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iNews-briefs217Cayman media house has to apologise and pay legal costs to lawyer

Local media house The Cayman Reporter has had to pay the chairman of the Human Rights Commission and lawyer, James Austin-Smith, his legal costs and damages, as well as make an undisclosed “substantial donation” to a local charity, The Crisis Centre. This follows the media house publishing allegations made by the former president of the University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI), Hassan Syed, about the lawyer who represented Syed during his extradition.

Austin-Smith stated in a release, “I am grateful that the publication in question has now accepted that the allegations were unfounded and completely untrue and that it has agreed to print an apology.”

Syed is charged with theft and fraud offences amounting to more than half a million dollars when he was UCCI president. The letter Syed wrote that was published by The Cayman Reporter made a number of claims including he was working as a spy for the governor’s office and involved in the notorious Operation Tempura.

 

Wrongly jailed man charged for prison bed and board in UK

From Daily Mail UK

A man who spent 11 years of his life in jail for a murder he did not commit has been charged £37,000 for bed and board.

Michael O’Brien has been offered almost £650,000 compensation – but that is after £37,000 for living expenses was deducted by Home Office officials.

During his time in prison, Mr O’Brien’s father and his baby daughter both died.

Mr O’Brien, 34, of Caerau, Cardiff, has branded the compensation offer “absurd”.

He said: “They don’t charge guilty people for bed and board, they only charge innocent people.

“I’m absolutely livid and I’m really angry about the size of the award because it doesn’t reflect the hardship I suffered, the affect it had on my standing within the community and my distress.

“My daughter and my father died while I was in prison and my whole life was turned upside down.”

Mr O’Brien was arrested in November 1987 and jailed the next year over the murder of a Cardiff newsagent called Philip Saunders.

Two other men were also jailed, but the three men were released on bail in December 1998.

They were cleared by the Court of Appeal a year later.

Mr O’Brien said: “I’m taking legal advice at the moment but I’m not prepared to accept the award as a whole.

“I would have ordered caviar and chips if I knew I was going to be charged – it is so absurd.”

He was working as a painter and decorator and was of clean character when he was arrested.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “We do not disclose details of individual awards.

“Publication of such details is a matter for the recipients of the award.

“While the Home Secretary decides whether compensation should be paid, the determination of the amount of the award is solely a matter for the assessor, appointed by the Home Secretary under section 133(4) of the 1988 Act.”

For more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-116237/Wrongly-jailed-man-charged-prison-bed-board.html#ixzz3RCb7MRQP

 

Cayman HospiceCare wants help for fundraiser

Cayman HospiceCare wants volunteers to help out on its annual Flag Day, the charity’s main fundraiser.

The two-day campaign, now in its 15th year, kicks off on Feb. 27, when some 250 HospiceCare volunteers dressed in bright green T-shirts will stand on Grand Cayman’s sidewalks and hand out “sunflower” stickers to everyone who makes a donation.

All money raised will go to toward making palliative and end-of-life care available for free to anyone living in the Cayman Islands.

The society is seeking two hours of each volunteer’s time to help them reach their goal of $20,000 in donations over the two-day drive. HospiceCare is calling on volunteers who have participated previously, as well as newcomers to help out this year.

For more information, call Kerrie McMillan on 945-7447 or

email [email protected] www.caymanhospicecare.ky.

 

Former Jamaica prime minister to appear before “Dudus” Commission

From Caribbean360

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Monday February 9, 2015, CMC – Former prime minister Bruce Golding will appear before a Commission of Inquiry later on Monday probing the events of May 2010 in West Kingston that left several people dead when law enforcement authorities went to arrest Christopher “Dudus” Coke who was facing extradition to the United States.

“I will go there, (and) I go there prepared to answer such questions as may be put to me that I’m capable of responding to,” Golding told the Gleaner newspaper, as the Commission, chaired by prominent Barbadian jurist, Sir David Simmons, resumes after a break of almost two months.

“I simply have been asked to provide a witness statement because the commission indicated, in its letter to my lawyer, that they consider that, given my position at the time, I can assist the commission, and I go there with that understanding,” Golding said.

The Commission will sit for two weeks and the secretary, Maria Jones, said “the Commission is proceeding to call witnesses in a chronological order relating to how the events of May 2010 unfolded in West Kingston, starting with the former prime minister, going back to the residents”.

