Air Jamaica plane

January 31was the airline’s last day in that North American city.

The airline returned to the busy airport on December 9 last year, almost three years after cutting the route.

At the time of the resumption of direct service between Kingston and Miami, Caribbean Airlines CEO (Ag) Mr. Robert Corbie had this to say, “The resumption of direct service to Miami by our Air Jamaica brand solidifies our commitment to offering our customers better connectivity to North America, providing more options to and from Florida from Jamaica.”

He continues, “As the only regional carrier to offer non-stop services from Jamaica to three of Florida’s major cities, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and now Miami, we are a fundamental resource in Caribbean aviation. We believe in the added value of our product and continue to provide a reliable, flexible and dependable operation. Our added value package entitles our passengers to frequent flyer miles, two free pieces of checked baggage up to 50 lbs, in-flight entertainment and complimentary meals.”

It is not clear what has forced the hands of the former national carrier so soon after its return. However, in early December its parent company, Caribbean Airlines, aggressively tried to woo passengers with introductory rates as low as US$79 one-way plus taxes.

The only US cities now served by the airline are Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, New York and Philadelphia.

Jamaica newly appointed Ambassador to Brazil Alison Stone Roofe

She is career diplomat Alison Stone Roofe, the current director of the Caribbean and Americans Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ambassador designate is also the former deputy director of the Foreign Trade Department and Private Sector Liaison for the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery.

Ms Roofe is a part-time lecturer of International Relations at the University of the West Indies, and brings with her 20 years working experience in the ministry. She serves as a member of the CARICOM Inter-Governmental Task Force on the review of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and a member of the Caricom-appointed Evaluation Committee overseeing the reconstruction of the Caricom Secretariat.

Word of the appointment was made yesterday by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, AJ Nicholson, and signals a deepening of relations within the hemisphere.

“The opening up of a mission in the capital Brasilia is part of the strategic vision of the ministry in a bid to encourage trade and investment opportunities and strengthen Jamaica’s advocacy in the global arena,” the ministry said yesterday.

Hersheys' Illustration

The “Raise the Bar, Hershey Coalition” (http://www.raisethebarhershey.org), a group of responsible cocoa advocates led by Global Exchange, Green America, and International Labor Rights Forum, started the campaign after identifying Hershey as behind its competitors on addressing child labor, forced labor, and other abuses in the cocoa industry.

“We are heartened to see Hershey’s taking this first step towards accountability in their supply chain and we will continue to dialogue with them about how to ensure they no longer depend on forced child labor,” said Judy Gearhart, executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum. “The threat of a Super Bowl ad forced the announcement, but Hershey’s new moves are really the result of thousands of consumers, students, church congregations and community groups writing to them over the past two years.”

The Raise the Bar, Hershey Coalition has been increasing pressure on Hershey, including launching a petition on Change.org (http://www.change.org/petitions/hershey-raise-the-bar), creating “brand-jamming” photos and videos of Hershey products, blanketing the company’s Facebook wall in messages, organizing rallies at Hershey flagship stores, and delivering more than 100,000 letters from concerned consumers to Hershey’s corporate headquarters on Halloween.

“The Raise the Bar, Hershey! Coalition is excited to see Hershey listening to consumer demand for ethically sourced cocoa,” said Elizabeth O’Connell, fair trade campaigns director for Green America, “but we also recognize there is much more work to be done to fight child labor and other abuses in the cocoa industry, and we will continue to encourage Hershey to develop ethical sourcing practices.”

“The growth and ultimate success of Raise the Bar, Hershey’s petition on Change.org is incredible,” said Change.org Director of Organizing Amanda Kloer. “Hershey responded to consumer pressure with a significant improvement in cocoa sourcing transparency. It has been empowering to watch this group of concerned organizations and individuals use Change.org’s tools to fight for changes at the Hershey Company.”

In response to Hershey’s announcement, eighth grader Jasper Perry-Anderson has created a follow-up campaign on Change.org (http://www.change.org/petitions/hersheys-trust-stop-exploiting-children-to-grow-cocoa-beans) asking the Hershey Trust to ensure the Hershey Company expands its commitment to certified cocoa to all its products in the future.

Live signature totals from Raise the Bar, Hershey’s campaign:

http://www.change.org/petitions/hershey-raise-the-bar

CaribPress: How did the idea to start Travelwire Global, Inc, a worldwide online travel and tour company, come about?

Oliver Huie: Having worked in the travel industry, I felt the personal touch was missing.  A desire to bring back the personal touch to travel, while providing quality services to travelers, led me to launch this online travel business.

CPress: Tell our readers about the experiences that you bring to Travelwire Global.

OH: Travel savvy – A passion to travel, coupled with a wealth of knowledge about the Caribbean infrastructure and the back-end of travel Information Technology (IT).  The experiences that I bring to the company includes over fifteen (15) years experiences working as an IT Engineer, as well as a few years as a travel agent.

