Trinidad and Tobago launches 50th anniversary celebrations
Trinidad and Tobago Monday night launched activities to mark 50 years of political independence from Britain with Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar calling for a level of compromise as the country moves into the future.
In her address, Prime Minister Persad Bissessar recalled the political differences that emerged during the negotiations leading to the country’s independence from Britain in 1961.
“While the constitution negotiating process involved some resistance at home, in the end compromise in the interest of the greater national good triumphed,” she said, adding “compromise is not defeat nor is it surrender. In deciding the future of the people and of the country no one person or government can claim to have all the answers all the time. Compromise is a process of consultation.
“What is also important in compromise is that those in power to make the final decision must possess the will to take that decision and see it through courageously,” Persad-Bissessar said as she paid tribute to her five predecessors.
“Each prime minister faced their own challenges and each did what they felt was right,” she said, as she described following in the footsteps of the previous prime ministers as “standing on the shoulder of giants”.
But she told the audience that the best is yet to come for the oil rich twin-island republic.
“As we celebrate therefore we do so with confidence and renewed hope in the future. With the foundation we have and the dedication of all our citizens and renewed focus by all our people our nation now stands ready to lead by example.
“Our nation’s best days are still to come and together we will usher those days in,” Persad-Bissessar said.
A government statement said that Cabinet has approved a range of programmes and activities which will take place over the next four months through the Independence month of August and into December 2012.
It said that a number of free concerts will be held at the National Performing Arts (NAPA) with performances by some of the country’s internationally known performers.
Antigua Observer
Judge's appeal causes further delay in Cuban light bulb trial
THE Cuban Light Bulb case today suffered further delay in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court after it was disclosed that Presiding Magistrate Judith Pusey is appealing the recent judicial review which ruled that the Director of Public Prosecutions, Paula Llewellyn will not testify in the trial.
As a result Kern Spencer and his former assistant, Coleen Wright had their bails extended for them to return to court on June 8.
The high profile trial came to a halt in May last year after the DPP sought a judicial review, challenging the subpoena which was obtained by the defence. Defence attorneys wanted Llewellyn to give evidence about what transpired at a meeting that resulted in charges against then co-accused Rodney Chin being dropped and him becoming a prosecution witness.
Spencer and Wright, are charged with money laundering, fraud, corruption and conspiracy arising the distribution of free energy saving light bulbs which were donated by the Cuban Government.
Source--Jamaica Observer
Guatemala drugs: Zetas cartel suspect Overdick arrested
Guatemalan police have captured one of the country's most-wanted drug traffickers, the authorities say.
Horst Walther Overdick - known as "the Tiger" - was arrested at a property he owns outside Guatemala City.
He is accused of being a crucial ally of Mexico's notorious Zetas cartel, which has increased its influence in Guatemala in recent years.
President Otto Perez Molina described his arrest as "extremely important".
Security Minister Maurico Lopez said Mr Overdick had played an important role in helping the Zetas move into his home province of Alta Verapaz in northern Guatemala.
He is also wanted for extradition to the US on charges of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine.
Guatemala is an important transit point for South American cocaine smuggled north to the US, with Mexico's powerful drugs cartels increasingly involved.
In 2010 the government declared a state of emergency in Alta Verapaz to combat the rising power of the Zetas.
Former army general Otto Perez Molina was elected president last year after promising an "iron fist" approach to organised criminal gangs.
But since taking office he has also called for a debate on decriminalising drugs as a way of reducing violent crime.
Gonsalves: No sympathy for REDjet
Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves says he has no sympathy for the financial problems facing the Barbados-based low cost carrier, REDjet, adding that he was never informed as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) lead prime minister on air transport of its operations in the Caribbean.
“Nobody in any country in CARICOM wrote me or told me about it. None of the countries where REDjet was servicing (informed me). None. The owners of REDjet did not come and see me and tell me what they were doing, so I interpreted that as there was no interest in having the CARICOM air transport spokesperson get involved in their business,” Gonsalves told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
On Monday, a senior Barbados government minister said that efforts were being made to have the low-cost carrier resume operations within a two month period.
Trinidad and Tobago over the weekend announced that it had revoked the licences granted to the carrier that last month suspended its services to various regional destinations.
Billed as a low-cost, no-frills carrier initially offering fares as low as US$9.99, the privately-owned airline did not give specific reasons for the shutdown last month, but suggested that it was expecting state assistance to continue operations and blamed "subsidised" competitors for its troubles.
“REDjet is hopeful that we will be given a small part of the state assistance others receive, as it will allow us to get our recently approved and exciting new routes established and profitable. Once this happens our shareholders and staff will do their utmost to see that there is no return to high fares and business as usual”, the company said in a statement then.
