Raging Fyah collabs with Cidade Negra on Would You Love Me (Remix)
Coming off their Grammy nominated album 'Everlasting,' Raging Fyah releases the remix single 'Would You Love Me' featuring Brazilian reggae powerhouse, Cidade Negra available on all digital music platforms May 5th. The two acts bring together a distinctive blend of reggae flavor just in time for Brazil's National Reggae Day celebrations.
Based in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, Cidade Negra came together in 1986 and reached a great level of success in the 90's with albums "Sobre Todas as Forças" and "O Erê". They perform Portuguese and English lyrics on 'Would You Love Me' adding an international flair. The band is currently working on a new album and doing select tour dates in Brazil through September, concluding at Rock in Rio, Brazil's biggest running music festival in since 1985.
Produced by Riff Raff and written by Raging Fyah in collaboration with Cidade Negra, 'Would You Love Me (Remix)' explores the nuances of materialism in relationships, posing the question, "If I gave you everything I own, would you love me?" From the cover art, to the brilliant blend of roots reggae and soft rock, to the rousing libretto, it all comes together on this classic summer jam.
Raging Fyah was recently nominated in the Best Reggae Album category for the 2017 Grammy Awards which aired on February 12th. The band is currently gearing up for an opening slot on the UB40 summer tour, commencing in Inverness, UK on May 19th and ending in Las Vegas, Nevada in July 29th.
Predators & the Knights lead the PABA
The Predators and Knights lead the PABA best of five semi-finals series 2-1 in their respective games as game 4 gets set to kick off Wed night.
The Predators preyed on the Flyers 74-71 to clinch the win on Monday night in an overtime thriller. Charlton Stubbs scored 15 points and grabbed 7 rebounds for the Predators. Carlos Bassett chipped in with 14 points 8 rebounds and Darly Francois added 12 points.
Jakee Been led the way for the Flyers with 18 pts, 6 rebounds while Anthony Cash chipped in with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Turnovers, missed layups and free throws plagued the Flyers. Ray Harris of the flyers had a chance to win the game for his team but issued two crucial free throws to send the game into overtime.
In game two the Knights tamed the Stallions 88-87 in another nail biter.
Clifton Jean scored 21 points 12 rebounds and Enrico Smith chipped in with 15 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Andujar Gardiner did most of the damage for the Knights with 27 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals but was eventually fouled out of the game in the fourth quarter.
Melvin Elsie junior added 18 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals for the Knights for the win.
It's a matter of do or die, win or go fishing for the Flyers and the Stallions tonight. Flyers must minimize their turnovers, score free throws and focus on the game if they are to take this series to a game five says Kelcy Brooks. While Amin McCartney added that the GT Stallions must get some assistance from their second unit coming off the bench if they intend to stop the Knights prolific scoring by Andujar Gardiner and the speed of Melvin Elsie.
S Carolina cop who killed unarmed black man guilty of rights charge
A South Carolina policeman who was filmed shooting an unarmed black man in the back after a traffic stop, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a civil rights violation charge, which could bring up to life in prison. The Justice Department said that former North Charleston, South Carolina, police officer Michael Slager, 35, agreed to the single federal charge, five months after a jury failed to convict him of murder in the case.
Slager's plea will resolve both the federal and state cases against him over the shooting two years ago, which came amid a spate of police shootings of unarmed black men that sparked widespread anger and protests.
In December, a lone jury member in the state case prevented a murder conviction, forcing the judge to declare a mistrial and plan for a new trial.
"The Department of Justice will hold accountable any law enforcement officer who violates the civil rights of our citizens by using excessive force," said Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
"Such failures of duty not only harm the individual victims of these crimes; they harm our country, by eroding trust in law enforcement and undermining the good work of the vast majority of honorable and honest police officers," Sessions added.
Slager, who is white, pulled Walter Scott over for a broken brake light in North Charleston on April 4, 2015.
The 51-year-old Scott got out of his car and tried to flee. Slager chased him and shot him with a Taser, knocking him down. When Scott got up and ran again, Slager shot him five times in the back, killing him.
Slager had claimed that Scott tried to attack him with the Taser. A cellphone video of the incident made by a bystander showed that Slager was in no danger and had no apparent reason for shooting Scott as he ran.
"The defendant used deadly force even though it was objectively unreasonable under the circumstances," the plea agreement said.
Sentencing in the case is to come at a later date. The charge of depriving a person's civil rights carries a sentence of up to life in prison, and a potential fine of up to $250,000.
"We hope that Michael's acceptance of responsibility will help the Scott family as they continue to grieve their loss," Slager's lawyer Andy Savage said in a statement.
