Australian Open tennis ... Azarenka keeps her eye on the prize to retain title
Victoria Azarenka kept her eye firmly on the prize despite a host of distractions to rally from a set down and retain her title with victory over Li Na in a dramatic Australian Open final yesterday.
The Belarussian had to block out an often blatantly hostile crowd, sit through two lengthy timeouts for Li's injuries and bide her time as a firework display lit up Melbourne's skyline before she finally extinguished her Chinese rival's hopes with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory.
Li twice needed treatment after heavy falls - the second time blacking out momentarily after banging her head on the court.
Azarenka looked stunned and then relieved at the end of the 160-minute contest when she realised she had won her second grand slam title, ensuring she would retain the number one world ranking to boot.
Even in her moment of triumph, however, the lukewarm response of the crowd on Rod Laver Arena was a reminder of the controversy surrounding her semi-final win over Sloane Stephens.
"This one is way more emotional," she said. "It's gonna be extra special for me, for sure ... you're the only one who knows what you've been going through these two weeks.
"So it's definitely an emotional one and it's going to be special."
It was a second loss in a Melbourne Park final in three years for Li but the Chinese had been more concerned about her health after the second fall.
"I was a little bit worried when I fell down, my head hit the floor and for two seconds I couldn't really see anything. It was totally black," she said.
"So when the doctor and the physio came out on to the court, I sat up, but it took a long time to fully come around ... I could hear this ringing in my ears."
If the 16 service breaks and a high unforced error count - Li had 57 - meant the match was not one for the real purists, there were some fine rallies and it lacked nothing in incident.
Azarenka's controversial medical timeout in her victory over American Stephens - which left the Belarussian fending off allegations of gamesmanship - clearly won her few friends in Melbourne and there was no doubt who was the crowd favourite.
Former French Open champion Li had been roared on to court like a local hopeful and every point she won was greeted with huge applause, even on the many occasions that it derived from a Azarenka error.
Mixed with the traditional Chinese sporting war cry of "jia you", one voice from the crowd shouted: ‘C'mon Sloane’, while another responded to the Belarusian's trademark grunts by shouting: "Quiet please, Azarenka".
"What happened with Sloane, it was a big deal, for sure," Azarenka said referring to the criticism she received for taking a lengthy timeout immediately after blowing five match points against Stephens.
"But I take it as a great learning experience and just try to live the moment and take the best things out of what happened and move forward."
REAL INJURY
Li double-faulted on her very first serve and was broken immediately but that only set the pattern on both sides of the net for the first set.
The Chinese recovered to dominate the opening stanza, ramping up the forehand that was once her weakness and hitting some blistering winners with her backhand.
Azarenka had raced out to a 3-1 lead in the second set when Li took her first tumble, turning on her left ankle and crashing to the ground.
The Chinese had the joint strapped and came out firing to get back to 4-4 before Azarenka upped her game again and levelled the match when Li went wide with a forehand.
It was Li's turn to go ahead in the third set and she was 2-1 up when play was called to a halt for 10 minutes for a firework display in honour of Australia Day.
Li took her second fall on the first point after resumption and lay prone on the floor receiving attention.
"Listen it was a real injury!" she said to laughter in her news conference.
"Maybe if I hadn't fallen down, it would have been another story. You never know. But the reality is I fell down, so nothing can change."
Azarenka quickly grabbed what turned out to be the decisive break and dominated the rest of the match, ensuring she would retain her title when another Li forehand sailed long.
"In this kind of matches you always have to take the opportunity of the important moments," Azarenka said. "In the second set, in the third set, that's what I was doing better.
"In the first set, she was really on top of me, I think, she was really going for her shots and making everything happen."
American twins Bob and Mike Bryan later became the most successful men's pair in grand slam history when they won their 13th doubles title.
The 34-year-olds beat the Dutch pairing of Robin Haase and Igor Sijsling 6-3, 6-4 to break the record of 12 grand slams they had shared with Australians John Newcombe and Tony Roche.
With two locals in the boys' final for the first time since 1994, the home crowd was guaranteed at least one celebration for Australia Day.
