US Celebrates Presidents' Day
Millions of workers across the United States are getting the day off Monday as part of the annual observance of the Presidents' Day holiday.
It first became a federal holiday in 1879 to celebrate the February 22 birthday of George Washington, the first U.S. president. Nearly a century later, in 1968, Congress passed a law that shifted the celebration of several federal holidays from specific dates to predetermined Mondays, in order to give workers three consecutive days off.
Retailers take advantage of the holiday - held on the third Monday in February - to promote sales and price cuts on their products.
Although the day is still officially known as Washington's Birthday, it has evolved into Presidents' Day to celebrate both Washington's birthday and that of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th U.S. president whose birthday falls on February 12. Lincoln's birthday was never an official federal holiday, although many states celebrated the day. Presidents' Day is now widely viewed as a day to celebrate all presidents past and present.
The current U.S. president, Barack Obama, spent part of the holiday weekend on Sunday playing golf at a private course in Florida with Tiger Woods, the world's second-ranked golfer and holder of 14 major titles.
Police investigating a number of incidents
Police in Providenciales are investigating a number of incidents reported from Saturday 9th February through to Monday 11th February - these includes six burglaries.
The thieves targeted home electronics in all cases. They are also investigating two cases of assault and actual bodily harm, two thefts, two attempted burglaries, the theft of a motor vehicle, possession of an imitation fire-arm, a robbery, two cases of malicious damage to property and two of wounding.
Over the past weekend, police officers from various units conducted a number of stop and search operations in Providenciales.
Officers were searching for Illegal Drugs, Weapons and Stolen goods. Police are appealing to the public who may have any information about these incidents to call the Police on 911 or Crime Stoppers anonymously on 1-800-8477. Tips can also be submitted anonymously in English, French or Spanish on either www.crimestoppers.tc or on Facebook as a fan of Crime Stoppers Turks & Caicos. Crime Stoppers tips are received in the USA.
Valentines for CIBC
CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank, the largest regional bank in the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean, has announced a special Valentine’s Day package for its customers across its 100 branches and offices.
Trevor Torzsas, Managing Director of Customer Service Management and Strategy, has announced that the bank, which serves over half a million customers, will be hosting its largest-ever Customer Appreciation project with a Valentine’s Day event at every one of its branches.
Daniel Farmer, Managing Director for Retail Banking, said it was the FirstCaribbean’s way of saying ‘thank you’ to its customers for making the bank their preferred financial institution. He said the bank’s customers were fiercely loyal and the bank wanted to do something special for them.
In addition to refreshments and promotional gift items, CIBC FirstCaribbean’s basket of Valentine’s Day goodies would include double points for Valentine’s Day credit card purchases and 500 bonus reward points to the first person to receive an approved credit card. The bank was also offering any customer with an approved auto loan, who took an additional complimentary product, a reduction of 50% off the loan fee.
LeBron James Records Miami Heat Record 5th Straight 30-Point Game
You officially can't stop LeBron James. In fact, you can't even contain him. You can just hope that he decides on his own not to embarrass you.
Unfortunately for the rest of the league, the NBA's reigning MVP and Finals MVP is in full "embarrass mode" right now. He hit the 30-point mark Sunday afternoon, giving him five straight contests with that number.
Ho-hum, just another week at the office for King James.
James, once again, did it all during Miami's 107-97 win against the Los Angeles Lakers. He scored from the outside (1-of-2 from deep). He got to the free-throw line and converted (7-of-8 from the charity stripe). He got out in transition, where he becomes "train coming down the track" LeBron and is instantly unstoppable.
In the end, LBJ finished with 32 points on a decently efficient (compared to his last few games) 12-of-18 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
As Dwyane Wade would say, he has officially "surpassed the planet."
During James' five-game 30-point streak, he is averaging 31 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists. He has hit 55-of-77 shots over that span, which comes out to a shooting percentage of 71.4.
Those numbers are bordering on comedic. They are beyond video-game level. Beyond believable. Beyond human.
It's difficult to find someone in league history who has gone through a more impressive, more dominant, more overpowering stretch of basketball than James is currently in the middle of.
Even during a season in which Kevin Durant is having a career year, James is beginning to separate himself in the MVP race with this kind of transcendent play. I mean, he's doing Wilt Chamberlain-esque things right now.
We are simply witnesses, and every subsequent game is a new treat.
Manchester City manager ready to make changes
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini says he will drop players who are not "ready to fight" for the team.
The Premier League champions have fallen 12 points behind Manchester United in the title race following Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Southampton.
"I only want players who are ready for the fight in the last 12 games," said Mancini, whose side host Leeds in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday.
