MOSCOW Polish President Lech Kaczynski and some of the country's highest military and civilian leaders died on Saturday when the presidential plane crashed as it came in for a landing in thick fog in western Russia, killing 97, officials said.

Russian and Polish officials said there were no survivors on the 26-year-old Tupolev, which was taking the president, his wife and staff to events marking the 70th anniversary of the massacre in Katyn forest of thousands of Polish officers by Soviet secret police.

The crash devastated the upper echelons of Poland's political and military establishments. On board were the army chief of staff, national bank president, deputy foreign minister, army chaplain, head of the National Security Office, deputy parliament speaker, civil rights commissioner and at least two presidential aides and three lawmakers, the Polish foreign ministry said.

Although initial signs pointed to an accident with no indication of foul play, the death of a Polish president and much of the Polish state and defense establishment in Russia en route to commemorating one of the saddest events in Poland's long, complicated history with Russia, was laden with tragic irony.

Reflecting the grave sensibilities of the crash to relations between the two countries, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin personally assumed charge of the investigation. He was due in Smolensk later Saturday, where he would meet Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who was flying in from Warsaw.

"This is unbelievable this tragic, cursed Katyn," Kaczynski's predecessor, Aleksander Kwasniewski, said on TVN24 television.

It is "a cursed place, horrible symbolism," he said. "It's hard to believe. You get chills down your spine."

Andrei Yevseyenkov, spokesman for the Smolensk regional government, said Russian dispatchers asked the crew to divert from the military airport in North Smolensk and land instead in Minsk, the capital of neighboring Belarus, or in Moscow because of the fog.

While traffic controllers generally have the final word in whether it is safe for a plane to land, they can and do leave it to the pilots' discretion.

Air Force Gen. Alexander Alyoshin confirmed that the pilot disregarded instructions to fly to another airfield.

"But they continued landing, and it ended, unfortunately, with a tragedy," the Interfax news agency quoted Alyoshin as saying. He added that the pilot makes the final decision about whether to land.

Russia's Emergency Minister Sergei Shoigu said there were 97 dead. His ministry said 88 of whom were part of the Polish state delegation. Poland's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Piotr Paszkowski, said there were 89 people on the passenger list but one person had not shown up for the roughly 1 1/2-hour flight from Warsaw's main airport.

Some of the people on board were relatives of those slain in the Katyn massacre. Also among the victims wasAnna Walentynowicz, whose firing in August 1980 from the Lenin Shipyards in Gdansk sparked a workers' strike that spurred the eventual creation of the Solidarity freedom movement. She went on to be a prominent member.

"This is a great tragedy, a great shock to us all," former president and Solidarity leader Lech Walesa said.

The deaths were not expected to directly affect the functioning of Polish government: Poland's president is commander in chief of its armed forces but the position's domestic duties are chiefly symbolic. Most top government ministers were not aboard the plane.

According to the Aviation Safety Network, there have been 66 crashes involving Tu-154s in the past four decades, including six in the past five years. The Russian carrier Aeroflot recently withdrew its Tu-154 fleet from service, largely because the planes do not meet international noise restrictions and use too much fuel.

The aircraft was the workhorse of East Bloc civil aviation in the 1970s and 1980s, and many of the crashes have been attributed to the chaos that ensued after the breakup of the Soviet Unio

Poland has long discussed replacing the planes that carry the country's leaders but said they lacked the funds.

The presidential plane was fully overhauled in December, the general director of the Aviakor aviation maintenance plant in Samara, Russia told Rossiya-24. The plant repaired the plane's three engines, retrofitted electronic and navigation equipment and updated the interior, Alexei Gusev said. He said there could be no doubts that the plane was flightworthy.

The plane tilted to the left before crashing, eyewitness Slawomir Sliwinski told state news channel Rossiya-24. He said there were two loud explosions when the aircraft hit the ground.

Rossiya-24 showed footage from the crash site, with pieces of the plane scattered widely amid leafless trees and small fires burning in woods shrouded with fog. A tail fin with the red and white national colors of Poland stuck up from the debris.

Polish-Russian relations had been improving of late after being poisoned for decades over the Katyn massacreof some 22,000 Polish officers.

Russia never has formally apologized for the murders but Putin's decision to attend a memorial ceremony earlier this week in the forest near Katyn was seen as a gesture of goodwill toward reconciliation. Kaczynski wasn't invited to that event. Putin, as prime minister, had invited his Polish counterpart, Tusk.

Putin and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev both called Tusk to express their condolences and they promised to work closely with Poland in investigating the crash. Tusk said they had been the first to offer condolences.

"On this difficult day the people of Russia stand with the Polish people," Medvedev said, according to the Kremlin press service.

