Barbados Fire Claims Six Lives
September 6, 2010
CaribWorldNews, BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Sat. Sept. 4, 2010: Barbadians are today trying to come to grips with a robbery arson that last night claimed six lives.
The fire was believed to have been started by two men armed with machetes, who robbed the Campus Trendz store in Tudor Street. The two reportedly threw an incendiary device into Campus Trendz just before 7 p.m., after taking an undisclosed amount of cash.
The fire, according to Barbados News reports, then engulfed the two-storied building along the busy shopping street, trapping several inside.
Six were later confirmed dead including 18-year-old Shanna Griffith, a toddler and five other women believed to be staff and customers. The robbers who are believed to have started the blae remain on the lam.
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St. Vincent-Born Jurist Is New St. Kitts High Court Judge
September 6, 2010
CaribWorldNews, BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Fri. Sept. 3, 2010: A Vincentian-born judge has been sworn in as the new High Court judge in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Justice Errol Thomas was sworn in to the post Thursday morning by Registrar of the St. Kitts and Nevis High Court, Claudette Jenkins.
Justice Thomas was posted to the Antigua and Barbuda jurisdiction before his new assignment to St. Kitts. He is a graduate of the Carleton University, Canada, where he read for his B.A. from 1970 to 1971 before graduating from the University of the West Indies with a law degree in 1974. In 1976, he graduated the Hugh Wooding Law School, Trinidad & Tobago. Justice Thomas was called to the bar in Barbados, St. Kitts and Grenada.
He is presently High Court Judge acting of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and is former Crown Counsel in the Attorney General`s Chambers, Barbados; former Solicitor General of the Attorney General`s Chambers, Saint Lucia and Attorney General of Grenada.
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Prices Almost As Dangerous As Earl At U.S. Open
September 6, 2010
CaribWorldNews, FLUSHING, NY, Fri. Sept. 3, 2010: Fans attending the U.S. Open this week are being hit by a storm in their pockets that`s almost as dangerous as Hurricane Earl.
Thirsty or hungry Open goers are being forced to shell out big bucks for the most basic necessities.
With the temperatures hovering past 90 degrees this week, U.S. Open fans needing to hydrate must find $3.75 for a bottle of water. How about a Pepsi, Snapple or Gatorade? That`s $4.75 each please.
If you have a sweet craving for an Italian Ice, forget those $1 ices we know and love on the streets of NY. The Open rate is $5, the same as for a Ben and Jerry`s ice cream fudge bar.
How about a snack? Well get ready to fork over $4.75 for a Cracker Jack or $3.75 for a small bag of chips.
Feel the urge to get a memento of your visit in the form of a sweat shirt? That`s $70 and up, about same price as a very low level ticket. So at the end of the day the total cost for a one day outing could very well be in the $200 range, more than some people in New York make all week.
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Caribbean Tourism Ministers Pick Up Lobbying Pace Against UK Airport Taxes
September 6, 2010
CaribWorldNews, BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Fri. Sept. 3, 2010: Caribbean ministers of tourism kicking off next week set intensify their lobbying effort against the UK`s Air Passenger Duty early next week in London.
Between September 6th and 8th, six Caribbean ministers of tourism, along with the Caribbean Tourism Organization Secretary General, Hugh Riley, will be in London for talks on the Air Passenger Duty with a range of organisations, including the Association of British Travel Agents, the Caribbean Council, Caribbean Diaspora representatives, the British Air Transport Association and the British Caribbean All Party Parliamentary Group.
The Caribbean delegation will be lobbying for a fairer alternative to the current APD system, which currently taxes flights from Britain to the Caribbean more heavily than travel to Hawaii, and is set to rise for the second time in a year within the next two months.
In November 2008 APD was re-worked into a four-tier band system, categorising destinations according to the distance between London and their national capital. From 1 November, APD on flights to the Caribbean will have risen by up to 94 per cent over two years, meaning that a four-person family travelling to the Caribbean in premium economy will pay £600 in APD alone.
