Tessanne Chin, Barrington Levy to Headline St Lucia Jazz Festival
“The Voice” winner Tessanne Chin and reggae star Barrington Levy will be headlining this year’s edition of the St Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival.
Jamaica’s Chin and Levy will be joined by Grammy and Tony Award-winning Dee Dee Bridgewater and P-Square.
The festival was officially launched last week with a ceremony at the Sandals Halcyon Beach Resort.
This year’s 12-day festival will begin on April 30.
“This year’s event is building on a resurgence of fresh artistic direction infused into the festival in 2013, thus providing the perfect opportunity for scores of local artisans, entertainers and cultural enthusiasts to command world attention at scenic vistas across the island,” said St Lucia Tourism Minister Lorne Theophilus.
Also on hand this year will be Cuban composer Omar Sosa, Soca star Alison Hinds and Puerto Rican singer Elvis Crespo, among others.
Source-Caribbean Journal
Tight race for Fantastic Friday spots
The Soca Monarch race is wide open.
Few if any of the 80-plus acts who contested the semi-final Groovy and Power categories, on Sunday night, left the Arima Velodrome feeling assured of a finals spot on Fantastic Friday.
Their anxiety told in their elaborate stage shows as the competition front-runners turned up the heat, quite literally, on the chasing pack. Kerwin Du Bois, Destra Garcia, Patrice Roberts, Nadia Batson and Vincentian Skinny Fabulous all brought their A-game employing: dancers, traditional Carnival characters, pyrotechnics and colourful flame machines all in an attempt to stand out.
Not to be outdone the proverbial pack also turned up the ante revealing that they too had a few surprises up their sleeves. Devon “Faddah Moses” was the most impressive of that lot with a spirited performance of his little known “We Want Water”.
Moses acknowledged that his song was not popular due to limited radio play. He told the crowd he was prepared to work for his place in the Power Soca Finals before breaking into a “freestyle” verse about water woes in Arima that the won them over. The area has been suffering from an inconsistent supply for the past week.
Experienced or not Sunday’s acts will all be hoping the judges are more accepting of their presentations than the massive Arima party crowd. What Skinner Park is to calypso Arima now seems to be to soca, as many felt the sting of a brutal musical acid test.
None more so than Sherrard Churche, brother of soca starlet Shivonne “Lil Bitts” Churche, who laboured through his performance of “Tizik”. Churche seemed out of his depth in soca’s big yard as he failed to move the crowd and stumbled over his lyrics.
HD band member Darryl “Farmer Nappy” Henry and Grenadian Hollice “Mr Killa” Mapp, however, had no such problems. They easily enjoyed the best crowd reaction for the groovy anthem “Big People Party” and power party hit “Rolly Polly”, respectively.
All will have to up the intensity when they face joint Monarch Machel Montano and Austin “SuperBlue” Lyons in the final showpiece. Montano, defending Monarch in both categories, is expected to sing his immensely popular “HMA” (Happiest Man Alive) and “MOR” (Ministry of Road) in the Groovy and Power. Much speculation, meanwhile, surrounds Lyons’ yet-to-be-released song of choice.
The multiple Soca Monarch and Road March winner was a no show on Sunday night where he was expected to perform “Spankin” in the Groovy semis. Yesterday one of SuperBlue’s assistants said the multiple times soca and road march winner simply had a change of mind.
“He was only going to enter the competition because a lot of people felt he should,” said the assistant- who requested that we don’t publish her name.
“But his focus was really on Power Soca. In fact he is in the studio right now which is why he isn’t taking any calls. “At first Blue was really feeling the Groovy and then he decided that he better just concentrate on the Power Soca.”The assistant added that SuperBlue was in the studio and not accepting calls.
SuperBlue planned to sing “Spankin” in position five at Sunday’s semi-finals. The song is a remake of the singer’s 1989 song “Mrs Pan” which he recorded using his former sobriquet Blue Boy. Several steelbands have made it their tune of choice for this years steelband Panorama competition
Last year the artiste shocked the soca fraternity when he staged a successful comeback winning not just the Soca Monarch title with Machel Monanto but the Road March title with the song Fantastic Friday.