Former national security minister Dwight Nelson, will also testify before the Commission.

The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) which missed two previous deadlines last month, has now submitted a significant number of statements to the Commission.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force has provided 164 statements regarding activities during the search for Coke, who was wanted in the United States on drugs and gun trafficking charges.

Coke waived his right to judicial proceedings in Jamaica and was transferred to the custody of the U.S. Marshals service and the DEA. Coke was flown to New York on June 24, 2010.

Last month, the main opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) criticised the high cost associated with the Commission, but the government dismissed the statement.

For more: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/former-jamaica-prime-minister-appear-dudus-commission#ixzz3RGief2sQ

 

Federal police seize over 1.5 million cigarettes in Mexican Caribbean State

From Latin American Tribune

MEXICO CITY – More than 1.5 million Asian cigarettes and clothing were seized in the Mexican Caribbean state of Quintana Roo, the Federal Police said.

The merchandise “did not have the documentation allowing its entry into the country,” the Federal Police said in a statement.

A truck was transporting the illegal merchandise in the city of Felipe Carrillo Puerto.

Federal Police officers found the contraband while inspecting the truck, which had tags from Mexico state.

The cigarettes and other goods were hidden in a special compartment in the vehicle.

The Mexican Federal Commission for Health Risks Oversight, or Cofepris, had issued an alert for products like the confiscated cigarettes that pose “health risks,” the Federal Police said.

Cigarettes of this type “can contain potentially toxic chemical compounds and are different from tobacco, causing serious effects that cannot be predicted,” the Cofepris said.

Officers seized the cigarettes, 90 women’s handbags, 290 men’s belts, more than 1,300 tank tops and 480 sets of sports clothing.

The driver and the contraband were turned over to federal prosecutors in Chetumal, the capital of Quintana Roo.

For more: http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2372855&CategoryId=14091

 

Notice to jurors in Cayman Islands

Grand Court jurors for the Jan. 14 to March 31 session who are not currently empaneled on a trial should report on Monday, Feb. 16.

For information, jurors are advised to call the Jury Information line at 945-5072.

 

Couple skips out on Federal trial in Denver, is captured in Bahamas

iNews B donald-and-karlien-winbergFrom CBS Denver

Donald Winberg, 44, and Karlien Winberg, 34, were due to stand trial in Denver federal court on conspiracy and wire fraud charges, but as the trial date drew closer they suddenly disappeared.

The Winbergs are accused of making million dollar deals to sell hay and other agricultural products, but investigators say they didn’t deliver the goods that were promised.

Their emails contained excuses to the victims, for example:

We ship over 5000 containers every year all around the world. … Invoices are to be paid in full before departure of our facility. … I am sorry for any inconvenience but we have not been able to collect on a couple of past customers.

Before their trial in federal court could begin on Jan. 5 the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver says they fled.

It was determined they were involved in what appeared to be an emergency situation in Texas’s Galveston Bay in which a sailboat they were on partially sunk. They and their seven children had to be rescued.

The family left the area quickly and the boat sat in the bay partially tipped over, and authorities then began to search for them. The couple was believed to have a large amount of cash when the boat ran aground.

The couple finally turned up with another boat in the Bahamas. They were recognized by an American family who had seen publicity about the couple.

The Winbergs claimed they were vacationing in the Bahamas, but that vacation came to a sudden end. They were flown by authorities from the Bahamas to Miami, where they were placed under arrest.

IMAGE: Donald and Karlien Winberg (credit: CBS)

For more: http://denver.cbslocal.com/2015/02/06/couple-skips-out-on-federal-trial-in-denver-is-captured-in-caribbean/

 

61 bodies found in abandoned Mexico crematorium

From VOA News

Some 61 bodies have been discovered in an abandoned crematorium in the Mexican resort city of Acapulco, authorities said Friday.

Acapulco has been struggling with drug violence, but it was not immediately clear whether the bodies were murder victims or simply left in the crematorium when it closed.

The corpses were reportedly in a decomposed state when they were found Thursday, after neighbors complained of a foul smell coming from the facility. The crematorium was abandoned at least a year ago. Forensic experts were examining the bodies for more details, with an official statement from authorities expected later Friday.