Putin told Tusk that he would keep him fully briefed on the investigation, his spokesman said.

Rossiya-24 showed hundreds of people around the Katyn monument, many holding Polish flags, some weeping.

Poland's parliament speaker, the acting president, declared a week of national mourning. Tusk called for two minutes of silence at noon (1000GMT) Sunday.

"The contemporary world has not seen such a tragedy," he said.

In Warsaw, Tusk also called an extraordinary meeting of his Cabinet and the national flag was lowered to half-staff at the presidential palace, where several thousand people gathered to lay flowers and light candles. Black ribbons appeared in some windows in the capital.

Kaczynski, 60, was the twin brother of Poland's opposition leader, former Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Kaczynski's wife, Maria, was an economist. They had a daughter, Marta, and two granddaughters.

Lech Kaczynski became president in December 2005 after defeating Tusk in that year's presidential vote.

The nationalist conservative had said he would seek a second term in presidential elections this fall. He was expected to face an uphill struggle against Parliament speaker Bronislaw Komorowski, the candidate of Tusk's governing Civic Platform party.

The constitution says the parliament speaker announce early elections within 14 days of the president's death. The vote must be held within another 60 days.

Poland, a nation of 38 million people, is by far the largest of the 10 formerly communist countries that have joined the European Union in recent years.

Last year, Poland was the only EU nation to avoid recession and posted economic growth of 1.7 percent.

It has become a firm U.S. ally in the region since the fall of communism a stance that crosses party lines.

The country sent troops to the U.S.-led war in Iraq and recently boosted its contingent in Afghanistan to some 2,600 soldiers.

U.S. Patriot missiles are expected to be deployed in Poland this year. That was a Polish condition for a 2008 deal backed by both Kaczynski and Tusk to host long-range missile defense interceptors.

The deal, which was struck by the Bush administration, angered Russia and was later reconfigured underPresident Barack Obama's administration.

Under the Obama plan, Poland would host a different type of missile defense interceptors as part of a more mobile system and at a later date, probably not until 2018.

Kaczynski is the first serving Polish leader to die since exiled World War II-era leader Gen. Wladyslaw Sikorski in a plane crash off Gibraltar in 1943.

In the village of Gorzno, in northern Poland, the streets were largely empty as people stayed home to watch television.

"It is very symbolic that they were flying to pay homage to so many murdered Poles," said resident Waleria Gess, 73.

"I worry because so many clever and decent people were killed," said high school student Pawel Kwas, 17. "I am afraid we may have problems in the future to find equally talented politicians."

WE GOT ANOTHER PIC OF RAPPER 50 CENT'S SECRET SISTER . . . THIS TIME WITH A SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISON!!!

Will Aidonia and Ryno clash at Da Settlement: 'Unfinished Business' which will be held at the Kingston Polo Club at a date to be announced in June of this year. That's what the dancehall public is buzzing about.


"We have contacted both Aidonia and Ryno for the show and they are ready to go, but we have not signed off on a clash but it is a possibility given the vibes between the two. We have confirmed a clash between Gabriel and Merciless however, and we know that the whole of Clarendon wants to see that one unfold," Tommy Thompson, organiser of Da Settlement, told one876entertainment.com

"We also have confirmed Queen Paula and deejay Face who exchanged harsh words at Follow Di Arrow. We might also have Ikaya as well, so things are heating up, plus I am being approached by many artistes who have rivalries they want to decide onstage."

The first Settlement show was held in St. Thomas in February, and while it was not a commercial success, got great reviews in the media, and maximum exposure on websites, entertainment programmes and in the mainstream press.

Most men have to pay to play when they're trying to impress the ladies. You would think the amount they spend would increase accordingly if they're rich and famous. You would think it would go up even more so if they come with a lot of baggage...and if that baggage comes in the form of a wife.

With the current epidemic of high profile cheaters, we now have the ability to examine the spending habits of celebrity philanderers and have found that the more money a guy has doesn't necessarily translate into better perks for the ladies. In fact, some serial cheaters are downright cheap when it comes to their other women. Let's take a look at which cheaters are coughing up the goods and which aren't even worth the coach flight they had you fly in on.
"The Big Spender" - The most recent addition to the horny husbands club, former pro-footballer and television personality Tiki Barber reportedly spared no expense when it came to wooing his alleged mistress NBC intern and babysitter Traci Lynn Johnson.

According to the New York Post, Barber sent the staffer roses on her birthday, bought a diamond and sapphire bracelet and even a little white pooch to keep her company on the nights he had to spend with his family. Now there's a guy who knows how to keep a lady happy.

"My Wife Is The One With Real Money" - Jesse James liked to find his women in strip clubs and while he was there he was putting more than singles in their G-strings. Sources told Radar Online that James spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the clubs and to fly his paramours around the country on private jets.