But Gonsalves, who has renewed a call for a regional meeting on aviation, told CMC that he had no intention of getting involved in the any action to save the airline, adding “let me say this, REDjet is privately owned, Caribbean Airlines (CAL) is owned by the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, LIAT is owned by the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
“The statement by REDjet that the market is not on a level footing...they are quite correct about that in one important respect and that is to say that CAL continues to receive substantial subsidies in fuel from the government of Trinidad and Tobago”.
--CMC
Bermudian sworn in as new Chief Justice
Bermudian Ian Kawaley was sworn in Tuesday as the island’s new Chief Justice, replacing Englishman Richard Ground who took up the post in 2004 after having also served in the Turks and Caicos Islands, another British Overseas Territory.
Ground was been appointed to the post over the objections of then-Premier Alex Scott whose choice was Jamaica-born judge Norma Wade Miller, the ex-wife of former Opposition Leader Frederick Wade.
Governor Sir Richard Gozney signed the instrument of appointment at a ceremony attended by Premier Paula Cox and the leader of the One Bermuda Alliance Craig Cannonier and United Bermuda Party legislator, Kim Swan.
The newly appointed head of the judiciary said it was a great honour and a privilege to accept the appointment, adding “Bermuda is one of the most respected legal jurisdictions in the Atlantic and Caribbean areas.
“So it is a great honour to head up the judicial system here,” he said.
Delano Williams makes moves into British Olympic team
RTC Sports have learnt through UK Athletics who have confirmed that teenage sprint sensation Delano Williams is eligible for the British Olympic team if he performs at the British trials in Birmingham in June.
The 18-year-old, from the Turks and Caicos Islands, received his UK passport on Friday confirmed by Rita Gardiner, having visited Britain only once, on a holiday to London.
He has already recorded a 200m Olympic ‘A’ UK qualifying standard time this year after running a personal best of 20.53sec at a meeting in Jamaica last month.
He has been invited by Usain Bolt’s sprint coach Glen Mills to join his training stable.
Currently studying in Jamaica, Williams won the 100m and 200m national high school championships over the weekend, beating the best young runners at the sprint capital of the world.
A native of the Turks and Caicos islands in the West Indies our status as a British Overseas Territory means Williams can switch allegiance under IAAF rules.
At the Olympic trials in Birmingham on June 22-24 he will face the likes of James Ellington (personal best 20.52sec), Marlon Devonish (20.19sec) and Christian Malcolm (20.08sec) - and may even kick one of them out of the Olympic squad.
Williams only has to finish in the top two in the 200m to make the team. He claims that when he ran 20.53sec last month he had not been doing any sprint training and believes he can run much faster.
Delano says he is ready and the TCI is ready, Go Delano, Go!!
Mail/RTC Sports
James gets season-high 41, Heat beat 76ers 99-93
LeBron James arrived at work a little earlier than usual on Tuesday, warming up more than three hours before tip-off with hopes of finding his rhythm.
With Dwyane Wade out, Miami needed some extra offense - and James delivered.
James scored 14 straight Miami points in the fourth quarter and finished with a season-high 41, helping the Heat clinch a playoff spot with a 99-93 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
It was the 16th straight home win for Miami, which has won its last 11 regular-season games against the 76ers. The Heat also moved within 2 1/2 games of Chicago in the race for the Eastern Conference's best record.
"It was a grind," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "No question, it was a grind."
Mario Chalmers had 19 points, Chris Bosh scored 17 and Udonis Haslem grabbed 11 rebounds for Miami, which improved to 9-1 without Wade this season. Wade sat with a bruised left knee, leaving his status for Wednesday's showdown with Oklahoma City in some doubt.
Evan Turner scored 26 points for Philadelphia, which fell 1 1/2 games behind Boston in the Atlantic Division. Lou Williams scored 18, Spencer Hawes added 12 and Andre Iguodala had 11 before leaving in the third quarter with a left eye contusion.
It was just the fourth time in 24 games this season that the 76ers shot at least 45 percent and lost.
"We got right there. ... We just couldn't get over that hump," Williams said.
James scored 21 points after Iguodala - who was the primary defender on him - departed with 4:42 left in the third quarter. Iguodala was holding the ball as Chalmers tried swiping it away, but only wound up connecting with the face of the 76ers' guard. Iguodala went to the floor in pain, holding the area around his left eye, then eventually made his way to the Philadelphia bench and locker room with part of his face covered by a towel.
"I thought my eye was gone," Iguodala said. "It was hurting really bad. I had a really bad headache for about 10 minutes."
When Iguodala left, Miami led 68-64. Soon, the Heat had their biggest lead. James had six points in a quick 8-2 spurt that pushed Miami's edge to 76-66 with 2:23 left in the third.