"I am very angry with a lot of my players, and very disappointed."
Following the defeat at St Mary's - City's third in the Premier League this season - Mancini said his side have only a "10% chance" of retaining the Premier League title.
He also labelled the display as the worst his side have produced in three years.
With the Blues also eliminated from European competition, it has placed extra pressure on City in the FA Cup ahead of their clash with Leeds at the Etihad Stadium.
Mancini won the competition with City in 2011 and said he will make significant changes to his team this weekend.
"We can't always win by playing well - that is normal. Sometimes we play well and win, but you also need to be able to win because you fight for every ball, and fight against an opponent who also wants to win the game.
"Every team that plays against us treats it like a Champions League final, but we should know this, it is normal.
"We now have 12 games left, (we) need to do well in the Premier League, and we have the FA Cup - there are games left and we can do better.
"We need to finish the season the way we did last year."
City won their final six matches of last season as they overhauled Manchester United's eight-point gap to lift their first league title since 1968.
Striker Carlos Tevez is expected to return to City this week after a family problem, and skipper Vincent Kompany should also be available again, as will Matija Nastasic and Kolo Toure, who were not risked at Southampton after late returns from international duty.
New Zealand v England Twenty20: Eoin Morgan faces fitness test
Batsman Eoin Morgan will have a late fitness test ahead of England's second Twenty20 international against New Zealand in Hamilton on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old, who scored 46 in England's victory over the Kiwis on Saturday, has jarred his back and missed practice on Monday.
Bowler Jade Dernbach will be fit after injuring his arm during field drills, with Joe Root likely to replace Morgan.New Zealand welcome Ian Butler and Grant Elliott back from injury.
Morgan is England's highest ranked T20 batsman - the Middlesex man is rated as the ninth-best in the world by the ICC - and he has scored more than 850 runs at an average of 37.3 in his 33 matches.
His absence would be a big loss for England, who dominated the first T20 international - their 214-7 becoming their highest score in the format before captain Stuart Broad took 4-24 as New Zealand finished on 174-9.
The tourists can ensure victory in the three-match series if they can win in Hamilton, and Yorkshire batsman Jonny Bairstow, who scored 38 from just 22 balls in Auckland, is hoping to continue the momentum.
"To spend some time in the middle was really pleasing and I was pleased with the way I struck the ball," said the 23-year-old, who helped Morgan put on 81 in seven overs at Eden Park.
"We were really pleased with the performance we put in. Everyone contributed, in all three disciplines."
New Zealand were outclassed in the first match and middle-order batsman Colin Munro accepts they got their tactics wrong.
"Obviously Saturday was disappointing - we weren't up to scratch," Munro said. "We had plans to drop the ball a little bit shorter and let them hit to the bigger boundary, but we were quite full and floaty - so we played into England's hands to hit the short, straight boundaries.
"Our lengths weren't right and dropping five catches didn't help. That's not going to happen again."
--BBC
Rafael Nadal loses Chile Open final to Horacio Zeballos
Rafael Nadal was denied the Chile Open title on his comeback from injury as Argentina's Horacio Zeballos came from a set down to beat him in the final.
Zeballos, ranked 73rd in the world, won his first ATP Tour title with a shock 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 victory at the clay-court event in Vina del Mar.Former world number one Nadal, 26, was playing his first tournament after eight months out with knee trouble.
"It's true I wanted to win the final but it wasn't possible," he said.
Zeballos did not progress beyond the second round in any of the tour-level events he competed in last year, but had already beaten three seeds en route to his match against Nadal.
"It's a dream for me," the 27-year-old told the ATP Tour's official website.
"To be able to play a final against Nadal was already good enough for me. It's a moment that will stay in my memory for the rest of my life."
Before this week, Nadal had not played a competitive match since suffering a shock second round defeat by Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon last year.
Having suffered with a knee injury, the world number five pulled out of January's Australian Open with a stomach virus.
The Spaniard saved two break points on his opening service game and looked to be on course for victory after wrapping up the first set in a tie-break.
But Zeballos refused to buckle and took the second set after another tight tie-break.There had been no breaks of serve up to that point, but Nadal changed that by winning the opening game of the third set - only to relinquish his advantage immediately.
At 5-4 ahead, Zeballos made his move and charged into a 0-40 lead on Nadal's serve before converting his first match point and sealing victory after two hours and 46 minutes.
Nadal, though, was positive in defeat, despite missing out on his 37th clay-court title.
"It was a great tournament for me," he said. "I just need to keep working, practising with hope, motivation and the right attitude to have better sensations every week. I hope it's the beginning of a lot of good things for me."
