Wyclef Jean added to Sting in Jamaica for Dec 26,2013
Sting patrons are in for an even bigger treat as rapper Wyclef Jean has been added to the show's line-up.
The announcement was made this week via Sting's twitter and Instagram accounts.
Speaking with THE STAR, one of the promoter's for the December 26 show, Joe Bogdanovich, said Wyclef was finalised recently.
"We've been looking at Wyclef for a long time now and we really like what he represents as an ambassador for good music across the board," he said.
"He is a great producer, songwriter and a very good entertainer. This is another example of how we are uplifting the Sting brand and transforming dancehall and reggae globally."
Bogdanovich said he expects Wyclef to do something spectacular at the show.
"He is going to put a sense of spirit into the show. It will be nothing less than awesome. Even though he is a class act who has done so much over the years, don't be surprised if he does the unexpected. He might do something truly unexpected, and it will be the talk of the show," he told THE STAR.
As for the rest of the Sting line-up and new additions to the show that will be held at Jamworld in Portmore, Bogdanovich was tight-lipped, but said, "as you know with me, anything is possible."
He was also very excited about the US$30,000 clash that will take place on the night. He said the defending clash champion, KipRich, will go up against four booked artistes and two unbooked artistes.
"He is going to defend that US$30,000 winner takes all. It is healthy, competitive, clean, no tricks, the real deal," he said.
Source-Jamaican Star
Tessanne advances to top 3 in The Voice
Tessanne Chin was the first contestant to advance to the final round of NBC's The Voice competition Tuesday night.
Chin's passionate rendition of 'Bridge over Troubled Water' Monday night maintained the top spot on the iTune's music chart throughout Tuesday fuelling speculations that she would have made it through.
Several media reports have now named Chin as this season's favourite to win the competition .
The three finalists in The Voice season five are:
Tessanne Chin (Team Adam)
Jacqui Lee (Team Christina)
Will Champlin (Team Adam)
James Wolpert (Team Adam) and Cole Vosbury (Team Blake) were eliminated Tuesday night.
The finals of The Voice is next week.
Barcelona FC signs deal with Intel for shirt logos
Spanish football giant Barcelona has signed a deal with Intel to allow the chipmaker's logo to appear on the inside of players' shirts.
The Intel logo would be revealed when players lift their shirts to celebrate scoring a goal, Barcelona officials told a news conference on Thursday.
It will make its debut on Saturday during the La Liga match at home to Villarreal, the club said.
Intel will also provide technology to the players and coaching staff.
Players, who include Lionel Messi, Neymar and Andres Iniesta, would not have to wear the "Intel Inside" logo, said Barcelona.
Intel paid $25m (£15m) for the deal, according Forbes magazine.
Chief marketing officer at Intel, Deborah Conrad, said she chose Barcelona as it had an active social media community and hundreds of millions of fans globally.
She said: "We did not want to put the players under any obligation to show the logo a specific number of times but we do know that such goal celebrations are a big part of the culture of the sport."
The football club is also sponsored by Nike, Audi, and Qatar Airways.
The airline's logo will stay on the outside of the players' shirts
Caricom heads to receive Reparations Commission's report Feb
THE Caribbean Community (Caricom) Reparations Commission said Tuesday that its first report that speaks to reparatory justice for the region will be ready for submission to next February's Heads of Government meeting.
Sir Hillary Beckles, who heads the commission, said following consultations with British attorneys from Leigh Day, which he described as an internationally respected law firm that specialises in cases of this nature, the commission agreed that Caricom member states should request reparatory dialogue with past slave-owning European states — Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark in a move to formulate a new development agenda for the Caribbean
Public health was one of the key issues identified by the Caricom Reparations Commission to receive reparatory diplomacy and action, Sir Hilary said. "The African-descended population in the Caribbean today has the highest incidence in the world of chronic diseases such as hypertension and type two diabetes," he said. He attributed this to the direct result of their nutritional exposure, endemic inhumane physical and emotional brutalisation and other aspects of the stress experience of slavery and post-slavery apartheid.
Education was the second of the six issues identified. The commission chairman stated that at the end of the colonial period the British left the African-descended population in a state of general illiteracy, adding that He noted that this illiteracy continued to plague Caribbean societies and accounted for significant parts of their development challenges.
Speaking to cultural institutions, Professor Beckles said there was no development of institutions such as museums and research centres to prepare Caribbean citizens for an understanding of their history. He also spoke of cultural deprivation as another issue that needed to be addressed and outlined that the primary cultural effect of slavery was to break and eradicate African commitment to their culture.
Psychological trauma was another area identified by the commission that needed to be addressed. According to Professor Beckles, during the time of slavery, Africans were classified in law as non-human, chattel, property and real estate. He said they were denied recognition as members of the human family by laws and practices derived from the parliaments and policies of Europe. This history, he said, has inflicted massive psychological damage upon African descendants and is evident daily in social life.