Nick Kyrgios beat Thanasi Kokkinakis 7-6, 6-3 to take the honours, while 15-year-old Croatian Ana Konjuh was too good for Czech second seed Katerina Siniakova and took the girls' title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Netball: Cookey predicts bright future for England
England netball captain Pamela Cookey says the sport is in the best condition ever after her team's international series whitewash against world number ones Australia.
Cookey led her side to three consecutive victories against the reigning world champions - the first time ever for England, culminating in a 58-51 win at the National Indoor Arena on Saturday.
Before the series, England had only beaten the Diamonds twice in their histories but with wins in Bath, London and now Birmingham, captain Cookey thinks the sport can only progress from here.
"With more people getting on the court than ever before - not just in schools, but in clubs and at universities - the more competition we have for our places, makes us play better," she told BBC Sport.
According to national funding body Sport England, almost 160,000 women play netball every week , 40,000 more than in 2008 - a remarkable rise considering the sport is yet to join the high-profile Olympic programme, so was unable to showcase itself in the recent home Games.
This growth at the grassroots level helped lead to a £6.6m improvement in the sport's funding to £25.3m over the next four years.
Dancing up a storm on Jamaica Night at Jazz & Blues
There was a full moon over the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium on Thursday, but this could have gone unnoticed as it was the stars on stage at the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival who shone brightest.
For the second year running, organisers went for an all-Jamaican line-up for opening night and the artistes chosen did not disappoint
The performance of the night has to go to the ‘Reggae Ambassadors’ Third World who brought down the curtains.
Taking the stage at 2:20 am, Third World used the event as a kick-off to their 40th anniversary world tour, and delivered an entertaining set.
An exciting opener featuring a marching band would set the stage for a performance featuring all the favourites which have made this group popular — Sense of Purpose, Forbidden Love, Committed, Conscious Reggae Party, Reggae Ambassador, 96 Degrees, Magnet and Steel, Try Jah Love, Now That We Found Loveand more.
In a night of sparkling performances, Third World was not the only standout. Following closely was the duo Chaka Demus and Pliers.
The singer and deejay showed why they stamped their class on British charts back in the early 1990s.
Sounding crisp and clear, they had the ample audience dancing to hits like She Don’t’ Let Nobody, I Wanna be Your Man, Tease Me, Twist and Shout, Bam Bam and the mega hit, Murder She Wrote.
Another moment of high entertainment came from the quartet LUST, who turned the event into the reggae dance party it was billed. You’re the Inspiration, Run Free, Sweetness of Your Love, Just as I Am as well as solo hits from the members, went over well.
Cocoa Tea, the little man from Rocky Point in Clarendon, had the jazz audience eating out of his hands as he dropped a string of hits. So did ‘Mr Performer’ Ken Boothe who sang and danced into the hearts of many, his voice sounding crisp against the cool night air, belying his 50 years in the music industry.
Ernie Smith and Pluto Shervington dropped a ‘tune fi tune’ set — alternating their well-known hits from the 1970s.
Smith opened with Bend Down and Shervington followed with Dat Ting There; Smith’s Pitta Patta was answered by Shervington’s Your Honour; when Smith dropped Tears on My Pillow, Shervington answered with Ram Goat Liver; when its was time for Duppy Gunman from Smith, Shervington responded with I Man Born Yah. They would call a truce, closing with the duet That’s The Kind of People We Are.
There were two women on the line-up, Alaine and Nadine Sutherland. Sutherland would later confess to the Jamaica Observer that she was struggling with a bad case of food poisoning, but still got her audience going. Alaine warmed hearts with her set.
The dance party theme played out with deejay Admiral Bailey giving a De La Move master class during his well-received stint.
Patrons also danced through the sets of Eric Donaldson, Leroy Sibbles and Lloyd Lovindeer who closed with the hit Pocomania Day, in tribute to former Chalice singer Trevor Roper who died recently.
During the night, Ken Boothe and Third World were recognised for 50 and 40 years, respectively, in the Jamaican music industry.
JJ Abrams to direct Star Wars VII
Sci-fi director JJ Abrams will head up the seventh Star Wars film, Lucasfilm owner Walt Disney Co has said.
Star Wars creator George Lucas said he was the "ideal choice" to direct the movie - due out in 2015 - adding "the legacy couldn't be in better hands".
It will be scripted by Oscar-winning writer Michael Arndt.
Abrams, who co-created Lost and directed the Star Trek reboot, said he was "more grateful to George Lucas now than I was as a kid".
In October, Disney announced it had bought Lucasfilm for $4.05bn (£2.5bn) and was committed to three new films.
Former Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, who will produce the films, said Abrams was "the perfect director to helm this".
"Beyond having such great instincts as a filmmaker, he has an intuitive understanding of this franchise - he understands the essence of the Star Wars experience," she said in a statement.
Abrams, who has also directed films including Mission: Impossible III and Super 8, said in a 2009 interview with the Los Angeles Times that, "as a kid, Star Wars was much more my thing than Star Trek was".
The original Star Wars trilogy - which consists of the original film in 1977, 1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return of the Jedi - was always envisioned by Lucas as the central chunk of a nine-movie cycle.
The films followed the fortunes of young hero Luke Skywalker, cocky pilot Han Solo and the feisty Princess Leia as they battled against the Galactic Empire.
A trilogy of Star Wars prequels - 1999's The Phantom Menace, 2002's Attack of the Clones and 2005's Revenge of the Sith - followed.
Disney has previously said Lucas would remain as a creative consultant on the series.
In October, he revealed he had written story treatments for the seventh, eighth and ninth instalments which he would hand over to Kennedy.
Amour among contenders for 2013 Cesar Awards
Oscar hopeful Amour (Love) is up for 10 prizes at this year's Cesars, France's prestigious annual film awards.
But the shortlist is dominated by surprise hit Camille Rewinds (Camille Redouble), which has 13 nominations.
The crowd-pleasing comedy follows a young woman who goes back in time to her teenage years.
Emmanuelle Riva - recipient of one of Amour's five Oscar nods - will be up for best actress at next month's Cesar ceremony.
So is Rust and Bone star Marion Cotillard, who has also been nominated for a Bafta for her performance.
Rust and Bone, about a whale trainer whose life is irrevocably changed by a tragic accident, has nine nominations in all.
They include citations for best film, best music and best director (Jacques Audiard).
Dark fantasy Holy Motors, which divided critics at Cannes last year, also received nine nominations, including best film and best actor (Denis Lavant).
The latter faces competition from Amour's Jean-Louis Trintignant, while Holy Motors' Edith Scob competes with Amour's Isabelle Huppert in the supporting actress category.
Ken Loach's The Angel's Share, Ben Affleck's Argo and Denmark's A Royal Affair are among the titles shortlisted in the foreign film category.
Some 3,400 people from across the French film industry took part in the voting process to determine this year's nominations.
The awards, hosted by actor and former Eurotrash presenter Antoine du Caunes, will be presented on 22 February in Paris.
The Academy Awards take place two days later in Los Angeles, two weeks after the Bafta Film Awards in London.
Mazaruni River crash…Police play crucial role, 10th body recovered
Yesterday, the search and rescue team in the Mazaruni River recovered yet another body which has been identified as that of Ricky Boob of Barr Street, Kitty. This latest recovery has taken the death toll to ten.
On Friday the team recovered the bodies of, Kevon Ambrose of, Vergenoegen, East Bank, Essequibo; Deon Moses, 33 of Norton Street, Georgetown; Keanu Amsterdam, 17, of Barr Street Kitty; and Francisco Alves a Brazilian national.
The team had earlier recovered the remains of Jermaine Calistro, 27, of Boodhoo Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo (EBE); Ulric Grimes, 39, of Salem, EBE; Christopher Narine, 21, of Parika, EBE; and Zahir Baksh, 34, of Kaneville; EBD, Christopher Narine, and 52-year-old Jewan Seeram.
With the death toll reaching ten the team has said that it is still searching for other victims.