CPress: Travelers are looking for deals.  There are other online travel companies providing deals as well.  What types of deals do Travelwire Global offer that sets the company apart in the industry?

OH: We are focusing on the Caribbean market, we are from there.  This is advantageous because we know the demographics of that market better than our competitors. We are bringing back the customer support and service aspects to the travel industry.  Our staff at Travelwire ensures that your travel experience is smooth by providing comprehensive customer service from the time the trip is booked.

CPress: In today’s tight economy, travelers are looking to cut costs and save money.  Savvy travelers are looking for a luxury vacation on a low budget.  Tell us about how a family can benefit from the “Make Your Own Deal” program?

OH: Travelers can get a lot for their money with the Make your Own deal program.  Our business resources on the ground are able to provide great deals for hotel rates.  We are from the Caribbean and we know the suppliers.

CPress: In light of the cruise ship wreck in Italy, your thoughts on how this devastating accident could impact the travel industry?

OH: According to some of the reviews, they are expecting an impact to first time cruise travelers.  At the same time, we have to market the safety of cruise.

The advice to travelers is that when you are going on a cruise, the first thing you should do when you board the ship is to attend the safety drill within the first day of the cruise. It is important that every cruise passenger attends this safety drill;

CPress: What travel spots are on your bucket list for the 2012 travel season?

OH: Cancun – Spring Break; Negril; Jamaica – Spring Break; Jamaica, Virgin Island – Carnival – April; Jamaica – Reggae Sumfest – July; Barbados – Crop Over festival – July; Jamaica 50 – August; Trinidad 50 – August;

CPress: What is Travelwire Global ‘Fab Five’ travel destinations and why?

OH: ‘FAB FIVE’ Destinations are the following:

1. Jamaica — have the beach in the Caribbean, in Negril you have 12 miles of white sand beach. The food, culture, people and the best adventure experience.

2. Dominican Republic — This Island is a hidden treasure, is lost somewhere under the blanket of green felt that coats its densely forested hills. It has some of the best rates in Hotels and attractions.

3. St. Lucia — St. Lucia is quickly gaining steam as the best destination in the Caribbean – and rightfully so. The island has the perfect mix of what one desires in a Caribbean getaway; a vibrant port city surrounded by tall, sweeping, rainforest covered mountains.

4. Barbados — Barbados clinches the number two spot for being a country that has truly established its own identity since breaking away from the British rule in 1966.

5. Mexico – Mexico is the most visited destination and receives over 3 million visitors each year. Its modern hotels, gorgeous Caribbean coastline and proximity to US makes it a destination anyone can enjoy.

CPress: As Jamaica move towards 50 years of nationhood, what are the most significant milestones thus far for the black, green and gold?

OH: Jamaica becoming an independent nation, our national heroes and the influence of reggae music globally are significant milestones.

CPress: In terms of the Jamaican diaspora, what plans are in the pipeline for Jamaica 50?

OH: I am excited to say that there are many special events planned within the diaspora in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Jamaica.  The events kick off in January.

Visit the Consul General of Jamaica web site for more details at: www.congenjamaica-ny.org

CPress: With the age of smartphones, tablets, other portable devices and social networking, what role will this play in the travel industry?

OH: Technology is changing how travelers book their flights.  Social media has played a major role in internet booking.  Everything is geared to twitter, facebook LinkedIn or a website.

CPress: Elaborate on the future for Travelwire Global.

OH: We foresee Travelwire to be a leader in the travel industry, while positioning our self as one of the top leaders in the travel industry by offering good prices, good packages and good customer support.  And build our customer base on word of mouth referrals by family and friends.

New Prison Cook Book Illustration

Decades, in fact. And that, combined with a few (admittedly peculiar) ingredients and a desire to cook despite the odds has resulted in a rather unusual cookbook _ “From The Big House to Your House,” a collection of 200 recipes by six Texas prison inmates.

The women all are serving at least 50 years at the Mountain View Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, all but one of them for murder. And a hankering for foods they enjoyed on the outside prompted them to get creative on the inside.

For example, they’ve found that an empty potato chip bag works for cooking in an electric warming pot, their only source of heat for cooking. A plastic ID card _ similar to a credit card _ makes an acceptable cutting or chopping implement. And tuna and mackerel can be made into great-tasting nachos.

“I know it sounds disgusting,” said Celeste Johnson, 49, one of the authors. “But I love tuna nachos. And I’ve got so many people here converted to it.”

The book was produced with the help of Johnson’s mother, who typed the recipes and submitted the manuscript on the women’s behalf to The Justice Institute, a Seattle group that works with convicts who maintain their innocence. The group published the book and now sells it online.

