within the Authority. This is especially gratifying since this is an indigenous accomplishment in an environment where it is common practice to embrace exogenous expertise to achieve national objectives.

The CAA is very proud of this attainment and the work that it has done over the past years, despite all the challenges it continues to face.

It is also fair to say that the entire initiative, from the embryonic metamorphosis out of the former Civil Aviation Department, into the Civil Aviation Authority as a Statutory Body of government in mid 2006, is a remarkable act of nation building.

A nation is built one institution at a time, and the TCICAA is a critical institution of government in that it, at one and the same time, underpins the country’s civil aviation industry, which drives the nation’s critical tourism sector, and also allows the Turks and Caicos Islands, being a UK Overseas Territory, to meet its international obligation indirectly through the UK. The local TCICAA now performs the functions historically carried out by the UK. This it has done first, by its very existence and secondly, by assuming full responsibility for regulatory oversight of the aviation industry within the TCI. The TCICAA has thus moved the Turks and Caicos Islands a huge step closer to being a modern, self-reliant country.

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

LOCAL NEWS

Hon. Lillian Missick concerned about dirty posts on Facebook and foul language on radio stations

By Todeline Defralien

Governor’s Appointed member Lillian Misick is very concerned about dirty posts on Facebook and foul language on local radio stations.

And she has called on the relevant authorities to address these issues as a matter of urgency.

Speaking in the House of Assembly on Monday February 29th 2016, she said: “My mind flashed to what we hear on radio and I am going to urge which ever ministry responsible for communication in this country to do something about the profanity and the bombardment of that on radio. If there is need to take away the licence, then I would urge the Minister responsible to do just that. We can’t continue.”

Commenting on the Facebook posts, Hon. Missick said: “There’s

nothing wrong certainly say with social to or people media if you’re because I see going to use it our people in a positive way doing the but sometimes same thing. you go on the The former page and you educator said see something she pondered negative. There over what is no reason why education persons in this really means, country need to and she was repost negative concerned stuff. There is too about the fact much negativity, the “we’re Governor’s Appointed member Hon. Lillian Misick. the images are having some troubling and if real issues our young people see those images on with our young people” a continued basis then that is what is She added: “The brain really going to remain in their brains. while I is a creature of repetition and whoever can’t tell anybody what to repost I can or whatever is able to get to it that and

who is what will prevail. Listening to the House (of Assembly) this morning I have to say to the members that, members you have to respect other people’s opinion. They may not agree with you but when members come into this House and persons are speaking you hear the exchange, the disagreement.

Wait your turn. You don’t have to agree, but I’m saying that because people on the outside, the young people on the outside are hearing, and if that is what they are hearing then certainly that is what will prevail because the brain will continue to repeat what it is hearing.”

Misick urged people to be a little more responsible and have some regard for future generations.

“When you cultivate this kind of mindset then that is the mindset that will lead us and will remain in perpetuity,” she added.

Leader of the Opposition concerned about safety of children and women

Opposition Leader Hon. Sharlene Robinson is very concerned about the safety of women and children on the road during early morning dark hours following time change and during passage in illegal jitneys amidst reports of sexual assault, rape and blacking out.

Speaking in the House of Assembly on February 29, 2016, she said: “As I drove to the Airport this morning to catch an early morning flight, I saw as usual the little children and young people (especially noting our young girls) waiting on the road side for transport to School. I stopped and wondered if this Government considered these children, our children, when they changed the time. People are grumbling from

the four corners of this country and tourists admittedly are confused. I wonder then who did the Government change the time for? But more importantly, did they think of our people, our children, our young girls when they changed the time? Were our people a consideration at all?”

She added: “I thought of the fact that many were waiting for jitneys – unregulated and illegal transportation. What alarms me, is that despite the number of times that I have raised in the Hon House the need for safe, legal public transport which is necessary and even amidst the allegations of sexual assault and rape, this Government has ignored this issue. And now,

over the weekend, a Police Officer used his social media account to create awareness of reports being made of persons blacking out in jitneys especially our women.”

She said these are real issues that continue to be ignored.

“The safety of our children, our women and our people is of paramount importance and I am calling on the Government to address these issues once again.

I rest this again with the Government who has the power to address these issues and I ask them to deal with this illegal jitney situation and all issues that will seek to keep our people safe,” the leader of the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) added.

Grand Turk Cruise Center is currently accepting applications for motivated individuals interested in the following positions listed: HESS TECHNICIAN: Grand Turk Cruise Center is currently seeking a suitably qualified individual to fill the position of HESS Technician. Ideal candidates must be well apt in the area of Environmental Health Sciences, be computer literate and have a strong command of English Language (oral and written). Additionally the successful candidates must possess relevant experience associated with the position (minimum of 3 years work experience) and, or knowledge in the areas outlined below: •Operation of Waste Water Treatment Plants •Operation of Recreational Water Facilities (RWF) – Commercial Swimming Pools and Flowrider •Monitoring of Water Treatment Processes and Reporting of data •RO Plant operations SECURITY OFFICERS: •Must have training in CPR and First responder.

•Ensure the safety and security of passengers, tenants and their employees, personnel and guest at the GTCC. •Secure / prevent access to restricted areas by unauthorized persons •Job related experience with increasing levels of responsibility •Effective human relations skills in oral and written communication ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT: Required Qualifications & Experience: •Bachelor’s degree with an emphasis in accounting/finance from an accredited university.

•Minimum of 3 years work experience in Accounting.

•Accounts Payable / Receivable.

•Strict adherence to confidentiality and trustworthiness will be a requirement of this position.

•Strong organizational skills and ability to meet tight month-end deadlines.

•Possess strong knowledge of accounting software and excel.

•Ability to work independently and a willingness to work extended hours, including weekends and public holidays.

CARPENTER & GENERAL MAINTENANCE: This position requires experience in carpentry and general maintenance skills such as building, painting and masonry, to facilitate maintenance of all buildings and public areas in optimum condition.

•Assisting in line handling for docking cruise ships as needed.

•Inspect ceiling, floor tile, wall coverings, siding, glass or woodwork to detect broken or damaged structures.

•Knowledge of pool and fountain maintenance would be an asset.

•Knowledge of plumbing and/or masonry would be an asset.

•Assisting in any various tasks, necessary to keep GTCC operating to the highest standard.

Applicants must be willing to work nights, weekends and holidays. Must be able to lift minimum of 50lbs, have a strong command of English Language (oral and written); and able to work well as part of a culturally diverse team.

㘀㐀㤀ⴀ㌀㌀㤀ⴀ㔀㠀㜀㤀

WAGES BASED ON QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE. Interested parties are encouraged to send resume to: Grand Turk Cruise Center Human Resources Phone: 946-1040 Fax: 946-1041 E-Mail: admin@grandturkcc.com

ONLY BELONGERS NEED APPLY

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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LOCAL NEWS

Police shut down Dominican Republic Independence Day celebration early

broken by having such celebration or if the proper permission was not Dominican Independence obtained as we may were not aware celebration that is celebrated every that a special license was needed to year in the Turks and Caicos Islands have such independence celebration. left Dominican nationals in the Turks As every year the community informs and Caicos Islands stunned as the the authorities of the event as we have event was forced to discontinue the done it.” event as early as 6pm.

Hernandez said the Dominican

The event took place last community was not aware that week Sunday February 28Th entertainment permission should be behind the Downtown Ball Park in requested for a celebration like this as Providenciales. The event saw a large we were told by police officers. crowd of hundreds of Dominican

He added: “When the police Nationals, including many from other arrived to the celebration at about 5pm nationalities, including Turks and the police requested an entertainment Caicos Islanders supported the event. and a liquor licence that permitted As the event was about to kick off to sell alcohol during that period and dozens of police officers rushed to the the organizers of the independence scene and stopped the party. celebration did not have alcohol license

Some of the officers were as the organizers were not selling wearing bullet-proof vests, some were alcohol. We cannot stop people from armed, others were in combat gear and Members of the Royal Turks and Caicos Police force pictured in crowed as the Dominican celebrations drinking or business with the right with taking place. some were in plain clothes. of operation to sales their drinks on

The SUN was on scene and Clarke said their request ordinance will be prosecuted. However, such event as it was a public event. saw when officers went into a bar that was denied, but still the organisers he stressed that officers did not at Upon the request of the police force was packed and playing loud music and continued to carry on their celebrations anytime requested or instructed them the celebration was terminated asked the customers to leave. Some of without lawful permission. to desist from their celebrations. shortly after the police requested the the Dominicans were seen and heard The police spokesman said Commenting under a organizers to ask the people to leave pleading with the officers to allow the when officers arrived at the scene about video posted by The SUN via social because the celebration was over, as party to continue, but the lawmen 4 p.m; they discovered that a number of Media Facebook Edwin Hernandez the Dominican community respects the refused to budge. persons did not have valid licenses to said, “On behalf of the Dominican rules and authorities the community

When contacted for a comment, sell liquor for the periods. Two persons community in the TCI, I will say follow the instructions or notice given Police Press Officer Kevin Clarke were warned of intended prosecution that the Dominican community is by the police force. But just for some told The SUN that when organizers for operating liquor license premises one of the most contributors and of those who may not like to see of the Dominican Independence Day outside of the stipulated hours. respectful communities in the TCI. communities having a good time with celebration committee contacted the Clarke said they were The Dominican community always do their family, friends or colleagues, let Police seeking permission to hold a permitted to start operating at 6 p.m., its best to contribute and respect the me let your know that the celebration celebration on Sunday February 28th, but instead they were operating from rules and regulations that may apply will be done again and we will do it they were advised to seek permission 3 p.m that day. He added that person to them. I will not give the Dominican bigger and better.” from a Justice of Peace. who breached the liquor license community rights, if the law was

By Todeline Defralien

Nathanelle Louis Pleaded Guilty to money Laundering Offences Nathanelle Louis, who was charged and pleaded guilty In November 2015 for a number of Money Laundering offences, was sentenced In the Supreme Court on Monday 29th February 2016.

The charges were stemming from a Facebook scam, and she was given a suspended sentence when she appeared before Judge Robert Schuster. The charges were Concealing Criminal Property, Removing Criminal Property from the islands and Possession of Criminal

Property; all from the Proceed of Crime Ordinance.

After being contacted by an unknown person on Facebook Louis sent $12, 240 via Money Gram to various other unknown persons in Nigeria. The sum of money was fraudulently wire transferred from an unauthorized bank account to an account that belongs to Ms. Louis between Thursday 26th and Friday 27th February 2015 respectively.

Louis who is currently employed at the Caicos Royale Casino was ordered to repay

the $12,240 thousand dollars from the person she scammed, at a rate of four hundred dollars each month. If she misses a payment she will spend one year in jail.

Her lawyer, Mr. Keith James pleaded on behalf of his client that at the time of her crimes that she had lost her job and a person who she trusted released a private video of her that went viral online.

Ms. Louis was given a two (2) years suspended sentenced by the Supreme Nathanelle Louis Court Judge.

InterCaribbean provides special charter to see the Rolling Stones live in concert

InterCaribbean is providing special charters with only 25 seats available for the opportunity to see the Rolling Stones live in concert this was done to appeal to residents or visitors to our shores to capture this opportunity.

In celebrating the launch of our new nonstop services to Havana from May 3, and recognizing this truly once in a life time opportunity.

InterCaribbean Airways will operate a special one-time charter flight to Havana, Cuba to enable you to see the Rolling Stones perform live in Havana on March 25th at the Ciudad Deportiva de la Habana. A Special charter flight will operate at $599.00 per person. Providenciales to Havana on March 24th at 10:00 am, Havana to

Hotels may be limited, and we recommend from experience to stay at private bed and breakfast residences, which are affordable and of a high standard. Transfers to and from the airport are at your own expense. If you miss the flight to return you will need to find your own way back.

These flights are nonrefundable under any circumstances, so once booked the fare will not be refundable.

Trevor N. Sadler CEO for InterCaribbean Airways told Trevor N. Sadler CEO for InterCaribbean Airways The SUN on Thursday March 3rd, Providenciales on March 26th at 3:00 “InterCaribbean recently announced pm. the launch of services to Havana.

Prices include all Turks & All permits are in place ready for Caicos and Cuba taxes except the Cuba operations. The Rolling Stones is an Tourist Card payable on arrival. iconic group whose appeal spreads

over 4 generations much like the Beatles music. The concert is an unprecedented free concert, the first time for the stones to play in Cuba, we are so close and believe that this could appeal to residents or visitors to our shores to capture this opportunity.

We decided to make a special charter available for folks wishing to attend.”

As the rolling Stones are giving this concert for free. We ask you to bring items of value to the Cuban people, such as a gently used or new coat or sweater. You may not realize but the temperature in Havana drops to the temps of South Florida in winter so it is quite cool in the evenings. Please bring something you can donate to the good people of Cuba. We appreciate and they will say Gracias

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

LOCAL NEWS

Turks and Caicos Islands punching above its weight in the region

Governor Peter Beckingham

Governor Peter Beckingham and Deputy Premier Akierra Missick represented Turks and Caicos Islands at a recent conference in Kingston, Jamaica, aimed at addressing challenges facing Caribbean countries. The conference was arranged by the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI) and the UK Foreign Office’s Wilton Park, which analyses and advances global policy challenges.

Commenting on the visit, the Governor said: “It can be useful, once in a while, to step back from day-to-day work and look at what we are trying to achieve against a wider background. I was able to do that for a couple of days in February when the Deputy Premier, Akierra Missick, and I attended a “brain-storming session”, for want of a better description, with 40 leaders from government, business, civil society and

the media in Kingston. of many delegates.

“The meeting was a follow up

“We also have, which is still too to a similar event in England last June. unsung locally as well as in the region, our Coincidentally we had a dramatic and own airline, Inter-Caribbean, offering impressive boost to the conference on the increased connectivity. I reminded the second day, when one of the participants delegates that I had flown direct from in last June’s conference, Andrew Providenciales to Kingston, could do so Holness, was elected the next Prime seven days a week, and that more routes Minister of Jamaica: a great indication to Cuba and across the region by TCI’s of the influence of such events. very own airline are being introduced

“The conference last year had shortly. highlighted some of the challenges

“Inter-Caribbean, along with facing the Caribbean. These include a other flourishing TCI businesses such as pressing need to review the structure the Do It Center and The Wine Cellar, of Public Services and dealing with are some of the best examples of the “implementation deficit”, the necessity sort of entrepreneurism that the CaPRI to move away from traditional relations delegates were looking for in Kingston. with colonial partners, better inter- We noted a good many barriers in the way regional trade, dreadful connectivity, of innovation, and among many ideas high levels of indebtedness, some of which we agreed to press for were better the highest energy costs globally, more exchanges of information on alternative creativity and risk taking, and better energy (an area where TCI is still lagging), governance and law and order (the far more sharing of financial services Caribbean has the highest rate of data, the encouragement of Public murders per capita in the world).

Private Partnerships, and developing

“Fortunately, as our Deputy new ways of measuring progress in the Premier and I had a chance to remind region. There were also suggestions for delegates this year, TCI is in a better place a new organisation to boost trade across than others in the region on a number of the region. CaPRI has helpfully offered these issues. Without risking smugness to try and co-ordinate follow-up in a and not in any sense being complacent, number of these areas. we can boast of a budget surplus over “There was also a compelling the last three years, the pay-off of the view that existing organisations in the UK guaranteed loan, and significantly region are too English-speaking focused. lower (but certainly not perfect) crime We need to take more account of the fact rates than many Caribbean countries. that well over half of the region is made Our tourism figures were also the envy up of Spanish speakers: something

Deputy Premier Hon. Akierra Missick for TCI to bear in mind in our tourism promotion, as the rapidly growing links to Central and S America, as well as Cuba, demonstrate. Curiously, less attention was paid than I expected to the growing influence of some of the global powers, like China and Russia, in the region.

“I’ll be interested to see how many of these ideas and proposals get traction over the next year across the region. All of the delegates showed great enthusiasm and conviction that they should. With one of last year’s participants, Andrew Holness, now running one of the major Caribbean countries we can certainly expect to see change in Jamaica. Overall I was left with the sense that, given our very small population, we punch well above our weight in regional fora like this.”

Ministry of Education Announces Registration 2016-2017 for Public Schools

The Ministry of Education announces the registration process for students at the public primary school level for the Academic Year 2016 -2017.

Registration will take place on Monday, 21st March and Wednesday, 22nd March 2016.

Parents and legal guardians are being asked to note that registration will be conducted in alphabetical order based on the surname(s) of the child or children.

The following documents are required to complete the registration process:

TIME: 8:30am - 3:00pm DATE: 21st - 22nd March, 2016: •Monday, 21st March – Children with surnames beginning with the letters A-M ONLY •Tuesday, 22nd March – Children with surnames beginning with the letters N-Z ONLY Registration will be conducted at the following venues: •Grand Turk: Department of Education Office •Providenciales: Gustarvus Lightbourne Sports Complex 2. Public High Schools: •1 Passport size photograph

The Ministry of Education announces •Birth Certificate the registration process for students at the Public •Immunization Card High School level for the Academic Year 2016 -2017.

•Proof of parents status in TCI Registration will take place on Providenciales on •Passport photo page of parent/guardians Monday, 21st March and Tuesday, 22nd March 2016.

Parents and legal guardians are being

Originals and copies of the above listed documents MUST be presented on the day of asked to note that registration will be conducted in alphabetical order based on the surname(s) of the registration.

For more information on Student Registration child or children. contact the Department of Education at 649-338- The following documents are required in order to complete the registration process: 4804/3809. The registration schedule is below.

•1 passport size photograph REGISTRATION SCHEDULE: •Birth Certificate PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS - STUDENTS FOR •Immunization/Medical Certificate INFANT 1 ONLY (BORN IN THE YEAR 2012)

•Proof of Parents legal status in TCI. •Passport Photo Page of Parent/Guardian

Copies and originals of the above listed documents MUST be presented on the day of registration.

For more information on Student Registration contact the Department of Education at 649-338-4804.

The registration schedule is below.

PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS - Students for Form 1 ONLY TIME: 8:30am - 3:00pm DATE: 21st - 22nd March, 2016: •Monday, 21st March - Students with surnames beginning with the letters A-M ONLY •Tuesday, 22nd March - Students with surnames beginning with the letters N-Z ONLY Registration will be conducted at the following venue: • Gustarvus Lightbourne Sports Complex Parents and guardians MUST take advantage of the registration process in order for their children to be considered for school places in the 2016/17 academic year.

International Women’s Day Celebrations- March 8 – 15, 2016

The Department of Social of gender equality through a plethora of Providenciales - Wednesday, Graham-Caley. There will be live Development and Gender Affairs initiatives.

March 9 2016 – An all-day Health Fair entertainment by local guest artist, and within the Ministry of Home Affairs, The theme ‘Pledge for Parity’, will be held at the Gustavos Lightbourne performance by students from the HJ Transportation and Communication which is the International theme, Sports Complex beginning at 10:00 am. Robinson High School. will join the rest of the world on March 8, challenges each of us to be a role model Women from various health professions Saturday, March 12 2016 - The in celebration of International Women’s within our own spheres of influence will be presenting during this fair.

