Amber Rose Thinks It’s Unfair Beyonce Doesn’t Receive the Same Criticism as Kim Kardashian
Amber Rose is showing her feminist colors again. After standing up for Kim Kardashian's naked selfie last week, the model has weighed in on the double standard she believes society places on women like herself and Kardashian, but seemingly not Beyonce.
“They come at me and Kim so hard because I was a stripper and she had a sex tape,” Rose tells The Daily Beast. “So if we could sing, it would be OK if we were on stage half-naked. We all love Beyoncé, but she’s on stage half-naked and twerking all the time, yet people say oh, she has talent so she’s able to do that.”
Rose says that public perception is skewed. “We don’t have the talent that Beyoncé has, so we get criticized as former sex workers, but at the end of the day we’re just women -- we’re all women -- and we should all embrace each other. No one is greater,” she says.
Although she respects Beyonce as a woman and entertainer, Rose feels the criticism should either stop or be equal.
“We’re all the same. So, to criticize us as incapable of being smart businesswomen because Kim has a reality show and I’m a socialite and we don’t sing is stupid," she says. " We’ve both been in movies, and we take our acting, business ventures and everything else very seriously.”
Charlie Wilson to Replace Aretha Franklin at Jazz in the Gardens Music Festival
Citing a lack of band personnel, Aretha Franklin has bowed out of her previously confirmed performance at 11th Annual Jazz in the Gardens Music Festival. However, concertgoers can expect to see Charlie Wilson in her place this weekend.
Organizers announced Wilson will take the stage when the event goes down March 19 -20 at Sun Life Stadium. He will be joined by Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, Kool and the Gang, Fred Hammond, Brian Culbertson, The Average White Band, and the Jazz in the Gardens All-Stars featuring Regina Belle, Najee & Alex Bugnon, along with other local artists.
"This is our signature annual event that people from all over the world look forward to attending every year," said City of Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert. "Last year's event took Jazz in the Gardens to the next level, and with this year's lineup of top-notch musical talent, we expect this year will continue the trend."
Hosted by comedian Rickey Smiley, tickets are available now at JazzintheGardens.com.
PUBLIC FORECAST FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT
GENERAL SITUATION: A WEAK RIDGE IS OVER THE BAHAMAS & THE TCI WITH LIGHT WINDS ACROSS THE ISLANDS THROUGH TONIGHT.
ALL AREAS
WEATHER: SUNNY AND WARM WITH THE SLIGHT CHANCE OF AN ISOLATED SHOWER BECOMING FAIR AND WARM TONIGHT.
WINDS:VARIABLE AT 5 TO 10 KNOTS...
SEAS: 1 TO 3 FEET OVER OPEN WATERS...
HIGH TEMPERATURE TODAY 86 °F 30 °C
LOW TEMPERATURE TODAY 70 °F 21 °C
SUNRISE: 7:17AM MOONRISE: 1:35 PM LOW TIDE: 9:18AM LOW TIDE: 9:27PM
SUNSET: 7:20 PM MOONSET: 3:12 AM THU HIGH TIDE: 3:14PM HIGH TIDE: 2:53AM THU
EXTENDED FORECAST: (FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS)
FORECAST FOR THURSDAY
WEATHER: MOSTLY SUNNY AND WARM WITH THE CHANCE OF A SHOWER.
WINDS: VARIABLE AT 5 TO 10 KNOTS ACROSS THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS AND EASTERLY AT 10 KNOTS ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS.
SEAS: 1 TO 3 FEET
FORECAST FOR FRIDAY
WEATHER: MOSTLY SUNNY AND WARM WITH THE CHANCE OF FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS.
WINDS: SOUTHEAST TO SOUTH AT 10 KNOTS OR LESS
SEAS: 3 FEET OR LESS
Suspect killed in anti-terror operation in Brussels
One suspect has been shot dead, officials say, and as many as two others are said to be on the run after a counter-terrorism raid in Brussels.
The suspects were believed to have been barricaded in a flat after earlier firing shots at the police.
Four police officers were wounded in the south Brussels suburb of Forest.
The raid was linked to last year's Paris attacks in which 130 people died. Islamic State (IS) militants have claimed responsibility for the attacks.
French police also took part in Tuesday's operation.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said a French policewoman was one of the officers wounded in the raid on the flat.
Eric Van Der Sypt, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor, had earlier confirmed that "police were fired at" during the operation, and confirmed it was "linked to the Paris attacks investigation".
A major police operation was launched, with helicopters flying overhead and roads blocked in an area of Forest close to railway lines used by high-speed trains to London and Paris. Two local schools and two kindergartens were in lockdown.
"Two individuals apparently barricaded themselves inside a home,'' Forest mayor Marc-Jean Ghyssels then told reporters.
Local media also reported that police had surrounded a flat before further shots were fired.
"One body has been found during a search of the house in the Rue du Dries. His identity isn't yet known but in any case it's not that of Salah Abdeslam," said the prosecutor's spokesman.