Hillary Clinton says the FBI chief and Putin cost her election
Hillary Clinton on Tuesday laid the blame for her defeat in last year's White House race squarely at the feet of FBI director James Comey and Russia's Vladimir Putin, saying they had "scared off" voters. The Democrat, speaking at a charity luncheon in New York, said she took "absolute personal responsibility" for a series of campaign blunders that contributed to her loss against Donald Trump.
But she pointed a finger at Russian hacking and interference and at the Federal Bureau of Investigation director, who revealed just before the November 8 election he was re-opening a probe into Clinton's use of a personal email server while secretary of state.
"I was on the way to winning until a combination of Jim Comey's letter on October 28th and Russian WikiLeaks, raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me, but got scared off," Clinton said.
"If the election had been on October 27, I'd be your president," she added.
In January the US intelligence community announced it had concluded Russia interfered in the election -- and that Putin himself ordered a campaign to undermine the US democratic process and harm Clinton's electability in order to help Trump win.
Clinton described the Russian president as someone who was "not a member of my fan club."
Clinton's remarks -- which echoed CIA comments branding WikiLeaks a "hostile intelligence service" abetted by the likes of Russia -- were the most extensive and direct about her loss since the shock result last year.
"The reason why I believe we lost were the intervening events in the last 10 days," she said.
851 Police Officers Promoted On Eve Of Poll
The Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) has promoted 851 officers, according to an announcement from Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade yesterday, as officers prepare to cast ballots in the general election’s advanced poll today Wednesday.
The promotions take effect on January 1.
Two superintendents have been promoted to chief superintendents; 76 assistant superintendents have been made superintendents; 90 inspectors have been promoted to assistant superintendent, while 107 sergeants have risen to the rank of inspector.
Commissioner Greenslade also announced that 253 corporals have been promoted to sergeant while 323 constables have been promoted to the rank of corporal.
“You’ve waited for well over three years for your promotions, you’ve worked hard, you’ve sacrificed and you have demonstrated a level of commitment and certainly all of the attributes that qualifies you for these promotions,” Commissioner Greenslade said in a video recording issued to the media last night.
He offered congratulations to the officers who were promoted.
This announcement came days after Prime Minister Perry Christie revealed the government will finally pay police officers for working 12-hour shifts in 2013 and 2014, with the first payment of the outstanding sum to be issued on May 29.
He said the second installment in overtime pay would come “in the next budget cycle,” but was not more specific. He said officers who have died or are retired will be paid in full.
Extradited Jamaicans plead not guilty in lottery scam
Four more Jamaicans charged in the United States in what authorities say is a multimillion-dollar lottery scam, pleaded not guilty in federal court in North Dakota yesterday. Jason Jahalal, Kazrae Gray, Dahlia Hunter, and Xanu Morgan all waived detention hearings and will remain in custody pending further court proceedings, according to court documents. No immediate trial date was set for any of the suspects.
They were among eight suspects extradited from Jamaica to Bismarck last week to face charges in what authorities say is a scam that bilked at least 90 mostly elderly Americans, out of more than US$5.7 million. The four others pleaded not guilty last week.
A total of 15 people are facing charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering. Each count carries a potential maximum sentence of either 20 or 30 years in prison, according to Assistant US Attorney Clare Hoch-halter, who is leading the prosecution.
The suspects are accused of calling victims, persuading them to send money, and wiring the money to bank accounts in Jamaica. Authorities have dubbed the case “Operation Hard Copy”, a reference to lists of prospective victims' contact information, used by scammers.
The alleged mastermind, Lav-rick Wil-locks, pleaded not guilty in January. Among the remaining defendants, one is awaiting trial in Rhode Island, one is in custody in Jamaica awaiting extradition to the US, and four are still fugitives.
Sanjay Williams, who authorities say was a cohort of Willocks in Jamaica, and ran a separate scam, was convicted by a US jury in 2015 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The investigation has been ongoing for more than five years and involves the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US Postal Inspection Service, and the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs.
Google Docs users hit by phishing scam
Google says it has stopped a phishing email that reached about a million of its users.
The scam claimed to come from Google Docs - a service that allows people to share and edit documents online.
Users who clicked a link and followed instructions, risked giving the hackers access to their email accounts.
Google said it had stopped the attack "within approximately one hour", including through "removing fake pages and applications".
"While contact information was accessed and used by the campaign, our investigations show that no other data was exposed," Google said in an updated statement.
"There's no further action users need to take regarding this event; users who want to review third party apps connected to their account can visit Google Security Checkup."
During the attack, users were sent a deceptive invitation to edit a Google Doc, with a subject line stating a contact "has shared a document on Google Docs with you".
The email address hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh@mailinator[.]com was also copied in to the message; Mailinator, a free email service provider has denied any involvement.
If users clicked on the "Open in Docs" button in the email, they were then taken to a real Google-hosted page and asked to allow a seemingly real service, called "Google Docs", to access their email account data.
Source-BBC
KPMG's audits of Rolls-Royce accounts probed by regulator
Britain's accountancy watchdog has opened an investigation into KPMG's audit of the accounts of aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) will probe the accountancy giant's oversight of Rolls-Royce's financial statements covering four years.
It follows Rolls-Royce's settlement of £671m with the Serious Fraud Office in January over corruption allegations.
KPMG said it was co-operating and was "confident in the quality" of its work.
The FRC said in a statement: "The FRC has commenced an investigation under the Audit Enforcement Procedure into the conduct of KPMG Audit Plc, in relation to the audit of the financial statements of Rolls-Royce Group plc for the year ended 31 December 2010 and of Rolls-Royce Holdings plc for the years ended 31 December 2011 to 31 December 2013.
"The decision to investigate follows the SFO announcement on 17 January 2017 of a Deferred Prosecution Agreement between the SFO and Rolls-Royce which relates to offences including conspiracy to corrupt and a failure to prevent bribery."
The agreements relate to bribery and corruption scandals involving intermediaries in overseas markets such as Indonesia and China.
Rolls-Royce first passed information to the SFO in 2012 after facing "allegations of malpractice" in the two countries, after which the fraud squad launched a formal investigation.
The company said at the time that its own investigations had found "matters of concern" in additional overseas markets.
KPMG, one of the world's largest accountancy firms, said: "It is important that regulators acting in the public interest should review high profile issues. We will co-operate fully with the FRC's investigation, which follows the SFO's investigations into Rolls-Royce.
"We are confident in the quality of all the audit work we have completed for Rolls-Royce, including the 2010-2013 period the FRC is considering."
The firm has audited Rolls-Royce for 26 years, but is due to replaced next year by PwC.
Rolls-Royce apologised "unreservedly" after the SFO settlement.
The SFO revealed 12 counts of conspiracy to corrupt or failure to prevent bribery in seven countries - Indonesia, Thailand, India, Russia, Nigeria, China and Malaysia.
Often described as "a jewel in the UK's industrial crown", Rolls-Royce makes engines for military and civil planes, as well as for trains, ships, nuclear submarines and power stations.
But in addition to the corruption claims, the company has been hit by a string of profit warnings that sparked a tumble in the share price in the past couple of years. In February, the company reported a record loss of £4.6bn.
Rolls-Royce is holding its annual meeting in Derby, home to its main factory and where it employs 14,000 people.
In a statement ahead of the meeting, chief executive Warren East said estimates for profits and cash flow this year were unchanged, news that will be welcomed by long-suffering shareholders.
"We have some important transformation initiatives under way and, while we have made good progress in our cost-cutting and efficiency programmes, more needs to be done to ensure we drive sustainable margin improvements within the business," Mr East said.
The statement made no reference to the KPMG investigation.
Source-BBC
Oil price tumbles to five-month low
The oil price has fallen to a five-month low as investor concerns re-surface about a worldwide glut.
Brent crude dropped by more than $2 on Thursday to below $49 a barrel, hitting its lowest level since oil cartel Opec struck a landmark deal to cut output on 30 November.
Analysts said investors were worried that oil nations would fail to ease supply fears at a meeting later in May.
They also pointed to higher-than-expected US oil production.
Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, dropped 4.8% to $48.38 a barrel in London on Thursday. West Texas crude lost 4.9% to $45.48.
'Jittery'
Opec's deal in November, and subsequent supply cuts agreed by other oil producing countries, helped to boost prices earlier this year, said David Hunter, an energy industry analyst with Schneider Electric.
But the market is getting a bit "jittery" as countries decide whether to extend those cuts, he said.
Opec and other oil nations are meeting on 25 May where they will discuss the success of the six-month cutback and whether it should be deepened.
Russia, one of the non-Opec countries to sign up to the cuts, gave mixed signals on Thursday about whether it would continue.
"While the cartel is expected to extend a self-imposed production cap by another six months, it will be a challenge to convince several non-Opec members to follow suit," said Abhishek Kumar, senior energy analyst at Interfax Energy's Global Gas Analytics.
"Persistent growth in US oil production ... will also make extensions of the Opec cap beyond 2017 unlikely."
'Losing faith'
Data released on Tuesday indicated US crude stocks fell 930,000 barrels last week. Analysts had been expecting a drop of 2.3 million barrels.
The US data and some investors "losing faith with Opec" are not helping the oil price, said Abhishek Deshpande, an oil analyst at Natixis.
The fall in crude prices hit global energy and commodity stocks.
US oil giants Chevron and Exxon Mobil were two of the biggest fallers on Wall Street, dropping 2% and 1.3% respectively.
In London, Shell's shares wiped out most of their earlier gains as the oil price tumbled.
The UK oil firm had started the day 3% higher after reporting better-than-expected profits, but finished trading with gains of only 0.5%.
Source-BBC
SIPT trial will likely plough on into 2018 -Crown Prosecutor
WHILE the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team's (SIPT) trial of Michael Misick and several others from all appearances appears to be labouriously dragging on, the lead prosecutor assures that progress is being made in it drawing to a conclusion.
Weekly News spoke with the Queen's Counsel Andrew Mitchell on Wednesday (May 3) outside of the Supreme Court's annex on Leeward Highway when he gave this assurance.
However, while Mitchell is confident of the progress being made, he was almost as certain of it not coming to close in 2017.
Part of this is due in no small part to the very lengthy delays in the trial – due to the lead defendant changing lawyers and the defence being allowed to put their defence of the charges.
"When I told you last time that the Crown's case was going to finish by June of course I didn't have in mind a three month delay, which followed Mr Misick and his lead counsel parting company.
"He has instructed new counsel, that new counsel has had a chance now to read into the papers, but giving him that time in order for him to understand the case, of course has meant that we have lost effectively three months and so my June deadline in that case was optimistic.
"I would have thought that we would have reached a conclusion and I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will reach a conclusion of the Crown's case by the time we are slated to rise for the summer holiday. So that would mean by the beginning of August," Mitchell told this publication.
Asked for an update on the advancement thus far, the Prosecutor explained that since the trial's resumption last week Monday, he and his colleagues representing the Crown are indeed making progress.
"We are making progress; we have called a lot of witnesses over the last two weeks.
"We are going through members of the public who were beneficiaries of cheques for not doing anything; other people whose names were used for developments that they didn't know their names were being used and those people have come into box and giving their evidence.
"Today (Wednesday) we called evidence from Miami, these are witnesses who worked for UVI who are part of the Sandals Group to prove around $900,000 being sent to Prestigious Properties, which we the Crown say was for the benefit of Michael Misick and other monies being sent to Chal Misick, again being used by Chal and to the benefit of his brother."
As for how many witnesses are left to be called, Mitchell said that the Crown is currently awaiting feedback from the defense on how many witnesses they are prepared to allow them to read.
This, he further explained, is because the defense had challenged some of these witnesses, some of whom produced bank accounts and similar things to the prosecution.
All told, Mitchell said that he would estimate the Crown has just below 50 witnesses left to call to give evidence.
Asked for a guesstimate on the length of the defense's case, the prosecutor was unable to provide one.
He said that he has no idea whether any of the defendants in the trial will give evidence, so he is unable to gauge how long the defense's case will last.
"If everybody gives evidence, of course it won't finish this year, and I'm sure Michael Misick alone has got to be six weeks plus in terms of the issues he has to deal with, and similar for the others.
"So, no, it's very difficult to suggest it would finish this year, but we are now making progress.
"Everybody is working a lot more industriously."
However, the defendants will certainly get an opportunity to either defend themselves against the charges in the witness box, recall witnesses, or even call rebuttal witnesses, if they so choose.
As such, it is extremely hard to anticipate when the trial will end.
To date, the SIPT has taken one year approximately five months, with another four months to go, to present the Crown's case against the defendants.
And with eight defendants on trial, all of whom are represented by no less than two lawyers, there is no telling when they will conclude their case of refuting the numerous charges laid against them.
High profile witnesses
Over the past year, quite a few high profile and sometimes controversial witnesses have taken the witness box, with still a few more expected.
But asked about this, Mitchell responded: "Not quite as many as you would think, we have one of the lawyers who worked in the attorney general's chambers who will deal will deal with matters that were on her desk before Rhondalee Braithwaite Knowles became senior commercial counsel, and we are still anticipating Lisa-Rae McCoy coming to give evidence.
"But I'm afraid I can't yet tell you when. That is definitely a high profile witness but otherwise these witnesses are just people who are giving light evidence and witnesses that we are calling to prove they received money or earnings use, or were involved in small parts of discussions or negotiations."
Positive outcome for the Crown
Asked about the Crown's expectations of an outcome to the case that favours them, Mitchell explained that the system here is vastly different from an American style prosecution, and that the way in which in which he is conducting the trial is in accordance with that of English common law.
As such, he added that it is not for him to be confident about the outcome.
"I am a minister of justice, I have got a case to present; I wouldn't be presenting it if I didn't think it was obviously a good case.
"If you were to ask me, do I think that our case has been fundamentally shaken to the point that there is no case less, the answer is no, on the contrary I think our case has only enhanced and developed our views of what has been going on during those [Misick's] years," the Crown Prosecutor stated.