The book puts into print a long tradition of the joy of cooking behind bars, where generations of Martha Stewart wannabes have concocted legal and illegal brews and stews with a variety of success and failure.

And inmate cooking is not confined to women’s prisons. Former Texas corrections officer Jim Willett remembers his days working in a men’s unit, walking through a cell block and getting whiffs of simmering foods.

“You knew when there were certain foods cooking, just like being in your house,” says Willett, now director of the Texas Prison Museum. “It would make you want to stop and join them, but that’s not legal.

“Something like a Frito pie they’re certainly not going to get in the chow hall.”

The reality of prison cooking is a bit different from “GoodFellas,” the 1990 movie that shows mobsters delicately slicing garlic with a razor blade as they prepare a gourmet Italian dinner for themselves while serving time. And it isn’t always pretty.

Inmates tend to be creative in the “kitchen.” In the past, some have been known to fashion metal plates into skillets that get heated in toilets filled with burning toilet paper. Or to transform tooth paste tubes into spoons and turn fruit into prison “wine.”

In 2009, a Washington state prison inmate’s attempt to warm sausages in his cell’s stainless steel commode didn’t work as hoped. Smoke from the prisoner’s makeshift oven went through a sewer pipe vent and officials evacuated the lockup for what they feared was a fire. The inmate became known as the “toilet chef.”

More typical was the experience of Martha Stewart, the homemaking pro who was said to have dabbled in microwave cooking while locked up a few years ago in a federal prison in West Virginia while serving time for obstruction of justice and lying to the government.

At least she had a microwave, which Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Chris Burke said is available to many federal inmates, though they are prohibited from cooking in their cells.

The Texas women _ who, in compliance with regulations prohibiting them from profiting from a business while behind bars, are donating proceeds from the book to their publisher _ only have their “hot pot,” a coffee pot-like instrument that warms water, but can’t boil it (boiled liquid could become a weapon).

Ingredients also are limited mostly to what can be purchased from the prison commissary. They can forget about real milk _ they get powder _ or real butter, as well as most individual seasonings. Garlic? They squeeze that from garlic vitamin tablets.

“It looks kind of gross,” Johnson says. “But it works. You’d be surprised.”

Looking for alternatives to meals served in the chow hall, the Texas women began pooling their commissary food purchases and wrote down their discoveries, such as rehydrating potato chips in their warming pot. The resulting mush became a “baked potato.”

“I don’t know if we’ve been away too long, but it does taste like a real baked potato,” says Johnson, who’s been in prison for nine years and won’t become eligible for parole from her life sentence until 2042.

Prison historian Mitch Roth said cooking is a way for inmates to “access their former lives to a certain extent,” and to humanize the often dehumanizing prison experience.

Not every recipe the Texas women tried was a winner. Ceyma Bina, one of the co-authors who has served six years of a 50-year sentence for a slaying in Houston, winced as she described making ravioli from ramen noodles and salsa. And Johnson said rehydrated onion-flavored potato chips “turned like rubber.”

Bina and the others who worked on “From The Big House to Your House,” say in the book’s preface they were confident readers on the other side of the bars would “enjoy the liberty found in creating a home-felt comfort during unfortunate times.”

“It shows people how we survive in here,” said Bina.

Standing in a vacant Southern California store set to be refurbished and reopened this summer, Obama lauded efforts to bring large grocery retailers to inner-city areas that traditional supermarket chains spurn.

“That’s how we solve this problem _ one community, one household at a time,” Obama said, speaking in front of a display depicting an old-fashioned grocery store with crates stocked with fresh fruit and vegetables. “We’re not just making this generation healthy. We’re making the next, and the next and the next.”

Obama, who is on the second day of her two-day visit to the Los Angeles area, made the stop in the blue-collar, largely Hispanic neighborhood as part of her “Let’s Move!” campaign to boost healthy food and fitness.

Part of the campaign includes promoting initiatives such as the $264 million California FreshWorks Fund, which finances grocery businesses willing to open in urban areas.

One of the fund’s first projects was a $20 million loan to Anaheim-based Northgate Gonzalez Markets, which operates 34 supermarkets around Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, to build the Inglewood store and two others.

The FreshWorks Fund is one of a mushrooming number of initiatives to tackle so-called “food deserts,” which are mostly urban areas where conventional supermarket chains are reluctant to operate because of the low-income customer base and safety concerns.

Nutrition experts point to food deserts as a key reason why obesity and weight-related ailments beleaguer inner-city residents, since they must buy much of their food at overpriced corner stores that sell a lot of highly processed packaged foods and snacks but little fresh produce, meat and dairy items.

The FreshWorks Fund, which is a partnership of The California Endowment, banks and health organizations, was launched last July at the White House.

Besides Northgate, other projects include financing a farmer’s market near a housing project and a food delivery service for outlying rural communities, said Tina Castro, director of impact investing for The California Endowment, a Los Angeles-based foundation that focuses on health issues.

