Tess is home! BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS of TESSANNE CHIN BACK IN JAMAICA (VIDEO)

Jamaican songbird Tessanne Chin is now on home soil after her historic win on the NBC talent show The Voice on Tuesday night. Chin touched down at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston just after 7:00 last night from New York on a private jet courtesy of her sponsors Digicel, to a red carpet welcome.

Here Chin, with trophy in hand, disembarks to wild cheers as sponsorship manager at Digicel Tahnida Nunes (right) looks on. Chin's first local 
performance will be on the Shaggy & Friends charity show on January 4. (PHOTO: BRYAN CUMMINGS) Read more: 

Tessanne Chin on Kathie Lee & Hoda

Access Hollywood: Tessanne Chin's interview after winning the VOICE.

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IN JAMAICA: Police Seize Benz, Set Eyes On Drug Kingpin's Other Assets......As the half-billion-dollar empire of convicted Jamaican drug kingpin Andrew Hamilton continues to crumble

As the half-billion-dollar empire of convicted Jamaican drug kingpin Andrew Hamilton continues to crumble, the Financial Investigations Division (FID) yesterday revealed that it had identified several properties it will seek to have forfeited to the State.

Head of the FID, Justin Felice, told The Gleaner that the properties - both residential units and open lots - are valued at "large amounts".

This Mercedes-Benz motor car was seized
 by the police at the Central Sorting Office
 in Kingston yesterday.
 - Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer

Yesterday, detectives from the FID swooped down on the Central Sorting Office on South Camp Road in Kingston and seized a late-model Mercedes-Benz motor car believed to be among Hamilton's assets.

Felice explained that the car was among 19 assets restrained by the court but said the FID was having difficulties locating it. "We have been looking for that car for some time," he told The Gleaner.

COURT APPEARANCES

The disclosure by Felice came hours after Kingston-based attorney Dawn Satterswaite and two other accused linked to Hamilton appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on money-laundering charges. read more

TESSANNE CHIN IS BACK IN JAMAICA: Welcome Home! Tessanne Touches Base For Short Break

Jamaican singer Tessanne Chin, who on Tuesday was declared winner of NBC's singing competition 'The Voice', arrived on the island last evening to a waiting crowd of supporters that included politicians, family members, friends, and well-wishers.

Tess and husband, Michael Cuffe Jr.

Her plane arrived at 7:20 p.m. and she exited into the waiting arms of her husband, Michael Cuffe. The crowd cheered as she hugged her husband; her father, Richard; her sister, singer Tami Chynn; and brother-in-law, entertainer Wayne Marshall, before greeting others in the receiving line.

Thanking everyone who turned out to welcome her, and tightly grasping the trophy she received on being named winner of the contest, Tessanne joked that she wanted a Grammy award to go along with it. Cuffe said he had her dinner - red peas soup with pig's tail (which he helped prepare) - waiting for her at home.

Richard Chin hugs his daughter, Tessanne,
 upon her arrival at the Norman Manley
 International Airport in Kingston
 last night. In the background is
 Tami Chynn, Tessanne's sister.

Her father said that when Tessanne was 15 years old, he was already imagining her walking the red carpet at the Grammys. He said he told her: "You have to dream before things come true. God knows the right time."

Tessanne became teary-eyed during a press conference held at the airport when her father-in-law, Michael Cuffe Sr, spoke about the close bond she shared with her sister, Tami. read more

President Obama's Half-Brother, Mark Obama Publishes Autobiography - Addresses Domestic Abuse, Reveals Private Family Matters

President Barack Obama's half-brother is publishing an autobiography that details the domestic abuse that served as the theme for his earlier semi-autobiographical novel, which featured an abusive parent patterned on their late father.

Mark Obama Ndesandjo also recounts his sporadic-but-intense encounters with his brother over the years in Cultures: My Odyssey of Self-Discovery. The self-published book, to be released in February, also tries to set the record straight on some points in the president's bestselling 1995 memoir, Dreams From My Father. In that book, Obama seeks to learn more about their father, a mostly absent figure, after learning of his death in a car crash in 1982 at age 46. read more

Student Sam McNair Suspended For Sexual Harassment After Hugging Teacher

A petition for Sam McNair, a Georgia teen suspended from school earlier this month after hugging a teacher, is gaining steam around the Internet.

