Region urged to reduce deficits
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) governments have been told there must be sustained economic diversification if they are to successfully reduce their fiscal deficits.
Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart gave the advice as he addressed the opening ceremony of the 31st Annual Caribbean Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean.
He said it was imperative for the region to overcome some of the global challenges that had emerged, while continuing to maintain “a reasonably adequate safety net”, and social development system.
He outlined a six-pronged strategy, which, he said, would put the Caribbean back on a path of development and expansion.
Stuart, who the day earlier addressed a national consultation on the Barbadian economy, explained that the plan would involve diversifying the sources of “our economic drivers to align them more with faster growing areas of the world, through expanded and more intensive tourism marketing and product development”.
He said “expanded and more focused international business marketing, more and faster product development, increased labour content of our international business, and intensive work on the removal of foreign administrative hurdles to international business” would help Caribbean nations chart a path to recovery.
“We must restructure the energy basis of the economy and improve the competitiveness of production through greater energy efficiency; greater use of alternative renewable energy; an enhanced technological platform for the economy; and greater availability of requisite labour skills.
“We must improve the productive capacity of our economies through infrastructure development. We must rationalise and consolidate the fiscal sector by reducing wastage; cutting unnecessary programmes; confronting the ‘entitlement’ mentality in our countries; providing public goods and services more efficiently; and improving the facilitation role of Government,” he told the delegates.
Prime Minister Stuart said the economies of the Caribbean had suffered along with the rest of the world over the last six years from a generally low level of economic activity and had continued for this period because of increasing uncertainty about likely changes in global economic fortunes.
He said the global uncertainty had “badly shaken business and consumer confidence”, and as a consequence, there had been less investment and spending than usual throughout the world.
He said consequently regional states had to “shift the locus of investment and growth more towards the private sector”.
Stuart also suggested that both the public and private sectors needed to cooperate more on a regional basis on economic matters and deepen regional economic relations, by increasing regional cooperation in tourism and investment marketing, especially in new markets, in order to diversify the countries of origin of the economic drivers.
He said that this could be achieved by collaborating with airlines to increase intra-regional airlift and to increase and diversify airlift to the region; and by multi-destination marketing; tourism marketing and product development; international business marketing and product development.
Prime Minister Stuart also called for greater collaboration on security matters; more intra-regional trade in food; more intra-regional tourism; increased intra CARICOM trade in both goods and services, and more direct and portfolio investment in each other’s economies.
Figures released here show that Caribbean economies had been underperforming since 1990, with growth stagnating in the last two decades, except for commodity producers.
The figures show that since 2008, economic activity grew by less than one per cent in tourism oriented economies, and that slower economic growth was compounded by competitiveness issues, widening external current account deficits, declining share of world exports, and falling tourist arrivals and tourist receipts.
Blackberry shares plunge after $84m first-quarter loss
Shares in smartphone maker Blackberry have dived after it reported an $84m (£55m) loss for the three months to 1 June.
The figure was better than the $518m loss for the same period last year, but much worse than analysts' forecasts.
The company, based in Ontario, Canada, also said it would post an operating loss for the next quarter running to September.
Blackberry shares closed down 28% in New York.
Shipments of new smartphones increased, but Blackberry, which used to be called Research In Motion, did not release how many new handsets running the BB10 operating system were sold in the quarter. Chief executive Thorstein Heins said the company was continuing to focus on the global roll-out of BB10 and was confident it would be a hit with customers.
"We are still in the early stages of this launch, but already, the Blackberry 10 platform and Blackberry Enterprise Service 10 are proving themselves to customers to be very secure, flexible and dynamic mobile computing solutions,"he said in a statement.
He added that the group would be increasing investments to support the roll-out of new products and services over the next three quarters.
Revenue rose to $3.1bn in the quarter from $2.8bn a year earlier.
Analysts had been particularly keen to see the numbers for the new Z10 handset, as it was the first full quarter that the model had been on sale in the United States.