Forty three students disappeared in the city, located in Guerrero state in September. Mexico’s attorney general, Jesus Murillo, said last week investigators are now certain the students – all of them men – were abducted by corrupt police officers and handed over to members of the Guerreros Unidos drug gang. He said the gang killed the students at a garbage dump, then burned their bodies and dumped the remains.

The men went missing in the city of Iguala, some 200 kilometers north of Acapulco.

Dozens of people have been arrested in the case, including the mayor of Iguala, Jose Luis Abarca. Authorities believe Abarca and his wife ordered police to abduct the students.

The disappearance led to massive street protests across Mexico, with angry demonstrators accusing President Enrique Peña Nieto of failing to address the country’s chronic crime and security problems. The case has become the biggest challenge of his two years in office.

For more: http://www.voanews.com/content/sixty-one-bodies-found-in-mexico-crematorium/2631807.html

 

 

12.9-inch iPad Pro isn’t big enough to stop Apple’s upcoming iPad sales slump

By Chris Smith From BGR

Even though Apple is expected to launch a new supersized iPad model in 2015, that’s not going to be enough to improve Apple’s iPad sales this year, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed in a note to investors on Friday.

Kuo — who has been correct on numerous occasions when it comes to unreleased Apple products and plans, and who was the only one to correctly predict the record number of iPhones sold during the company’s Christmas quarter — expects Apple to ship 30% fewer iPads in 2015 compared to last year, which would make it Apple’s biggest tablet sales decline in the iPad’s short history.

In the first half of 2015 alone, iPad shipments will drop significantly, with Apple seen selling about 18 million units. Shipments will increase in the second half of the year, but Kuo believes Apple will struggle sell 45 million iPads for the full year.

The analyst also said that the 12.9-inch iPad — referred to as iPad Pro, iPad Air Plus or iPad Plus — might not help Apple increase iPad sales much in 2015.

“Contribution to shipments of 12.9-inch debut limited; retail promotion of existing models may not work well,” he said in the note, which was picked up by 9to5Mac. “While we are confident a new 12.9-inch iPad model can create improved user experience with enhanced productivity in the long term, we don’t anticipate it will contribute meaningfully to shipments momentum anytime soon, since its commercialization may fall behind expectations, leaving limited time for shipping… Moreover, we are conservative on promotion, likely executed by Apple (US) or retailers, of existing products due to the lack of innovative applications.”

Apple sold 63.4 million iPads in 2014, retaining its spot as the No. 1 tablet maker in the world, even though its market share continued to drop compared to previous years.

A graphic showing Apple’s iPad sales performance so far, and Kuo’s estimate for 2015, attached

iNews Bkgi-ipad-feb-2015

For more: http://bgr.com/2015/02/06/12-9-inch-ipad-launch-and-sales/

 

Dominica authorities probe crash of privately owned Venezuelan small plane

From Caribbean360

Dominica-Plane-crashROSEAU, Dominica, Monday February 9, 2015, CMC – The Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority has launched an investigation into an accident at the small Canefield Airport when a privately owned twin engine plane from Venezuela with seven people on board skidded off the runway and crashed into a fence.

Minister responsible for Ports, Ian Pinnard, said that one person was treated and later released from the prince Margaret Hospital. He said the plane had crashed into the fence :”almost into the containers on the side of the Canefield road”.

“The investigation is taking place within the Port (Authority) and the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority,” said noting that he expects to receive a report from the chief executive officer of the Port Authority on Monday.

The airport, west of here, is due to be re-opened on Monday and Pinnard said he expects the investigation to be completed “very soon and then we will have all the report as to what took place at Canefield Airport.

“The Canefield Airport will continue to operate as is, the government has no plans in place for Canefield…but as far as I know the plan for Canefield is to remain open and operate with small aircraft

The Canefield Airport was built in 1979 with British funding and used to accommodate regular schedule flights of the several airlines including the regional carrier, LIAT.

Read more: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/dominica-authorities-probe-crash-privately-owned-venezuelan-small-plane#ixzz3RGfa1ukt

 

The Big Picture: NASA decommissions its shuttle mounting port

iNews b space-shuttle-747-facility-2015-02-06-01By Steve Dent From engadget

NASA’s defunct space shuttles have found homes around the US and the 747s that brought them there have also been put to pasture.

