Samantha Lewthwaite arrest warrant issued by Interpol

A global hunt for Samantha Lewthwaite was under way last night after Interpol issued an international “red notice” for her arrest, describing the terrorist suspect as a “worldwide danger”.
The alert came amid speculation that Lewthwaite, the British widow of the July 7 bomber Germaine Lindsay, was linked to the attack on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping centre in which 67 people, including five Britons, were killed.
Requested by the Kenyan authorities, it calls on Interpol’s 190 member countries to watch for the 29-year-old soldier’s daughter from Aylesbury and apprehend her on sight. The notice could have been prompted by fears the mother of three had gone on the run.
“By requesting the red notice, Kenya has activated a global ‘tripwire’ for this fugitive,” said Ronald Noble, Interpol’s secretary-general.
“Through the Interpol red notice, Kenyan authorities have ensured that all member countries are aware of the danger posed by this woman, not just across the region but also worldwide.”
Interpol issued four colour photographs of Lewthwaite along with the arrest notice. One shows her with long dark hair and pouting at the camera, while the other three show her wearing the Islamic headscarf in various poses.
Neither the Kenyan or British authorities have been able to rule out involvement in the Nairobi attack by Lewthwaite, who converted to Islam aged 15
Survivors who fled the siege by Islamist gunmen in its first hours reported seeing a “pale-skinned woman” among the 10 to 15 attackers who held the mall for four days from last Saturday.
A Kenyan arrest warrant had already been issued for Lewthwaite, known as the White Widow, for charges of possessing explosives and planning bombings in tourist spots in 2011.
She is believed to have fled to Somalia where she is said to be with al-Shabaab, the extremist group that claimed responsibility for the Westgate attack.
The shopping centre remained cordoned off yesterday as Kenyan troops continued to sweep its four floors for explosive devices set by the terrorists.
There were a series of what police called “controlled detonations” throughout the day, with black smoke still
billowing from the shattered building. The final count of people who died in the siege will not be known for at least a week, according to one Western source in Nairobi with close knowledge of the investigations.
Kenyan security forces, with the assistance of Metropolitan Police forensics and bomb disposal experts, have made only a third of the mall safe, and were sweeping another third for explosives devices yesterday. The rest of the four-storey complex had collapsed and now resembled “an earthquake aftermath” inside, the source said.
“It is going to take some time, at least a week, before we can definitively say how many attackers there were, how many civilians died, and for forensics teams to be able to say with confidence what happened,” he said.
According to other sources, several gunmen were killed, several were thought to be in the collapsed part of the structure and another five or so were unaccounted for.
Channel 4 News reported that the suspected leader of the attack was a Kenyan national born to a Christian family who had later converted to Islam.
Citing multiple sources within Somalia and connected to al-Shabaab, it reported that the terrorist, who is believed to have been killed in the siege, was said to have served in the Kenyan special forces before leaving for Somalia and taking the jihadi fighting name of Omar or Umayr.
Lewthwaite is believed to use different identities. (REUTERS)
Separately, a row erupted between Kenya’s defence and police forces and its National Intelligence Service, after claims that agents had warned of the attacks but that their superiors had “suppressed” the reports.
It was reported that a pregnant policewoman had recorded a police statement after her brother, who worked for the NIS, warned her not to visit Westgate last Saturday. The officer is being sought for interrogation.

Accounts of the horror inside the mall continued to emerge. Fred Bosire, a supermarket worker, described how he was shot in the leg as he cowered behind a meat counter and watched several other people being executed.
At one point, the gunmen paused to drink bottles of pop.
“Before long they started to call out for survivors, ‘if you’re still alive, we’ll let you go’, they said,” Mr Bosire said.
“I heard some ladies call out. I wish they hadn’t. I wish they’d held on because I heard them get shot in cold blood.”

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Nairobi shopping mall attacks: many dead & injured in Kenya Al Shabaab attack
Nairobi terror attack pictures
At least 39 people have been killed and 150 injured after a gang of Islamic terrorists stormed an upmarket Kenyan shopping mall with guns and grenades and started executing non-Muslims.
Nairobi terror attack
A disciplined, highly co-ordinated attack: armed police officers provide cover for shoppers fleeing gunmen in Nairobi at the weekend
A new source of terror
Armed police leave after entering the Westgate Mall in Nairobi,
Nairobi shopping mall attack: 10 things to know about Al-Shabaab

Tweeting terrorism: How al Shabaab live blogged the Nairobi attacks.