The ministers will be lobbying for their region, officially the most tourism-dependent in the world (14.5 per cent of the region`s GDP and, for some islands, over 70 per cent) to potentially be moved into the same band as the USA and Bermuda, or for the APD system to be replaced with a fairer structure.
`We feel that the size of the delegation which is coming to the UK on 6 September underscores the importance that the Caribbean attaches to this issue and the seriousness of our intent to minimise the possible damage that this second set of price increases will bring about,` said the CTO`s Riley in a statement Thursday. `The rises come at time when a second British recession is being forecast and the Caribbean governments and people feel that it is paramount that we discuss the issue with every responsible body in order to find a mutually acceptable solution as soon as possible.`
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Rally Set For Quick Arrest Of Murderer Of St. Lucia Soccer Star
September 6, 2010
CaribWorldNews, BROOKLYN, NY, Fri. Sept. 3, 2010: Saint Lucians are planning to rally this afternoon in Brooklyn to call for the quick arrest of the murderer of their soccer star, Isidore Phillip Tisson.
The rally is set for today, Friday, September 3rd from 6 p.m. at the scene of the crime on Utica Avenue near Carroll Street in Brooklyn, NY.
Mathias Wilkie, chairman of the Saint Lucia House Foundation, explained: `We are calling on witnesses to come forward with whatever information which they may have, as this will aid in speedy arrests.`
The rally, organized by the Saint Lucia House Foundation in New York in collaboration with a number of other New York-based St Lucian organizations, is focused on getting as many Saint Lucian nationals and friends of Saint Lucia to come on out in large numbers and sending a message to the person or persons responsible that they will not rest until justice is served, organizers said in a statement yesterday.
Pastor Gilford Monrose, assistant PRO of the Saint Lucia House Foundation said `the NYPD have been mobilized and are doing everything in their power to see speedy results, but they do need the assistance of everyone on the ground with any kind of information.`
The rally comes on the heels of the memorial prayer vigil at the Saint Lucia House Foundation where some 300 gathered to remember Tisson, 27.
Tisson died from gunshot wounds to his head in a car on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn, early Monday morning, hours after scoring the goal that sent the Saint Lucia Soccer team to the finals of the Digicel Caribbean Cup. His death came just moments after he left a Brooklyn club where he had been partying with friends.
Meanwhile, an account has been set up at Chase bank to allow persons who wish to contribute toward the burial of Tisson. The Saint Lucia House Foundation is hoping that with generous contributions, the family will not have to bear any expenses toward the burial of Tisson, whose body is set to be returned to his native land.
Donations can be made to the St. Lucia House Foundation, account number: 2965950724.
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Players With Caribbean Roots On Winning Streak At U.S. Open
September 6, 2010
CaribWorldNews, FLUSHING, NY, Fri. Sept. 3, 2010: Caribbean heritage players are now in almost every sports under the sun, so it is no surprise that two are already on a winning streak at the 2010 U.S. Open.
On Wednesday evening, French Gael Monfils, with roots in the French Caribbean, danced his way into the third round of the tourney by beating Russia`s Igor Andreev 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 to claim a victory on his 24th birthday.
The No. 17-seed Monfils took two breaks in the first set to steal the one-set lead, and the level of play only got better from there. Monfils showed off his athleticism, returning everything Andreev threw at him, including a short drop shot at the net that he tracked down with a sprint from way behind the baseline. His return game was just as impressive, and he was able to steal a break late in the set to end it at 6-4.
Andreev then had two break chances at 4-2 to get back on serve, but Monfils managed to hold for a 5-2 edge thanks to Andreev`s costly errors. Match point featured a long baseline rally, but an error on an Andreev shot that sailed long gave the Frenchman the match.
His win came just two days after he got past the big-serving American Robert Kendrick in his opening round match, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4, to advance to the second round on Monday.
The 5-set match was a dog-fight throughout, but got controversial as the match was coming to a close. The controversy happened at 4-4 in the final set with Monfils serving. The Frenchman appeared to clip the ball before it landed out. The chair umpire gave the point to Monfils, which sent Kendrick into a tirade. The American lost his next service game and the match along with it.