Midway through the fourth, the 76ers said Iguodala had a left eye contusion and his return was questionable.
Williams' jumper with 2:27 left got Philadelphia within three, the closest margin since early in the third quarter.
But James made a pair of jumpers, and then came, as he put it, "probably the biggest play of the game." He missed a fadeaway, and Shane Battier - who started in Wade's place - sprawled out to control the rebound and extend Miami's possession.
A few seconds later, Chalmers found James for an alley-oop dunk that put the Heat up 92-85 with 1:27 left and all but sealed the win.
"Right after it happened, I went straight to Shane and told him it was a huge play," James said. "It was a big play. The dunk, it was the easy part, honestly."
Besides the Battier-for-Wade move, the Heat made another change to the starting lineup, with Ronny Turiaf starting at center over Joel Anthony.
Before the game, Sixers coach Doug Collins lamented how his team had the misfortune of playing Miami twice already this season in games immediately following Heat losses. And in both of those games, Miami made statements - winning 99-79 on Feb. 3, then running out to a ridiculous 57-30 halftime lead on March 16 before escaping with an 84-78 victory.
And with the combination of the loss in Boston on Sunday, and the looming Wednesday game with Oklahoma City, Collins figured the Heat would try to put the 76ers away early.
Of course, when he said that, he also thought Wade would be playing.
Philadelphia led 54-51 at the break, then lost the lead for good while being outscored 25-16 in the third quarter. It was Miami's biggest third-quarter win since outscoring New York 29-19 in that period on Feb. 23.
"To start the third, we were careless," Collins said. "We turned the ball over. We didn't have the crisp passing that we had during the first half."
AP
Tiger Woods 'as good as ever'
Tiger Woods believes he is back to the form that saw him hold all four majors after his Masters victory in 2001.
The former world number one, who is looking for his fifth Masters title, won his first PGA Tour title since September 2009 at Bay Hill last week.
"I think I have more shots than in 2000," he said after being paired with Miguel Angel Jimenez and Bae Sang-moon in Thursday's first round.
"I'm hitting the ball as consistently day-in, day-out as I did then."
He added: "I feel like I'm driving the ball much better than I have.
"I've got some heat behind it and its very straight. My iron game is improving. So everything is headed in the right direction at the right time."
World number three Lee Westwood has already dismissed suggestions that the tournament will be a two-horse race between Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy but Woods is full of praise for the Irishman, who bounced back after his challenge last year "went pearshaped".
"It was cool to see someone learn from their mistake like that and apply it," added Woods.
"He was playing so well, he just had one bad round. He learned from it, applied it and ran away with the US Open. That was some pretty impressive playing.
"He has all the makings of being a great champion for a long period of time. He just needs to get more experienced."
Meanwhile, defending champion Charl Schwartzel says he has arrived at Augusta with "a different mind-set" following his sensational victory last year.
The South African made four straight birdies as Rory McIlroy crumbled, to win the prestigious tournament at only his second attempt.
"I have a different mind-set coming into this event knowing that you've won," said Schwartzel, who has been given the locker previously used by the late Seve Ballesteros in the champions' locker room.
"I almost expect myself to win. I feel like I'm playing good enough. I feel like if I've done it before, why can't I do it again?"
However, the 27-year-old has not won a tournament since and returns to Augusta having missed the cut at his last two PGA Tour events.
"It has been pretty overwhelming," he added. "My life basically changed overnight.
"When I got back home, I didn't realise how big it was, how many people actually saw it.
"Wherever I went, people congratulated me, and still do. It doesn't seem to ease down. It doesn't stop, and it's fantastic."
Phil Mickelson has won the Masters three times and is predicting a low-scoring tournament this year.
"I don't want to say the greens are slow, but it's just not the same Augusta," said the 41-year-old American.
"It's wet around the greens, and there's no fear of the course. You've got to attack it this week.
"Unless something changes, and I know they have SubAir (greens drying system) and hopefully they will be able to use it, but unless they change it, it's going to be a birdie fest."
Good job, but WI not home yet
IT IS TIME! West Indies and Australia are ready for Test cricket. While five One-Day Internationals and two Twenty20 Internationals gave us great surprises, tremendous excitement, even euphoria, it is Test cricket, where slugging does not work, that really counts. Only the very strong, those with real, tough stamina, will survive!
“Fast is good; it may get you there quickly! Do not underrate slow; you will get there anyway; maybe!”
My mother reminded of this daily. Without much knowledge of cricket, Sylvia was right!
Our appetites are now whetted for three Tests. Mindsets and preparations – mental and physical – must be realigned and retooled for longer games. What may have been thought for 20, 40, 50 or 100 overs must now take cranial space for five days.
