TROPICAL WEATHER: Tropical Storm Danielle forms in the Atlantic far from US; Frank strengthens in Pacific
MIAMI (AP) _ Tropical Storm Danielle has formed in the Atlantic, but the system is still far from land.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Sunday that Danielle had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and the storm is expected to strengthen over the next couple of days.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Frank developed in the Pacific off Mexico, and storm warnings have been issued for parts of the coast.
Forecasters said the storm had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph). It was about 130 miles (205 km) south-southeast of Puerto Angel, Mexico. It was moving west at 8 mph (13 kph).
Mexico has issued a tropical storm warning for the coast from Puerto Angel west to Acapulco. Frank is forecast to move parallel to the coast through Tuesday.
DUBLIN (Reuters) – Britain’s Lloyds is closing its Irish business banking operation and effectively pulling out of the country in the latest blow for a local industry ravaged by bad debts and recession.
Lloyds shuttered its 44-branch retail business, Halifax, in Ireland earlier this year and said yesterday it had changed its mind about maintaining its business operation after concluding there was little opportunity for growth.
Lloyds employs around 800 people in its Bank of Scotland (Ireland) unit and it said around 90 percent of them would transfer over to an independent service company that would administer the runoff of its Irish business banking unit.
“We don’t know who this service company is going to be. The management said it’s their intention to give us a guarantee of no further jobs losses until 2013 but we were told six months ago that Lloyds banking group were committed to this market,” said Brian Gallagher, regional officer with the UNITE trade union.
Other foreign-owned banks have also exited parts of the Irish retail market and the deputy chief executive of Danske Bank’s National Irish Bank unit, which is shutting almost half its branches, told Reuters last week that more would likely leave.
NEW YORK, Aug 20, 2010 (AFP) — World oil prices fell Friday for the third straight session amid worries that weakening growth in the United States could curtail energy demand.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for September, shed 97 cents to US$73.46 per barrel.
London’s Brent North Sea crude for delivery in October dropped US$1.04 to US$74.26 a barrel.
Crude oil prices have remained under pressure near six-week lows, said Myrto Sokou, an analyst at Sucden Financial Research.
“The energy market is looking out of breath and momentum, and it is likely that crude oil prices will possibly see a second week of heavy losses,” she added.
Oil prices fell sharply on Thursday in response to a batch of weak data which sparked fresh fears about the US economic recovery.
The US government said the number of Americans filing new weekly claims for jobless benefits jumped unexpectedly to 500,000, the highest level in nine months, threatening recovery hopes.
Market sentiment was dampened on Wednesday by news of a lower-than-expected fall in US crude reserves.
US crude reserves fell 800,000 barrels in the week ending August 13, less than forecast, official figures showed. Gasoline (petrol) inventories were flat, while analysts had predicted a drop of 500,000 barrels.
“Fears about the economy are not good for oil. As total petroleum supplies rise to all time highs it can only mean one thing and that is demand is falling far below supply,” analyst Phil Flynn of PFG Best Research said.
Butterfield Bank and BF&M Ltd. pared some of their strong gains this week as local stocks fell in yesterday’s trading on the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX).
Butterfield, which rocketed from $1.50 to $1.75 in the space of two days this week, lost five cents, or 2.9 percent yesterday, to end the week on $1.70, as 2,200 shares traded.
Twenty-two of the bank’s eight percent preference shares also traded, as the price remained unchanged on $1,200.
Insurer BF&M Ltd. slipped back 25 cents, or 1.9 percent, to close the day on $12.75 as more than 62,000 shares traded.
Ascendant Group Ltd. was the only climber on the BSX, gaining 20 cents, or 1.4 percent, to close on $14, as 300 of its shares were exchanged. The Royal Gazette / BSX Index fell 23.91 points, or 1.7 percent, to close on 1,370.4. Volume was 64,539 shares and turnover topped $825,000.
The BSX Insurance Index of the Island’s leading international insurance companies fell one point, or 0.1 percent, to close on 909 points.