There was more disappointment for the Spaniard after he and Argentina's Juan Monaco were later beaten in the doubles final, losing 6-2 6-4 to Italians Paolo Lorenzi and Potito Starace.
Nuggets vs. Celtics sees triple overtime
Multiple overtimes seem to be a trend in basketball right now. Just one day after a five-overtime thriller between No. 11 Louisville and No. 25 Notre Dame in the NCAAs, the Denver Nuggets and the Boston Celtics went into triple overtime before the Celtics pulled away to win, 118-114, Sunday night.
The game's back-and-forth momentum had fans on the edge of their seats the entire contest. One reporter, Rod Mackey of 9News, compared the game to March Madness. Peter Burns of Fox Sports Radio was less impressed—at least at first, expecting the Celtics to pull away with relative ease as the game wore on.
The Nuggets' young guns definitely came out blazing. JaVale McGee reeled in 16 rebounds, Danilo Gallinari and Kenneth Faried both accumulated double-doubles, and Ty Lawson led all scorers with 29 points.
As good as many of Denver's youngsters were, Boston's experience did win out in the end. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett both had huge nights, despite poor shooting performances. The two combined to go 16-of-42 from the field, but they both managed 20-plus points and 14-plus rebounds to lead the Celtics. Pierce actually ended up with a triple-double, going for 27 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists.
Jason Terry was also key for the Celtics, knocking down five threes in a 26-point effort. His performance in the third overtime sealed the deal for Boston, as the Celtics' Twitter account illustrates in exciting fashion.After the team's seventh straight win after losing Rajon Rondo for the season, fans are predictably blaming all the team's former ailments on Rondo. Jason Dumont, for one, was excited to see the ball being spread around in crunch time.
Pierce's triple-double was an incredible effort from the veteran, as he displayed an all-around performance rarely matched in the NBA these days (even if it was in 54 minutes).
Pierce was also clutch, as it took his three-pointer to tie the game and send it to the third overtime. For his clutch shots and excellent overall performance, Pierce deserves player of the game honors.
Grammy success for Fun, Gotye and Mumford and Sons
The 55th Grammy Awards have taken place in Los Angeles, with Fun, Gotye and Mumford and Sons among the winners.
Fun's anthem We Are Young, featuring Janelle Monae, was named song of the year, with the New York band going on to win the best new artist prize.
Gotye's international hit Somebody That I Used To Know received the record of the year, one of three prizes received by the Belgian-Australian artist.
Surprised Mumford and Sons took home the album of the year prize for Babel.The English folk rockers received their honour from fellow-countrywoman Adele, who had earlier won best pop solo performance for her live version of Set Fire to the Rain.
Adele, who won six awards last year, said: "I just wanted to be part of the night, because I loved it last year, obviously. Thank you, I just wanted to say a massive, send big love to all the other girls, and all us females doing this because we work so hard and we make it look so easy."
Mumford and Sons had received six nominations ahead of the ceremony. In the event, though, their only other prize came for best long form music video.
Ben Lovett from the band said: "I just want to say how beautiful Adele is looking tonight, and how great it is to be presented this award by another British musician.
"Yeah, there's a few of us out there, and the Grammys have opened their arms to us, and we're very grateful for all of this country and the Grammy foundation for being so welcoming."
Indie rock group The Black Keys enjoyed the most success overall, receiving four of the six awards for which they had been shortlisted.The event, held at Los Angeles' Staples Center, kicked off with Taylor Swift singing her hit We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.
The 23-year-old star was joined by performers on stilts, a White Rabbit and human puppets for the Alice in Wonderland-themed performance.
Ed Sheeran and Sir Elton John appeared shortly afterwards to perform Sheeran's single The A Team, with further performances coming from Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys and country star Carrie Underwood.
Sting, Bruno Mars and Rihanna joined forces for a Bob Marley tribute that featured Rihanna and Marley's son Ziggy duetting on his father's 1980 classic Could You Be Loved.
Sir Elton returned later to perform in another all-star collaboration, paying tribute as he did so to the 26 people killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings last December.
The event was preceded by a pre-awards ceremony at a neighbouring venue at which the majority of this year's prizes were handed out.
Winners announced ahead of the main event included the late Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar, whose award for best world music album was collected by his daughter Anoushka.I wish he was here to do it himself," said Shankar. The 31-year-old had been nominated in the same category alongside her father, who died in December.
Sir Paul McCartney's Kisses on the Bottom record was named best traditional pop vocal album, while The Beach Boys won best historical album, their first ever Grammy, for The Smile Sessions.
Yet it was The Black Keys and its singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach who dominated the pre-telecast awards show, receiving prizes for best rock song and best rock album.
