COCAA First Chance Meet kicks off Saturday

PAUL A REID Observer West Writer

Thursday, January 08, 2015    

BOGUE, St James – THE track and field season in western Jamaica will kick into a higher gear this Saturday with the staging of the County of Cornwall Athletics Association’s First Chance Meet at Herbert Morrison, starting at 10:00am.

Herbert Morrison will be hosting the meet for the second year after it shifted from Irwin High. Meet director Claude Grant told Jamaica Observer West on Wednesday that a good turnout of schools and clubs is expected.

Grant said that so far one Kingston-based school, Excelsior High, has applied to participate in the events and that many more were expected.

Grant said the top western schools had also shown interest, including Munro College, St Elizabeth Technical, Herbert Morrison, Green Island, Cornwall College, Mt Alvernia High, Spot Valley and Rusea’s High.

The events on the schedule are 100m, 400m and 800m for all classes for boys and girls, as well as long jump, high jump and shot put in the field events.

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COCAA First Chance Meet kicks off Saturday

Kim Jong Un considering Russia visit for first trip abroad as N. Korea leader

FILE – In this July 25, 2013 file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, arrives at the cemeteries of fallen fighters of the Korean People’s Army Pyongyang. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

TOKYO –  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is looking increasingly likely to visit Russia in his first trip abroad since taking power three years ago, giving the world an unprecedented chance to see him at work on the international stage.

Moscow has invited many world leaders — including Kim and the presidents of China and South Korea — to celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany, which will include a massive parade on Red Square.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said last month the Kremlin had received the “first signals from Pyongyang” that the North Korean leader is planning to attend the May 9 festivities. South Korean media quoted anonymous sources in Beijing this week as saying that Kim is likely to accept. U.S. President Barack Obama has reportedly decided to stay home, so that awkwardness has apparently been averted.

North Korea has not officially commented on the invitation and still has ample time to decline it.

But choosing Moscow for his first overseas trip would be a strong indication of the direction Kim wants to take his country. It would also provide the outside world with a rare look at a man who, while revered at the center of an intense cult of personality at home, is one of the biggest mysteries in international politics.

In the three years since he assumed power, Kim has shown a style of leadership devotedly in line with the policies of his father, Kim Jong Il and — despite a monthlong absence last year that set North Korea watchers into a frenzy of speculation about his health — adhered to the tried-and-true “field guidance” photo opportunities at farms, factories and military bases that are a staple way of presenting North Korea’s hands-on form of leadership.

He has also inserted a personal touch.

Unlike his reclusive father, who rarely spoke in public, Kim has revived the custom started by his charismatic grandfather, North Korea’s “eternal president” Kim Il Sung, of delivering speeches on New Year’s Day. He often makes public appearances with his photogenic wife and does not seem to share his predecessors’ reported fear of flying — the state-run media recently showed him taking the controls of an airplane in flight.

Though Kim Il Sung enjoyed the strong support of the Soviet Union, its collapse in 1991 drove North Korea and China much closer. Kim Jong Il visited China seven times, always by train, including three visits between 2010 and his death in 2011.

Today, North Korea depends heavily on China for economic support and backing in international forums such as the United Nations to oppose sanctions over its human rights situation and nuclear weapons program. But, increasingly wary of its reliance on Beijing, Pyongyang has been pushing hard to improve ties with Russia as a counterbalance.

Moscow, for its part, is eager to improve its position in Asia amid frictions with the West.

Putin was the first Soviet or Russian leader to visit North Korea — he spent two days in Pyongyang in 2000 — and Moscow’s ties with North Korea have improved substantially under his watch, especially on the economic front. Russia remains concerned about North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, but while its efforts to dissuade Pyongyang from continuing them have had little visible effect it has gone ahead with trying to improve overall relations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has yet to visit Pyongyang. He went to Seoul last July.

Kim, who studied in Switzerland for two years when he was a boy and may have visited China when his father was still alive, has dropped other hints that with the traditional mourning period for Kim Jong Il past he wants to take a higher diplomatic profile.