But James wasn't willing to spend his money on gifts or nice hotels. He is a man of the people after all.

Mistress Melissa Smith told Star magazine that James preferred to have sex on the couch in his office rather than take her out on the town.

"The Cheap Skate" - Admittedly Tiger Woods had a lot of women to try to accommodate and he had to try to spread the dollar dollar bills across the board, but you'd think that with an estimated fortune of $900 million he would have sprung for better than coach flights and remembered to send a birthday present here or there.

Mistress Mindy Lawton revealed Vanity Fair that the only thing he ever bought for her was a chicken wrap from Subway.

Jamie Jungers, winner of Howard Stern's Miss. Mistress beauty pageant once asked Tiger for some money to pay her rent and he said no way. "I felt trapped. I said can you please help me I said I don't know what else to do and I'm already embar****ed to ask you and he said I can't. I stopped being with him after that after 18 months," Jungers said. But that wasn't all. The man raking in millions from sponsorships never even bought her nice presents and when he flew her out to see him it was on Southwest, in coach. "He was cheap. He never tipped at restaurants. It embar****ed me," Jungers said. Jungers also explained she never even got a birthday card from Tiger.

"The Surrogate Spender" - Former Presidential candidate John Edwards (and maybe some of his donors) paid dearly to keep mistress Rielle Hunter happy, but Edwards' may not have know he was spending the money. Hunter recently admitted to GQ magazine that funds were given to her over the course of their relationship: "It was never hush money. Ever. Fred [Baron] gave me the money as a gift with no strings attached-Andrew gave me money because he felt I shouldn't be using my own money to travel to see Johnny. Andrew always wanted to "take care of everything."... Johnny had no idea what he was up to, nor did he ask him to do it. The dynamic was: Andrew always 'taking care of things' without telling Johnny or anyone else what he was doing, and claiming he was doing it 'on the senator's behalf.'"

'The Doctor', Beenie Man, says he is extending a challenge to 'The Warlord', Bounty Killer, to settle their dispute once and for all on Sunday.

"Mi a invite him (Bounty) come a Camp Fire mek wi end it right deh suh, since dem a seh mi run," Beenie told THE STAR in an interview yesterday after a much-publicised potential clash between him and Bounty did not materialise at Sting on Tuesday night. Bounty Killer is not booked for Camp Fire which is set for December 31, at Windalco Sports Club, Ewarton, St. Catherine.

A report in THE STAR yesterday stated that thunderous cheers for Beenie turned into booming boos in a few seconds after the deejay backed down when Bounty attempted to return on stage for a clash. When Beenie saw Bounty approaching the stage, the deejay who had previously been unleashing hard-hitting lyrics against his musical rival was reported to have said, "Bounty when yuh a deejay, mi nuh low yu fi seh wha yu a seh."

In yesterday's interview, the deejay said however, that he disagreed with THE STAR's Sting report with the headline Beenie 'Runs'.

The deejay said that when Bounty Killer had earlier in his performance demanded that he step up on stage for the clash, he was not yet in the venue.

"I left St. Mary an reach Sting two minutes afta six. If him (Bounty) call mi up, I don't know, 'cause I wasn't there," Beenie said.

Beenie says as far as he is concerned, he gave a good performance at Sting.

"I came an erupt di place. What I did this morning (Wednesday) was totally awesome, an when I guh Sting, all I was suppose to have on my mind was dat mi woulda get 'booed' because dem have it seh me sen 20 man fi box down Spice," Beenie said.

Who stopped Bounty?

Beenie also said that Bounty Killer never came on stage for a clash at Sting."... Him did a try come wid Mavado an a bag a man an I neva stop him. Is di man dem backstage, di security dem stop him. When Bounty Killer a work, dem give strict orders seh nobody mus come on stage, suh why when Beenie a work people a push fi come pon stage? Bounty Killer neva even have a mic inna him hand. Killer neva come fi clash," Beenie said.

He continued: "Yuh know how mi wife vex how mi neva clash wid him. Mi stop clash fi free. Laing an di res a dem seh dem agree to pay me $800,000 more fi clash. Bounty collect him bag dem wid $700,000, suh how nuh bag nuh reach me? Mi stop clash fi free. Mi nuh inna dat, a my career mi a defend."

Efforts by THE STAR to contact Bounty Killer or Isiah Laing, the organiser of Sting for a comment proved futile

G-Whizz - file

Dancehall singjay G-Whizz, known for one of the biggest anthems of last year, 'Life', performed at three shows in England last weekend and all three earned him encore performances.

