Chinese military team in talks with Defence Force
A six-member high-powered team from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is on a three-day visit to Trinidad and Tobago for discussions with the Defence Force. The team, headed by General Ma Xiaottian, Deputy Chief of General Staff, paid a courtesy call on THA Chief Secretary Orville London on Monday at the Calder Hall Administrative Complex. Chinese Ambassador to T&T Yang Youmin accompanied the team to Tobago. Commenting on the visit, London said the assembly was very honoured to have hosted the team from the Chinese military. He said according to the general they were visiting T&T to have discussions with the Defence Force and as part of the consultations and deliberations with a view of sharing information and tactics to hopefully upgrade the capacity of the T&T Defence Force.
London added: “We in Tobago are very pleased that the Chinese consistently indicate their desire to ensure that Tobago is not left out of any national activities. “In fact, China is one of the countries, which as a matter of course celebrates its major spring festival event in Tobago and in Trinidad separately.” London said that was a very positive signal and spoke of the kind of relationship which had developed between the people of China and the people of Tobago over the years. He added, “We definitely appreciate the fact they took the opportunity to pay this visit to Tobago and the Office of the Chief Secretary. It was a brief visit but I think we all appreciated the intent to signal there is an appreciation of Tobago as a special and important island in the country of T&T.
Bomb threat in Jamaica results in cargo suspension
Director General of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Colonel Oscar Derby, said that a bomb threat concerning cargo flown from Jamaica to the United States originated in Jamaica.
The Jamaica Observer reported that all cargo shipments were suspended for 72 hours following a reported threat made against cargo on a flight originating from Jamaica on Sunday.
On Sunday night an Air Jamaica flight from Kingston to Fort Lauderdale was detained at the Hollywood International Airport while officials from the US Transport and Safety Administration (TS searched the plane.
Meanwhile, TSA officials and officials from the Department of National Security were expected to land on Monday evening at the Norman Manley International Airport to assess local security measures.
"We have always taken the security measures that are required and from time to time those measures have been checked and found appropriate by the TSA," Derby told the Observer.
He assured passengers that measures are being taken to ensure their safety and that the CAA would work with the American officials.
C&W Bermuda sold for US$70m
CABLE & WIRELESS BERMUDA has been sold to a Canadian company.
The Bragg Group has purchased the Bermuda operations of C&W Communications Plc. (CWC) for US$70 million.
This included Cable & Wireless Bermuda along with Cable & Wireless (Bermuda) Holdings Ltd, Cable & Wireless eBusiness Limited, and its 40 per cent holding in Quantum Communications.
An agreement was made last Tuesday, with the sale set to finalize in a few weeks.
Ann Petley-Jones will be the new chief executive for Cable & Wireless Bermuda Holdings.
She said: “We are excited to invest in Bermuda’s economic growth and communications excellence. We are impressed by the quality of the employees and the company’s operations, and look forward to further modernizing and expanding a full range of communications for Bermudian consumers and businesses.
“In the process we intend to improve Bermuda’s communications infrastructure and create additional employment for Bermudians.”
The purchase gives The Bragg Group its first presence in the communications industry outside Canada, following its growth across Canada. Binding agreements were signed yesterday by The Bragg Group and CWC, with closing to take place in a few weeks.
“This investment is a logical step for our company,” said Lee Bragg, CEO of EastLink and an executive of the Bragg Group.
Source:(Bermuda Sun)
Cricket World Cup: Malinga hat-trick hammers Kenya
Pace bowler Lasith Malinga claimed six wickets - including a hat-trick - as Sri Lanka eased to a comfortable nine-wicket victory over Kenya in Group A.
Half centuries from brothers Collins and David Obuya had helped Kenya to 128-5 near the end of their innings.
But five wickets in 11 balls from Malinga dismissed the Tigers for 142 and gave the bowler figures of 6-38.
