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guyanatimesgy.com
tuesday, January 28, 2014
Regional
TT prime minister concerned Jamaica police probe origin of about ungodliness in country sex tape featuring schoolgirls
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rime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar said the week of prayer now taking place in the country is a demonstration of Trinadad and Tobago’s (TT) belief in the supremacy of God and that knowledge fills her with profound joy. She was speaking at the launch of the National Week of Prayer organised by the National Diversity and Social Integration and the InterReligious Organisation Ministry. The event was prompted by the shocking level of crime and lawlessness pervading the land. National Diversity Minister Rodger Samuel told the gathering of Baptists, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and other faiths that the preamble to the constitution states that TT believes in the supremacy of God. “Therefore, it is essential to turn back to God in
TT Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar
times of trouble for supreme guidance,” he said.
Persad-Bissessar said the event was recognition of the value of prayer as an important component in the lives of citizens. “At a personal level, prayer has always been important to me. I urge every woman, man and child, to commit to daily prayers for this week, and beyond. Pray in whatever way you know,” she said. “God, as our parent, knows us and accepts our prayers when we do it with love and sincerity. When you pray from your heart, God listens.” The prime minister said TT is going through a difficult period caused by greed, lawlessness, a lack of respect for elders, the abuse of children and a focus on materialism. “These are symptoms of ungodliness,” she said. (Excerpt from Trinidad
Guardian)
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he origin of a video that is being circulated on mobile devices is now at the centre of an investigation by the police force. The Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA), which is a branch of the Jamaica Constabulary, said the pictures and video in circulation, depict schoolgirls engaging in sexual acts with each other. It also shows the female students carrying out sexual acts with a man. The police report that the man depicted in the video makes the movies and then sells them. According to Education Minister Ronald Thwaites, at least one high school in the
central parish of Clarendon has already responded to news of the probe by the police. “They have gathered the school population, they have brought together the guidance counsellors and others who can help and in addition they have established a disciplinary committee that will be meeting next week. This school is doing all it can, they are being extremely concerned. “Additionally, the Ministry of Education’s region six which includes the parish of Clarendon will be sending personnel into the area on Monday and they will be remaining as long as necessary in order to assist the school authorities,” Thwaites said. (Caribbean360)
TT teen raped Foreign airlines suspend local during robbery currency ticket sales in Venezuela
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Couva couple was forced to sit helplessly as armed men raped their 15-year-old daughter on Sunday. Police said around 16:30h, a 55-yearold service station operator was in his yard preparing for work when two gunmen held him up at gunpoint. He was ordered back into his house where his wife and daughter were asleep. The family was robbed of TT$50,000 in cash and
the men bound the parents’ hands and feet before taking the teenager into another room where they raped her before fleeing the scene with the cash. A manhunt has been launched for the suspects by Superintendant Johnny Abraham and Inspector Terrence Williams. The teen was taken to the Couva District Health Centre where she was examined and discharged. (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)
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n Friday, three more international airlines joined the list of foreign carriers that have suspended local currency ticket sales in Venezuela, saying that the government owes them billions of dollars in unpaid fares. U.S. carriers American Airlines and United Airlines, along with Panama’s Copa Airlines, said they were halting ticket sales in Venezuela as a result of the
government’s failure to pay arrears that as of last month totalled US$2.6 billion, according to a statement issued on December 12, 2013 by the International Air Transport Association, an airline trade group. Under Venezuela’s complicated foreign exchange rules, the government acts as intermediary in foreign currency sales of goods and services, including air fares. Airlines that have al-
ready suspended operations include Air Canada, Tame (Ecuador) and TAP (Portugal). As of Friday, no flights in or out of Venezuela had been cancelled by foreign carriers, but the airlines had halted ticket transactions in bolivars. Sales of tickets purchased with dollars are still reportedly being made. Venezuela finds itself in a tightening shortage of for-
eign currency partly because of falling oil revenues. An increasing percentage of oil output now goes directly to China to repay cash advances that now exceed US$42 billion. Free or discounted oil that Venezuela ships to Cuba and several other Caribbean nations under the PetroCaribe agreement generates less than market rate. (Excerpt from Caribbean News
Now)
Tragic weekend as St Vincent Four buildings burnt in Jamaica in 48 hours records four road deaths
The weekend deaths bring to five, the number of people who have died in road incidents so far this year
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our people, including a national residing in Trinidad and Tobago, were killed in vehicular accidents here over the weekend, according to police. While the authorities have not yet released the
names of any of the victims of the accidents, they said two others have been hospitalised. The police said that a St Vincent and the Grenadines national, who had returned home for the Christmas hol-
idays, died when the vehicle in which she was travelling plunged over a hillside in Coulls Hill in western St Vincent on Saturday. Less than 24 hours later, three people were killed when their vehicle crashed in Maroon Hill, a community in the interior of the island. The weekend deaths bring to five, the number of people who have died in road incidents so far this year. Kenson James, an 11-year-old student of New Adelphi died at the Diamonds Health Centre on January 7 after he was struck by a vehicle, police said. (Excerpt from Caribbean360)
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riminal activities that have engulfed sections of Bay Shore in the East Rural Street of Andrew, Harbour View, recently continue to make life miserable for residents following the torching of four buildings, including three houses between Thursday and Saturday of last week. The latest incidents preceded on Sunday highlighted the underworld activities of gangsters in the area, among them the murder of citizens and burial of their bodies on the banks of the Hope River, an act that has been going on for several years, according to a former gangster close to the crimes.
Policemen kept a close watch on activities in Bay Shore, Harbour View on Sunday following a recent series of fires and reports of shooting in the area
Police confirmed that a feud between rival gang members in the area had resulted in four buildings along Everest Drive being burnt.
Residents also said gunmen had fired shots at each other, and had even shot at the police when the law enforcers attempted to intervene. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)
Peru-Chile border ruling due in The Hague
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he United Nations’ highest court is due to rule on an acrimonious dispute between Peru and Chile over their maritime border. At stake are 38,000 square kilometres (14,670 square miles) of ocean and extremely lucrative fishing grounds. Peru asked the International Court of Justice in The Hague to rule
on the matter in 2008, saying there was no legally defined sea border. It believes the border should extend in line with from the coast. But Chile insists it is on a line horizontal to the earth’s axis, citing treaties agreed in 1952 and 1954 which it says settled the maritime border on that basis. Peru’s fishing industry estimates that the disputed
Those with the most to lose are the Chilean fishermen who could be excluded from some of the world’s most lucrative waters
zone has an annual catch of 565 million Peruvian nuevo sol (US$200 million; £121 million), particularly of anchovies. Correspondents say that with intense interest in the case in both countries, there is considerable national pride at stake too. With patriotic fervour rising over the case, Peruvian politicians have urged their countrymen to
remain calm, while their Chilean counterparts have promised their fisherman financial help in the event of an ruling that affects them adversely. The leaders of both countries have also promised to abide by the decision. This is just the latest development in a history of disputes between the two, dating back to the 19th century. (Excerpt from BBC News)