Mexico blast victims' bodies handed over to families
The bodies of the victims of a blast at the headquarters of Mexican oil company Pemex have been handed to their relatives.
Thirty-three people died in Thursday's explosion in Mexico City.
Hundreds of rescue workers continue to search the rubble for possible survivors.
Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam said investigations into the cause of the blast were underway and no line of enquiry had been ruled out.
Rescue workers regained hope of finding people alive on Saturday after sniffer dogs alerted their handlers in the basement of the collapsed building.
Earlier, two families who believe their relatives could still be trapped, had asked the authorities not to give up on them after the Red Cross had declared its search finished.
The last person to be rescued from the debris was found at noon on Friday (1800 GMT).
Search for truth
Firefighters and police officers using heavy machinery continued to move rubble from the site of the blast as special investigators examined the site for clues to the cause of the explosion.
According to the attorney general, the government "is determined to find out the truth, be it what it may".
"If it's an accident, if it's negligence, if it's an attack, whatever it is," Mr Murillo Karam said.
Mr Murillo Karam said investigators had established that the blast had not set off a fire, but that it was not yet clear what that meant.
More than 100 people are being treated in hospital for injuries sustained as a result of the blast, Many of them were hit by falling rubble and masonry.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto visited some of them on Friday. He has declared three days of mourning.
The BBC's Will Grant said the blast was the biggest explosion to hit Mexico City for 30 years.
Pemex said it would resume operations at its headquarters on Tuesday, moving employees who worked in the affected building to other offices.
The company has experienced a number of fatal accidents in recent years.
Last September, 30 people died in an explosion at a Pemex gas plant in northern Mexico, thought to have been caused by a build-up of gas.
Cuba dissident Yoani Sanchez granted passport
Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez says she has been granted a passport after years of being denied the right to travel abroad.
Ms Sanchez, who has criticised the Cuban government in her prize-winning blog Generation Y, announced the development on her Twitter account.
However, she said she was disappointed that her fellow activist, Angel Moya, was still denied a passport.
The move comes after Cuba eased travel restrictions for its citizens.
Ms Sanchez, 37, rose to prominence when she wrote about life in Cuba, emailing her blog entries to friends abroad to publish online.
Her writing led to her arrest last October as she prepared to cover the trial of politician Angel Carromero.
"Incredible! They called my house to tell me that my passport was ready. They just gave it to me," Sanchez tweeted.
"Now the only thing left is to be able to board that plane."
She added: "I am both happy and sad; on the one hand, I have my documents to be able to travel, but many of my friends like Angel Moya, are not going to be allowed."
Ms Sanchez has said she was denied the right to travel 20 times under Cuba's old travel law and doubted she would get a passport under the new ones.
Mass market fetes down, all-inclusives up' as Carnival draws near in TNT
Some things don't change. The fete season leading up to Carnival 2013 is as frenzied as ever, with parties every weekend.
But some fete promoters in Trinidad and Tobago are complaining that things are different now, with the economy taking a toll on Carnival partying.
There may be more and more fetes every year, but coupled with a stagnant economy, this means fewer and fewer patrons, and reduced revenues.
Roy Maharaj of TriStar Promotions told the Business Express in an interview that it was difficult locally for many party-goers in terms of finance.
"Average people who support mass market fetes have no salary and can hardly buy bread to eat," he said.
He said the working class were choosing to go to one or two events for the season to keep costs down.
"That is what it reach to in terms of entertainment in this country," he added.
Carnival this year will be held on February 11 and 12, a shorter season compared to February 20 and 21 last year and March 7 and 8 in 2011.
Asked if the reduced season this year was having a negative effect on fetes, Maharaj said the problem was more about economics.
He provided the example of the Christmas season, noting that it was not shortened but vendors and businessmen were complaining about low sales.
"People have no money. One set of people enjoying the inheritance and others suffering," he commented.
He added: "Not only the shortness of Carnival, in previous years we had short Carnivals before and everybody could make money still. But now is worse, because there is too much interference with too many groups in the country."
