13 April
The 2015 Museum Lecture Series commences tomorrow. This year the Gibraltar Museum celebrates its 85th Anniversary. This year's programme is part of a series of activities that will be announced during the course of the year and will draw on a variety of speakers who will talk on different aspects of Gibraltar's rich history, natural history, culture and heritage.
The first lecture in the series will be delivered by Museum Director, Clive Finlayson, who will be presenting a lecture entitled "Discovering the Bird People". This lecture will draw on Clive's personal story in the discovery of the special relationship which the Neanderthals of Gibraltar had with birds. The work resulted in the publication of two major papers in international journals which received much acclaim as they overturned established concepts of human behaviour. "The lecture will be a journey of exploration into the Neanderthal mind" said Clive who added "along the way we have found much about our own mind and how we have inwardly viewed the history of the world, as we are now coming to the chilling realisation that once there were other humans on this planet. We don't need to go out there looking for other forms of intelligent life - we had it here all the time.
The research continues." The lecture is free and open to all and will be held at the John Mackintosh Hall on tomorrow, at 7pm.
13-04-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR
Chess starlet raises Gibraltar's international profile
April 13, 2015
The success of Stephen Whatley at chess has increased the profile of Gibraltar in the chess world, according to the teenage prodigy.
Whatley has upped his rating by more than 100 points this year, giving other youngsters at school someone to emulate.
"There's not one country that controls junior chess," he told Panorama. "There's people from Norway, India, Russia and USA. They don't do much else apart from chess so for example the Norwegian juniors go to a chess school where they train with a 2650-rated GM, who also coached World No.1 Magnus Carlsen."
Smaller countries like Armenia, that have very little identity within the larger international community have famously done the same, creating a brand for themselves around placing players into the top 20 juniors in the world.
Challenging
Whatley played in the Under 16 section of the World Junior Chess Championships in South Africa, before participating in the Tradewise International Chess Festival at the Caleta Hotel, where he participated at the highest level.
"The tournament was a lot stronger than it had been in the previous years and I was quite successful," he said. "I finished with four out of ten, which considering I played three international masters and one FIDE Master that I shouldn't even be able to compete against, I was pleased with my result.
"I played some good strong players which was what the experience was all about but because I was at home it was a lot more comforting. But it's always daunting when you play such experienced, talented and titled players."
He said the contrast with South Africa was marked by similar strength "although here there was more of a range of different players".
The fact that both contests were very international meant there was various different styles on show to learn from and something more to add to his repertoire.
"Once you get to the highest level of the juniors it's not very different to our own open festival's masters section as it's more tactics based and the competition was so intense to the point I only played one player that was lower than my rating," said the teen chess sensation.
He said his first game against David Martinez Martin was one of the most interesting especially as it was featured in the Chess 24 website online. Now rated 2065, Whatley is well on course to become Gibraltar's first Master considering he is only 15-years-old at this point.
Hard work
Having played in the same room as the Tradewise Open's final champion Hikaru Nakamura was a humbling experience for the chess starlet, especially as the win sparked a run of form that left him at third place in the world rankings. "He's slightly different to the other players because he is incredibly tactical and renowned for his quick play," said Whatley of his hero.
Since the festival he has returned to UK where he studies in a boarding school dedicated to sports professionals like him who can improve their game. There he plays for a team in the national league, where along with his performances in our own chess festival, have helped him acquire more than a hundred points over the last few months. This makes it viable that in the next year he could become a Candidate Master which requires a FIDE rating of 2200, but at the same time it is at this stage that going gets tough.
"I keep my competitive play up but a lot of work is involved as well," he said. "It's not the easiest thing to get ready for a tournament because you're already trying to outplay your opponent in preparation, not just on the board. For the world candidates championships between the top two players in the world, they will spend seven months preparing for those twelve games.
"You can't really prepare the endings but you can prepare the start of the games and make an educated guess on what they normally play. You have to make your own judgement on what they want to achieve and understanding how the game will go, preparing mentally and in practice."
There are no more than 800 Grand Masters in the world, but some junior players are now at the 2500-level, giving them a real possibility of stepping up their game in the future to become the champions of tomorrow.