Also needed to be remedied, the commission said, was that of scientific and technological backwardness. It was highlighted that for 400 years the policy of Britain and Europe had been that the Caribbean should not participate in any manufacturing or industrial process, and should be confined to the production of raw materials.
On Tuesday, Dr Alfred Sangster, former president of the University of Technology, while praising the work of the commission, had concerns about Caricom's ability in taking the issue forward.
"There are rivers to cross; there are those in the region who argue in cynical terms about the concept of reparation and say reparation ought to blame the Africans as well who were part of the slave system. The second river to cross is that certainly in the UK [United Kingdom] there are groups where the principle of reparation is rejected and thirdly there is what I call the Caricom weakness. Let's not fool ourselves, right now there are issues about trade, issues about the role of Caricom and its strength and authority in world affairs," Sangster said.
Sangster agreed with the move for a new development agenda and further added that there should be three basic strategic directions to pursue in order for the commission to be successful.
The commission, meanwhile, called on Caribbean youths to participate in reparatory consultations to end the ideologies that limit their ability to be positive global citizens.
Lisa Hanna, Jamaica's minister of youth and culture, said her ministry was in full support of the commission and that the National Reparations Commission from Jamaica has been doing its part.
Source-CMC/Jamaica Observer
Ganja found in yam, cheese at Norman Manley airport
The police say they seized approximately 156.4 pounds of ganja and a motor truck during routine checks at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston over a six-hour period on Monday.
The street value of the drug is estimated at J$782,000.
Seven people were taken into custody in relation to the seizures. However their identities are being withheld until they are charged, the police say.
Reports are that about 10:00 am, members of the Canine and Transnational Crimes and Narcotics Division (TCND) accosted and searched a man who was boarding a flight to Barbados.
His luggage was checked and a false compartment was discovered with ganja weighing approximately 5.9 pounds. The man and a female who accompanied him to the NMIA were taken into custody.
An hour later, the TCND team conducted a stop and search operation in the vicinity of the NMIA round-a-bout. The driver of a white Isuzu Elf truck was signalled to stop and five boxes of yam inside the vehicle were found to contain ganja weighing approximately 129 pounds.
Three men were taken into custody and the truck seized in that incident.
And about 12:20 pm, during routine security checks in the baggage area at the NMIA, officers assigned to the Canine Division searched the luggage of a man who had checked in to board a flight.
Ganja weighing 18.6 pounds was found and the passenger taken into custody.
Within hours of the third seizure, about 2:30 pm, the lawmen from the TCND searched the luggage of a another man, who was checking in on a flight to Curacao and found ganja weighing about 2.8 pounds concealed in a tin of cheese.
Source-Jamaica Observer
Canadian-based company to invest US$238 million in Guyana’s mining sector
The Canada-based Guyana Goldfields says it is investing US$238 million in the Aurora Gold Project as the government said it was looking forward to large scale gold production by the company during the first quarter of 2015.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, welcoming the second largest investment in the mining sector, said as a country, “we have to open to the world…we have to partner with the world,” particularly given the potential size of the multimillion-dollar investment.
Guyana Goldfields Inc. focuses on the exploration and development of gold deposits here and Hinds said that the experience, expertise and technologies which the investors were bringing into the country would have been difficult source locally.
“Our challenge is to develop partnerships with the world… we have to develop the ability to recognise who we could develop good partnerships with,” he said, acknowledging that while the investment was “somewhat risky” he was looking forward to its success.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Robert Persaud, who also supported the investment, said it would bring tremendous benefits to the Guyana.
He assured all stakeholders that Guyana Gold Fields (GGF) had undertaken a comprehensive environmental sensitivity index (ESI) and the necessary permits to ensure compliance with local laws and international best practices.
He said government also recognised the move by the company to reduce the “carbon footprint” of the site’s mining plant from 2000 hectares to 1200 hectares and that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission’s Environmental Division would be upgrading their monitoring capability and enforcement capacity to manage and ensure compliance.
“It is an area in which we have commenced work, especially given that we are looking at a new type of mining technology that will be utilised, and to ensure that from an environmental standpoint we build that capacity.”
Guyana this year produced in excess of 452,000 ounces of gold surpassing the target of 451,000 ounces set and the 438,000 ounces declared in 2012.
Source-Caribbean Media Corporation
Brazilian ex-president was 'killed by military conspiracy'
An investigative commission in Brazil says it has found evidence that the ex-president Juscelino Kubitschek was murdered by the 1970s military regime.
The Sao Paulo truth commission, a group of councillors from the city's assembly, is due to present a full report into the case on Tuesday.
The proof of the alleged conspiracy was found after analysing more than 90 pieces of evidence, the group says.
At the time, the former president had just regained his political rights.
Mr Kubitschek, who famously relocated Brazil's capital from Rio de Janeiro to the especially designed Brasilia, died on 22 August 1976 following a car accident on a motorway between Rio and Sao Paulo.
For decades, there have been rumours that JK, as the Brazilian President from 1956 to 1961 was known, had been the victim of a murder conspiracy.