With major celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II planned in North Korea as well, and increased talk about the need to seek reunification of the Korean Peninsula, he suggested in his New Year’s address that he is open to a summit with South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

Park says she is willing to meet Kim but stresses North Korea must take steps toward ending its nuclear weapons program for any discussions to be productive.

She has yet to decide whether to attend the May celebration, according to her spokeswoman, Yoo Myung-hee.

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Kim Jong Un considering Russia visit for first trip abroad as N. Korea leader

Hundreds of thousands join Pope Francis at canonization of Sri Lanka"s first saint

Jan. 14, 2015: A devotee stretches out his hand to touch the hand of Pope Francis as he arrives to hold a mass at Colombo’s seafront Galle Face Green for the canonization ceremony of Joseph Vaz. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)

Pope Francis waves to the crowd as he arrives to hold a mass at Colombo’s seafront Galle Face Green for the canonization ceremony of Joseph Vaz, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015. Francis declared Vaz a saint at the start of the service. The church considers Vaz a great model for today’s faithful, ministering to the faithful of both Sri Lanka’s ethnic groups and putting himself at great risk to spread the faith. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das) (The Associated Press) Members of the audience listen to Pope Francis holding a mass at Colombo’s seafront Galle Face Green for the canonization ceremony of Joseph Vaz, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015. Francis declared Vaz a saint at the start of the service. The church considers Vaz a great model for today’s faithful, ministering to the faithful of both Sri Lanka’s ethnic groups and putting himself at great risk to spread the faith. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das) (The Associated Press) A Sri Lankan Catholic devotee reads a newspaper carrying portraits of Pope Francis as she waits for his arrival at the church premise of Our Lady of Madhu in Madhu, northern Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015. The visit is the first by a pope to the northern Tamil territory that was devastated by Sri Lanka’s 25-year civil war, which erupted in 1983 with Tamil demands for an independent homeland because of perceived discrimination by the Sinhalese majority. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena) (The Associated Press)

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka –  Pope Francis pressed his call for Sri Lankan reconciliation Wednesday by canonizing the country’s first saint as a model for national unity and visiting the war-ravaged north to pray at a shrine revered by both Sinhalese and Tamil faithful.

More than a half-million people packed the capital’s seafront park for the Mass, with some spending the night under the stars to ensure a good spot. Seemingly rested after a grueling first day of his Asian tour, Francis arrived well ahead of time to greet the crowd, getting off his popemobile to kiss the sick and handicapped.

Bells rang out and the crowd erupted in applause when Francis declared the Rev. Joseph Vaz a saint at the start of the service. Vaz was a 17th century Indian missionary who revived the faith in Sri Lanka during a time of anti-Catholic persecution by Dutch colonists, who were Protestant Calvinists.

The Catholic Church considers Vaz a great model for today’s faithful, ministering to the faithful of both of Sri Lanka’s main ethnic groups and putting himself at great risk to spread the faith.

Francis told the crowd that Vaz lived at a time — like today — when Catholics were a minority and often persecuted, and yet he ministered to all, regardless of their ethnic or religious background.

“St. Joseph shows us the importance of transcending religious divisions in the service of peace,” Francis said in his homily, delivered in English and then translated for the crowd in both Sinhalese and Tamil. “As the life of St. Joseph Vaz teaches us, genuine worship of God bears fruit not in discrimination, hatred and violence, but in respect for the sacredness of life, respect for the dignity and freedom of others, and loving commitment to the welfare of all.”

He said the Sri Lankan church today only wants to continue Vaz’s legacy of service to all, asking only for the freedom to preach in return. “Religious freedom is a fundamental human right,” he said.

To underscore that point, Francis gave Sri Lanka’s bishops a replica of a 17th century decree from the then-king of Kandy allowing Catholic conversions of Buddhists — a somewhat provocative message given the recent upswing in violence against Muslims and some Protestant churches by Buddhist extremists who want Sri Lanka exclusively Buddhist.

