Midnight carnival big hit in Barbados
BARBADOS’ first premium, all-inclusive midnight costume carnival was “definitely a hit”.
Hundreds of tourists and locals “partied like never before” as they participated in the event that started at the bottom of Holders Hill, St James at midnight last Friday.
Decked in Kalinago-themed moonlight costumes that coincided with the theme of the carnival, Settlers: The West Coast Experience, and designed by the award-winning and regionally acclaimed Toni Thorne, the revellers brought the West Coast alive.
The masqueraders had an enjoyable time as they danced to an electric fusion of local and international sounds. Painted faces and bodies full of mud went through the Glow Zone located in the Sandy Lane area.
And after they were finished chipping and jamming, under the moon and stars, the revellers assembled at the Folkestone Marine Park in Holetown where they greeted the light of the new dawn with Rayz: The Sunrise Arieto breakfast after-party.
Thorne, who also organized the event, told the SUNDAY SUN she was delighted with the proceedings.
“It is a heritage tourism product. The theme will change annually in the order of chronology. This year’s theme was focused on Arawaks, and they were the first settlers on the island. So next year, the theme of the carnival will be centred on the English settlers.”
Disappointing Windies
The West Indies made it to the quarter-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup but their performance at the all-important knockout stage was just as predictable, just as disappointing, as it was getting there.
In reaching the last eight of the prestigious tournament, the West Indies defeated those teams they were expected to and lost to the those they were expected to.
In other words, the West Indies, the once mighty West Indies, defeated The Netherlands, Bangladesh, and Ireland, and lost to South Africa, England, and India, twice snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
In Wednesday's quarter-final match, the West Indies lost to Pakistan when, after winning the toss, after expressing their delight in doing so, and after deciding to bat first, they were brushed aside for 112.
Pakistan then strolled to 113 without loss off 20.5 overs in 88 minutes.
Despite all the excuses that captain Darren Sammy and coach Ottis Gibson may come up with, it was the same old story. It was the story of the West Indies team, a weak team, in batting and bowling, performing poorly.
On the eve of Wednesday's match, Sammy said, for all to hear: "We're are in a position like all the other teams. It's the quarter-finals, it's do-or-die, we must come out with our A-game. It's a ground where we executed our plans perfectly. We feel loved by the people and we're ready for tomorrow. We've played here before. We were the perfect demonstration of plans being executed. The guys are aware of that and we will be taking confidence from that."
Poor performance
The West Indies played in Mirpur once before Wednesday, the perfectly executed plans were against lowly Bangladesh, and although the West Indies dismissed Bangladesh for 58 and defeated them by nine wickets, that was nothing to shout about, especially after South Africa removed Bangladesh for 78 while defeating them by 206 runs.
Maybe the captain felt obliged not to mention the weaknesses of the players and in an attempt to build up their confidence, not to speak, probably publicly, about their shortcomings.
The performances of the West Indies team for many years now have been disappointing, however. In fact, not only have the West Indies failed to beat a team ranked higher in the ODI ratings over the past two years, but the number of times they have collapsed, in any form of the game, is mind-boggling.
In the World Cup, in this tournament, they lost four wickets for three runs in 3.2 overs to fall from 222 for six to 225 while chasing England's 243; they lost eight wickets for 34 runs in 12.3 overs to fall from 154 for two to 188 while chasing India's 268; and on Wednesday, after losing Christopher Gayle in the third over, they lost Devon Smith and Darren Bravo at 16 for three after 5.4 overs; and after Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul had posted 42 runs for the fourth-wicket, they lost five wickets for 13 runs in 3.4 overs, including four for two in 1.1 overs, to collapse from 58 for three to 71 for eight.
But for Chanderpual, 44 not out from 106 deliveries, and Kemar Roach, 16 from 43, the West Indies, instead of finishing with their third-lowest score in the World Cup, would have ended well short of their 93 against Kenya in Pune in 1996 and their 110 versus Australia in Manchester in 1999.