“Health really happens in neighborhoods,” she said. “We’re looking for those small to medium-sized, independent grocers to give them access to capital and real estate.”

Northgate opened the first of the three new markets last fall in the City Heights area of San Diego. The next will be a renovation of the Inglewood building. The third will be the construction of a store in South Los Angeles, slated for completion next year. Each store creates about 120 jobs.

The locations match the company’s three-decade-long focus of providing quality, affordable foods in low income neighborhoods, which primarily comprise Hispanic immigrants but also include black and Asian residents, said Carl Middleton, president of Northgate Gonzalez Real Estate Co.

“We provide that homeland experience for immigrants,” Middleton said.

The stores typically offer tortilla and taco counters, as well as products from Mexico and Central America, including Coca-Cola made in Mexico, as well as fresh produce, meats, seafood, dairy and bakeries. It also caters to its immigrant customers by providing payroll check cashing and wire transfers.

Part of the company’s mission has been to promote nutrition by providing lean cuts of meat, preservative-free baked products and good quality fruits and vegetables, Middleton said.

The chain has launched a “Viva la Salud” (Long Live Health) campaign, which puts a special tag to denote healthy foods, such as olive oil rather than lard, and holds cooking classes in stores.

The company was founded by Mexican immigrant Miguel Gonzalez in 1980, who came to the United States after his shoe store burned down in Jalisco.

After working for several years in various jobs, he had saved enough to buy an old liquor store in Anaheim and convert it to a grocery store that became a community gathering spot, recalled his youngest son Oscar Gonzalez, who heads the company.

Seeing a niche in catering to fellow immigrants, he expanded the business with the help of his 13 children. It now employs 5,000 people.

Obama said she was impressed by the family’s commitment to the communities they serve. “Their story is so inspiring on so many different levels,” she said.

After the Inglewood event, Obama was scheduled to appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and to deliver a luncheon speech at the Democratic National Committee.

Honda Hybrid Illustration

Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Douglas Carnahan awarded Heather Peters $9,867 _ much more than the couple hundred dollars cash that a proposed class-action settlement is offering.

“At a bare minimum Honda was aware … that by the time Peters bought her car there were problems with its living up to its advertised mileage,” Carnahan wrote in the judgment.

Honda disagrees with the judgment rendered in the case and plans to appeal the decision, company spokesman Chris Martin said in a statement.

Peters, a former lawyer, said she is renewing her legal license after a 10-year lapse so she can represent other Honda owners who have the same problems she did.

“Wow! Fantastic. I am absolutely thrilled,” she said when The Associated Press informed her of the judge’s decision. “Sometimes big justice comes in small packages. This is a victory for Honda Civic owners everywhere.”

Carnahan included in his 26-page decision a long list of misleading representations by Honda that he said Peters had correctly identified. Among them were that the car would use “amazingly little fuel,” `’provides plenty of horsepower while still sipping fuel,” and that it would “save plenty of money on fuel with up to 50 mpg during city driving.”

“Actual performance of plaintiff’s vehicle did not live up to these standards,” he said. He noted that when she began receiving much less than the advertised mileage, “she knew she had a problem.”

Peters opted out of the class-action lawsuit so she could try to claim a larger damage award for her 2006 Honda Civic’s failure to deliver the 50 mpg (21.26 kpl) that was promised.

The proposed class-action settlement would give aggrieved owners $100 to $200 each and a $1,000 credit toward the purchase of a new car. Legal fees in the class action would give trial lawyers $8.5 million, Peters said.

In small claims court, there are no attorneys’ fees, cases are decided quickly, and individual payments are far greater.

Peters had hoped to inspire a flood of small-claims lawsuits by the other 200,000 people whose Honda Civic hybrids are covered by the proposed settlement. If all 200,000 owners sued and won in small claims court, she said, it could Honda Motor Co. $2 billion.

Peters launched a website, DontSettleWithHonda.org, and said she was contacted by hundreds of other car owners seeking guidance on filing small claims lawsuits if they opted out of the class-action case. But legal experts say it’s unlikely that many owners would take the small-claims route because of the time and energy involved in pursuing such lawsuits.

Carnahan held two hearings on Peters’ claim in January.

The commissioner noted that Honda had argued the way a car is driven might affect its gas mileage. He said that should have been explained in advertising and elsewhere.

A Honda technical expert testified that the company was required to post a sticker with the Environmental Protection Agency’s estimate of the highest mileage the car could get. But Carnahan said in his ruling that “this does not seem to be the case.”

“Honda’s own testing should be the guideline for how it advertises its vehicles’ mileages, not the generalized work … done by the EPA,” he said. “Can a Honda hybrid driven in careful and tested ways achieve 50 mpg? No doubt. Did it happen with Peters’ car? No.”