After Mass, Francis was heading by helicopter to the northern city of Madhu to pray at the Our Lady of Madhu shrine, a Catholic pilgrimage site that is a destination for people of other faiths as well. The visit is the first by a pope to the northern Tamil territory that was devastated by Sri Lanka’s 25-year civil war, which erupted with Tamil demands for an independent homeland because of perceived discrimination by the Sinhalese majority.

Francis is expected to call again for reconciliation between Sinhalese and Tamils, and people of different faiths, to overcome the wounds of the war.

Upon his arrival in Sri Lanka on Tuesday, Francis called for reconciliation but also for the truth to come about injustices committed during the conflict, which ended in 2009 with the army’s violent crushing of the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Catholics make up slightly more than 6 percent of Sri Lanka’s population of 21 million. They are by far the largest Christian denomination in the country, but are a distinct minority compared to Buddhists, who make up about 70 percent, with Hindus comprising 13 percent. Muslims make up about 10 percent of the population.

Most Sinhalese are Buddhist and most Tamils Hindu, but the Catholic Church counts both ethnic groups as its members, and as a result considers itself a source of unity for the country.

Wednesday morning’s Mass drew people from across the teardrop-shaped Indian Ocean island nation, eager to see the first visiting pope since St. John Paul II in 1995. In fact, it was during that brief visit that John Paul beatified Vaz, using the same altar that Francis used Wednesday to make Vaz a saint.

The crowds poured off buses and out into the street from the nearby railway station. Security was tight, and everyone had to walk the last few hundred meters (yards) to the Galle Face Green, but the atmosphere was festive and ordered. Taxi drivers handed out free cups of tea and the crowd was treated to traditional dancing and music.

The park has a capacity of 500,000 and the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the crowd more than surpassed the half-million mark.

“My son can’t understand what’s going on, but I will take photographs and show him when he grows up how he attended this Holy Mass,” Pradeep Niroshan, a 31-year-old insurance agent, said as he carried his 2-year-old son to the service. “It will be memorable for him, because the next pope to come to Sri Lanka may be after 20 years.”

On Thursday, Francis flies to the Philippines for the second and final leg of his Asian pilgrimage.

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Hundreds of thousands join Pope Francis at canonization of Sri Lanka"s first saint

Germany balances budget for first time since 1969

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – The German government managed to balance its books for the first time since 1969 in 2014 and a year ahead of target, the finance ministry said yesterday.

Originally, the government had been pencilling in a small budget deficit of 6.5 billion euros (US$7.7 billion) for 2014.

But thanks to higher tax revenues and lower interest rate payments on its debt, Berlin has now managed to finish the year without any net new borrowings, achieving Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble’s long-cherished goal of a “black zero” on its accounts ahead of target.

Schaeuble had pledged to achieve that goal in 2015 and for a balanced budget to become the norm for Germany.

Budgetary rigour was one of the issues which the conservatives under Angela Merkel campaigned on in the 2013 elections.

But the opposition parties and many economists believe the “black zero” is being fetishised and actually makes no economic sense because it curbs much-needed investment in growth.

Taking the federal budget as well as the regional state and municipal budgets as well, Europe’s biggest economy already achieved balanced its books in 2012.

In terms of overall debt, Germany is still in breach of the European ceiling of 60 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

At the end of 2013, the country’s overall debt amounted to 2.15 trillion euros, equivalent to 78 per cent of GDP.

Schaeuble hopes to bring the debt ratio down below 60 per cent by 2024.

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Germany balances budget for first time since 1969

Jamaica defeat England in first Netball Test

Saturday, January 10, 2015 | 8:16 PM    

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica beat England 56-47 in Saturday’s opening Test of the Supreme Ventures Sunshine netball series at the National Indoor Sports Centre a short while ago.

At the end of the third quarter, Jamaica had scored 42 goals to England’s 34 and they maintained a comfortable lead to the final whistle.

The teams were tied 13-13 at the end of the first quarter, but Jamaica upped the tempo to lead 30-24 at half time.

Goal shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Reid, who entered the game in the third quarter, led Jamaica with 19 goals from 25 attempts. Romelda Aiken, the starting goal shooter, was 19 from 26.