With no more shuttle carrier aircraft (SCAs), the agency has no more use for the Kennedy Space Center mate-demate iNews Bfacility used to pull the spacecraft off them.

The 150-foot long, 10-story high truss structure was used to separate the craft when the shuttle landed anywhere other than Florida. (A similar facility was demolished earlier at Edwards Air Force base in California.)

The net result was 844,700 pounds of scrap metal, but you can still see the shuttles at the Smithsonian Air & Space museum, New York City’s Intrepid Museum, the California Science Center and, of course, the Kennedy Space Center itself. To see the sad remains of the demount facility, attached.

For more: http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/06/the-big-picture-nasa-shuttle-port/?ncid=rss_truncated

 

A rare look inside a massive bitcoin mine

iNewsb bitcoinBy John Biggs From Techcrunch

Bitcoin mining is not a pretty business. It requires lots of specialized servers that are essentially unusable for normal computing and lots of cooling. But when you bring thousands of miners together in the same room, things really get ugly.

Motherboard has some fascinating footage of a bitcoin mine in Liaoning Province, China. The mine, set up in an unused factory, is a snakes’ nest of wires and high-powered fans, a sort of high-tech server farm that is so resource-intensive that it has to be optimized to a fault.

This server farm manages 3 percent of the total blockchain. That, in itself, is amazing: so many resources thrown at a problem so insurmountable that thousands of machines running in unison only manage to handle a fraction of the transactions.

For more and video go to: http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/06/a-rare-look-inside-a-massive-bitcoin-mine/?ncid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

 

Dad keeps newborn son with Down syndrome after mom abandons him

iNewsb babyBy Elif Koc From Mashable

IMAGE: Baby Leo as pictured on GoFundMe.I MAGE: GOFUNDME/BRINGLEOHOME

When Samuel Forrest saw his newborn son for the first time, he thought he was perfect.

Forrest’s son Leo was born with Down syndrome on Jan. 21 in Armenia, a country where parents are able to choose whether they want to keep children with disabilities or send them to an orphanage.

Leo’s mother made the decision to give up her child, without consulting Forrest, he told ABC News. When she learned of her husband’s plans to keep Leo, she filed for divorce, he said.

ABC News contacted the mother, who confirmed that she gave birth to a baby with Down syndrome and divorced her husband, but declined to share more details.

“This really came out of the blue for me,” Forrest told ABC.

“I don’t have a lot, I have very little in fact. The goal is to raise enough for a year so I can get a part-time job so Leo doesn’t have to be in daycare and I can help care for him. He’s lost a lot in two weeks. It’d be different if he had his mommy.”

To help raise money, Forrest set up a GoFundMe with a goal of $60,000 to bring his son to his native New Zealand. Ten days in the campaign far surpassed that goal, raising $409,632 as of this writing.

For more: http://mashable.com/2015/02/06/down-syndrome-baby-father/?utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

 

Cuba edges Mexico 3-2 for title

From espn

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Yulieski Gourriel led off the eighth inning with a solo shot as Cuba beat Mexico 3-2 to clinch its first Caribbean Series championship since 1960.

Cuba outhit Mexico 11-4 on the way to the win a year after returning to the Caribbean Series for the first time in more than 50 years.

Sunday night’s victory was a return to winning ways for Cuba in the regional series it used to dominate decades ago. Last year, Cuba returned to the tournament for the first time in over 50 years but made a fast exit.

This year, Cuba outhit Mexico 11-4 on the way to the win.

The Cubans took the early lead, scoring a run in the first and another in the second. Mexico made it 2-1 in the fifth when Walter Ibarra drove in Joey Meneses.

Mexico scored in the eighth to make it 3-2, but was shut down in the ninth.

For more: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12298693/cuba-captures-first-caribbean-title-1960

 

Swedish man imprisoned for ‘homosexual acts’ in Tunisia

From Jamaica Observer

Stockholm, Sweden (AFP) – A Swedish man has been given two years behind bars in Tunisia for “homosexual acts” despite the protests of Swedish diplomats, authorities said Saturday.

“(Sweden) highlighted its belief in equal rights regardless of sexual orientation as a fundamental principle of democracy,” said Victoria Bell, a spokeswoman for the Swedish Foreign Ministry.

“The man, who is in his 50s, was sentenced February 4 to two years in prison for homosexual acts,” she added.