Auerbach received an additional prize for non-classical producer of the year, with his band going on to win best rock performance during the main awards ceremony.
"Welcome to the greatest music show on earth," said rapper LL Cool J at the beginning of the evening in his role as ceremony host.
The event saw a surprise appearance from Prince, who appeared sporting black sunglasses and a white cane to present the record of the year award to Gotye.
The Belgian-Australian musician said he was overwhelmed to meet one of his musical heroes.
"A little bit lost for words, to receive an award from the man standing behind us with the cane. Many years listening to this man's music growing up, and a big reason I was inspired to make music. Thank you."
Here's a partial list of the winners - what did you think of the 2013 awards ceremony?
Album of the Year
Mumford & Sons, "Babel"
Song of the Year
Fun, feat. Janelle Monáe, "We Are Young"
Record of the Year
Gotye, feat. Kimbra, "Somebody That I Used To Know"
Best New Artist
Fun.
Pop Vocal Album
Kelly Clarkson, "Stronger"
Pop Solo Performance
Adele, "Set Fire to the Rain"
Pop Duo/Group Performance
Gotye feat. Kimbra, "Somebody That I Used To Know"
Pop Instrumental Album
Chris Botti, "Impressions"
Traditional Pop Vocal Album
Paul McCartney, "Kisses On The Bottom"
Country Album
Zac Brown Band, "Uncaged"
Country Solo Performance
Carrie Underwood, "Blown Away"
Country Duo/Group Performance
Little Big Town, "Pontoon"
Country Song
Carrie Underwood, "Blown Away"
Rock Performance
The Black Keys, "Lonely Boy"
Hard Rock/Metal Performance
Halestorm, "Love Bites (So Do I)"
Rock Song
The Black Keys, "Lonely Boy"
Rock Album
The Black Keys, "El Camino"
Alternative Music Album
Gotye, "Making Mirrors"
R&B Performance
Usher, "Climax"
Traditional R&B Performance
Beyonce, "Love On Top"
R&B Song
Miguel, "Adorn"
Urban Contemporary Album
Frank Ocean, "Channel Orange"
R&B Album
Robert Glasper Experiment, "Black Radio"
Rap Performance
Jay-Z and Kanye West, "N****s In Paris"
Rap/Sung Collaboration
Jay-Z and Kanye West feat. Frank Ocean & The-Dream, "No Church In The Wild"
Rap Song
Jay-Z and Kanye West, ""N****s In Paris"
Rap Album
Drake, "Take Care"
Dance Recording
Skrillex feat. Sirah, "Bangarang"
Dance/Electronica Album
Skrillex, "Bangarang"
For the full list of winners, visit Grammys.com
Whitney Houston remembered at pre-Grammy gala
Musicians including Dave Grohl, Janelle Monae, LA Reid and Miguel have paid tribute to Whitney Houston, a year after her death, at the age of 48.
The star died in her hotel room on 11 February last year.
Speaking at a pre-Grammy gala in Los Angeles, Grohl said Houston would be remembered "as one of the most iconic vocalists of all time."
"Not only did she sell 800 bazillion records," he added, "but she's [an] amazing singer".
Grohl was speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at music industry mogul Clive Davis's annual pre-Grammy party.
Houston had been due to attend last year's event, but died hours before it took place.
R&B singer and actress Brandy said: "She was the greatest voice of all time and nobody will ever come close to touching her. I will never forget her."
Miguel, who received a Grammy for best R&B song on Sunday night, added: "Whitney's voice was powerful. She was dynamic. I would like her to be remembered for her voice and smile. I think she'd want to be celebrated."
Contemporary soul singer Janelle Monae said she wanted to keep Houston's "vision" alive.
"The 'regalness' that she had, the class that she had. That's something that I value."
Record executive and US X Factor judge Antonio "LA" Reid, who was being honoured at the event, worked with Houston on the soundtrack to her hit movie The Bodyguard.
He said he liked to remember the more personal moments he had with the star.
"I can't sing, but I used to sing with Whitney, just for fun," he said. "Just that beautiful spirit and warm personality and that amazing voice."
American Idol judge Randy Jackson said she would be remembered "as one of the greatest ever to grace a microphone. Greatest ever - that's big".
Johnny Depp, Sting, Ne-Yo, Quincy Jones and Patti Smith also attended the event at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, which was held in honour of Houston.
The singer accidentally drowned in her hotel bathroom. A coroner ruled that chronic cocaine use abuse and heart disease were also factors.
Her death sent shockwaves around the music industry, which was gathered in Los Angeles for the annual Grammy ceremony.
A last-minute tribute was arranged for the 2012 show, with singer Jennifer Hudson performing the star's biggest-selling single, I Will Always Love You.