Sri Lanka breezed to their target thanks largely to Tillakaratne Dilshan (44) and Upul Tharanga (67 not out).
The last time these two met in the World Cup was in 2003, when Sri Lanka put aside security concerns to travel to Nairobi only to suffer a shock 43-run defeat.
However, Malinga ensured that such an outcome was never likely to repeat itself with an impressive opening salvo and a truly stunning final burst to blow away the Kenyan tail.
The unorthodox 27-year-old seamer - nicknamed "Malinga the Slinger" due to his unique round-arm action - had not featured in Sri Lanka's first two matches due to a back injury but quickly made up for lost time to serve warning that the co-hosts are still firmly in the hunt for the trophy after last Saturday's 11-run loss to Pakistan.
"It was important to come back from Saturday. We showed we are mentally strong and finished it off today," said Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara.
"We tried to stop as many runs as we could and keep them down so that the wickets would come at the end and Lasith as usual, the champion that he is, with the ball reversing, did a great job for us."
Malinga and fellow opener Nuwan Kulasekara had Kenya reeling at 8-2, with an lbw apiece to dismiss Tigers' opening pair Seren Waters and Maurice Ouma.
However, Kenya rallied under the stewardship of brothers Collins and David Obuya, who each overturned an lbw decision on review, from Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis respectively, during a resilient but slow-paced stand of 94.
Significantly, Kenya's resistance was forged during Malinga's absence from the attack but the pace bowler's return reaped immediate dividend as another quick and accurate yorker hammered into Collins Obuya's off stump to bring an end to his 52-run innings, amassed from exactly 100 balls.
Even with wickets in hand, Kenya never looked likely to post a competitive total, and the subsequent loss of Steve Tikolo (caught by Dilshan at point off Matthews) and David Obuya (who beat his brother's earlier 2011 World Cup slowest half century record by four balls before being caught by Thilan Samaweera off Muralitheran) stripped them of any momentum.
With Kenya 128-5, Malinga returned and subsequently destroyed the Tigers' tail with five wickets in 11 balls, all of which came courtesy of his near-unplayable inswinging yorker.
"We were looking for 230, but things did not work out. We were in a good position for 35 overs, but then the damage happened," said Kenya skipper Jimmy Kamande. "If the Obuyas could have been there until the end, things could have been different."
Malinga's end-of-innings assault included his hat-trick, which saw him trap Tanmay Mishra lbw from the last ball of his eighth over and then bowl both Peter Ongondo and Shem Ngoche with the first two balls of his ninth.
It is Malinga's second World Cup hat-trick, after he claimed four wickets in four balls against South Africa in 2007, and the second treble in as many days at this year's tournament after Kemar Roach claimed one during the West Indies' 215-run win over the Netherlands in New Delhi.
Kenya's total is their highest in the tournament so far but it was never going to be enough to trouble Sri Lanka, but the co-hosts made extremely light work of reaching it.
Dilshan provided the initial impetus with a typically aggressive 44 before he gloved a well-directed short ball from Elijah Otieno to wicket-keeper Ouma.
However, Dilshan's fellow opener Tharanga and Sangakkara (26 not out) ensured Sri Lanka brought up a hundred total from 82 balls - the fastest of this World Cup - and saw them home with ease.
Sri Lanka next face holders Australia on the same ground on Saturday.
"Saturday's going to be a big game for us and hopefully we can keep improving, make sure we have a lot more energy on the field and hopefully do well enough to beat Australia," said Sangakkara.
Samuels, Austin lead batting, bowling at halfway stage
Marlon Samuels and Ryan Austin are the leading batsman and bowler respectively, in the WICB Regional first-class championship, following the fourth round of matches, which ended on Monday. Samuels has scored 595 runs from seven innings in four matches at an average of 99.16 to lead the batting in the Championship, and for front-runners and three-time defending champions Jamaica. He has struck three hundreds so far, with his highest score an undefeated 250 against Guyana on home soil at the Alpart Sports Club in the first round. Off-spin bowler Austin has collected 18 wickets at 23.38 apiece from 127.3 overs delivered in four matches for the Combined Campuses & Colleges. His best bowling figures came against the England Lions in the last round of matches, when he snared seven for 134 in the visitors’ first innings at the Three Ws Oval.