Blackberry launched two all-new smartphones this year, the touchscreen Z10 device, followed by the Q10, with a mini keyboard favoured by many Blackberry users.
Blackberry said that it had shipped 6.8 million phones overall in its first quarter versus 7.8 million in the same three-month period last year.
"It doesn't bode well for the initial Blackberry 10 launch, particularly the Z10. But even the outlook for a second-quarter loss doesn't bode well for the Q10 either," said Brian Colello, an analyst with Morningstar.
Blackberry has been battling stiff competition in the smartphone sector, and has struggled to compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung.
Daniel Ernst from Hudson Square Research said the company fell between two camps.
"They're not the high-end provider any more, they're not Apple. They're not the low-end provider, they're not Nokia. So they are in the middle and they do relatively low volumes," he said.
"It's difficult to make great margins on that kind of volume, so I would say the outlook is quite negative."
Source-BBC
Facebook removes ads from controversial pages to avoid boycot
Facebook has announced a major revamp of its advertising systems in an attempt to deal with concerns about offensive content.
There will now be new restrictions on where adverts appear on the site.
Marks and Spencer and BSkyB were among companies to suspend advertising after complaints that adverts had been placed on pages with offensive material.
The social network is now planning to remove any advertising from many of its pages.
Facebook's move follows complaints about a Sky advert promoting an M&S voucher.
The advert was placed on a Facebook page called "cute and gay boys". The page featured photographs of teenage boys.
In a blogpost on Friday, Facebook said: "We recognize we need to do more to prevent situations where ads are displayed alongside controversial Pages and Groups. So we are taking action."
The company said that from Monday it will implement a new process to determine which pages or groups should feature adverts alongside the content.
There will be no adverts on pages that feature any violent, graphic or sexual content, even if such content is not in violation of the company's rules.
According to one source, Facebook will create a "gold standard" of around 10,000 pages that are deemed suitable for adverts, and then inspect other pages to see if they can be added to the list. All adverts will be removed from other pages.
A spokesman said this would be a labour-intensive process but we take this" very seriously."
BskyB said it looked forward to discussing the new measures and would keep the situation under review.
M&S had asked BSkyB to remove the advert, and it suspended some of its own advertising campaigns on Facebook.
BSkyB suspended all of its advertising on the social network, where it has been a major customer.
Both companies had said they were keen to use Facebook again, but needed to be sure that their advertising would not appear next to offensive content, or material that might reflect poorly on their brands.
Speaking before Facebook announced its policy change, a spokesman for BSkyB told the BBC: "We have asked Facebook to devise safeguards to ensure our content does not appear alongside inappropriate material in the future.
"We will review the situation in due course."
Sources at Marks and Spencer said Facebook had been taking the issue very seriously at the highest level.
In an additional statement, an M&S spokeswoman said the company did not "tolerate any inappropriate use or positioning of its brand and has very clear policies that govern where and how our brand is used".
She added: "We take any suggestion that these policies are not being adhered to very seriously and always investigate them thoroughly."
Earlier this month, Facebook was forced to act against misogynist content on its site after protests from women's groups led some advertisers to suspend campaigns.
Source-BBC
Terry Leahy legacy criticised by former chairman
Tesco's former chairman Lord MacLaurin has criticised the legacy left by ex-chief executive Sir Terry Leahy.
He told the annual meeting that current chief Philip Clarke needed three years to revive the UK's biggest retailer.
Sir Terry is credited with turning Tesco into an international force, but Lord MacLaurin said a legacy of writedowns and exit from the US was "all very sad".
Mr Leahy could not immediately be reached for comment.
After being arguably the UK's most successful retailer for years, Tesco issued a profit warning in January 2012 and withdrew from the US after five years trying to crack the market with it Fresh & Easy chain.
