Wyclef Jeans Responds To Controversial Picture On Breakfast Club on Power 105
Days after uploading a controversial “speedo” photo on his Twitter, Wyclef Jean emerged on The Breakfast Club yesterday to clear up some backlash from fans.
Speaking with Charlamagne, DJ Envy and Angela Yee, the Haitian born singer says the pic was old“First of all, the pic with the speedos just so you clarify, that’s an old pic. I’m part of a bike club right, and those photos are actually up on Facebook and Instagram. This comes from an old photo shoot,” Wyclef said.
“I turned 43, I feel 26 based on that photo shoot that I did. At 43, to look the way I look and to feel the way I feel, it’s incredible… I’m always gonna look like this,” Clef added.
The former Fugee also showed Charlamagne what was underneath his tracksuit after he was pressed further on the question regarding the photo.
Wyclef Jean also discussed his new autobiography where he made some shocking allegations about Lauryn Hill.
Mojo Morgan Stabilized After Health Scare
After a few minor setbacks Dr’s at Aventura Hospital and Medical Center in Aventura, Florida have been able to stabilize Mojo Morgan. Immense tests and results are still underway to determine the actual cause of this unexpected illness that hospitalized the “New Dawn” singer.
An anonymous source close to the family has said that Mojo is grateful just to be alive and has every intention to rise up from this unfortunate situation to return back to what he does best.
An official statement is still to come when Dr’s can actually determine what sickness over took the youngest member in Morgan Heritage in South Florida.
Mojo’s “New Dawn” feat Peetah Morgan which embodies the spirit of Nina Simone is available for free download for a limited time
Wins for Williams, Sharapova & Radwanska
There were wins for Agnieszka Radwanska, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova as the WTA Championships got under way in Istanbul.
Radwanska defeated defending champion Petra Kvitova 6-3 6-2 while American Williams beat Germany's Angelique Kerber 6-4 6-1.
Russia's Maria Sharapova recorded a 6-3 6-2 victory over Italy's Sara Errani in a repeat of the French Open final.
Victoria Azarenka and Li Na are the other players in the round-robin event.
The top eight women in the world are taking part in the end-of-season showpiece event.
Belarusian Azarenka, Williams, Kerber and China's Na are in the Red Group, with the remaining players making up the White Group.
Two from each group go through to the semi-finals.
Williams said it was important to record a victory in her first game since winning a 15th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in the summer.
"I really wanted to win today obviously. When you are playing anyone in the top five you just are trying to play better," Williams said.
"[Kerber] won the last time we played so I really just wanted to do well today."
Pole Radwanska was also pleased with victory over her Czech opponent.
"I am just happy that I could play my best tennis today and close that match in two sets," she said. "It's a good start."
Olympics and Paralympics £377m under budget
The cost of the London Olympics and Paralympics will be £377m less than expected, according to the government.
The combined budget for the two events was £9.29bn, but the projected cost is £8.92bn.
Savings came from a drop in security, transport and construction expenses.
Sports minister Hugh Robertson said: "London 2012 was a tremendous success and it is a significant achievement to deliver this large and complex programme on time and under budget."
Another £103m from a contingency fund was also left unspent, meaning a total of £480m still remains from the original budget.
The government said this money will cover "risks" linked to the revamping of the Olympic Park.
The figures are from the government's final quarterly economic report.
With some London 2012 contracts still to be wound up, ministers have described the underspend as a "prudent" estimate.
Robertson added: "The work of the construction and delivery teams, from the ODA [Olympic Delivery Authority] and Locog [London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games], has set a very high standard.
"I have no doubt that London 2012 has set a new benchmark for the management of Olympic and Paralympic Games in future."
The ODA is now transforming the apartments in the Olympic Village into thousands of new homes, removing partitions and fitting kitchens.
It is also returning temporary Games venues to their previous use and owners.
ODA chief executive Dennis Hone said: "We are delighted the venues and infrastructure that we were responsible for delivering proved to be such a big hit and provided an incredible stage and backdrop for the world's greatest sporting event."