The 73-year-old centrist politician was a popular opposition leader.
The report of the Sao Paulo Truth Commission presents the findings of an investigation which allegedly uncovered fake records, procedural errors and contradictions.
"We have no doubt that Juscelino Kubitschek was a victim of a conspiracy, a plot and a political crime. There is documentary proof and important testimonies in the more than 29 pages of the report," Sao Paulo councillor Gilberto Natalini told the news website Terra.
Among the evidence is testimony from the driver of the bus that crashed into the former president's car.
He is said to have told the investigators he had been offered money in exchange for admitting guilt for the accident.
Another witness reportedly told the commission he briefly saw a bullet hole in the head of Mr Kubitschek's driver during an exhumation procedure in 1996.
A national Truth Commission of the Brazilian Congress is also looking into the death of Mr Kubitschek and a number of other human rights abuses that allegedly took place during Brazil's military rule.
The remains of Mr Kubitschek's successor, Joao Goulart, another opposition leader, were recently exhumed as part of the investigations into whether he was murdered.
Their findings are not expected before May 2014.
Uruguay marijuana move 'illegal' - UN drugs watchdog
Uruguay's decision to legalise the production, sale and consumption of marijuana violates international law, the UN drugs watchdog says.
The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) warned that the move would endanger young people and "contribute to the earlier onset of addiction".
The new law will allow registered Uruguayans over 18 to buy up to 40g (1.4oz) of the drug a month.
The government hopes it will help tackle drug cartels.
INCB chief Raymond Yans said he was "surprised" that the government in Montevideo had "knowingly decided to break the universally agreed and internationally endorsed treaty".
In a statement, Mr Yans said claims the law would help reduce crime relied on "rather precarious and unsubstantiated assumptions".
The INCB is an independent body of experts established by the United Nations to monitor countries' compliance with international drug treaties.
After nearly 12 hours of debate on Tuesday, senators gave the government-sponsored bill their final approval, making Uruguay the first country in the world to legalise the production and sale of marijuana.
Dozens of supporters of the bill proposed by the left-wing President Jose Mujica gathered outside the Congress in Montevideo to follow the vote.
Presenting the bill to fellow senators, Roberto Conde said it was an unavoidable response to reality, given that the "war" against drugs had failed.
"We have the duty as the state to give a specific answer to an open territory, small and non-producing," Mr Conde said, adding that Uruguay's borders were used by cartels to smuggle drugs into neighbouring countries.
But many senators also spoke out against the bill, before it was passed by 16 votes to 13.
Opposition lawmaker Alfredo Solari said Uruguay should not "experiment" on its people.
White House says Obama-Castro handshake 'not planned'
President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro's handshake at Nelson Mandela's memorial service was unplanned, the White House has said.
White House aide Ben Rhodes told reporters the two exchanged nothing more substantive than a greeting.
The Cuban government said the gesture may show the "beginning of the end of the US aggressions".
The US broke off diplomatic ties with Cuba in 1961 as Fidel Castro aligned with the Soviet Union in the Cold War.
And on Tuesday after the handshake, a White House official said the Obama administration still had grave concerns about human rights violations in Cuba, Reuters reported.
Republicans on Capitol Hill were quick to condemn the gesture, with one Republican congresswoman chiding the move during an unrelated hearing on Tuesday.
The last time a US president shook a Cuban leader's hand was in 2000, when President Bill Clinton greeted President Fidel Castro, Raul's brother and predecessor, at a UN General Assembly meeting.
Under President Obama, the US has eased restrictions on Cuban-Americans travelling to the island and on remittances between family members across the two countries.
But the gradual thaw has been disrupted by the detention in Cuba of a US contractor.
Alan Gross, 64, was arrested four years ago while on a project to provide internet access to Cuba's small Jewish community.
On the fourth anniversary of his arrest, he wrote to Mr Obama to say he feared the US government had "abandoned" him, and asked the US president to intervene personally to help win his release.
North Korean leader's uncle 'executed over corruption'
The once-powerful uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been executed after being purged for corruption, state news agency KCNA reports.
Chang Song-thaek was dramatically removed from a Communist Party session by armed guards earlier this week.
He was accused of forming factions against the state, corruption and "depraved" acts such as womanising and drug abuse.
It was the biggest upheaval since Mr Kim succeeded his father two years ago.
KCNA said Mr Chang had been executed immediately after a military trial on Thursday, calling him a "traitor" and accusing him of seeking to overthrow the state.
He had already been stripped of all his official titles and expelled from the party.
Mr Chang was seen as a major power broker in North Korea, and had mentored Mr Kim as he took over the leadership of the secretive, tightly controlled country.
Analysts say his fall from grace could be seen as the latest in a series of carefully calibrated moves to demonstrate Kim Jong-un's authority and an assertion of his independence.
As news of his purge emerged, South Korean President Park Geun-hye warned the North was "carrying out a reign of terror" to reinforce Mr Kim's position.
She said the volatile relationship between the two countries was likely to become "more unstable" as a result.