Sir Terry became Tesco's chief executive in 1997, when Lord MacLaurin was still chairman. Shareholders enjoyed double-digit growth during Sir Terry's tenure, but the company began to struggle not long after he was replaced by Mr Clarke in 2011.
Lord MacLaurin told the annual meeting in London that a chief executive should not only be judged on his day-to-day performance, but also his legacy. "And I think that we are all very sad in this hall to see the legacy that Terry Leahy left," he said.
"It is a very sad situation - your enormous writedowns, (and) the situation in America," he added.
Recovery will not happen overnight, he said. "This job is going to be probably two or three years," he said, noting that when rival Sainsbury's hit trouble in the early 1990s it took the retailer more than five years to reposition itself.
Gold price falls below $1,200 an ounce
At the same time, the slowdown in the global economy, prompted central banks across the world to lower interest rates - to historic lows in many cases - in an attempt to try to boost growth.
Analysts said that with interest rates so low, investors have been favouring gold.
However, things have started to change in the past few months.
The US economy has been recovering; as a result, the Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has said that the US central bank will scale back its $85bn a month bond buying programme.
Analysts said that such a move may see interest rates rise again - making gold a less attractive option.
At the same time, the risks surrounding the eurozone crisis seem to have abated as well, which has also hurt gold prices.
Buju Banton Freed Of Gun Charge, Juror Held In Contempt
The journey continues but it was a great day for Buju Banton in his ongoing case before a Florida Federal Court.
Federal Judge James Moody handed down a ruling on Wednesday (June 26) dismissing the gun charge that was injected back into the case by an appeal court judge.
Moody also find juror Teri Wright in contempt after she lied to the court about researching the case during the high profile trial.
The judge requested that the government charge Wright with contempt for violating court orders.
Moody also dismissed the Buju Banton’s defense motion for a new trial. This means the Grammy-winning reggae star still has to serve out his 10 year sentence.
“This shows how important good reporting is,” Buju Banton former attorney, David Oscar Markus, told New Times.
“The judge credited Chris’ reporting in making his decision. He reported accurately what she said, and it really was the turning point for Buju on the gun charge,” Markus added.
The judge also credited New Times journalist Chris Sweeney for exposing juror Teri Wright.
Buju Banton, born Mark Myrie, was facing an additional five years on the gun charge.
Banton could be released from prison in February 2019.
Anti-Drug Group Urges British Fashion Chain to Drop Rihanna
Anti-drug campaigners urge fashion chain River Island to stop using Rihanna in its product campaign after the singer posted pictures of her smoking giant rolled-up cigarettes, which appeared to be marijuana on her Instagram and Twitter accounts last week. The campaigners are concerned about children who see Rihanna as a role model.
Lucy Dawe of the Cannabis Skunk Sense group told British media Daily Mirror, "She should be dropped by River Island as she's a role model to young children but clearly an appalling one. It is a huge double standard because if River Island were really concerned about the effects of drug use, they wouldn't be supporting someone who is so blatantly using drugs herself."
Paul Jenkins, CEO of charity Rethink Mental Illness, also criticizes Rihanna for supporting marijuana legalization. "She is reinforcing the myth that cannabis is a 'safe' drug, when in fact it can increase your chances of developing mental illness, especially if you use it when you're young. It's disappointing to see Rihanna normalising cannabis use in this way," Jenkins said.
River Side donated 10,000 pound sterling (around $15,000) to Nicholas Mills Foundation in 2008. The foundation was set to honor a young man who got addicted to cannabis and heroin and later died of suicide. River Island's Lewis Family Charitable Trust also donated 4,000 pound sterling (around $6,000) to mental health charity ReThink that campaigns the danger of drugs in 2011.
Rihanna showcased the company's products during London Fashion Week in February, in which she reportedly got paid as much as 800,000 pound sterling. So far, she has produced two collections. The fashion company declined to comment on the issue.