3rd IWD Sporting and Cheerleading Day (IWD) under the national theme and commit to take pragmatic action South Caicos - Thursday, Competition will be held at the Parade “Pledge for Parity: Equality for Women; to accelerate gender parity. With March 10, 2016 – The young women of Grounds starting at 10:00 am. This Progress for all”. individuals pledging to move from talk the South Caicos community including highly anticipated event will feature

International Women’s Day to purposeful action - and with men ladies from the Marjorie Basden High women participants from various (IWD) is a global celebration which and women joining forces - we can School will gather at the Community organizations and nationalities. There aims to foster the participation of collectively help women advance.

Centre at 10:00 am for a Seminar under will be a balloon release in honour of the and dialogue between various stake We therefore extend an the theme “Inspiring Young Minds”. women who have passed on, the parade holders including Governments, civil invitation to all women, men, boys The guest speakers will be Ms. Teandra of nations, and live performances by society, organizations and committees and girls throughout the Turks and Thomas and Ms. Leanna Brooks. students from the various schools in to promote sustainable policies so as Caicos Islands to join in this period of Grand Turk – Friday, March 11 Grand Turk. The featured cheerleading to create awareness to the economic, celebration.

2016 – The IWD Grand Turk Committee competition, relays, tug of war, sack political and social achievement Middle/North Caicos - Tuesday, will host an Award and Appreciation races and much more will take place. of women. It also highlights the March 8, 2016 – At 7:30 am, Silver Banquet in honor of women who Salt Cay - Tuesday, March remaining challenges related to gender Palm Restaurant, Whitby, North Caicos have contributed to the growth and 15 2016 - The women of Salt Cay will inequalities and motivate commitment women from the community including development of the public and private assemble at the Community Centre at the highest level. Despite the the various church groups will be joining sector in the Turks and Caicos Islands. at 10:00 am for performances and progress women have made throughout in a Praise Breakfast, under the theme The event will commence at 7:00 pm, entertainment by the Mary Robinson the years many organizations and “Ladies Lifting Ladies with Love”. Guest Yellow Man & Sons Auditorium. The Primary School and other young women individuals remain vigilant in support Speaker will be Ms. Sabrina Green. guest Speaker will be Mrs. Aretha of Salt Cay.

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

LOCAL NEWS

Amber Hall shines at Miss Universe 2016 held in Costa Rica can win it on an international setting where there’s a huge

19-year-old Amber language barrier, because Hall represented the Turks majority of the girls spoke and Caicos Islands at the 7th Spanish and I was just trying Edition of Miss Teen Universe my way with spanglish and Pageant in Costa Rica last practicing as much as Spanish week and she made the as possible and I feel so country proud. overwhelmed and it’s a great

21 countries over the accomplishment.” world participated with Miss.

When asked by Puerto Rico crowning Miss reporters what can she take Universe 2016. Miss Teen from the experience she Universe Turks and Caicos, added, “My take away from Amber Hall walked away as the experience was to just Miss Congeniality at Miss keep an open mind and really Teen Universe and places to just allow everything to in Top 7 for best in Evening just come at you first and let Gown (best dressed) during that infused with you. I took finals and in Top 16 for the a lot from just knowing that semi-finalist. every person is different and

Hall returned back you have to learn about each home on Tuesday March 1st, person’s personality before where she was greeted by a really taking into account crowed waiting on her arrival how you’re going to deal with with balloons and posters them.” with the queens photo at the The Queen Amber Providenciales International Hall said she is so happy to Airport. be back home. She said Costa

The Miss Teen Rica was great and she loved Universe told media houses “It it, but it’s nothing like home. feel great I have already won “The advice that I it in the local pageant meant would give any young lady something but knowing that I who wants to be a Miss Teen

By Todeline Defralien

Turks and Caicos is to always the same thing that my mother always told me is to always look for the silver lining. No matter where you go you will always come with barriers and conflicts that come ahead of you and make you feel as though you can’t do something but look for the brighter side and look for where you believe you can shine the best and just have fun because at the end of the day it’s a competition but it’s also a place where you can encounter new people and make friends. You don’t have to be the tallest or the smallest to get there but you need to have the confidence, the enthusiasm and the determination to go far and you could make it happen,” Hall stated.

Hall said that most people might say that she didn’t do much but she feels that she much a humongous ripple effect in this pool of pageantry.

Representative from the Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board Blythe Clare said, “On behalf of the

VACANCY- SENIOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST Applications are invited from interested and suitably qualified individuals for the position of Senior Information Technology Specialist, FortisTCI, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands.

Description  To provide a high level of technical support in a timely and cost effective manner that allows the company to meet or exceed the annual targets set for the company.  Work with the Supervisor of Information Technology and all other staff member to ensure that all necessary technical equipment is operating effectively and efficiently thus allowing the smooth and controlled use of the company’s assets.

Main Duties  Assist with the design and support of the entire infrastructure and its associate software.  Liaise with vendors for efficient implementation of software products or systems and for resolution of any adaptation issues.  Responsible for developing junior information technology staff.  Maintain a sound working knowledge of the ERP System for all areas of responsibilities  Assist the Management with the investigation and solution of various technical related matters as they arise.  Troubleshoots problems with network, hardware and software installation and application.  Provides specialized user support services to diagnose and resolve problems.  Maintains a number of Company Production Servers (IBM, Microsoft Server Based)  Maintains a number of technical equipment by providing installation, maintenance, configuration, and repair services to the equipment, components, and peripherals.  Tracks, maintains and updates inventory listing of hardware and software installations, desktop computers, and peripheral equipment.  Trains and assists end users in proper use of equipment and software applications related to company services and activities.  Serves as technical resource to the company in determining

Miss Teen Universe Turks and Caicos Amber Hall Director of Tourist Board Mr. Ralph Higgs and our Minister the Hon. Porsha StubbsSmith we would like to extend heartiest congratulations to Miss. Amber Hall, the winner of the Miss. Congeniality Miss Teen Universe 2016 thank you for being an excellent ambassador for the Turks and Caicos Islands.”

The Hon. Akierra Missick, Deputy Premier with responsibility for Youth, said;

“The Department of Youth and I have been proud supporters of Miss Teen Universe since its birth in 2014.

“This is part of the Departments mandate to the Youth Development Action Plan in supporting youth excellence and empowerment.

I am very proud of the accomplishment of Amber and her team for the additional visibility this will bring to the Turks and Caicos Islands”.

computing needs, strategies, and equipment.  Performs in-depth research and analysis and research for hardware modifications and upgrades.  Maintain the Company’s Citrix connection  Perform other duties as assigned.

Monthly Duties  Performs routine maintenance to ensure good operating conditions.  Communicates with users to detect possible problems.  Assists in the evaluation of new equipment to be maintained by the Technical Support area.  Ensures appropriate inventory levels to facilitate the maintenance and repair of computers.  Maintains up-to-date virus protection.  Performs regular hard drive clean up and maintenance.  Maintains files for software documentation.  Researches and tests new software packages.  Evaluate the training needs of the IT users and develop a training plan to build users competency.

Academic Qualifications:  Bachelor’s Degree (B.S. or B.Eng.) from an accredited four-year college or university in an information technology related field.  Five years post qualification experience preferably in an IT related field  Microsoft Certified a plus Abilities; Skills; Experience; Aptitude and Judgment:  Excellent team player and team building skills  Good analytical skills  Excellent written and oral communication skills  Ability to deliver to strict deadlines and to work under pressure  Goal-oriented  Self-motivated Salary commensurate with experience and qualifications Deadline for submission of applications (inclusive of a cover letter, resume and a FortisTCI application form) is March 8, 2016: Dr. Kellie-Ann Evans-Hall Manager, Human Resources FortisTCI Limited P. O. Box 132, Providenciales Email address: hrapplications@fortistci.com or khall@fortistci.com

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Page 15

LOCAL NEWS

Roneisha Joshnson and Shirlonzo Gardiner crowned Mr. and Miss. Iante Pratt Primary School honored and happy to have brought it back. This was the vision of one of our

The Ianthe Pratt Primary teachers Mrs. Fulford, along with the School held its Mr. and Miss. I.P.P.S Vice Principal Mrs. Foster. They came pageant last week February 27th together and I think that they’ve done 2016. as excellent job in pulling off such an The event was well attended full of amazing pageant.” excitement and it was said to be one “The teachers worked to remember. tirelessly because they were the

There were six segments coaches for the students, they were and of the entire contestants grade the ones who made sure that they had three student Roneisha Joshnson all of the items needed to make this representing the green island North pageant work. I think the team at Caicos and grade four student I.P.P.S did an awesome job and we’re Shirlonzo Gardiner representing hoping to try and put on as many the island time forgot Salt Cay was other items so that the community crowned and sashed Miss and Mr. can know that we’re still here. We’re I.P.P.S (Ianthe Pratt Primary School). still doing great things here at I.P.P.S,”

In an interview with the King stated.

Principal of the school Miss. Neekimo She continued: “The pageant King said that this is not really the night was awesome at first we we’re first time that they hosted a pageant wondering is it going to happen and they have done pageants before because we woke up that day and we at I.P.P.S. were here early Saturday morning

She added: “This is not but the sky wasn’t looking so friendly the first pageant we’ve had. We’ve so we had to ensure that we had the actually had pageants where some tents ready but God is good and we of the ladies that won went to higher must be thankful that it didn’t rain so Mr and Miss. I.P.P.S Roneisha Joshnson and pageants and they won also, so we’re we had a good turnout. We knew that Shirlonzo Gardiner

other events were taking place as well on that very same night but we did have a very good turn out so we we’re proud of that as well.”

King explained that they choose to put a little twist on the segments this time around to have the young boys more involved.

“We didn’t just want to do the segments based on just one we wanted the boys to really feel a part of the pageant so we did best dressed girl, best dressed male. In all of the segments the boys and the girls got something for their participation because we want them to know that it not just a pageant about girls because if you look at segments in sometimes most times the girls will outshine the boys and we did not want that.”

The Queen Roneisha Joshnson said that she was very happy, nervous but she was very excited to be crowned and now the queen of I.P.P.S (Ianthe Pratt Primary School) 2016.

Principle Miss King said that it is their attention to make this a yearly event.

JOB TITLE: CORE ENGINEER Primary objective of the job: •Manage the overall operation of the Network Switching, IP Transmission and RF, ensuring a high quality of service for the Digicel network.

•Oversee capacity planning for the various nodes within the Digicel network.

•Oversee budget spend for the various nodes operation of above responsibilities.

•Good knowledge of AXE for GSM/RNC/BSC/HLR/SCP/SDP/CCN/I-Gate/ MSC-S/SGSN/MPBN. •Good knowledge of GSM, EDGE, HSPA, voice and DATA roaming •Good knowledge of Charging system and VAS platforms.

Main Duties and responsibilities: •Manage all Network Core Elements (MSC-S, BSC, HLR, & VSAT, SGSN, MBPN, MGW and Power Plant) •Plan and design mobile and ICT network.

•Perform dimensioning and capacity planning •Perform all required software and hardware upgrades for above mentioned systems and services •Provide on-call support for after hour outages & planned works, including creation and submission of required forms.

•Develop and schedule preventative and corrective maintenance policies and procedures, such as regular backups, hardware/software upgrades, and spares inventory, to ensure high availability of all IP based systems.

•Provide proactive support of WAN data and voice links (VSAT, leased lines) to provide 100% availability of all IP services, including VoIP, PRI, ITP (SS7 over IP) and internet, and to ensure continued connectivity to other Digicel locations and external parties •Ensure that network metrics are closely monitored and captured so as to provide proactive network management, as well as regular feedback on network performance in the form of reports to management •Provide Support to other departments and external parties as required •Provide support for VAS system

VACANCY FOR A PART-TIME CARETAKER The British West Indies Collegiate is looking for a dependable, enthusiastic and hard-working person to be the caretaker of the school, with responsibility for maintaining and repairing the school campus and ensuring that it is kept clean and safe for students, staff and other users.

This is a part-time position, but may become a full-time post in years to come. There will be an initial probationary period.

Hours of work: Normally 18 hours per week; 3.30– 6.30 p.m. on school days, and 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. on Saturdays.

Pay: $15 per hour, negotiable if trade qualifications are held.

Required qualifications: •Complete integrity •Good handy-man skills, including M.E.P., building repair, painting and gardening.

•Own vehicle •Own cellphone and computer for communication •Ability to liaise with contractors and to monitor their work •Ability to identify and order required equipment and supplies •Willingness to deal with trespassers and other threats to the school’s security •Willingness to sweep and collect debris in the play areas and carpark daily •Willingness to work additional hours during the evenings and weekends as necessary, and to attend to emergencies whenever they arise

Academic qualifications and experience required for job: •Minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree in Telecommunication/electronics or equivalent field •1-5 years’ experience in the Telecommunication industry.

•Training in AXE technology.

BWIC is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and its staff must share that commitment. Candidates will need to provide references, a certificate of good health, and permission for an enhanced background check.

interested Applicants should forward their resumes to hrtci@digicelgroup.com before March 13, 2016.

Note: No services will be needed and no wages will be paid during school holidays.

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

LOCAL NEWS

Premier Ewing will soon give details of UK loan guarantee

By Todeline Defralien

Premier Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing said he will give the details of the UK loan guarantee very soon.

HE told the House of Assembly on February 29th that The loan repayment was not $260 million, but rather, it was a $170 million plus $9 million.

“And we did not repay it to the United Kingdom government, they just guaranteed the loan,” Premier Ewing said. “I think that when we speak in this House we need to speak the truth.

We need to speak facts otherwise we mislead the public. We would disclose very shortly and even more so how this loan really benefited the repayment of this loan in benefitting the people of these islands.”

Speaking in the UK House of Commons on February 25th, The UK Minister of State for International Development, Mr Desmond Swayne, brought the House up to date with

Premier Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing respect to the loan guarantee from the Department for International Development (DFID) to the Turks and Caicos Islands Government (TCIG).

He noted that on 28 February 2011, the then Minister of State for International Development (Alan

Duncan) informed the House that TCIG and the TCI public service had DFID had finalised a guarantee in to make a number of difficult decisions favour of Scotiabank (Turks and and sacrifices. Financial management Caicos) Ltd to provide TCIG with and oversight has been strengthened. access to a maximum capital amount Essential investment was maintained, of US$260m over five years. He argued including an expansion of the that the assistance would allow TCIG international airport that has allowed to implement budget measures which would lead to achieving a fiscal surplus in the financial year ending March 2013.

“I am pleased to announce that on 22 February TCIG repaid its remaining borrowing under this guarantee on schedule and with an outstanding borrowing need of just US$28m. It was able to raise this amount without further recourse to the UK government for support and is expected to repay that loan over the next three-and-a-half years” he stated.

Swayne said TCIG has progressed from deficits of US$77m in financial year 2010/11 and US$29m in 2011/12 to a surplus the following year and strong surpluses thereafter. UK Minister Desmond Swayne

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Page 17

LOCAL NEWS

TCI Revenue Department benefits from attachment to Tax Administration Jamaica

The Turks and Caicos Islands Government continues to build capacity in its Revenue Department through targeted training and capacity building programs aimed at optimizing the delivery of the department’s programs.

During the period February 29th to March 4th, 2016, a total of 8 officers from the TCI Revenue Department were able to benefit from an attachment to the Tax Administration Jamaica.

This included the; Assistant Commissioner of Revenue (Legal) - Ms. Nasiya Misick; 4 Senior Tax Officers - Mr. Tito Cox, Mrs. Cecille Francis, Mr. Audric Rigby and Ms. Keisha Handfield along with 3 Tax Officers – Ms. Aisha Thomas, Mr. Darren Williams and Ms. Renarda Williams.

The primary purpose of the attachment was to afford the officers of the Revenue Department an opportunity for greater exposure through gaining an understanding another jurisdictions operations for one week and to develop an understanding of the best practices and approaches utilized in the various functions of tax administration on that island.

Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) has implemented several

successful reform initiatives over the past decade which has made them a model tax administration in the region and an ideal host for this type of attachment. The attachment commenced with an initial opening session at the Jamaica Programmes Branch. On day 2, the staff proceeded to the Constant Springs Revenue Services Center where they observed and participated in the activities undertaken in the Compliance, Collections and Tax Services Units and on day 3, they were able to go on audits with the audit team in that division. On day 4 the staff visited the Linstead Tax Office which is one of the smaller offices to review the difference in the processes between the two offices before the final close out session on Friday March 4th, 2016.

It is expected that the application of knowledge gained from the attachment will enhance the department’s operational efficiency and outputs going forward, thus resulting in improved tax administration, service delivery and revenue collection in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

“As we continue in our quest to improve efficiency and service delivery across government we were

VACANCY

Applications are invited for the position of Senior Finance / Project Manager.

The applicant must possess the following; •Professional Qualifications in Finance, CFA designation required •Ten years of working experience in demonstrated financial and/or analytical functions with a variety of complex, multi-faceted projects •Experience in large-scale business planning, feasibility studies, and Project Management •Extensive knowledge on several or all of the following: finance theories and methodologies, feasibility studies, large scale business planning, financial modeling, project management and corporate restructurings.

•Ability to identify feasible project options and present recommendations to a board of directors

BELONGERS NEED ONLY APPLY. Please Submit Application to: P.O. Box 270 Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands

happy to fund and support this next batch of attachments where an program through our newly created additional 8 officers will engage in Staff Professional Development Fund. a similar program on the island of These types of programs create great St. Kitts and Nevis in mid-April, all exposure and an opportunity for the aimed at improving service delivery cross sharing of knowledge to bring and innovation within the Revenue innovation and change to core units Department and the Ministry of across government”, said Deputy Finance at large.”

Governor and head of the public Note: service H.E. Anya Williams.

The primary functions of the “We are grateful to the Government Revenue Department are as follows: of Jamaica most especially Tax Administration Jamaica for their 1.Administration of several revenue support and assistance in this streams including the following: program and look forward to future a.Hotel and Tourism Tax opportunities to partner with them as b.Domestic Financial Services Sales Tax well.”

The Permanent Secretary of c.Insurance Premium Sales Tax Finance also expressed her gratitude d.Vehicle Hire Stamp Duty by stating; “The Turks and Caicos e.Seaport Departure Tax Islands Revenue Department has f.Business Licence responsibility for undergone significant changes in 2.Oversight the last 4 years, which has seen a other revenu generating/collecting strengthening in the department’s departments.

The Department is divided into the manpower capacity from 6 to 23 members of staff and has resulted in following functions: great efficiencies in tax administration 1.Audit and Investigation and compliance here in the Turks and 2.Collection, Filing and Enforcement 3.Assessing and Registry Caicos Islands.