Tragedy strikes at Holmwood again

Once again, tragedy struck the school community of Holmwood Technical High School in Manchester, following a motor vehicle crash yesterday that claimed the lives of four students.

The four died in an early-morning crash on their way to the institution leaving a feeling of sadness over their schoolmates as they learnt of the carnage.

“I’ve seen accidents before, but I’ve never experienced anything like this,” said staff member Patricia Reid-Clarke.

“This one I can’t get past,” she added.

Reid-Clarke said she was among a few teachers travelling behind the ill-fated bus that collided with a truck on the Chudleigh main road.

Reid-Clarke was especially sad about the passing of one student, who she felt could have been saved.

“We just couldn’t get the back door open. You could see her wrenching in pain,” she lamented.

Teacher Avaria Harris said the school had not fully recovered from another crash in January.

“We didn’t have any casualties then, but nothing has been done. If something was done about it, the way these bus men transport these students, it would have stopped,” she said.

“This is just too much, just too much,” she added.

Principal Paul Bailey was a troubled man. He explained that the school has chartered two buses to transport students to and from the institution. But he still had to hear the dreaded phone calls again, just like in April 2011, when four students died.

The principal has heard the rumours that the school is cursed and he is sick of it. He implored the students to be strong.

After an emergency meeting of the school’s administration, a special devotion was held. Guidance counsellors from nearby schools, including Christiana High and Mizpah All-Age, came to offer support.

Cops probe if … SON TIES UP, RAPES MOM

Residents of a rural St Catherine community are still searching for a man who escaped their grasp after he was accused of sexually assaulting his mother, THE STAR understands.

Reports are that on Tuesday about noon, residents heard cries of distress from the mother, who is also sick.

When checks were made, it was revealed that the man had tied up his mother and had been sexually molesting her. It was further revealed that based on information received, the ungodly practice had been going on for some time.

The story only came to light after the woman managed to free herself and ran outside the dwelling house.

As the story reached the ears of residents, an angry mob rushed after the man. He, however, managed to elude them and ran into nearby bushes and reportedly escaped in the area.

The Star was informed that the man is now being sought by the residents, who said they intend to inflict their own brand of justice.

Meanwhile, checks with the police revealed that they have heard of the matter, but have received no formal report. It was revealed that criminal charges could be brought against the son.

It’s Not Fair!

For many years George has served as president of a Christian ministry. Before that, he was a pastor and a professor. He had dedicated his whole life to the spiritual well-being of others. Now he is in his early sixties  and has began to think about retirement. Maybe, after all these years of loyal service, he could slow down a little and enjoy his golden years.

Then he noticed some chest pain. Probably just indigestion, he thought, but maybe he should get it checked out. Sure he had  put a few pounds on, but he was really quite fit. A swimmer all his life, he went to the gym regularly. Still, this new chest pain was worth a doctor’s visit,especially when he started having trouble breathing.

The doctor was concerned enough to send George for some tests, and the tests showed a disturbing mass in his lung. More tests  confirmed it: lung cancer. The condition has four stages, and George was already in stage three. Testing and treatment soon become a full time job. As he waited in doctor’s offices and hospitals, his new reality began to sink in. He needed to get his house in order, because he might not live for much longer.

George is a mature believer. In his various ministries, he has coached many others through similar crises, but even he was not immune to that gut-wrenching question: “”Why me, God?” His co-workers were   stunned during one staff meeting when he broke down crying and left the room. They had looked to him for strength, but now he was struggling.

Sometimes life is just not fair. What did George  ever do to be snatched away from his family like this, from his ministry, from his many friends? With lung cancer, you think about smoking, but George had not  or had never been a smoker, nor had others in his family. He’d lived a healthy lifestyle. Certainly he had not brought this on himself. And if anyone deserved to live a long and healthy life, it was this man. He had given himself in so many ways to so many others, he should get some credit for that, shouldn’t he?

Well, shouldn’t he?

Most of us believe in fairness. One good turn deserves another. You pick up the check today, and I’ll pay next time. In many of our relationships we keep a kind of running tab. We repay kindness with kindness and snubs with snubs. In our human relationships, if a friend owes us a favour and refuses to come through, we feel betrayed. We believe we deserve a better treatment.