Source- AceShowbiz
'Terminator' New Trilogy to Begin in 2015
Paramount Pictures, Annapurna Pictures and Skydance Productions have officially unveiled release date for "Terminator 5". From the press release, the film, described as a "rebooted Terminator movie," is set to open in theaters on June 26, 2015, and apparently will be the first in a planned stand-alone trilogy.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has said many times that he will return to the film, which is rumored to likely feature Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as the one Arnie will face off against. No director is on board the project yet, but the production is already scheduled to start shooting in 2014 as revealed by the Terminator depicter himself.
The new "Terminator" flick initially secured Justin Lin as its helmer back in 2011. However, Lin ended up bowing out of the project as he decided to focus more on "Fast and Furious 6". Though Lin had said that he would be willing to return post-"Fast 6" production, there is still no official word on whether he is invited back or not.
The movie slate for 2015 is already packed with blockbusters. In addition to "Terminator 5", there will be "ID Forever Part 1", "Pirates of the Caribbean 5", "The Avengers 2", "Finding Dory", "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2", untitled new Fantastic Four project, "Ant-Man" and "Jurassic Park IV".
"Star Wars Episode 7" and "Man of Steel 2" are possibly up for summer 2015 release as well.
Source-AceShowbiz
Jay-Z Gets Approval For Surprise Concert
Jay-Z is set to perform atop the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater. The New York Post reports that New York City Mayor Bloomberg has approved Jay-Z's application to perform at the same building where the "Late Show With David Letterman" is taped.
The so-called surprise concert is scheduled for July 8, four days after Jay-Z releases his new album, "Magna Carta Holy Grail". No other details have been revealed, but Jay-Z will definitely shut down Broadway traffic between West 53rd and 54th during rush hour.
A few days ago, sources revealed that Jay-Z was seeking the approval from Mayor Bloomberg's office to turn rush-hour Times Square into a gigantic street party. "If he gets permission from the mayor's office, it's going to be off the hook," a law-enforcement agent said at that time. "They'll have to shut down Broadway around the Letterman building. They'll have to have a strong police presence. It's going to be chaos with so many fans."
In addition to preparing the party, Jay-Z promotes his "Magna Carta Holy Grail" by sharing the lyrics of the tracks from the album. The latest lyrics to share is "Jay-Z Blue (Daddy Dearest)". Jay-Z also shared a short video that sees him discussing the Blue Ivy-inspired song with collaborator Rick Rubin.
Source-aceshowbiz
Bert Stern, Monroe photographer, dies in New York
Famed US photographer, Bert Stern, best known for his images of Marilyn Monroe in what became known as The Last Sitting, has died at the age of 83.
Film-maker Shannah Laumeister, 43, who said the two were secretly married in 2009, confirmed he died at his home in New York on Wednesday.
Stern photographed Monroe for Vogue magazine, just weeks before she died from a drug overdose in 1962.
Other celebrities he photographed included Audrey Hepburn and Twiggy.
Laumeister said: "He'll be remembered as someone who loved women and loved taking pictures and putting things he felt strongly about in the camera.
"His images will live forever and wow generations to come," she said, adding that the Monroe images "go beyond the photograph and become a work of art".
Stern took more than 2,500 photographs of Monroe during the intimate three-day shoot at the Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles, six weeks before her death in 1962.
The nude and semi-nude images - including several which Monroe rejected for magazine publication - were published in a 1982 book titled The Last Sitting, and a second book, Marilyn Monroe: The Complete Last Sitting, that came out in 2000.
In a documentary about the photographer made by Laumeister, Stern said: "It was a one-time-in-a-lifetime experience to have Marilyn Monroe in a hotel room, even though it was turned into a studio."
A collection of 36 photographs taken during The Last Sitting were auctioned in New York for nearly $150,000 (£102,581) in 2008.
Born in Brooklyn, Stern photographed a host of celebrities such as such as Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor and Truman Capote during a career that spanned 50 years.
He was also highly regarded as an advertising photographer, launching his career with a campaign for Smirnoff Vodka.