“This attachment was of great 4.Public Relations, Taxpayer Services, importance to the ministry and Enquiries and Tax Roll department and we look forward to Business Licencing

Turks & Caicos Islands National Health Insurance Board TENDER NOTICE The Turks & Caicos Islands National Health Insurance Board invites tenders from Companies with a valid “Audit & Accountancy Firm” business license for: TCIG – IHC Cost efficiency Strategic Framework Part 2 (Reconciliation) Tender Reference No.: TR02/2016 Further information is available on the NHIB website at www.tcinhip.tc Tender documents are available upon request in electronic format only from the National Health Insurance Office in Providenciales, via telephone at (649) 946-8861 or via e-mail at zburton@tcinhip. tc.

Tenders are to be submitted in a sealed envelope by 12:00 Noon on Friday, March 10, 2016 to: The Chief Executive Officer National Health Insurance Board Unit 55/56 Salt Mills Plaza Grace Bay Road Providenciales Turks and Caicos Islands

The Turks & Caicos Islands National Health Insurance Board is not bound to accept any, or the lowest bid, and reserves the right to annul the tender process at any time prior to award of Contract

Page 18

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

LOCAL NEWS

Turks and Caicos Islands Boxing Federation hosts exhibition

The Turks and Caicos Islands Boxing Federation hosted a successful boxing exhibition on Saturday February 27, 2016, at the Gustavus Lightbourne Sports Complex.

The fight featured 5 impressive matches between 6 male and 4 female students of the Clement Howell High School in the debut amateur boxing event. The fighters comprised of students between the ages of 14 and17 years old who have been a part of the TCIBF’s weekly boxing program at the Edward Gartland Youth Center for the past three months. The exhibition has been dubbed a success by the organization which said it was overwhelmed by the level of support received from their first major event.

Founder of the TCIBF and Pan American Caribbean Boxing Association Regional Director for the Turks and Caicos, Jim Kelly Joseph, was excited to see the outcome of the matches as he said the fighters were able to learn about the skill but most importantly; humility, respect and sportsmanship-key characteristics for successful boxers.

Joseph said: “I am very proud of my fighters because they showed great dedication to this program from the onset and were able to put on five impressive matches over the weekend.

Many of these students have been training with me and co-trainer Mark Obanana for months, waking up at

4 in the morning, sacrificing their weekends, and taking part in grueling physical activity. I am very excited and I am looking forward to nurturing our young fighters.”

Joseph added: “This is a great way to get our kids involved in positive programs in our communities.

The recent increase in crime in our communities is appalling, the number of those crimes involving our young people is even more frightening. Our “Gloves Up” program helps our students channel their energy in more positive ways and we encourage others to join.”

The fight was overseen by the Turks and Caicos Sports Department and PACBO which donated prizes for the fighters.

President of PACBO Fred Sturrup said he was truly impressed by the exhibition and the level of talent possessed by the amateur boxers.

Sturrup said: “It was amazing to see the enthusiasm and excitement displayed during the amateur boxing match in this embryotic stage. The event was incredible and I was especially impressed by the enthusiasm of the young girls.”

Meacher Major, Regional Director for PACBO in the Bahamas said, “I was well pleased with the performance of the fighters. The kids showcased great potential and several of them showcased natural ability. I want to congratulate the TCIBF for

having us and putting together a great showcase. We’re looking forward to having some elite boxers from the Turks and Caicos Islands very soon.”

In attendance was also Minister of Immigration and Labour Hon. Don Hue Gardiner and Minister of Sports Hon. Akierra Misick who endorsed the TCIBF program.

TCIBF thanked their sponsors which included major sponsor, TITLE boxing. Other sponsors included; Gilley’s Enterprises, The Edward Gartland Youth Center, Graceway Sports Centre, Seal Security, Northern Trust, Grace Bay Medical, Prime DJ’s, PACBO, Konk Apparel, The Come Up, Bianca Joseph and KARIB Magazine.

Minister responsible for Youth Affairs, Hon. Akierra Missick attended the “Youth All Star Boxing Exhibition” which featured five action packed matches, most notably two bouts with female competitors, a first in the Turks & Caicos Islands.

Also in attendance were representatives of the Pan American – Caribbean Boxing Organization (PABCO), Mr. Fred Stuerrup and Mr. Meacher Major, who presented trophies and belts for the Best Female Fighter (Shaniel Swaby) and Best Fighter (Jerome Frazier).

Hon. Missick stated; “This is a monumental moment for TCI youth athletics, I am proud and honored to have been able to watch these

young men and women put on such a tremendous performance. They deserve recognition for the hard work that goes into preparing for an evening filled with so much action.”

"I would like to thank the TCBF for working diligently to put this event together including President, Mr. Jim Kelly for training these young fighters and instilling the discipline that a sport like boxing demands. Also, a special thanks to our visitors from PABCO for their attendance, which will translate into TCI’s participation in the Commonwealth games in 2017”

Please see names of the fighters, teams and winners in table below; RED TEAM M- Jonathan Henry (Winner) F- Shaniel Swaby (Winner) M- Patrick Gedeus (Winner) F- Donnielle Hall (Winner) M-Jerome Frazier (Winner) BLUE TEAM M- Kensley Seide F- Claribel Mercedes M- Faizon Forbes F- Elcherlande Pierre M- Elton Bazile For more information on the TCIBF, please contact Jim Kelly Joseph on 1-649-247-3326.

TCHTA honours top performers of TCI's tourism and hospitality sector Last Thursday the crème de la crème of TCI's tourism and hospitality sector were honoured when Turks and Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association hosted its 8th annual Star Awards event.

Each year the event which embodies the spirit of Turks and Caicos honours the achievements of the industry's top tourism, leisure and hospitality employees, businesses and partners, recognising their contribution to the industry and rewarding them for their continued commitment. A commitment and dedication which allows our destination to remain one of the best tourism destinations in the world.

The evening of splendour and entertainment celebrated achievements in an industry which is characterised by excellence and by an intensely guest-focused culture.

Hosted by Stephen Wilson and Deandra Hamilton at Tropicana Dinner and Show Club, Star Awards recognised and rewarded individuals for their contribution to service excellence in tourism and for upholding the promise of quality assurance.

With over 130 nominees submitted to auditors KPMG patrons erupted in applause when the winners were announced: •Barbara Johnson - Entertainer of the Year •Deadeara Dames - Hospitality Hero of the Year - Immigration Department •Harrison Rigby - Taxi Driver of the Year •Paradise Photography - Allied Member of the Year

•Tiersa Hall - TCHTA's Shining Star The Hartling Group •Godfrey Williams - Ambassador of the Year - Grace Bay Resorts •Michael Mateo - Heart of Hospitality winner - Gansevoort Turks & Caicos •Villa del Mar- Hotel of the Year •Coyaba Restaurant - Allied Member Restaurant of the Year •Lotus Restaurant - Parrot Cay Resort & Hemingway's - The Sands at Grace Bay - Restaurant of the Year •Adelphine Pitter - Hotelier of the Year - West Bay Club •Elliott Talbot - Fan Favorite of the Year - Beaches Resort •Vikram John - Manager of the Year Grace Bay Club •Jai Cabrera - Supervisor of the Year The Palms TCI •Dasantha Perera - Housekeeper of the Year - Seven Stars Resort •Beatrice Telluride - Employee of the Year - Seven Stars Resort •Edwin Gallardo - Chef of the Year Seven Stars Resort •Junior Bishop - Bartender of the Year - Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort, Villages & Spa TCHTA's Executive Director Stacy Cox who reminded all nominees that the night was about them, noted "We must all take the lead in putting TCI at the fore, ensuring it is at the forefront of what is one of the fast growing and most competitive industries in the world. We all play an integral part in the ongoing success of Turks and Caicos and as our tourism product continues to compete with the best of

From L-R (Ms. Stacy Cox, Executive Director of the Turks and Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association, Tendra Musgrove Manager of Villa Del Mar and Public Relations Manager at Beaches Resort & Spa Elanor Finfin Krzanowski) the best, we must all continue to work and McKia Jones also received together to raise the bar, ensuring that prizes including return tickets on the desire to experience the islands interCaribbean Airways, JetBlue and we call home grows from leaps and Delta to various regional destinations bounds." as well as hotel accommodation.

To the winners of the various The sponsors were: Awards Cox said, "Your win validates interCaribbean Airways, ScotiaBank, your hard work and commitment to Beaches TCI, Gilley's Enterprises, excellence across the industry. You CIBC FirstCaribbean, CSC Brokers, should all be proud of your win and the RBC , JetBlue, LIME, Delta, Do vital part you play in the destination's It Center, Graceway IGA, Viceroy, success as a leading visitor destination. Atlantis Paradise, Scrub Island, Sun You are the reason TCI is synonymous Newspaper, FortisTCI, Fedex, Caicos with quality."

Dream Tours, Nick's Car Rentals, Local, regional and international TCIAA, AIB, TCTB, Embassy Suites tourism partners answered the call & DoubleTree by Hilton (Puerto Rico), and supported the event again this KPMG, Caicos Express Airways, year, ensuring that all winners walked Hemingway's, Cargo Express Services away with not only a trophy but also a Ltd, Caicos Express Airways, Air & Sea Samsung Tab E. Star Awards Raffle Agency, The Sands at Grace Bay, The winners Jasmine Pierre, Patrick Palms Turks & Caicos, Metropolitan Staples, Weston Bovell, Mary Forbes

by Como.

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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LOCAL NEWS

Why progress is so hard in the Turks and Caicos

From my understanding of the word Christianity, I interpret the meaning as living a life identical to the life that Jesus Christ lived when he walked this Earth over 2000 years ago. As a nation, we pride ourselves on being a Christian society, but do our actions resemble the actions of Christ? I am talking about a man that denounced silver and gold, a man that got on his knees to wash his brother’s feet, God in the flesh, not boasting by the name God, but living equal amongst his people. Are we truly Christian or are we lying to ourselves as a nation by upholding Christian standards?

Successful Independence is achievable; it is not this esoteric accomplishment that only a few nations have figured out. Our greatest resource is our people, not the Grace Bay beach! ; Turks Islanders are an amazing group of loving, kind hearted, naturally friendly people. Hospitality is a way of life for the people, there is no real need for training, let any stranger visit South or North Caicos and let them write a report and my statement would be proven. With our greatest resource being our people, we

By A TCI Patriot

have missed opportunities that have stopped our progress; opportunities that still stands in front of us but the nation has to wake up in order to see them. Why is progress so hard?

Answers: Tourism, Influence of American ideologies and Politics.

The tourism industry provides jobs, opportunities, funds scholarships, builds infrastructure and provides opportunities for our people that they possibly could had never imagined, for example, Delano Williams. How could I bite the hand that has fed me for most of my life? Parents working longer shifts, labor mismanagement of equal opportunities for all, overfishing of our marine life and the destruction of our ecological system is what the tourism industry has done as well.

The Ministry of Education launched “Save our Boys” program which is a great effort but it is destined to crumble because projects like that require a community effort, and our community has become too occupied with making ends meet. Instead of boasting about the good the tourism has done, let’s talk about the ways in which tourism is destroying nationhood.

The Turks and Caicos Islands

are making a lot of money right now but it will never be enough no matter how many hotels invest in our shores, because of the influence of America. Let’s say a local makes $24,000 annually, and out of that, he is able to save $2000 at the end of the year. Where does the $22,000 go? It goes back into America by the local purchasing fuel, clothes, food, jewelry and entertainment. Every time a local buys gas or a Ralph Lauren shirt, he’s unconsciously supporting the American economy. For the local Economists, this scenario is perfect because our tourism industry thrives on the sustainability of the US economy and us helping them is great.

But these two important questions must be asked: What happens if the US economy fails? What can we do to keep money from leaving our shoreline?

Dividing our people into 3 groups (PNP, PDM, PDA) seems like the way to go for independence, really? Division has always been used as a tool to stop progress hence the phrase “Divide and Rule”. From a biblical account, humanity once spoke one language and built a tower that

reached all the way to heaven. God implemented different languages to slow down the progress of humanity; if he didn’t divide them by language, humanity would have continued on their quest of getting to heaven.

This was over 10,000 years ago and we are no different today, for our quest to heaven continues. Together we probably won’t build a tower that reached heaven, but we would create something never seen before in the western world; an authentic united nation. I urge you that the creation of a third political party will not solve the problems of our country, neither will it make any real progress, history is evident in my claim.

I end on that note, and I admit my views are bias in some cases and criticism is welcomed as a learning tool. As a youth, I speak on the behalf of the youths who are unable to express themselves at this level and say that we won’t accept mediocrity.

There is no historical account of Turks and Caicos having so much talented group of young people, and, we stand together undivided by family names and political ties in the hopes of a brighter future.

National Development (Part 1)

When we think about national development we think about infrastructure, roads, buildings, some kind of physical structure, however, I also envision embodied in national development issues of access to and across our beautiful by nature islands, daily access to quality and affordable fruits and vegetables, access to essential emergency and public health care services, opportunities for investment and empowerment of our people, and generally speaking, an improved quality of life for all persons living in the TCI.

Before I get carried away and infuse my views about national development, the official definition of the combined word “national development” is the ability of a country to improve the social welfare of the people e.g. by providing social amenities like quality education, potable water, transportation infrastructure, medical care, etc.

(Anonymous definition Slide share Sep 8, 2014).

As two words, national refers to relating to, or officially supported by the state, whereas, development is defined as a specified state of growth or advancement: constituting a new stage in a changing situation.

Embedded in National development is also national security and economic stability and viability.

Two critical elements that seems to be fading away in the TCI; individual and community safety and security with all the robberies and unsolved deaths over the past 2 years.

Some may say, “Oh, it’s just petty robberies and TCI is virtually crime free”, but have you ever been robbed, especially in your own home, it does something to you psychologically and you may lose your sense of peace.

After you feel violated in the one place that should be safe- home; where is the social welfare? What makes it worse is that the perpetrator is walking around free to do it again and to someone else, because no one is speaking out. It’s only a matter of time until it appears on your doorstep.

This article is not a comprehensive view of national development but seeks to articulate my views about national development within the TCI context and there are a lot of issues that needs much attention even now. National security, illegal home businesses, illegal squatting, dilapidated buildings and homes, garbage polluted environments and lack of opportunities for locals and legal residents to thrive in; augmented by the high cost of living, limited opportunities for scholarships, low morale in the civil service and lack of avenues to efficiently address the problems. Who is looking out for the people, especially those who are less likely to speak out for themselves?

Who is addressing the issues? Not the politicians, not the heads of government?

I hope that the reader is following me as the point of investing in our people is essential to national development as lights on a car.

Although you may not appreciate the lights until night fall or a foggy weather; ensuring the lights are working properly can be the difference between your safety and that of the public, death and criminality.

So yes, I choose to firstly, emphasize investment in our people.

I will further expound on this and hope that the reader can see the whole picture and how it relates to national development. \It starts with the availability of quality public health care services for the mother, father and infant up to adulthood and the infusion of integrity and citizenship principles embedded into the education system from infancy to adulthood i.e. Pre-K to College level. Another view held as investment in our people starts with access to student friendly Pre-K and Primary schools that have well trained, well paid teachers and staff, well ventilated classrooms, sanitary bathrooms which are constantly being sanitized and cleaned with adequate play grounds as children learn most through social interaction.

Activities to stimulate individual thought processes as well

as practical subject areas should be incorporated within the syllabus at different stages about Ethics, Citizenship, Healthy principles (Diet and exercise), TCI history, and Culture, the languages of French and Spanish and Leadership skills. During the High School years, Work ethics, TCI Constitution and Laws of the country, good governance and Code of Conduct should be formally introduced.

At the Post High School level, there is no reason why all TCI Islanders should not have access to a free education up to Bachelor’s degree level in this century. We applaud the Community College for its efforts through the years, however, all the initiatives mentioned above should be incorporated at the college levels free of course.

Most notably, to effectively implement and enforce such suggestions, good governance, and Integrity are principles that our leaders from the Governor, Deputy Governor, Politicians, and House of Assembly members, Permanent Secretaries, Directors and Heads of Departments must value and own themselves. After all, if ownership of these important principles are not held by our leaders, why would they want the children, our future and the public to be aware of them? Assess where our priorities lie by the actions we take and seek to re-prioritize if necessary.

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

INTERCARIBBEAN AIRWAYS

The Turks & Caicos Islands Football Association requires a full-time Technical Director to continue to implement & conduct its National Schools/Youth/Women’s & National Team Programmes throughout the Turks & Caicos Islands.

is seeking suitable qualified pilots to operate its EMB120 fleet.

The Director, should hold either the UEFA ‘A’ or ‘B’ Coaching License or similar, a degree in either Sports and Physical Education or Sports and Fitness Science, Emergency First Aid and hold a clean full drivers license. He or she will need extensive experience in the organisation and structuring of coaching programmes at all levels of football, experience of coaching at international level is essential.

Applicants must have the following:

Applications by fax or email together with suitable references by February 15, 2015 to: The General Secretary Turks & Caicos Islands Football Association Fax no: 1 649 941 5554 Email: tcifa@tciway.tc

Captains : Valid Air Transport License, Pic type rating - 3500hrs fixed wing total time including 1,500 hrs Multi engine, 500hrs Turbine and minimum 100hrs on Type.

First officer: Commercial Pilot License, Sic type rating 500hrs fixed wing total time, 250hrs Multi engine and 25hrs on Type.

Please send resume to HR@intercaribbean.com

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

LOCAL NEWS

Desperation or Destiny?

It has been a little over a week since Michael Eugene Misick announced his re-entry into frontline politics via his Facebook page, which I must say - for someone who follows politics within the TCI very closely, this has caught even me by surprise.

Mind you, the signs were there: be it the Birthday Bash, the creation of a non-profit organization, or the various postings of relatable videos on Facebook. I said to myself: ‘wow why Mike look like he running for something?’ In hindsight, I now know the answer to that question. Therein lies the title of this article and my interpretation of how things are likely to play out in the months to come.

First, we must note a few facts.

Based on the TCI Constitution and the Political Activities Ordinance, Mike is still an Elector and hence it is his right to put himself forward for nomination as afforded him under the affirmation legislation. It should also be noted that the Integrity Commission Ordinance only applies to Public Officers - which he presently is not. Therefore, it would only apply if he is indeed elected to hold public office. The newly elected Chairman of the Progressive National Party (PNP) has indicated that Mike as an Elector will be subjected to the Party candidate selection process like all others vying to run.

Those are some of the factors, now let’s get into the meat of the matter.

One could ask, given Mike’s popularity

within the country, why would he vie to contest the Constituency of North and Middle Caicos? It cannot be said that it’s because it is his old Constituency as it did not exist before 2012 and the only person that has won it to date is Hon. Ricardo Gardiner, his nephew.

Otherwise with that logic - Clarence Selver, Ashwood Forbes, Royal Robinson, Robert Hall, Samuel Harvey, and Jeffrey Hall could all lay claim to the Constituency as they all would have won an election in the past in a part of what now makes up the NC/ MC constituency. So again - why that Constituency? I believe it either of the following: Desperation or Destiny.

We start with Desperation.

