John Carter tops UK box office
Disney's sci-fi film John Carter has debuted at number one on the UK box office chart, despite lukewarm reviews.
The movie, which had a disappointing opening in the US, made an estimated £2.1m according to Screen Daily.
It pushed The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, in which a group of retired Britons travel to India, to number two.
Based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' galactic adventurer, John Carter took $30.6m (£19.6m) at the US box office. It reportedly cost $250m (£160m) to make.
Starring Taylor Kitsch, John Carter has been panned by many critics. USA Today branded it "bloated, dreary and humorless".
Movie review website Rotten Tomatoes suggested that audiences were more positive than critics about the movie, with 72% of their users saying they liked the film.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was just behind John Carter on the UK chart, with takings of £2m. The film, which stars Dame Judi Dench, has now made more than £11m at the domestic box office.
Woman in Black fell one place to number three with £1.14m in ticket sales over the last week.
Hammer's adaptation of Susan Hill's ghost story has made a total of £19.5m since its release.
This Means War took £1.08m in its second weekend, putting it in fourth position.
The action comedy, about two spies who fall in love with Reese Witherspoon, was the highest new entry last week at number three.
Action thriller Safe House rounded out the top five, taking £850,000.
UK Box Office Top Five
- 1. John Carter - £2.1m
- 2. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - £2m
- 3. The Woman in Black - £1.14m
- 4. This Means War - £1.08m
- 5. Safe House - £850,000
Source: Screen Daily
Reggae Sumfest set for July 15-21
ORGANISERS of Reggae Sumfest — the Jamaica's premier reggae music festival — have announced that this year's event is to be staged from July 15-21 at Catherine Hall in Montego Bay.
Robert Russell, director of Summerfest Productions, which organises the event, says this year they will be pulling out all the stops for the festival, as, in addition to the Jamaica 50 celebrations, Reggae Sumfest is celebrating 20 years.
"This year will be a signature year," Russell tells the Observer. "We are going all out to ensure that our patrons have a great show. We are going after a few big names, but of course, I cannot make any announcements at this time as we are still in negotiations, and divulging the names at this time could affect the deals," he says.
Over the past 20 years, Reggae Sumfest has been graced by an extensive list of both local and foreign acts. The list of locals reads like a virtual who's who of the reggae/dancehall fraternity and includes Damian Marley, Shaggy, Sean Paul, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Mavado and Vybz Kartel.
When asked to name his top act over the years, Russell noted that it was hard to single out one performer.
"There have been so many great performers that I can't narrow it down to one. However, standouts have included Destiny's Child, Lionel Richie and Usher," he says.
Amidst the plans for the Jamaica 50 and Sumfest's 20th edition of the festival, the promoters are making an appeal to the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) — owners and operators of the Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex — to make necessary improvements to the venue, which has been home to Reggae Sumfest since its inception.
"With this year being such a big year, it is critical that the UDC looks towards upgrading and expanding the facility," Russell says.
Two years ago, continuous rainfall and poor drainage, left the venue waterlogged and threatened to disrupt the festival.
Vybz Kartel Penned Poem "Guilty before trial"
Vybz Kartel continues to proclaim his innocence behind bars. With the help of University of The West Indies professor, Carolyn Cooper, Kartel has released two letters to the public, via the Jamaica Gleaner.
Kartel who is facing murder, drug and obstruction of justice charges believes he is presumed guilty even before being tried, as law enforcement is using the media to tarnish his reputation.
Vybz Kartel also issued excerpts from his book, Voice of the Jamaican Ghetto, proclaiming his innocence while aiming to distinguish his controversial on stage persona from his off stage demeanor.
Part 2 of the letter was published on Sunday in the Jamaica Gleaner, along with a poem written by Kartel......
Conclusion of Adidja Palmer's letter
"Ms Cooper, please publish this letter so that the Jamaican people can see my point of view on this serious matter as my life depends on the outcome of this case.
"In closing I would like to let the people know that i am an innocent man and i have faith in my lawyers and know that i will be acquitted. Thank you. Sincerely yours Adidja Palmer.
P.S. I have enclosed a poem i wrote. feel free to publish it as well. Thanks Ms C."
(A poem) Guilty before trial?
by A. Palmer
The police have found me guilty and i haven't gone to trial yet,but they spread propoganda on T.V. & internet
Dem a beat it in the people's mind that i'm guilty and deserve death,but the public knows how the police operate, so mi nah fret.
So many people in court for allegedly taking 4, 5, 6 pickney life,
So how they don't discuss that on 'CVM at sunrise'?
Allegations of extra judicial killings by security forces have already been issue,but i've never seen them on t.v. so much, talking about that, did you?
Me never kill nobody yet but they say my music breeds crime,that's why they're on my case they want me imprisoned long time.
I am an artiste so i know things will make the news,but don't crusade this ungodly way to distort peoples views.
Mi swear my innocence before all mankind and God,why would i risk going to jail Leaving behind 7 children, after mi nuh mad.
I am not the first manThe romans soldiers have sacrificed,like me, that man was not guilty That man was Jesus Christ.
