Bobbi Kristina's Family to Make Final Decision
Bobbi Kristina Brown's family will gather this week to make a final decision of her life support, Radar Online reports. According to the site, Bobbi is brain dead and her grandmother Cissy Houston has arrived in Atlanta to attend the family meeting. The final decision will allegedly be left to her father Bobby Brown.
According to Celebrity Dirty Laundry, Cissy and Pat Houston are pressuring Bobby to pull his daughter's life support "to let her pass away peacefully." However, the site reports that Cissy and Pat "have ulterior motives: Bobbi Kristina's $20 Million inheritance." Cissy and Pat allegedly want to pull Bobbi's life support because the inheritance will get "sizably smaller" if Bobbi continues her hospital treatment.
Neurologist Dr. Michael DeGeorgia tells Radar Online that six weeks is an unusually long time for a brain injury patient like Bobbi to keep sedated in an ICU but doctors usually will leave the final decision to the family.
Michael says, "Patients' families can decide if they want to push forward with continued medical treatments, even if their loved one is in a devastated situation and have little hope for survival. You would usually abide by the family's wishes, unless you decide that they are brain dead and that they have no brain function."
"If you think they're going to do well, you push forward. You take steps to get them to the nursing home or rehab," he adds, "If you think they're not going to get any better and that their quality of life is so bad that they would never want that, then you have a discussion with the family."
A source tells the site that the Brown family and the Houston family have been divided about what course to follow.
Source-Aceshowbiz
Marvin Gaye’s Family Is Going After Record Labels And T.I Over ‘Blurred Lines’
The Gaye family is continuing to issue out lawsuits to everyone involved in the making of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” track. They recently won their case against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Willliams for $7.4 million but they are not letting this issue die down.
The family of Marvin Gaye is now going after Universal Music, Interscope Records and Star Trak Entertainment and wants them added to list of copyright infringers, according to The Hollywood Reporter. They also want the judge to hold T.I accountable for his role that he played in the “Blurred Lines” record, eventhough he did not produce it.
If the record labels are found reliable, the judge could issue an injuction on how “Blurred Lines” is distributed in the future.
Williams and Thicke plan to appeal the previous decision. There has also been talk of the Gaye family going after Pharrell again because they feel that his Oscar-nominated hit “Happy” sounds to similar to Marvin Gaye’s 1966 hit “Ain’t That Peculiar.”
Source-Allhiphop
Police probing Bob Andy mugging
Police in Jamaica are conducting investigations into the circumstances in which reggae singer Bob Andy was mugged along the Mona Road in St Andrew, on Friday.
According to the Corporate Communications Unit, the Jamaica Constabulary Force's information arm, Bob Andy was attacked by a knife-wielding motorcycle rider along the Mona Road at 2:30 pm.
The singer was slashed on his left arm and robbed of $50,000,$US5,000 and two cellphones.
The mugger made his escape on a motorcycle. No arrests have yet been made.
Bob Andy (given name Keith Anderson) started his career as a founding member of The Paragons. He became a solo star with the 1966 hit song I've Got to Go Back Home.
An accomplished songwriter, Bob Andy did a stint in the 1960s as a member of The Paragons. His hits songs include Young Gifted and Black, featuring Marcia Griffiths; Too Experienced; My Time; and Feeling Soul.
He made appearance in the films Children of Babylon (1980) and The Mighty Quinn (1989).
In 2006, Bob Andy was awarded Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander (CD) for his contributions to the development of Jamaican music.
Source-Jamaica Observer
Dominican Republic leader a shoe in on reelection bid
The latest survey by pollster Penn, Schoen & Berland found that 76% of voters think that President Danilo Medina could be re-elected in the next election, 23% disagree and 1% don’t know or didn’t respond.
Published by SIN network, the survey found that three out of four voters and nine out of ten among ruling PLD party supporters say the President can again launch a bid for the presidency in 2016, despite the constitutional ban.
Meanwhile, three out of four voters support Medina in a potential Constitutional amendment to seek the PLD candidacy in 2016.
If Medina opts to run again, he would win with 68% of the votes. Seven out of 10 people say they would vote for him in 2016, and would win in the first round.
The nationwide survey interviewed 1,049 registered voters from March 4 to 8, and focused only on those who frequently participate in elections. It’s margin of error is +/- 3.02.
Source-Dominican Today
Islamic State Claims Attack at Tunisia Museum
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Thursday for the deadly attack on Tunisia's national museum that killed 23 people, mostly foreign tourists.