Kevin Rose, co-founder of Digg, made two bold predictions Saturday about the rumored update to what Steve Jobs calls his “hobby” — an Apple-branded gateway to the vast wasteland of American television. The product Engadget has been calling iTV, according to Rose, 1) is coming in September and 2) will “change everything.”
Never mind that Rose, who claims to have inside information about such things, has a mixed record as an Apple (AAPL) prognosticator. He was right about the iPod nano, but spectacularly wrong about the first iPhone, which according to him was going to have two batteries, a slide-out keyboard and run on both AT&T’s (T) and Verizon’s (VZ) networks.
Here’s what Rose says about iTV:
iOS TV apps: He expects to see an iPhone/Pad like marketplace for television applications with apps for video sharing, streaming and recording, interactive news apps, games, etc.
a la carte (app) stations: “With Apple’s iAds, content producers (e.g. ABC/NBC/etc.) can directly monetize and distribute their content,” which according to Rose will eventually destroy the television side of the cable and satellite industry. “Say goodbye to your monthly cable bill,” he cheerfully predicts.
.Me Picture/Video sharing: “At $99 your parents, grandparents, and friends will have an iTV. Sharing pictures/videos from your iPhone will happen with the push of a button.”
The iPad as “one big badass remote control”: The iPad, he says, will be the preferred input device for the iTV.
A spirited discussion ensued on Rose’s blog. It wasn’t until about 6:30 p.m. Saturday that a commentator named Brad pointed out the fatal flaw in the “changes everything” argument.
“It isn’t outside the realm of possibility,” Brad wrote. But: “If this does kill the satellite/cable content end of things, say goodbye to reasonable monthly unlimited access rates.”
How is your grandmother going to watch those iPhone videos — or anything else — without the unlimited Internet access her local cable monopoly or functional equivalent provides?
Source: TECH FORTUNE
Better Mus Come, set in the suburbs of Jamaica, dabbles in the politics of the island and the harsh realities of the 1970s. The lead actor in the movie is Sheldon Shepherd, of popular dub poetry group No-maddz. With a cast of stars, Shepherd acts out a tale of love, violence, hope and optimism and takes us 30 years back in time, unveiling aspects of Jamaican history that rarely make it into household education.
The movie also features internationally acclaimed actor Guenveur Smith, who played roles in American Gangster and Malcom X, among other Spike Lee films.
Smith takes on the role of the Jamaican prime minister in the 1970s, while Karl Williams plays the leader of Opposition.
According to Saulter, who spoke of his fascination with historic events, the movie came at the right time. The ‘right time’ being while an incursion into Tivoli Gardens by security forces is still fresh in the minds of Jamaicans.
“I did not have any idea things would turn out this way, because the script was started three years ago. Now it ties in perfectly with the current situation the country is experiencing,” Saulter told The Sunday Gleaner.
According to Saulter, the film is the perfect example of life imitating art, and art imitating life.
Break down barriers
Saulter says that he hopes that his film will break down barriers for the Jamaican film industry, which he described as unproductive.
Having written, directed and edited the script himself, Saulter believes that local film directors should be more proactive: “They need to stop complain about money and get some work done, there are avenues to get good information online, on ways to make an effective film at affordable costs,” he said.
“And productivity needs to go up; other poor countries are doing it, so we can do it, too,” said Saulter.
The film-maker also expressed an interest in putting the movie into the international market after covering ground in Jamaica.
Saulter said that the film was shot in high definition and will be projected digitally.
“We want Jamaicans to appreciate watching the film in the cinema same as how we watch international films,” said Saulter.
Shepherd, who plays the protagonist in the movie, has played roles in many Jamaican films. According to the young actor, Better Mus Come was the best production he had seen.
Source: Gleaner
Sunday, August 22 2010
Source Photo: TT Newsday
CARIB QUEEN Valentina Medina, 77, of Arima has been given an estimated two weeks to live by medical doctors.
To help her through her last days, Minister of the People and Social Development Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh, on Friday, in a surprise visit, provided her with an assistant medical care nurse, free of charge. She was also given a stove and a refrigerator and promised “whatever would make her life comfortableâ€.
Medina has made several requests of the Government, including a permanent caregiver to be assigned to her and coverage of all medical expenses and facilities required by her.