Embarrassing show
The West Indies batsmen, with the exception of Gayle, who did not bat long enough to face them, and Chanderpaul, who batted undefeated to the end, performed like novices against the spin of Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal, as well as part-timer Mohammad Hafeez.
The trio took eight wickets in the match, and but for Chanderpual, Sarwan and Roach, it would have been totally embarrassing.
Devon Smith faced 14 deliveries and was leg before wicket to Hafeez for seven; Darren Bravo faced three deliveries and was leg before wicket to Hafeez for zero; Kieron Pollard faced seven deliveries and was caught by the wicketkeeper off Afridi for zero; Devon Thomas faced one delivery and was leg before wicket to Afridi for one; Darren Sammy faced three deliveries and was leg before wicket to Ajmal for one; Devendra Bishoo faced three deliveries and was bowled by Ajmal for zero; and Ravi Rampaul faced four deliveries and was bowled by Afridi for zero.
Ramiz Raja, a former Pakistan opening batsman, a member of Pakistan's World Cup-winning team in 1992, commentating on the action, said the Pakistani spin bowlers, with a mixture of leg spin and googly, off spin and and the doosra, were like magicians in Mirpur.
Judging from the attempt of the West Indies batsmen to play Pakistan's spinners, how they mistook googlies for leg breaks and vice versa, doosras for off breaks and vice versa, and the awkward positions in which they found themselves due to clumsy foot-work, they should thank their lucky stars they won the toss and did not have to bat in the night, under the floodlights.
Source:Tony Becca
Bobcats send Knicks to 6th straight loss, 114-106
In the span of just a few days, the Charlotte Bobcats have somehow climbed back into playoff contention while the New York Knicks are facing questions about a potential monumental collapse.
And Carmelo Anthony is as dumbfounded as anybody.
The suddenly surging Bobcats became the latest team to run past the struggling Knicks on Saturday night. Boris Diaw scored 20 points and Stephen Jackson added 19 despite a sore hamstring and another technical foul in 114-106 victory that moved Charlotte within a game of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
"We needed this so bad," said coach Paul Silas, whose team stunned Boston a night earlier.
Anthony had 36 points and led a comeback from a 20-point third-quarter deficit to make it a bit interesting late. But he got little help from a struggling Amare Stoudemire and couldn't prevent New York's sixth straight loss.
Not even lineups changes helped the Knicks, who are 7-12 since acquiring Anthony and Chauncey Billups in a deal that was supposed to shoot them up the East standings. Instead, the Knicks' lead over ninth-place Charlotte is down to 4 1/2 games.
"For the most part, these are teams we should be beating," Anthony said. "We talk about that among each other - that some of these teams shouldn't even be on the court with us. But they're winning games and it's just something we have to figure out."
The Bobcats built a 20-point third-quarter lead and withstood an Anthony-fueled rally that got New York within 110-106 with 1:34 left. The Knicks didn't score again.
"We've got a lot of talent, but as you know, talent isn't everything," said Billups, who had 14 points and 10 assists, but missed 10 of 16 shots including a jumper late. "Camaraderie and cohesiveness and being a good team beats talent every day of the week. When we get to a point where we get that, combined with the talent, we're going to be a very dangerous team."
The Bobcats appeared finished after a 23-point home loss to Indiana on Wednesday left them three games behind the Pacers for the last postseason slot while also surrendering the tiebreaker.
Since then, Charlotte became the first East team to win in Boston and knocked off New York, while the Pacers have lost to lottery-bound Sacramento and Detroit in consecutive nights.
"This is the best part of the season," Jackson said. "This is what you play for."
Jackson, hobbled by a strained left hamstring that's had him in and out of the lineup for the past month, had a key tip in and a layup late despite earlier picking up his 15th technical foul, one shy of an automatic one-game suspension.
"I know I can't get any more, but I think I went like eight games without getting one," Jackson said. "I think I can finish this season and hopefully postseason without getting another one, hopefully."