Any right thinking observer knows that the SIPT Trails is tantamount to a Kangaroo Court at best - as the results are predetermined regardless of true innocence or guilt by those persons being “brought to justice”. So, facing that reality one can see why getting back into the House of Assembly would be appealing if TCI Independence is the only way out. Therefore the short version is as follows: 1. Become the nominee for the PNP. 2. Win the Election 3. Become Premier of the TCI 4. Ask and receive Independence from the UK 5. Pardon yourself and others from charges as Prime Minister. Note that becoming the PNP nominee isn’t a necessity, as joining the PDA or going the independent route could yield the same results given how

Jamell Robinson tight this upcoming election will be.

Also, the PNP is being given the first right of refusal - as I suspect it’s full speed ahead for Mike regardless of the results of nomination process. More to that, being mindful of recent history, in 1995, a very popular Hon. Norman Saunders won in South Caicos as an independent candidate, so history could easily repeat itself.

We now move to Destiny. Mike has said that he believes it is his destiny

to lead the TCI to independence from Great Britain. So the process above works again as the key to it all is him becoming Premier after all is said and done. Why is this important? History teaches us that there are a few ways countries gain independence, either by the point of a gun or through the ballot box. And, since we don’t have the guns, whoever is our Premier - must be the one to lead us into independence. The only person that I can think of that was not a politician whom has led their country to independence was Mahatma Ghandi in India. Now, some may compare Mike to many, but Ghandi he is not.

Were I in his shoes and desperate, I would take the easy path: contest the NC/MC seat where I would have less people to convince to support me, face only 2 or 3 opponents at the ballot box and then take the path to independence outlined above. But, If I believed it was my destiny to lead this country to Independence, I would run At-Large, face up to 15 persons, win the popular vote with over 4,500 votes on an Independence agenda, become Premier and say to the Britain: ‘The People of the TCI have spoken.

They have given me the mandate for independence - so pack your bags’. But that’s just me. It is still early days yet and there is more than enough time for plot changes in this developing story.

Moreover, in time, we will find out whether this is desperation or destiny.

CABLE & WIRELESS TCI LTD.

CUSTOMER NOTICE

Cable and Wireless Ltd (LIME) advises customers that effective 1 April 2016, the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands will levy a Telecommunication Tax on the following services in accordance with the Telecommunication Taxation Ordinance 2009:

1) 2) 3) 4)

Postpaid and Data monthly rentals Leased circuits Direct Internet Access (DIA) Data Solutions

Due to the imposition of this Tax, C&W TCI Ltd (LIME) is required by law to collect a twelve percent (12%) Tax on each of these services.

C&W TCI Ltd (LIME) remains committed to serving, building and connecting our communities by providing customers with best-in-class telecommunication services.

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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I Can’t Wait !!

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

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LOCAL NEWS

7

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

th

Annual National Science Fair

Fortis TCI CEO Eddinton Powell

F

ortis TCI hosted its 7th Annual National Science Fair on Wednesday March 2ndThursday March 3rd at the Gustavus Lightbourne Sports Complex down town Providenciales under the theme ‘Innovative Exploration through the Scientific Method. 22 Schools participated in this year’s national Science fair. First place awards for High School Project went to Maranatha High, Creative Arts Raymond Gardiner, Graphic Arts Holy Family, Primary Quiz Ona Glinton, High School Quiz British West Indies Collegiate and Primary Project Iris Stubbs Primary “The Impact of Soil Salinity on Vegetation in South Caicos.

Director of Education Edgar Howell

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LOCAL NEWS

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LOCAL NEWS

Highlights of first Youth All Star Boxing Exhibition in TCI T

he Turks and Caicos Islands Boxing Federation hosted a successful boxing exhibition last week Saturday February 27, 2016, at the Gustavus Lightbourne Sports Complex.

In attendance were Minister of Immigration and Labour Hon. Don Hue Gardiner and Minister of Sports Hon. Akierra Misick who endorsed the TCIBF program. Also in attendance were representatives of the Pan American – Caribbean Boxing Organization (PABCO), Mr. Fred Stuerrup and Mr. Meacher Major, who presented trophies and belts for the Best Female Fighter (Shaniel Swaby) and Best Male Fighter (Jerome Frazier).

The fight featured 5 impressive matches between 6

male and 4 female students of the Clement Howell High School in the debut amateur boxing event. The fighters comprised of students between the ages of 14 and17 years old who have been a part of the TCIBF’s weekly boxing program at the Edward Gartland Youth Center for the past three months.

Founder of the TCIBF and Pan American Caribbean Boxing Association Regional Director for the Turks and Caicos, Jim Kelly Joseph, was excited to see the outcome of the matches as he said the fighters were able to learn about the skill but most importantly; humility, respect and sportsmanshipkey characteristics for successful boxers.

These photographs captured the event.

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LOCAL NEWS

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LOCAL NEWS

Dominican Independence Celebrations 2016 T

he Dominican Independence Celebrations took place last week Sunday February 28th, the event was held at the Downtown ball park.

A large crowd of hundreds of Dominican Nationals, including many from other nationalities, including Turks and Caicos Islanders supported the event. The Dominican Republic’s Carnival day is celebrated every year during the entire month of February, culminating with the largest celebration on Independence Day, February 27. The Dominican’s cultural identity and creativity is on display throughout this vibrant month.

Despite members of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands police force shutting down the celebration early it was a successful event.

These photographs captured the celebration.

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

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HEALTHY

LIFESTYLE

Mothers may pass daughters a brain wired for depression

Mothers may pass on vulnerability to depression in much the same way they give their daughters green eyes or curly hair – girls might inherit a brain structure that’s predisposed to mood disorders, a small U.S. study suggests.

Researchers focused on what’s known as the brain’s corticolimbic system, the interconnected brain areas responsible for regulating emotion that also influence depression, stress responses and memory.

They studied the brains of 35 families, including parents and their biological children, and found the particular contours of the corticolimbic system are more likely to be passed down from mothers to daughters than from mothers to sons or from fathers to children of either gender.

“While our study was not directly done in depressed families, our findings may mean that if mothers have brain structural anomalies in the corticolimbic circuitry, their female but not male offspring are more likely to have similar abnormal structural patterns in the same brain regions, which would be consistent with how depression is linked within families,” said lead study author Dr. Fumiko Hoeft of the University of California, San Francisco.

Previous behavioral health studies have pointed to a strong link between psychiatric problems in

mothers and similar mood disorders in their daughters, Hoeft and colleagues note in The Journal of Neuroscience.

Animal research has also linked mothers’ stress during pregnancy to changes in emotion-related regions of their daughter’s brains.

For the current study, researchers examined magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of both parents and children to see if they could learn more about how these associations might work.

They found correlations between mothers and daughters in regional gray matter volume in the corticolimbic circuit including several parts of the brain that influence emotions – the amygdala, hippocampus, anterior cingulate cortex and ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

These mother-daughter similarities were significantly stronger than the associations seen between other parent-child pairs.

The findings don’t prove that mothers pass along a depression-prone brain structure to their daughters, and the study doesn’t mean it’s impossible for children to inherit a predisposition to mood disorders from their fathers, the authors caution.

Because of the relatively small sample, the current findings are preliminary and more research is needed with more people to better understand how and why emotional

Drinking more coffee may undo liver damage from booze

Drinking more coffee might help reduce the kind of liver damage that’s associated with overindulging in food and alcohol, a review of existing studies suggests.

Researchers analyzed data from nine previously published studies with a total of more than 430,000 participants and found that drinking two additional cups of coffee a day was linked to a 44% lower risk of developing liver cirrhosis.

“Cirrhosis is potentially fatal and there is no cure as such,” said lead study author Dr. Oliver Kennedy of Southampton University in the U.K.

“Therefore, it is significant that the risk of developing cirrhosis may be reduced by consumption of coffee, a cheap, ubiquitous and welltolerated beverage,” Kennedy added by email.

Cirrhosis kills more than one million people every year worldwide. It can be caused by hepatitis infections, excessive alcohol consumption, immune disorders, and fatty liver disease, which is tied to obesity and diabetes.

Kennedy and colleagues did a pooled analysis of average coffee consumption across earlier studies to see how much adding two additional cups each day might influence the odds of liver disease.

Combined, the studies included 1,990 patients with cirrhosis.

In eight of the nine studies analyzed, increasing coffee consumption by two cups a day was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of cirrhosis.

In all but one study, the risk of cirrhosis continued to decline as daily cups of coffee climbed.

Compared to no coffee consumption, researchers estimated one cup a day was tied to a 22% lower risk of cirrhosis. With two cups, the risk dropped by 43%, while it declined 57% for three cups and 65% with four cups.

But the results still leave some unresolved questions.

One study, for example, found a stronger link between coffee consumption and reduced cirrhosis risk with filtered coffee than with boiled coffee.

And, while the studies accounted for alcohol consumption, not all them accounted for other cirrhosis risk factors like obesity and diabetes, the authors note in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, online January 25.

Patients also shouldn’t take the findings to mean loading up on frothy caramel lattes packed with sugar and topped with whipped cream is a good way to prevent liver disease, Kennedy cautioned. It’s also not clear exactly how coffee might lead to a healthier liver, or whether the type of beans or brewing method matter.

A mother and her daughter raise their hands on a beach at dawn on New Year's Day in Cancun health might be inherited, the researchers also note.

Even so, the findings offer another biological explanation for the strong connection between depression in mothers and daughters, said Genevieve Piche, a psychology researcher at the University of Quebec in Outaouais who wasn’t involved in the study.

“Until now, our hypotheses were that maternal depression has a greater influence on girls since it provides them with a model of depressive, cognitive and interpersonal functioning and also may elicit more caretaking behavior in girls, which subsequently could lead them to develop depressive symptoms,” Piche

said by email.

It’s also possible that women who are depressed might minimize the risk of passing this condition to their daughters if they get treatment to manage symptoms, Piche added.

Family characteristics, social context, parenting style and other environmental factors can also play a role in depression, Piche said.

“Being exposed to a depressed mother who has difficulty dealing with her emotions as well as a high level of family conflict and hostility may influence the child to develop more negative emotions,” Piche said.

“It’s not just an individual factor that heightens the risk of depression, but an accumulation of many risk factors.”

Mexico says 11 pregnant women infected with Zika

Mexico has confirmed 11 pregnant women are infected with the Zika virus, out of a total of 121 cases, the government said on Monday.

Most of the cases were identified in the southern Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, according to a health ministry report.

Eight of the pregnant women are from Chiapas, two are from Oaxaca, and one is from the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, the health ministry reported.

The number of cases of infected pregnant women has risen since midFebruary, when the health ministry

said there were 80 confirmed cases of Zika, including six cases of pregnant women with the virus.

Much remains unknown about Zika, including whether the virus actually causes microcephaly, a condition marked by unusually small heads that can result in developmental problems.

Brazil said it has confirmed more than 580 cases of microcephaly, and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating more than 4,100 additional suspected cases of microcephaly.

A state health worker walks towards a house to fumigate it as part of preventive measures against the Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases in Merida, Mexico

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FUN & GAMES

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FUN & GAMES

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LOCAL NEWS

WANTED Domestic worker Wage: $6.25 @ hour, 5 days a week Contact info : Steven I. F. Bourne PO Box 105 Leeward Highway

TROPICAL WAVES

Seeks 3 Labourers Salary $7.00 per hour 9:00am – 5:00pm Contact wavestropical@gmail.com

Bagayla Store

Is seeking: Salesperson Domestic Worker Salary - $6.50 Telephone: -946-8876

ISLAND VIBES TOURS

SEEKS 1 Parasail Caption Must have at least 5 years experience Salary $80.00 per hour

Junior Craft T.C.I.

Is seeking: Domestic Worker Salary is - $6.50 per hr Telephone - 946-8876

VALERA DIANN MISSICK LIQUOR STORE

SEEKS 1 SHELF STOCKER Salary $6.25 per hour Contact 332-9039

Genay’s Heavy Equipment and Rental

Is Seeking: Truck Driver/operator Salary – negotiable Telephone - 231 4619

LP CONSTRUCTION

SEEKS 4 Professional Masons Salary $15.00 per hour Contact 345-8326

C.H. Variety Store

Is seeking: Domestic Worker Salary - $6.50 per hr Telephone – 345-2165

New Style Construction

Is Seeking: Tile Layer Salary is – $10.00 per hr Telephone – 946-8876

TABATHA S.L FORBES

SEEKS 1 Domestic Worker Salary $100.00 per week 5 days per week Contact 341-2770

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Is Seeking: Carpenter helper Labourer Salary – negotiable Telephone – 946 - 8876

WANTED 1 Babysitter Salary $6.25 per hour 6 days per week Contact 232-3194

Association Long Life Retail & Wholesale

Is seeking: 1 Labourer 1 Domestic Worker Salary is $6.50 per hr Telephone: - 946-8876

J’s Island Craft

Is seeking: Handyman Labourer Salary is $6.50 per hr Telephone: - 946-8876

KENRICK HALL of South Caicos is Looking for a Helper Contact : 243-2112 LABOURER/GARDENERS & HOUSEKEEPERS WANTED Willing to work holidays and weekends Starting wages 6.50hr Housekeeping must have experience in Hotel housekeeping Gardeners must have gardening experience Please send resume to info@trail.tc

ADAMS HAIRBRAIDING

NEED 1 Hair braider Applicant must be honest reliable & hardworking & courteous to customers Contact 342-3525

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GLAMOUR GIRLS Needed 2 Hairdressers 1 Nail Specialist 2 Domestic Workers Salary $5.00 per hour Contact 347-2707 or 431-2707

M & L AMAZING WORLD

SEEKS Sales Person Salary $6.25 per hour Contact 244-1169 or 232-2267

Repair It 4U

Is Seeking: Handyman Salesperson Salary - $6.50 per hr Telephone – 946-8876

CORNER WASH SEEKS 2 Carwashers Salary $200.00 per week 6 days per week Contact 242-8509 or 242-9745

THREADS LTD

SEEKS 2 Tailors 2 Dressmakers Must have atleast 20 years experience Salary based on commission Contact 242-7211

SUNSHINE BARBERSHOP

SEEKS 1 Barber Salary $12.00 per hour Contact 344-9562

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

CARIBBEAN WORLD

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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CARIBBEAN NEWS

NEWS NEWS

Cuban situation a growing embarrassment to Bahamas, says former minister

NASSAU, The Bahamas -- If the Bahamas government decides to pursue further the matter involving the controversial release from prison of two Cuban men, it would make an already embarrassing situation much worse, former deputy prime minister Brent Symonette warned on Sunday.

But minister of foreign affairs and immigration Fred Mitchell said the search is continuing for Carlos Pupo and Lazaro Seara Marin, who were released from prison on February 18 after being detained for nearly three years without being charged with a crime.

“We indicated to our own people to go find them,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell said the men have no status in The Bahamas and must be re-arrested.

He said the director of immigration advised that the men

were last seen in Bimini and officials believe they are trying to smuggle their way into the United States.

Symonette, a former minister of immigration, said the government has made an absolute mess of the situation.

“It sounds ridiculous that they are now in Bimini and are chasing them,” Symonette said.

“Now they will have to regularize their status; otherwise they will be here illegally… That should be the way forward; regularize them.”

Pupo and Marin were originally held at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre but were transferred to the prison in 2013 for “security reasons”.

Authorities were also concerned that it was best to move them for their own safety, The Nassau

The second patient to have died was a 49-year-old woman died at the University Hospital of the West Indies on February 23.

Jamaica Records Second Swine Flu-Related Death

The Health Ministry is reporting a second death linked to the H1N1 virus commonly called (Swine Flu).

At the same time, the number of confirmed cases is now up to 10.

Acting chief medical officer in the Health Ministry, Dr Winston De La Haye, says the second patient to have died was a 49-year-old woman who had “other complicating illnesses”.

She died at the University Hospital of the West Indies on February 23.

However, De La Haye says the positive result from a test for H1N1 was received only yesterday.

Fifty-year-old medical doctor, Suzanna Roye, who was also admitted at the UHWI, was the first patient to die from H1N1-related issues.

In the meantime, De La Haye says Jamaica remains on high alert for a possible spread of the virus.

“What we really want to stress is persons to do the appropriate hygiene,” he said.

The virus was first reported in Jamaica in early February.

Swine Flu is a category one illness which means that within 24 hours of suspecting a case of severe acute respiratory illness, medical practitioners must report it to the health authority.

Guardian understands.

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Isaacs ordered that the men be freed after attorney Fred Smith QC filed a writ of habeas corpus.

Mitchell said the men pose a risk to national security and should not have been released from prison.

In the House of Assembly last Wednesday, Prime Minister Perry Christie confirmed this position.

During a communication in the House, Mitchell said Pupo was arrested by Bahamian authorities at least three times between 2000 and 2013.

He said while at the detention centre in May 2013, Pupo incited an uprising and attempted to escape.

Mitchell said Marin, who was arrested by immigration officials in 2013, was transferred to the prison because while at the detention center

he “actively participated in ongoing commotions with intelligence reports [identifying him] as a principal instigator and disrupter”.

Symonette said Mitchell’s communication on the matter was lacking.

“It’s already embarrassing,” he said of the government’s handling of the matter.

“They handled it poorly.

There’s no getting around that.

The minister’s statement did not adequately cover this and he knows that. I don’t think the excuse that they’re a security risk holds any water.”

In November, Mitchell informed his Cabinet colleagues that Pupo and Marin had met all security requirements to be granted asylum in The Bahamas and released into the general population.

Opposition warns of sanctions from international community

Leader of St.Lucia’s parliamentary opposition – the United Labour Party (ULP), Dr. Gale Rigobert has warned that the country is set to face more sanctions from the international community Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony does not deliver on promises to clean up his act.

According Rigobert the country’s conduct and posture on the international stage is jeopardizing long-standing and mutually beneficial relations with international partners.

Addressing a news conference here the Micoud North Member of Parliament has chastised the Prime Minister and his government for “the slothful response to many of the critical issues affecting St Lucia, which has also caught the world’s attention.”

She said over the past year and a half, the Prime Minister’s action has caused the country to receive certain unfortunate sanctions from the international community.

“I would not be surprised if the PM continues to renege on the promises he has made to our friends in the international community, that more sanctions may be forthcoming.”

The Opposition Leader said the Prime Minister’s countless speeches and addresses suggests that perhaps he understands the importance of addressing matters that concerns the country’s democracy.

However, this has not translated into action, because the government is yet to address several burning issues.

“How much more can the citizens of this country take? And when will the Prime Minister and his Cabinet find it fitting to account to the people of this country for some of the ill-advised action it has taken?”

The former international relations lecturer said St Lucia’s conduct and posture on the international stage has changed dramatically, since the St Lucia Labour Party (SLP) government has been elected to office.

She said it is jeopardizing long-standing and mutually beneficial relations with international partners.

St. Lucia has been experiencing fallout since the findings of the IMPACS report was made public. The report links the police to the alleged extra-judicial killing of several citizens.

The United States was quick to implement sanctions due to the alleged police abuses, banning the sales of weapons and munitions to the police force and discontinuing the training of force members.