The Islamist group’s statement described the attack as a “blessed invasion of one of the dens of infidels and vice in Muslim Tunisia,” and appeared on a forum that carries messages from the group.
It praised the two attackers as “knights of the Islamic State” who were armed with machine guns and bombs, according to an audio recording distributed online.
The U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group also announced that the Islamic State group had claimed Wednesday's attack.
Earlier Thursday, Tunisian authorities said they had arrested nine people in connection with a massacre at a Tunis museum that killed 23 people.
The Tunisian president's office gave no further details on those detained.
Source-VOA
Thai Supreme Court Allows Criminal Case Against Former PM
Thailand's Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a criminal case against the country's last elected prime minister could proceed. If convicted, Yingluck Shinawatra could be imprisoned for a decade. Her supporters see this as part of the junta's campaign to permanently eliminate the Shinawatra clan from Thai politics.
Thailand's Supreme Court has set May 19 as the date for the first court hearing in a criminal case against former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
The high court, in announcing acceptance of the case from the attorney general's office, declared it had jurisdiction.
Yingluck was forced from office shortly before last year's military coup. She is accused of dereliction of duty and negligence in connection with a bungled rice-pledging scheme. Her government paid farmers twice the market rate for their crops.
The project was popular among her core rural supporters in the north, who primarily compose the Red Shirt movement, as opposed to the Yellow Shirts, favored by the Bangkok middle class and staunch monarchists.
On her Facebook page shortly after the Supreme Court announcement, Yingluck defended the scheme, saying that it had benefited farmers and "I did nothing wrong."
The rice subsidy plan was the catalyst for a junta-appointed legislative assembly in January to impeach Yingluck -- a move intended to ban her automatically from politics for a five-year period. A criminal conviction could put her behind bars for years beyond that period.
Source-VOA
Barbados economy expected to show growth in 2015
The Barbados economy is expected to grow by two per cent per cent next year with the Central Bank reporting that fiscal adjustment measures have reduced the deficit by nearly one per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) so far this fiscal year.
In an analysis of the island’s current economic performance, the Central Bank of Barbados is also predicting that the island’s economic growth will increase to 2.3 per cent in 2016.
It said the local economy is firmly set on the path to sustainable growth, led by the sectors and activities in which Barbados has a demonstrated comparative advantage over the competition, in terms of quality, productivity and the strength of the local brand.
The Bank said that at the end of September, the stock of foreign reserves was BDS$1,066 million (One BDS dollar =US$0.50 cents) equivalent to 15 weeks of import cover.
The Central Bank noted that the fiscal adjustment measures have reduced the deficit by 0.9 per cent of GDP so far this fiscal year and that the measures already in place are forecast to yield an additional one per cent and a recovery of revenue is expected to yield an additional two per cent.
“Further revenue enhancement and expenditure adjustment equivalent to 2.0 per cent of GDP will be required in the second half of the fiscal year, to bring us to the target deficit of 6.6 per cent of GDP,” the Central Bank said, noting that so far this year, the fiscal deficit of BDS$360 million has been financed largely by a reduction in government deposits with the banking system, to the tune of BDS$235 million.
“The remainder of the deficit was financed by the drawdown of the government’s deposits at the Central Bank and by the NIS National Insurance Scheme). An additional financing requirement of about BDS$205 million is anticipated for the remainder of the fiscal year. Barbados’ net public sector debt at end-September was equivalent to 75 per cent of GDP, up from 67 per cent at the end of last year” the Central Bank said.
It said that the tourism sector, one of the main pillars of the local economy “has begun to turn around” and that arrivals increased eight per cent from the United Kingdom, the market which has always recorded the highest expenditure per tourist.
The Central Bank predicts that airlift from the United States and Canada will increase by nine and 20 per cent respectively, in time for the coming winter season.
“Tourism value added is estimated to have increased 0.1 per cent so far for the year,” it said.
Source-
WEATHER FORECAST
GENERAL SITUATION: A COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO RACE ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN ISLANDS WHILE AN AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE GRADUALLY BUILDS OVER THE BAHAMAS
FOR THE NORTHWEST, CENTRAL BAHAMAS & TCI
WEATHER: PARTLY TO MOSTLY SUNNY AND WARM WITH THE CHANCE OF A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS BECOMING FAIR AND WARM TONIGHT
WINDS: LIGHT AND VARIABLE
SEAS: 3 FEET OR LESS OVER THE OCEAN
FOR THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS
WEATHER: PARTLY CLOUDY WITH FEW SCATTERED SHOWERS
ADVISORY: SMALL CRAFT SHOULD BE ALERT FOR GUSTY WINDS AND HIGHER SEAS IN OR NEAR HEAVY SHOWERS ACROSS ALL AREAS
WINDS: NORTHEAST TO EAST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS, FALLING LIGHT AND VARIABLE AT TIMES
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET OVER THE OCEAN
DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURE: 82°F 28°C
OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURE: 66°F 19°C
SUNSET: 07:17 AM MOONSET: 04:37 PM LOW TIDE: 12:08 PM
SUNRISE: 07:20 PM MOONRISE: 05:45 AM WED. HIGH TIDE: 06:09 PM
LOW TIDE: 12:24 AM WED. HIGH TIDE: 06:39 AM WED.