Jackson shot 4 of 9 on 3-pointers and took advantage of New York's woeful defense.
Charlotte, the NBA's second-lowest scoring team coming in at 92.8 points a game, tallied a season-high 64 points in the first half to take a 13-point lead. Diaw's 3 early in the third made it 75-55.
The Bobcats shot 47 percent, held a 46-39 rebounding advantage and grabbed 16 offensive rebounds. Stoudemire grabbed six rebounds to go with 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
"I don't care how good your offense is, you've really got to score 120-something to beat a team like that," Billups said. "And that's just too much pressure on your offense. Our defense is what's going to make or break us, I believe."
Coach Mike D'Antoni was more worried about offense before the game, saying his team lacks "pizazz." With center Ronny Turiaf (ankle) sidelined, Landry Fields was also sent to the bench for a smaller, quicker lineup.
Toney Douglas joined Billups in the backcourt and got the defensive assignment on Charlotte point guard D.J. Augustin. Shawne Williams also started and while the Knicks showed spark early on offense, they allowed the Bobcats to score almost at will.
Anthony, who hit 13 of 25 shots, was on the bench early in the fourth before hitting consecutive 3-pointers to fuel the Knicks' too-late spurt even as Charlotte played again without Tyrus Thomas (ribs).
"It was whoever wanted it most," Silas said, "and we obviously did."
Bobcats assistant Charles Oakley missed his third straight game and Silas said he'll undergo a procedure next week for his back injury. Silas expects Oakley to miss another week.
Source:AP
Brazil beats Scotland 2-0
Neymar strengthened his burgeoning reputation with both of Brazil's goals as they saw off Scotland in a friendly at the Emirates Stadium.
Jadson and Leandro Damiao went close before Neymar fired Brazil in front near the end of the first half.
The Santos striker netted his second from the penalty spot after he had been fouled by Charlie Adam.
The Scots struggled to keep possession throughout, Barry Bannan's free-kick the closest they came to threatening.
Having won their last two matches 3-0, confidence had been growing in the Scotland camp but the rankings slip likely to follow from this defeat may impact on which pot Craig Levein's men go into in the upcoming World Cup qualifying draw.
There was a huge gulf in quality between the sides but Scotland did have an early chance to make an impression when Lucio bundled over Kenny Miller a few yards outside the box, only for Adam's free-kick to cannon off the defensive wall.
There was a menace about Brazil every time they crossed the halfway line, often aided and abetted by Scotland conceding possession, but the final ball was often overcooked.
Elano sought to change that trend with a back-post cross that was headed high over the top by Chelsea's Ramires.
A more incisive pass by Elano put Jadson through and, though goalkeeper Allan McGregor spilled the shot, the danger was eventually mopped up.
Minutes later, Leandro Damiao's header from Elano's corner clipped the top of the crossbar on its way out.
Scotland then survived a penalty call when Lucas Leiva's low cross deflected onto the hand of Gary Caldwell after another incisive move from the South Americans.
Having been on the back foot for much of the first half, the Scots were afforded some relief when James Morrison was tripped by Dani Alves inside the Brazil half and Adam's teasing delivery was glanced just wide by the head of Steven Whittaker.
Scotland's resistance was eventually broken in the 42nd minute when Andre Santos' cutback found Neymar in space and the teenager skilfully cushioned the ball before placing a shot into the far corner of the net.
More carelessness in possession by Scotland gave Brazil two chances to score early in the second half.
Neymar caught the top of the bar with a shot on the run after Adam had given the ball away before the busy Ramires stole from James McArthur and tried to set up Neymar for an open goal.
McGregor had come off his line and diverted the pass with his fingertips before bravely blocking Leandro Damiao's follow-up shot.
Ramires, a study in perpetual motion, was not so impressive in front of goal as he blazed over from Dani Alves' low cross as Brazil continued to pour men forward.