Maharaj claimed that the entertainment industry was being "muzzled" by politicians and "a lot of things going haywire".
He said both promoters and artistes were being affected by this interference.
"What killing the Carnival? Carnival too short is one aspect, (but is really) too much politics," he insisted.
Cliff Harris, manager of Village Promotions, which puts on the Fire Fete and other events, said last week he has noticed a trend of decreasing patron turn-out for about two years, and the industry has been "dwindling".
He said in previous years people did not have many choices regarding fetes but there were more events now.
"On a Saturday night or Friday there is a lot of events all over. They have choices now," he added.
He noted that every year the cost of putting on an event, including security, sound, infrastructure and venue rental, was increasing "but then your gate receipts and your tickets remain the same price" and this was negatively affecting the business.
At its first event, Fire Fete held on January 12, it did not get the turn-out as expected but he did not know if this trend will change as the season progressed.
Harris, like Maharaj, also cited the bad state of the economy for reduced patronage.
"These days now they don't have the disposal income," he added.
He continued: "(Fetes now) cost a lot more (but you) not getting the amount of people would have gotten in the past (at the) same price as five years ago."
Harris said because of this trend, promoters have to cut down on costs.
Before they would have four bands at their events but they have had to cut it down to two or one.
At Fire Fete there was one band and a number of artistes.
He noted, however: "With all that, the cost is still high."
Maharaj also cited another factor which he believes has "stifled" the mass market event: the behaviour of some patrons at mass market events and the resurgence of the all-inclusive fetes.
He explained that incidents such as fighting at mass events, which occurred after the fete ended, gave the particular event a bad name.
He noted that the all-inclusive fete "has risen from the dead" in recent years and people seeking fetes with "proper behaviour" were patronising them, which was in turn killing the mass market events.
"Spend $600 (on an all inclusive) and that is Carnival," he commented wryly.
A representative from one of the all inclusive fete committees, (who did not want to be identified) said last week there appeared to be a trend of these events doing well.
He noted that the high school fetes, St Mary's College and Trinity, had reportedly done well this year or maintained the turn-out of previous years.
He said, however, there was also a dwindling of some of the larger events, such as Fire Fete, while other events had completely folded.
He said his committee's fete was cancelled because this year was "crowded" with events, especially with the shortened season.
He added that they felt that the financial risk was not worth it.
"A year like this where everything is cramped, we say this is the year to sit it out and come up with some new ideas for 2014," he added.
American national found dead at Bahamas hotel
No name has been given, and no autopsy results released into the death of an American man in the Bahamas.
Police say an the man may have fallen from the ninth-floor balcony of his beachfront hotel and died.
Police superintendent Stephen Dean says that the body of the 44-year-old man was found Thursday by guests at the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort on Cable Beach in the Bahamian capital of Nassau.
Investigators don't believe the death was a suicide.
4 year old slaughtered one day after a 15 year old was brutally killed
A nation in mourning.
A family and relatives devastated. More questions than answers in the killing of a five year old boy who was getting ready to go school this week.
Rushaun Burford, a student of the Salvation Army Allman Town Basic School was fatally shot at a house on Lord Elgin Street. His grandmother was also injured.
Detectives probing yesterday's fatal shooting , are reportedly hot on the heels of his alleged killer.
Superintendent Steve McGregor, head of the Kingston Central Police, is expressing confidence that the accused Marlon Christopher McMillian, alias "Truthy" and "Shooty" will be caught soon.
The police Thursday asked Mr McMillian to turn himself in.
The incident
Residents of Allman Town said Rushane 'Ricardo' Burford was at home with his grandmother, preparing to go to school, when about 7:00, a man who and his family members were in an argument start fire shots.
During the shooting he reportedly heard the baby screaming under the bed. He then shot the child. Family members said the child was shot in his eye and back.
He also shot the child's grandmother. She is still hospitalised.
Detectives arre now seeking the public’s assistance in locating McMillan. McMillan is of dark complexion, slim build and was sporting a corn row hair style at the time of the shooting.
Mother released after arrested for stabbing to death her babies father
Five hours after Jamaican Natalie Treasure, 34, was released from the Gasparillo Police Station pending an inquest into the stabbing death of her twin girls’ father Michael Apphonso Williams, 23, she was reunited with daughters, Mikayla and Mikaylee.
The former security guard had not seen her one-month-old babies for more than a week.
Shocked relatives wept as female police officers carried the babies to meet their mother who was waiting in an unmarked police jeep outside the apartment at Union Road, Marabella where they were being cared for by their father’s aunts.
The police also handed over all of the babies’ clothes, bottles and a small yellow bag of Treasure’s clothes.
Treasure was in custody for nine days before the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions yesterday morning ordered that she be released pending further investigations. An inquest is expected to be held.
On January 22, Williams was stabbed during an argument and was found bleeding from a wound to his upper abdomen outside the apartment.
He was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital where he succumbed to his injury while undergoing emergency surgery. Reports are that Treasure had previously made a report against Williams, and the day of the incident, she acted in self-defence.
The deceased’s mother Janet Harriot, 42, and sisters Denise, 18, and Dacy-Ann Harriot, 20, all Jamaicans, pleaded with officers to leave the babies in their care when they arrived for them. Their loud sobbing attracted the attention of neighbours who assembled on the pavement.
“How can you take them from us? Why are you doing this to us? Leave them, don’t do this to us,” Janet cried.
At about 3.20 pm, the babies were given to Treasure under the watchful eyes of her attorney Dereck Dindial and officers of the Southern Homicide Bureau and Victim Support Unit.
Treasure and her babies were taken away by the police to an undisclosed location.
Anthony B arrested
Jamaica’s well-known reggae artiste,“Anthony B”, has been arrested in the United States.
Anthony B who was on tour, was arrested earlier this week in the state of Georgia, for possession of marijuana.
Based on Internet reports, he has been charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
Although details of his arrest are not known his image now appears on a US based website which tracks arrests throughout the country.
While it is not known if and when he will appear in court the state of Georgia is known for its tough anti-drug laws.
Bobcats’ Michael Kidd-Gilchrist hospitalized after blow to head
Bobcats rookie forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was hospitalized after taking a blow to the head during a 109-95 loss to the Rockets in Houston on Saturday night.
Kidd-Gilchrist, the No. 2 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, appeared to take a knee to the back of the head from teammate Jeff Taylor and lay motionless on the court for a number of minutes. He was eventually wheeled off the court on a stretcher with his neck immobilized.
The Charlotte Observer reported that Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap told reporters that Kidd-Gilchrist was able to move his extremities and that he was communicating with medical personnel.
The Bobcats issued a release late Saturday night indicating that Kidd-Gilchrist had suffered a concussion, but that X-rays and a CT scan were negative for additional head and neck injuries. He was hospitalized overnight as a precaution and will be subject to the NBA’s concussion protocols, which require a player to pass a series of tests and receive clearance from Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher, the head of the NBA’s concussion program, before returning to the court.
With a little less than 11 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and the Bobcats leading 80-79, Kidd-Gilchrist attempted to contest a running lay-up by Toney Douglas in transition. Taylor, trailing the play, appeared to contact Kidd-Gilchrist as he came back to the court.
Kidd-Gilchrist departed with four points, five rebounds and one block in 20 minutes.
Source-SI
Tim Duncan out with left knee injury
San Antonio Spurs All-Star Tim Duncan sprained his left knee and right ankle after getting tangled with an opponent and had to be helped off the court in the first half of Saturday night's game against the Wizards.
The severity of the injury was not immediately known, though the team announced it was a sprain and that Duncan would not return to the game.
Duncan lay on the court clutching his knee for a few minutes after Washington forward Martell Webster rolled into the back of it while fighting for a rebound. Duncan got up on his own, but limped to the locker room with the assistance of teammates Stephen Jackson and DeJuan Blair.
Duncan, who was listed as probable with a sore left knee, returned to the lineup after missing the team's past four games.
The 14-time All-Star is averaging 17.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game this season.
