Garvey would have been proud of Obama


  UNITED States President Barack Obama does not need me to defend him, and I doubt he takes criticisms to heart, particularly when it is misguided and unproductive. Otherwise, he could not have s ...Read More

Javon Francis recalled to team Jamaica for Penn Relays


World Championships 4x400-metre silver medallist Javon Francis has been named in a 21-member squad to compete for Jamaica at the Penn Relays from April 23-25. Fresh off a new season's best of 45 ... Read More

NEW YORK (AP): 70-year-old Olive Fowler arrested at JFK hid cocaine in girdle, underwear traveling from Guyana

Tuesday, April 21, 2015 | 8:26 AM    
NEW YORK (AP) – Authorities quickly found out why an arriving passenger at John F Kennedy International was so nervous: She had four pounds of cocaine hidden in her girdle and underwear.
Authorities said Monday that 70-year-old Olive Fowler seemed nervous when she arrived in New York from Guyana on April 12. Customs and Border Protection officers escorted her to a private room at the airport and found the cocaine while they were searching her.
Officials estimate that the drugs have a street value of more than $73,000.
Fowler is facing federal narcotics smuggling charges.
NJ.com reports that her federal public defender, Peter Kirchheimer, declined to comment.

800 dead after Sunday's Mediterranean migrant shipwreck: UN...."We can say that 800 are dead," said Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Italy

 Monday, April 20, 2015 | 11:02 PM  
CATANIA, Italy (AFP) - The United Nations refugee agency has confirmed 800 migrants died in a shipwreck off Libya on Sunday after speaking to survivors of the disaster.
Migrants
"We can say that 800 are dead," said Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Italy on Tuesday.
Representatives from the UN agency and the International Organization for Migration said they had interviewed the majority of 27 survivors, who described the moment the trawler carrying them capsized after a Portuguese merchant ship approached the vessel, causing a stampede.
One other survivor was taken to hospital in Catania, on Sicily's east coast.
"There were a little over 800 people on board, including children aged between 10 and 12. There were Syrians, about 150 Eritreans, Somalians... They had left Tripoli at about 8 am on Saturday," Sami said.
The survivors hailed from Mali, Gambia, Senegal, Somalia, Eritrea and Bangladesh, she added, and all had been taken to nearby holding centres.
The Italian coastguard said separately they had recovered 24 bodies and did not confirm the death toll.
Meanwhile Italian police said a Tunisian and a Syrian man among the survivors had been arrested due to suspicions they were members of a smuggling gang thought to have organised the fatal voyage. 

In Nebraska : Omaha Murderer of four people, 28-year-old Nikko Jenkins Allegedly Tries To Carve '666' Into His Forehead, Carves '999' Instead

The Huffington Post  |  By Dominique Mosbergen Email Posted: 04/21/2015 3:45 am EDT
A man found guilty of killing four people in Nebraska allegedly attempted to carve the number “666” into his forehead, but ended up botching the job.
NIKKO JENKINS
Nikko Jenkins
According to the Omaha World-Herald, 28-year-old Nikko Jenkins told Douglas County District Judge Peter Bataillon during a recent telephone hearing that he “self-mutilated” by trying to carve the symbolic number -- known as the “number of the beast” in the Biblical book of Revelation -- into his forehead.
Jenkins did this “because he is not receiving treatment for his purported mental illness.”
Jenkins then reportedly told the judge that he made a mistake in his carving. He apparently got confused as he was looking into a mirror and ended up cutting the 6s backwards, leaving him with three upside-down 9s.
Jenkins pleaded no contest to four counts of first-degree murder and eight weapons charges. Last April, he was found guilty of fatally shooting four people in Omaha, Nebraska, over a 10-day period in 2013.
Jenkins is scheduled to face a death penalty hearing in July. Sentencing was initially delayed because of questions over Jenkins’ mental health, KETV reported.
Doctors are reportedly split over whether or not Jenkins has schizophrenia. Jenkins has said that he receives orders from a “serpent god,” but prosecutors maintain that the man is faking in an attempt to escape punishment. Bataillon has ruled Jenkins competent to participate in the  hearing. As the World-Herald notes, however, it's unclear whether Jenkins will attempt to use this incident of self-mutilation to avoid it. more

Uniting With A Common Bond For A Common Cause : Famed Nigerian multi talented Actress and Nollywood sweetheart Stella Damasus joined forces with New York based Jamaican Author and Entrepreneur Simone “Simmie” Myrie of Roots and Culture, on the Unite Jamaica People(UJP) program

