by PAUL MAYERSWEST INDIES fast bowler Fidel Edwards is frustrated by the slow pace of his rehabilitation from a back injury.The Barbadian is at present recovering from spinal surgery which was performed in Jamaica in January to remove a herniated disc.Edwards had a second scan two weeks ago and disclosed that he has been working hard with the physiotherapist.“The second scan on my back showed up pretty okay. The doctor told me it’s coming pretty good, but for me it’s kind of slow,” he said.“I started running again three weeks ago, started with three laps and have increased it to five, but there is still some pain there. “The doctors says it will be a while before the pain goes away seeing that the nerve is damaged a bit,” Edwards said.Edwards, who made his debut against Sri Lanka in 2003 says he’s looking at either September or October to start bowling again, but is still in the dark as to when he will be back playing competitive cricket.The problem which the 28-year-old revealed was plaguing him since 2004, flared up during the World Twenty20 Championships in England, in June last year. It forced him to withdraw from the starting 11 on the morning of the match against England and to also miss the tour of Australia.He was criticised by West Indies Cricket Board chief executive Ernest Hilaire and his one-year contract with the board withheld for abandoning his remedial programme to play in the Indian Premier League for Deccan Chargers. Commenting on the just concluded World Twenty20 Championships, Edwards told WEEKEND SPORTS he watched just one game at Kensington Oval which was West Indies against Sri Lanka and described his experience as difficult.“It’s the second World Cup in the Caribbean that I missed out on. The first was probably due to the selectors saying that I wasn’t up to scratch, in terms of bowling form, the second is through injury but watching it has been pretty difficult for me,” he said. He described the West Indies performance as moderate.
Castro meets with church leaders
HAVANA – President Raul Castro has held a rare sit-down with Cuba’s Roman Catholic cardinal and another top cleric, discussing many issues, including a recent crackdown against dissidents that ended only after the mediation of the church.The meeting with Cardinal Jaime Ortega and Archbishop Dionisio Garcia was a sign of the church’s growing influence on the island. The talks went on for more than four hours, Garcia told The Associated Press yesterday. Garcia, the archbishop of Santiago, is also leader of the Conference of Bishops of Cuba. (AP)
Losing WI do sprints
by HAYDN GILL in AntiguaAN HOUR after the West Indies lost a second successive Digicel Twenty20 International to South Africa yesterday, the players were still on the outfield of the Vivian Richards Stadium.Coach Ottis Gibson, probably disappointed that his side lost to South Africa by one run, put the players through a series of sprints that finished just before 6:20 p.m.A few minutes earlier, captain Chris Gayle made no excuses for the defeat and questioned the state of mind of some of his batsmen.“It is a pressure situation. The mindset is just not right. They may be a bit too worried about the position,” he said.“It’s blatant. It’s not right. We need to have discussions on it. The guys need to free up and go out there with a free mind to play some good cricket.”It was the second straight day that West Indies failed to overhaul a gettable target set by South Africa.The previous day, they lost by 13 runs when going after 137. This time around, defeat by one run after South Africa made 120 for seven left the crowd searching for answers.“We should have won that game . . . no doubt about it. To chase 120 runs, I don’t see why we shouldn’t get it, but we didn’t get it,” Gayle said.“It’s very disappointing but credit must go to the bowlers. I thought they bowled well on an on-and-off pitch. In the end, we allowed the run rate to climb up a bit too much. We should have tried to take a few more chances.”On a pitch that was difficult throughout, West Indies reached 77 for two in the 15th over by which time the run-rate had mounted to 8.60 an over.Dwayne Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul were at the crease and Ramnaresh Sarwan, Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy and Narsingh Deonarine were to follow.None could win it for West Indies.“We have quite a few experienced guys in the team, guys who have been in big situations before. Experience is not a problem,” Gayle said.“It’s up to the individual. They have to look into themselves and try and redeem themselves as quickly as possible. “I can’t do it for them. I have a lot to think about as well. It is up to the individuals to try and get over these situations as quickly as possible.”