In the batting, Samuels is only batsman to have crossed the 500-run threshold, but England Lions’ James Taylor has accumulated 421 from seven innings in four matches at an average of 84.20. He is the only other batsman that has crossed the 400-run mark. Trinidad & Tobago captain Daren Ganga has the highest batting average of 120.00. He has gathered 360 runs—the third highest aggregate—from six innings, including three not-outs, which has greatly contributed to his healthy batting average. This follows his unbeaten 134 in the fourth round that spurred his side to a sensational, come-from-behind, 51-run victory over Windwards at the Arnos Vale Multi-Purpose Complex in St Vincent. Five other players have amassed more than 300 runs, including Kirk Edwards, whose average of 102.00, is second only to Ganga’s.
The Barbadian batsman is now attending the World Cup in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh after being called-up to replace the injured Adrian Barath. Before his departure, he scored 306 runs from three innings in two matches.
In the bowling, England Lions’ Jade Dernbach has been the most successful fast bowler in a competition, which has generally been dominated by spinners in recent times. Dernbach has captured 17 wickets at an average of 15.94 apiece from 91.4 overs bowled in three matches, while T&T’s Rayad Emrit has been the most successful peddler of pace from the Caribbean, with 16 wickets—the fourth highest aggregate—at 13.18 apiece. Lyndon James of Windward Islands and T&T’s Denesh Ramdin have so far been the most busy wicketkeepers, with 15 dismissals each, comprising 14 catches and one stumping. Samuels, T&T’s Justin Guillen, and CCC’s Omar Phillips have had the most adhesive hands, holding eight catches in the outfield apiece. The Championship takes a break this coming weekend, but resumes on March 11, when Jamaica host CCC at Chedwin Park in Innswood, Jamaica; Barbados face Windwards at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados; T&T meet Leeward Islands at the National Cricket Centre in Couva, Trinidad; and Guyana welcome the Lions at the Guyana National Stadium in Providence, Guyana
Chelsea 2 - 1 Man Utd
Chelsea kept their faint Premier League title hopes alive and damaged Manchester United's own ambitions as they came from behind to beat the leaders at Stamford Bridge.
United looked well set to extend their four-point lead over second-placed Arsenal after Wayne Rooney, who Sir Alex Ferguson admitted was fortunate to be playing after escaping further punishment for elbowing Wigan's James McCarthy on Saturday, gave them a deserved interval advantage.
But Chelsea, who left Didier Drogba on the bench as coach Carlo Ancelotti favoured Fernando Torres, staged a stirring fightback to move up to fourth and keep United in their sights on a night when nothing other than victory would have kept the Blues in contention.
David Luiz volleyed the equaliser early in the second half and Frank Lampard's disputed penalty secured three priceless points 10 minutes from time after Chelsea substitute Yuri Zhirkov clashed with Chris Smalling.
Ferguson was incensed as referee Martin Atkinson pointed to the spot - and United's sense of injustice deepened when Nemanja Vidic was sent off in stoppage time after receiving a second yellow card for a foul on Ramires, ruling the centre-back out of the visit to Liverpool on Sunday.
Luiz was Chelsea's stand-out performer, although Ferguson also had a case when he questioned how the £21m defender escaped a red card after the break for a hack at Rooney, with the Brazilian having already been booked.
This was a wonderful advert for the Premier League, with both Chelsea and United intent on all-out attack - but Ferguson will be concerned at how his side lost their way after imperiously controlling much of the first period.
Chelsea remain rank outsiders to retain their crown and they still lie 12 points adrift of United, but Ancelotti will regard this as a performance that supports his insistence that they can still have a say when the major prizes are handed out this season.