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Famed Nigerian multi talented Actress and Nollywood sweetheart Stella Damasus joined forces with New York based Jamaican Author and Entrepreneur Simone “Simmie” Myrie of Roots and Culture, on the Unite Jamaica People(UJP) program.The initiative which aims to Empower Jamaicans within communities through the introduction of novel re-socialization projects is an offshoot of the over 55000 strong David Galloway’s led  I AM JAMAICA social media networking site resolved to implement a National Empowerment and Transformation Movement to Impact Jamaica.
The primary aims are to return a sense of National Pride and social responsibility to the people across the island using a bottom up  community approach to stem the social decay,crime and violence,instill values and morals and generally establish a feeling of Civic pride  and respect for self,others and the environment.
The program is being spearheaded by Ms.Myrie who is currently assembling a dynamic team from a wide cross section of disciplines with the hope of launching this most ambitious “game changing” initiative in the very near future. more

DID YOU KNOW? WHERE IN JA YOUR POSTAL OFFICE LOCATED. #RulaBrownNetwork

JA Post Offices

SANTA Cruz, St Elizabeth-JAMAICA : 23-month-old Baby, Jaydeen Myers found dead in barrel....Body stuffed among clothes, food.... (IT CAN'T GO ON ANYMORE LIKE THIS!)

Monday, April 20, 2015    
SANTA Cruz, St Elizabeth — How a 23-month-old baby came to be found dead in a barrel, packed head first with clothes and foodstuff, is proving a puzzle for police investigators in this south central town.
Investigators say they must now await an autopsy report before their next move.
Police identified the dead toddler as Jaydeen Myers of Grosmond, Braes River, three miles north-east of Santa Cruz.
Reports are that Jaydeen's mother had prepared her for a bath about 2:00 pm Saturday when she was distracted by other children. When she returned some time later the toddler was nowhere to be seen.
After hours of frantic search, the body of the child was found by a relative in the barrel which was standing upright.
Reports say the relative went to the barrel to remove foodstuff and felt something 'out of place'. It turned out to be Jaydeen's foot. Removal of several items from the barrel revealed the child's lifeless body. more

SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth : Colonel vows to revive flogging for criminal acts....Accompong will be no safe haven for wrong doers, says Maroon colonel, Ferron Williams

BY GARFIELD MYERS Editor-at-Large South/Central Bureau myersg@jamaicaobserver.com  Monday, April 20, 2015    
SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — The Jamaican Parliament abolished flogging as a means of judicial punishment in 2013.
01
Residents of Accompong interact with Deputy Superintendent Paul Bernard
of the St Elizabeth Police.
However, Ferron Williams, who was returned as colonel of the Accompong Maroons in an election last Thursday, told journalists he intends to have the practise revived for criminal and anti-social behaviour, subject to the dictates of the Maroon Council.
In such matters, Williams told the Jamaica Observer Central in a follow-up telephone interview on Saturday, Accompong should not be considered subject to Jamaican law since it was "a State within a State" with its own customs, traditions and culture.
Indeed, according to Williams, under the terms of the Peace Treaty agreed between the Maroons and British colonisers in 1738, murder was the only crime which should require the intervention of the Jamaican authorities.
"In such cases we should hand them (alleged murderers) over," said Williams, who recently retired as a member of the Jamaica Constabulary.
Ferron Williams was re-elected for a second five-year
term as colonel of the Accompong Maroons.
Maroons are the descendants of African slaves left behind by Spanish colonisers when the British captured Jamaica in the 1650s, as well as runaway slaves from British sugar plantations. Maroon communities in the Blue Mountains of eastern Jamaica and in the Cockpit Country, including Accompong in the island's west, resisted British occupation for decades prior to the 1730s peace treaty.
Williams's assertion of the intention to resume flogging came in the context of recent incidents, including the destruction by fire of his home in Accompong.
He said he was determined to ensure that "Accompong will not be any safe haven for wrong doers".
Williams told journalists that "on the day before nomination my home was burnt, it was torched..." He claimed his life had also being threatened in the build-up to the election. more

IN JAMAICA: THE University of the West Indies (UWI), Ardenne named Sagicor-UTech national debate champions