For England, Jo Harten led the way with 24 goals from 31 attempts.

The second game is scheduled to be played on Sunday, before the final clash on Tuesday.

Teams:

Jamaica — Nicole Aiken-Pinnock (capt), Vangelee Williams, Khadijah Williams, Stacian Facey, Paula Thompson, Shanice Beckford, Romelda Aiken

Subs — Jhaniele Fowler-Reid, Nicole Dixon, Anna-Kay Griffiths, Thristina Harwood, Sasha-Gaye Henry

England — Jade Clarke (capt), Sara Bayman, Eboni Beckford-Chambers, Sasha Corbin, Rachel Dunn, Jo Harten, Geva Mentor

Subs — Sam Cook, Ama Agbeze, Pamela Cookey, Kadeen Corbin, Stacey Francis.

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Jamaica defeat England in first Netball Test

Portland records parish’s first fatal motor vehicle accident of 2015

Saturday, January 10, 2015 | 5:07 PM    

PORTLAND, Jamaica – Sixty-nine-year-old Myrtle Wright from Hector’s River, Portland died last night from injuries she sustained when she was hit by a Toyota Coaster bus.

Reports are that the incident occurred about 10:30 pm while Wright’s son was allegedly reversing the bus when it accidentally hit his mother who was standing behind it.

Wright was rushed to the Princess Margaret hospital in St Thomas where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

The Portland police are investigating.

The death is Portland’s first fatal motor vehicle accident in 2015. There were 11 fatal accidents last year.

Everard Owen

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Portland records parish’s first fatal motor vehicle accident of 2015

First black female Republican to join US Congress

Tuesday, January 06, 2015 | 2:23 PM    

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Mia Love of Utah will become the first black female Republican in Congress when she is sworn in Tuesday along with 57 other freshmen members of the US House.

Love, the 39-year-old former mayor of Saratoga Springs, was elected in November in Utah’s 4th District.

She already has started making appearances on cable news channels and Sunday talk shows, most recently as a guest on ABC’s “This Week.”

Love didn’t emphasize her race during her campaign in 2014 and an unsuccessful bid in 2012, but she acknowledged the significance of her election after her victory in November.

Love said her win defied naysayers who suggested a black, Republican, Mormon woman could not be elected to Congress from Utah.

Love will be part of a small group of black Republicans in the new Congress and said she plans to join the Congressional Black Caucus.

Love will be sworn into office in Washington with other new House members, followed by an individual ceremonial swearing-in with House Speaker John Boehner.

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First black female Republican to join US Congress

Gage ready for first "Extravaganza" performance

Contributed – Gage

Fast-rising Dancehall sensation Gage, aka the ‘Burning Sun’, is gearing up to deliver an exciting performance at Boom GT’s ‘Christmas Extravaganza’.

It will be his first appearance on the prestigious stage show, which is held annually on Christmas Day at Independence Park in Black River, St Elizabeth.

In a recent interview Gage, who is slated to clash with Tommy Lee at Sting 2014 on Boxing Day, said he plans to deliver a great performance for his fans in St Elizabeth.

Exceptional performance

“I plan to deliver an exceptional performance at Christmas Extravaganza. It will be my first time on the show and I plan to deliver my very best for my fans in St Elizabeth,” said Gage.

According to Gage, he plans to end 2014 on a high note, which also means defeating Tommy Lee at Sting.

“Right now I’m the most talked about new dancehall act in the business and I plan to end the year on a very high note. That means after I thrill my fans at Christmas Extravaganza, I’ll be heading to Sting the next day to slaughter Tommy, lyrically, and take the Sting crown,” said the artiste.

Gage is currently enjoying strong rotation with a number of hits, including Throat, Two Idiot, Bad Chick, Rock To The Bar, Kitty Kat and Bad Man War Dirty.

“My songs are getting a lot of love all over the world. Right now, Throat is the biggest dancehall tune in places like Panama, Trinidad and Guyana. I have to big up all the DJs and selectors who are playing my songs. Gage, the Burning Sun, is the hottest dancehall act on the planet. I’m going to prove it to the fans at Christmas Extravaganza and Sting.”