SuperBlue, always one to release his “big tune” late in the Carnival season, was expected to put out his Power Soca 2014 single either yesterday or today, his assistant said.
International Soca Monarch promoter Caribbean Prestige Foundation (CPF) is expected to announce the list of finalists at 10.45 a.m on Wednesday. The finalists will then draw performance spots on Friday at CPF offices on Prince Street, Port of Spain.
Source-Trinidad Express Newspaper
'Bunny Rugs' Memorial Service This Wednesday In Orlando
The memorial service for the late lead singer of the iconic reggae band, Third World, William 'Bunny Rugs' Clarke is scheduled for Orlando, Florida, this Wednesday.
The service begins at 11 a.m. at the South Orlando Baptist Church, with a repast at the Mela Room, 9677 South Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando.
Rugs' body is believed to have been cremated by his family.
The Third World singer died Sunday, February second at a hospital in Florida.
He would have celebrated his 66th birthday on February 6, along with King of Reggae, Bob Marley.
A memorial service is expected to be held here in Jamaica next week, followed by a tribute at the Blue Mountain Musical Festival, February 24.
Rugs has been hailed for his outstanding contribution to building not only the music industry, but brand Jamaica.
“He has been a great ambassador for Jamaica over the decades, thereby helping to build brand Jamaica globally," said Minister of Tourism and Entertainment, Dr Wykeham McNeill.
McNeill added that Rugs had left huge footprints on Jamaica’s entertainment landscape, through his contribution as a leading member of Third World, which is arguably one of the best bands Jamaica has produced to date, and also as a solo act.
Source-Jamaica Gleaner
Hollywood star Clint Eastwood saves man from choking
Hollywood actor Clint Eastwood has been credited with saving the life of a golf tournament director in California who was choking on a piece of cheese.
"Clint saved my life," said Steve John, director of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament.
The actor reportedly saw that Mr John was in difficulty and performed the Heimlich manoeuvre on him.
The technique requires a rescuer to carry out abdominal thrusts on a choke victim to dislodge the blockage.
"Suddenly, I couldn't breathe. It was as bad as it could have been," Mr John said of the incident at a drinks reception in Carmel-by-the-Sea on Wednesday.
"Clint came up behind me, and he knew exactly what to do."
The award-winning actor and director told the Carmel Pine Cone that he noticed Mr John had "that look of panic people have when they see their life passing before their eyes".
Mr Eastwood, 83, moved behind Mr John and carried out the manoeuvre.
"I gave him three good jolts, and that got it out," he said.
"And then I made him drink a big glass of water with a bunch of lemon squeezed in it."
Mr Eastwood, famous for his roles in Westerns and the Dirty Harry detective films, said he had performed the manoeuvre before, but only "to practise".
Source-BBC
American World Clinics can bring US$450m to economy
American World Clinics’ model deploys the best in medical technology, facilities, and professionals with the majority of our physicians and surgeons being board certified United States-trained doctors. We believe this model allows us to fulfill our mission without depleting physician and local medical infrastructure resources from host nation residents.
Simultaneously, AWC is inclusive and endeavours to work with well-qualified host nation physicians and ancillary staff. Currently, AWC is engaged in development of medical facilities in Barbados, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. The old St Joseph’s Hospital site in Ashton Hall, St Peter is to be the site of the AWC medical campus on Barbados.
AWC has been working closely with Government leaders in Barbados to bring this US$200 million project to fruition. Once the business matures, it is anticipated that phase one of AWC-Barbados will directly add more than US$450 million annually to the Barbadian economy based on medical and tourism activities and will employ more than 200 individuals at its campus with a focus on Bajan hires in both professional and support positions.
AWC has spent several years cultivating the Barbados market, working closely with government, business and the medical community, to develop a project that will not only position Barbados in a leadership role in international medicine and medical tourism, but will also provide significant FDI, ongoing foreign exchange, skilled employment, jumpstart this new economic sector, and provide significant knowledge/technology transfer.
Given the current financial challenges facing Barbados, we are hopeful that the AWC project will help to reinvigorate the Barbados economy and provide motivation for other foreign investors to strongly consider Barbados. Our feeling since the beginning has been that regionally Barbados offers a number of distinct advantages for a clinical/life science investment of this type and magnitude.