The ruling harshly criticized Honda on several points, including misrepresentations about a software update that was represented as a cure for the mileage problems. Peters said it just made the situation worse and she could no longer get more than 30 mpg in the car, which she still owns.

Carnahan found that Honda did commit fraud, but he could not find intentional fraud and thus did not award punitive damages. Most of the damages Peters was awarded were for extra money spent on fuel, both in the past and future, the cost of the car battery, and the decrease in the car’s value because of its problems.

A judge in San Diego County is due to rule in March on whether to approve Honda’s class-action settlement. Members of the class have until Feb. 11 to accept or decline the deal.

Small claims courts generally handle private disputes that do not involve large amounts of money. In many states, that means small debts, quarrels between tenants and landlords and contract disagreements.

The limit for small claims damages in California is $10,000. In other states it ranges from $2,500 to $15,000.

Detectives arrested Elephant Man late Monday and charged him with grievous assault and rape.

Police say a woman has accused the 36-year-old entertainer of assaulting her at his home in St. Andrew parish. They gave no further details Tuesday.

The entertainer known offstage as Oneal Bryan is expected to appear in court this week.

Defense attorney Linda Wright could not be reached Tuesday.

The dancehall rapper is best known for the track “Willie Bounce” and for his collaboration with recording artists such as Wyclef Jean and Busta Rhymes.

It was a bloody reminder of the deteriorating security in the Arab world’s most populous country as instability continues nearly a year after former President Hosni Mubarak was swept out of power in a popular uprising.

The melee _ which followed an Egyptian league match between Al-Masry, the home team in the Mediterranean city, and Al-Ahly, based in Cairo and one of Egypt’s most popular teams _ was the worst case of soccer violence in Egypt and the deadliest worldwide since 1996. One player said it was “like a war.”

In Cairo, fans angered that another match between Al-Ismaili and Zamalek was halted because of the Port Said violence set fire to the bleachers at the main stadium in the Egyptian capital, authorities said. No injuries were reported, and employees said firefighters extinguished the blaze before it caused much damage.

The clashes and ensuing stampede did not appear to be directly linked to the political turmoil in Egypt, but the violence raised fresh concerns about the ability of the state police to manage crowds. Most of the hundreds of black-uniformed police with helmets and shields stood in lines and did nothing as soccer fans chased each other, some wielding sharp objects and others hurling sticks and rocks.

Security officials said the ministry has issued directives for its personnel not to “engage” with civilians after recent clashes between police and protesters in November left more than 40 people dead.

The violence also underscored the role of soccer fans in Egypt’s recent protest movement. Organized fans, in groups known as ultras, have played an important role in the revolution and rallies against military rule. Their anti-police songs, peppered with curses, have quickly become viral and an expression of the hatred many Egyptians feel toward security forces that were accused of much of the abuse that was widespread under Mubarak’s regime.

There have been other recent violent incidents at soccer games. In April, the ineffectiveness of the police force also was on display when thousands of fans ran onto the field before the end of an African Champions League game between local club Zamalek and Tunisia’s Club Africain. The hundreds of police on duty at Cairo International Stadium could not stop the violence then, either.

Activists scheduled rallies Thursday outside the headquarters of the Interior Ministry in Cairo to protest the inability of the police to stop the bloodshed.

Many gathered outside Al-Ahly club in Cairo, chanting slogans against military rule, and hundreds filed into Cairo’s main train station to receive the injured arriving from Port Said. “We die like them, or we ensure their rights,” the crowd chanted, along with slogans denouncing the military rulers.

As the train arrived, scores jumped on top of the train and raised Egyptian flags.

“They came at us with machetes and knives…they threw some of us from the fourth floor,” one returning fan told the private TV station ONTV.

“Everyone was beating us. They were beating us from inside and outside, with fireworks, stones, metal bars, and some had knives, I swear,” another fan told the station, which did not give their names.

In Port Said, residents marched early Thursday, denouncing the violence and saying it was a conspiracy by the military and police to cause chaos.

Army tanks and armored vehicles joined police patrolling near hospitals and morgues. Police were not to be seen in the streets after the violence and were unavailable to break up fights that followed.

The tension also spread to the nearby Suez province. About 500 protesters, including soccer fans and activists, gathered outside the main police headquarters to protest what they called police negligence.

A security official said the police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. He was speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to reporters.

The scuffles erupted when fans of Al-Masry stormed the field following a rare 3-1 win against Al-Ahly. Al-Masry supporters hurled sticks and stones as they chased players and fans from the rival team, who ran toward the exits and up the stands to escape, according to witnesses. One man told state TV he heard gunshots in the stadium, while a lawmaker from Egypt’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood said the police didn’t prevent fans carrying knives from entering the stadium.

TV footage showed Al-Ahly players rushing for their locker room as fistfights broke out among the hundreds of fans swarming on to the field. Some men had to rescue a manager from the losing team as he was being beaten. Black-clothed police officers stood by, appearing overwhelmed.

The Interior Ministry said 74 people died, including one police officer, and 248 were injured, 14 of them police. A local health official initially said 1,000 people were injured and it was not clear how severely. Security forces arrested 47 people for involvement in the violence, the statement said.

State TV appealed to Egyptians to donate blood for the injured in Port Said, and the military sent two aircraft to evacuate serious cases to the capital, Cairo.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of the military leadership that assumed power after Mubarak’s ouster, welcomed Al-Ahly team players who were flown back to Cairo from Port Said on a military aircraft.

“This will not bring Egypt down,” he told reporters at a military air base east of Cairo. “These incidents happen anywhere in the world. We will not let those behind it go …This will not affect Egypt and its security.”

The military declared three days of mourning starting Thursday.

Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim told state TV that 13,000 Al-Masry fans stormed the field, jumping a low fence and attacking about 1,200 Al-Ahly fans. He transferred the Port Said local security chief to a desk job as a punitive measure.

Al-Ahly goalkeeper Sharif Ikrami, who was injured in the melee, told the private station ONTV that dead and wounded were being carried into the locker room.

“There were people dying in front of us,” he said. “It’s over. We’ve all made a decision that we won’t play soccer any more. How will we play soccer after 70 people died? We can’t think about it.”

Hesham Sheiha, a health ministry official, said most of the deaths were caused by concussions, deep head wounds and suffocation from the stampede. He said 40 people were seriously injured.

In an interview with the team’s station, Mohammed Abu Trika, a player with Al-Ahly, criticized police for standing by and not intervening in the violence.

“People here are dying and no one is doing a thing. It’s like a war,” he told the team TV station. “Is life this cheap?”

Egypt’s state prosecutor ordered an immediate investigation into the violence, and the Egypt Football Association ordered an indefinite suspension of the league games. The parliament said it would convene an emergency session.

The two sides also traded conspiracy theories, with each side blaming the other for trying to destabilize the country.

Essam el-Erian, a Brotherhood lawmaker, said the military and police were complicit in the violence, accusing them of trying to show that emergency regulations giving security forces wide-ranging powers must be maintained.

“This tragedy is a result of intentional reluctance by the military and the police,” he said.

The manager of the Al-Masry, Kamal Abu Ali, announced he also was resigning in protest.

“This is not about soccer. This is bigger than that. This is a plot to topple the state,” he told the same station, using an often-cited allegation by the military against protesters.

Bob Bradley, the former U.S. national team coach who was hired in September as coach of Egypt’s national team, was not at the stadium, U.S. Soccer Federation spokesman Michael Kammarman said.

It was the deadliest incident of soccer violence since Oct. 16, 1996, when at least 78 people died and 180 others were injured in a stampede at a stadium in Guatemala City before a World Cup qualifying match between Guatemala and Costa Rica.

The Port Said game was a face-off between two teams with a long history of fierce competition, Al-Masry, the home team, and Al-Ahly, a record 36-time winner of the Egyptian league and a six-time winner of the African Champions League.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter said he was “shocked and saddened” by the deaths.

“This is a black day for football. Such a catastrophic situation is unimaginable and should not happen,” he said in a statement.

The Confederation of African Football, which organizes the African Cup, said a minute’s silence would be held before all quarterfinals this weekend as a mark of respect for the dead.

CAF President Issa Hayatou said, “African football is in a state of mourning.”

Riley died Thursday at University Hospital of the West Indies, where he had been a patient since November, when he was shot at his house in an upscale neighborhood in the capital of Kingston, his son Kurt Riley said Friday.

Riley also had been shot in August and was stabbed in September last year. His record store in Kingston’s downtown business district also was burned down several years ago. Police have said they know of no motives and have not arrested anyone.

Kurt Riley told the Jamaica Observer newspaper that the family did not know what motivated the attacks.

“Unfortunately, Daddy didn’t wake up so we could talk to him to find out if there was something he was not telling us,” he was quoted as saying. “He was a straightforward man who was allergic to hypocrisy.”

As a teenager, Riley founded an influential harmony group, The Techniques, which recorded for pioneer producer Arthur “Duke” Reid. Riley also toured with Byron Lee and later gained fame for producing songs such as “Double Barrel” by Dave Barker and Ansell Collins.

He worked with musicians including Gregory Isaacs, Johnny Osbourne, Sister Nancy and Buju Banton.

Musicologist Kingsley Goodison, who knew Riley for more than 40 years, said he was one of the people responsible for introducing reggae to England.

“Winston Riley is an unsung hero,” he said. “He was one of the hardest workers in the business.”

Riley also is credited with creating the stalag rhythm, which later influenced hip-hop and dancehall. Unlike his contemporaries who shunned dancehall music, Riley embraced contemporary reggae and had several big hits during the 1980s.

One of his biggest productions was singer Tenor Saw’s “Ring The Alarm”, which has been sampled by several hip-hop artists.

Riley is survived by several children and grandchildren.

Pinkberry co-founder Young Lee Arrested

Young Lee, 47, was arrested Monday afternoon by a joint police and FBI fugitive task force as he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on a flight from South Korea. He was arrested on a warrant issued after Lee was charged with a felony on Dec. 28, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Lee was released from jail on $60,000 bail Tuesday morning pending a Feb. 6 arraignment. He could face up to seven years in state prison if convicted of assault with a deadly weapon with a special allegation of causing great bodily injury.

A call to the Los Angeles-based company seeking comment was not immediately returned. The firm’s website no longer shows Lee on the Pinkberry board of directors.

Lee and a second man were in a rented Range Rover parked on Vermont Avenue near a U.S. 101 off-ramp on June 15 when Lee apparently took offense at a homeless man who was panhandling on the side of the road, district attorney’s spokeswoman Jane Robison said.

Lee thought the man had shown him disrespect by exposing a sexually explicit tattoo, prosecutors contended. Details of the tattoo were not revealed.

Lee and another man got out of the car and Lee beat the man with a tire iron, breaking his left forearm and cutting his head, authorities said.

The homeless man was treated at a hospital. Witnesses gave police the car’s license plate number, and investigators eventually identified Lee as the attacker, according to prosecutors.

Lee has 2001 convictions for carrying a loaded firearm and felony possession of cocaine, Robison said. He was sentenced to two days in jail and three years probation.

Lee, an architect, co-founded Pinkberry with Shelly Hwang and they opened the first Pinkberry store in West Hollywood in 2005. The franchise chain became wildly popular, drawing celebrities and long lines.

It now has more than 150 stores worldwide.

Clinton Announces Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as Cultural Ambassador

During the meeting, Secretary Clinton reiterated the United States’ strong commitment to engaging young people worldwide and to using people-to-people diplomacy as a means to create opportunities for greater understanding.

Secretary Clinton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar discussed his upcoming trip to Brazil as a Cultural Ambassador and the strong relationship between the people of the United States and Brazil.

“I am excited and honored to serve my country as a Cultural Ambassador for the U.S. Department of State,” said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who has focused his efforts after his NBA career on engaging youth through socially-minded projects and education. “I look forward to meeting with young people all over the world and discussing ways in which we can strengthen our understanding of one another through education, through sports, and through greater cultural tolerance.”

From January 22-28, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will travel to Brazil to meet with underserved youth in Salvador and Rio de Janeiro. As a Cultural Ambassador, Abdul-Jabbar will lead conversations with young people on the importance of education, social and racial tolerance, cultural understanding, and using sports as a means of empowerment. In addition, he will participate in basketball clinics with young people in both cities.

Since his retirement in 1989, Abdul-Jabbar has devoted himself to projects focused on African American history and socio-economic justice. His 2011 documentary “On the Shoulders of Giants” sought to highlight these issues. He has also launched the Skyhook Foundation, which works to improve children’s lives through education and sports. In June 2011, Abdul-Jabbar was honored at the White House by President Barack Obama and received the Lincoln Medal from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. The medal honors Abdul-Jabbar’s commitment to education and equality which reflects the legacy of President Abraham Lincoln.

More information regarding Abdul-Jabbar’s travel to Brazil will be forthcoming. He will continue his public service as a Cultural Ambassador throughout 2012. Information on upcoming trips will be released at a later date. Stay tuned for updates via Twitter at @ConnectStateGov.

Media contact: Talley Sergent, SergentRT@state.gov.

Barbados economy stabilized in 2011

That plan is designed to achieve a balanced budget by 2016/2017.

The bank, in its economic performance review for 2011 and prospects for 2012, stated that the fiscal deficit was down more than two per cent of GDP from the previous 7.4 per cent for the latter nine months of last year, in line with the revised strategy targets.

The economy grew by an estimated at 0.5 per cent last year aided by increases in construction (4.4 per cent), tourism outputs (0.3 per cent), and transport and communications sectors (0.6 per cent).

The United States and United Kingdom markets rose, while the Barbados-based low-cost airline REDjet boosted arrivals from the CARICOM region led by a 35 per cent increase the Trinidad and Tobago market.

“Tourist numbers have increased, but length of stay and average spending have fallen, leading to an increase in tourism output that was marginal, at 0.3 percent,” the bank stated.

It noted that Barbados’ tourism remains competitive because the country is known as a high quality destination, adding, “In order to maintain a competitive edge in tourism, the industry must attain and maintain international standards at all times.”

The Central Bank called for further investment in refurbishment and upgrades of hotels and tourism facilities, including the cultural and historical legacy of the country.