As England found out, to their chagrin, in last week’s opening Test versus Sri Lanka, Test cricket is long and hard. If you only trained for a 400-metre race, you will be unprepared for a 3 000 metre steeplechase and will falter badly at the longer escapade.
West Indies have done wonderfully well against Australia in games that lasted one day. Now it is left to be seen how much mental development and maturity has been gained over especially the last year, with Ottis Gibson as head coach and Darren Sammy as captain.
Australia’s South African head coach, Mickey Arthur, prophetically suggested West Indies should not be underrated, as teams playing in their ‘backyard’ could even things out. He was correct.
Australia have Test personnel advantages, even if they are not fully aware of conditions. Having come face to face with some of West Indies’ offerings, they will certainly not be taking the home team lightly. They are probably shocked at the ODI series 2-2 and T20 I 1-1 results!
Veterans Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke present tremendous experience and production. Get one cheaply and others could still pummel West Indies to a pulp. It has been done before.
While Australia struggled to manage the slowness of Arnos Vale’s pitches, they endured, diligently, as good professionals do, to bring themselves up to speed for games there.
Having enjoyed the bounce and pace of Beausejour, St Lucia, they also looked forward to the renowned Kensington Oval, considered almost universally of having the best cricket-friendly pitch in the Caribbean. The curators at “The Mecca” have massive responsibilities to uphold.
Consistent bounce, good pace, sufficient movement and late-game spin, enabling batsmen to play strokes “through the line”, should allow for a tremendous first Test, even though, like most things for West Indies recently, it is no longer that bastion of our own successes anymore.
Former England captain Mike Gatting, who vacationed in Barbados weeks ago, former England national selector, David Graveney, and his immediate successor, Geoff Miller, told me, at a Professional Cricketers Association event in London last week, exactly the same thing about West Indies cricket.
--Colin Croft is a former Guyana and West Indies fast bowler.
Barcelona 3-1 AC Milan (3-1 agg)
Lionel Messi was Barcelona's hero yet again as his two first-half penalties sealed a Champions League quarter-final win over AC Milan.
Messi, 24, moved into third on the list of all-time goalscorers in the competition as Barca set up a last-four place against Benfica or Chelsea.
Milan were briefly level when midfielder Antonio Nocerino steered in Zlatan Ibrahimovic's pass.
But they had no answer after the break with Andres Iniesta adding a third.
No side has ever retained the trophy in the Champions League era but Pep Guardiola's side must be outstanding favourites to achieve the feat in Munich on 19 May.
Messi inspired them to beat Manchester United in last year's final at Wembley, and the Argentine's incredible goalscoring form could steer the club to another title this year.
Barely a week seems to go by without Messi adding another record to his collection, and he quickly chalked up two more to his ever-growing list of personal achievements with his 57th and 58th goals of a remarkable season.
He became the youngest player to score 50 Champions League goals with his first spot-kick, before notching up the most goals in a single campaign as his second of the night - and 14th in total this season - put Barca back ahead.
Messi then completed the night's work with an assist as his shot was blocked by the hapless Philippe Mexes, only to fall into the path of Iniesta who struck the pivotal third goal into the far corner.
Chelsea could yet bar Guardiola's side's progress - in a repeat of the ill-tempered semi-final of 2009 - and Roberto di Matteo's side will have seen few chinks in the defending champions' armour during this display.
Massimiliano Allegri's Milan team knew that any score draw would be enough to see them through, and they made a lively start before Messi opened the scoring 11 minutes in.
Disappointingly for the visitors, the goal was a gift as Mexes dawdled on the halfway line and was robbed of possession by Messi.
The forward surprisingly elected to cut the ball back for Xavi instead of shooting, but when the ball came back to Messi he was brought down by Luca Antonini.
Referee Bjorn Kuipers awarded the penalty and Messi stroked the ball into the bottom corner.
Milan continued to pose a threat and drew level with a fine goal just after the half hour.
Former Manchester City man Robinho hurdled two tackles before finding Ibrahimovic on the edge of the box, and the Swede played a perfectly-weighted through pass which Nocerino placed beyond Victor Valdes.
But the Italians failed to build on that goal and Barcelona were back ahead before the break as Alessandro Nesta gave away another cheap penalty.
The vastly experienced defender needlessly grabbed hold of Sergio Busquets inside the area, and Messi struck the ball into the opposite corner.
Messi was instrumental in the third goal as well, and when his low shot struck Mexes to land at Iniesta's feet, the midfielder calmly took a touch before rifling past Christian Abbiati.
That goal crushed Milan's spirit, and the match desended into an exhibition as Barca booked their place in the semi-finals for a fifth successive year.
With Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid still in the mix and a potent Bayern Munich side looking to win the cup on their own ground, Barcelona still face several considerable hurdles before they can lift the trophy again, but Guardiola's men undoubtedly remain the side to beat.