The introduction of Bannan and then Kris Commons for McArthur and Whittaker gave Scotland fresh attacking impetus and Adam flashed a shot over after cantering towards the penalty area.
But Adam's afternoon took a turn for the worse when he foolishly felled Neymar in the box and the sought-after Santos striker picked himself up to stroke home the spot-kick 13 minutes from the end.
Substitute Lucas got the Brazil fans off their feet with a blistering run and one-two with Neymar, the Sao Paulo teenager's eventual shot deflected into the arms of McGregor.
Peterborough's Craig Mackail-Smith was given his Scotland debut as a replacement for Miller before Bannan's free-kick was comfortably collected by Brazil keeper Julio Cesar as the match wound down.
The pace and trickery of Lucas, making his full international debut, set up fellow substitute Jonas for a gilt-edged chance in injury time but the towering forward hammered his shot over.
Scotland: McGregor, Hutton, Caldwell, Berra (Danny Wilson 73), Crainey, Adam (Snodgrass 78), Brown, Morrison (Cowie 90), McArthur (Bannan 56), Whittaker (Commons 64), Miller (Mackail-Smith 87).
Subs Not Used: Gordon, Hanley, Maguire, Davidson, Mark Wilson, Bell.
Brazil: Julio Cesar, Dani Alves, Lucio, Thiago Silva, Andre Santos, Lucas (Sandro 86), Elano (Elias 82), Ramires, Jadson (Lucas Rodriguez 72), Neymar (Renato Augusto 89), Leandro Damiao (Oliveira 78).
Subs Not Used: Victor, Maicon, Luisao, David Luiz, Henrique, Jefferson.
Goals: Neymar 42, 77 pen.
Att: 53,087
Ref: Howard Webb (England)
Roger Federer equals Pete Sampras win record
World number three Roger Federer has equalled Pete Sampras' total of career singles victories.
Federer drew level with the seven-time Wimbledon champion on 762 wins by beating Czech Radek Stepanek 6-3 6-3 in the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
Only six men have won more matches than Federer and Sampras with American Jim Connors leading the way on 1,242.
Meanwhile, Andy Murray's poor form continued as he and Novak Djokovic were beaten in the doubles in Miami.
The pair went down 5-7 6-3 10-0 to Sergiy Stakhovsky and Mikhail Youzhny in their last-32 clash.
The result was another setback for Murray, who was beaten 6-1 7-5 in the singles second-round by Alex Bogomolov Jr on Friday and has struggled since reaching the Australian Open final in January.
Federer won at Key Biscayne in 2005 and 2006 and needed only 62 minutes to dispose of Stepanek after taking all three of his chances to break and he now plays Spain's Juan Monaco in the third round.
"It's nice tying Pete, but he could have played for many more years," said Federer.
"He could still win some matches on tour now if he wanted to.
"It's a funny stat, but it shows how long I've been around and how much I've won around the world.
Despite some reservations over the slow surface, Federer was happy with how he performed.
"I was able to play solid and keep him moving and serve at a high first-serve percentage. All in all, I'm really pleased," said Federer.
"It is hard to put balls away, you have to really set it up perfectly. It reminds me slightly of clay in terms of how you can construct points. You have to really create the way you play the points."
Eighth seed Andy Roddick suffered an upset at the hands of Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas, who won 6-4 7-6 (7-4).
Roddick was followed out by 10th seed Jurgen Melzer who was beaten 6-3 6-4 by Germany's Philipp Petzschner.
Meanwhile, Monaco survived the loss of a second-set tie-break to overpower Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-4, 6-7 (3-7) 6-4.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Mikhail Youzhny, seeded 15th and 13th respectively, both made it through unscathed.
Tsonga, who lost to Federer in the final in Rotterdam in February, prevailed 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 over Russia's Teymuraz Gabashvili.
While Youzhny enjoyed more straightforward progress as he dispatched Yen-Hsun Lu 6-1 6-0.
