4 ketchim

News Americas, KINGSTON, Jamaica, Tues. Mar. 24, 2015: Jamaican international reggae superstar Orville ‘Shaggy’ Burrell is officially an Ambassador of the 6th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference.

The Conference will take place June 13 – 18, 2015 in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Shaggy as Conference Ambassador will lend his voice to endorsing the Conference at home and in the Diaspora – a development which has been welcomed by both Ministers at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

“As one of Jamaica’s leading musicians and a cultural icon, Shaggy’s presence will help us to bring Jamaicans home to the event which promises to be a great business generating occasion,” said Senator Arnold J. Nicholson, QC, Minister of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade(MFAFT).  “I am pleased that he has volunteered his support, and I look forward to working with him and other ambassadors on future initiatives.”

Robert Scott, JAMPRO’s Vice President of Export and Market Development and Head of the Marketing Sub-Committee for the Conference added that he is pleased that Shaggy will participate in the Conference as a brand ambassador.

The 2015 staging which has placed greater emphasis on engaging with the younger Diaspora will feature presentations on investment and trade opportunities and avenues for increasing Diaspora involvement in Health, EDUCATION and community development, an exciting Marketplace (trade exposition) with local and overseas exhibitors, fast tracked Services from a range of Government agencies, a golf tournament, and nightly special events.

The six day programme concludes with the highly anticipated Diaspora Day of Service, during which members of the Diaspora will execute a range of projects in communities island wide.

The conference takes place at the Montego Bay Convention Centre and the official hotel is the Rose Hall Hilton Hotel. Further details are available at www.jamaicandiaspora.gov.jm .

The Venezuelan parliament has approved a law giving President Nicolas Maduro the power to legislate by decree for nine months in the face of what the president described as threats by the US government.
The so-called "anti-imperialist" law will be in effect from the time it is published in Venezuela's Official Gazette until December 31.
Maduro requested the expanded powers in response to new US sanctions on Venezuelan officials accused of human rights violations.
Critics of Venezuela's government have called the move a power grab.
On Saturday, nearly 100,000 members of the armed forces began military exercises across the South American country. Thousands of people rallied in solidarity with the president as the 10-day military drill kicked off.
Washington slapped seven Venezuelan officials with sanctions as US President Barack Obama signed an executive order calling Caracas a security threat. The officials will be denied US visas and have their US assets frozen.
In a statement, White House called on Venezuela to release all political prisoners, including "dozens of students".
The leaders of South America's leftist governments have come out in support of Venezuela, while Washington has denied Maduro's claim that it is seeking to undermine his government and urged him to focus on Venezuela's domestic problems, including food shortages and soaring inflation.
Source: AP

[www.inewsguyana.com] – The partly nude body of a woman was found on Thursday morning (March 26) at the Buxton, East Coast Demerara foreshore. The body which is trapped between some rocks is missing the head, hands and legs and partly covered in pink and blue clothing.
Police investigators have also found at least one human tooth which they suspect to be that of the woman.
The body, according to some investigators on the scene appears to have been in the area not too long ago and there is also the view that the woman might have been amputated at the foreshore.

cameron face is prominently plastered on this site ;D ;D

NEW CITY, N.Y. (AP) — A Pennsylvania man recovering from surgery has won $7 million off a lottery ticket tucked into his get-well card.

Joseph Amorese, of Easton, got the ticket from his father, who lives in the hamlet of Congers in Rockland County, New York.

Amorese had just undergone hernia surgery. A few scratches later on the "$7 million Golden Ticket," and he was feeling great.

"I scratched the ticket and it was a good thing I was already sitting down because I was shocked. I was — and still am — in complete disbelief," Amorese said.

"I had surgery so I didn't jump up and down, but in my mind I was jumping up and down," the beaming winner recalled Wednesday.

He sent a photo of the ticket to his dad, who agreed that it was a winner.

The 46-year-old Verizon employee then called his wife, Jodi, a social worker.

"I said, 'Honey, I think we won $7 million.' And there was silence on the other end for a long time. She was too stunned to talk," Amorese said.

Lottery officials presented Amorese with a ceremonial check at the dollar store in New City, New York, where the ticket was purchased.

The new multimillionaire and his wife plan to keep their jobs.

After playing 12 seasons in the NBA and earning close to $70 million, you wouldn't blame Troy Murphy if he wanted to relax for a while and enjoy retirement at age 34. But Murphy had some unfinished business.
Andrew Keh of the New York Times recently caught up with the 6'11" Murphy, who is now a full-time student at Columbia University nearing a degree in sociology.

Murphy, who was a two-time Big East player of the year at Notre Dame, left college after his junior year without a degree. He then had a nice career in the NBA with six teams, averaging 13.0 points and 9.3 rebounds per game during one 8-year stretch.

But according to Keh, Murphy always wanted to finish school and get his degree. So now, Murphy, who made $66 million in his career according to Basketball-Reference.com, has channeled the competitiveness that helped make him a good basketball player and is now directing it at Columbia professors.

"For me it was: I’m going to prove I can beat this guy. I’m going to shut him down or outscore him or outrebound him," Murphy told the Times. "Now, you have these professors who are some of the best, and you want to test yourself. You want to prove you can get an A in the class."

It's working. In the fall semester, Murphy took four classes, got a 3.8 GPA and made the Dean's List.

While Murphy was a good student in high school, the biggest challenge may have been getting into Columbia. The decision to apply came after playing a pick-up basketball game at Columbia shortly after his final season in the NBA:

"In August 2013, Murphy’s memory of that brief visit factored into his decision to apply to the university. But nothing was guaranteed; he needed to take an entrance exam. So he hired a tutor and worked with her three times a week. He went to Barnes & Noble and bought every SAT book at the store. He got flashcards to practice vocabulary. He estimated he studied 25 hours a week for two months and took more than 20 practice exams. He wrote his application essay about how he could apply the lessons learned in the N.B.A. to the challenges of college life."

American astronaut Scott Kelly will begin NASA’s longest-ever space trip Friday, when he and two Russian colleagues will take off for a year-long mission at the International Space Station. The longest previous NASA trips have only lasted as long as about six months, but the full year will push three-time space veteran Kelly’s total days in orbit to more than 500. As a bonus, scientists will compare Kelly’s health while in space to that of his twin brother, Mark, to examine the effect of long-term space travel on the human body. Takeoff is scheduled for the mid-afternoon from Kazakhstan.

The developers behind plans to put new condos, offices and retail space on Toronto's waterfront showed off their plans — which feature a heavy arts bent — at a Thursday event.
The section of Queens Quay and Lower Jarvis will see a $700-million, 1.3-million square foot, 48-storey condo tower with more than 900 units. Another 38-storey condo tower, and a 13-storey and 10-storey office towers are also planned.
The arts are a recurring theme to the development, with construction taking place on the grounds of the former home of the Guvernment nightclub.