The budget set in 2007 was almost four times the estimated cost at the time London bid in 2005.
It was revised upwards after taking into account previously overlooked costs such as VAT, increased security costs, and an expanded brief for the ODA to regenerate the lower Lea Valley area.
Facebook posts loss despite 32% rise in revenues
Facebook has posted a loss of $59m (£37m) despite seeing revenues rise 32% during the third quarter.
The world's most popular online social network revealed that its income rose to $1.26bn, between July and September.
The revenues exceeded expectations, but Facebook's performance remains in the red, following a loss of $157m in the previous quarter.
Facebook's shares have lost about 50% since its stockmarket listing in May.
The company is struggling to turn its online dominance into profits.
Facebook revealed that 604 million of its 1.01 billion users access its site using a mobile device.
"People who use our mobile products are more engaged, and we believe we can increase engagement even further as we continue to introduce new products and improve our platform," claimed the chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, in a statement.
Advertising up 36%
A bright note for investors was that revenues from advertising increased 36%, between July and September, compared to the same period last year.
"Advertising revenue from mobile was the number that really stood out," said Arvind Bhatia, an analyst at Sterne, Agee & Leach.
Mobile revenue of $152.6m made up 14% of total advertising sales, which analysts said came in above their expectations.
Chief financial officer, David Ebersman, said Facebook had a "solid performance" in the third quarter.
Facebook did not provide guidance for the current quarter or beyond, a practice it has maintained since its first earnings report as a public company in late July.
WICB top men go to court to answer questions on Gayle/Bravo
A date has been set for the start of the trial in the US$20M lawsuit brought against the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) by the West Indies Players Association (WIPA). Hearings in the high profile case are due to begin on November 28 in a Port of Spain high court, Trinidad and Tobago media have reported.
High-ranking officials of the WICB including president Julien Hunte have been mandated to attend what has been dubbed the ‘Chris Gayle restraint of trade’ trial between the WICB and WIPA.
Subpoenas have been served on Hunte, vice-president Dave Cameron, former CEO Dr Ernest Hilaire, chief financial officer Barry Thomas and directors Dr Allen Sammy and Baldath Mahabir both from Trinidad.
WIPA has sued the WICB on behalf of Gayle and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo for US$20M for loss of income and reputation.
The players’ body is alleging that the players were denied No Objection Certificates (NOC) which they needed in order to participate in worldwide T20 tournaments.
The Trinidad Guardian has reported that Gayle and Bravo were denied NOCs in 2009 and 2010, and suffered loss of earnings, as well as damage to their reputation.
Gayle, who initially played with the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL could not re-sign for a second season after failing to obtain the NOC from the WICB.
Bravo suffered the same fate as a member of the Mumbai Indians.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) requires all overseas players to get NOCs from their respective boards in order to take part in the IPL.
It is also been reported that the players who were denied NOCs were also not centrally contracted by the WICB.
When the trial begins, Hunte will become the first sitting WICB president to appear before the court in a matter concerning the regional players and cricket administration.
Lance Armstrong's legacy hangs over sport's future path
Lance Armstrong was ditched from the Tour de France record books on Monday but the question of whether cycling should forget his tarnished legacy or use it as a force for change must be urgently addressed.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) has ratified the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's decision to strip Armstrong of his seven titles, leaving a crater in the Tour annals from 1999-2005.
"He deserves to be forgotten," UCI president Pat McQuaid told a news conference in front of more than a 100 journalists.
But can the retired American and his legacy really be forgotten for the sport to move on and try to forge a doping-free future?
As McQuaid said himself, his tenure as UCI president from 2005 has been riddled with doping scandals from the Floyd Landis affair in 2006 when the American was stripped of the Tour title through Alberto Contador's troubles where the Spaniard too lost his 2010 crown.
The cheats all followed in Armstrong's footsteps whether they knew the whole truth about the American or not and riders who worked with the 41-year-old are still in the peloton.
Many American riders who testified against him and themselves to USADA received reduced bans and they will be back to race having vowed never to dope again.