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Gage ready for first "Extravaganza" performance

Poland make history with first win over Germany

By The Associated Press

Sunday, October 12, 2014    

In front of a sell-out crowd in Warsaw, Poland finally did it.

The Poles beat World Cup winner Germany 2-0 for their first win in 19 meetings with the Mannschaft to move three points clear of their powerful rival in European Championship qualifying yesterday.

It was Germany’s first defeat after 18 competitive games, and their first loss in qualifying after 33 matches.

Also in Group D, Robbie Keane’s hat trick helped Ireland thrash Gibraltar 7-0, taking his international goals tally to 65 and becoming the top scorer in European Championship qualifying history, with 21 goals.

Elsewhere, Karim Benzema and Paul Pogba scored France’s goals in a 2-1 win over Portugal in a friendly, while Northern Ireland earned a second Group F win with a 2-0 defeat of the Faroe Islands.

The top two finishers from the nine groups qualify automatically. The best third-placed team also qualifies automatically and the other eight can qualify through a playoff.

Bursting with joy and pride, thousands of Poland fans in national white-and-red scarfs chanted, “We are the world champion,” and “Goodbye Germany” in German, as they streamed out from the National Stadium in Warsaw where Poland beat Germany 2-0.

Arkadiusz Milik scored with Poland’s first shot on target in the 51st minute, and Robert Lewandowski set up Sebastian Mila to seal the result in the 88th.

“We took our chances. We had two or three and we scored two goals. Germany had a lot of chances and they didn’t take them,” said Lukasz Piszczek, who set up Milik’s opener.

It was Germany’s first loss in qualifying since a 3-0 loss at home to the Czech Republic in October 2007.

Earlier, Keane’s hat trick in a 13-minute span helped Ireland to a thrashing of Gibraltar in Dublin, and Scotland scraped a 1-0 win over Georgia in Glasgow thanks to Akaki Khubutia’s first-half own goal.

After two games, Poland and Ireland lead the group with maximum points, with Germany and Scotland behind on three. Germany host Ireland in Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday, while Poland play Scotland in Warsaw.

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Poland make history with first win over Germany

Camperdown beat Dinthill in first LIME Super Cup game at Catherine Hall

Saturday, October 18, 2014 | 5:02 PM    

MONTEGO BAY, St James — Camperdon High beat  Dinthill High 3-0 in the first of three LIME Super Cup Knockout competition games at the Catherine Hall Sports Complex.

The East Kingston team took the lead in the 15th minute of play when Tevin Shaw rose above the St Catherine based team’s defenders and nodded past George Brown in goal.

Three minutes later Ramiesh got at the end of a Ajuma Johnson cross, which  again came from down the right flank to double the lead.

Kevin Clarke rounded off the scoring three minutes after the break.

St James High and Wolmers Boy’s have now taken to field to commence battle.

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Camperdown beat Dinthill in first LIME Super Cup game at Catherine Hall

The First Spacewalk

13 October 2014 Last updated at 00:01 Continue reading the main story The First Spacewalk is an immersive story with text, images and video, best viewed on an up-to-date browser.

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The First Spacewalk

Remittances up for the first 6 months

The Bank of  Jamaica has released data showing more than US$1 billion  in remittance inflows during the first 6 months of  this year.  The inflow was 3.4%  higher than a year ago. It was also the highest level remittance inflow has been for the first six months of  any year. In June, the inflow was more than US$168 million.

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Remittances up for the first 6 months

Remittances up for the first 6 months

The Bank of  Jamaica has released data showing more than US$1 billion  in remittance inflows during the first 6 months of  this year.  The inflow was 3.4%  higher than a year ago. It was also the highest level remittance inflow has been for the first six months of  any year. In June, the inflow was more than US$168 million.

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Remittances up for the first 6 months

US reports first Ebola case

Diandra Grandison, Staff Reporter

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday confirmed the United States’ first case of the deadly Ebola Virus.

The virus is currently wreaking havoc in sections of West Africa.

According to reports, the male Ebola patient is currently in isolation at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Texas.

It was revealed that the man entered the U.S. on September 19 to visit family after travelling from Liberia, he reportedly took sick a few days later and has been in isolation at the hospital since Sunday.

Deadly virus

The Ebola epidemic was discovered earlier this year and allegedly started in the West African country of Guinea. The deadly virus has since spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal.

According to the World Health Organisation, (WHO) Ebola symptoms can include fever, muscle pains, vomiting, internal and external bleeding and can appear as long as 21 days after exposure to the virus.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, also stated that the virus is spread through direct contact with an infected person, through either bodily fluids, objects such as needles that have been contaminated with the disease and infected animals.

The epidemic has so far killed over 3000 people in West Africa.

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US reports first Ebola case

Medicanja to launch first products this month

Dr. Henry Lowe, the Chief Executive Officer of  Medicanja,  says Jamaicans must push to ensure the benefits of  a local medical marijuana industry are realised for locals before foreigners tap the market.

Lowe who was speaking at a recent Mayberry Investors Forum seminar said given the benefits he cannot understand why more local investors are not seeking to establish up companies in Jamaica to produce medical marijuana.

Medicanja was launched last December as the country’s first company set up to produce medical products from ganja.
Lowe says some of  the first products from the company will be launched later this month.

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Medicanja to launch first products this month

Medicanja to launch first products this month

Dr. Henry Lowe, the Chief Executive Officer of  Medicanja,  says Jamaicans must push to ensure the benefits of  a local medical marijuana industry are realised for locals before foreigners tap the market.

Lowe who was speaking at a recent Mayberry Investors Forum seminar said given the benefits he cannot understand why more local investors are not seeking to establish up companies in Jamaica to produce medical marijuana.

Medicanja was launched last December as the country’s first company set up to produce medical products from ganja.
Lowe says some of  the first products from the company will be launched later this month.

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Medicanja to launch first products this month

Tabloid sting is first test for UK"s new regulator

Monday, September 29, 2014 | 6:40 AM    

LONDON, England (AFP) – Britain’s new press regulator was asked Monday to consider whether a tabloid sting operation that prompted a junior minister to resign broke the newspaper code of conduct, in its first real test following the phone-hacking scandal.

Brooks Newmark, a lawmaker in Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative party and a married father of five children, stepped down on Saturday after the Sunday Mirror tabloid said he had sent an explicit photo to an undercover reporter.

The reporter had posed as a pretty blonde party activist and flirted online with the 56-year-old politician, who had led efforts to get more female Tories elected to parliament.

The male reporter also made contact with several other Conservative lawmakers — one of whom, Mark Pritchard, is now making a complaint to the media regulator.

“Test for IPSO and Met Police. I will write to both today about Sunday Mirror story. Was the criminal law and IPSO Code of Conduct broken?” Pritchard tweeted.

IPSO was set up to replace the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), which was discredited after the revelation of widespread phone-hacking at the News of the World tabloid.

It only started work this month but critics already question how effective it can be given that, like the PCC, it involves members of the press regulating themselves.

The Sunday Mirror defended the sting operation against Newmark, which it said was conducted by a freelance reporter.

“The investigation, which had a clear public interest, was carried out following information from a reliable source,” the paper’s weekend editor, Alison Phillips, told the Guardian newspaper.

However, media commentator Roy Greenslade, a professor of journalism at City University in London and a former editor of the Daily Mirror, disagreed.

He noted that so-called “fishing expeditions” when subterfuge is used on the off-chance of discovering some wrongdoing are not allowed under the Code of Conduct unless there are existing grounds for the investigation and it is “in the public interest”.

“I don’t think one can say within the code that this was justified,” Greenslade told BBC radio.

He added of Newmark: “He hadn’t broken the law, it was an adult to adult piece of foolishness. I can’t see that this really advanced investigative journalism in any way.”

It also emerged Monday that the photograph on the fake Twitter account used to communicate with the politician was of a Swedish model, who had not given her permission.