Haiti: UN peacekeepers sentenced for raping teenage boy
A Pakistani military tribunal has convicted two United Nations peacekeepers for raping a 14-year-old Haitian boy.
UN spokeswoman Sylvie Van Den Wildenberg said judges from a Pakistani military tribunal came to Haiti to hold the trial that resulted in the conviction last week of the peacekeepers from Pakistan.
They were found guilty in the rape of the boy in the northern city of Gonaives on January 20.
Haitian Justice Minister, Michel Brunache called the verdict for the two Pakistanis a "small" step in the right direction.
"We expected more from the UN and the Pakistani government, but now we want to focus on the proper reparation that the victim deserves," Brunache said.
The two unidentified soldiers were summarily discharged from the military and sentenced to a year behind bars in their homeland.
UN officials said it is the first time that members of the UN military on deployment in Haiti have been tried and sentenced within its borders.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission has faced a growing image problem in Haiti, with some of its members accused of responsibility for introducing a deadly cholera epidemic in earthquake-stricken country in 2010.
Several peacekeepers have also been accused of rape in cases that have fuelled public protests and demands that members of the UN force be stripped of their immunity and face trial in Haitian courts.
--AP
Cuba cardinal to give TV address about papal visit
The Roman Catholic Church says Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega will give a televised speech about Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming visit.
Church spokesman Orlando Marquez says Ortega's speech is to air Tuesday evening on state-run channel Cubavision.
A similar address will be given next week by the archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, another planned stop on Benedict's March 26-28 tour.
The Cuban government controls all TV and radio broadcasting.
The church has had occasional access to the airwaves since Pope John Paul II's historic visit in 1998, but far less than it would like.
Masses are sometimes televised, as were recent processions marking the 400th anniversary of the appearance of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/13/2691325/cuba-cardinal-to-give-tv-address.html#storylink=cpy
Former Guatemalan soldier gets 6060-year sentence in massacre
A former member of an elite Guatemalan military force extradited from the United States last July was sentenced to 6,060 years in prison Monday for his role in the killings of 201 people in a 1982 massacre.
Pedro Pimentel Rios was the fifth former special forces soldier sentenced to 6,060 years or more for what became known as the "Dos Erres" massacre, after the northern Guatemala hamlet where the killings occurred during the country's 1960-1996 civil war.
The sentence was handed down by a three-judge panel is largely symbolic since under Guatemalan law the maximum time a convict can serve is 50 years. It specified 30 years for each of the 201 deaths, plus 30 years for crimes against humanity.
Pimentel Rios, 54, is a former instructor at a Guatemalan training school for an elite military force known as the "kaibiles."
Pimentel lived in Santa Ana, California, and worked in a sweater factory for years until he was detained by immigration authorities in May 2010.
He was extradited to Guatemala the following year.
Guatemala's civil war claimed at least 200,000 lives before it ended in 1996.
The country's US-backed army was responsible for most of the deaths, according to the findings of a truth commission set up to investigate the bloodshed.
In December 1982, several dozen soldiers stormed the village of Dos Erres, searched homes for missing weapons and systematically killed men, women and children.
Soldiers bludgeoned villagers with a sledgehammer, threw them down a well, and raped women and girls before killing them, according to court papers filed in a case brought by US prosecutors against another former kaibil.
Guatemala opened an investigation into the killings in 1994 and unearthed 162 skeletons. Several years later, authorities issued arrest warrants for 17 kaibiles but the cases languished.
In August 2011, a Guatemalan court sentenced three other former special forces soldiers to 6,060 years in prison each for the massacre, and sentenced a former army second lieutenant to 6,066 years.
--AP
Moss, 49ers agree to one-year deal
Randy Moss is ready to show the world he can still be that dynamic deep threat who once dominated NFL defensive backs.
Even after a year away. Even at age 35. Even with a reputation he says isn't all it's made out to be.
Moss is getting a another chance in the NFL, signing a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers on Monday only hours after he worked out for the team and with former NFL quarterback and current coach Jim Harbaugh.
"I'm not a free agent. I'm a guy straight off the couch, straight off the street," Moss said. "One thing I want the sports world to understand is the love and passion I have for football."
Moss will fill a big void for the reigning NFC West champions in Harbaugh's version of the West Coast offense.
While he didn't go as far as to promise not to pout when times are tough, he did say all the right things, and that he plans to be a positive presence in a locker room known for its blue-collar, unselfish approach. Moss has no interest in reflecting on his past, either.
This is a fresh start.
--AP
Tiger Woods says he hopes to play next week at Bay Hill
Tiger Woods said Monday night his left Achilles tendon is mildly strained and he is hopeful he can still play next week at Bay Hill.
Woods withdrew from the Cadillac Championship at Doral on Sunday after hitting his tee shot on the 12th hole.
"Got good news from doc tonight," he posted on his Twitter account. "Only mild strain of left Achilles. Can resume hitting balls late in week and hopeful for next week."
Woods is scheduled to play the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, which starts March 22, his final tournament before the Masters. He has played Augusta National every year since 1995.