75 jobs coming with new airline
SEVENTY-FIVE new jobs will be created when AironeCaribbean airline starts its operations.Although a Press statement issued by the company did not say when the airline would begin operating or where the headquarters would be located, airline representative Judith Wilcox said the company would provide unbeatably low fares, reliability and a better choice of non-stop routes.Wilcox said flights and fares would be introduced to the public in the coming months.Pilots, cabin crew and operation staff are to be recruited.(PR/JEG)
Windies ‘A’ wrap up victory
MIRPUR – Lionel Baker and Shane Shillingford shared the last three wickets, and formalised a 114-run victory for West Indies “A” over Bangladesh “A” in their first “unofficial” Test yesterday.Baker ended with three for 70 from 16 overs, and Shillingford two for 67 from 20.5 overs, as Bangladesh “A”, chasing 430 for victory, were dismissed for 315 in their second innings about 40 minutes before lunch at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium.Off-spinner Shillingford brought the match to a close when he had Noor Hossain caught behind for 12, following a last-wicket stand of 61 with Suhrawadi Shuvo, who completed a fine all-round match performance with a boundary-studded, unbeaten 64.The victory gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, which will conclude with another four-day match, starting on Sunday at the BKSP Ground in Savar. (CMC)
Warner queries minister’s finances
PORT-OF-SPAIN – United National Congress (UNC) chairman Jack Warner Wednesday night continued to raise integrity-related questions regarding People’s National Movement St Joseph candidate Kennedy Swaratsingh.Speaking at a meeting in Palmiste, Warner alleged that the minister left the army as a captain to work for the Government Human Resources Company for TT$25 000 (BDS$8 330) a month. He said he was then living in a house in Santa Cruz which cost TT$1.5 million (BDS$500 000).“He had one vehicle – a Hyundai Tucson – which cost TT$200 000 (BDS$66 500),” Warner said.He said by mid-November, Swaratsingh became a Member of Parliament and a minister.“By March 2008, four months later, he moved from his $1.5 million to a $7.5 million (BDS$2.5 million) house in Moka. In four months!” Warner said.“In two-and-a-half years, Swaratsingh, his motor vehicle stock moved from the one Hyundai to a Volkswagen Touareg, Toyota Prado and a BMW X5.“Now I would say he did damn well as a Cabinet minister,” the Chaguanas MP observed.“And in the house he is living in, his mother is listed as the principal in a company of two, the next person is his secretary. Now the name of the company that bought the house is 39 Orchard Ltd and he living in 39 Orchard, Moka, Maraval,” Warner stated.The UNC chairman said Swaratsingh paid stamp duty of TT$291 250 (BDS$97 000) on the Moka home and in two days that was cancelled and he got back his money.Warner also asked Swaratsingh to state how much money had been put into, collected and disbursed by the St Joseph Foundation, an NGO created by Swaratsingh.“If by Saturday he doesn’t answer, I will make it public,” Warner said.He also asked Swaratsingh about a black credit card, saying that the “paper trail was there”. (Trinidad Express.)
Smooth moves of Base Control
by Antoinette Connell Under a street light in Bush Hall, St Michael – a district that does not enjoy the best of reputations – at least once a week Scrappy, Shark, Benson, Short Man and four others gather for a marathon session.It is a veritable hotbed of activity. There are stones involved, loud music, a bit of shouting, but all culminating in euphoric cries with each successful action.“Cheeeeeze, then”, “You see that move”, “Sweeet” – cries that are followed up by congratulatory fist-knocking and other celebratory expressions.It is one of the practice sessions for Base Control, a group of teenagers plucked from various households in the densely populated urban Bush Hall. They are perfecting moves in street dance, a genre that has been spawned outside the formal dance settings. And the craze has been sweeping communities for a while, though it is now getting more attention.Eighteen-year-old Darren Benson Hoyte is the manager, a role he naturally stepped into when the teenagers decided to become more organised after three years of an ad hoc arrangement in which members drifted in and out of the group. “At first I just followed the group around . . . seeing what they were doing, and then Kemar said he wanted to start a group,” recalled Darren, who initially was a disc jockey. That decision came after the group reached the semis of the national Independance competition. The members were further encouraged when they placed third in the Dance Out There competition.Kemar “Scrappy” Jordan, 18, is the group’s leader and choreographer. Almost exclusively the moves are his creation with some help from nature.