The USADA report also showed riders other than Armstrong who wired large sums of money to sports doctor Michele Ferrari, who was banned for life for masterminding the former rider's doping programme.
"We haven't got to this stage of looking for other stuff that's in that report," said McQuaid.
"We are also awaiting news from Padua in Italy (another investigation into an alleged doping ring) which might implicate some riders."
‘MORE ACTION’
For cycling to truly move on it has to use the Armstrong affair to further promote change rather than banish it as uncomfortable evidence of a bygone age when cheats ruled the roost.
"There must be more action to combat the system that took over the sport," Travis Tygart, the head of USADA, said in a statement.
"It is important to remember that while today is a historic day for clean sport, it does not mean clean sport is guaranteed for tomorrow.
"Only an independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission can fully start cycling on the path toward true reform and provide hope for a complete break from the past."
UCI lawyer Philippe Verbiest suggested that such a commission would be good "for all sports".
Cycling has indeed made great strides in combating doping in recent years but has received bad press because it is catching cheats, albeit sometimes slowly, while other sports struggle to match cycling's complex anti-drug procedures.
Irishman McQuaid, who confessed he never turned professional as a young rider in the 1970s because he feared he would have to dope, nevertheless sees a positive future for his beleaguered sport.
"As JF Kennedy said, quoting a Chinese saying: 'When written in Chinese, the word crisis consists in two characters: one represents danger, one represents opportunity'," he remarked.
"The fight against doping advances and the tools available to international federations in the fight against doping advance, and the tools available to us in the UCI now are much more advanced than in the early 2000s."
‘TRUE CHAMPION’
A culture shift has happened too, he believes, something born out by the strong anti-doping stances of many teams and the passionate verbal blasts handed out by 2012 Tour champion Bradley Wiggins to anyone who questioned his good faith.
"Many riders are saying they don't want to be involved in the culture of doping, even ones who were witnesses in this affair admitted they did not want to be involved. The riders today have a different attitude," McQuaid added.
"We have to have faith in the riders today, the sponsors are heavily involved in the sport ... We lost a very important sponsor, Rabobank, last week, that's true, but I'm quite confident that this sponsor will be replaced and the sponsors we have to understand what is going on."
However, cycling has been at a crossroads before and not acted sufficiently to spare it from ridicule.
In 1998, the sport was plunged into a major crisis with the Festina doping affair and it failed to prevent Armstrong from then implementing what was regarded by USADA as the most sophisticated doping programme ever seen.
The culture has also not changed completely. Some riders still regard Armstrong as a true champion.
"It was difficult for the UCI to have another response," France coach and former tour of Spain winner Laurent Jalabert told French radio station RTL.
"Anyway, he was a great champion. Whatever he could have taken, there were not that many riders at the same level. He had a huge talent. He may have made a mistake, he got caught, he has been punished for it.
"He is not the first but, whatever, he had outstanding skills."
Cycling has much more work to do.
Tropical Storm Sandy’s downpours to drench the South
The National Meteorology Office, Onamet, predicts downpours Tuesday tonight Tropical Storm Sandy, while the Emergency Operations Center (COE) issued alerts for residents in high risk areas of Barahona, Bahoruco, San Juan de la Maguana, Azua, Pedernales, Independencia, Elías Piña, Dajabón and Santiago Rodríguez provinces.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami Monday night said Sandy remained stationary in southwest Caribbean Sea, 615 kilometers south of Kingston, Jamaica, with sustained winds of 75 mph with higher gusts, and additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours.
Onamet said the large cloud mass associated with the storm will bring showers and thunderstorms, especially the Southwest, Central Mountains and the border area. "The sea conditions on the Caribbean sea will become dangerous starting Tuesday.”
Apple reveals iPad Mini starting at US$329
Apple Inc is refusing to compete on price with its rivals in the tablet market — it’s pricing its new, smaller iPad well above the competition. Yesterday the company revealed the iPad Mini, with a screen that’s about two-thirds the size of the full-size model, and said it will cost US$329 and up.