Initially there were reports that nine persons were missing following the deadly mishap.
The search for the other missing persons is continuing with the involvement of the Joint Services, Maritime Administration (MARAD), miners and public-spirited individuals of the community. Little known and hardly talked about has been the role of the police. They were integral to the search and recovery. A source said that some media houses credited the Coast Guards with finding bodies when in fact the discoveries were made by the police.
Initial reports are that one boat carrying passengers was coming out from one location while another laden with fuel was heading in the opposite direction. The incident occurred at a ‘blind turn’ in the vicinity of Crab Falls.
Transport Minister Robeson Benn had reported that the two boats, one with 12 passengers and another, collided around 12:30 hours on Tuesday.
Several other persons were treated at the Bartica Regional Hospital for injuries. These included 40-year-old Francisca Helena Rodrigues, a Brazilian of Bartica; Marion Ferreira, 19, of Parika; Aubrey Bowen, 29, of Parika; Donita Daniels, 22, of Parika, and Devon Thomas, one of the boat captains. The other boat captain has been identified as Kobesh Persaud.
It has since been known that both vessels could have seen each other even before they entered the turn at the Crab Falls. One of the vessels should have yielded.
Another shortcoming was the absence of adequate lifejackets. Many of the men were probably macho and refused to wear the vests. At the same time, there were not enough in the boats. These vests could have severely reduced the number of fatalities one of the operators said.
Mexico band Kombo Kolombia reported missing after gig
Police in northern Mexico are searching for 20 members of a band who went missing after playing a gig in the city of Hidalgo on Thursday night.
Twelve musicians and eight crew members from the band Kombo Kolombia have not been heard from since.
Relatives said they got worried when the musicians, who play Colombian vallenato music, stopped answering their mobile phones.
Drugs gangs have killed a number of Mexican musicians in recent years.
When relatives travelled to the concert venue, they found the place abandoned and the band's cars empty.
Risky business
In 2007, Sergio Gomez, the singer of band K-Paz de la Sierra was kidnapped after a concert in the western state of Michoacan.
He was found strangled days later.
Sergio Vega, known as El Shaka, was shot dead in 2010 in Sinaloa state, in western Mexico, just hours after he had denied reports of his own murder.
However, most of those killed played narcocorridos, songs celebrating the lives of drug barons.
Kombo Kolombia specialise in Colombian popular music, not normally linked to Mexican drug gangs.
However, local media reported that the band had played in bars which have in the past been targeted by drug cartels.
More than 70,000 people are estimated to have died in drug-related violence in Mexico over the past six years.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who took office on 1 December 2012, has announced the creation of a new national police force to tackle organised crime and violence.
Brazil landless leader Cicero Guedes shot dead in Rio
A leader of the landless movement in Brazil, Cicero Guedes, has been killed in Rio de Janeiro state.
Mr Guedes, 43, was shot dead on Saturday as he was cycling home.
He was killed near a former sugar plant which members of the landless movement, or MST, have occupied.
Non-governmental organisations say the number of landless activists killed over the past years has fallen but that the number of death threats issued against them has almost tripled.
Legal battle
The MST campaigns for land reform and the rights of landless workers and is considered the best organised social movement in Brazil.
MST activists said Mr Guedes, a sugar-cane cutter, had led the occupation of the Usina Cambahyba sugar plant in Campos, 285km (180 miles) north-east of Rio de Janeiro.
The sugar plant has been at the centre of a long-running legal battle between the landless and the heirs of its deceased owner.
A judge ruled last year that the plant and its surrounding land totalling about 3,500 hectares (8,600 acres) was "unproductive" and should be expropriated.
The heirs are appealing against the decision.
The MST, who had occupied the land for six years before being moved by police in 2006, staged a second occupation in November in an attempt to pressure the courts into speeding up their decision.
The Catholic Church's Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) says conflicts over land in Brazil have risen and the number of activists threatened has jumped from 125 to 347 between 2010 and 2011.
Grenada: Government Wage Bill
The Government of Grenada as part of its ongoing public sector reform in 2012 established the Office of the Prime Minister as separate and distinct from the Prime Minister’s Ministry.