Sunday, April 19, 2015    
THE University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, and Ardenne High School debated their way to top honours in the tertiary and secondary divisions of the 2015 Sagicor UTech National Debating Championship earlier this month.
Brenda Lee Martin (centre), vice-president, Sagicor
Investments Jamaica Limited, join Ardenne High School
sixth form students Pablo Grant and Désirée McKenzie as
they display the symbolic cheque for $100,000 which
 they won for dominating the secondary division of the
2015 Sagicor UTech National Debating Championship
earlier this month.
The teams -- Jamar Pike and Jawayne Jarrett of UWI and sixth formers Pablo Grant and Désirée McKenzie of Ardenne -- argued the moot: This House Would Make the Teaching of Civics Mandatory in High Schools.
They emerged from a pool of 16 teams that advanced to the second round.
The competition organisers explained that the 2015 national leg of the championship commenced with 48 teams, whittled down from the original 60 that contested in the two-zone league. The first round featured the motion: "This house believes that trade embargoes do more harm than good" and saw both collegiate and sixth form institutions competing in 12 matches. In the second round, the top 16 teams from each category (tertiary and secondary) advanced.
Hosts University of Technology, Jamaica B was first runner-up in the tertiary division, while Meadowbrook High School copped the number two spot in the secondary division.
The Sagicor-UTech National Debating Championship, now in its fourth year, started with 16 teams and has grown to 60. Ingrid Card, Vice President of Group Marketing at Sagicor, believes the development is encouraging and sees even more potential for expansion.
"Sagicor is committed to the holistic development of the nation's youth and this programme demonstrates the brilliance of our young people. The participation has increased significantly since inception and the objective is to attract an even larger audience," she said. more

IN JAMAICA: Riverton men say no to Crime Stop's $50,000...."Me caa risk mi life fi $50,000," one resident of said....reward for information that could lead to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the fire, which lasted three weeks.

BY SUNDAY OBSERVER INVESTIGATOR  Sunday, April 19, 2015 
Although Crime Stop has been urging people to tell what they know about last month's fire at the Riverton City Dump, no one has come forward, and as far as some young men from the community are concerned, no one will.
Fire at Riverton City burn out of control
This, of course, is unless Crime Stop, or any other organisation or individual increases the reward money.
"Me caa risk mi life fi $50,000," one resident of Riverton City told the Jamaica Observer late last week, reiterating what was said two weeks before when the Sunday Observer spoke with some of them.
Crime Stop, a programme that is administered by the National Crime Prevention Fund and governed by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, last Wednesday reminded the public of the $50,000 reward for information that could lead to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the fire, which lasted three weeks.
The Jamaica Fire Brigade had determined that arson was at the root of the fire, which started on March 11.
Smoke from the fire affected the entire Corporate Area, as well as sections of St Catherine and Clarendon.
Government agency, the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) said that Crime Stop's manager, Prudence Gentles had confirmed that there had been no calls to Crime Stop in respect of the fire.
In urging persons to come forward with whatever information they had, Gentles was quoted by the JIS as saying that it was important for the country to know who was lighting the fires at the facility, which has a history of infernos. more

DONNIE McCLURKIN (Show) interviews RULA BROWN To Talk About PALAS on ZIP-FM in JAMAICA (3min:35secs)

Atlanta Base Non-Profit Organization PALAS, Announces 5th Annual Scholarship Program to Benefit 125 Students in Jamaica and the Caribbean www.PALAS1.org....ATLANTA, GA – April 13, 2015: Peace and Love Academic Scholarship, Inc. (PALAS) will open its online application process from May 1, 2015 to June 15, 2015. This year’s program will award 125 scholarships to financially needy students, and honor outstanding academic performances by students in Jamaica and the Caribbean. Since the organization’s inception in December 2010, PALAS has awarded 187 scholarships to honor the memory of student, reggae artist and aspiring sound technician; 18 year-old Vanessa Campbell who was brutally murdered in Portmore, Jamaica on November 20, 2010. According to Executive Director, Mr, Rula Brown, “this year’s goal is to award 125 scholarships and computers to PALAS 2015 winning recipients”. This academic scholarship opportunity is extended to students in High School, University/Tertiary and Re-awardees. The application guideline will require the applicant to complete an online application, submit their current grades along with a written 300-500 word essay. The students are also required to provide a list of all relevant school extra – curricular activities, (volunteering, church, hospital, school clubs, rotary clubs, etc.). PALAS will hold its 5th annual awards presentation in Kingston, Jamaica in late August, 2015. PALAS has dedicated its human and financial resources to help make a difference in the lives of underserved children in Jamaica, West Indies as well as the wider Caribbean region. The scholarship program is dedicated to recognise and honor outstanding academic performances. PALAS award a number of scholarships on annual bases to students residing in the Caribbean region. Please visit us at www.palas1.org