“I look at things differently. I come up with the choreography by sitting and looking at things . . . something like rocks. And I come up with the idea that these two will move forward or back, and these two to the side,” he says while demonstrating with the use of four stones carefully laid out in the road. He applies it to the music later.Tonight’s session is a hastily put together one to accommodate the WEEKEND NATION team. Other nights during the week the young men use Combermere School as a base; but other times they may be found under this particular street lamp, with an electrical wire being run from the home of member Ackel Cheltenham, 16, to power their music.Here they execute a series of dynamic dance routines on the unforgiving asphalt road – under poor lighting.But it is a sacrifice the eight are more than willing to make for the love of the art form. The other members are Tyrel Headley, 15, Dario “Short Man” Croney, Dominique Phillips, 15, Kerwin Miller, 16, and Jamal “Shark” Beckles, 17. Some work; some are still in school.Their routine typically consists of a bit of acting in the beginning segueing into a series of increasingly complex dance moves. On this night the moves are in sync, but a bit unsteady; and understandably so when you consider the terrain they are practising on. They have put their own interpretation to the rhythm of wily Jamaican dance hall artiste Vybz Kartel, exploding into the local pulsating calypso that is the speciality of the affable Jamal who causes his body to tremble in the most amazing way. “We get encouragement; but some people see us and ask why we dance – there is nothing in it. But I love to dance,” says Kemar.“I get fun from it,” chips in Dario and Darren. It is a reference to the camaraderie that has developed and helps keep them focused on the positive.Theirs is not the typical stuff that street dance movies are constructed around, in which troubled youths seek fulfilment through this particular expression. These teenagers have grown up together and have remained blemish-free in a neighbourhood where role models may be hard to find.“We came up as a family and kept as a family, from the time we were small. We’ve come together because of a love for dancing,” Darren said.Because of this love, short notice for an event means nothing to them. Sometimes with just two days’ notice the dance fanatics will come up with a routine and spend hours upon hours practising.They will not dance more than twice at any event for fear of boring the audience, and Darren and Kemar are looking for a new challenge for the group. Darren has found his in including more local calypso.“That will give us a local trademark. We will have a calypso and dub fusion,” said Darren.The next step is to come up with a distinctive outfit that immediately identifies the group. Darren has not fine-tuned the details on that one, but is toying with the idea of red and white colours. [email protected]
Abbot seeking top Labour post
LONDON – Diane Abbot, a candidate with Caribbean heritage, says she will seek the top post in the Labour Party to succeed Gordon Brown, who lost the general election on May 6 and subsequently retired from active politics. Abbot was born in London to Jamaican parents and after attending the prestigious Harrow Grammar School for Girls she read history at Newnham College, Cambridge University. (CMC)
CASE NOT CLOSED: Dead end
Each week the Case Not Closed Desk revisits some of the most intriguing cold cases that continue to baffle investigators. This week we examine the murder of Karen Allamby.Anyone with information on this or any other case should contact the Crime Desk at 253-4871 or the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-TIPS (8477). A reward is given for information that leads to the solving of a crime.by ANTOINETTE CONNELLThe well known Easter pastime of kite-flying led to a grisly find for some youngsters in 2007.The discovery of a decapitated body sent shockwaves through the nation while it marked one of the most solemn periods on the Christian calendar, the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It was a tragic end to the livewire that was Karen Allamby, an attractive 39-year-old mother of four, whose life had spiralled out of control after a brief dalliance in the spotlight.A youngster had gone into the bushy area at Cane Vale, Christ Church, to retrieve a kite when he came across the decomposing body, the head severed, on April 16, 2007. Medical experts determined that Karen’s head – which has never been recovered – was removed at the time of the killing, suggesting the missing head was not taken by wild animals post-death. But Karen’s relatives knew her well enough to positively identify her other remains.The cause of death of the former hotel waitress whose hands were tied behind her back during the ordeal was not determined.Immediate suspicion fell on a boyfriend with whom Karen shared a makeshift dwelling in his family’s yard at Gall Hill, Christ Church, but police questioned and released him, along with some others who had questionable contact with the woman during her dark days of drug abuse and other sordid lifestyles. One of them was a former boyfriend who had been charged with the rape of Karen twice; but lawmen turned up nothing from that lead. At the time of her death, the rape case was still pending, and Karen had never got the chance to testify in court, leading to legal arguments as to whether the matter could proceed without the testimony of the complainant. The case came to nought after Karen’s brutal end.No amount of police or public appeal could unearth the killer(s) of the woman who frequented the St Lawrence Gap, Maxwell Hill, Oistins and Silver Hill, Christ Church districts. Assistant Commissioner Seymour Cumberbatch said police believed someone out there might be in possession of vital information.