The Office of the Prime Minister comprises the Cabinet Office, adviser to the Prime Minister and the top advisors and aides to ministers and other governmental officers.
Persons serving in office at the pleasure of the government are appointed under the Office of the Prime Minister.
These include Advisors, Personal Assistants to Ministers, Drivers/Security to Ministers, Housing Coordinators, Community Development Officers and Public Relations Officers.
It should be noted that all these positions existed in the public service prior to 2008 and persons were being paid under various ministries and departments.
Under the then Prime Minister’s Ministry, persons who could be considered political appointees, held the following posts and were paid as follows:
Advisor $ 9,000.00 per month
Advisor $ 20,000.00 per month
Chief of Personal Security $ 4, 500.00 per month
Advisor $13, 000.00 per month
Advisor $ 5,000.00 per month
Prison Consultant $ 4,500.00 per month
Legal Advisor $ 19, 000.00 per month
Technical Project Officer $ 5,000.00 per month
Press Secretary $ 10,000.00 per month
Personal Assistant to PM $ 2, 500.00 per month
Assistant to PS $ 1, 600.00 per month
Outreach Coordinator $ 2, 500.00 per month
Coordinator of Private Sector Development $ 4, 000,00 per month
Supervisor GIS $ 5, 000.00 per month
National Security Advisor $ 10,000.00 per month
Advisor to Minister of Sports $ 5,000.00 per month
In addition Personal Assistants to Ministers and Public Relations Officers were paid approx $2500 and $2000 each per month. There were 8 Personal Assistants to Ministers and similar number of Public Relations Officers.
It must also be noted that along with the Press Secretary, there were three (3) Assistants to the Press Secretary and a Communications and Hospitality Officer who were paid another $14,000.00 per month.
The 2012 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure reflected $3,826,718 in the budgetary allocation under the Office of the Prime Minister, with $595,759 allocated for personal emoluments and $2,326,858 for wages and salaries.
Therefore statements to the effect that this administration has employed advisors and political appointees to the tune of EC $8Million per month, are patently false, absolutely dishonest and signals a lack of integrity on the part of the persons making such statements, since the facts are easily verifiable.
It should be noted that the government’s wage bill is not static and has increased since 2008 for the following reasons:
- Salaries negotiations for the period 2006-2008 were concluded in early 2008. The cumulative percentages from 2006 to 2008 were added on to the existing salaries. Thus, the salary of each Public Officer increased in 2008. Pensioners also benefited from salary increases and so the pension benefits also increased.
- In 2008 Police and Prison Officers accepted a 4% salary increase for 2009 (Public Officers and Teachers did not accept this offer and are currently in negotiations). The 4% increase was added to the wage bill in 2009.
- Increments due to Public Officers are paid annually and result in further increases to salaries.
- Implementation of Union/Industrial Agreement: some persons are awarded increments on obtaining higher qualification.
- Regularization of the status of employees who may be temporary or acting in vacant posts.
- Provision for persons who proceed on study leave and other such leave
However the most significant impact on the wage bill, since 2008, has been the decision to treat all payments to 340 workers as wages and salaries. Prior to 2010 all 340 workers were paid as consultancy fees and in some instances were paid under projects. They are now being paid where they rightfully belong, on the payroll, as salaries and wages.
In 2008 the government inherited more than 2000 workers who were paid under the 340 vote. These workers were all retained in the Public Service.
PR
Two Caribbean destinations in top five overseas wedding locations for UK travellers
Two Caribbean destinations -- St Lucia and Antigua -- appear in the list of the best overseas spots to tie the knot published by luxury long haul specialists Hayes and Jarvis.
More and more people are considering a wedding abroad as an alternative to a traditional UK-based ceremony and, aside from being cheaper on the whole than a wedding in the UK, weddings abroad can also mean virtually guaranteed good weather, and the chance to exchange vows against an idyllic beach setting.
The top five overseas venues to get hitched in include: St Lucia, Antigua, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Las Vegas.