We assume that God operates the same way. After all, doesn’t our human sense of fairness derive from God’s eternal justice? It would only make sense for God to honour those who honour him. Good people should get good things in return.

But when we look closely, we can see that the world has never worked like that. Even in the Psalms, we find people complaining that the wicked are prospering at the expense of the righteous. just take a look at Psalms 10 and 73.

So here’s the shocking truth: God isn’t fair, at least not according to our common definitions of fairness. In its totality, the Bible does not promise the righteous person a life of ease, at least not on this earth.

Isaiah 41:10

Do not fear, for I am with you , do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.

Flying with Psalm 119

Heart pills taken by eight million Britons ‘trigger memory loss’

Heart pills taken by millions of Britons every day to slash cholesterol can trigger memory loss, scientists have found.

People taking statins to protect against a heart attack or stroke may face an increased risk of suffering brain problems, a new study claims.

Statins, taken by about eight million people in the UK, have been hailed as a wonder drug for lowering cholesterol levels and preventing tens of thousands of heart attacks and stroke each year.

But after starting the treatment, some patients complain that their memory is affected.

Last year the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) insisted that all manufacturers include among their list of side effects that statins could affect cognitive function.

Scientists at the University of Bristol tested the effects of two commonly prescribed statins – pravastatin and atorvastatin – on rats.

Pravastatin, with the brand name Pravachol, was found to have adverse effects on working and recognition memory. But the researchers found atorvastatin, with the brand name Lipitor, did not have any effect.

The study, published in PLOS ONE today, found adverse effects of pravastatin on memory could also be reversed by stopping the medication.

Neil Marrion, professor of neuroscience at Bristol’s School of Physiology and Pharmacology and the study’s lead author, said: “This finding is novel and likely reflects both the anecdotal reports and FDA advice.

“What is most interesting is that it is not a feature of all statins.

“However, in order to better understand the relationship between statin treatment and cognitive function, further studies are needed.”

The research looked at adverse effects on memory from prescribed statin medicines, used to lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in the blood.

Results showed rat performance for simple learning and memory tasks were impaired when taking pravastatin, but not atorvastatin. They were treated daily with pravastatin or atorvastatin for 18 days.

The rodents were tested in a simple learning task before, during and after treatment, in which they had to learn where to find a food reward.

The rats also performed a task which measured their ability to recognise a previously encountered object, on the last day of treatment and a week after it finished.

Pravastatin tended to impair learning over the last few days of treatment, though this was fully reversed once the rats stopped taking the medicine.

Heart experts say that if five million more people took statins it would cut heart attacks and strokes by 10,000 a year – saving 2,000 lives.

But others warn that not enough is known about the side effects, which evidence suggests can range from muscle aches and tummy upsets to liver and kidney damage.

Yet most cardiologists agree that when used according to current guidelines, the benefits of taking the pills far outweigh the risks.

Osborne bats for bankers’ bonuses citing risk to City from EU cap

George Osborne has launched a legal challenge to the European Union’s cap on bankers’ bonuses, claiming that it will make the financial sector more risky.

In the Treasury’s latest attempt to protect the City from what Osborne regards as damaging meddling from Brussels, the UK lodged a complaint against the bonus cap with the European court of justice.

The new rules, which come into force in January, restrict bonuses to 100% of bankers’ base salary, or up to 200% with explicit shareholder approval.

Bonuses of several times base salary became the norm before the financial crisis, and banks have claimed they will be unable to attract and retain top talent if they are forced to pare back variable pay.

The Treasury said: “Britain has been at the forefront of global reforms to make banking more responsible, including big reductions in upfront cash bonuses and linking rewards to long-term success.

“These latest EU rules on bonuses, rushed through without any assessment of their impact, will undermine all of this by pushing bankers’ fixed pay up rather than down, which will make banks themselves riskier rather than safer.” The Treasury argues that because base salaries, unlike bonuses, cannot be clawed back later if things go wrong, higher levels of basic pay would make financial firms more vulnerable in the event of a crisis.

This challenge is the latest in a series of tussles over European legislation aimed at taming the financial sector.

The Treasury has lodged legal objections against the financial transaction tax planned by several EU member-states, and the power of EU market regulators to ban the short-selling of shares.

The shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, said: “It tells you everything about David Cameron’s government that while Labour are saying ‘let’s get energy prices down for families, let’s help families with childcare, let’s get people back to work,’ he’s sending his chancellor to Brussels to stand up for bankers and bankers’ bonuses.”

Simon Chouffot, a spokesman for the Robin Hood Campaign, said: “It is beyond belief that George Osborne is battling for bankers’ bonuses when he should be fighting for Britain’s best interests.”

As well as claiming that the cap will have the unintended consequence of making the financial sector riskier, Britain is challenging the new regime on several technical grounds.

The Treasury claims the directive has been rushed through before it has been determined exactly which staff it will apply to and that increased disclosure of bankers’ pay might breach individuals’ right to privacy.

Michel Barnier, the EU’s internal market commissioner, said: “I continue to believe that a tough framework for bonuses is necessary to ensure financial stability and that the legal basis chosen is solid.

“Above all, our intention has been to ensure that it is the shareholders who assume their responsibilities and play the determining role when it comes to the remuneration packages for risk-takers in banks.”

Despite challenging the legislation, the Treasury confirmed that Britain would implement the bonus cap while waiting for a ruling from the court.

Investigators in Kenya work to identify victims, attackers

Working near bodies crushed by rubble in a bullet-scarred, scorched mall, forensic experts began fingerprint, DNA and ballistic analysis Wednesday to help determine the identities and nationalities of victims and al-Shabaab gunmen who attacked a Nairobi shopping centre, killing more than 60 people.

Kenya Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said forensic experts from Canada, the U.S., Israel, Britain and Germany are all taking part in trying to reconstruct the scene at the mall. He said results would not be ready before a week’s time.

A gaping hole in Westgate Mall’s roof was caused by Kenyan soldiers who fired rocket-propelled grenades inside, knocking out a support column, a government official said. The official, who insisted he not be identified because he was sharing security information, said the soldiers fired to distract a sniper so hostages could be evacuated.

Kenya’s hostage crisis continued on Tuesday as the attackers who stormed the mall on Saturday, and who have killed at least 67 people, said they were still holding hostages inside Nairobi’s Westgate shopping centre. Here, more Kenyan security forces move into the mall on Tuesday morning.
1 of 23
CBC correspondent Nahlah Ayed said from just outside the mall that investigators will be trying to get a better idea of how the attack was staged.

“This was something that has been in the planning for weeks and months, according to American officials, who also believe that there were foreign militants among the group,” Ayed told CBC News Network. The U.S. believes the attackers had detailed maps, and perhaps a mole inside the mall that helped spirit in weapons, she said.

CBC’s Derek Stoffel, also in Nairobi, said it’s not clear yet what the Canadian role in the investigation is, beyond being involved in the reconstruction of the Saturday attack.

Attack killed at least 67

The current death toll is 67 and is likely to climb with uncounted bodies remaining in the wreckage of the mall. Another 175 people were injured, including more than 60 who remain hospitalized. At least 18 foreigners were among those killed, including two Canadians.

‘The Mujahideen carried out a meticulous vetting process at the mall and have taken every possible precaution to separate the Muslims from the [disbelievers] before carrying out their attack.’
– al-Shabaab email
Morgue officials in Nairobi have been prepared for the last two days for a large influx of bodies still in the mall. Officials have told AP that the shopping centre, which the attackers held for four days, could hold dozens more bodies. The government has confirmed 72 total deaths: 61 civilians, six security forces and five attackers. The Red Cross says 71 people remain missing.

“Several witnesses who have come out in the last few days have talked about seeing a number of bodies,” Ayed said. “In addition, for the past few days we’ve heard from loved ones who are outside of here who have come every day looking for their loved ones and saying that they have still been unaccounted for. The Red Cross says there is at least somewhere between 50 and 60 people still unaccounted for, so it’s expected the body count will rise.”

Al-Shabaab, the Somali Islamic extremist group which carried out the attack, said Wednesday that foreigners were a “legitimate target” and confirmed witness accounts that gunmen separated Muslims from other people and let the Muslims go free. The others were gunned down or taken hostage.

“The Mujahideen carried out a meticulous vetting process at the mall and have taken every possible precaution to separate the Muslims from the Kuffar [disbelievers] before carrying out their attack,” the group said in an email exchange with The Associated Press.

Witnesses have told AP and other media that gunmen rounded up people, asked questions about Islam that a Muslim would know and told the Muslims to leave the mall. Still, some Muslims were among the victims.