Monfils` parents are both from the French Caribbean though he was born in Paris, France. His father, Rufin, a former football player employed as an agent for France Telecom, comes from the island of Guadeloupe while his mother, Sylvette, comes from the island of Martinique and is a nurse.
Meanwhile, Jamaica`s Dustin Brown also scored a win for his country to move on to his second round match in the U.S. Open.
Brown, 25, became the first ever Jamaican to win his first round men`s singles match at the Open, beating Ruben Hidalgo of Spain Wednesday in three straight sets: 6-4, 7-6, 7-5.
Born in Germany, Brown is ranked 113th in the world while Hidalgo is ranked 91. He reached his highest ATP singles ranking, No. 98, on July 26, 2010 and his highest ATP doubles ranking, No. 120, on June 7, 2010.
Brown will face Andy Murray this morning in the Arthur Ashe Stadium while Monfils will face Janko Tipsarevic in his third round match-up.
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North America`s Biggest Street Party For NYC`s Caribbean Community
September 6, 2010
CaribWorldNews, NEW YORK, NY, Sept. 3, 2010: Caribbean nationals across the U.S. have no way of accurately self-identifying on U.S. Census forms or telling their economic story in real numbers, but when it comes to throwing the biggest street party, they have that covered.
For the 43rd year, the West Indian American Day Carnival Association is gearing up to celebrate mas in Brooklyn, NY on Monday, September 6, 2010. Fear of being accurately counted and talk of `minding we own business,` will be replaced by skimpily clad revelers, publicly wining and grinding for the cameras as they jump behind floats that will get rolling from noon at Schenectady Avenue on Eastern Parkway this year.
For one weekend, Caribbean nationals in the city will be lauded for their ability to throw a great party and for their great food and drink. Beyond that who cares, really, right? Of course, the celebration is for the entire weekend. Last night, the focus was put on Haiti with a concert to benefit Yele Haiti at the Brooklyn Museum grounds, 200 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, NY.
Grammy Award-winning singer and Haiti`s Presidential hopeful, Wyclef Jean, was a last minute no-show but performances came from the likes of Trinidad and Tobago`s David Rudder, Soca`s Kevin Lyttle and reggae`s Serani, Kymani Marley and Freddy McGregor.
Tonight, Soca star Machel Montano is set to rock the stage at Brassfest along with Patrice Roberts, Destra, Krosfyah and Denise Belfon among others.
Pan, the soul of carnival, gets the spotlight on Saturday night, September 4th at Panorama, as local steel pan bands compete for the title of 2010 Band of the Year. Rikki Jai, Ajala and Rudder are among the top entertainers planned to take over the stage at this year`s Dimanche Gras competition, set for Sunday night, September 5th.
On Monday, September 6th, politicians will gather to smile and wave at the tens of thousands who are expected to line the route along Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn for the finale of a mas weekend that will end at Grand Army Plaza at 6 p.m. promptly. For one day, all non-Caribbeans will be Caribbeans and politicians will take photos holding black babies and proclaiming their love for the Caribbean and Caribbean nationals.
On Tuesday, September 7th, all will be forgotten as quickly as the New York Sanitation Department cleans up the streets along Eastern Parkway and the Caribbean American bloc will go back to being a dismissed group – until next year of course when it will be bacchanal time all over again.
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UNASUR Rejects FARC`s Mediation Request
September 6, 2010
By Odeen Ishmael
Special To CWNN
CaribWorldNews, CARACAS, Venezuela, Fri. Sept. 3, 2010: Two weeks after the UNASUR-brokered diplomatic fence-mending meeting on August 10 between the Presidents of Venezuela and Colombia, the political action in the region took another turn when the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on August 23, through an `open letter` to the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), expressed its desire for peace and requested to address the continental body of its vision for the country`s internal conflict.