Tsonga will face Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov next after the 22-year-old benefited from the retirement of Andreas Seppi while leading 6-1 5-3.
However there were other upsets to add to Melzer and Roddick's exits.
Cyprus' world number 24 Marcos Baghdatis fell victim to Belgian qualfier Olivier Rochus who made light of the 65 ranking places between the pair to win 6-2 4-6 6-4.
Spain's Feliciano Lopez ousted 26th seed Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-4 while Germany's Florian Mayer and Argentina's Carlos Berlocq claimed the scalps of 20th seed Albert Montanes and 28th seed Ernests Gulbis respectively.
In the third round of the women's draw, world number one Caroline Wozniacki secured a straight sets win over Daniela Hantuchova 6-1 7-6.
Australian fourth seed Samathan Stosur made it though to the fourth round by seeing off the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova 6-0 7-6 (7-1).
Stosur will take on three-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova in the last eight after the Russian brushed aside Germany's Sabine Lisicki 6-2 6-0.
Serbia's Jelena Jankovic made her way past 32nd seed Klara Zakopalova 7-5 6-1, while world number 15 Svetlana Kuznetsova suffered a 6-3 6-1 reverse against China's Shuai Peng.
Scot Paul Lawrie breaks title drought in Andalucia
Paul Lawrie won his first tournament since 2002 with a one-shot victory at the Andalucia Open in Malaga on Sunday.
The 1999 Open winner led by one shot at the start of the day but fell three strokes behind over the front nine.
Lawrie regained his place at the top of the leaderboard with birdies at the 10th, 11th, 12th and 14th and could even afford a bogey five at the last.
Sweden's Johan Edfors finished second, with Chile's Felipe Aguilar third on nine under, after both carded 68s.
Englishman Kenneth Ferrie, who began the day in a share of second place, finished a distant 11th after following his European Tour record-equalling 60 with a card of 75.
Lawrie's last tournament success came at the Wales Open at Celtic Manor in 2002 and, after one bogey in the Scot's previous three rounds, it appeared the pressure may be telling when he dropped shots on three of his first five holes.
But the 42-year-old hit form on the home straight and made certain of avoiding a play-off by two-putting from eight feet on the 18th green.
"It's nice, it's been a long time, nine years, and I've had a few second places in there too," said Lawrie. "Although 2002 just seems a hell of a long time ago, I played some lovely golf this week, I putted well and stayed patient.
"I must say that I felt under control even when I was above par at the start, and when you get into that attitude good things happen.
"I started hitting beautiful shots on the back nine. I birdied 10, 11 and 12, and then did a great up and down on 14 for birdie just at the right moment."
England Mark Foster secured a two-shot lead at one stage on the final day, but he then started shipping bogeys and his 72 left him tied for fourth.
His nine-under-par total put him in a group with France's Raphael Jacquelin and Jeppe Huldahl, the Dane firing the best round of the day, a three-under-par 67 to make a big move up the leaderboard from an overnight 13th place.
Libyan rebels 'sign oil export deal with Qatar'
Libyan rebels say they have signed an oil contract with Qatar to export oil from rebel-held territory.
"We are producing about 100,000 to 130,000 barrels a day, we can easily up that to about 300,000 a day," rebel spokesman Ali Tarhouni told the Associated Press.
He said that shipments of crude would start in "less than a week".
The rebels say their main concern is obtaining insurance for any tankers taking oil from Libya.
Libya produces 1.6m barrels per day of oil but analysts believe this has fallen by at least two-thirds since unrest began last month.
Eurozone sets bail-out terms as Portugal fears increase
European leaders have agreed a restructuring of a financial bail-out fund that they hope will resolve the bloc's debt crisis.
Eurozone ministers bowed to German demands to renegotiate the time-frame for contributions to the massive fund.
But the deal was overshadowed by concerns about Portugal and a growing row that the UK may be forced to contribute to a financial bail-out.
Portugal says it does not need aid, but many analysts say Lisbon is in denial.