Several other countries including France and Canada, have raised concerns about this same issue and urged the government to act expeditiously to resolve it and clean up the justice system.

䘀伀刀 䄀䰀䰀 夀伀唀刀 䄀䐀嘀䔀刀吀䤀匀䤀一䜀 一䔀䔀䐀匀 䌀伀一吀䄀䌀吀 ⠀㘀㐀㤀⤀ⴀ㌀㌀㤀ⴀ㔀㠀㜀㤀 漀爀 䔀䴀䄀䤀䰀㨀 猀甀渀䀀猀甀渀琀挀椀⸀挀漀洀 䄀昀昀漀爀搀愀戀氀攀 刀愀琀攀猀 簀 䠀椀最栀 瘀漀氀甀洀攀 琀爀愀昀昀椀挀 簀 刀攀氀椀愀戀氀攀

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MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

CARIBBEAN NEWS

To make room for Obama’s entourage, American tourists are being moved from Havana to a beautiful beach town — but it’s illegal for them to go to the beach

Downtown Havana, Cuba

HAVANA - Americans traveling to Cuba later this month are being moved out of Havana hotels to make room for President Barack Obama’s entourage and being sent tantalizingly close to a place U.S. law effectively forbids them from visiting: the beach.

Obama will make his historic

trip to the Communist-ruled Caribbean island on March 21-22 with hundreds of people in tow, crowning 15 months of warming relations after more than half a century of Cold War animosity.

Cuba is already experiencing a tourism boom and March is traditionally its busiest month. The Obama visit has put additional strain

Flooding damages thousands of homes in Haiti and kills one

At least one person is dead and four are missing in Haiti after rains triggered mudslides and flooding that damaged more than 10,000 homes, the country’s Civil Protection Office said Monday.

Edgard Celestin, a spokesman with the office, said a man was helping a person cross the Dame Marie River in the country’s Grand’Anse Department when both were swept away by the river’s overflowing waters. One body was found, and the other person is still missing, Celestin said. Also, three farmers went missing in the bad weather.

The rains also triggered a mudslide in Port-de-Paix. But the heaviest damage to property was in northern Haiti, where 10,000 homes between Cap-Haitien and Limonade

were damaged by flooding, said JeanHenri Petite, coordinator of the Civil Protection Office for northern Haiti.

Petite said the rains started on Saturday. He said the rains weren’t that heavy, but poor drainage in CapHaitien and an overflowing river triggered the second major flooding incident in the city in recent weeks.

The rains and flood damage came as the El Niño weather phenomenon has led to some of the worst drought conditions in Haiti in years. The country is currently facing its worst food crisis since 2001. The World Food Program and Haiti’s National Food Security Coordination Unit say farmers are facing up to 70 percent crop losses as a result of the drought. The losses have doubled the number of food-insecure people in the country since September.

on hotels that have already been booked to capacity for much of the high season.

Major Havana hotels are being cleared, according to the head of a U.S. travel company who asked not to be identified for concern it would damage future business relations.

“Just got notice that the Capri, Panorama, Nacional, half of Parque Central and potentially other hotels have been told to send all guests to Varadero from the 19th to 23rd of March,” he wrote in an e-mail.

The Varadero resort, an hour’s drive east of Havana, is Cuba’s most sought after tourism destination, with sandy white beaches, shimmering waters and plentiful hotels.

But the beach is off limits to Americans as U.S. restrictions on travel to the island expressly forbid tourism in Cuba. Americans are limited to authorized travel such as educational and cultural exchanges.

This means most U.S. visitors are concentrated in Havana, where there are lots of cultural sites and activities, a rocky seafront and scarce hotel rooms.

“The Cuban government is clearing out Havana hotels and sending visiting U.S. groups to Varadero Beach for a long weekend,” said Collin Laverty, president of Cuban Educational Travel, which organizes authorized U.S. travel groups.

Tourism will be hard to avoid for a few days as U.S. visitors are surrounded by white sand, turquoise water and all you can eat and drink bars and buffets,” he added. “But we will try.”

Cuban travel agencies were not immediately available for comment.

Following the U.S.-Cuban detente announced by Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro in December 2014, American visits to Cuba soared 77 percent in 2015 to 161,000 visitors. Cuba is expecting a similar increase this year.

Obama, a Democrat, has loosened travel restrictions to the onceforbidden land as well as some other trade barriers. But only Congress, currently controlled by Republicans, can lift the U.S. embargo and its ban on tourism, in place since the early 1960s.

Bermudan man jailed for ‘terrifying’ sex attack on woman

A Supreme Court judge has jailed a 31-year-old man who broke into a woman’s home at night and subjected her to a terrifying sex attack.

Kijon Baker, who was handed a 25-year sentence, was masked and armed with a weapon when he walked into the victim’s home in November 2014 and sexually assaulted her, the court heard.

Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves imposed the 25-year jail sentence for serious sexual assault and eight years for aggravated burglary, to run concurrently.

Baker, who was convicted after a five-day trial, claimed he had suffered an injustice, and maintained he had done nothing wrong apart from cheat on his fiancée.

“A man’s home is his castle

and a woman’s home is her castle,” Justice Greaves said, adding “she should not have to live in fear from ruthless, arrogant and soulless people like this defendant”.

Justice Greaves said the victim must have endured unimaginable suffering as a result of the attack, which took place while both of her young children were sleeping in the bedroom.

Addressing Baker directly, he added “the courts must stand firm at all times and protect our folk from predators like you”.

Baker’s lawyer, Elizabeth Christopher, said “This is a man who was at a very, very low point in his life.

“The year before he had lost his mother, his stepfather and his brother.”

Correspondent banking a worry for CARICOM The economies that regulators abroad, of Caribbean Community particularly in the United (CARICOM) member states States, have determined could be ruined if the issue that the Caribbean was now of correspondent banking is a high risk area for doing not addressed at the highest business, and as a result, level. have embarked on a policy Barbados Prime of “de-risking”, which would Minister Freundel Stuart involve the withdrawal made this assertion as of correspondent banking the 27th inter-sessional services from indigenous conference of heads of banks in the Caribbean. government of CARICOM De-risking could came to a close in Placencia, lead to delinking CARICOM Belize. economies from access to

In an interview the global payments and on the sidelines of the financial system, and would summit, Stuart explained therefore have a severe

impact on people’s ability to transfer remittances through money service companies.

“Given the extent to which people in the Caribbean depend on the receipt of remittances from the North Atlantic, and given the extent to which our economies in many respects depend on international business and financial services, if correspondent banking services are withdrawn, that could spell destruction for many of our economies,” the prime minister pointed out.

To prevent such an

occurrence, Stuart said heads of government had agreed to establish a high-level advocacy group, which would be led by the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne. Browne drew the matter to the attention of fellow regional leaders at last year’s inter-sessional meeting in The Bahamas, and asked that it be tabled for consideration at the Belize summit.

“The high-level advocacy group which he will chair will be charged with the responsibility of defending

the interests of the region, including approaching the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation, among others, to create greater international awareness of the challenge confronting CARICOM countries,” Stuart stated.

He said the issue had “generated much discussion” at the summit, and indicated that there was “a resounding consensus that we need to do something about this issue or have something done about it, if our economies are not to be imperiled”.

MARCH 5TH, 2016 – MARCH 12TH, 2016

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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CARIBBEAN NEWS

Guyana: Riot erupts at Georgetown Prison

More 70 Prisoners held in the Capital Section of the Georgetown Prisons vented their frustration at the sloth of justice in Guyana by setting a section of the prison on fire.

Prison officers, vigilant police officers and fire fighters were all kept busy last night. The blaze was spotted around 21:30 hrs. This created a situation that saw the authorities trying to contain the blaze as well as the irate prisons who were screaming, “Freedom! We want Freedom!”

Kaieteur News understands that the prisoners were protesting because they said that they have been

charged for serious offences such as murder and rape, but are yet to get a fair hearing in the court system.

The streets were blocked off by the disciplined services who did a good job of keeping scores of curious but concerned residents at bay.

Initially, firefighters tried to extinguish the fire from outside the prison walls but failed. They were then forced to breach the fence at the John Street section and so controlled the blaze from the inside.

The prisoners seemed further agitated when this occurred and started hitting out the meshed

Fire fighters attempt to extinguish the prison blaze windows with what appeared to be This newspaper was told that poles as they continued to scream to the matter will be looked into by the be released. relevant authorities.

Bahamas passes historic gender equality bills

History was made on Wednesday when the Bahamas Parliament passed four amendments to the constitution, removing the remaining vestiges of discrimination from the law books.

Thirty-seven of the 38 legislators voted in favour of the bill. The other Parliamentarian – Hubert Chipman was absent due to illness.

Last weekend, Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson QC said four issues would be voted upon in Parliament and later by the people in a referendum.

The bills passed include whether a married Bahamian woman should have the same right as a married Bahamian man to pass her citizenship on to her child; whether the spouse of a Bahamian woman should have the same right as the spouse of a Bahamian man to become a

Bahamian citizen and whether an unmarried Bahamian man should have the same right as an unmarried Bahamian woman to pass his citizenship on to his child.

“That it should be clear in our Constitution that there will not be discrimination in The Bahamas on the basis of sex – being male and female,” Gibson said.

In his closing remarks after the passage of the bills, Prime Minister Perry Christie rose to his feet to commend House members for their vote and to underscore the historic significance of the occasion within the context of the rights of women to vote, a franchise granted to them in 1962, more than one half century ago.

“It has been more than fifty-three years since our women won the right to vote but they still do not have

constitutional protection against discrimination based on their sex.

This must be seen as abhorrent to our fundamental values. It is therefore a moral imperative of the first magnitude that we seize the opportunity to usher in a new era in our civilization – an era that will proceed on the righteous and unassailable premise that we are all equal before the law irrespective of whether we are male or female and that as what is good for one is good for the other without distinction.”

In the end, the entire constitutional reform exercise was about full equality, nothing more and nothing less argued Christie.

“At its core” continued the Prime Minister, “it is for me to say that this is what the present constitutional exercise is all about – nothing less and nothing more.

Let there be full equality.”

Trinidad: Bullet to the head, buried in gravel pit

THE country’s murder toll rose to 86 following the discovery of a man’s body buried in a gravel pit at a quarry in East Trinidad on Monday night. An autopsy which was subsequently done on the victim, identified as Donald Pierre, revealed that he was shot in the head.

Pierre, 20, who lived in Manzanilla, was reported missing by his relatives on January 22 – two days after he left home and never returned.

His decomposing corpse was found buried in a 20-footdeeep gravel pit at the quarry site in Matura. It was reported that officers of the Homicide Investigations Bureau, acting on a tip-off, on Monday night went to the quarry and with the use of a backhoe, unearthed Pierre’s body.

The District Medical Officer was summoned and ordered the body removed to the Forensic Science Centre in St James where the autopsy proved he was murdered. On being dug up, police sources said, Pierre’s body was wrapped in a sheet of blue plastic. No arrest has been made and police sources said a motive for Pierre’s murder has not been established.

Tragic billionaire’s Bermuda connection

Aubrey McClendon, the former Chesapeake Energy CEO who dies in a car crash in the US yesterday

Self-made billionaire Aubrey McClendon, who together with his wife owned vacation homes in Bermuda, died in a car crash in the US yesterday.

The 56-year-old was killed in a single vehicle crash in Oklahoma City. His car hit an embankment under a bridge.

Mr McClendon’s death comes a day after he was charged with rigging bids for oil and natural gas leases in Oklahoma. He cofounded Chesapeake Energy Corporation in 1993 and was its chief executive officer until 2013.

Last night he was remembered as a charismatic and pleasant man, by Bermuda entrepreneur and musician Tony Brannon.

“He was a really nice person.

He was very generous and was

complementary to us when we were hired as a band to play at an event for Chesapeake executives at Tucker’s Point,” said Mr Brannon. “What has happened is very sad.”

Mr McClendon and his wife Katie, a Whirlpool heiress, bought a number of properties in Bermuda during the past decade.

In 2007, the couple purchased the extensive Castle Point property in Tucker’s Town for $21 million.

At the time the house and guest cottages on an eight-acre plot at the end of Tucker’s Town Road were in a rundown state. The property was given a makeover, which included a refurbished swimming pool, small golf course and a pond.

The McClendons later sold that property. In 2011, Mrs. McClendon bought the nearby beachfront Winsor House for $11 million, and apparently also purchased a neighbouring house at the same time.

Mr McClendon’s charisma as a businessman was noted by Forbes magazine, which once featured him on its front cover and declared him to be “America’s Most Reckless Billionaire.”

He was a pioneering champion of the oil and natural gas drilling technique known as fracking, which led to a boom in US oil and gas production. Fracking is now seen as one of the major contributing factors that has led to the current world oil glut and the collapse in oil and natural gas prices.

Mr McClendon enjoyed phenomenal success at the helm of Chesapeake Energy, which was set up with $50,000 of capital in 1989. At one point the company was valued at $35 billion and Mr McClendon’s personal fortune was estimated at $1 billion by Forbes.

His lavish lifestyle included extensive ownership of properties and a stake in NBA team Oklahoma City Thunder.

However, he left Chesapeake Energy in controversial circumstances

after a governance scandal. A shareholder revolt by billionaire Carl Icahn cost him his annual bonus and the chairmanship in 2012 and led to his resignation in early 2013.

Then, on Tuesday, he was charged by a federal grand jury in Oklahoma in connection with an alleged scheme between two “large oil and gas companies” to not bid against each other for leases in the northwest of the state. The scheme was said to have operated between December 2007 to March 2012.

In a statement on Tuesday evening Mr McClendon called the charge “wrong and unprecedented”.

The antitrust law he was accused of violating, known as the Sherman Act, carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a $1 million fine for individuals.

At a press conference yesterday, Paco Balderrama, an Oklahoma police captain, said Mr McClendon’s Chevrolet Tahoe was travelling a “at a high rate of speed” when it slammed into a bridge embankment in northeast Oklahoma City. The car burst into flames before responders could pull Mr McClendon’s body from the vehicle, Mr Balderrama added.

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North Korea leader tells military to be ready to use nuclear weapons

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his country to be ready to use its nuclear weapons at any time and the military to be in “pre-emptive attack” mode in the face of growing threats from its enemies, state media said on Friday.

The comments, carried by the North’s official KCNA news agency, marked a further escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula after the U.N. Security Council imposed harsh new sanctions on the isolated state for its nuclear programme.

North Korea, known for belligerent rhetoric, has previously threatened pre-emptive attacks on its enemies, including South Korea and the United States. Military experts doubt it has yet developed the capability to fire a long-range missile with a miniaturised warhead to deliver a nuclear weapon as far as the United States.

Kim made the comments as he supervised military exercises involving newly developed rocket launchers, KCNA reported. It did not mention the date of the drills but said the new weapons had South Korea within range.

South Korea’s defence ministry said on Thursday the North launched several projectiles off its coast into the sea, up to 150 km (90 miles) away, an apparent response to the U.N. sanctions.

Kim said North Korea should

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) smiles as he guides a test fire of a new multiple launch rocket system. “bolster up (its) nuclear force both in quality and quantity” and stressed “the need to get the nuclear warheads deployed for national defence always on standby so as to be fired any moment,” KCNA quoted him as saying.

“Now is the time for us to convert our mode of military counteraction toward the enemies into a pre-emptive attack one in every aspect.”

Kim criticised South Korean President Park Geun-hye in his first direct published mention of her by name for acting “in league with the U.S. scoundrels,” adding, “her hysteria will precipitate only her ruin in the long run,” KCNA said.

A spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles relations with the North, said Kim’s comments were not helpful

and may have been intended for the domestic audience, to boost morale in the face of the new U.N. sanctions.

Responding to the report, a U.S. Defense Department spokesman, Commander Bill Urban, said, “We urge North Korea to refrain from provocative actions that aggravate tensions and instead focus on fulfilling its international obligations and commitments.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that given the sensitive and complex situation on the Korean peninsula, China hoped the parties would maintain restraint, and “be careful in their words and actions, and not take any actions that would exacerbate tensions in this situation”.

The latest U.N. sanctions, drafted by the United States and China, the North’s main ally, punish the isolated country following its fourth nuclear test, in January, as well as last month’s satellite launch, which the United States and others say was really a test of ballistic missile technology.

Later on Friday, North Korea rejected the Security Council resolution as a “criminal act” masterminded by the United States and vowed to continue boosting its nuclear deterrent and move forward on the path to become a “satellite superpower”.

U.S. tech companies unite behind Apple ahead of iPhone encryption ruling its encryption battle with the U.S. government.

The rare display of unity and support from Apple’s sometime-rivals showed the breadth of Silicon Valley’s opposition to the government’s antiencryption effort, a position endorsed by the United Nations human rights chief.

Apple’s battle became public last month when the Federal Bureau of Investigation obtained a court order requiring the company to write new software to disable passcode protection and allow access to an iPhone used by An Apple iPhone is pictured next to the logo of one of the shooters in the December Apple in Bordeaux, Southwestern France. killings in San Bernardino, California.

Tech industry leaders Apple pushed back, arguing that including Alphabet Inc’s Google, such a move would set a dangerous Facebook Inc, Microsoft Corp, AT&T precedent and threaten customer and more than two dozen other security, and asked that the order be Internet and technology companies vacated. The clash has intensified a filed legal briefs on Thursday asking long-running debate over how much a judge to support Apple Inc in law enforcement and intelligence

officials should be able to monitor digital communications.

Apple’s industry allies, along with several privacy advocates, filed amicus briefs - a form of comment from outside groups common in complex cases - to U.S. District Judge Sheri Pym, in Riverside, California, who had set a Thursday deadline.

Six relatives of San Bernardino attack victims on Thursday weighed in with their own amicus brief opposing Apple. Three California law enforcement groups, three federal law enforcement groups and the San Bernardino district attorney also filed in favor of the government.

The companies backing Apple largely echo the iPhone maker’s main argument, that the 1789 All Writs Act at the heart of the government’s case cannot be used to force companies to create new technology.

One amicus filing, from

Rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight intended to “assemble a trial team a la O.J. Simpson,” referring to the former football star who was acquitted of murder following a high-profile trial, CNS reported.

Knight, co-founder of influential hip-hop label Death Row Records, is charged with murder, attempted murder and two counts of felony hit-and-run in the incident. He could face reporters outside the court that 25 years to life in prison under

Suge Knight Knight will stand trial on Aug. 1 for murder charges stemming to face August from a fatal hit-and-run in Los Angeles, a judge ordered on Friday, 1 trial on according to a local media report.

Knight told the judge he hit-and-run would be ready for the start of the trial, California wire agency City murder charge: News Service (CNS) reported.

Knight’s attorney, report Thaddeus J. Culpepper, told

a group of 17 Internet companies including Twitter Inc and LinkedIn Corp, asserted that Congress has already passed laws that establish what companies could be obliged to do for the government, and that the court case amounted to an “end run” around those laws.

Apple, and some of the other briefs, did not go quite that far, but also asserted that Congress, not the courts, needed to address the issue. Congress has struggled without success for years to address law-enforcement concerns about encryption.