Tunisia confirmed the conviction, but has not provided further comment.

A report in Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet said the man, who has been living in France for years, appealed the sentence.

Homosexuality is considered a crime in Tunisia, with convictions carrying a penalty of up to three years behind bars.

A Tunisian rights watchdog called on authorities to change the law and condemned the Swede’s prison sentence.

“This law is an infringement upon freedom,” said Yamina Thabet, president of rights group ATSM. “The ATSM is repeating its call for the decriminalisation of homosexuality.”

Nearly three-quarters of African countries have laws against homosexuality.

For more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Swedish-man-gets-prison-for–homosexual-acts–in-Tunisia

 

China confiscates toilet paper printed with image of Hong Kong leader

By Colin Daileda From Mashable

Chinese authorities seized 7,600 rolls of toilet paper bearing the image of pro-Beijing Hong Kong leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, on Saturday, along with 20,000 tissue packets that showed similar images.

The Hong Kong Democratic Party reportedly made HK$100,000 ($12,900) selling 4,000 rolls of the same toilet paper last year, and it planned to earn more cash this year by selling the products during the island’s Lunar New Year fair.

Kelvin Lai King-wai, head of the Democratic Party’s creative media division, was surprised Beijing was able to figure out that it had ordered the toilet paper and tissues, according to Hong-Kong based newspaper South China Morning Post. The Democrats placed the order through someone who was not officially associated with the party in an attempt to cover their tracks.

The Democratic Party spent HK$70,000 ($9,000) for two booths in Victoria Park, where the fair is taking place, as well as HK$20,000 ($2,600) on a deposit for the toilet paper and tissues, Lai told SCMP.

The manufacturer has printed toilet paper with the image of other leaders, including United States President Barack Obama, without any issues before, the newspaper reported.

The confiscation comes just months after huge pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong during which demonstrators called for greater electoral freedom than Beijing is willing to grant. They directed much of their anger at Leung, demanding his resignation, and calling him a puppet of the Chinese government. Beijing ultimately did not acquiesce to protester demands.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press

For more: http://mashable.com/2015/02/07/china-toilet-paper-hong-kong/?utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

 

Multi-talented former WI cricketer Richard Austin is dead

From Jamaica Observer

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Former West Indies and Jamaica cricketer Richard ‘Danny Germs’ Austin is dead.

OBSERVER ONLINE was informed a short while ago that Austin rated as one of the country’s most talented sportsmen died in hospital after falling on very parlous times.

Austin during his heydays was a top rated batsman, who was also very proficient behind the stumps as well as being a spin bowler. He excelled on the football field and was a noted table tennis player.

Austin was a part of the Kerry Packer led World Series cricket in the late 1970s.

For more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Multi-talented-former-WI-cricketer-Richard-Austin-is-dead

 

Legal sector loses 1,400 jobs in January

By Nell Gluckman, From The Am Law Daily

After showing some modest gains in December, the legal sector lost 1,400 jobs in January, according to seasonally adjusted preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The BLS’s figure for December has been adjusted to reflect an increase of 400 jobs in the sector versus the 500-job gain originally reported.

The BLS estimates that 1.118 million people work in the legal services industry as of January, which is down about 4,500 jobs from the number reported at this time last year. Though the figure has fluctuated since early 2014, the number of people working in the industry during the past year has been consistently lower than reports showed in 2013.

Overall, the U.S. saw an increase of 257,000 jobs in January, with the unemployment rate remaining relatively stable at 5.7 percent. The BLS noted that the retail, construction, health care, finance and manufacturing industries saw the greatest gains last month.

For more: http://www.americanlawyer.com/id=1202717265008/Legal-Sector-Loses-1400-Jobs-in-January#ixzz3RFz0X4ej

 

Putin’s $51 billion Sochi plan blew up in his face

From Business Insider

It’s been one year since the beginning of the Sochi Winter games, the most expensive Olympics of all time. President Vladimir Putin assured Russians that the $51 billion dollar price tag would be picked-up by private investors.

Two key investors have gotten rid of properties that cost the equivalent of about three billion U.S. dollars, which means Russian taxpayers will have to pay for it.