Foreign exchange spending of BDS$5.5 billion (US$2.75 billion) was financed almost entirely from tourist inflows, earnings from the International Business and Financial Services sector, exports and capital inflows.

“As a result there was a minimal need to draw on the Central Bank’s foreign exchange reserves, which fell by only 1 percent between the end of 2010 and December 2011,” the bank explained.

“The Barbados currency remains well protected, with foreign reserve cover of 18 weeks of imports at December 2011, comfortably above the international norm of 12 weeks.”

Growth prospects for 2012 are tempered by the unsettled international climate, while the medium term growth prospects are encouraging, once the international economy settles down, the bank said further.

“The growth rate in 2012 may be one per cent or less, unless the international economic and financial climate improves. Construction of tourism facilities and Government’s housing initiatives are expected to be the main drivers,” it explained.

“In the medium term, growth rates of 2 to 3 percent are possible, provided the strategies mentioned earlier are successfully implemented,” the central bank said.

BMW's 300 Jobs and Million 900 Dollars Investment

Officials for the German automaker said the move will boost production at the plant, BMW’s only one in the United States, to at least 300,000 cars this year from 276,065 in 2011 and include the introduction of its new X4 crossover.

“This site is an essential pillar of our international production,” said Frank-Peter Arndt, BMW’s board member responsible for production, speaking during a webcast of the celebration.

BMW has invested $6 billion at the plant since it opened in 1994. It was the German automaker’s first full manufacturing site outside of Germany.

Arndt said the expansion is a response to rising demand worldwide for its X series four-wheel-drive vehicles. The plant will have 7,500 employees by the end of the year and be able to produce up to 350,000 vehicles by 2014.

The plant has expanded four times and produced six different BMW models including a version of the top-selling 3 Series sedan, the Z3 and Z4 roadsters, and three different X series models. Arndt said the plant produced 73 percent more vehicles in 2011 than the year before, and 70 percent were exported.

Thursday’s announcement follows a trend of domestic and foreign automakers increasing their U.S. production capacity and hiring more workers to meet higher U.S. demand.

- Also on Thursday, fellow German automaker Daimler AG said its commercial truck division will add 1,200 jobs at two facilities in North Carolina. Most will staff a new second shift at its truck plant in Cleveland, N.C. Another 100 jobs are to open at a logistics center in Gastonia, N.C.The Cleveland plant, one of Daimler’s largest in North America, produces heavy-duty trucks under the Freightliner, Cascadia, Columbia and Argosy product lines.

_ Chrysler said earlier this month that it will add 1,250 jobs at two Detroit factories next year to help build a Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel model and make a Street Racing Team version of the Dodge Viper muscle car.

_ General Motors said in November that it will begin building its Chevrolet Equinox at its idled Spring Hill, Tenn. plant this year and make a midsized vehicle there in the future. The initial $61 million investment will create nearly 700 jobs and the subsequent $183 million investment in the unnamed midsized vehicle will create another 1,200, GM said.

Van Ark CEO of California HIgh Speed Rail step down

Roelof van Ark announced his departure during a board meeting in Los Angeles, saying he would leave the position in two months, the Los Angeles Times reported (http://lat.ms/xQmThe ).

The management shake-up includes attorney and former state legislator Thomas Umberg, who will step down in February as chairman of the High-Speed Rail Authority’s board of directors.

Umberg will recommend that Dan Richard, who was recently appointed to the board by Gov. Jerry Brown, assume his leadership role, the Times reported.

Van Ark’s announced departure comes a week after a state-appointed panel issued a highly critical report that California’s plan to build the high-speed rail system in the state is not financially feasible and should be placed on hold.

The report by the California High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group said the state should not authorize $2.7 billion in bonds to build the initial section of the system.

In November, the California High-Speed Rail Authority approved a plan that requests $2.7 billion in state bonds to match $3.5 billion in federal money. It would be used to build 130 miles of track between Chowchilla and Bakersfield.

The stretch of tracks would form an integral part of the line’s first segment proposed to eventually span 290 miles from Bakersfield to San Jose or 300 miles from Merced to a point in the San Fernando Valley.

Also on Thursday, the board announced that the high-speed train would run north to Bakersfield through the Antelope Valley cities of Palmdale and Lancaster, and not along an alternate proposed route near the Grapevine. The decision is a victory for Antelope Valley cities, whose leaders have argued that a route along Interstate 5 would devastate the Antelope Valley economy and businesses.

Van Ark, a senior business manager with extensive experience in high-speed rail systems, replaced Mehdi Morshed in June as head of the authority. He had been president of the North American division of Alstrom SA, a French conglomerate that makes high-speed trains and built the TGV bullet train system in France, according to the Times.

Van Ark also headed other major divisions of Alstrom as well as units of Siemens AG, a German company that also develops high speed rail systems.