The victims’ families argued that Apple’s arguments were misplaced because the government had a valid warrant, and “one does not enjoy the privacy to commit a crime.” The families also asserted that Apple “routinely modifies its systems” to comply with Chinese government directives.

California’s so-called three-strikes law if convicted.

He told authorities he had been “viciously attacked” and was fleeing for his life when he struck two people with his pickup truck at a Compton burger stand.

Terry Carter, 55, was killed and Cle “Bone” Sloan, 51, survived his injuries.

The incident was captured by surveillance cameras from Tam’s Burgers.

Defendant Marion “Suge” Knight attends a hearing with attorney Thomas Mesereau in his murder case in Los Angeles, California in this July 7, 2015.

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Virginia policewoman killed on her first day on job; Army sergeant charged county police department said.

Inside the home, police found a woman shot to death and an 11-year-old, who was unharmed, Hudson said.

Army Sergeant Ronald Hamilton, 32, who is stationed at the Pentagon Officer Ashley Guindon (C) is pictured with officer Steven Kendall (L) and Lt. Col. just outside Washington, has B. Barnard (R) in this Prince William County Police Department photo released been charged in the shooting having been sworn in on February 26, 2016. and was being held without

An off-duty U.S. Army day after she was sworn in bond, Prince William County sergeant stationed at the as a member of the force, the Commonwealth Attorney Paul Pentagon has been charged department said.

Ebert said. with fatally shooting a Virginia Two other officers, Hamilton was police officer on her first day Jesse Hempen, 31, and David expected to be arraigned on on the job as she responded McKeown, 33, were also shot Monday, Ebert said. to a domestic disturbance at during the altercation and “It’s a sad day for a home outside Washington, remained hospitalized, Chief everyone in this room. It’s a authorities said on Sunday.

Steve Hudson said during a sad day for law enforcement,”

Ashley Guindon, 28, news conference.

Ebert said during the press an officer with the Prince Guindon, Hempen and conference standing next to a William County Police and a McKeown were shot at a home photo of Guindon.

U.S. Marine Corps veteran, they were called to in Lake Guindon was a died of her wounds after being Ridge, about 15 miles (24 km) graduate of Embry-Riddle shot on Saturday evening, a southwest of Washington, the Aeronautical University in

Children sacrificed to bring luck in Uganda elections: charity

Six cases of the mutilation and murder of children as “good luck” sacrifices were reported during the recent Ugandan elections, a children’s charity said.

“Child sacrifice cases are common during election time as some people believe blood sacrifices will bring wealth and power,” said Shelin Kasozi of Kyampisi Childcare Ministries (KCM), a charity that cares for survivors of attempted child sacrifice.

She said the cases were reported from October to February in Ssembabule, Mukono, Buikwe and Mubende districts in central Uganda. Suspects had been apprehended, but the cases had yet to go to court, she said.

President Yoweri Museveni won a Feb. 18 election, extending his 30-year rule in a vote criticized by the United States and European Union. Ugandans also voted in municipal and parliamentary elections.

Moses Binoga, coordinator of the anti-trafficking task force at the interior ministry, said children had been reported missing in the

election period. But he could not confirm KCM’s reports and said investigations were ongoing.

He said seven child and six adult sacrifice cases were reported in the country in 2015, compared to nine child and four adult sacrifice cases reported in 2014.

Binoga said the mutilated bodies of children and adults had been found, some with hearts or livers ripped out. In two cases reported last year the victims’ heads were missing, he said.

In a 2012 case, 82-year-old Hanifa Namuyanja was sentenced to 15 years in jail for taking part in the sacrifice of her granddaughter Shamim Nalwoga.

Police found the girl’s body with her tongue and eyes cut out and genitals mutilated, the court heard.

The United Nations said last year that attacks on albino people in Africa were on the rise, linked to a growing demand from political hopefuls for body parts prized in black magic in the run up to elections in several African countries.

Ohio pastor fatally shot during church services, brother a suspect

An Ohio pastor was shot and killed as he was conducting church services on Sunday morning, with the suspected gunman being his brother, police said.

The pastor, identified by the Montgomery County Coroner Office as William Schooler, 70, was leading services when he was shot, said Dayton police Sergeant Mike Williams.

Dispatch reports show the shooter was believed to be Schooler’s brother, Williams said.

Local NBC affiliate WCMH-

TV reported that witnesses said Schooler was headed back to the pulpit after stepping aside while the choir sang, when his brother followed him and shot him.

The television station reported that the brother, Daniel Schooler, 68, was arrested at the scene.

Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the arrest of Schooler.

Williams said police were not yet releasing additional details of the incident.

Daytona Beach, Florida, where she earned a degree in aeronautics. She also served in the Marine Corps Reserve and has family members in law enforcement, according to the county.

The officer was a 2005 graduate of Merrimack High School in New Hampshire, the principal, Kenneth Johnson, said in a statement.

Guindon interned with the department’s forensics services section while she was in graduate school. She graduated in June 2015 from the police academy, but resigned during officer field training for personal reasons. She was hired back about two weeks ago, Hudson said.

“We were struck by her passion to do this job,” Hudson said. “She clearly had

a passion to serve others.”

On Sunday, the department posted a photograph of a black ribbon draped over a squad car in honor of Guindon.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God,” the post said.

Local media showed a procession of squad cars and officers standing at attention outside of Inova Fairfax Hospital where Guindon and two other officers where brought after they were shot.

On Friday, the department sent a message on Twitter that included a photo of Guindon and a fellow officer after they were sworn in, saying that she would be working her first shifts over the weekend and adding “Be safe!”

Appeals court pauses NYC restaurant salt warning rule

A new menu from Applebee’s restaurant is seen at one of its outlet in the Manhattan borough of New York City November 30, 2015.

A New York appeals court on “filled with irrational exclusions and Monday temporarily stopped New nonsensical loopholes.” It said only York City from enforcing a new rule the City Council could impose such requiring chain restaurants to post a regulation. warnings on menu items high in The city said it believes the sodium. rule will ultimately prevail. “We

A judge in the Appellate are confident, despite the stay of Division, First Department, granted enforcement for now, that the court an interim stay of enforcement of the will uphold the sodium warning rule,” rule. Starting tomorrow, violators the Department of Health said in a would have been subject to $200 statement. It will continue to warn fines. Justice Eileen Rakower of state chains if they are not compliant, but Supreme Court in Manhattan last not issue violations while the stay is Wednesday shot down a challenge to in place. the rule by the National Restaurant A full panel of the court will Association, paving the way for decide, probably later this month, enforcement of the regulation. whether to keep the fines at bay

The rule, believed to be the until it rules on an appeal, Ricardo first of its kind in the United States, said. requires city restaurants with 15 Rakower found the city’s or more locations nationwide to Board of Health within its rights post a salt shaker encased in a to adopt the rule, which took effect black triangle as a warning next to in December, to help lower blood menu items with more than 2,300 pressure and reduce the risk of heart milligrams of sodium, the daily attacks and strokes. limit recommended by the federal Years ago, the city banned government. transfats in restaurants and required

“We are gratified that the chains to post calorie counts. appellate court recognized the However, a proposed ban on seriousness of the issues that we’ve selling sugary drinks larger than 16 raised on appeal,” said S. Preston ounces (0.5 liters) was struck down Ricardo, a lawyer for the restaurant by the state’s highest court in 2014. association.

Unlike the city’s failed soda

The group claims the rule ban, Rakower said, the salt rule did is “arbitrary and capricious” and not restrict the use of sodium.

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Record number of Americans dump US passports

The number of citizens and long-term residents cutting their official ties to Uncle Sam jumped more than 20% last year to 4,279, according to a CNNMoney analysis of the latest government data.

It’s a trend that’s been increasing in recent years.

Many of those severing links are Americans living overseas who are tired of dealing with complicated tax paperwork, a headache that has worsened since new regulations came into effect.

Eighteen times as many Americans renounced their citizenship or long-term residency in 2015 compared with 2008.

Last year was the third recordbreaking year in a row.

Unlike most other countries, the U.S. taxes its citizens on all income, no matter

where it’s earned or where they live. For Americans living abroad, that results in a mountain of paperwork so complex that they are often forced to seek professional help, forking out high fees for accountants and lawyers.

The burden has gotten heavier in recent years with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which became law in 2010.

It requires individuals to report certain foreign assets and banks to disclose all foreign accounts held by Americans. That comes on top of another rule that requires Americans to disclose foreign bank holdings above $10,000.

The regulations are part of a U.S. government campaign to fight tax evasion, given added impetus after major Swiss banks

admitted to helping Americans hide assets offshore.

But those efforts are making life difficult for the 7.6 million Americans living abroad.

As financial institutions grapple with FATCA, some overseas banks -- both big and small -- have ditched their U.S. clients, leaving some without even basic checking and savings accounts. That’s because banks that mistakenly fail to report any accounts held by Americans outside the U.S. can face steep penalties.

Some wealthy Americans who are renouncing their citizenship may end up paying lower taxes in the future. But it’s illegal to give up U.S. status to dodge paying a tax bill -- and doing so doesn’t mean authorities won’t come looking for back taxes.

Top Vatican Cardinal says Church made enormous mistakes over sex abuse

Australian Cardinal George Pell arrives for a meeting at the Synod Hall in the Vatican March 6, 2013.

Australian Cardinal George Pell said on Sunday the Catholic Church made “enormous mistakes” and dismissed cases of sexual abuse of children in “scandalous circumstances”, as he became the highest-ranking Vatican official to testify on Church abuse.

Giving evidence in front of abuse victims in a Rome hotel room, Pell told Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse that children were often not believed and abusive priests shuffled from parish to parish.

“The Church has made enormous mistakes and is working to remedy those, but the Church in many places, certainly in Australia, has mucked things up, has let people down,” Pell said via video link to the commission in Sydney.

“I’m not here to defend the indefensible.”

The Australian inquiry into sexual abuse cases which occurred decades ago has taken on wider implications about accountability of Church leaders because of Pell’s high position in the Vatican, where he now serves as finance minister.

Pell, 74, has become the focal point for victims’ frustration over what they say has been an inadequate response from the Catholic Church to the abuse claims. Pell himself is not accused of sexual abuse and has twice apologized for the Church’s slow response.

When pressed on specific situations involving particular priests some 40 years ago, Pell repeatedly said he couldn’t recollect the incidents being put to him, at one point citing “a senior moment”, angering witnesses in both Rome and Sydney.

“He is an intelligent man, he is in such a high position, we all have our seniors moments but not on something like this,” Trish Charter, who says she was abused between the ages of four and eight at an orphanage run by the Sisters of Mercy, said in Sydney.

Around 15 abuse victims and supporters traveled to Rome on the back of a crowd-funding campaign to see Pell give evidence after he said he was unable to travel to his native Australia because of heart problems.

In Sydney, victims’ supporters gathered outside the

Commission’s hearing rooms, holding hands in prayer and carrying signs saying “Pope Sack Pell Now” and “Pell go to hell”.

Last year, Pell denied accusations made at Commission hearings that he had tried to bribe a victim to remain quiet, that he ignored another complaint and that he was complicit in the transfer of a pedophile priest. The alleged events took place in the 1970s and 1980s when Pell was a priest in Australia.

Australia’s bishops have rallied behind Pell, calling him “a man of integrity who is committed to the truth”.

Pell said on Sunday that too many allegations of abuse “were dismissed and sometimes they were dismissed in absolutely scandalous circumstances”.

“They were very, very, very plausible allegations made by responsible people that were not followed up sufficiently,” he said, adding he believed the faults were personal rather than structural failings.

“Unfortunately, original sin is alive and well,” Pell said. “There’s tendency to evil in the Catholic Church too and sometimes it’s better, sometimes it’s worse but for good or for ill the Church follows the patterns of the societies in which it lives.”

On Sunday, Pell’s office released a photo of the Cardinal tying a yellow ribbon around a fence in the Vatican Gardens, joining a campaign started by the Australian Loud Fence movement.

The group first hung colored ribbons on a fence outside a Catholic school in the rural town of Ballarat, where abuse was rife, with the bright colors designed to give a voice to child victims who were silenced.

List of 88th annual Academy Award winners List of winners at Sunday’s 88th annual Academy Awards presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Best Picture: “Spotlight.”

Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant.”

Actress: Brie Larson, “Room.”

Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance, “Bridge of Spies.”

Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, “The Danish Girl.”

Directing: Alejandro G. Inarritu, “The Revenant.”

Foreign Language Film: “Son of Saul.”

Adapted Screenplay: “The Big Short.”

Original Screenplay: “Spotlight.”

Animated Feature Film: “Inside Out.” Production Design: “Mad Max: Fury Road.”

Cinematography: “The Revenant.”

Sound Mixing: “Mad Max: Fury Road.”

Sound Editing: “Mad Max: Fury Road.”

Original Score: “The Hateful Eight.”

Original Song: “Writing’s on the Wall” from “Spectre.”

Costume Design: “Mad Max: Fury Road.”

Documentary Feature: “Amy.” Documentary (short subject): “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness.”

Film Editing: “Mad Max: Fury Road.”

Makeup and Hairstyling: “Mad Max: Fury Road.”

Animated Short Film: “Bear Story.”

Live Action Short Film: “Stutterer.”

Visual Effects: “Ex Machina.”

Chris Rock transforms Oscars into biting racial commentary

Comedian Chris Rock launched his return stint as Oscar host on Sunday by immediately and unabashedly confronting the racially charged elephant in the room - the furor over the all-white field of performers nominated for Hollywood’s highest honors.

In an opening monologue peppered with biting commentary about what he described as “sorority”-style discrimination pervading the film industry, Rock set the stage for a night of running gags that repeatedly returned to themes of racial politics.

In doing so, he transformed a glittering awards show long known for self-reverential pomp into a 3 1/2-hour live ABC telecast punctuated by withering satire riffing on issues of inclusion and diversity raised by the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite social media campaign and the Black Lives Matter movement.

But the issue of race was just one element that made the 88th edition of the Academy Awards likely to go down as one of the most socially conscious shows in Oscar history. Messages ranged from Vice President Joe Biden’s special appearance urging a stand against sexual violence on college campuses to best actor winner Leonardo DiCaprio’s impassioned appeal to take care of the planet.

The difference in tone was evident from the start. Strolling on stage in a white dinner jacket and bow tie, Rock welcomed the audience to a show “otherwise known as the white People’s Choice awards,” adding, “You realize if they nominated hosts, I wouldn’t even get this job.”

From that moment on, it was clear Rock would be pulling no punches, and that his no-holdsbarred message could help the film Academy come to grips with its diversity problem.

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More than 200 patients at NJ hospital possibly exposed to HIV, hepatitis

More than 200 people treated at a New Jersey medical center may have been exposed to HIV or hepatitis B or C because of a former employee accused of tampering with drugs, the hospital said on Thursday.

Shore Medical Center in Somers Point, located on the southern New Jersey coast outside of Atlantic City, sent letters last week to 213 patients who were treated with certain intravenous medications, including morphine, between June 1, 2013 and Sept. 17, 2014.

“We have been working with public health authorities to determine if patients could have been exposed to blood-borne pathogens at Shore through contact with this employee’s blood,” said hospital spokesman Brian Cahill in a statement.

Free testing and support are being offered to the patients, the hospital said. New Jersey Health

A nurse prepares a bag of saline at Intermountain Healthcare’s Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, Utah April 1, 2014.

Department spokeswoman Dawn Thomas described the risk of exposure as low.

Frederick McLeish, 53, a former pharmacist at the hospital,

North Carolina police officer kills suspect, sparks protest

A Raleigh, North Carolina, police officer on Monday killed a man who was fleeing arrest, authorities said, and a local TV station reported protesters chanting “black lives matter” gathered at the scene.

Raleigh police did not give the race of either the officer or the dead man. But a black woman who identified herself as the victim’s mother told local television the officer was white and that her son was shot in the back as he ran away.

Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra DeckBrown told reporters that the suspect was running from an officer who sought to arrest him for a drug offense. He was shot near a convenience store just after 12 p.m. A gun was found near the body.

The deaths of African-Americans, many of them unarmed, at the hands of police over the past few years have sparked a debate around the United States and on the presidential campaign trail. The Black Lives Matter movement sprang up following deaths in Ferguson, Missouri, and elsewhere.

A crowd gathered at the scene of the shooting in Raleigh, North Carolina’s capital, and chanted “black lives matter,” according to WTVDTV in Raleigh. The American Civil Liberties Union’s North Carolina chapter posted on Twitter that a vigil would be held for the victim.

The officer was identified by police late on Monday as D.C. Twiddy, 29. He has been placed on administrative duty per department policy.

The woman who identified herself as the dead man’s mother, Rolanda Byrd, told local media that she had heard from “four or five people” that her son, Akiel Denkins, was “shot seven times by a white officer with a bald head.”

Deck-Brown said the State Bureau of Investigation and the police department will investigate and send a report to the City Council within five business days.

“I ask for your prayers for the families, for our police department and, most of all, for our community,” said Deck-Brown, who is black.

The Raleigh City Council was scheduled on Monday to discuss whether to start requiring police officers to wear body cameras, but the issue was removed from the agenda after the shooting, the ACLU said.

“Far too many people of color are victims of wrongful targeting and excessive use of force by law enforcement officers across the country, and North Carolina is not immune to that reality,” said Sarah Preston, the group’s acting executive director.

is accused of removing the drugs from vials intended to be used in the preparation of intravenous medications for patients, and replacing them with a saline solution.

His attorney, John Zarych, declined to comment on the case.

The hospital detected a problem and fired McLeish, of Egg Harbor Township, after an internal investigation. On Jan. 21 he was indicted by an Atlantic County grand jury on charges of drug tampering, theft and drug possession. He was released on bail the same day, according to a court official.

On Monday, McLeish was arraigned in Atlantic County Superior Court. A status hearing, at which he is expected to enter a plea, has been scheduled for March 7.

McLeish had been authorized to prescribe, dispense or administer medication, according to the Atlantic County prosecutor’s office.

The hospital, state health department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are still investigating.

A Stern Mitt Romney Attacks Donald Trump as ‘a Phony’ and ‘a Fraud’ for suckers: He gets a free ride to the White House and all we get is a lousy hat.”

The former Massachusetts governor and 2012 presidential candidate, who considered making a third run in 2016, argued that Mr. Trump’s economic policies would create another recession and that he is not suited to represent America on the global stage. He lamented that Mr. Trump has called for bringing back torture and for punishing the innocent families of terrorists. And he expressed concern that, if elected, Mr. Trump would erode the foundations of American democracy.

“He cheers assaults on protesters,” Mr. Romney said. “He Mitt Romney criticized Donald J. Trump in applauds the prospect of twisting a speech to rally Republicans around one the Constitution to limit First of Mr. Trump’s rivals.

Amendment freedom of the press.