“I feel shocked. It’s unpleasant that someone used the picture like that without permission,” 22-year-old Malin Sahlen told Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet.

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Tabloid sting is first test for UK"s new regulator

Health minister"s admission on Chikungunya epidemic is only a first step, says Opposition

Monday, September 29, 2014 | 6:07 AM    

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica Labour Party spokesman on Health Dr Kenneth Baugh says he welcomes the admission by Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson that there is a Chikungunya epidemic. The comment by Dr Baugh comes after the national address last night by the Health Minister.

Dr Baugh stated that this presents an opportunity for a long overdue cohesive national approach, and noted that Dr Kevin Harvey, Acting Chief Medical Officer, had already publicly stated that the virus could affect up to 60% of the entire Jamaican population.

The Opposition spokesman on Health again made clear that the virus is serious not only in its impact on persons and the economy, but in respect of the speed with which it spreads.  He said he was therefore also pleased that the labels of “alarmist” and “scare mongering” have been removed as they had detracted from persons treating the illness as serious, and distracted the Ministry and its agencies from mobilizing and energizing people to constrain the illness.

Dr Baugh noted that while the Minister has finally confronted the seriousness of the issue, he did not address several things. 

He said: “It was unfortunate that his presentation ignored the fact that a lot of pharmacies are out of stock of the basic medications needed to address symptoms.  He needs to make urgent provisions for this.  Related to this point is the fact that the Minister also did not address the matter of budgetary provisions.  The JLP spokesman on Finance, Audley Shaw, has already called for emergency funds to be allocated whether from ODPEM or TEF or otherwise, but the Minister did not address these important points. The Minister also did not bring forward any plan to deal with the garbage pileup across the island that is providing a habitat for mosquitoes.

Dr Baugh also called on the Minister to promptly announce details regarding the emergency command centre, including the location, telephone number and the skill sets that will be mobilized there.  He also said the Minister must ensure that regular information bulletins are issued by text messages and traditional media – providing public health tips, information as to numbers of persons affected in particular areas and steps being taken to manage the situation.

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Health minister"s admission on Chikungunya epidemic is only a first step, says Opposition

US, allies hit ISIS in Syria near Turkey border - British planes prepare for first mission against ISIS

BEIRUT –  U.S.-led coalition warplanes struck Islamic State fighters in Syria attacking a town near the Turkish border for the first time Saturday, as well as positions in the country’s east, activists and a Kurdish official said.

The Islamic State group’s assault on the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani has sent more than 100,000 refugees streaming across the border into Turkey in recent days as Kurdish forces from Iraq and Turkey have raced to the front lines to defend the town.

Nawaf Khalil, a spokesman for Syria’s Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD, said the strikes targeted Islamic State positions near Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, destroying two tanks. He said the jihadi fighters later shelled the town, wounding a number of civilians.

The United States and five Arab allies launched an aerial campaign against Islamic State fighters in Syria early Tuesday with the aim of rolling back and ultimately crushing the extremist group, which has created a proto-state spanning the Syria-Iraq border. Along the way, the militants have massacred captured Syrian and Iraqi troops, terrorized minorities in both countries and beheaded two American journalists and a British aid worker.

The latest airstrikes came as Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told the Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV that airstrikes alone “will not be able wipe out” the Islamic State group. Speaking from New York where he is attending the U.N. General Assembly, al-Moallem said in remarks broadcast Saturday that the U.S. should work with Damascus if it wants to win the war.

“They must know the importance of coordination with the people of this country because they know what goes on there,” al-Moallem said. The U.S. has ruled out any coordination with President Bashar Assad’s government, which is at war with the Islamic State group as well as Western-backed rebels.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the coalition’s strikes near Kobani came amid heavy fighting between the Islamic State group and members of the Kurdish force known as the People’s Protection Units, or YPK.

The Britain-based group, which relies on activists inside Syria, had no immediate word on casualties from Saturday’s strikes. The Observatory reported Friday that 13 civilians have been killed by the strikes since they began.