AWC is part of a growing industry focused on delivering health care services to international travellers and the emerging markets. Often called medical tourists, these individuals leave their home countries specifically for medical care. People travel for care for different reasons, including long waits to obtain needed care in their home country, a perceived lack of quality, limited access to the latest and best treatments and technology, and finally for cost savings.
In an effort to control costs, universal care health systems ration care with resultant long wait times, reduced choice in treatment options and providers, and service mediocrity.
The world is seeking better health care. The US health care brand is strong and bringing this level of care in a consistent, replicable fashion to communities around the world is our corporate mission. The health care market, like any other market, has many segments. No single solution will serve all patients and clients equally well. We can’t be all things to all people and there are many successfully, functioning aspects to the health care systems in many countries, including Barbados.
Still, approximately 600 000 people travel to the US from other countries for medical treatment each year. They aren’t travelling to the most expensive health care system on the planet to save money.
They are travelling because of a perception of quality, timely access, and high regulatory standards for medical professionals and institutions.
As the medical tourism industry and international health care in general continue to grow and mature, quality will be the final arbiter in determining the most successful organisations.
-Dr Paul Angelchik is chairman of American World Clinics.
Investor Carl Icahn abandons Apple share buyback effort
Activist investor Carl Icahn has announced he sees "no reason to persist" in his attempt to force Apple to return more money to shareholders.
Mr Icahn had been demanding Apple buy back $50bn (£30.5bn) of its shares.
However, he said he was satisfied with the recent efforts of Apple's chief executive, Tim Cook, to return cash to investors.
Apple said it had repurchased $14bn of its stock in the two weeks since the firm reported disappointing earnings.
"As Tim Cook describes them, these recent actions taken by the company to repurchase shares have been both 'opportunistic' and 'aggressive' and we are supportive," said Mr Icahn in an open letter.
Mr Icahn's announcement comes a day after a shareholder advisory service, ISS, recommended that Apple shareholders should vote against Mr Icahn's plan.
ISS said that Apple had "returned the bulk of its US-generated cash to shareholders via aggressive stock buybacks and dividends payouts".
In light of this, ISS said Apple's board's "latitude should not be constricted by a shareholder resolution that would micromanage the company's capital allocation process".
Apple's board had been scheduled to vote on Mr Icahn's proposal on 28 February.
Last month, Apple reported flat earnings, and many analysts were worried about the firm's outlook for the rest of the year.
Source-BBC
Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg named top US philanthropist
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have been named joint top US philanthropists for 2013.
The couple gained the accolade after a donation of 18 million Facebook shares to a Silicon Valley foundation.
The donation, worth more than $970m (£590m), was the largest in the US in 2013.
The gift outstripped philanthropists such as Bill and Melinda Gates, the Chronicle of Philanthropy said.
Mr Zuckerberg and his wife made the $970m donation to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a charity that manages and distributes charitable funds.
The shares have helped to make the foundation one of the largest in the US, the Chronicle of Philanthropy said.
Over the past two years, Mr Zuckerberg and Ms Chan have donated about 36 million Facebook shares to the foundation.
Funds have broadly been distributed to education and health, with $5m being distributed to a health clinic in East Palo Alto, for example.
Philanthropists who have previously headed the list, such as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, have been making good on previous years' pledges.
Mr and Mrs Gates gave their foundation slightly more than $181.3m last year, and continue to honour a pledge of about $3.3bn they made in 2004.
'Dumb' Starbucks owner revealed to be comedy personality
The owner of a parody coffee shop in Los Angeles called "Dumb Starbucks" has been revealed to be Canadian television comedy personality Nathan Fielder.
Mr Fielder appeared in person at the store to make the announcement, where he said there are plans to open a second outlet in Brooklyn, New York.
There had been widespread speculation that the store, which uses Starbuck's trademarks, was a publicity stunt.
Starbucks said they were aware of the store but denied any affiliation.
"We are evaluating next steps and while we appreciate the humour, they cannot use our name, which is a protected trademark," a Starbucks spokesperson said in a statement.