Whatley's success echoes this trend, as his favourable reputation within the English Chess Federation has helped him when representing Gibraltar at the Commonwealth Games. "When I first started playing chess Gibraltar wasn't exactly seen as a very strong country in the sport, but now there are three hundred children participating in school every week. That from 10,000 children is a large proportion and bodes well for the future."
13-04-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR
Give them a certificate of our own
April 13, 2015
Dear Sir,
With reference to: Top Spanish Legal Experts Converge in Seville to Discuss Gibraltar Legal Dimensions 10th April 2015, might I suggest we send all these experts a certificate of our own for learning to "Promote race hatred against Gibraltar". It might make some of them think, for a change!
John Borda
If it happens I will eat my Panama hat
April 13, 2015
Dear Sir,
Miss Julie Girling MEP for the South West of England and Gibraltar is over the moon with the news received, via the EU Commission of course, that by June 2015 "Gibraltar Frontier Queues will be a thing of the past". So let's all book our summer holidays on the Costa and make room for the avalanche of traffic which will flow 'uninterrupted' through the Frontier! Another 1,000 car spaces are now top priority.
Well Julie, if (a) the works on the Spanish side of the Gibraltar Frontier are in fact finished and (b) queues become a thing of the past, I'll give you an advantage. If either/or (or miraculously both) these 'commitments' become a reality, I personally will eat my Panama hat at the Piazza outside the Gibraltar Parliament on a Saturday morning. But if neither actually happen, here I lengthen the odds for you, WITHIN 30days ie end July, you Madam treat me to a slap-up meal at the Sunborn Hotel.
I would also advise, that should you be "planning a surprise visit" some time in July you book your hotel accommodation, discreetly of course, as soon as possible. July and August are traditionally our peak months for overland visitors QUEUEING FOR HOURS at the Gibraltar Frontier and they are also Señores Margallo and his lieutenant Landaluce's traditionally preferred time to send up a red flare signal to the Guardia Civil and Elite Black Beret Squad to turn the screws.
Nothing seems to delight them more than to make workers, after a day's shift, visitor and locals (with mobility problems), elderly and school children to stand or sit in cars in 30 to 40 degree heat for two to seven hours. Equally, and producing no tangible benefit to anyone at all, they enjoy seeing queues into Gibraltar tailing back to Hotel Rocamar and causing serious traffic congestion to their own unfortunate compatriots of La Linea on the Spanish side of the Frontier; sadly they're just pawns in Madrid's game.
May and June promise to be full dress rehearsals, and July and August a Royal Variety Performance, just wait and see.
Before becoming so euphoric Julie you should have taken a rain check with Sir Graham Watson in our Brussels office, I'm sure he could give you extremely valuable advise like "taking whatever Spain says with a pinch of salt" and "perhaps mañana", he's heard it all before. But please do keep the pressure up, we need you darling.
I look forward to the pleasure of your company at the Sunborn, sometime in August perhaps? I leave it for you to fit into your busy schedule, but make an early start you may have a long wait getting not Gibraltar.
At your service Madam.
Joe Brugada.
Police Authority Now Make a Mess of Announcing RGP Inspection by UK Police Watchdog
April 13, 2015
GPA Deliberately Mislead the Press and Public!
The Gibraltar Police Authority (GPA) is an independent body that is responsible for ensuring that the Royal Gibraltar Police operates as efficiently and effectively as possible within available resources; providing information on police issues to the community; operating and supervising a procedure for handling complaints against police officers; and generally for ensuring high standards of policing in Gibraltar…keep those important latter points in mind for a number of reasons I will explain later!
GPA Mislead The Press and the Public
Just before the weekend on Friday, the GPA again provided evidence, if more were needed, that the Authority 'is on its last legs of public usefulness', when after a jittery and confusing 4 or 5 hours, they finally confirmed to Panorama, that a Chronicle report that Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) is expected to send a team to Gibraltar in September to inspect the RGP. In fact what the GPA did eventually confirm to Panorama was the following "The GPA confirms that it has sent an invitation to HMIC to carry out an inspection of RGP and that, subject to confirmation, this will take place in September 2015".