Abdeslam is one of two suspects still on the run after the 13 November attacks in Paris. French police sources had said earlier that he was not the target of Tuesday's raid.
With the operation at that apartment over, police told the BBC they were widening their search of the area - possibly involving a second location.
The BBC's Anna Holligan at the scene says a huge police presence remains, with heavily armed officers on the streets and helicopters hovering overhead.
She says it is still unclear how many, if any, suspects remain at large.
Source-BBC
IDB, OAS warn Caribbean to strengthen cybersecurity
Leaders of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Organization of American States (OAS) have called on the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to step up their efforts on cybersecurity following the release of a new study, carried out by the two institutions with the support of Oxford University. The report shows the region is highly vulnerable to potentially devastating cyber-attacks.
The 2016 Cybersecurity Report, ‘Are we ready in Latin America and the Caribbean?’, says that four out of every five countries in the region do not have a cybersecurity strategy or plans for protecting critical infrastructure. Two out of three countries do not have a command and control center for cybersecurity. And a large majority of prosecutors lack the capacity to punish cybercrimes.
The report analyzes the state of preparedness of 32 countries based on 49 indicators. It is the first significant examination of the level of preparedness in Latin America and the Caribbean against the growing threat of cybercrime.
Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Brazil, México, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia have achieved an intermediate level of preparedness, but lag advanced countries like the United States, Israel, Estonia and the Republic of Korea.
“This report is a call to action to protect our citizen and our critical infrastructure for the 21st Century,” said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno.
“Our region arrived late to the Industrial Revolution. We cannot miss the opportunity provided by the Digital Revolution. Because of this, cybersecurity must be a priority.”
OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro emphasized that cyberspace is increasingly becoming an integral part of the daily life of people in the Americas, and is indispensable to their total development.
“That is why we have to regard cybersecurity like any other kind of security: an issue of the highest priority for our people, without which we expose ourselves to potentially catastrophic losses,” he said.
“In this context, our motto, of ‘more rights for more people’ signals our commitment to continue working to strengthen the capacity of our countries to protect our people, our economies and the critical infrastructure of our region.”
The IDB and OAS experts say the risks of abuse increase as Latin America and the Caribbean join the digital revolution.
The region is the fourth largest mobile market in the world. Half its population uses the Internet and there are countries in Latin America that process 100 per cent of their government purchases electronically, they pointed out.
“And the risks will multiply with the advent of ‘The Internet of Things’, where not only computers will be interconnected, but a universe of smart devices and sensors will monitor and control virtually everything we use every day,” they added.
The evaluation of the readiness of cybersecurity policies in the region consists of 49 indicators in five areas: policy and strategy, education, culture and society, legal framework, and technology. The report includes technical data on each country.
Sixteen countries in the region have no coordinated capacity to respond to incidents. Only four rank above the intermediate level of maturity in this respect. And just six have a structured programme of education in cybersecurity, which includes budgetary stability as well as mechanisms for research and the transfer of knowledge.
Policeman in Trinidad to stand trial for trafficking Colombian women
In Trinidad and Tobago’s first human trafficking case, a 55-year-old suspended police officer has been committed to stand trial on 13 charges of human trafficking and prostitution.
Constable Valentine Eastman was yesterday found to have a case to answer at the end of a preliminary inquiry that was heard in camera before Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington.
The police officer, who served in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service for more than two decades, is accused of receiving the three Colombian women into the country or transporting or harbouring them for the purpose of exploitation between March 3 and March 24, 2013.
It is alleged that he took the trio to a brothel for the purpose of exploitation and prostitution.
Eastman was charged a month after the alleged offences occurred and his preliminary inquiry began in September 2014. Sixteen witnesses were called to give testimony.
He will continue on bail. However, the amount has been reduced from TT$350,000 (US$53,338) to TT$250,000 (US$38,098) with surety, or a cash alternative of TT$120,000 (US$18,287).
Non-payment of taxes main weakness in region’s economies, says ECLAC
The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has called for measures to tackle nonpayment of taxes, cautioning in a just released report that tax evasion is one of the main weaknesses of the tax systems in the region’s economies, accounting for US$320 billion dollars in 2014.
Tax revenues are the cornerstone of the basic financing of modern State, and it is therefore vital to prioritize the creation of a tax culture in which evaders are effectively punished, according to the ECLAC document, ‘Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2016’, which was launched earlier today.
The ECLAC report states that fiscal non-compliance represents 2.2 points of gross domestic product (GDP) in terms of Value Added Tax (VAT) at the regional level, and 4.1 GDP points in terms of income tax. While ECLAC said it acknowledges the difficulties of bringing those numbers down against a backdrop of reduced economic buoyancy, it called for increased efforts to avoid a substantial loss of potential tax resources.
According to the document, there was an across-the-board decline in VAT evasion up to 2007-2008, although that favourable trend was reversed due to the financial crisis. The Commission describes the need for more in-depth reforms of the structure and administration of VAT. Similarly, with income tax evasion there has been no significant progress in recent years.
The Fiscal Panorama 2016 states that, Latin America recorded a slight average reduction in fiscal accounts, and reached a fiscal deficit of three per cent of GDP and public borrowing of 34.7 per cent of GDP last year. Out of the 19 countries studied, 11 simultaneously increased their fiscal deficit and public debt as a proportion of GDP.
According to the report, the slowdown in economic growth and the worsening terms of trade have had dramatic effects on the public finances in many of the region’s countries, with many having to carry out significant fiscal adjustments.
ECLAC outlines an uneven future at the regional level, with most South American countries remaining saddled with uncertainty because of the slowdown in China and other emerging nations in 2016, while Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean will benefit from positive growth rates, and from falling oil prices in the latter two sub-regions.
In order to protect and boost public investment and growth, the United Nations Economic Commission highlights the need to strengthen counter-cyclical institutional arrangements to reduce harmful cycles of expansion and contraction of public spending. Fiscal adjustments should therefore aim to attract investment that leads to growth, according to ECLAC.
The report affirms that 2015 was marked by a loss of income from non-renewable natural resources, although this was offset by higher tax revenues resulting from reform. On average, the region increased its tax burden by 0.2 per cent of GDP, mainly thanks to improved collection of income tax.
The main conclusions of the Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2016 will be presented at the first session of the XXVIII Regional Seminar on Fiscal Policy, which will be opened tomorrow.
Officers trained to operate new speed Measurement Devices
19 officers of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force have been trained and Certified to operate new Speed Measurement Devices. Both Doppler Police Traffic Radar, as well as Police Speed Laser. Four of the students have gone onto an advanced "Speed Measurement" class and will be certified as "Speed Measurement Instructors.”
The training course which ran from Monday 7th to Friday 11th February 2016 is designed to improve the effectiveness of speed enforcement though proper and effective use of radar speed measurement instruments.
“Speed contributes to crashes, which contribute to injuries, fatalities and property damages” said the Instructor Sergeant Mike Kanyan of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office in Florida. “Officers are now trained to operate and to properly use the ‘Moving Radar’ which is as the name implies. When a police vehicle is in motion, it is able to track vehicles approaching and receding, that is both in front and behind the patrol vehicle and also able to track multiple targets at once,” Kanyan said.
The officers who are now able to use this new method of speed radar, now has the knowledge of the development, fundamental concepts and related principles of police traffic radar and also understand the process of giving court testimony in cases involving the radar or laser speed measurement.
There’s no such thing as speeding safely,” said Kanyan. “Speed alone, regardless of any other factors, including how good a car you may be driving, or how good of a driver you may be, increases both the likelihood and the severity of a crash,” he added.
Sergeant Mike Kanyan has been with the Manatee County Sheriff's Office since 1981 and is currently assigned to the Traffic Enforcement Unit for the past 8 years. The Sgt. is a "Speed Measurement Instructor" for over 25 years.
During his tenure as a Law Enforcement Deputy, he has been a Patrol Deputy, Field Training Deputy, Field Training Supervisor; currently assigned to the Traffic Traffic Unit which includes Police Motorcycle Unit, currently holding the rank of Sgt. As well is also an Instructor at the Sheriff's Office Training Center.
Lavern Smith Plead Guilty to firearm charges
On Wednesday 9th March 2016, Lavern Smith of the Bight Providenciales, who plead guilty for Carrying a firearm and three counts of carrying ammunition will be sentenced on Monday 21st March 2016.
The facts are, on Tuesday 27th October 2015 at around 9:30 pm officers from the Tactical Unit were patrolling in the Bight area when upon reaching a business establishment they saw Mr. Smith who was wanted by police for another matter behaving in a suspicious manner with a backpack on his back, and as officers approached him he ran to the back of the building. Officers went to the back of the building where they apprehended him.
A search was made in his backpack where one (1) BLACK Hi-Point 40 Caliber Pistol, Nine (9) rounds of 9mm Caliber ammunition, two (2) ROUNDS OF 22 Caliber ammunition, one (1) black holster, two (2) face masks, one (1) black and white hand glove and a pair of scissors were found.
When asked by officers if he owns a license to carry the firearm and ammunition he told them no. He was arrested and later charged with the offences.
Police confirm death of 16 year old in South Caicos
Investigators of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force are confirming the death of a 16 year old female on South Caicos yesterday.
At around 4:21pm (Monday 14th March 2016) Police Officers responded to a home on Swann Street, where the father of the deceased stated that he last spoke with his daughter around 8pm the night before (Sunday 13th March), prior to her going to bed.
The following morning at 7:30am he left home for work, leaving his daughter in her room sleeping. Upon his return home at 4pm, he found his daughter unresponsive.
Medical personnel arrived on scene some time later and were un-able to revive the female.
She was pronounced dead at 4:51pm.
Police have begun their enquiries, noting that post mortem will be conducted to confirm the exact cause of death.