Source: SI
South Africa, Cape Verde knocked out in African Nations Cup quarters
The dreams of hosts South Africa and the tiny Cape Verde Islands came to a shattering halt yesterday when they were knocked out of the African Nations Cup by Mali and Ghana respectively in the quarter-finals. Mali, seeking their first Nations Cup title, kept their hopes alive by beating South Africa 3-1 on penalties, after the match finished 1-1 at the end of extra time, while Ghana, aiming for a long-awaited fifth crown, beat Cape Verde 2-0.
South Africa, trying to repeat their 1996 success when they were crowned champions on home soil, were eliminated after losing in a shootout in Durban, while Cape Verde, described by their coach Luico Antunes as "the best team in the competition", lost to two Mubarak Wakaso goals in Port Elizabeth.
Ghana will meet the winners of today's clash between Togo and Burkina Faso in next Wednesday's semi-final in Nelspruit while Mali will play either tournament favourites Ivory Coast or Nigeria in the last four in Durban on the same night.
Yesterday’s results, while perhaps sad for the romantics, were justified as Mali recovered from a goal down to edge a match in which they looked the stronger side.
Ghana, although conceding lots of possession to Cape Verde especially in the second half, were sharper and more decisive when it mattered.
PARTISAN CROWD
South Africa, cheered on by a near-capacity crowd at the Moses Madhiba Stadium in Durban, settled first and took a deserved lead after 31 minutes when Tokelo Rantie's close range shot gave Mali goalkeepoer Soumbeyla Diakite no chance.
Mali levelled when their talismanic leader Seydou Keita powered in a header in the 58th minute but after that, even though Mali always looked more threatening, there was a sense of inevitability that the match would go to penalties.
The last half-hour of normal time, and extra time, produced few chances even though Mali looked more likely to score when they went forward, before the inevitable happened.
Siphiwe Tshabalala, who scored the memorable first goal in the opening game of the World Cup in South Africa three years ago, struck home the first penalty to raise South Africa's hopes before Cheick Diabate equalised for Mali.
But then the wheels came off for the hosts. Dean Furman, who had a superb match, saw his kick saved by Diakite before Adama Tamboura made it 2-1 to Mali. May Mahlangu then saw his kick saved before Mahamane Traore made it 3-1 to Mali.
Lehlohonolo Majoro had to score to keep South Africa in contention but he blasted his shot wide as Mali repeated their feat of last year when they came from behind to draw 1-1 with co-hosts Gabon and then won the quarter-final on penalties.
"The South Africans posed a lot of problems in the first half and we had to change the tactics in the second half to get back into the match," said Mali coach Patrice Carteron.
"They pressed us with a lot of diversity. But we knew we had to be patient and we had time to fight back."
GHANA PROGRESS
There was a match-changing penalty in Port Elizabeth after 54 minutes following an even first half in which Cape Verde more than matched their illustrious Ghanaian opponents.
Mubarak Wakaso took the kick and scored before wrapping up the victory with the last meaningful kick of the match in the last minute of stoppage time.
Although they went out, Cape Verde's participation at the finals was a remarkable success story as they were eliminated with their heads held high and their reputation enhanced.
With just 500 000 inhabitants, the island nation off the west coast of the continent is the smallest to reach the finals, but they were never overawed.
After draws against South Africa and Morocco in their opening group games, they reached the last eight with a 2-1 win over Angola.
Ghana also came through their group unbeaten and, although their players are far more experienced and used to the big occasion, coach Kwesi Appiah was full of respect for Cape Verde in the build-up and after the match.
"I knew they were going to be hard to beat, and that's exactly what happened. They were probably the better team in the second half too, but in tournament football all that matters is that you win and we did that in the end."
Wakaso, 22, emerging as one of the most promising youngsters at the tournament, followed up his penalty with a breakaway goal in the last minute of stoppage time.
Ghana, once the dominant force in African soccer with titles in 1963, 1965, 1978 and 1982 did well in South Africa when they reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2010.
Now they have their sights on another continental crown, although captain Asamoah Gyan knows they have to improve.
"We have to go away and correct the mistakes we made today. We need to do better," he said.