For more and video: http://uk.businessinsider.com/putin-51-billion-dollar-sochi-olympics-2015-2#ixzz3RGbM9FET

 

Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader Holness responds to court ruling

From Jamaica ObserverKINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader Andrew Holness today issued a response to Friday’s Supreme Court ruling that he acted unlawfully when he required that Senate appointees sign undated letters of resignation before taking a seat in the Upper House.

The following is Holness’ statement in full:

The constitutional court has ruled that the request, procurement and use of pre-signed and undated letters of resignation is inconsistent with the Constitution.

I wish all Jamaicans to know that it was never my intention to act unconstitutionally. My action at all times was guided by attorneys-at-law, including the claimant, in whom I had reposed the utmost trust and confidence as persons competent in advising me on constitutional matters.

My overriding consideration, as Leader of the Opposition, was in discharge of my duty to safeguard the spirit and intent of the constitutional provisions, which provide for the protection of the Constitution from changes which may not be in the best interest of the Jamaican people. My action therefore, in accepting the advice of the claimant, regarding resignation of Senators, in that manner, was to ensure the effective administration of the government for the people, the necessity of which was recognized in the judgment at paragraph 64.

I also wish all Jamaicans to know that once the advisor, author and implementer of the letters questioned their validity, I took the personal decision of returning, through the Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate, all such letters without exception, long before the court delivered its judgement.

The entire situation is regrettable, including the embarrassment caused to all of us as a result.

The ruling by the constitutional court is of such great importance, that I have referred it to a team of attorneys to research and advise on any implications it may have on our constitutional arrangements and how it affects the spirit and intent of its framework in respect to the role of Opposition and Government Senators.

For more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Holness-responds-to-court-ruling

 

NBC’s Brian Williams taking himself off air temporarily

From Jamaica Observer

LOS ANGELES, United States (AP) — Brian Williams is stepping away temporarily from the “NBC Nightly News” amid questions about his memories of war coverage in Iraq, saying it has become “painfully apparent” to him that he has become a distracting news story.

In a memo Saturday to NBC News staff that was released by the network, the anchorman said that as managing editor of “NBC Nightly News” he is taking himself off the broadcast for several days. Lester Holt will fill in, Williams said.

“In the midst of a career spent covering and consuming news, it has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions,” Williams said in his memo.

“Upon my return, I will continue my career-long effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us,” he wrote.

Williams has apologized for falsely saying on the air that he was in a helicopter hit by a rocket-propelled grenade while in Iraq in 2003.

Questions have also been raised about his claim that he saw a body or bodies in the Hurricane Katrina floodwaters that hit New Orleans.

NBC News President Deborah Turness said in an internal memo Friday that the network has assigned the head of its own investigative unit to look into Williams’ statements.

For more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Brian-Williams-taking-himself-off-air-temporarily

 

Veteran Trinidad calypsonians out of this year’s Calypso Monarch finals

From Caribbean360

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, Monday February 9, 2015, CMC – For the first time in a long time, there will be no veteran calypsonian, who has won the Calypso Monarch competition, appearing at this year’s grand final this weekend.

The Trinidad and Tobago Unified Calypso Organization (TUCO) has named 11 calypsonians for the finals on Sunday, February 15, following the semi-finals held at Skinner Park last Saturday.

Two former monarchs, Winston Bailey, the “Mighty Shadow” and Michael “Sugar Aloes” Osouna, who were among the 41 contestants, did not make it to the finals. But, Winston Scarborough “The Original De Fosto Himself”, from the old brigade made it to the finals with his tune “Games”.

Crowd favourite Devon Seales, whose tune “My Humble Plea” calls on Prime Minister Persad Bissessar and her government to leave office and call fresh general elections, is among the 11 singers that include former monarch Karen Asche, with her tune “Every knee shall bow”.

Another former monarch, Duane O’Connor, is in the finals with his tune “Citizen’s Pride” while the others singers seeking the crown are Joanne Rowley “Tigress” with her tune, “What you Willing to Die for ,” Myron Bruce “The Incredible Myron B”, Victoria Cooper “Venting,” Heather Mac Intosh “Ah Gone,” Selvon Noel “Target” Brian London,” Wishful” and Neville Brown “Multi Crisis”.

They will challenge the reigning monarch Roderick “Chucky” Gordon.

For more: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/trinidad_tobago_news/veteran-trinidad-calypsonians-years-calypso-monarch-finals#ixzz3RGewyB22

 

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