Sam McNair

The petition, which had over 4,000 signatures on Wednesday afternoon, calls on Gwinnett County Public Schools to overturn McNair’s punishment. According to the Change.org petition, which was started by a Los Angeles woman, “The punishment does NOT fit the violation.”

The high school senior was suspended until next December after a teacher claimed McNair sexually harassed her, according to CBS Atlanta. Video surveillance footage of the incident shows McNair hugging the teacher from behind before she promptly pushes him away. The teacher claims that McNair’s lips and cheek touched her neck, though McNair vehemently denies this, per CBS Atlanta. read more

Tre'viance Markese Walker Killed 5 month old Baby Who Was Crying During Football Game: Cops

News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |

An Oklahoma man allegedly killed a 5-month-old baby because the boy wouldn't stop crying at a football game.

Tre'viance Markese Walker, 22, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend's son, who has been identified only as "J.B.", The Oklahoman reported.

An affidavit states that J.B. died of head injuries he received on December 7 under Walker's care at the man's home in Norman. Walker allegedly told police that he was watching at the University of Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State football game on TV when J.B. started crying, and Walker responded by picking up the infant so aggressively that J.B.'s head "snapped back." read more

Bus Passengers Wrestle Armed Robber To The Ground In Striking Surveillance Footage (VIDEO)

Commuters in Washington were recently interrupted from their normal evening commute when an armed man boarded a Metro bus to West Seattle and tried to rob passengers at gunpoint.

But it was what happened next that makes the situation all the more striking: Bus passengers fought back against the would-be robber.

Surveillance footage released by prosecutors Wednesday shows one commuter push the armed man away before several other passengers jump into the fray. Working together, the bus passengers wrestle the gun-wielding man to the floor.

Though the video cuts away, passengers managed to pin the man down until police could take him into custody. read more

Barbados layoffs could be beginning of a gloomy time for CARICOM

While the economic recession that began in late 2008 has abated in North America and Europe, its effects have been prolonged in those Caribbean countries whose economies are highly reliant on services, the principal one being tourism says Sir Ronald Sande

Sir Ronald Sanders

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Thursday Decemeber 19, 2013 - The announcement on Friday 13 December by the government of Barbados that it will lay-off over 3,000 public servants in January as a first step in cutting back government expenditure and reducing national demand for goods and services has rightly rattled other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) members. 

 Concern has been greatest in neighbouring Eastern Caribbean countries, particularly the six independent ones that, with the British overseas territory, Montserrat, form the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). 

Read more: 

Tessanne Chin First "Jamaican" Interview after winning "The Voice" season 5

Here is Tessanne Chin’s first “Jamaican” Interview after winning “The Voice” season 5.
 She discusses Jamaican food and big up her “Half Way Tree” crew.

Indian Woman Miscarries 10 Babies In One Night

©2013 MapQuest  -  Portions ©2013 Natural Earth | Terms

In what's being called a medical record in India, a 28-year-old woman in Madhya Pradesh miscarried 10 babies in one night this week.

The Indo-Asian News Service reports that Anju Kushwaha delivered nine of the babies late Sunday night before she arrived at a hospital, where she delivered the 10th. Doctors revealed Monday that all of the babies were dead at 12 weeks.

It appears fertility drugs may have contributed to Kushwaha's conception and unusually high multiple pregnancy. According to the Business Standard, doctors at the hospital said the miscarriages followed ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome -- a complication from fertility medication.

"It seems that that there was no regular follow-up of her pregnancy after [in vitro fertilization]," Dr. Sumitra Yadav, a senior gynecologist, told The Times Of India. "At least three offspring could have been saved by reducing the pregnancy." read more

BREAKING NEWS: Many casualties in London's Apollo Theatre's roof collapses (UK)

Part of a roof in the Apollo Theatre in central London has collapsed during a performance.

The theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue was packed for a performance of the Curious Incident Of The Dog in the Night-time.

An eyewitness said she heard "a crackling" noise before the collapse at about 20:15 GMT. Another eyewitness said the "entire dome roof" fell on audience members seated in the stalls. London Ambulance said there were 30 casualties including walking wounded. London Fire Brigade said eight fire engines were attending and police are also at the scene in London's busy Theatreland.

Witnesses said they saw people leaving the building, covered in dust and debris - with some people bleeding and crying.

'Strange crackling noise' read more

Jilted Scottish groom, 57, to give second chance to Jamaican bride, 24, who jilted him after 20 minutes 21 Nov 2011 00:00 EXCLUSIVE: A jilted Scots groom is giving a second chance to the runaway Jamaican bride who dumped him after just 20 minutes.