Kurdish fighter Majid Goran told the Associated Press by telephone from Kobani that two bombs were dropped over the nearby village of Ali Shar, at 6 a.m. (11 p.m. Eastern Friday), but that the positions they struck were empty.

Turkey’s Dogan news agency reported Saturday that the sound of heavy fighting could be heard from the Turkish border village of Karaca. The agency said Kurdish forces retook some positions they had lost to the Islamic militants a few days ago. It did not cite a source for the report.

Dozens of people wounded in the fighting arrived in Turkey for treatment on Saturday, it said.

Another Kurdish fighter, Ismet Sheikh Hasan, said the Turkish military on Saturday night retaliated after stray shells landed on Turkish territory, firing in the Ali Shar region. He said the Turkish action left Kurdish fighters in the middle of the crossfire.

He said that on Friday, the Islamic militants were attacking the Kobani area from the east with tanks and artillery, advancing on Ali Shar and Haja. He said some 20 people were killed, including Kurdish fighters and civilians, while another 50 people were wounded.

The fighting around Kobani sparked one of the largest single outflows of refugees since Syria’s conflict began more than three years ago. The Syrian Kurdish forces have long been one of the most effective fighting units battling the Islamic State, but the tide has turned in recent weeks as the Islamic militants have attacked with heavy weapons likely looted from neighboring Iraq.

The Observatory said other coalition airstrikes targeted Islamic State compounds in the central province of Homs and the northern regions of Raqqa and Aleppo. The group said 31 explosions were heard in the city of Raqqa, the group’s de facto capital, and its suburbs.

The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said the strikes in the east hit the province of Deir el-Zour as well as Raqqa. The LCC also said the coalition targeted grain silos west of Deir el-Zour city.

It was not immediately clear why the silos were targeted.

Max Blumenfeld, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said the U.S. airstrikes “don’t target food or anything else than can be used by the civilian population.” But he said that until the military reviews images from planes that participated in the strikes, he could not rule out that silos were hit.

He said the airstrikes are aimed at specific Islamic State targets such as command and control centers, transportation and logistics, and oil refineries, “but not food that could have an impact upon the civilian population.”

“Our targets are structures that combatants would use,” he said.

Blumenfeld later said the U.S. did target what he called an Islamic State grain storage facility on Tuesday near Boukamal, a town close to the Iraqi border which was seized by the Islamic State group earlier this year.

In recent days coalition warplanes had struck oil-producing facilities in eastern Syria in a bid to cut off one of the Islamic State group’s main revenue streams — black market oil sales that the U.S. says generate up to $2 million a day.

The coalition striking Syria includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan, and the strikes are an extension of the U.S. campaign in neighboring Iraq launched in August.

Near the capital Damascus, Syrian troops meanwhile entered the once rebel-held northeastern suburb of Adra after days of clashes, Syrian state TV said. The advance came two days after troops captured the nearby Adra industrial zone.

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US, allies hit ISIS in Syria near Turkey border - British planes prepare for first mission against ISIS

Range Hill Records releases first production

Despite their emergence on the musical scene less than two years now, Florida-based recording imprint Range Hill Records, is intent on making an indelible mark on the Jamaican music industry.

Owned and operated by Otis Wright, who dons the moniker ‘Mr Wright’, the label is set to release its first official production titled The Rock Island Rhythm in the coming days.

Reminiscent of the early 1990s, with its grooving bass-line and melodic vocals, the compilation features a number of burgeoning acts such as Shauna, Mr Wright and Karamanti, bolstered by seasoned campaigners Laden, Jah Vinci and Demarco.

Label executives say plans are now afoot for the unveiling of an aggressive promotional campaign heading into the Heroes Weekend and Christmas season. Annexed to said campaign will be a pair of videos for Demarco and Jah Vinci, to be shot by True Gift Entertainment.

“We truly believe in this project as one that can take Range Hill Records to that next level and gain us the requisite recognition of becoming a major player in the Jamaican industry, hence our reason for launching such an aggressive campaign,” Wright said.

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Range Hill Records releases first production