The letter from FARC`s `Central Command` maintained that the Colombian government had closed the door to any dialogue with the insurgency and affirmed: `We want to reiterate to the UNASUR our unyielding desire to seek a political solution to conflict.`
According to the guerrilla group which has been waging a four-decade-long civil war, `the humanitarian crisis in Colombia demands mobilisation and continental solidarity.` It further added: `Peace with social justice, not war, has been the strategic objective of the FARC since its foundation in 1964.`
In a first reaction to the letter, Ecuador`s Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patino, said he would raise the issue with his Colombian counterpart, Maria Angela Holguin. He said that the only action Ecuador can initiate as pro tempore chairman of UNASUR was to obtain the opinion of Colombia on its views on the letter from FARC, and maintained that it would respect the decision made by the Juan Manuel Santos administration.
In Bogota, Colombian Vice President Angelino Garzon demanded that the guerrillas lay down their weapons before holding direct peace talks with the national government. Soon after – on August 23 – the Ecuadorian government, now preparing to hand over the rotating chair of UNASUR to Guyana, rejected any direct contact with FARC saying that it fully concurred with the Colombian`s government`s position.
The Brazilian government also weighed in on the issue when on August 25 Marco Aurelio Garcia, Brazil`s presidential advisor for international affairs, declared that his government did not consider it appropriate that FARC should discuss Colombia`s ongoing conflict before the continental organisation. He stated that the problem of the conflict must be resolved within Colombia, and that UNASUR could only `intervene to help if and when it is asked to by the Colombian government.`
This is not been the first time that FARC has approached regional bodies to lay out its position on the Colombian conflict. In September 2009 in another `open letter` to UNASUR and the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA), the guerrilla group asked to be recognised as `a belligerent force` and not a terrorist organisation. That letter requested both organisations to place the political solution of the Colombian conflict on their agenda as a permanent source of concern for Latin American countries.
It will be recalled that the recent diplomatic rift in July between Venezuela and Colombia arose after the outgoing Uribe administration accused Venezuela of harbouring FARC guerrillas on its territory – an accusation vehemently denied by the Venezuelan government. The subsequent break in diplomatic relations generated a meeting of UNASUR`s foreign ministers in Quito on July 29 as part of the regional effort to mend the diplomatic fence.
In the run-up to that meeting, Venezuela`s Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro proposed a peace plan aimed at ending the Colombian civil war since, in his view, it was producing negative consequences for the entire South American continent. Explaining this proposal, Gustavo Marquez, Venezuela`s ambassador to Colombia, said that the initiative could not be described as interventionist, and stressed that it was logical to present it within UNASUR, given that the Colombian conflict and the serious associated problems, such as drug trafficking, criminality and paramilitary activity, were affecting the entire region.
However, the outgoing Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez rejected Venezuela`s talk about a peace process for his country, and termed such a move as unacceptable.
It is obvious that the Colombian conflict has engendered much consternation in South America, and across the entire Latin American region. Just before his recent meeting with Colombia`s President Juan Manuel Santos, President Chavez urged FARC to give up its decades-old armed struggle and seek a negotiated solution. `The guerrillas should come out in favour of peace; they should release all their hostages,` he said on August 8. `They have no future by staying armed.`
He added: `The Colombian guerrillas have no future in armed conflict. For us, the guerrilla movement is also a problem. Neither have I approved nor do I approve the presence of any guerrilla forces. Latin America`s reality is not the same as it was forty, thirty or ten years ago. I am sure that the whole of UNASUR will agree.`
Here again, this was not the first time that Chavez made such a statement. As far back as June 2008, he declared that armed struggle in Latin America was essentially over and called on the FARC guerrillas to lay down their arms and, as a humanitarian gesture, release all hostages `in exchange for nothing.`
This latest `political` move by FARC has generated opinions that the guerrilla movement is seeking a way out of the political quagmire in which it has found itself in the light of the fact that, indeed, the reality in the political landscape of South America – and the entire Latin American and Caribbean region – has changed drastically in the past twenty years.