A Visit To Robert Nesta Marley's House at 56 Hope Road in St Andrew. The house is a famous tourist attraction, museum and shrine and is a must-see for fans....Marley successfully transcended three Jamaican musical genres from the 1960’s through to the early 1980’s, Ska, Rock Steady and Reggae

The life and achievements of internationally acclaimed musical legend and Rastafarian luminary Robert Nesta Marley have been kept alive throughartefacts, memorabilia, writings and photographs enshrined at his former residence and studio at 56 Hope Road in St Andrew.
Bob Marley
Regarded as one of the greatest musical legends of our time and proclaimed and accepted worldwide as the ‘King of Reggae’, Bob Marley charted his own course in the music industry with passion and creativity as a songwriter, singer, and performer.
Marley successfully transcended three Jamaican musical genres from the 1960’s through to the early 1980’s, Ska, Rock Steady and Reggae - his most influential musical form. And, after more than three decades since his passing, his music is still relevant to millions of people across the globe.
The house is a famous tourist attraction, museum and shrine and is a must-see for fans.  In 1975, Marley purchased the property from Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records, who introduced Bob Marley and the Wailers to an international audience.
Bob's residence 56 Hope Rd in St. Andrew
The decision to convert the house into the Bob Marley Museum was made six years after his death by his wife, Rita, matriarch of the family, and founders of the Rita Marley Foundation, Dr Eleanor Wint and Dr Neville Garrick. The Museum was Marley’s home until his passing in 1981 and was also home to Tuff Gong record label that was founded by the Wailers in 1970’s.
The Wailers
The early 20th century house was refurbished and opened to the public on May 11, 1986 with efforts made to recapture the basic elements of the design. Much of the large, creaky, colonial-era wooden house remains as it was in Marley’s day. A tour provides fascinating insights into the reggae superstar's life after moving uptown and features his life story from his early days to his rise to international super-stardom.

According to Marie Bruce, general manager at the Bob Marley Museum, “they wanted to capture the lifestyle of Bob and provide a vehicle for people to experience a day in the life of Bob Marley,” she said. more

Killing Our Kids in JAMAICA - At Least 30 Children Murdered Across The Island Since January Police Source Said....The sources further say up to Friday the official death toll was 312 since the start of this year, an 11 per cent jump above the 288 recorded for the corresponding period last year.

Published:Sunday | April 19, 2015Glenroy Sinclair and Arthur Hall
The numbing, cold-blooded murder of three teenagers in the Monymusk Housing Scheme in Clarendon last Wednesday has again forced the nation to focus on the brutal acts being committed against some of the most vulnerable in the society.
File photo
A little over a month into 2015, official data revealed that 15 children had been killed in Jamaica since the start of this year. Now, less than two months later, police sources are reporting that at least 30 children have been killed across the island since January. The sources further say up to Friday the official death toll was 312 since the start of this year, an 11 per cent jump above the 288 recorded for the corresponding period last year.
"My heart is full of sadness that such wickedness has become part of the Jamaican reality," declared Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller as she responded to the latest heartless act against Jamaica's children. "The long arm of the law must prevail in this and other incidence of murder, especially those involving the nation's children," was the cry from Opposition Leader Andrew Holness.
Head of the Criminal Investigation Branch, Assistant Commissioner Ealan Powell, has pointed to reprisals, sexual molestation and gang-related incidents as among the reasons behind the killing of some of the nation's children. Powell told The Sunday Gleaner that by any measure, as a nation we are failing the young ones.
According to Powell, while a number of teenagers are being monitored by the police, based on intelligence that they are involved in gang activities, the majority of the children killed were innocent victims. more

Obama's Gay Play in JA : US President expresses concern that island moving to slow in protecting LGBT community...In fact, Obama placed the treatment of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in Jamaica as one of the first topics to be discussed