"Dumb Starbucks" opened in a shopping centre on Friday and started giving away free drinks, generating long queues of people.
The decoration of the "Dumb Starbucks" is very similar to that of a real Starbucks.
The store front has the same green awning and round mermaid logo as Starbucks' coffee shops - except the work "Dumb" is placed in large letters above the word Starbucks.
The wall menu inside the pop-up store offered coffee that ranged from "horrible" to "bitter", as well as products called "dumb iced coffee" and "dumb white chocolate mocha."
The drinks were served in a white paper cup with a sticker of the Starbucks logo with the word "dumb" added to it.
None of the patrons were charged for their drinks, although there was a tip jar.
Source-BBC
UK seeing 'right kind of growth'
The UK economy is starting to see the right kind of growth, says employers organisation the CBI.
"Our forecast shows encouraging signs that business investment and net trade are starting to play their part," said CBI boss John Cridland.
He said the recovery was not a "debt-fuelled, housing bubble-led recovery", as some economists have feared.
However, Mr Cridland warned that political uncertainty ahead of the election could be a real "mood killer".
"There is no doubt that business leaders are concerned about political uncertainty as we enter a lengthy election campaign," he said.
"This could be a real mood killer when business leaders are faced with making big investment decisions in the months ahead."
The CBI, which represents some 240,000 businesses, predicts that business investment growth will rise at its fastest rate since 2007, helped by improving confidence amongst businesses and low borrowing costs.
In addition it is predicting that export growth will strengthen as the eurozone and the broader global economy pick up.
On housing, the CBI said that much of the price increases had been in London and the South East and were not being replicated across the country.
In line with other forecasters, the business group also upgraded its growth forecast for this year to 2.6%, up from 2.4% in November and said that it saw "no prospect" of an interest rate rise until late in 2015.
China and Taiwan in first government talks
China and Taiwan are about to begin the highest-level talks since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.
Wang Yu-chi and Zhang Zhijun, the top cross-strait officials from each side, will meet at the four-day talks in Nanjing.
Taiwanese officials said they would raise press freedom after Beijing denied access to some media outlets.
Beijing is likely to push Taiwan to pass a free trade deal that is currently stalled in parliament.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Taiwan, Mr Wang, head of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, said: "My main aim during this visit to the mainland is to promote mutual understanding between the two sides."
In quotes carried by Taiwan news agency CNA, he added that he hoped the visit, which was "not easy", would go smoothly, and said the two sides would not be signing any agreements during the talks.
China insists that Taiwan is a part of its territory and has a stated aim of reclaiming the island.
Taiwan still calls itself the Republic of China and nominally claims the same territory as the Communist government in Beijing, although it does not press these claims.
The US is committed to defending Taipei, despite not formally recognising Taiwan as an independent country.
The situation has created a decades-long military stand-off between Beijing and Washington.
But cross-strait ties have improved since Taiwan's pro-Beijing President Ma Ying-jeou was elected in 2008.
Cross-strait flights began in 2008, and tourists from the mainland have boosted Taiwan's economy.
Trade agreements have allowed Taiwanese technology firms to expand massively, investing billions of dollars in the mainland.
However, Mr Ma is unpopular and analysts say his governing Kuomintang party is likely to lose local elections later this year.
The talks are the first formal government-to-government dialogue since the 1949 split.
For years, mainland China and Taiwan dealt with each other indirectly, though so-called friendship associations and trade groups, the BBC's Celia Hatton in Beijing reports.
Amid all the smiles, tension remains: China refuses to retract its long-standing threat that it could eventually take back Taiwan, by force if necessary, our correspondent adds.
Taiwan negotiators are likely to propose the posting of permanent representatives on each other's territories.
But they will also face pressure to talk about press freedom after China refused accreditation to several media outlets.
"Press freedom is a universal value," Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement.
"We've repeatedly said that the most important thing regarding news exchange between the two sides is the free and equal flow of information."
Many Taiwanese are sensitive to issues of press freedom, having lived under a dictatorship that tightly controlled the media until the 1980s.
Correspondents say Beijing's negotiators are likely to press for closer economic co-operation.
Source-BBC