Victims from at least 11 countries

Also among those killed when the militants entered the Westgate Mall on Saturday, firing assault rifles and throwing grenades were citizens from Canada, the U.K., France, the Netherlands, Australia, Peru, India, Ghana, South Africa and China.

Asked if al-Shabaab had intended to kill foreigners, the group said “our target was to attack the Kenyan govt on it’s soil and any part of the Kenyan territory is a legitimate target … and Kenya should be held responsible for the loss of life, whether foreigners or local.”

Timeline: Al-Shabaab’s deadly mission, bitter rivalries
7 things to know about Somalia’s al-Shabaab militant group
Al-Shabaab had threatened retaliation against Kenya for sending its troops into Somalia against al-Shabaab, and many of those killed in an attack that horrified the world were Kenyans.

Westgate mall layout, Nairobi, Kenya
The Westgate mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya explained in five steps. Kenya’s national police service said on Monday, Sept. 23 that officers had regained control of the mall where al-Qaeda-linked militants launched a savage attack Saturday, killing a reported 62 people, including two Canadians.

Though Kenya’s foreign minister earlier said that “two or three” American citizens may have been involved in the attack, a Western official said that after checking passport and refugee databases, there is not yet an indication any Americans were involved. Several U.S. cities, notably Minneapolis, host large Somali-American communities.

The violence continued elsewhere Wednesday. On Kenya’s border with Somalia, in the town of Wajir, police chief Isiah Odhiambo said at least two people were wounded after a gunman opened fire in town and two explosions detonated. Odhiambo said police repelled one gunman.

Al-Shabaab on its Twitter feed Wednesday claimed that the Kenyan government assault team carried out “a demolition” of the building, burying 137 hostages in the debris. A government spokesman denied the claim and said Kenyan forces were clearing all rooms Wednesday, firing as they moved and encountering no one.

Kenyan government spokesman Manoah Esipisu told AP that no chemical weapons were used — including tear gas — and that the collapse of floors in the mall was caused by a fire set by the attackers.

“Al-Shabaab is known for wild allegations and there is absolutely no truth to what they’re saying,” he said.

The mall’s top level parking lot collapsed in the middle of the building. That brought the second level down onto the ground floor on top of at least eight civilians and one or more attackers, said Esipisu.

Catholic Sisters in Kenya
Catholic Sisters gather near Westgate Mall to pray for the victims. (Nahlah Ayed/CBC)

Interior Minister Lenku said there were no indications that a woman took part in the attack, despite persistent media speculation, and he said officials have not yet confirmed reports that the attackers had rented a shop inside the mall.

U.S. Ambassador Robert Godec said Wednesday that Washington is providing technical support and equipment to Kenyan security forces and medical responders. Godec said the U.S. is assisting the investigation to bring the attack’s organizers and perpetrators to justice.

In another development, a British man was arrested in Kenya following the attack, Britain’s Foreign Office said.

British officials are ready to provide assistance to the man, the agency said in a statement Wednesday. Officials would not provide his name or details. He is believed to be in his 30s. Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper said he was arrested Monday as he tried to board a flight from Nairobi to Turkey with a bruised face and while acting suspiciously.

Mourned poet

Mourners sang funeral dirges and traditional leaders poured libations Wednesday for beloved poet Kofi Awoonor as hundreds gathered at the airport where his body was brought home days after he was slain in the attack.

Awoonor, 78, was a literary icon in his native Ghana, and was known worldwide for his innovative style that translated the rhythms of his Ewe language into English. He also was a veteran diplomat, and top government officials and members of parliament came to the airport. – Associated Press

Kenyan officials have said that 11 suspects in total have been arrested in connection with the attack, including at least seven at the airport. They are being questioned, said the government spokesman.

The International Criminal Court in the Hague has said it is prepared to work with Kenya to bring the attackers to justice. ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement that while Kenya has primary jurisdiction in the slaying of civilians in the Westgate Mall, the atrocity could also fall under the court’s jurisdiction.

Al-Shabaab, whose name means “The Youth” in Arabic, first began threatening Kenya with a major attack in late 2011, after Kenya sent troops into Somalia following a spate of kidnappings of Westerners inside Kenya.

The mall attack was the deadliest militant attack in Kenya since the 1998 al-Qaeda truck bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, which killed more than 200 people.