BY HG HELPS Editor-at-Large helpsh@jamaicaobserver.com  Sunday, April 19, 2015    
IT was not a scheduled item on the agenda for discussion when United States President Barack Obama met with Jamaica's Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and seven of her Cabinet ministers on Thursday, April 9 at Jamaica House, but the matter was destined to come up.
Front cover of today's paperIn fact, Obama placed the treatment of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in Jamaica as one of the first topics to be discussed, following opening statements by the Jamaica team and their United States counterparts, an impeccable political source informed the Jamaica Observer.
"The two original items that Obama and his team had down for discussion were the Jamaican economy, with particular reference to Jamaica's agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF); and energy, bearing in mind the situation with the PetroCaribe oil deal with Venezuela," the source disclosed to the Sunday Observer.
"Jamaica had listed the wiping of the criminal record of (National Hero) Marcus Garvey and a plan that involved the training of nurses and sending them to work in the United States, as its two main points for the talks," the official went on.
Simpson Miller's Cabinet ministers present were: Robert Pickersgill, Dr Peter Phillips, Phillip Paulwell, Derrick Kellier, Anthony Hylton, Ronald Thwaites and AJ Nicholson.
Obama politely conveyed his Administration's "dismay" that Jamaica had not moved fast enough in ensuring that the rights of the LGBT community were being respected and even protected. more

IN JAMAICA: 'Fluency in Spanish a tremendous asset' ....Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of the Dominican Republic Alfredo Stefan interacts with a group of Spanish students from Excelsior High School, at the Spanish Immersion Day last Wednesday at the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Library

Sunday, April 19, 2015    
THE Ministry of Education last week reiterated its appeal for students to become fluent in Spanish, describing it a "tremendous asset" which will open up scholarship and employment opportunities in the region and internationally.
Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of the Dominican
 Republic Alfredo Stefan interacts with a group of Spanish
 students from Excelsior High School, at the Spanish
 Immersion Day last Wednesday at the Kingston and St Andrew
Parish Library on Tom Redcam Drive. (PHOTO: JIS)
To that end, education minister Ronald Thwaites, who was addressing some 200 students at a Spanish Immersion Day staged by the Spanish-Jamaican Foundation on Wednesday, April 15, at the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Library on Tom Redcam Drive, said Jamaica needs to be far more integrated with the Latin American countries which are in close proximity.
The students, fielded from Wolmer's Girls' School, Excelsior, Edith Dalton James, Calabar, Meadowbrook and Mona high schools, will be sitting the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Spanish oral examination next month.
They got the opportunity to interact with native Spanish speakers from Argentina, Cuba, Chile, Nicaragua, Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Colombia. The native speakers were paired with Jamaican teachers of Spanish, who guided the students through oral exam practice using recognised themes from the CSEC syllabus.
The minister called the event "a wonderful occasion".
"It gives our students a chance for immersion in conversational Spanish, which is usually a big contrast to their classroom experience where grammar and vocabulary are the concentrations. It also gives students the opportunity for networking with personnel from the various Latin American countries," he said. more

Bolt woos Brazil.... Says he's impossible to beat when at his best, he wants to break his own 200-metre world record, and do it by running under 19 seconds..... Forbes reported Bolt earned US$23.2 million in 2014, almost all from sponsorships. He is number 45 on Forbes' list of the highest earning athletes.

Sunday, April 19, 2015    
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- Usain Bolt has a few goals left before he retires: He wants to break his own 200-metre world record, and do it by running under 19 seconds.
He set the record of 19.19 seconds in 2009, and also set the 100 record of 9.58 in the same year.
Jamaican sprinter and six-time Olympic gold medallist Usain
 Bolt (centre) poses with children during a visit to a sports complex
 at the Mangueira shanty town in Rio de
 Janeiro, recently. (PHOTO: AFP)
"That's one of my biggest goals," Bolt said Friday in Rio, which will host South America's first Olympics next year. "It's actually to run under 19 seconds. I think this season it will be hard to do, but the key thing is trying to stay injury free so I can go into the Olympic season in the best shape that I can be."
The six-time Olympic gold-medal sprinter was in Rio to run an exhibition race over the weekend.
Asked to rate himself, Bolt was forthright.
"When I'm in great shape, I'll tell you guys, I worry about nobody because I know that when I'm at my best, it's definitely almost impossible to beat me."
Usain Bolt playfully races with youths during
a visit to asocial sport programme in