The eurozone debt deal follows months of negotiations.
"We decided a comprehensive package of economic measures... Today almost all the strands of this enterprise have come together," European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said.
The new plan provides for the creation of a permanent fund in 2013, the European Stability Mechanism, to help troubled eurozone countries.
A major sticking point was the speed with which countries had to pay cash into the 700bn-euro (£615bn) fund.
The agreement requires 80bn euros of cash provided by eurozone countries in five equal annual instalments. There will be a further 620bn euros in guarantees.
Originally, eurozone finance ministers agreed to put 40bn euros into the fund immediately it is created in 2013.
There had been expectations that the two-day summit in Brussels would agree a resolution over rescuing Portugal's stricken economy.
But Portuguese ministers said they had no intention of following Greece and the Irish Republic in tapping the bail-out fund.
Even so, analysts believe it is only a matter of time before other countries are forced to provide support to the ailing economy.
'Furious'
UK Prime Minister David Cameron refused to respond to suggestions that Britain may have to pledge billions of pounds to any emergency funding.
He said: "It's not right to comment and speculate on another country's finances, and I'm not going to do that."
He has faced angry calls from his own Conservative MPs to refuse to contribute British money towards a bail-out.
"Can I remind you that we have just had an austerity Budget?" said former frontbencher Bernard Jenkin in the Commons on Thursday.
"Can you imagine how absolutely furious British voters would be if it turns out that the British taxpayer has to continue contributing to the bail-out of euro countries, even though we are not a member?"
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso insisted that member states had not discussed bailing out Portugal.
"We [EU leaders] expressed confidence in the capacity of Portugal to overcome the current situation and also to find the funding the country needs in the months to come."
The financial markets are also worried as Portugal must repay a large chunk of debt to lenders in April.
On Friday, Standard & Poor's downgraded Portugal's credit ratings by two notches to BBB and warned it could cut it further.
S&P followed a two-notch cut by Fitch on Thursday.
David Cameron wants Japan EU trade deal
The European Union (EU) should offer Japan a free trade deal to help it recover from the earthquake and tsunami two weeks ago, UK Prime Minister David Cameron has said.
"One of our priorities must be to invite Japan to enter into a free trade area with the EU," Mr Cameron said.
This would give Japan a trade boost and aid its economic recovery, he said following an EU summit in Brussels.
The Japanese government has estimated the rebuilding cost to be £192bn.
Mr Cameron said he had "secured a specific reference" to his proposal in the conclusions of EU documents.
The documents will be published later.
Manageable costs
Earlier, the International Monetary Fund said it believed Japan's economy was strong enough to afford the cost of rebuilding the damage from the earthquake and tsunami.
It said it expected a short-term drop in the economy, but no long-term impact.
"Despite the extensive damage we are of the view that the economic costs are manageable," said Ken Kang, the IMF's Asia Pacific chief.
However, it said that power shutdowns would complicate Japan's prospects.
Spanish airport workers call off major strike
Airport workers in Spain have called off 22 days of strikes which threatened to cause major disruption over the Easter holidays and into the summer.
Union members voted to cancel the strike after receiving guarantees over job security and conditions.
The strikes were called over concerns about the part-privatisation of national airport operator Aena.
The government plans to sell up to 49% of Aena, in a drive to reduce Spain's budget deficit.
Workers had feared the sale of the company would result in job losses and a deterioration in conditions.
Union leaders said about 70% of their more than 10,000 members voted to call off the industrial action.
"The ratification of this deal means the cancellation of the call for 22 days of strikes planned on different days between April and August," said a statement from the CCOO union.
The strikes would have involved security staff, baggage handlers, ground crew and others at 47 Spanish airports.
It would have dealt a serious blow to Spain's tourism industry in the busy Easter and summer seasons.
Spain is seeing an increase in visitor numbers as tourists avoid trouble spots in the Middle East such as Egypt and Tunisia.