Up to the end of the 1980s, leftist parties throughout the region, who all generally had no access to state power, expressed various forms of solidarity with each other, and it was not unusual for leftist guerrilla movements to have their share of international admirers. But with the upsurge of leftist and centre-leftist governments in the region, many of those `socialist`, `Marxist`, Marxist-Leninist`, `communist` and other leftist parties now work in alliance with these governments or provide critical support to their polices. As a result, they generally would not support guerrilla movements, civil war against any state, secession of any region in any country, or any disruption of the constitutional order. Thus, these leftist political parties no longer regard guerrilla groups as `national liberation movements.`
The presidency of UNASUR has made a firm pronouncement on the guerrilla`s request. Clearly, UNASUR as a continental organisation of states, can only act if the Colombian government asks it to do so. The organisation had applied this principle when it was invited by the Bolivian government to mediate in the country`s political crisis in September 2008.
The ball is now in the guerrilla movement`s court to make another move. Will it now decide to lay down its arms and open direct negotiations with the Colombian state authorities and continue to wage its struggle in the political rather than in the military arena? Only time will tell. But, without any doubt, UNASUR, in due course, will certainly find itself involved in generating practical ideas or even promoting positive actions aimed at ending the long drawn-out conflict in Colombia.
[The writer is Guyana`s Ambassador to Venezuela and is currently the Chairman of the Latin American Council of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA). The views expressed are solely his.]
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Trinidadian Selected As Running Mate To Florida GOP Gubernatorial Candidate
September 6, 2010
CaribWorldNews, MIAMI, FL, Fri. Sept. 3, 2010: A 51 year-old Trinidadian immigrant has been named as the running mate to Florida GOP Gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott.
Scott announced his selection of Jacksonville state Rep. Jennifer Carroll, the only black Republican state legislator, as his running mate this week.
Carroll is a 20 year navy veteran and former head of the state Department of Veterans Affairs under former Gov. Jeb Bush. She made history by becoming only the first black Republican woman ever elected to the legislature and could become the first black woman to serve as Florida`s lieutenant governor.
In 2001 President George W. Bush appointed Jennifer to `The White House Presidential Scholar`s Commission,` where she served until the spring of 2004. In May of 2004, Jennifer was appointed to the Veterans` Disability Benefits Commission by President Bush.
Carroll is also lifetime member of the NAACP and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. She holds a bachelor`s degree from the University of New Mexico and an MBA from Saint Leo University.
She was born on August 27, 1959 in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Interestingly, Carroll said she supports Scott`s hard-line views on illegal immigration and in support of a state law similar to one adopted earlier this year in Arizona.
`The bottom line is legal immigration. We cannot reward people for their illegal acts in coming to this country,` Carroll said.
`Working together, we will broaden the base of our party, reaching out to every Floridian who wants a better future for their families,` Scott said as he introduced Carroll for the first time at the Entrance of Naval Air Station in Jacksonville.
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Jamaica`s Tennis Star Out Of U.S. Open
September 6, 2010
CaribWorldNews, FLUSHING, NY, Fri. Sept. 3, 2010, 6 p.m.: Jamaica`s tennis star, Dustin Brown, is now sadly out of the U.S. Open.
Despite a winning start to his entry at the tourney and Jamaican support in the stands today, Brown was beaten by Andy Murray of Great Britain, 7-5,6-3,6-0.
Still by winning on Wednesday, Brown became the first Jamaican to win a match at the Open in 40 years. He`s also the first Jamaican to crack the world`s top 100.
Brown was born in Germany but moved with his family to his father`s native Jamaica when he was 12. The 6-foot-5 stands out on the court as he has long dreadlocks and wears fluorescent shoelaces. Brown beat Ruben Hidalgo of Spain Wednesday in three straight sets: 6-4, 7-6, 7-5 to advance to today`s match.
Brown is ranked 113th in the world while Hidalgo is ranked 91. He reached his highest ATP singles ranking, No. 98, on July 26, 2010 and his highest ATP doubles ranking, No. 120, on June 7, 2010.
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