 Manguiera slum in Rio de Janeiro,
 Brazil recently (PHOTO: AP)
Bolt reiterated that Rio will be his last Olympics, but not his last season. He said he'll retire after the 2017 world championships in London.
"After the Olympics I'll go on for one more season," he said. "My sponsors asked me if I could continue. I'll do one more season, and then I'll hopefully hang my spikes up."
Bolt will turn 30 the day the Olympics close -- August 21, 2016.
Forbes reported Bolt earned US$23.2 million in 2014, almost all from sponsorships. He is number 45 on Forbes' list of the highest earning athletes. more

Obama's visit could open door for more economic support for JAMAICA— Trade Minister Senator AJ Nicholson Says....."He didn't address that frontally, but from our perspective, I think coming out of the bilateral, that is something that he himself could not push. It is something that the finance minister would have to raise with the World Bank and others," the minister said.


THE Government has signalled its intention to capitalise on the visit of United States President Barack Obama, with Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Senator AJ Nicholson indicating that the visit could influence the opening of more doors for economic support for Jamaica.
"I strongly believe that the visit of the president to Jamaica at this point in time, points to the kind of international profile that Jamaica should have," Nicholson said.
Trade Minister Senator AJ Nicholson
The minister was addressing a press briefing at Jamaica House in St Andrew, yesterday, where he went over the details of bilateral discussions between Obama and Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, as well as those between the president and Caricom leaders.
"From our perspective, we believe that we are in a better position to be listened to, and for it to be acted upon, because of the way we have conducted ourselves over these past few years," he said.
Obama, he said, had not directly put the prospect of debt relief for Jamaica on the table.
"He didn't address that frontally, but from our perspective, I think coming out of the bilateral, that is something that he himself could not push. It is something that the finance minister would have to raise with the World Bank and others," the minister said.
Nicholson noted that it had been agreed that Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips would discuss this and other matters during his attendance at the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, in Washington DC.
The annual meetings facilitate discussion among ministers of finance, heads of central banks and other high-level authorities, on financing and debt-related issues faced by member countries.
Nicholson indicated that the Government would take advantage of the platform that the visit has provided for cooperation and development in areas such as energy, security, education, and trade.
"It (the visit) revealed the readiness of the president to have his administration follow up actively, on the points made by Jamaica and Caricom, and to have the process of engagement continue, going forward," he said.
Meanwhile, as tensions continue to mount between the United States and Venezuela, Nicholson said it is hoped that the two countries can resolve their differences through diplomacy.
"We hope that this apparent conflict, between our two close friends, will be resolved around the diplomatic table. After all, we live in a zone of peace in the western hemisphere. We would wish for that to continue...the president (Obama) did tell us that he has sent a special envoy to president Maduro, to move along the path that Jamaica is suggesting," the foreign affairs minister told journalists. ...Read More

HEARTLESS DETAILS! Criminals execute 3 teenaged boys, 35-year-old man in Clarendon.... Alex Turner (16 y-o), Ricardo Briscoe (14), Raymond Ginas (14)..."This is an attack on the future, it is an attack on the innocent," said Williams, who added that he was very concerned about the growing number of attacks against children in the country....a $500,000 reward for information that could help them prosecute the killers.

BY KIMMO MATTHEWS Observer staff reporter matthewsk@jamaicaobserver.com  Friday, April 17, 2015    
GUNMEN Wednesday descended to new level of depravity when they held up three teenaged boys and a 35-year-old man, told them to lie face down and executed them in the quiet Hayes community in Clarendon.
Oh God, help me go through this,’ cries Ann Marie Briscoe,
whose 14-year-old son, Ricardo Briscoe, was among
 the murder victims. The pain of the brutal murder of three
 teenaged boys and a 35-year-old man is too much
 for these residents of Moneymusk Housing Scheme in
Hayes, Clarendon. (PHOTOS: LIONEL ROOKWOOD)
The brutal, heartless murders were committed at approximately 9:30 pm in the Moneymusk Housing Scheme, triggering islandwide shock and anger, and an immediate response from the police high command which launched an islandwide manhunt for the killers that has so far resulted in the capture of two suspects from the parish.
But even as the authorities were preparing to question the suspects they posted a $500,000 reward for information that could help them prosecute the killers.
"I want to assure you that we will leave no stone unturned in our search for those responsible," Police Commissioner Carl Williams said as he visited the community and reached out to family members of the victims.
01
Painful times
The words of encouragement from the police top brass were however not enough to silence the grieving mothers, whose cries could be heard on approach to the community, where residents mourned 14-year-old Raymond Givans, a student of Vere Technical High School; Ricardo Briscoe, also 14 years old, of Garvey Maceo High School; 16-year-old Alex Turner, who attended Central High; and Marquis Hamilton, a 35-year-old accounts clerk at the Sugar Company of Jamaica.
The Constabulary Communication Network reported that the three boys were walking along the road when they were pounced upon by two armed men who forced them onto Hamilton's premises where they were gunned down.
Police yesterday theorised that robbery was the motive. However, residents gave another story.
The victims (from left) Alex Turner, Ricardo Briscoe,
Raymond Gibbons.
The resident said the boys were walking home from a gym when they stopped in a section of the housing scheme to tap into an unsecured wireless Internet service.
"While they were sitting there, men came in the area and held them up at gunpoint," said one resident.
Hamilton, who was sitting close to his house, was also held. The four were ordered to lie face down on the ground.
Minutes later the unthinkable happened. Sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the community. One source from the community said the gunmen, after carrying out the dastardly act, started running away but returned to the spot to ensure that the victims were dead. more

