BVI Music Festival Launch Party, Presented By Digicel
The countdown is definitely on for the biggest musical event to take place in the Territory - the 2012 BVI Music Fest 2012 - this weekend!
Come this Thursday, on the eve of the official opening, the BVI Music Festival Committee, in conjunction with Digicel, The Bigger, Better Network, will host a massive Launch Party at The Wedding in Cane Garden Bay. Admission is FREE!
Everyone is invited to come on down to Cane Garden Bay for this Launch Party, which promises to be super charged with great music and entertainment and be a fantastic precursor to the weekend. Organizers have lined up two of the Territory´s hottest DJ´s - DJ Dre and DJ Birch - to keep the music pumping from 8pm to 1am, while guests enjoy sumptuous food, a variety of drinks and a chance to win several phones from sponsors Digicel.
Digicel´s retail staff and the Digi Girls will also be in hand selling Top Up and distributing promotional giveaways.
"Digicel is really excited to be partnering with the BVI Music Festival Committee and the government of the BVI, along with all of the other sponsors, to bring this event to the public this year," stated Marketing Executive Angela Burns. "It´s now just a few more days before Cane Garden Bay comes alive at 4pm on Friday, continuing nightly until the wee hours of Monday morning, May 28th."
On the line up are international artists Estelle, Melanie Amaro, Forever Motown, Third World, Lady Saw and regional performers Tizzy, Delroy Fireman Hooper and Mada Nile and local entertainers Ritical, Lincoln Ward, B´More, A Type of Toad and many more.
The Avengers tops US box office again
Superhero movie The Avengers has topped the US and Canadian box office for the third week in a row, taking $55.1m (£34.8m), studio estimates suggest.
The film easily saw off new release Battleship, which took $25.4m (£16.1m).
The Avengers also raked in another $56m (£35.4m) globally over the weekend - taking its total worldwide earnings to $1.2bn (£758m).
The Disney blockbuster sees a team of Marvel comic-book heroes team up to fight an extra-terrestrial threat.
Among the cast are Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson and Chris Hemsworth - who have appeared in previous Marvel movies as Iron Man, Black Widow and Thor respectively.
Paul Dergarabedian, analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com, said: "The Avengers is dominating the marketplace so profoundly that the newcomers are having a tough time breaking in now."
Universal's Battleship, which stars Liam Neeson, Taylor Kitsch and Rihanna in the adaptation of the board game, did not do as well as anticipated on its North American release.
Nikki Rocco, Universal's head of distribution, admitted: "I would be glad to be number two if we opened to a better number. But given the presence of an absolute juggernaut in the marketplace, there's nothing you can do."
Sacha Baron's latest film The Dictator, which sees the British comedian play third-world despot Admiral General Aladeen, went straight in at number three with $17.4m (£11m) over the weekend.
The Johnny Depp/Tim Burton vampire spoof Dark Shadows dropped from second place to fourth, while pregnancy comedy What to Expect When You're Expecting, starring Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez, debuted at number five.
Adele wins 12 Billboard Music awards in Las Vegas
The British singer picked up the top artist prize and best album for her second record, 21, winning 12 awards in total from 18 nominations.
Adele's awards were not presented during the live show and the singer wasn't present at the event.
Other winners included Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and LMFAO, who picked up song of the year for their single Party Rock Anthem.
The US pop act also picked up five other awards at the MGM Grand Casino Hotel.
Rappers Wiz Khalifa, Lil Wayne and R&B singer Chris Brown won top new artist, male artist of the year and R&B artist of the year respectively.
Former American Idol winner Jordin Sparks and John Legend performed a tribute to Whitney Houston at the event.
Social artist
A shirtless Chris Brown sang his dance single Turn Up The Music with BMX bikers doing stunts on stage.
Katy Perry, wearing a white dress, hung above the stage in a swing to sing her latest single Wide Awake.
Justin Bieber also sang his new track Boyfriend accompanied by dancers dressed as clowns and neon geisha girls.
Other performers included Kelly Clarkson, The Wanted, Carly Rae Jepsen, Usher, Carrie Underwood, Linkin Park and Nelly Furtado.
Taylor Swift was named Billboard woman of the year and picked up the award from New Girl TV star Zooey Deschanel and veteran artist Kris Kristofferson.
Bieber, 18, picked up the award for the most social artist, thanking his 22 million Twitter followers and 43 million Facebook fans, saying "the internet is where I got my start".
Perry was given the spotlight award for being the only female artist in history to have five number one singles in America from one album.
Michael Jackson is the only artist to have received the award previously.
Colombia says Farc kills 12 soldiers in border attack
Officials in Colombia say left-wing Farc rebels have killed 12 soldiers in an ambush near the border with Venezuela.
A security official in the northern department of La Guajira said the troops were attacked during a routine patrol.
The army said it was still trying to find out if any rebels or other soldiers had been killed.
Venezuela has reacted by beefing up security along the border.
Mr Chavez went on state television to make the announcement.
"We maintain our position, that we will no permit incursions of any armed force, whatever its type might be, into Venezuelan territory," he said.
He said Venezuela would not allow rebel groups to use the country as a base for attacks against Colombia.
"This conflict is not ours. We defend peace and insist that our territory is not used by either side in the conflict."
Mr Chavez was accused by previous Colombian governments of harbouring the rebels from the Farc, a claim he has always rejected.
The area where the attack took place is very remote and mountainous, inhabited mostly by ethnic indigenous populations.
According to a Colombian security official in La Guajira, Yusti Maria Lopez, four soldiers were also wounded in the ambush.
"Regional and national official are drawing up a toll," she told AFP news agency.
"We are not ruling out that there were guerrilla dead too, but that's being analysed by the army."
Dominican Republic election: Medina declares victory
The governing candidate in the Dominican Republic's presidential election, Danilo Medina, has declared victory.
Mr Medina won 51% of the vote, avoiding a run-off next month.
But the result is being contested by the opposition, which accuses the governing party of buying votes and other forms of fraud.
Mr Medina's main rival, former President Hipolito Mejia, received 47% of the ballot but has not yet conceded.
Rising crime, unemployment and inflation in the Caribbean country were the main issues of the campaign.
Mr Mejia's vice-presidential candidate, Luis Abinader, told the AP news agency that his party would present a report detailing irregularities in the vote.
"We are going to defend democracy. We are going to show the country what really happened," he said.
Mr Medina addressed a crowd of supporters in the Dominican Republic and promised to reduce inequality.
"I was not waging a political campaign, but building a dream," he said.
"Now we have the opportunity to build that dream, working for a Dominican Republic that is fair to all."
Opinion polls had suggested a tight race, with the outcome possibly decided by the ballots cast by Dominicans in the United States.
Economic growth
Dominican President Leonel Fernandez is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term.
His Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) chose Mr Medina, a 60-year-old economist, as its candidate.
Mr Medina ran on a promise of boosting economic growth in the Caribbean country.
Mr Medina's opponent is an old rival - Mr Mejia is an experienced politician who defeated him in presidential elections in 2000.
Mr Mejia, 71, from the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), campaigned under the slogan "Llego Papa" ("Here's Daddy").
He vowed to fight corruption and create jobs.
The Dominican Republic is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Caribbean, and the economy has been growing steadily, at about 4.5% a year.
But more than 30% of its 10 million citizens still live below the poverty line, a problem both Mr Medina and Mr Mejia promised to address.
First tropical storm of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season forms.
The National Hurricane Centre (NHC) is reporting that at 5 pm eastern time Tropical Storm Alberto was located near latitude 32.2 north longitude 77.7 west or about 140 miles east southeast of Charleston, South Carolina.
The 5 pm EDT NHC advisory indicates that maximum sustained winds are near 45 miles per hour with higher gusts and tropical storm force winds extend 45 miles mainly to the north of the system.
The estimated minimum central pressure for the system has dropped to 1007 mb.
Tropical Storm Alberto is the first named storm of the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season which begins on June 1st, 2012 however it poses no threat to the Caribbean.
According to Philip J. Klotzbach and William M. Gray of the Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to see about ten named storms including four hurricanes and two major hurricanes.
Caribbean 360 News
CARICOM’s concerns to be heard
The CARICOM/Mexico Summit has been hailed as a most productive and beneficial meeting and the regional grouping has been given the assurance, that their concerns will be raised at the upcoming G20 Leaders’ Summit to be held in Mexico.
Suriname’s President and Chairman of CARICOM Desiré Bouterse made the comments during a press conference at the Hilton Hotel, following talks between the Mexican delegation led by President Felipe Calderon and Heads of State of the 15-member CARICOM grouping.
According to Bouterse, the two sides were able to agree on commitments in specific areas of co-operation among them transportation, energy, tourism, trade and investment. President Bouterse said that the regional grouping has been assured by the Mexican President that he will carry their message to the G20 when that meeting is held in his country, focusing in particular on such issues as the current criteria that is used to assign financial support for development among small island developing states. He further stated that the Caribbean Community is confident that Mexico fully understands their concerns as small island developing and middle
income countries and will be able to advocate forcefully on our behalf.
“CARICOM is also pleased that Mexico will lend us their experience and expertise in the further development of our tourism industry. Further we have agreed to share experiences and strategies in an effort to develop small and medium sized enterprises in the private sector,” he added.
The Chairman said that in addition to the aforementioned, the two sides have agreed to develop strategies to address the issues of transnational crime and citizen security and in that regard he said, they will be involved in the follow up activities identified by the plan of action developed during the 6th Summit of the Americas.
Meanwhile, he also announced that Mexico and CARICOM will also be working closely with Haiti in an effort to assist in the reconstruction process in that country.
PM calls for Mexico help in crime battle
The illicit drug trade, trafficking in illegal guns, gang violence, human trafficking and smuggling are all challenges facing the Caribbean, said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar as she addressed the Second Caricom-Mexico Summit in Bridgetown, Barbados, yesterday.
She also raised concerns about cyber-crime, international terrorism, money laundering and the exploitation of women and children.
In a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday, Persad-Bissessar said these were “worrying trends in crime and security”.
Persad-Bissessar called on Heads of Government to emphasise the link between security and development and support action towards combating crime at all levels involving regional security institutions, and for “...international collaboration in advocating the use of crime prevention and management strategies, alongside the criminal justice approach to addressing the increase in criminal activity”.
She suggested regional leaders seek the support of Mexico in functional co-operation to counter the illicit trafficking of narcotics, as well as Mexico’s supporting role in the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI).
She also highlighted Caricom member states’ commitment to combat the trade of small arms and light weapons and support for the Arms Trade Treaty, noting Mexico’s advocacy for a robust legally binding treaty that matched Caricom position.
Persad-Bissessar also proposed Mexico support capacity building in polygraphing as an area of collaboration with Caricom, given that country’s institutional capacity and training experience.
Similarly, the call was made to seek Mexico’s support in resource mobilisation, sharing best practices in youth gangs and violence. She requested financial and technical support from Mexico for anti-money laundering interventions and combating the financing of terrorism.
Mexican President Felipe Calderón, in his contribution, also noted organised crime posed a significant challenge to the region and he reminded the meeting that Mexico at the sixth Summit of the Americas in Colombia had recommended the creation of a Hemispheric Scheme against Transnational Organised Crime.
Calderón also said greater free trade is a stimulus for growth and development, and that this is one of the issues Mexico will advocate for at the next G20 meeting in Mexico next month.
Thunder thunder hoooo!!!!!!, eliminates the LA Lakers
Russel West brook scored 28 points, Kevin Durant added 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder surged ahead in the second half to beat Los Angeles 106-90 in Game 5 on Monday night and eliminate the Lakers from the playoffs.
The two All-Stars both bypassed their breaks in the second half and used the time they'd normally be resting to fuel the big run that put away the game and end the Lakers' season.
Westbrook had a pair of three-point plays during a 14-3 burst that put Oklahoma City ahead to stay late in the third quarter, and Durant hit two 3-pointers as the Thunder scored the first 10 points of the fourth to push their lead to 93-77.
Koybe Bryant scored 42 points for the Lakers.
The Thunder open the Western Conference finals on Sunday at top-seeded San Antonio.
After getting eliminated by Los Angeles in 2010 and Dallas in 2011 before both of those teams went on to win it all, the Thunder knocked both out on their way to the West finals for the second straight year.
The only other time the franchise made consecutive conference finals was from 1978-80, including Seattle's only NBA title in 1979.
Once there, they'll face the top-seeded Spurs, the only team other than the Lakers or Mavs to win the West in the past 13 years and currently riding an 18-game winning streak.
Rafael Nadal beats Novak Djokovic to win Italian Open
Rafael Nadal beat world number one Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win a record sixth Italian Open title.
The Spaniard won 7-5 6-3 in the final, which had been delayed by a day because of rain in Rome on Sunday, to return to second in the world rankings.
The duo swapped breaks midway through the first set before Nadal made the decisive breakthrough in the 11th game.
Nadal broke in the opening game of the second set and won the match when Djokovic double-faulted at match point.
The Serbian had enjoyed a run of seven successive victories over Nadal prior to last month's Monte Carlo Masters final but the Spaniard has now won their last two meetings.
Nadal said: "The mentality was there at the right time because I know to win matches against Novak you have to be at your limit all the time because he's pushing you at every moment.
"I think I was mentally strong enough to play very well at the important moments."
Nadal opened strongly but wasted two break points in Djokovic's opening service game.
However, he made amends in the fifth game, punishing a poor drop shot to take the initiative but a lacklustre service game allowed the defending champion to restore parity.
The turning point came in the 10th game when a Djokovic shot, that would have given him a set point, was called out by the line-judge, only for the umpire to over-rule the decision.
Nadal won the replayed point - and Djokovic received a warning from the umpire for smashing his racquet at the change of ends after the Spaniard broke to go 6-5 up.
Nadal served out the set before breaking again in the opening game of the second set and the Spaniard then saved six break points in his next two service games.
A wide backhand from Djokovic, who made 41 unforced errors, set up match point and he handed Nadal the title with a double fault.
Djokovic said: "I made a lot of unforced errors. In my opinion I don't think he played extremely well but I made a lot of errors that can't happen when you play against Nadal.
"I will go to Paris with a good level of confidence because I played a great week, especially the last two or three matches, so I hope for the best there."