A jilted Scots groom is giving a second chance to the runaway Jamaican bride who dumped him after just 20 minutes.

Johnny Gannon, 57, admits his pals think he's crazy to have anything more to do with Patrice Chambers, 24.

But he's agreed to meet her for showdown talks in Jamaica next month.And he's already sent her hundreds of pounds for medical bills - on top of the £5000 he blew on their ill-fated marriage.

Social worker Johnny told the Record: "She has been back in contact. "My friends think I'm mad, and I understand people questioning my thinking. "But she's pleading with me to get her back over here and she says she doesn't want a divorce. "I don't know what to think. A lot will depend on her demeanour when I meet her."

The Record told in July how Johnny, who regularly travels to Jamaica, fell for pretty Patrice on the island when a pal set them up on a blind date. She suggested marriage after being turned down for a visa to come to Britain, and they wed in Jamaica earlier this year. read more

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SAO PAULO, BRAZIL : Doctors Perform Cesarean On Woman Who Wasn't Pregnant

SAO PAULO (AP) — Officials in southeastern Brazil say doctors performed a cesarean section on a 37-year-old woman only to discover that she wasn't pregnant.

Simone Carvalho is a spokeswoman for the Health Department of the coastal city of Cabo Frio. She said Tuesday the woman told doctors at the city's Woman's Hospital she was 41 weeks pregnant and in pain.

Carvalho said one reason doctors believed she was pregnant was because "she had the symptoms associated with pregnancy like an enlarged abdomen and nausea." Carvalho said "doctors could not hear the baby's heartbeat and feeling its life was in danger ordered an emergency cesarean after which they discovered it was a false pregnancy."

The spokeswoman added the woman "was so convinced she was pregnant, that she altered her prenatal tests that showed otherwise because she was convinced the results were wrong." read more

Target Customers Had Credit Card Info Stolen On Black Friday: Report.......40 Millions may be affected.

Dec 18 (Reuters) - An unknown number of Target Corp customers shopping over the busy Black Friday weekend had their credit card information stolen in an "extensive" breach of the U.S. retailer's security, Dow Jones reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The theft may have occurred through software installed at machines customers use to swipe their cards when paying, Dow Jones cited one of the unidentified sources as saying.

The Black Friday weekend after Thanksgiving is among the busiest shopping periods of the year. Target did not respond to requests for comment.

Tessanne to headline Shaggy and Friends to raise funds for Bustamante Hospital for Children in St Andrew.

TESSANNE Chin will be the headliner for charity show, Shaggy and Friends, set for the lawn of Jamaica House on January 4.

Dr Lambert Ennis (left) of the Bustamante
 Hospital for Children congratulates
reggae act and philanthropist Shaggy
 for his work in raising funds
for the hospital...
 (PHOTOS: BRYAN CUMMINGS).

 

It will be the singer's first local performance since winning the NBC talent competition, The Voice, on Tuesday night. Diamond-selling reggae act Shaggy made the announcement at the charity show's launch held at the Bustamante Hospital for Children in St Andrew, yesterday. Proceeds from the event will go towards the 50-year-old facility's cardiac wing which currently under construction and scheduled to open in February..

Shaggy said he encouraged Chin to try out for the American TV talent show as a means of boosting her career internationally. He said he had prior experience working with singer Dez Duron in the 2012 season.

"I had first hand experience and, therefore, knew what was required for someone to go all the way on The Voice and just knew Tessanne was the full package. She has that great personality plus she can sing like hell. I was confident it would work for all concerned," he said.Read more

Tessanne Chin: What Mr Adam Levine knows that Jamaicans don't. Shaggy praised.

No one can deny us this extraordinary moment of national self-satisfaction and even back-patting after Ms Tessanne Chin's awesome coronation on NBC's The Voice on Monday night in Los Angeles.

Yet, while we savour this historic victory, if it is to mean anything more than our well known predilection for slipping right back into complacency after achieving world-beating performances, then it must also mean a call to serious reflection.

We must, for example, recognise our profound debt of gratitude to the people of the United States of America for the opportunity they provided to Tessanne. Every sensible Jamaican will acknowledge that if Americans had held steadfast to a spirit of parochialism and voted overwhelmingly for one of their own, Tessanne would not have won.