Apple starts taking orders for the new model on October 26, said marketing chief Phil Schiller at an event in San Jose, California. Wi-Fi-only models on November 2. Later, the company will add models capable of accessing “LTE” wireless data networks.
The price fits into the Apple product lineup between the iPad 2 at US$399 and the latest version of the iPod touch at US$299. But company watchers had been expecting Apple to price the iPad Mini at US$250 to US$300 to counter the threat of less expensive tablets like Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle Fire, which starts at US$159. Barnes & Noble Inc.’s Nook HD and Google Inc.’s Nexus 7 both start at US$199.
Apple shares fell US$14.83, or 2.3 per cent, to US$619.20 when the price was announced. Shares of Barnes & Noble Inc jumped 91 cents, or 6.3 per cent, to US$15.35. Shares of Amazon.com Inc were down 12 cents, or less than 0.1 per cent, at US$233.66 while the rest of the stock market was in retreat.
When pre-orders start on October 26, the iPad Mini will be competing for the attention of gadget shoppers with the release of Windows 8, Microsoft’s new operating system. The screen of the iPad Mini is 7.9 inches (20 centimetres) on the diagonal, making it larger than the 7-inch (17.7-centimetre) screens of the competitors. It also sports two cameras, on the front and on the back, which the competitors don’t.
The iPad mini is as thin as a pencil and weighs 0.68 pounds (0.31 kilograms), half as much as the full-size iPad with its 9.7-inch (24.6-centimetre) screen, Schiller said. The screen resolution is 1024 by 768 pixels, the same as the iPad 2 and a quarter of the resolution of the flagship iPad, which starts at US$499.
“It’s not just a shrunken-down iPad, it’s an entirely new design,” Schiller said. Apple’s late founder, Steve Jobs, attacked the whole idea of smaller tablets in his last appearance on a conference call with analysts, in October 2010.
“The reason we wouldn’t make a 7-inch tablet isn’t because we don’t want to hit a price point. It’s because we don’t think you can make a great tablet with a 7-inch screen,” Jobs said. “The 7-inch tablets are tweeners, too big to compete with a smartphone and too small to compete with an iPad.”
Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue had a different opinion at the time. He had come to the conclusion that a 7-inch tablet would work well, and tried to convince Jobs that it was a product the company should pursue. In an internal email sent in January 2011, he said Jobs was starting to come around. The email surfaced as part of Apple’s patent trial against Samsung Electronics Co this year. Jobs died last October.
Company watchers have been expecting the iPad Mini for a year, and most of the details, except the price, had leaked out. More surprisingly, Apple also said it’s upgrading its full-size iPad tablet just six months after launching a new model, doubling the speed of the processor. Previously, the company has updated the iPad once a year.
AP
Canada pledges more help to Jamaica
Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper says his country will continue to pursue efforts to boost trade and investments in order to help Jamaica get out of its current economic hardships.
Harper made the disclosure yesterday morning while addressing a joint press briefing with Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who is on a five-day official visit to Canada.Following an impressive welcome ceremony, featuring a military parade, at the Parliament building in the Canadian capital, Ottawa, Simpson Miller and Harper met for close to 30 minutes before facing journalists.
Harper emphasised that Jamaica's best strategy is to grow its way out of the prevailing challenges and pledged to assist the country through trade, agriculture and investments in order to boost Jamaica's recovery.
Meanwhile, Simpson Miller, who is on her first visit to Canada as Jamaica's prime minister, thanked Harper and the people of Canada for their continued support to Jamaica.
In addition, she thanked Harper and the Government of Canada for using their position on the board of the International Monetary Fund to speak on Jamaica's behalf and to articulate the flaws and consequences of the decision by global financial powerhouses to continue their classification of Jamaica as a middle-income country.
That designation prevents Jamaica from accessing many benefits available to lower income countries.
Simpson Miller also spoke to the success of the employment programme, under which many Jamaican farm workers and artisans benefit from work in Canada.
After the press conference, both prime ministers met again, following which Simpson Miller was scheduled to travel to Toronto for a series of engagements with other Government representatives, members of the Canadian private sector and the 300,000-strong Jamaican diaspora.