Tory immigration language ‘like National Front of 1970s’

The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has accused the Tories of borrowing the language of the 1970s National Front and vowed that Labour would not join “an arms race of rhetoric on immigration”.

She claimed that a decade after the home secretary, Theresa May, had warned the Tories about being the “nasty party”, it was back with the use of divisive gimmicks that even the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, had condemned as going too far.

In her Labour party conference speech, Cooper confirmed that Labour would place stronger requirements on companies to take on apprentices when they recruited from abroad as part of a battery of measures to stop a race to the bottom in the labour market.

She also promised a fresh drive against human trafficking, which she described as the stain of modern-day slavery which led to children disappearing into sex work and cannabis farming.

Amid persistent reports that senior Conservative strategists, including Lynton Crosby, regard immigration as the key to their electoral prospects in 2015, Cooper insisted: “I will not join an arms race of rhetoric on immigration and this party will never use immigration to play divide and rule.”

She stressed that Britain had benefited from migrants who had built the biggest British companies, worked in the NHS and won Nobel prizes and Olympic medals, and said immigration would continue to play an important role in the future as Britain competed in the global market.

That meant introducing greater regulation to the labour market, including laws to prescribe the minimum level of fines against gangmasters who abused illegal immigrants, stronger requirements for EU immigrants to be able to support themselves and contribute to the UK, and stronger enforcement of the minimum wage.

“But here’s what we won’t do: unlike the Tories, we won’t do checks at London tube stations, asking British people to prove their immigration status, targeted at people for the colour of their skin,” she said. “Unlike the Tories, we won’t do ad vans sent to the areas with the highest black and minority ethnic communities borrowing the language of the 1970s National Front.”
To loud applause, Cooper said the go-home-or-face-arrest advert vans were driven past the homes and offices of families whose parents and grandparents had had to endure the same slogans scrawled in graffiti 40 years ago. Their children now ran businesses, worked in hospitals and schools, and served the UK in the armed forces.

“It really comes to something when even Nigel Farage says you’ve gone too far. Those ad vans weren’t about illegal immigration. I say enough of these divisive gimmicks. They are an utter disgrace,” said Cooper to loud applause.

The shadow home secretary also confirmed that a Labour government would take tougher action to tackle rapidly rising online crime with a new specific criminal offence of identity theft, a new scheme to persuade the brightest IT graduates to join the police and a new organisation to challenge online fraud.

She also claimed that the education secretary, Michael Gove, was blocking updated sex and relationship education guidance which would tackle the growing violence in teenage relationships.

She promised that a Labour government would legislate to stop the police using community resolutions, such as reparations and apologising to the victim, for crimes such as domestic and sexual violence.

The shadow justice secretary, Sadiq Khan, also confirmed proposals for a new package of legal rights for victims, including being told what action is being taken in their case from charge to sentence and being told when their attacker is being released from prison.

Parents, students protest after Portland teachers’ dismissal

http://http://jamaica-
star.com/thestar/20130925/news/images/NewsS1602_1_PM67NSchoolAM.jpg
Police cordoned the principal of Fair Prospect High School in Portland Monday as irate parents and residents protested the dismissal of two teachers.

The police party formed a circle around Godfrey Flemmings, seconds after the angry mob made a threatening advance towards the headmaster.

It was a tense situation that prevailed for most of the day as the mob appeared determine to get its way.

Students, obviously disappointed with the suspension of classes, looked on in awe.

Others though, joined in with the protesters.

an unfair decision

“We had no intention of harming him,” commented parent Jennifer Small.

“It is an unfair decision to dismiss the teachers, who have had years of service and are considered to be hard-working, committed, and competent. As you can see, dozens of students are upset about the whole thing, and we as parents are out here to show solidarity for the two female teachers.”

The early morning unrest resulted in the main gate leading to the school being pad-locked.

As the protesters grew in number and were joined by dozens of students, additional policemen were quickly despatched to the institution.

The teachers, Christine Burke and Sharon Murdock-Panton, were reportedly fired by the school board last Wednesday for allegedly fighting. Burke worked at the school for about five years and Murdoch-Panton, 20.

Flemmings said the board decided such behaviour was unacceptable.

“It is unfortunate to see parents behaving in this manner,” he said.

“I am appealing for calm, as the students are the ones who will suffer in the long run.”