Mitt Romney called This is the very brand of anger Donald J. Trump “a phony” and “a that has led other nations into fraud” in an impassioned speech the abyss.” on Thursday in which he urged The public skewering Republicans to rally around of Mr. Trump was also deeply another candidate and warned personal. Mr. Romney accused that a Trump presidency could him of being an overrated lead Americans into a dark abyss. businessman, bemoaned his

The hastily organized mockery of the disabled and speech, which was delivered pointed out his history of marital in Utah, was a last-ditch effort affairs while predicting that Mr. among leaders in the Republican Trump would be an embarrassing Party to blunt Mr. Trump’s commander-in- chief. momentum before he runs away “There is dark irony in with the presidential nomination. his boasts of his sexual exploits Mr. Romney has been criticizing during the Vietnam War while Mr. Trump on social media John McCain, whom he has in recent weeks, calling on mocked, was imprisoned and him to release his tax returns tortured,” Mr. Romney said. and arguing that slowness to In an instance of old denounce the Ku Klux Klan was rivals uniting, Mr. McCain disqualifying for a presidential praised Mr. Romney for speaking candidate. out.

On Thursday Mr. Romney “I share the concerns was unsparing, eviscerating Mr. about Donald Trump that my Trump as unstable, immoral and friend and former Republican cruel. nominee, Mitt Romney, described

“Donald Trump is a in his speech today,” Mr. McCain phony, a fraud,” Mr. Romney said said in a statement. “I would also to applause. “His promises are echo the many concerns about Mr. as worthless as a degree from Trump’s uninformed and indeed Trump University. He’s playing dangerous statements on national members of the American public security issues that have been

raised by 65 Republican defense and foreign policy leaders.”

Mr. Romney spoke for about 20 minutes before more than 600 people at the Hinckley Institute of Politics in Salt Lake City. While the audience was generally supportive, there were some skeptics in the crowd.

Max Chaz, who backed Mr. Romney in 2012, arrived in a “Make America Great Again” hat that is the hallmark of Mr. Trump’s campaign. He was turned off by Mr. Romney’s late effort to tilt the election and said it was “bordering on tyranny when the party turns around at this date after Trump has been so successful and decide they don’t like the outcome.”

It remained unclear what influence Mr. Romney still has with Republican primary voters who have become increasingly wary of “establishment” politicians. So far, he has declined to formally endorse any of the Republican candidates, although there were rumors that he might support Senator Marco Rubio.

While he did not single out a favorite on Thursday, Mr. Romney made clear that he is pulling for anyone who can stop Mr. Trump.

“Of the remaining candidates, the only serious policy proposals that deal with the broad range of national challenges we confront have come from Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and John Kasich,” Mr. Romney said.

Mr. Trump responded quickly and forcefully and was expected to offer a full-throated rebuttal during an afternoon campaign rally. In an interview on MNSBC earlier Thursday, he recalled that Mr. Romney “begged” for his endorsement four years ago. “He ran one of the worst campaigns, as you know, in presidential history,” Mr. Trump said. “That was an election that should have been won by the Republicans.”

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TECHNOLOGY

Google’s self-driving car team beefs up auto experience

positions on the team, and many are related to manufacturing. The team currently has six people with such experience, including purchasing, supplier development and supply chain management.

Hires with manufacturing skills could help Google find and coordinate with a partner to build a vehicle, said Paul Mascarenas, a former Ford executive who is president of FISITA, the International Federation of Engineering Societies.

Google is also engaged in discussions with federal and state regulators about how to revise A prototype of Google’s own self-driving vehicle is seen during a media preview of Google’s current motor vehicle safety standards to autonomous vehicles in Mountain View, California accommodate autonomous cars.

Google’s self-driving car Google has not disclosed The competition for technical team is expanding and hiring more details about the size or composition of talent is intensifying as tech and people with automotive industry its self-driving car team, and Johnny automotive companies race to build expertise, underscoring the company’s Luu, spokesman for Google’s car team, driverless vehicles. Beyond Google, the determination to move the division declined to comment. players include Tesla, established car past the experimental stage.

The team could have makers such as Daimler AG and GM

The operation now employs additional members who do not and, and technology companies such at least 170 workers, according to a publish profiles on LinkedIn. as Apple Inc and Uber Technologies Reuters review of their profiles on Google has said previously Inc [UBER.UL].

LinkedIn, the business-oriented social that it intends to ready the technology Google’s team is being network. Many are software and for a marketable self-driving car by assembled by John Krafcik, an systems engineers, and some come 2020, but it may never manufacture industry veteran who previously from other departments at Google. vehicles itself. headed Hyundai Motor Co’s U.S.

More than 40 of the employees The tech giant is more likely operations and is an expert in product listed on LinkedIn have previous to contract out manufacturing - much development and manufacturing. automotive industry experience, with like Apple does with iPhone - or to Krafcik joined Google in September skills ranging from exterior design license technology to existing car 2015. to manufacturing. They hail from a manufacturers, automotive industry Another senior executive wide range of companies, including experts said. Licensing would follow with previous automotive experience, Tesla Motors Inc, Ford Motor Co and the model Google has used with its Paul Luskin, was hired last month General Motors Co. Android operating system for mobile as operations manager, according

For a look at the composition devices. to his Linkedin profile. An engineer of Google’s self-driving car team, see In the past four weeks, with stints at Jaguar Cars, Ford tmsnrt.rs/1oxX4Lg Google has advertised nearly 40 new and Japanese supplier Denso Corp,

Luskin most recently was president of Ricardo Defense Systems, a unit of Britain’s Ricardo PLC, according to the Linkedin profile.

Google hired industry veteran Andy Warburton in July to head the vehicle engineering team, according to his Linkedin profile. Warburton spent two years as a senior engineering manager at Tesla and 16 years as an engineering manager at Jaguar.

A third auto veteran, Sameer Kshisagar, joined Google in November as head of global supply management on the self-driving car team. Kshisagar is a manufacturing expert who previously worked for GM, according to his Linkedin profile.

Luskin, Warburton and Kshisagar did not respond to requests for comment.

Google’s self-driving car group also has tapped people with experience beyond the auto industry, including aerospace (Boeing, SpaceX, Jet Propulsion Lab) and electronics (Intel, Samsung, Motorola), according to LinkedIn profiles.

Krafcik and Chris Urmson, director of the car team, have said they want to forge partnerships with established automakers and others to build vehicles. Krafcik made a public pitch for alliances at an auto industry conference in Detroit in January.

However, Google may have to look farther than the auto industry to find a manufacturing partner, said Raj Rajkumar, a CarnegieMellon University professor who advises companies on self-driving car development.

US jobless claims rise, trend points to firming labor market

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, but the underlying trend continued to point to a strengthening labor market.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 278,000 for the week ended Feb.

27, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The prior week’s claims were unrevised.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims slipping to 271,000 in the latest

week. A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors influencing last week’s claims data and only claims for Oklahoma had been estimated.

Claims have now been below the 300,000 threshold, which is associated with healthy labor market conditions, for 52 straight weeks. That is the longest period since the early 1970s.

The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week

volatility, fell 1,750 to 270,250 last week, the lowest level since late November.

While the claims data has no bearing on Friday’s employment report for February as it falls outside the survey period, it was the latest indication that the labor market remains on solid footing despite a recent tightening in financial market conditions sparked by worries of a recession.

A report on Wednesday showed strong private sector hiring last month, suggesting a pick-up in

overall job growth.

According to a Reuters survey of economists, nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 190,000 jobs last month after rising 151,000 in January. The unemployment rate is seen steady at an eight-year low of 4.9 percent.

The claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits after an initial week of aid rose 3,000 to 2.26 million in the week ended Feb. 20. The four-week average of the so-called continuing claims slipped 750 to 2.26 million.

Apple launches support page on Twitter

Apple Inc launched a immediate cheers on Twitter. One new Twitter account on Thursday fan was Jack Dorsey (@jack), chief dedicated to customer support, a executive of the social media move that expanded the company’s platform. social media presence and prompted “A HUGE welcome to @ immediate reaction from users AppleSupport! Now using Twitter to complaining about their devices. provide customer support through

The Cupertino, Calif.-based tweets and DMs!” maker of phones, computers and Apple users have already watches said in a tweet under the sought to take advantage of the handle @applesupport that it would new avenue for customer support. @ provide tips and tricks to users AppleSupport had more than 48,000 online. followers as of midday on Thursday.

The new account prompted “.@AppleSupport How do I remove

phone number or contacts from memory so I don’t accidentally dial them. They’re NOT in my address book,” wrote Chris Powers (@ cpowers) on Thursday morning.

Apple replied to Powers’ tweet in less than 2 hours.

But some people just used the account to complain.

Logan (@loganthefirst) tweeted, “@AppleSupport Hey, your Trailers app really isn’t good.

Fandango has updates for showings on Saturday yet your app just sits

there, blank.”

The account illustrates how Apple is expanding its social media presence, which has so far been minimal. The company does not have its own corporate Twitter account.

But last year, it created a support account called @AppleMusicHelp to assist users with downloading tunes and creating playlists.

So far that account has 18,000 followers.

A Twitter spokesman was not available for comment.

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Zuckerberg says no place for hate speech on Facebook

BERLIN — Mark Zuckerberg conceded Friday that Facebook didn’t do enough until recently to police hate speech on the social media site in Germany, but said it has made progress and has heard the message “loud and clear.”

German authorities, concerned about racist abuse being posted on Facebook and other social networks as the country deals with an influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants, have been pressing social media sites for months to crack down.

The Facebook CEO talked personally about the issue in September with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and met her chief of staff during a visit to Germany this week. The Merkel meeting “really highlighted how much more we needed to do in this country,” he said at a town hall event in Berlin.

“Hate speech has no

place on Facebook and in our community,” he said. “Until recently in Germany, I don’t think we were doing a good enough job. And I think we will continue needing to do a better and better job.”

Zuckerberg pointed to efforts, including funding a team to work with police to combat hate speech on Facebook. He said learning more about German law has led the company to expand its view of “protected groups” there and “to now include hate speech against migrants as an important part of what we just now have no tolerance for.”

“There’s still work to do,” he said. “We want to do that, but I think we hear the message loud and clear and we’re committed to doing better.”

Z u c k e r b e r g , meanwhile, faced other issues at his own company headquarters in Menlo Park, California. He lashed out in

an internal memo this week at employees who crossed out “black lives matter” on Facebook’s signature walls and replaced the words with “all lives matter.”

The incidents apparently continued although Zuckerberg told employees they were unacceptable.

“I was already very disappointed by this disrespectful behavior before, but after my communication I now consider this malicious as well,” Zuckerberg wrote in a letter published by the website Gizmodo and confirmed by a Facebook source who demanded anonymity because the issue was an internal matter.

“There are specific issues affecting the black community in the United States, coming from a history of oppression and racism,” Zuckerberg wrote. “’Black lives matter’ doesn’t mean other lives don’t — it’s

Mark Zuckerberg simply asking that the black an influx that has prompted community also achieves the an increasing number of justice they deserve.” countries to impose national

In Berlin, Zuckerberg border restrictions. praised Germany’s approach “German leadership in to Europe’s migrant crisis. the refugee crisis, I think, has Merkel so far has maintained been inspiring and is a model an open-door policy for for the world,” Zuckerberg refugees, seeking an elusive said. “I hope the U.S. follows diplomatic solution to reduce Germany’s lead on this.”

Brazil economy shrinks by nearly 4 percent

SAO PAULO — In its worst performance for 25 years, the Brazilian economy shrank by nearly 4 percent in 2015, according to official figures published on Thursday.

The IBGE statistics bureau said gross domestic product contracted by 3.8 percent as the country suffered low commodity prices, rising inflation and high interest rates.

Industrial output fell 6.2 percent and services contracted 2.7 percent, with only the agricultural sector posting at least weak growth of 1.8 percent, the lowest level since 2012.

The declining value of the Brazilian real, which fell by almost 50 percent against the dollar last year, helped to boost exports by

6.1 percent while imports of goods and services fell by 14.1 percent.

“The situation would have been even worse had it not been for the currency,” said Virene Matesco, a professor at the Fundacao Getulio Vargas, a top Brazilian university. “But the steep drop in the imports of machinery and equipment is a major worry.”

Last year also saw investment plans slashed by 14 percent and the dismissal of more than 1 million workers.

“The fall in investment is extremely bad. When you stop investing, you start compromising the future of the country,” Matesco said.

Though external factors such as China’s slowdown and the

fall in the prices of commodities have played a part in Brazil’s dismal economic performance, a political crisis has exacerbated the situation. President Dilma Rousseff faces impeachment proceedings in a hostile congress over claims she used public banks to plug gaps in the budget.

“The economy is like a car that is stuck in the mud,” Matesco said. “Congress is supposed to be the tractor, but the tractor is broken.”

The figure released Thursday is the worst since 1990, when GDP contracted by 4.3 percent.

GDP in 2015 came to $1.5 trillion while per capita GDP was $7,400 — 4.6 percent less than in 2014.

Trolls who impersonate others online could face UK charges

LONDON — Britain’s prosecution service says people could be charged if they create fake online profiles in order to harass or humiliate others.

The Crown Prosecution Service says it is updating its guidelines to reflect “new and emerging crimes” in the social media age.

Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders said Thursday that “we are seeing more and more cases where social media is being used as a method to facilitate both existing and new offenses,” including domestic abuse and violence against women.

The new guidelines say that it may be an offense to create a fake online profile in someone else’s name in order to “damage their reputation and humiliate them.”

Prosecutors are starting a six-week public consultation on revising the rules for online crime, which were last updated in 2012.

Amazon drops encryption feature in Fire tablet software

Amazon.com Inc has quietly scrambles data on a device so that it dropped support for disk encryption can be accessed only if the user enters on its Fire tablets, saying the feature the correct password. Cryptologist that secures devices by scrambling Bruce Schneier said Amazon’s move data was not popular with customers. to remove the feature was “stupid”

Privacy advocates and some and called on the company to restore users criticized the move, which came it. to light on Thursday even as Apple Inc “Hopefully the market will tell them to was waging an unprecedented legal do otherwise,” he said. battle over U.S. government demands Amazon has said it intends that the iPhone maker help unlock to support Apple in the iPhone case. an encrypted phone used by San Some technology companies filed Bernardino shooter Rizwan Farook. briefs on Thursday asking a federal On-device encryption judge to overturn a court order

requiring Apple to create software tools to unlock Farook’s phone.

Amazon spokeswoman Robin Handaly said in an email that the company had removed the encryption feature for Fire tablets in the fall when it launched Fire OS 5, a new version of its tablet operating system.

“It was a feature few customers were actually using,” she said.

Digital privacy advocates said that was not a good reason for discontinuing the feature.

“Removing device encryption due to lack of customer use is an incredibly poor excuse for weakening the security of those customers that did use the feature,” said Jeremy Gillula, staff technologist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

“Given that the information stored on a tablet can be just as sensitive as that stored on a phone or on a computer, Amazon should instead be pushing to make device encryption the default -- not removing it,” Gillula said.

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Venezuela opposition sets strategy to oust President Maduro

CARACAS, Venezuela — A lawmaker says Venezuela’s opposition coalition has decided on a triplebarreled strategy to oust President Nicolas Maduro before the end of his term.

The opposition will simultaneously pursue a constitutional amendment to shorten presidential terms, a recall referendum and a campaign to pressure the embattled socialist president to resign, said opposition lawmaker Americo De Grazia.

The coalition of more than a dozen mostly centrist political parties reached the agreement on strategy after a long day of meetings Wednesday.

“We can’t commit suicide by having just one card in our hand. Common political sense tells us we need to pursue several strategies,” he said.

Maduro’s six-year term ends in 2019. The opposition won a landslide victory in legislative elections in December, and promised to find a way to remove Maduro from power within the first half of 2016.

The opposition has for years been riven by internal division and several factions have been advocating different strategies for getting rid of

Maduro. All have potential downsides.

One plan is to seek a constitutional amendment cutting presidential terms from six to four years, effectively ending Maduro’s term

But many fear that would be overturned by the Supreme Court, which has never ruled against the executive branch since Maduro’s mentor, Hugo Chavez, won the presidency in 1999.

Last month, the court overturned the one decision Congress has made since being sworn in — a vote to deny Maduro emergency powers to deal with the economy.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court banned Congress from investigating the government’s rushed appointment of 13 high court justices last year, which critics saw as an attempt to pack the court with government supporters.

A recall referendum is no sure thing either, though Maduro’s approval ratings have languished in the 20 percent range for most of his term.

The opposition would need to gather nearly 4 million signatures to trigger the recall process. If a vote was called, winning a simple majority would not be enough. The opposition would need to surpass the number of

Pro government supporters protest outside of the National Assembly building in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, March. 1, 2016. Venezuela’s Supreme Court is banning congress from investigating the government’s rushed appointment last year of 13 high court justices. The ruling came just hours before lawmakers are set to debate the issue and sets up another likely clash between the opposition controlled congress and President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist administration. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) votes Maduro won in 2013. than double in 2016, reaching 720

Maduro already has repeatedly percent. dismissed calls for his resignation, Last year, the White House accusing critics of purposely sowing declared a national emergency with economic chaos to destabilize his respect to Venezuela and imposed administration. sanctions on high-ranking officials

Venezuela is grappling with accused of human rights abuses. On chronic shortages, a deep recession, Thursday, President Barack Obama and widespread fears the country will renewed the about-to-expire decree, default on its debt. The International citing continued persecution of Monetary Fund predicts inflation, opposition politicians, curtailment of already the world’s highest, will more free press and government corruption.

Bank of America revs up auto loans business despite warning signs

Bank of America (BAC.N) is making a big push into auto lending just as regulators are sending warning signals, losses from auto loans are rising, and rivals are growing more cautious after years of strong returns.

The bank tapped mortgage executives Matt Vernon and John Schleck to lead the auto lending business last May, saying they would be able to sell auto loans alongside other products such as checking accounts and home equity loans.

In interviews, the executives and their boss, D. Steve Boland, who oversees a broad swath of consumer lending, said they still see room for growth from borrowers who have good credit. They have hired extensively in recent months, adding dozens of loan officers and salespeople.

But some competitors and bank analysts said hiring doesn’t make sense at this stage, because auto sales may be close to peaking, and consumer credit is showing signs of weakness.

Industry-wide, banks classified $1.1 billion worth of auto loans as uncollectible in the fourth quarter, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. That is up 15 percent from the year-ago period, and up 39 percent since the fourth quarter of 2011. Ultimately, much of that bad debt turns into losses for the banks.

For a graphic showing auto loans that are 30-89 days past due and an auto sales projection, see tmsnrt. rs/24xv9vV

“I’m not actively hiring or growing our operations across the platform. That’s for sure,” said Andrew Stuart, head of TD Auto Finance, which is slightly smaller than Bank of America’s auto business.

At a Feb. 10 conference, Capital One Financial Corp (COF.N) CEO Richard Fairbank said that while auto loans provided “once in a lifetime type returns” after the financial crisis, the business has begun to lose strength. In a January interview on CNBC, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon called the market “stretched.”

Portales Partners analyst Charles Peabody said Bank of America is late to the auto loans party. But in its defense, he noted that the bank’s Chief Executive Brian Moynihan and his management team were too busy trying to resolve mortgage-related issues when the auto lending business seemed like a smarter bet.