Jamaica growth exceeds Latin American average — IMF data Nation should grow by 1.7% in 2015 down from 1.8 per cent in the previous report. The island should also grow at 2.2 per cent in 2016, but there was no immediate comparison from the previous report.

BY STEVEN JACKSON Business reporter jacksons@jamaicaobserver.com  Friday, April 17, 2015    
JAMAICA'S growth forecast was slightly lowered for 2015, but surprisingly it still beat the average growth in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to fresh data from the island's multilateral lender the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
WASHINGTON, United States — IMF Managing Director
Christine Lagarde speaks during a discussion on the global
 economy at the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in
Washington, DC, on Thursday. (PHOTO: AFP)
The IMF noted in its quarterly World Economic Outlook (WEO) that the island should grow at 1.7 per cent in 2015 down from 1.8 per cent in the previous report. The island should also grow at 2.2 per cent in 2016, but there was no immediate comparison from the previous report.
Its rare, at least in recent years, for the island to beat the region. Commodity prices led by energy and grains are no longer supporting the growth in Brazil, Venezula, Argentina and Mexico. As a result their growth is weak, but it also allows commodity importers like Jamaica a chance to grow.
Latin America and the Caribbean is set to grow at 0.9 per cent and 2.0 per cent in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
KINGSTON, Jamaica — An aerial view
of downtown Kingston, with ships
in the harbour.
Panama leads
Panama will continue growing at the fastest pace in the Americas at 6.1 per cent and 6.4 per cent in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
Meanwhile, oil-rich Venezuela should decline by 7.0 per cent and 4.0 per cent in 2015 and 2016, the worst in the region.
Jamaica will beat oil-rich Trinidad & Tobago, set to grow at 1.2 per cent and 1.5 per cent in 2015 and 2016, respectively. more
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TEST CRICKET : Blackwood hits first ton... But England still in commanding position

 Thursday, April 16, 2015    
NORTH SOUND, Antigua and Barbuda (AFP) — England’s top-order tumbled cheaply again, but the tourists still worked themselves into a commanding position at 116 for three in their second innings, an overall lead of 220, by stumps on the third day of the first Test against the West Indies at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua yesterday. Jermaine Blackwood’s maiden Test hundred lifted the home side to 295 in their first innings with James Tredwell’s off-spin bringing him the excellent figures of four for 47 off 26 overs and ensuring his side earned a significant first-innings lead.
Left with the final session to build on an advantage of 104 runs, openers Jonathan Trott and captain Alastair Cook were prised out in double-quick time by Jerome Taylor. First-innings centenarian Ian Bell was then run out, but at 52 for three, Joe Root (32 not out) joined Gary Ballance (44 not out) in resisting the early threat and then profited against bowlers who quickly ran out of discipline and inspiration.
Defending a first-innings total of 399, English perseverance in the field on another sweltering day’s play eventually paid off. Tredwell made the important breakthrough in the morning by removing Shivnarine Chanderpaul for 46 before adding the wickets of Jason Holder and Kemar Roach as the West Indies lower order failed to show any meaningful resistance, the last four wickets subsiding for 19 runs. Blackwood’s unbeaten 112 was compiled in a stay of almost six hours at the crease, highly unusual for a batsman noted for quick-fire, strokefilled innings. His knock was not without moments of good fortune though. more