United boss Ferguson named an unchanged line-up for the first time in 165 games - and his faith in the players who won 4-0 at Wigan on Saturday was amply rewarded with a hugely impressive first-half performance.
Chelsea opened brightly, with Torres prominent, and Florent Malouda should have done better than shoot straight at Edwin van der Sar from the edge of the area after being played in by Nicolas Anelka.
United, however, settled swiftly to their task and Patrice Evra exchanged passes with Javier Hernandez before just failing in an attempt to find the unmarked Rooney at the far post.
Rooney's every touch was jeered by Chelsea's fans, who revelled in the sight of the striker sending a header flying wildly off target and later they erupted in fury when he barged Ramires to the ground - but the taunts were to be silenced in emphatic fashion on the half hour.
The England forward collected possession from Nani before sending a low, powerful drive past Petr Cech from 20 yards before celebrating in front of Chelsea's fans in the Matthew Harding Stand.
Chelsea's early momentum had all but disappeared as United controlled affairs in midfield while keeping the threat of Torres and Anelka under control after their early promise, although it took fine work from Van der Sar to prevent the hosts drawing level six minutes before half-time.
Lampard's free-kick was pushed out by the United keeper, who recovered brilliantly to claw away the loose ball as Branislav Ivanovic attempted to bundle the rebound over the line.
Chelsea needed a quick response and it came within nine minutes of the restart when Ivanovic touched on Michael Essien's cross for Luiz to send a thunderous volley low past the motionless Van der Sar.
With the game thrown wide open, both managers made positive changes as Ancelotti sent on Drogba for Anelka and Ferguson replaced Javier Hernandez and Paul Scholes with Dimitar Berbatov and Ryan Giggs - the latter equalling Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 606 league appearance for United.
Chelsea look to have acquired an outstanding talent in Luiz but there are still rough edges to be smoothed out and he was fortunate to stay on the pitch after crudely clattering Rooney, with the Brazilian having already been booked.
Ferguson remonstrated furiously with the officials in the aftermath of that challenge - and his mood darkened even further when Chelsea were awarded a penalty after Zhirkov tangled with Smalling in the 80th minute.
The young defender clearly felt he could not avoid Zhirkov but the protests were all to no avail as Lampard slammed the penalty past Van der Sar.
And Zhirkov nearly added a third almost immediately with a shot from the edge of the area that was unwittingly deflected on to an upright by Vidic.
United's evening then ended on a desperate note as Vidic pulled Ramires back on the edge of the area and was sent off - meaning his removal from the defence for the testing trip to Anfield.
Howard has 30 to lead Magic past Knicks, 116-110
Dwight Howard had 30 points and 16 rebounds, Jameer Nelson scored 23 of his 26 points in the second half, and the Orlando Magic outlasted the New York Knicks 116-110 on Tuesday night.
The Magic trailed 58-47 at halftime, but surged in the second half as the Knicks struggled from the field.
The win was the Magic's third straight and fifth in six games. It was also Orlando's second win this season over the Knicks, who host the Magic twice before the end of the month.
New York fell to 2-2 since acquiring All-Star Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. The Knicks finished 1-1 on the Florida swing, following its win over Miami on Sunday.
Amare Stoudemire and Billups led New York with 30 points apiece, followed by Anthony with 25.
The Knicks led 84-79 entering the final period before an 8-2 Magic spurt, capped by a basket by Quentin Richardson, closed them to within 88-87 with 9:27 to play.
Orlando took a 90-88 lead on its next possession on Ryan Anderson's 3-pointer.
Billups was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 7:31 left and hit all three free throws to briefly put the Knicks back up 93-92.
But the Magic quickly responded with five points, including a 3-pointer by Jason Richardson, to regain a 97-93 edge with 6:48 remaining.
Stoudemire completed a three-point play to close the gap to 99-96, before Nelson reeled off nine straight Magic points to put the them up 108-99 with 4:35 left.
The Knicks got within four points at 110-106 on a pair of free throws by Billups, but did not get any closer.
In a physical first half, in which 26 fouls were called, the Knicks were the much crisper team on the offensive end as they built a 58-47 lead.
The action was fast-paced throughout and featured nine lead changes.
Orlando trailed 15-14 with just under five minutes left in the first quarter before going on a 12-0 run to go up 26-15 with 2:47 left in the period. The Magic took a 32-21 lead into the second quarter.
The Knicks responded with 21-7 run to start the second to take a 42-39 lead at the 5:56 mark and stayed on top the rest of the half.
They got some help with 4:01 remaining, when Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu was ejected after picking up his second technical foul of the game. Turkoglu was on the bench with three personal fouls and apparently said something to referee Jason Phillips.
Turkoglu played only 12 minutes, going 0 for 4 from the field, with two rebounds and two assists.
Howard led all scorers in the first half with 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting. But the rest of his teammates were just a combined 7 for 21. They also turned the ball over 11 times, leading to 10 New York points.
The Knicks only shot 40 percent, but got 16 points from Billups, and 15 and 11 from Stoudemire and Anthony, respectively.
Source: sportsillustrated
Ex-Goldman Sachs director charged with insider trading
A former Goldman Sachs board member has been charged with insider trading.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission said Rajat Gupta leaked details about Warren Buffett's $5bn (£3bn) investment in Goldman in 2008 to Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam.
The SEC said Mr Gupta had tipped Mr Rajaratnam by phone minutes before the investment by Mr Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway became public knowledge.
Mr Gupta's lawyer called the allegations "totally baseless".
A spokesman for Goldman declined to comment, as did Jim McCarthy, spokesman for Mr Rajaratnam.
'Betrayed trust'
The investment from Berkshire Hathaway helped to ensure Goldman's stability during the financial crisis.
The financial watchdog said that Mr Rajaratnam used the tip-off about the investment from his "friend and business associate" to trade for Galleon funds, generating more than $18m for the hedge fund group.
It also said Mr Gupta invested in some Galleon funds.
"Gupta was honoured with the highest trust of leading public companies, and he betrayed that trust by disclosing their most sensitive and valuable secrets," SEC enforcement chief Robert Khuzami said.
However, Mr Gupta's lawyer denied the allegations.
"Mr Gupta has done nothing wrong," his lawyer Gary Naftalis said in a statement. "There is no allegation that Mr Gupta traded in any of these securities or shared in any profits as part of any quid pro quo."
'Preventing distraction'
Rajat Gupta sat on the board at Goldman from November 2006 to May last year.
He is also charged with giving Mr Rajaratnam confidential earnings information from Goldman and Procter & Gamble, where he had served on the board since 2007.
Mr Gupta resigned from his position on the P&G board on Tuesday after the civil charges were announced.
"He's stepping down in the interest of the company, to prevent any distraction to the P&G board or our business," company spokesman Paul Fox said.
Galleon Group's Mr Rajaratnam has already been accused of generating profits of more than $50m after receiving inside information.
He faces a criminal insider trading trial, scheduled to begin on 8 March. He also faces SEC civil charges.
He has denied any wrongdoing.
Bank of America website suffers outage ... again
Bank of America's online banking system went on the fritz for some users Tuesday, the second such incident this year.
Customers attempting to access the bank's online services were experiencing "intermittent service disruptions," according to Tara Burke, a spokeswoman for the bank.
The bank is working to restore the system to normal as soon as possible, Burke said. The bank's branches and ATM network are unaffected, she said.
In January, the bank experienced a similar problem, caused by an IT glitch.
Tuesday's service disruptions are the result of a routine update performed on the system over the weekend, and no personal personal banking data is at risk, Burke said.
But the outage is particularly ill-timed, hitting on the first of the month -- a day when many customers are scrambling to pay bills. Bank of America "will work with customers on an individual basis" to resolve any problems stemming from that, Burke said.
The problem kept Bank of America's Twitter account, @bofa_help, hopping all day, pumping out a steady stream of messages saying: "We are aware of the issue and are working to resolve it as fast as possible. Please accept our apologies."
Frank Murray, a Bank of America customer in Fort Myers, Fla., said he had trouble logging into his account for much of the day.
"It was off much of the afternoon, and unusually slow before that," Murray said.
Murray said attempts to access his account were met with a screen declaring there was an "outage." Later the message changed to an "upgrade."
"I'm guessing nobody planned an upgrade at mid-afternoon on the first of the month," he said.
Stocks drop more than 1% as oil spikes near $100
U.S. stocks tumbled Tuesday, with all three major indexes down more than 1%, as oil prices spiked to nearly $100 a barrel.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) sank 168 points, or 1.4%, with Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500) and Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500) leading the decline. The S&P 500 (SPX) fell 21 points, or 1.6%, and the Nasdaq (COMP) lost 45 points, or 1.6%.
The sell-off came as oil prices for April delivery continued to head higher, climbing $2.66 to settle at $99.63 a barrel amid ongoing uprisings in Libya and the Middle East. In electronic trading, crude prices topped $100 a barrel Tuesday afternoon, after crossing that mark last week for the first time since 2008.
As crude climbed, gas prices rose for a seventh straight day. Meanwhile, gold prices surged $21.30, or 1.5%, to settle at a record high of $1,431.20 an ounce.
Tensions in the Middle East and North Africa will continue to cast a shadow on the market, said Matt King, chief investment officer at Bell Investment Advisors.
Investors also tuned into Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony on Capitol Hill. Bernanke warned that a sustained rise in oil prices could pose a danger to economic growth.
"Bernanke's comments reconfirm what the market's fear has been since the Libyan situation started," King said. "Bernanke hasn't been too concerned about inflation, especially in relation to high commodity prices, so this is the first time he's outlining a potential scenario with inflation."
Markets also came under pressure after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against former Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) director Rajat Gupta for insider trading.
"It's just another hit to investor confidence, and it's scary to think about potential repercussions," said Dave Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equity trading at Canaccord Adams. "All this insider trading at hedge funds can make individual investors hesitant to come back to the market."
Investors are also looking ahead to the government's monthly payroll report on Friday, which will reveal how many jobs were created in February.
Despite a slight step back last week, stocks closed out February on an upbeat note -- posting their third-straight month of gains. Overall, all three major indexes were up nearly 3% during the month, and have risen more than 5% since the beginning of the year.
Economy: The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index rose for a 19th consecutive month, reaching 61.4% -- a level last seen in May 2004. The level signals continuing expansion in the sector.
Companies: General Motors (GM) said total U.S. sales rose 46% last month on an annual basis, while Ford's sales rose 14%. Shares of both U.S. automakers fell about 2%.
Shares of Japanese automaker Toyota (TM) slipped 0.5% after the company said sales rose 42% last month from a year earlier, when monthly sales fell 8.7% on recall problems.
Shares of Las Vegas Sands (LVS, Fortune 500) dropped 6.3% after the casino operator said that it has received a subpoena from the SEC requesting documents related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The company said it is also being investigated by the Department of Justice.
Shares of J. Crew Group (JCG) rose 1% after stockholders agreed to adopt the previously announced merger agreement with Chinos, an affiliate of private equity firms TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners.
World markets: European stocks closed lower. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.8%, the DAX in Germany fell 0.5% and France's CAC 40 declined by 0.7%.
Asian markets ended higher. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.5%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.2% and Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.2%.
Currencies and commodities: The dollar rose against the euro, was weaker versus the British pound and firmer versus the Japanese yen.
Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 3.41% from 3.43% late Monday.