“They should have been beefing this thing up two years ago, but two years ago Moynihan was still trying to stabilize the ship,” Peabody said.

SLOWING MOMENTUM All banks are struggling to boost revenue during a period of stubbornly low interest rates and tough post-crisis regulation, but Bank of America has felt the pain more acutely than most of its peers.

The second-largest U.S. bank by assets, Bank of America trades at just 50 percent of book value, compared to 90 percent for JP Morgan Chase

& Co (JPM.N) and 130 percent for Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N).

Bank of America took bigger losses than those rivals during the crisis, and still lags them by other key metrics, including return on equity and costs in relation to revenue.

While Bank of America showed some progress in 2015, it still has to prove it can generate consistent performance under Moynihan, who took the helm in 2010. During his tenure, the bank has paid tens of billions of dollars in fines and settlements related to mortgages that were issued before he became CEO.

Bank of America ranks 10th among U.S. auto lenders, with just 1.84 percent of the market in the fourth quarter of last year, according to data released Thursday

by Experian Automotive.

Ally Financial Inc (ALLY.N), the largest U.S. auto lender, accounts for 6 percent, followed by Wells Fargo, which ranked second with 5.57 percent. JPMorgan was fifth with 4.15 percent.

Bank of America may rank higher on Thursday, when Experian says it will release fourth-quarter data, because Vernon said much of its growth came at the end of the year.

Auto sales remain very robust. Figures carmakers released on Tuesday showed that sales climbed to a 15-year high for the month of February, driven by low gasoline prices, wage growth, and because loans are both available and cheap. But most forecasters expect sales to peak in 2016 and trend down over the next

few years.

“We remain in the ‘plateau’ camp,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Joseph Spak wrote on Tuesday, sticking to his flat sales forecast.

Stocks have broadly declined in recent months over concerns about the global economy, and some companies that make money selling or financing vehicles have gotten hit even harder. They recovered some of those losses after the latest sales figures.

Ford Motor Co (F.N) and General Motors Co (GM.N) are down roughly 6 and 11 percent, respectively, since the beginning of the year, while publicly-traded auto lenders Santander Consumer (SC.N) and Ally are down 35.7 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively. The S&P 500 Index .SPX has dropped 2.8 percent so far this year.

Delinquencies on bonds comprised of subprime auto loans hit their highest level in six years, Fitch Ratings said last week. According to the FDIC, 1.82 percent of all auto loans were 30 to 89 days past due during the fourth quarter – the highest rate on record since the FDIC began keeping track in 2011.

As weakness in the auto sector has become evident, regulators have begun to sound alarm bells.

In a speech in October, U.S. Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry warned of risks from subprime auto loans, as well as loans that mature in six years or more, which tend to be issued to customers who can’t afford monthly payments on loans with shorter durations.

In November, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York issued a report on auto lending that showed a growing portion of loans being issued to consumers with poor credit.

FOCUSED ON PRIME

Bank of America says it is focused strictly on prime and “superprime” customers.

The “majority by far” of its auto borrowers have credit scores higher than 700, Vernon said. Borrowers with credit scores above 660 are generally considered to have good credit.

Still, a decline in used car values would lower recoveries on loans that go bad, and the longer the life of the loan the greater the exposure to such a risk. Bank of America will lend up to 75 months — slightly longer than the six years Comptroller Curry cited as a concern — though Vernon said the average maturity is far lower.

The bank does not release granular data on its auto loan book, so it is hard to know how its borrowers’ credit quality has held up over time.

In data provided to Reuters, Bank of America said it made $23.7 billion in auto and recreational vehicle loans in 2015, up 41 percent from 2014.

Most of that growth came through auto dealers, the area Vernon oversees, and much of it happened in the fourth quarter after he hired seven “relationship managers” whose job is to drum up business with dealerships around the country. Vernon is targeting 5-10 percent growth for his operation in 2016.

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AMC theater chain to buy Carmike for $1.1 billion

LOS ANGELES (AP) — AMC Entertainment is acquiring rival Carmike Cinemas to create the world’s largest movie theater chain.

AMC, which Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group bought in 2012, said Thursday it is paying $1.1 billion including debt for Carmike.

The combined company will be the dominant theater chain in North American and signals Wanda’s further expansion into the entertainment industry. Just two months ago, it said it would spend $3.5 billion to acquire mid-level studio Legendary Entertainment, the co-financier of blockbusters like “Jurassic World” and “The Dark Knight.”

Wanda is also behind a multibillion-dollar studio complex being built in eastern China that was used to shoot the upcoming movie, “The Great Wall.”

AMC will pay $30 in cash per share, about 19 percent higher than the $25.11 Carmike shares closed at Thursday.

AMC theater

The acquisition will boost AMC’s theater locations by more than 70 percent to well over 600 and increase its screen count by half to nearly 8,400. Regal Entertainment Group, the current leader, runs nearly 7,400 screens in about 570 theaters.

The boards of both companies approved the deal, which is expected

to close by the end of the year following a review by government competition authorities.

AMC CEO Adam Aron said he hopes the combination will boost profits in 2017 and enable about $35 million in annual savings, while bringing upscale amenities like alcohol service, reclining chairs, and expanded

food offerings to more venues.

He said the cost of upgrading would be “reasonable” and profitable.

He also said Wanda, which owns 75 percent of AMC, was supportive of the deal, but he declined to speak on behalf of Wanda.

“Clearly, they are supportive of what AMC is doing, and what AMC is doing is we’re growing our business,” Aron said.

Aron said any possible theater closures would “depend on a conversation with the Justice Department.”

He noted there are only a few markets where the companies’ theaters overlap and where closures might occur. AMC is focused on larger cities while Carmike is in smaller markets.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. is based in Leawood, Kansas, which will be the combined company’s new headquarters. Carmike Cinemas Inc. is headquartered in Columbus, Georgia.

Home flipping exceeds peaks in some hot US housing markets

Sports Authority Sporting Goods Bridgeport

Sports Authority to file for bankruptcy as early as March-sources

Feb 23 Sporting goods retailer Sports Authority Inc intends to file for bankruptcy as early as next month, an action that would expedite the closing of some of its 450 stores across the United States, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Sports Authority missed a $20 million coupon payment on Jan. 15, triggering a 30-day grace period to work out a compromise with creditors. Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the retailer’s credit ratings Tuesday, and said that it views the missed interest payment as a limited default.

The grace period expired on Feb. 14.

The Englewood, Colorado-based company’s bankruptcy plans underscore the challenges the fragmented sporting goods industry faces as it competes with discounter Wal-Mart Stores Inc and online retailer Amazon.com Inc.

Ahead of the bankruptcy filing, Sports Authority is trying to work out a deal with creditors for a loan to get the company through bankruptcy, and line up liquidators for the 150 to 200 stores it plans to close, one of the people said this week.

The company hopes it can eventually re-emerge through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, the people added.

Sports Authority, owned by private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners LP, declined to comment.

Retailers often take advantage of bankruptcy to shed costly leases for underperforming stores all at once, or sell them.

Doing so out of Bankruptcy Court can be more costly and time-consuming.

The company has also been struggling to make payments to suppliers of golf clubs, sneakers and other sporting apparel that stock the stores. Some of the suppliers have been asking for cash upfront out of fear that they will not be paid back.

Home flipping - buying and reselling a home to make a quick buck - has risen in some hot U.S. housing markets, prompting concerns that local housing bubbles could be developing, according to a report published on Thursday.

The report by RealtyTrac found that home flipping in 12 active metropolitan areas last year was above a peak set in 2005, just two years before the U.S. mortgage market started to collapse, leading to a banking crisis and the Great Recession.

Profits generated by home flipping also hit a 10-year high, with home flippers netting an average $55,000 per sale before renovation and transaction costs. Profits topped $100,000 in expensive markets such as New York and Los Angeles.

There were also indications smaller investors were starting to pile in on the action. The number of home flippers rose to levels not seen since 2007, while the number of home flips per individual investor fell at the same time.

“When home flipping numbers go up, it is usually an indication that the housing market is in trouble,” said Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Windermere Real Estate, who was quoted in the report.

“These sales artificially inflate home prices, making housing even less affordable for buyers and increasing the risk of a bubble,” said Gardener.

Nearly 20 percent more homes were flipped than in 2005 in Pittsburgh and Memphis. Home flipping was above 2005 levels in Buffalo, New York; Birmingham, Alabama; Cleveland, and San Diego.

Seattle and San Diego, however, saw a decrease from 2014 levels.

Three metro areas in Florida, a housing market that has been prone to overheating, saw the largest increase in home flips. Lakeland, Jacksonville, and Homosassa Springs all saw home flips rise 40 percent to 50 percent.

The Miami metro area had the most homes flipped of any market nationwide. In 2015, 10,658 were flipped in Miami, representing 8.6 percent of all Miami-area sales for the year and up 4 percent as a share of all sales from 2014.

The report defines a home flip as any transaction that occurred on the same property twice within 12 months. It surveyed 110 U.S. metro areas.

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Quarterback Manning Fewer than half Rio Games tickets sold: to announce retirement, organizers report says

Quarterback great Peyton Manning is expected to announce his retirement within a week, the Denver Post reported on Saturday.

The newspaper reported that after meeting recently with Denver Broncos general manager John Elway, “Manning is certain” the time has come to call it a day.

Manning helped the Denver Broncos defeat the Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl earlier this month.

The victory was his second National Football League championship in a storied career in which he was named the league’s Most Valuable Player five times in 17 seasons, 13 with the Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) puts on his helmet before Super Bowl Indianapolis Colts and four with 50 against the Carolina Panthers at Levi’s Stadium. the Broncos.

Manning, who turns 40 on on Thursday that he would not good talk,” Elway said.

March 24, said after the game that pressure his quarterback to “As I said after the game, he would contemplate his future make a decision and that the pair we’ll give him as much time as he before making an announcement, planned to meet again in the next needs. He still needs some more and it has been widely assumed week or so. time so we’re going to afford him that will retire.

“I met with Peyton a that time. He deserves it after 18

Elway told NFL.com couple nights ago and we had a years in this league.”

Philippines’ Pacquiao slides in opinion poll after anti-gay comments The popularity of Philippine boxer Manny Pacquiao has declined following his anti-gay comments, but the former eightdivision world champion could still win May Senate elections, an independent opinion poll showed on Friday.

The Bible-quoting Pacquiao’s description of gays as “worse than animals” drew criticism last month on social media at home and abroad, and cost him an endorsement deal with Nike, the world’s largest sportswear maker.

The 37-year-old sitting congressman was ranked in the 11th to 14th position for 12 vacant seats in the upper house of Congress in a Feb. 15 to 20 survey, a drop from a January ranking of 8th to 10th place.

“There was a big drop in his numbers in the latest survey,” Ronald Holmes, president of Pulse Asia, which did the survey of 1,800 people, told Reuters.

“It appears that his comments on the same-sex marriage issue had hurt his numbers, because it was widely reported in the media.”

The Feb. survey showed 34.8 percent of respondents in favor of Pacquiao, down from 46.9 percent in January. Incumbent Senator Vicente Sotto, a television comedian, topped the polls, with 63.6 percent.

Pacquiao was not the

Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, who is running got Senator in the May 2016 vicepresidential election, speaks to supporters during the start of national elections campaigning in Mandaluyong city, Metro Manila February 9. 2016. only potential winning candidate whose rating fell, Holmes said.

“His anti-gay comments could be the main reason,” he said, but added that the survey had not questioned respondents about the reason for the change.

Many in the Philippines believe Pacquiao hurt some people’s sensibilities with his remarks on same-sex marriage, which is not allowed in the country of 100 million people, 80 percent of them Roman Catholics.

There was no immediate response from Pacquiao, who is in training for what is being billed as his last professional boxing fight.

Senatorial poll rival, lawmaker Waldeon Bello, has asked the election commission to stop Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight fight next month against American Timothy Bradley, as giving him an

undue advertising advantage.

The poll body has yet to rule, but is weighing whether to set restrictions on broadcasts of the bout on April 9, exactly a month before the Philippine vote.

In the presidential race, Senator Grace Poe continued to dominate, despite a drop in her numbers to 26 percent from 30 percent in January. Vice President Jejomar Binay is catching up, in a statistical tie with 25 percent, up from 23 percent.

Southern city mayor Rodrigo Duterte and President Benigno Aquino’s handpicked successor, former interior minister Manuel Roxas, have identical scores of 21 percent.

Less than three months from the election, about 4 percent of Filipinos are still undecided.

Fewer than half the tickets for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics have been sold with about five months to go until the first Games in South America, organizers said on Wednesday.

A total of 7.5 million tickets were issued for the Aug. 5-21 Games.

“About 47 percent of tickets have been sold,” Rio 2016 communications director Mario Andrada told reporters following a progress report by organizers to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Brazil has been struggling with political turmoil, an economic downturn and the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which have all hampered preparations for the Games awarded to Rio in 2009.

Andrada said ticket revenues had reached 74 percent -- or $194 million -- of the overall target, mainly due to more expensive passes to premium events and the opening ceremony having been sold already.

“The premium events and the opening ceremony are technically sold out,” he said.

Prices for the Rio tickets range between $10 and about $1,150 for the opening ceremony. More than half the tickets cost $17 or less. The cheapest tickets at London 2012 were 20 pounds, at the time about $32 and almost double that of Rio.

The 2012 Olympics in London reached its revenue target from ticket sales months before the start due to huge initial demand and more than a million applicants missed out.

London eventually sold 8.2 million out of the 8.5 million tickets issued for the Games.

“I have no concerns at all there,” IOC President Thomas Bach told reporters.

“This is a different culture. Brazilians do not buy tickets at such early stage as the British or the Germans.

“I have no doubt when the time comes these numbers will increase.”

Bach also backed Games organizers’ cost cuts in recent months, saying they were necessary given the crisis in Brazil.

“We all have recognized the very difficult situation the country is in and the reasons for this crisis is beyond the influence of the organizing committee,” he said.

Rio organizers said Brazil would have necessary doping legislation in place by a March 18 deadline set by the World Anti-Doping Agency to conform with global legislation, or risk leaving a $25 million testing lab in Rio unused.

A presidential decree will be issued on March 15, three days ahead of the deadline “to solve this problem”, Andrada said, because there was not sufficient time for a law to pass through parliament first.

Organizers are also increasing water testing at Guanabara Bay, where sailing and swimming events will be held, and the lagoon that will host rowing and canoeing events in an effort to monitor water pollution there, a major concern for athletes.

Water tests will be conducted at the two sites every two days from April onwards, with daily tests planned throughout the Olympics.

“What we are promising we are doing,” Games chief Carlos Nuzman told reporters.

“All venues are almost around 95 percent ready. The velodrome (for cycling) needs a little more but it will be ready... at the end of April.”

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Infantino election gives FIFA time to start tackling problems

Gianni Infantino’s election as FIFA president should give soccer’s governing body the time it needs to begin tackling the corruption and other problems that have dragged it into the worst crisis in its 112-year history, current and former officials said.

As well as electing a new president to replace Sepp Blatter on Friday, FIFA signed off on a slew of reforms that may help restore its credibility, even as dozens of its personnel past and present face criminal investigations in the United States and Switzerland.

“This will be a new era for FIFA despite the problems it faces. Let him have time to settle, to see what needs to be done and let everyone calm down a little,” Per Ravn Omdal, a former president of the Norwegian FA and FIFA

executive committee member during Blatter’s early years in charge, told Reuters.

“He has a massive task of course, but he can start work in a totally different atmosphere than the one surrounding FIFA for the last few years.”

One FIFA insider who asked not to be named said it may also help that the organisation did not pick Sheikh Salman of Bahrain, who had repeatedly had to deny any role in his country’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests five years ago.

“If Sheikh Salman had won this election, becoming president after allegations against him involving human rights abuses, the attention from the justice authorities would have been unrelenting,” he said.

“The temperature

would have gone past boiling point. We can all take a step back now.”

Greg Dyke, chairman of the English FA, also welcomed Infantino’s win.

“The last thing FIFA needed was another president bringing a pile of suspicious baggage into the job,” he said.

“Gianni comes in clean, his record as UEFA’s general secretary is first class and will stand him in good stead for his new job.”

South African Tokyo Sexwale, who withdrew his candidature for the presidency moments before the voting began, told Reuters: “I think it is a great privilege for us to see him leading this organisation out of the current quagmire it finds itself.

“I have just been to Robben Island with him to show him the place where

Newly elected FIFA President Gianni Infantino attends a news conference during the Extraordinary FIFA Congress in Zurich, Switzerland February 26, 2016.

Nelson Mandela was. I hope he will be carrying the spirit of that reconciliation which Nelson Mandela was known for,” he said.

“Gianni has got a very heavy responsibility

on his shoulders ... and he needs many people to side with him. There will be all kinds of criticism, all kinds of negatives. But I think he is strong enough to go through that.”

LeBron in no mood to justify Miami trip

Boxing headgear is seen hanging on window grills as the Great Britain’s Olympic boxing team practices at Santo Amaro club in Sao Paulo February 9, 2012.

Male boxers to abandon headgear at Rio Games after 32 years

For the first time in 32 years male boxers will be able trade punches without any headgear at this year’s Rio Games after the International Olympic Committee sanctioned a change introduced by world boxing federation AIBA.

AIBA adopted the change for amateur fighters some three years ago but needed to bring it to the IOC Executive Board, which noted it without objection on Tuesday, essentially rubber-stamping the decision and clearing the way for Rio.

The IOC said AIBA had presented medical research that

showed concussions were less likely to occur without headgear than with.

“AIBA provided medical and technical data that showed the number of concussions is lower without headgear,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. “They have done a lot of research in the last three years.

The rule will go ahead for Rio.”

Boxers have been wearing headguards since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The last Games without them were in Moscow 1980.

Women boxers, who first competed at the 2012 Olympics, will continue wearing their protective gear.

Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) dunks prior to a game against the Indiana Pacers at Quicken Loans Arena.

Cleveland’s LeBron James felt no need to justify his trip to Miami to work out with former team mate Dwayne Wade this week, telling reporters on Thursday he went “because I want to”.

James was criticized by fans and media pundits after flying to Miami on his day off and training with Wade, who he could come up against in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

If the seedings remain the same to the end of the regular season, the top-seeded Cavaliers (42-17) could meet the fourth-seeded Heat (35-26) in the conference semifinals.

Despite setting the pace in the East, questions about team chemistry continue to dog the

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Cavs, who fired Coach David Blatt in January and replaced him with Tyronn Lue.

Four-times league MVP James played with the Heat for four seasons and was in no mood to explain the trip.

“I would love to go to L.A., but (Miami is closer). It makes more sense for me to go South than go West,” he told reporters.

“But I go because I want to.”

Speculation that all is not right in the Cavs’ dressing room grew earlier this week when James said on Twitter: “It’s OK to know you’ve made a mistake. Cause we all do it at times.

“Just be ready to live with whatever comes with it and be with ... those who will protect you at all cost.”

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