He said his left Achilles tendon, which caused him to miss two majors last year, felt tight as he warmed up on the practice range before the final round of the Cadillac Championship, and it got worse from there.
It was the second time in 10 months that Woods had to withdraw from a tournament because of his Achilles. He also left after shooting a 42 on the front nine of The Players Championship last May, causing him to sit out three months until it was completely healed. There were some in his camp who did not want him to compete in The Players to give the injury more time.
Woods said in a statement Sunday after withdrawing, "In the past, I may have tried to continue to play, but this time, I decided to do what I thought was necessary."
--AP
US, EU and Japan challenge China on rare earths at WTO
The US, Japan and the European Union have filed a case against China at the World Trade Organization, challenging its restrictions on rare earth exports.
US President Barack Obama announced the filing at the White House, accusing China of breaking agreed WTO rules.
Beijing has set quotas for exports of rare earths, which are critical to the manufacture of high-tech products from hybrid cars, to flat-screen TVs.
It is the first WTO case to be filed jointly by the US, EU and Japan.
They argue that by limiting exports, China, which produces more than 95% of the world's rare earth metals, has pushed up prices.
Environmental concerns
"We've got to take control of our energy future and we cannot let that energy industry take root in some other country because they were allowed to break the rules," Mr Obama said in a Rose Garden press conference.
"If China would simply let the market work on its own we would have no objections."
In the press conference, Mr Obama also said his new trade enforcement unit - which he established last month, with China the primary target - was ramping up its operations.
China has denied the allegations in the WTO case, saying that it had enforced the quotas to ensure there was no environmental damage caused due to excessive mining.
"We think the policy is in line with WTO rules," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin.
"Exports have been stable. China will continue to export, and will manage rare earths based on WTO rules," he said.
The 17 metals are used in electrical products, as well as many renewable energy devices.
There have been concerns that Beijing has implemented the quotas in a bid to ensure that prices remain low within China, which would give its manufacturers an advantage.
But Ivor Shrago, chairman of the mining services firm Rare Earths Global, said the US was in trouble because it took the wrong decisions in the past.
"They took a deliberate decision about 20 years ago not to develop [rare earth mining] and instead to buy the completed products," he told BBC News.
"Because of the deliberate decision that was taken, in China we have developed skills and expertise that the others do not have."
Welcoming Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping to the White House last month, Mr Obama warned that China must play by the same rules as other major powers in the world economy.
Yahoo sues Facebook over 10 disputed patents in the US
Yahoo has filed an intellectual property lawsuit against Facebook.
Yahoo claims the social network has infringed 10 of its patents including systems and methods for advertising on the web. Facebook denies the allegation.
The move comes ahead of Facebook's planned flotation later this year.
Patent litigation has become common between the smartphone makers, but this marks a new front in the battles between the tech giants.
A statement from Yahoo suggested the web portal believed it has a strong case.
"Yahoo's patents relate to cutting edge innovations in online products, including in messaging, news feed generation, social commenting, advertising display, preventing click fraud and privacy controls," its suit said.
"Facebook's entire social network model, which allows users to create profiles and connect with, among other things, persons and businesses, is based on Yahoo's patented social networking technology.
The social network signalled that it believed that Yahoo had not tried hard to settle the matter without involving the courts. It described Yahoo's action as "puzzling".
"We're disappointed that Yahoo, a longtime business partner of Facebook and a company that has substantially benefited from its association with Facebook, has decided to resort to litigation," it added.
The case has echoes of Yahoo's decision to sue Google ahead of its flotation in 2004. That dispute centred over patents that Yahoo had acquired the previous year as part of its takeover of pay-per-position specialist Overture.
Google ultimately settled the case by issuing 2.7 million shares to its rival.
"It's reasonable that Yahoo would want to try this tactic again as it worked in the past," BGC Partner's New York-based technology analyst Colin Gillis told the BBC.
"But there's an air of desperation about this - it's unlikely that they will get easy money from Facebook. This isn't going to derail the IPO."
Yahoo recently overhauled its board appointing Scott Thompson as its chief executive in January. The former Paypal executive replaced Carol Bartz who had been ousted in September.
Yahoo's co-founder, Jerry Yang, also resigned from the board in January. The firm's chairman and three other board members announced their decision to step down shortly afterwards.
The Wall Street Journal had reported that many Yahoo employees expected fresh job cuts following consecutive quarters of revenue declines.
Mr Thompson's decision to sue may secure fresh funds or other assets if the courts rule in his favour.
"This is particularly interesting as it is one of the first patent cases concerning social media," said Andrea Matwyshyn, assistant professor of legal studies at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
"The patentability of computer code is uncertain and recently several groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Computer and Communications Industry Association have asked the US Supreme Court to examine the state of the law and accept a case to clarify when computer code can be protected through patent.
"This may be a case that advances past the district court and at least reaches the appellate court level - one notch below the Supreme Court - if the two parties do not settle first."
The latest suit was filed in the US district court for the northern district of California.
BBC