Voice Champion Tessanne Chin

Then we must 'big up' in no uncertain way Mr Adam Levine, her coach, who saw something in Tessanne that we fear Jamaicans had missed for many years, much to our chagrin. Mr Levine went out on a limb Monday night to say: "In my heart, I know you have won" after Tessanne's mind-bending performance of Whitney Houston's classic, I have nothing. It was a courageous move on his part, because he still had another competitor, in Mr Will Champlin, who was to perform next. Read more:

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: 61 y-o man impregnates 13 y-o girl who gave birth to triplet boys

SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC –  A 13-year-old girl gave birth to triplets in a maternity unit in this capital and both she and the newborns are out of danger, the hospital said Tuesday.

The three boys weighed 1.9, 1.4 and 1.7 kilos (4.2, 3.1 and 3.7 pounds) at birth and are the product of a sexual relationship the teenage mother had with a 61-year-old man, who was accused of seducing minors and is now a fugitive. The three infants are "beautiful" and "healthy," but they are being kept in the intensive care unit because the mother's pregnancy only lasted 34 weeks, the director of the Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia Maternity Unit, Victor Calderón, said. The babies, however, are not in any danger, Calderón said. read more

Outlandish Estate Built By Pimp Is Like Nothing You've Ever Seen (PHOTOS)......A 26,000 square foot home on the market -- for less than $1.3 million?

A 26,000 square foot home on the market -- for less than $1.3 million? Something seems amiss.

At 4923 Kessler Blvd. East Drive, it might be the absolute lack of any cohesive design focus in this immense, sprawling manor, dubbed "one of the most unique pieces of real estate in Indianapolis," that allows the bargain pricing.

Superlatives are often overused in real estate descriptions, but there is literally nothing like this estate -- and the story of how it all came to be is even more ludicrous than the decor.

The estate was the dream of Indy's Jerry A. Hostetler, whom the Indy Star refers to as "the almost-famous pimp-turned-construction mini-magnate" in a 2012 piece. "Mr Big," as the cops called Hostetler, bought the property in the 1960s when it was just a modest ranch home, at the age of 23. From there, he began buying up his neighbors' houses and constructing a fantasy estate -- in a style that can only be described as Midwestern Vegas Versailles. read more

Ira Curry, Bronx native is one of two to share 636 Million Dollar Lottery Winner comes forward in Georgia.

ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia woman who bought just one ticket and used family birthdays and lucky No. 7 to choose her numbers was one of two winners of the $636 million Mega Millions jackpot, the second-largest in U.S. history.

Ira Curry.

Lottery officials in Georgia identified the winner as Ira Curry, of Stone Mountain, which is east of Atlanta. Curry will take a lump sum of $123 million after taxes, Georgia Lottery chief executive Debbie Alford said. "She has not decided how she'll spend those winnings," Alford said at a news conference Curry did not attend.

The other winning ticket was sold at a gift shop in San Jose, Calif. Curry was driving to work Wednesday when an announcer on the radio talked about the mega ball being No. 7. Curry knew that was her mega ball number, so she called her daughter to check the numbers. "Between joyful tears and laughter on the daughter's part, she relayed to her mother that her mother had won the lottery," Alford said. read more 

Tessanne Chin: "I Have Nothing" - The Voice Highlight

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Jamaican bride dumps new husband 20 MINUTES after arriving in the UK... and guess who paid for her £5k visa Heartbroken charity worker believes she 'joined boyfriend with whom she planned scheme' He paid £5,000 for her visa

A charity worker who spent £5,000 bringing his new Jamaican bride to the UK was left heartbroken after she abandoned him within 20 minutes of walking through his front door.

False pretences: Mr Gannon pictured
with his new wife after their wedding in Jamaica

 

Johnny Gannon spent thousands arranging a visa for 24-year-old Patrice Chambers so they could live in marital bliss in his council flat in Perth, Scotland.

But as soon as Patrice arrived in Perth, she sent trusting Mr Gannon, 57, out to buy Pot Noodles. When he returned she grabbed her bags and told him she was going.

Within 20 minutes of arriving through his front door she had flagged down a car and caught a train. He found out she had also run up a £500 bill on his mobile phone.

Heartbroken Mr Gannon, who married Patrice in Jamaica early this year, believes his new wife fled to Bristol to meet a Jamaican boyfriend with whom she had organised the scheme.

He told the Daily Mirror: 'I was looking forward to spending the rest of my life with Patrice but I think she had planned all along to do this. Read more: