Free Republic

Gang warfare shuts down Vauxhall High published: Tuesday | September 20, 2005 Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer Angela Chaplin, principal of Vauxhall High School in east Kingston, talks with the Gleaner news team in an empty class room yesterday, following the closure of the institution because of security problems. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER THE VAUXHALL High School in east Kingston was closed yesterday after teachers raised concerns over inadequate security with administrators.Angela Chaplin, the school's principal, told The Gleaner yesterday that the school will be re-opened today. The school's new term started on August 29. "They (teachers) decided to...

Qatar pledged $100 million in humanitarian assistance Saturday to help Americans recover from Hurricane Katrina, heading a list of more than a dozen countries joining an outpouring of support. They added to the more than 50 countries who had made pledges by the end of the day Friday. ``In these difficult circumstances, the people and the government of the state of Qatar would like to assure the people of the United States of its support and desire to assist the people in the affected area along the United States Gulf Coast,'' said a statement from the oil-rich Persian Gulf state's...

In an accelerating drive, more than 50 countries have pledged money or other assistance to help Americans recover from Hurricane Katrina. Cuba and Venezuela have offered to help despite differences with Washington. Oil giant Saudi Arabia and small countries like Sri Lanka and Dominica are among the nations making pledges. "I hope that will remind Americans that we are all part of the same community," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday as offers kept pouring in. None has been turned down, Rice said at a news conference, disputing a report from Moscow that a Russian offer had been rejected....

MORE than 20 countries, from allies Germany and Japan to prickly Venezuela and poor Honduras, have offered to help the United States cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Accustomed to being a rich donor rather than on the receiving end of charity, the United States initially seemed reticent about accepting foreign aid, but later said it would take up any offers. The hurricane devastated New Orleans and other parts of the US Gulf Coast, killing hundreds and possibly thousands. "Anything that can be of help to alleviate the tragic situation of the area affected by Hurricane Katrina will be...

Venezuela will provide Jamaica with 22,000 barrels of oil a day Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has signed a deal with Jamaica to supply it with oil at preferential rates. Mr Chavez said his country, the world's fifth largest oil producer, was meeting the "call of conscience" by supplying cheap oil at a time of rising prices. The agreement is part of a regional Petrocaribe initiative - proposed by Mr Chavez - to which most of the Caribbean countries have signed up. Jamaica is the first to formalise its participation in the project. Venezuela has been discussing similar deals with many...

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will travel to Jamaica on Tuesday for a one-day visit to cement plans to supply cheaper oil to Caribbean countries, the island's Foreign Affairs Ministry said. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (R) and his Cuban counterpart Fidel Castro arrive at Chavez's weekly broadcast, 'Alo Presidente,' in Sandino near Pinar del Rio, Cuba August 21st, 2005. Chavez, accompanied by Castro, broadcasted live from Cuba during his 13th visit to Cuba since taking power in 1999. (Handout/Miraflores Palace) * Chavez and *Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson are expected to sign an accord finalizing the PetroCaribe...

...."No, I'm not surprised that a young Jamaican male may be involved. People don't understand the Koran but there are clear verses that instruct Muslims to destroy the opponents of Allah. The new radical Islam is spreading all over... and it is spreading all over the world so it is not surprising that a Jamaican may be involved, " Lloyd Cooke, a lecturer at the Jamaica Bible College in Mandeville, told The Gleaner yesterday. "Nationality has nothing to do with it, it has everything to do with conviction."

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) Country music icon Willie Nelson is trying something a little different. Nelson, 72, will release a long-awaited reggae album, "Countryman" in July. He shot video in Jamaica this month for a cover of Jimmy Cliff's reggae classic "The Harder They Come" and Johnny and June Carter Cash's country music classic "I'm a Worried Man." "Willie started the project 10 years ago when he first came to Jamaica, but it's only been completed now," Mike Cacia, who worked on the album videos, said Thursday. Nelson, 72, began production on "Countryman" in 1995. The project was shelved when the...

Some of the sovereign countries who have the monarch as Head of State ‘want out’ THE confusion triggered by the Prince of Wales’s marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles could precipitate a new wave of republicanism across Britain’s former colonies and jeopardise the future monarch’s chances of becoming head of the Commonwealth. As the debate rages over whether Mrs Parker Bowles will become Queen Camilla, the issue has caused deep concern among some of the 15 sovereign countries around the world who still recognise the British monarch as their head of state. Joel Kibazo, spokesman for the Commonwealth Secretariat, which is...

KINGSTON -- Popular reggae dancehall singer Sizzla was sentenced to 15 days in prison for using profanity during a Christmas Day performance. Sizzla, whose real name is Miguel Collins, began serving the prison term immediately after a court sentenced him Wednesday in Yallahs, just east of Kingston, the Jamaican capital.

NEW YORK, January 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The United Nations Committee that oversees compliance with the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) pressured Italy Tuesday to halt discrimination against immigrant women. The UN committee felt immigrant women in Italy were unfairly restricted from entering into prostitution. Aldo Mantovani, Deputy Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations, presented his country's actions to fight prostitution as a positive development for women in the country. However, as pro-life and pro-family lobbyists have frequently experienced, UN ‘experts’ often have a radically different view of reality that is alien to...

Marley's wife plans to exhume remainsBy ANTHONY MITCHELLASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- The widow of reggae legend Bob Marley said Wednesday she plans to exhume his remains in Jamaica and rebury them in his "spiritual resting place" - Ethiopia.No date has been set for the reburial, but it will be after February when monthlong celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Marley's birth are planned in Ethiopia. Both the Ethiopian church and government officials support the project, Rita Marley told The Associated Press and several other news organizations."We are working on bringing his remains to Ethiopia," said Rita Marley,...

Reggae star Bob Marley’s widow plans to exhume his remains in Jamaica and rebury them in his “spiritual resting place,” Ethiopia. The reburial is set for February when month long celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Marley’s birth are planned in Ethiopia. Both the Ethiopian church and government officials have expressed support for the project, Rita Marley said in Addis Ababa today. “We are working on bringing his remains to Ethiopia,” said Rita, a former backing singer for Marley’s band, The Wailers. “It is part of Bob’s own mission.” Marley died of cancer in 1981. Rita Marley said her husband...

Personally, I thought the Queen's Christmas message was rather old hat, or old crown. She's been peddling the old let-us-celebrate-the-strength-of-our-diversity guff for a good 30 years in her Canadian speeches. Of course, they're written for her by her Canadian ministers, and one had hoped that she might be reading the multiculti boilerplate through at least partially clenched teeth. But the Christmas message is the one speech she writes without the advice of her governments, so one must assume she means it. In which case, it seems an odd theme at a time when the internal contradictions of the multicultural society...

Their homophobia is our fault Real liberals would realise it is meaningless to vilify Jamaicans for attitudes that Britain created Decca Aitkenhead Wednesday January 5, 2005 The Guardian The prime minister of Jamaica recently cleared a week to show an American travel show round his island. He danced for the cameras and tasted national dishes with a smile to sell his country to tourist dollars. During a break in filming, he gave the Guardian an interview. How did PJ Patterson plan to remedy the damage Jamaica's gay rights record was doing to its image? The smile vanished. "Let me make...

THE UNITED States yesterday signed a grant agreement with the Jamaican Government to release J$1.1 billion in funds to assist the country's reconstruction efforts, following the passage of Hurricane Ivan in September. U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica, Sue Cobb, made the presentation to Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Omar Davies, at his Heroes Circle office in Kingston. "This $1.1 billion infusion of funds granted today will be focused on rebuilding homes, schools and community centres and will provide assistance for small business enterprises," Mrs. Cobb said. The funds will be administered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID),...

BUSH'S US$50M BAILOUT Grenada, Jamaica, Haiti on rescue list Thursday, September 30th 2004 Victims in hurricane-ravaged islands such as Grenada, Jamaica and Haiti may soon have something to smile about, if a request from US President George Bush for $50 million to aid in international disaster and famine relief is granted by the US Congress. In a press release yesterday, the United States Embassy said the funds for the Caribbean formed part of a $7.1 billion supplemental budget request to assist US and international regions which were heavily damaged this hurricane season. So far, the United States has provided US$3.8...

Hurricane Ivan Hammers Jamaica, Heads for Caymans Sat Sep 11, 2004 12:01 PM ET By Horace Helps KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) - Deadly Hurricane Ivan ripped Jamaica with powerful winds, torrential rains and huge waves on Saturday, tearing away houses and washing out roads before heading toward the tiny Cayman Islands and Cuba. With winds of 155 mph and a death toll already at 29 -- mostly on the devastated southeastern Caribbean island of Grenada -- Ivan gave Jamaica's 2.7 million people a small, last-minute reprieve when its center took a sudden westward turn. That kept the most catastrophic winds off...

Hurricane Ivan begins lashing Jamaica, threatens direct hit on capital; death toll rises to 33 in Caribbean STEVENSON JACOBS, Associated Press Writer Friday, September 10, 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (09-10) 14:56 PDT KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) -- Waves two-stories high crashed on Jamaica's eastern shore Friday, flooding homes and washing away roads as Hurricane Ivan's ferocious winds and pounding rains began to lash the island and threatened a direct hit on its densely populated capital. The death toll elsewhere in the Caribbean rose to 33. Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson declared a public emergency and pleaded with the half million people considered in...

HELL NIGHT: JAMAICA; EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE IVAN COULD REACH CAT 5 STRENGTH BEFORE LANDFALL 000 WTNT34 KNHC 110234 TCPAT4 BULLETIN HURRICANE IVAN ADVISORY NUMBER 35 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 11 PM EDT FRI SEP 10 2004 ...EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE IVAN NEARING JAMAICA...COULD REACH CATEGORY 5 STRENGTH BEFORE LANDFALL... A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR JAMAICA AND THE CAYMAN ISLANDS. A HURRICANE WATCH AND A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR THE ENTIRE SOUTHWEST PENINSULA OF HAITI FROM THE BORDER OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC WESTWARD...INCLUDING PORT AU PRINCE. THIS WARNING WILL LIKELY BE DISCONTINUED LATER TONIGHT. A...