However, before this newspaper finally got a definitive answer that came hours later. Panorama was given the run-a-round by the GPA. Because when we initially enquired regarding the veracity of the HMIC story, the GPA was jittery, evasive and misleading. As they informed to us that the story regarding the HMIC might have come from the RGP, inferring that it was not them!
Panorama obviously than posed the following question to the RGP:
"Earlier today we asked the GPA if they had informed any sections of the press about the HMIC visit to the RGP in September. They answered in the negative and we were told that it 'might have come from the RGP.' Can you confirm if this is true"?
An RGP spokesman soon replied the following "The RGP have not made any statements on this matter"
Totally Misleading Statement by GPA
It was of course, a totally misleading statement, when it was obviously known by the GPA that in fact the GPA chairman John Gonçalves, had already made a statement to another newspaper, that same morning, confirming the Authority had been invited to conduct an inspection, also releasing more details.
The GPA not only deliberately misled Panorama, but also the public, because as a newspaper, it is our duty to report and inform the community, especially on issue of public interest!
Watchdog exact arrival date should have been kept on a need to know!
The HMIC also known in the UK as the official police 'Watchdog' inspects all UK Police forces. Although the type of inspection the RGP will be submitted to, will have to be considered very carefully because of the present state of local policing, and particularly the tumbling figures regarding the public confidence of the police, including other areas of police activity which has come under the public spotlight in recent months… Like the enforcement of BGTW and the serious issue of allegations of Police Bullying with in the service. An important issue, that has been under investigation by the GPA for over 6 months or since last September when Panorama first broke the story. No one is publically aware what the GPA is doing, if anything.
What areas of policing are the HMIC going to inspect, this is a question we are sure many people would like to know. In fact my view has always been that these inspections by the HMIC should not be made known to the police. Because in many ways it defeats the object, if the RGP know that in 6 months time, UK inspectors are coming to examine the force on a list of policing issues, the RGP will obviously prepare themselves. It's like the police tipping-off a would be drug dealer that his house is going to be searched on such a date and time, of course nothing much is going to found when the search warrant is executed by the police!
And whilst on the subject of inspections, why is the GPA not under examination or scrutiny by the HMIC themselves, as was the case in the UK prior to 2012 before they were abolished in favour of 'police and crime commissioners' when Independent bodies like the Audit Commission and HMIC inspected police authorities - can you imagine what such an examination of the local Police Authority would turn up?
Who knows, just how the GPA is conducting its business, particularly when the GPA report there is little local crime and that the police are doing a grand job. Which is in conflict with their own public survey results, which say something completely different!
Millions Poured Into Policing!
How has the public confidence in the police allowed to get to ankle high averages as we see today?
And going back to the first few important points at the start of the article… How has the GPA ensured that the Royal Gibraltar Police has operated as efficiently and effectively as possible within available resources? The simple answer is, they haven't!
Public confidence in the police has nose dived even after the Government has spent countless millions of taxpayers money to seriously bolster police assets and increase manpower, with state of the art police launces, new marine facilities, new vehicles and importantly… more manpower!
Another important issue with the GPA, and not just with the present members, is regarding the important issue of crime figures in Gibraltar. Something the Authority has always explained away to the public as practically being unimportant or crime incidents that do not require any special attention as the Police Authority once informed us all.
But in this day and age, anybody can commit a crime, official bodies like the GPA and Police are creating a dangerous scenario by making the public complacent regarding local crime these agencies are trying create in my view, a false sense of 'nothing ever happens in Gibraltar feeling', they also appear to be very good at massaging crime figures as well, which is a dangerous game to play and should not be allowed at any expense!
Is GPA an Extension of the RGP?
Anybody can be a criminal; in fact criminals do not always look the part, as any student of criminal history will know. High status in society and holding a position of trust do not guarantee goodness, as we have seen in Gibraltar over the past few years, in particular with some high profile cases There have been princes and even Popes who have raped and murdered.
As far as the GPA is concerned, nothing much has changed, the GPA many feel is just an extension of the police force itself, this since it was created in 2006. In fact policing has taken retrograde step if anything.
The GPA as far as I am concerned is a discredited public body, and is plainly doing a disservice to both law abiding members of the public and decent members of the police. Indeed, it is their abject failure to effectively hold the local police service to account that has significantly contributed to the plummeting of public confidence in policing we see today!
13-04-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR
Spiritual healing and deliverance at the 40th anniversary of the Charismatic Movement
April 13, 2015
The Gibraltar Catholic Charismatic Renewal is pleased to announce that Fr. Ghislain Roy from Quebec, Canada, who is gifted by God as a powerful preacher and Minister of spiritual healing and deliverance, will be giving a series of Retreats in Gibraltar from the 13th to 16th April as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Charismatic Movement. This will be his first visit to Gibraltar.
All are welcome to come and participate free of charge at:
o the Cathedral of St Mary the Crowned on Monday 13th, Tuesday 14th & Wednesday 15th as from 7.30pm and
o at the Catholic Community Centre on Tuesday 14th & Wednesday 15th between 10am and 1pm. (approx.)
The Cathedral will be more accessible for everyone, including wheelchair users. The Community Centre will be more convenient for those who may find the evenings inconvenient or are otherwise occupied.
The theme for the Retreats is I HAVE COME TO BRING FIRE ON THE EARTH (Luke 12:49) and through the intercession of St Mary The Crowned, Father Ghislain will be ministering his healing and deliverance charisma with particular emphasis on the Eucharistic Celebration. Proceedings will be in French with simultaneous translation available to Spanish and English (if required).
Everyone, the young and not so young, is welcome to attend this unique opportunity to witness the Greatness of God and His gifts of spiritual healing, which in itself leads to the healing of so many ailments. Every evening there will be services seeking physical, but also most importantly, spiritual healing. Fr. Ghislain will give explanations on subjects such as deliverance and healing. He will also touch on other topics such as obstacles to the love of God from occult practices.
13-04-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR
Two new recruits for the Regiment
April 13, 2015
Two recruits from the Royal Gibraltar Regiment recently passed out at the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick.
Private Salkind (18) and Private Bannatyne (20) have both successfully completed the 26 week Combat Infantryman Course.
All infantry soldiers in the British Army must complete the course which teaches the soldier a number of skills from ceremonial drill through to war-fighting tactics. It is designed to ensure that the newly qualified solider is fully prepared to join their chosen unit and is ready for operational deployment.
Regimental Shepherd WO2 Donald Drimmie was delighted with their success and said: "This is an extremely demanding course, aside from the intense fitness challenge, the recruits must learn a wide range of skills including drill, weapon handling and field craft, most of which are regularly tested when they take part in Battle Exercises."
Private Bannatyne was seeking adventure when he decided to join the Regiment, he said: "I was looking for a challenge, I did some research and realised that joining the Army would definitely give me that. I have enjoyed the training, especially the fitness and field craft, the weather has been terrible, but in a way that has made the training extra challenging."
Both recruits will now complete a two week driver training course followed by three weeks educational training. They will then return to Gibraltar to join the Battalion.
13-04-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR
X Factor winner for May Day
April 13, 2015
The Government have announced that Sam Bailey will be the international act performing at the May Day Celebrations to be held at Grand Casemates Square on Friday 1st May 2015.
Sam Bailey is an English singer, known for winning the tenth series of the X Factor 2013 edition. As the winner of the X Factor, she received a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music and her debut single 'Skyscraper' was released after the show. The single achieved the Christmas number one position on the 22nd December 2013 and she was the first X Factor winner since 2010 to have achieved this.
During 2014, Bailey supported Beyonce in one of her UK Tours as well as performing on the X Factor Live Tour. Her debut album 'The Power of Love' was released in March and debuted at number one in the UK album charts. In support of her album, Sam has been very busy with her first ever headline tour in January and February 2015.
The May Day Celebrations will begin at 11am from the Square with a Family Fun Day to include live music and live performances by Art In Movement, Urban Dance, Kristian Celecia, Another Day, Headwires, Super Wookie, Heritage, Jet Stream and the Santos Productions Choir.
13-04-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR
