REFUGEE CITY : 6,000 Syrians Forced To Flee Their Homes Every Day... At Least 1.8 Million Displaced... UN: One Of The Worst Humanitarian Crises In Recent History

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An average of 6,000 Syrians a day have fled their war-torn country since the beginning of 2013, in what the United Nations considers one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history. More than 1.8 million Syrians have officially registered as refugees since the start of the conflict in March 2011, taking shelter in neighboring countries Jordan, Iraq, Turkey and Lebanon.

The photos below, taken during U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's trip to Jordan, are a shocking reminder of the scale of the Syrian refugee crisis. According to AFP, Zaatari is now home to 160,000 Syrians, a number that would equal the population of Jordan's fifth-largest city. The AP puts the population at 115,000.

According to the U.N., the war in Syria is the worst humanitarian crisis since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, with more than 93,000 people already having lost their lives. Read More...

Jamaica Advocay Youth group calls for legalisation of abortion... Read more by clicking below

Lisa Hannah, Minister of Youth

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- The Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network (JYAN) has commended the Minister of Youth, Lisa Hanna, for addressing the issue of reproductive health and rights of women and has called for the legalisation of abortion. 

According to Jason Madden, a youth advocate with the organisation, “the illegality of abortion has not prevented about 22,000 women and girls between 15 and 44 years to procure an abortion every year in Jamaica."

 “Many women and girls are endangering themselves because of the inaccessibility and un-affordability of abortions in Jamaica. We believe the time has come for us to protect and promote the reproductive rights of women and girls,” Madden argued. “Far too many are in desperate need and we eagerly anticipate the leadership of Minister Hanna on this important issue.” Read More...

Former MP George Lyn Hailed As A Champion Of The Poor

George Lyn (Seated)

Colin Campbell, the political figure who ran on the People's National Party (PNP) ticket in the December 2011 general election for North Central Clarendon, yesterday described the former Member of Parliament (MP) George Lyn as a grassroots politician who has left an indelible mark in the constituency.

Lyn, 81, died in the May Pen Hospital yesterday morning after a long illness.

The former MP suffered a stroke four years ago, and a heart attack about two weeks ago that sent him back to hospital. Lena Lyn, his wife of many years, was by his side when he took his last breath.

"The most outstanding feature of his tenure and beyond is the significant amount of personal resources he dispensed in solving the problems experienced by the people whom he served," Campbell said of Lyn.

Pearnel Charles, the current MP in the constituency, described his long-time political rival as an indefatigable champion of the poor in the constituency he represented for two terms, between 1993 and 2002. Read More...

Vybz Kartel Jury Released Until Next Tuesday

The 12-member jury trying the murder case of dancehall entertainer Vybz Kartel and his two co-accused has been released until Tuesday because the hearing that is taking place in their absence is expected to end on Monday.

Yesterday, Justice Bryan Sykes told the jurors that the process was taking some time to be completed.

The hearing began on Tuesday morning and the prosecutors had said that the process would be completed at mid-day. It was not completed by that time and the jurors were asked to return yesterday morning.

The prosecution is making an application under Section 31(D) of the Evidence (Amendment ) Act. The section addresses the admission of statements in cases where witnesses cannot be found or are not available.

Sykes will make a ruling at the end of the hearing.

Three witnesses have so far testified at the trial which began on Monday in the Home Circuit Court. Read More...

Portia Out Of Her Lane: Parents Wary Of Proposal To Test High-School Athletes But Principal Gives PM's Plan Thumbs Up

A proposal by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller to subject high-school athletes to drug testing is not finding favour with some parents.

Portia Simpson-Miller

The proposal was put forward by Simpson Miller in Parliament on Tuesday, just days after news broke that five Jamaican athletes, including high-profile sprinters Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson, had tested positive for banned substances.

Yesterday, Kirk Grey, who is making preparation to send his child to Wolmer's High School for Boys come September, said he found distasteful the idea of having his son - an avid sports competitor - tested for drugs in high school.

"For children at that age, it is more about the competition and less about the money. Athletes who are in the business for money, you will find them taking the drugs but not the children," Grey argued.

"To have them being tested paints a picture that Jamaica is a drug country and this is what our children are doing." Read More...

THE GLEANER MINUTE: Doping sanction... Athletes walk out... Mandela day... Highway crash...(VIDEO)

JAMAICAN TRAVIS SMIKLE "I Never Attempted To Cheat" after Positive Drug Test

Traves Smikle

Discus thrower, Jamaican Traves Smikle has released a statement confirming that he returned an adverse analytical finding at the recent national trials. 

In the statement, Smikle did not identify the substance for which he has been tested positive. However, he said he did not knowingly or willfully ingest any banned substance. 

"I have never attempted to cheat and have always considered myself an ambassador for the sport and a strong supporter of drug testing," he said.  Read More...

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To listen, click PLAY icon above then unmute speaker icon at bottom left on player after a brief commercial. Enjoy the sweet music.To chat below, please sign in with your RBN account. Scheduled shows are PALVS & SSSJamz w/ RULA BROWN, Sir ROCKWELL w/ Golden Sundays, Foundation Radio Networkw/ CLINTON LINDSAY is broadcast daily. TONY RYAN w/ Tony Ryan Showcase every Mon-Fri. Pleasesupport the scholarship program by considering to donate at least $10.00 at www.PALAS1.org. Thank you very much.

IN JAMAICA : 5-y-o boy hit by stroke; father seeks divine help......"doctors told me that they found that one side of my son's brain is bleeding and the other side is swollen,"

Errol Campbell and his 15 y-o son O'Tar

 IN the last two weeks, cabinetmaker and father of three Errol Campbell has been faced with a challenge that would send any parent into a tailspin.

Without warning, the 42-year-old has been thrusted into a race against time to save his ailing five-year-old son Kevrol, who remains unconscious in hospital. The once-active boy was suddenly struck by what they believed as a mysterious illness, which has since left Campbell and his wife Melene on their knees in prayer.

On being rushed to the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), "doctors told me that they found that one side of my son's brain is bleeding and the other side is swollen," the obviously distraught father told the Jamaica Observer. Campbell said doctors have, in the last few days, performed an emergency surgery on the child and are now closely monitoring his condition. But this has done little to calm Campbell's fears.

"Doctor seh it don't look like him going make it; but I am just keeping my fingers crossed," the Linstead resident said as he disembarked a bus inside the Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre, tears streaming down his face. Read more: 

 

This man shouldve been the Prosecuting Attorney. Please Share Does It Get More Honest Then This?: Man Explains Why Zimmerman Is Guilty & How The Fight With Trayvon Martin Went Down. (VIDEO)

USAIN BOLT : Eyes Fixed On King Bolt - As Doping Scandal Rocks Athletics, Italians Hope Poster Boy Is Clean

JAMAICA'S IMAGE has taken a battering in Italy as a result of the positive dope tests of ace sprinter Asafa Powell and countrywoman Sherone Simpson, Italian consul to Jamaica, Carla Gullotta, told The Gleaner from her homeland.

Bolt

"It is serious, and I am so very sorry and concerned that this can somehow compromise the beautiful image of Jamaican athletes, and Jamaica, in front of the whole world," Gullotta said.

She said that Italian newspapers have been carrying articles which indicate that the positive tests have been seen as disheartening and pitiful.

"Their wins and their talents were looked at as something new happening in the scenario of sports. People are very sorry and they hope it is not true," Gullotta said.

She said focus has been turned on the world's fastest man, Usain Bolt, "praying that he is not involved in the same thing because they say Bolt represents something for Jamaica, something for the rest of the world". Read More...

MUMBAI, INDIA: Insecticide-Laden Lunches Killed 22 Children, Doctor Says....Indian principal on the run after 22 students die from school lunches

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Police are searching for the headmistress and her husband for questioning
• At least 75 men attack a kitchen used to prepare school meals
• The cook refutes claims that she had raised concerns about the cooking oil
• Authorities believe the poison is a sarin-like nerve gas used in agriculture

Bihar, India (CNN) -- The headmistress of the school where poisoned lunches killed 22 students is on the run.

Local police chief Sujit Kumar said authorities are looking for the principal, who was not named, and her husband for questioning.

The students started soon after their first bite of rice and potatoes at the school in the northeastern state of Bihar on Tuesday. Some fainted.

Twenty four remained hospitalized Thursday.

Now, attention is turning to government accountability over the school food program that feeds more than 100 million children -- often with different standards across the country.

"It is just a reflection of the sort of neglect ... and these sorts of concerns in that state and states around that area," said Reetika Khera of the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi.

"In the southern part of the country, children get not only good quality food, they also get very nutritious food," she said. "But this is not the case in Bihar." READ More...

Matthew Flugence Confesses to Stabbing Murder of 6 Year Old Ahlittia North

NEW ORLEANS -- A suspect in the stabbing death of a 6-year-old girl whose body was found in a trash can only days after she disappeared from a suburban New Orleans apartment has confessed to the killing, a sheriff said Wednesday.

Matthew Flugence, 20, was captured Tuesday night after authorities received tips he had been sighted, said Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand. Flugence was booked on a first-degree murder charge in the death of Ahlittia North. "We began interviewing Matthew through the evening and he admitted to the murder of Ahlittia North," Normand said at a news conference.

The 6-year-old had been put to bed Friday night and was found missing early Saturday from an apartment where she lived with her mother and stepfather in the Jefferson Parish community of Harvey, near New Orleans. Read More...READ More...

John Henry Spooner Shooting 13 y-o African American youth in chest and killed him ( VIDEO): Evidence Shows Darius Simmons Killed (GRAPHIC)

Spooner shoots 13 y-o in chest and killed him

A video entered as evidence in the murder trial of John Henry Spooner on Tuesday appears to show the 76-year-old shooting his 13-year-old neighbor Darius Simmons dead.

The Milwaukee senior is charged with first-degree homicide after the alleged incident in May last year. Jurors saw the video (below), taken from Spooner's own surveillance camera, that shows the suspect walk out of his house, brandishing a gun. After a short argument, the man in the video waves the gun around before he shoots Simmons in the chest. Simmons manages to flee outside the scope of the camera before dying. READ More...

Talia Joy Castellano Dead: Inspirational YouTube Star Dies After 6-Year Battle With Cancer (VIDEO)

Talia Castellano

Talia Joy Castellano, the charming teen that inspired thousands with her YouTube make-up tutorials, died at 13 of cancer.

With wise beauty tips and an inspirational story, Talia became an Internet sensation and captivated many with her extensive cosmetic knowledge as well as her experience fighting two forms of aggressive cancer: neuroblastoma and preleukemia. On Tuesday, a message appeared on the teen’s Facebook page announcing her death.  READ More...

AFRICAN AMERICAN woman, Terry Ragland Diagnosed With 'Ghetto Booty' By White Tennessee Doctor Timothy Sweo after back pain complaint

©2013 MapQuest  -  Portions ©2013 Natural Earth | Terms

They don't teach terminology like this in medical school.

Terry Ragland, a woman in Tennessee, was incensed after her doctor, Timothy Sweo, diagnosed the source of her severe lower back pain as "ghetto booty."

“I think I blacked out after he said ghetto booty. I think my mind was just stuck on the phrase because I couldn’t believe he said that,” said Ragland, 55, in an interview with area news outlet WREG. READ More...

LAUREL K. BROWN with NYC MAYOR, MICHAEL BLOOMBERG AND SMALL BUSINESS SERVICES COMMISSIONER WALSH PRESENT 12th ANNUAL NEIGHBORHOOD ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS AT GRACIE MANSION

Mayor Bloomberg at Gracie Mansion with Laurel Brown (Far Right) 

MAYOR BLOOMBERG AND SMALL BUSINESS SERVICES COMMISSIONER WALSH PRESENT 12^th ANNUAL NEIGHBORHOOD ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Awards Honor Organizations and Individuals for Their Outstanding Impact on New York City’s Neighborhoods

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert K. Steel, and New York City Department of Small Business Services Commissioner Robert W. Walsh presented the 2013 Neighborhood Achievement Awards today to recipients from all five boroughs for their outstanding impact on New York City’s neighborhoods. Established in 2002, the awards honor organizations, businesses and individuals that have demonstrated excellence in enhancing New York City neighborhoods by fostering economic opportunity. This year’s awards included a new category called the Helping Hand Award, to honor a business, organization, or individual that went above and beyond to help the people, businesses, and neighborhoods affected by Hurricane Sandy. The awards were presented at Gracie Mansion. The BID Leadership Award was presented to three individuals.

• Laurel Brown / Jamaica Center Business Improvement District, Queens – Laurel Brown, Executive Director of the Jamaica Center Business Improvement District (BID), is responsible for making Jamaica Center a thriving business hub and enjoyable destination to work, live and visit. The BID provides sanitation, graffiti removal, maintenance, and marketing services to the district. Last year the Jamaica Center BID's Clean Team logged over 17,000 hours removing 1,100 tons of litter from nearly 50,000 trash bags from Jamaica Avenue, averaging three tons of garbage every day. Laurel manages her large district with limited resources, yet she is constantly encouraging her staff, colleagues, and youth in the community.  READ More...

Asafa Powell's hotel room raided by Italian police, with a stash of pills and medicine found

Italian police have reportedly discovered a stash of unidentified pills and medicines in the hotel room of Asafa Powell, the Jamaican sprinter accused of doping. Carabinieri officers searched Powell’s hotel room overnight, a day after it emerged that he had tested positive for a banned stimulant, oxilofrine, at the Jamaican championships last month.

Powell and other Jamaican athletes have been training in the area, part of the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region which abuts the border of Slovenia.

Police from a specialist drug and food safety unit found around 50 boxes and vials containing medicines and pills, according to Italian press reports.

“For the moment there have been no arrests,” a police source told the Italian press. READ more...

Miracle X 3! - Manchester Teenager Gives Birth To Triplets After Being Told By Doctors She Could Never Get Pregnant

Danielle Young and two
of her daughters. The third baby
 is in the hospital being
treated for a minor injury

After being informed by her doctor that she would never get pregnant, it was a miracle when 19-year-old Danielle Young gave birth to not one, not two, but three girls at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH) in Kingston two weeks ago.

Having given up hope of ever having children, Young, a resident of Christiana in Manchester, went for medical treatment at a private doctor, after experiencing stomach pains. The piercing intensity of stomach pains in January prompted her doctor to rush for the ultrasound machine.

Shocked at the revelation that she was pregnant with triplets, Young recalled that she wept uncontrollably.

"I knew from the time I found out that I was pregnant that it was triplets, but at the time, it came as a shock to my doctor and myself," Young toldThe Sunday Gleaner. Read More...

American Tyson Gay Tests Positive For Banned Substance

Tyson Gay

American Tyson Gay has been tested positive for a banned substance. The American has since pulled out of the World Championships slated for next month in Moscow. "I don't have a sabotage story... I basically put my trust in someone and was let down," he said. 

"I know exactly what went on, but I can't discuss it right now. "I hope I am able to run again, but I will take whatever punishment I get like a man." READ More...

ASAFA POWELL & SHERONE SIMPSON TESTED POSITIVE FOR BANNED SUBSTANCES: Difficult Time, Says Sherone, Asafa Devastated … See Full Statements

MVP Track Club stars Sherone Simpson and Asafa Powell have released statements confirming that they have tested positive for a banned substance. 

In their statements both athletes said the substance - a stimulant called oxilofrine (methylsynephrine) – was found in their samples taken at the National Trials in Kingston in June.  “This is a very difficult time for me,” said Simpson, a 2004 Olympic relay gold medallist. Meanwhile, Powell, a member of Jamaica's Beijing Olympics gold-medal-winning relay team said he was surprised at the finding. READ More...

55 new PALAS scholarship recipient names to be announced 7/14/13 on 9 Radio Networks. 110 scholarship awards & 10 computers in the past 3 years. Please donate online at www.PALAS1.org or send a check payable to PALAS, P.O. Box 5461, Alpharetta GA 30023 USA.

Peace and Love Academic Scholarship, Inc. (PALAS) will be announcing the names of the 2013-2014 scholarship recipients. The names will be announced this weekend on www.RulaBrownNetwork.com (RBN) via Sultry Sunday Slow Jamz, (7/14/13) and eight other radio networks including CaribbeanRadioShow, RockDaBox, Mixx102, FoundationRadioNetwork, Reggaenostalgia, WDBM, Paramountent and USTREAMtv. Showtime is 3-7 pm ET/8-12 pm GMT.

We will also speak with Ms. Angelita Elliott of International All African Inventors Museum (IAAIM), who is sponsoring 3 scholarships with PALAS. The phone lines will be opened. We will also announce the many partners with PALAS (PWP) and the contributors who make this all possible. We still need donation to assist these high school and tertiary level students residing in the Caribbean region. 

We received applications from 128 students.  Over 1,000 files were evaluated; Summary Stats :  age range 12-32 yrs, 87 females, 41 males, 39 High School students, 89 University students, 21 Medical Students, 12 Law Students, 9 Nursing, 9 Science & Engineering and additional liberal and fine arts applicants. The program awarded fifty-five (55) scholarships and five (5) computers over the past 18 months. PALAS goal is to award one-hundred (100) scholarships and computers in 2013-2014 academic year.

Please help us in "Preserving Young Minds for Posterity" by making a donation online up to July 30th, at www.PALAS1.org or send a check payable to PALAS, P.O. Box 5461, Alpharetta GA 30023 USA. PALAS is a non-profit, 501 (c)( 3) entity, tax deductible foundation. READ More...

JAMAICA : Marvin Williams hurdles to historic win at World Youth Champs

Williams

 MONTEGO BAY, St James — Jamaica secured two more medals, including another gold, to stay atop the medals table and extend their historic run of success at the eigth IAAF World Youth Championships that come to an end today in Donetsk, Ukraine.

Marvin Williams ran a Jamaican best and World Youth Leading time of 50.39 seconds to land Jamaica's first ever men's 400m hurdles title, while Christoffe Bryan won the bronze in the high jump, also a first in the event for Jamaica in the history of the competition. Williams' time was also the ninth fastest ever recorded in the 10-barrier one-lap race at the youth level.

Jamaica goes into today's final day of the five-day championship at the top of the medals table with six medals -- four gold and two bronze. Read more: 

 

At 112 y-o, Jane Young loves Guinness stout Centenarian said to be oldest person alive in Jamaica

Jane Young is the oldest living
 person in Jamaica

AT 112, Jane Young may very well be the oldest person alive in Jamaica today.

'So far she is the oldest person that we know of,' Ingrid Hardy, parish organiser for St Andrew at the National Council for Senior Citizens said. "If there is someone older, nobody has called us about that person yet, so right now she is the oldest that we know of," she said. "When we heard she was 112, we said we can't let the opportunity pass and therefore we will try to keep up with you to see how you are doing," Hardy told Young at her belated birthday party held two weeks ago at the St Andrew Sunrise Cottage on Manning's Hill Avenue.

Young was born on June 22, 1901 in Milk River, Clarendon.

Hardy said that the oldest person that they had come across since they started a centenarian programme in 1991, was 110. She died at 113 years old. Read more.... 

 

LATANYA CLAYTON : Olympic Gardens girl tops GSAT with 99.6% average

LATANYA Clayton from St Jude's Primary School, located in the inner-city community of Olympic Gardens, Kingston 11, is this year's top female GSAT performer in the entire island from any school type.

Latanya Clayton

Clayton received an average of 99.6 per cent, after scoring 99 per cent in Mathematics, 100 in Science, 99 in Social Studies, 100 in Language Arts and 12/12 in Communication Tasks.

The top performing boy in the entire island from any school type is Mark Brown from Chetwood Memorial Primary in Montego Bay with an average of 99.4 per cent. He scored 99 per cent in Mathematics, 98 in Science, 100 in Social Studies, 100 in Language Arts and 12/12 in Communication Task.

The two are among 63 students who have been awarded scholarships for their excellent performance in the 2013 GSAT Examination by the Ministry of Education. They were chosen from a field of over 43,000 students who sat the examination in March.

Both students will be moving on to St Andrew High and Cornwall College respectively. And both will be receiving the ScotiaBank Foundation Shining Star Excellence Award valued at a total of $1,435,000 each and paid in equal instalments over seven years or $205,000 per annum. Read more: 

Jr Gong Marley Takes Youths To Sumfest

Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley's fourth appearance on the ReggaeSumfest stage promises to be one for the history books. The Grammy-award winning performer will bring his artistes signed to the Ghetto Youths International (GYI) label on International Night 2, Saturday, July 26.

The appearance will feature Marley along with reggae singers Christopher Ellis, Black-Am-I, Jo Mersa and dancehall artiste Wayne Marshall.

The Ghetto Youths round out the eclectic line-up for the night which also includes Romain Virgo, Chronixx, No-Maddz and R&B singer Miguel.

Fresh from their United States tour to support the label's newest project,Ghetto Youths International Presents Set Up Shop Vol. 1, Jr Gong says the Ghetto Youths are looking forward to sharing their brand of music with Jamaica. READ More...

Mandela Could Soon Be Discharged, Mbeki Says..... (LATEST)

JOHANNESBURG — A former president of South Africa says he expects Nelson Mandela to soon be discharged from the hospital to recuperate at home.

South Africa's radio broadcaster Eyewitness News reported on Sunday that Thabo Mbeki was speaking at a memorial service Saturday when he predicted that Mandela would be going home.

Mandela has been hospitalized for more than five weeks for a recurring lung infection, sparking an outpouring of support in South Africa and internationally. Friends who have visited him say he is on life support in the form of mechanical ventilation. The most recent official update on his health said Mandela was in critical but stable condition.

The anti-apartheid hero spent 27 years in prison before becoming South Africa's first black president in 1994. He turns 95 on Thursday. READ More....

NOT GUILTY*......*BUT NOT INNOCENT...George Zimmerman Not Guilty: Jury Lets Trayvon Martin Killer Go

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After deliberating for more than 16 hours, a jury of six women on Saturday evening found George Zimmerman not guilty in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old in Sanford, Fla.

Zimmerman had pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder with an affirmative defense, claiming he had shot Martin to save his own life after being attacked by the teen on Feb. 26, 2012. The trial, televised nationally on cable networks and streamed live across the Internet on various sites, kept the country captivated awaiting a verdict on the tragic events that took place that rainy night.

Following four weeks of testimony, more than a dozen witnesses and a host of controversy, Zimmerman walked out of court a free man. READ More...