FORECAST FOR WEDNESDAY
WEATHER: PARTLY SUNNY WITH FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS
WINDS: SOUTH-SOUTHEAST TO SOUTH-SOUTHWEST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS IN THE NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS AND EASTERLY AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS IN THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET
FORECAST FOR THURSDAY
WEATHER: MOSTLY SUNNY WITH THE CHANCE OF ISOLATED SHOWERS
WINDS: LIGHT AND VARIABLE ACROSS THE NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS AND EASTERLY AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS
US Drone Reportedly Shot Down Near Syria
Syrian state media said Tuesday the Syrian military shot down a U.S. drone conducting a surveillance mission.
The SANA news agency gave no details on the alleged incident in Latakia province, along the Mediterranean coast. A U.S. official says contact was lost with a drone over Syria, but gave no other information.
If the report is true, it would be the first U.S. aircraft shot down over Syria since a U.S.-led coalition battling Islamic State in Iraq expanded airstrikes into Syria in September.
Earlier on Tuesday, Amnesty International released a new report saying Syrian forces killed civilians in airstrikes on the northern town of Raqqa last November in attacks that violated human rights law.
The report presents accounts of airstrikes on separate days that killed 115 civilians, including 14 children.
Amnesty spoke by phone or Skype with witnesses to the attacks and local activists. They described airstrikes that hit areas that had no military targets nearby or ones where civilians were killed in places where Islamic State militants were known or likely to be.
Amnesty said those attacks amount to either direct attacks against civilians, indiscriminate bombings or disproportionate strikes -- all of which are barred under international human rights law.
Raqqa is a stronghold of the Islamic State group, but Amnesty said that does not give the government a reason to bomb the city as if the area were populated solely by the militants.
"Syrian government forces have shown flagrant disregard for the rules of war in these ruthless airstrikes," Amnesty's Philip Luther said. "Some of these attacks give every indication of being war crimes.
"They have carried out repeated attacks on civilian areas without clearly identifying military targets, a blatant violation of the requirement to distinguish between civilians and military targets," he added.
Also Tuesday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights accused Syrian government forces of dropping barrel bombs filled with poison gas on the town of Sarmin in Idlib province, killing six people and injuring dozens more.
The government denied the reports.
Source-VOA
President Obama to visit Jamaica
United States President Barack Obama is set to visit Jamaica next month, highly placed OBSERVER ONLINE sources have confirmed.
Obama is scheduled to attend a meeting in Kingston on April 9, after which he will leave for Panama to attend the Summit of the Americas that will be held over April 10th & 11th.
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, speaking in Parliament, said the Government is pleased to welcome the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, to the shores of Jamaica.
“The Government of Jamaica is delighted that President Obama will be visiting Jamaica at this time. The visit of President Obama will take place on the eve of the Summit of the Americas to be held in Panama from the 10th to the 11th (of) April 2015."
"It is expected that the president will be proceeding from Jamaica to Panama for this hemispheric encounter, which will welcome for the first time the participation of our closest neighbour the Republic of Cuba," the prime minister said.
She added that: "As a member of the hemispheric family of nations…during this historic visit, Jamaica will also host an encounter between President Obama and the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) for discussions on issues of Caricom/USA relations including security and trade.
"Heads of Government will also exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest. As is the regional interest, the Caricom/US summit will be co-chaired by the US president and the current Chairman of Caricom Perry Christie, prime minister of the Bahamas," she said.
In response to the news of President Obama’s visit, Leader of the Opposition Andrew Holness said the Opposition was extremely happy to know that a serving US President would be visiting Jamaica.
“The Opposition will play its role when President Obama visits Jamaica and would like to place on record our appreciation for the chill in relations between the United States and Cuba. We the Opposition have always stated that the economic embargo against Cuba should be lifted. We welcome President Obama to Jamaica,” Holness said.
Source-Jamaica Observer