“What a member of the public might consider a trivial observation might be a vital clue to investigators,” the crime chief said at the time. No one, said relatives, deserved to die the way Karen did: decapitated and discarded in an open field. A relative, under anonymity back then, admitted Karen led a reckless life which she believed would one day catch up with her, but not in the cruel fashion that it did.Wayward, but fun-loving, Karen had a long battle with a drug habit and it was not unusual for her to go “missing” for days, visiting friends nearby. She expressed a desire to kick the habit, but was not forceful with follow-up action.With piercing green eyes, olive skin and a pleasant personality, Karen often caught the attention of photographers, modelling agents and those connected to the fashion industry. She was once the Front Page girl in the Sunshine Magazine of Nation Publishing. It was the start to a deadly combination: beauty and popularity, along with the accompanying pressures to maintain that lifestyle. Karen did not handle it well and gave in to the seedy side of life as a personality in small Barbados. The former Sharon Mixed (as it was called then) and St Leonard’s Girls’ student and Sharon Moravian Church member turned to drugs for help. But it did not erase the earlier memories some had of the “model” student. “Her deportment was always first-class. She was clean and tidy, and her mother always made sure Karen and her two sisters had all they needed for school. That is the Karen I knew. “She was pretty with all this; so everyone liked her,” said MP for St Thomas and then Minister of State Cynthia Forde. Karen grew up in Jackson, which borders the parishes of St Michael and St Thomas, and was a regular at the Sharon Moravian Church where she was confirmed in 1983.It wasn’t long before her good looks landed her in one of the modelling groups that were popping up in the 1980s. Karen was part of Images from 1985 until 1991.“It is sad watching someone so beautiful and full of life go down like that. It is heartbreaking,” said owner of Images, Walter “Wally” Richards, in 2007. He admitted then that he and others had failed Karen.In fact, Karen, during one of her bouts of rehab, once confided in someone: “I don’t have any friends. All my friends have abandoned me.”• [email protected]
SWIMMING UPSTREAM: Go forward or be left behind
by KAMMIE HOLDERSocial media networks are defined as the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction and the construction of words and pictures. This new dynamic has created an environment where communication, collaboration and coordination exist without any barriers.Power is given to individuals who compete with institutions at an unprecedented level. Institutional containment as we know it no longer exist. Barriers to trade no longer exist as we know it. So what does this mean for the traditional business institution? Ultimately the importance of the web is coming to fruition, it is the final communication platform. Power is given to institutions like never before, to out distance their competition, by breaking down communication barriers between their employees, their customers and their suppliers. We all have the power to create personal networks/tribes to coordinate effort and accomplish anything. Thomas Friedman said “what can be done, will be done”. There is nothing standing in our way. Personally, I use Facebook, Twitter and blogs to reach my tribe of followers who in turn pass on my information. Social media, peer to peer communication has created tremendous opportunities for innovative distribution of goods and services. I encourage you to embrace and leverage communication, collaboration and coordination platforms. Institutions and individuals alike all have access to a world of new opportunities. This may be difficult for Bajans who wish to hold unto the past rather than embrace the future with optimism. It requires us to forget what we think we know and look at our circumstance dispassionately and objectively. The world is moving forward and the Internet is here to stay, get onboard or be left behind.Finally, let me provide a brief on three popular social media networks. Linkedln was founded by five friends in the living room of Reid Hoffman in 2002, and is currently worth US$1.3 billion. Twitter, a social network and microblogging site was founded by the trio of Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams and Biz Stone in 2006 with an estimated current value of US$1.4 billion. Another social media giant is Facebook which came into existence on February 4, 2004. Facebook initially started as an internal friendship network for students of Harvard College by Mark Zuckerberg. Currently it is worth US$11.5 billion. What are our technology and computer science students at University of the West Indies producing?•Kammie Holder, the boy from the village who has embraced social media is now on Twitter