Ramadharsingh reportedly got wind of her and her situation/requests and decided to pay her a visit and grant her her wishes, taking into consideration her contribution to society and also the fact, that she represented the Carib community and what the Caribs contributed to TT heritage.
Medina has been terminally ill, having being diagnosed with cancer. Though in a lot of pain and discomfort, her spirit is quite strong, and she is not afraid.
The cancer has covered most of her liver and has spread to her lungs, but she is not yet experiencing respiratory problems.
Additionally, she is still able to ingest small amounts of food and fluid and can walk short distances on her own.
Medina’s challenge is that although several family members reside with her, most times during the day she is alone, with no one to assist her. Her stated desire is to die at home.
Ramadharsingh spent about one hour interacting with her and sharing a few laughs in between. They both discussed the Carib heritage and she showed him her crown and other cultural items.
Medina was said to be “totally overjoyed†and appreciative of Ramadharsingh’s gestures and delivery of social services, including the provision of a medical care assistant.
Medina was born on May 6 1933, in Mount Pleasant, Arima. She is the fifth Carib Queen since the introduction in 1875.
On March 26, 2000, Medina, of Mausica Lands, Arima, also known as Iere, was named Carib Queen for life, at an election at the Santa Rosa Carib Community Centre in Arima.
Medina who was 66 years old at the time she was named the fifth Queen after Justa Werges, has been queen for the previous 11 years. Werges died in January 2000.
Though she embraced the Carib way of life since childhood, after her marriage at 18 years in 1952 to John Medina, she was called on by then Queen (Edith Martinez) to be more active in traditional Carib life.
She was named queen for a day three different times and her husband was named king for the day as well.
Source: TT Newsday
Source Photo: 360 News
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Friday August 20, 2010 –A total of US$220 million worth of United Nations post-earthquake recovery projects in health, education, food security, job creation, rubble removal and reproductive health have been approved by the Interim Haitian Recovery Commission (IHRC).
The approval certifies that the projects are aligned with the Haitian Government’s national reconstruction plan and should therefore receive priority for funding. Agreement on the projects going forward came at a meeting of the IHRC this week.
“The meeting was remarkably successful,†said UN Under-Secretary General and United Nation’s Development Programme (UNDP) Associate Administrator Rebeca Grynspan, who represented the UN at the meeting. “More than 20 relevant projects supported by the Government of Haiti have been approved, among them five for the UN.â€
The Commission gave the nod for more than US$80 million worth of UNDP projects, paving the way for the organization to step up the long-term recovery process, including its successful cash-for-work initiatives that inject cash into the devastated local economy, provide manpower for both short- and long-term reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts and give Haitians the means to provide food, shelter and education for their families.
“With this approval, the Commission opens the door for UNDP to make an appeal to the donor community to continue supporting our interventions in Haiti,†said Jessica Faieta, UNDP Senior Country Director in Haiti.
UNDP, in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the International Organization for Migration— received approval for a US$65 million programme to rehabilitate infrastructure across the country. The programme will build on previous UNDP cash-for-work projects that have employed over 120,000 people since the January 12th earthquake. Once funding is confirmed, this initiative plans to create 300,000 temporary jobs over 12 months.
The newly-approved programme will focus on training people and giving them work in soil conservation and stabilization efforts; the construction of village roads, paths, trials and bridges; agricultural production; public infrastructure maintenance; the rehabilitation or construction of small shops and community centres; and the cleaning and recycling of materials generated by the collapse and demolition of buildings in areas that were severely damaged by the earthquake.
The Commission also approved a US$17 million UNDP community-based debris management project that it will implement in six of the capital’s earthquake-affected neighbourhood in partnership with the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and the International Labour Organization.
Since the necessary funds have already been secured through the Haiti Reconstruction Fund, UNDP and its partners can begin immediately to support the return of displaced people and contribute to the rehabilitation of urban areas in Port-au-Prince destroyed by the earthquake. The debris removal programme aims to do this through the creation of thousands of jobs in the recycling, removal and processing of debris. UNDP is currently implementing a similar project in the city of Léogâne with financial support from the Government of Canada.
Other UN initiatives approved by the Commission include a World Health Organization project on access to health service; a joint WFP, UNICEF and World Bank school-feeding programme; an FAO food security project; and a multi-agency programme on strengthening reproductive health services for women and girls affected by the earthquake.
The Interim Haitian Recovery Commission was created by Haitian Presidential decree to coordinate and oversee recovery and reconstruction efforts. The Commission provides high-level coordination, direction and prioritization, bringing together the work of key ministries. It is co-chaired by Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and former United States President Bill Clinton. The UN takes part in the Commission as a full voting member.
Mr-Vegas-promo-photo
Vegas has also released Boy Shorts, Sweet Jamaica, Can’t Even Walk and Cutie.
Boy Shorts was produced by Billboard chart-topping producer Rohan ‘Sno Cone’ Fuller.
Sweet Jamaica, a faithful ode to the country of his birth, was produced by Vegas himself. The accompanying music video was recently completed under the direction of ace music video director Jason ‘Jay Will’ Williams. The track is already getting rotation on the radio in Jamaica and is gaining momentum stateside and in parts of Europe.
Collaborations
Can’t Even Walk, which was recorded in tribute to O’Neil Edwards, the late Voicemail member, was jointly produced by Mr Vegas and veteran producer Mikey Bennett. The song also features Ghost, Alaine and the two remaining members of Voicemail. A video for Can’t Even Walk was recently released.
It was producer Jeremy Harding (2 Hard Recordings) who gave Mr Vegas his first big hit with Nike Air in 1997. Both have teamed up for the song Cutie, which is featured on Harding’s latest rhythm Project Circus.
Mr Vegas’ current tour has already snaked its way into Canada, the artiste having made a stop at the Montreal Reggae Festival on August 8.
He is currently in Europe for scheduled performances in Italy, Belgium, and Sweden. He will return to the United States where he will perform in various states between September and October. Among them is the Hot 97 On Da Reggae Tip show.
Vegas is being managed by Rodney Hill of RHH Music Corp Hill, who has had years of experience working with artistes including singer Cezar, Andrew Mac, Super Cat and Bob Sinclair, among others, and is a former consultant for Columbia and Uptown Records.
Source: Gleaner
Source Photo: Web MD
Unless it says “light†on the label, that frosty beer you drink may increase the risk of developing psoriasis, a painful skin disease that afflicts more than 7 million Americans, new research indicates.
That’s apparently true for women, at least, according to a study now online that will be published in the December print issue of the journal Archives of Dermatology.
Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston examined data from 82,869 women who in 1991 were between the ages of 27 and 44.
Beer and Psoriasis
The women, participants in a research program called the Nurses Health Study II, described the amounts and types of alcohol they drank on questionnaires every two years, and also reported whether they had been diagnosed with psoriasis.
Among the findings:
1,150 cases of psoriasis developed, of which 1,069 were used for analysis.
Light beer, red and white wine, and liquor were not associated with psoriasis risk.
The risk of psoriasis was 72% greater among women who had an average of 2.3 drinks per week or more, compared to nurses who abstained from alcohol.
The risk of psoriasis was 2.3 times higher for women who drank five or more beers per week than nurses who didn’t drink beer.
Non-Light Beer
“Non-light beer was the only alcoholic beverage that increased the risk for psoriasis, suggesting that certain non-alcoholic components of beer, which are not found in wine or liquor, may play an important role in new-onset psoriasis,†the authors write in the study. “One of these components may be the starch source used in making beer.â€
Barley May Be Culprit
The researchers write that beer is one of the few non-distilled alcoholic drinks that uses a starch source for fermentation, and commonly, it’s barley.
Barley and other starches contain gluten, a substance that some people with psoriasis are very sensitive to, the researchers say.
The researchers say that the association between alcohol consumption and increased risk of new cases of psoriasis, or of the condition worsening, has been suspected for a long time.
“Women with a high risk of psoriasis may consider avoiding higher intake of non-light beer,†the authors say. “We suggest conducting further investigations into the potential mechanisms of non-light beer inducing new-onset psoriasis.â€
Source: WEB MD
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