This was an extraordinary achievement because although G-Whizz's music has transcended land barriers, this was the artiste's first time in England. The three shows in Leeds, Eastham and Leicester, outdid each other and proved he is definitely one of the industry's finest to watch for the future. Each show's line-up also included Razz from 'Razz and Biggie' and Serani.

"I was happy with the response at all the shows in the different areas because that was my first time there, and to hear people singing all the songs, word for word, and asking for an encore, was great. So just bless up to the fans for accepting my message, and the media people who kept playing my music for me to go there for the first time and get that kind of response," said G-Whizz, whose given name is Garland Rowe.

G-Whizz has since returned to the island and has released a new single, Tomorrow. Tomorrow, which is both powerfully penned and melodic, reminiscent of G-Whizz's former hit, Life, and encourages its listeners to find solace with the knowledge that "tomorrow brings the sun". The video for Tomorrow will be shot next week and released soon after.

DEAD AZZ BROKE!!! KEL FROM KENAN AND KEL FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY . . . HE ONLY HAS $20 TO HIS NAME!!MediaTakeOut.com has some sad news. Kel Mitchell, the dude from the 1990s Nickelodeon hit show Kenan and Kel is DEAD BROKE!!

According to papers filed in bankruptcy court (and originally discovered by our pals over at the Detroit News), the bills caught up to him and he had to ask the court for help. As of the date of filing, Kel owed $1.7 million.

And it gets worse, MediaTakeOut.com got its hands on the OFFICIAL bankruptcy documents which show that Kel is REALLY BROKE. According to court documents, he has only $20 in the bank, furniture worth only $500, his clothes (which are valued at $300), and an old SUV worth only $3,000 . . . and thats all his WORLDLY POSSESSIONS!!!

How is dude making ends meet? Well he's doing some voiceover work here and there - but it ain't MUCH. According to court records, he makes only $500 a month doing that.

Times are hard out here. You may need to listen to what Mo'Niques advice below . . . 

Tony Matterhorn - Contributed

Despite rumours that his United States visa has been revoked, deejay/selector Tony Matterhorn says he is still unsure of his status.

"As far as mi know, mi nuh know if it gone," Matterhorn told THE WEEKEND STAR yesterday via a telephone conversation while in England.

He said he had been hearing the rumour since last week when the US visas of Mavado, Bounty Killer, Beenie Man, Aidonia and Ricky Trooper were revoked.

Last week, THE WEEKEND STAR obtained a document from the Fraud Prevention Arm of the United States Embassy in Kingston, which stated that: "The Embassy of the United States in Kingston, Jamaica, is in the process of revoking the visas of the following citizens of Jamaica. The people mentioned here currently hold a US visa that we have not yet been able to physically cancel. Do not allow these passengers to board any flights bound for the United States in reliance on this visa."

However, Matterhorn says, "Mi nuh have nutten official (from the US Embassy). Dem nuh contact me. Probably if dem a try contact mi, mi nuh know 'cause mi nuh deh a Jamaica. So, mi nuh know fi a fact. Mi just deh a England and a hear seh it gone."

 

told via messenger

The selector said many people told him via BlackBerry Messenger yesterday morning that his visa had been revoked.

"A just people a tell mi. Somebody a tell mi seh it come pon news but mi nuh know how truthful the story be. If it gone or it nuh gone, my life still goes on. As far as mi know, it still inna mi passport," Matterhorn told THE WEEKEND STAR.

There were also speculations that Matterhorn was turned back at the Miami International Airport on Wednesday, but Matterhorn said there was no truth to that rumour. He said he had been in England since early yesterday morning. He also said that he will be in the country for another couple of weeks. His next scheduled visit to the US is later this month.

FINANCE Minister Audley Shaw yesterday promised "a massive clean-up operation" at revenue departments, days after uncovering a major waiver fraud that milked the public purse of millions of dollars.

"I am very sorry to have to announce this today (that) we have had to write to our departments; we know that they are largely honest people, it's just a few bad apples have made us reach the point where we have had to call in the police," Shaw said in his opening contribution to the 2010/11 Budget Debate at Gordon House in Kingston.

 

A pregnant exotic dancer accused of using a kitchen knife to gouge out one of her lovers eyes broke down in tears in court yesterday after she glanced at the victim who was also in tears.

The 27-year-old accused, Keneisha Russell, reportedly attacked the father of her unborn child on the evening of March 23 when he confronted her about her decision to end their relationship.

Russell, who has been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm, was yesterday remanded in custody and the matter was postponed for mention on April 12, as the medical certificate was outstanding.

According to court documents, Russell had threatened to leave the complainant, who is a security guard, because she claimed he was not treating her as well as her previous babyfather.

On the day of the incident, the complainant left work and went home to talk to Russell about the child.

But it is alleged that Russell cursed him and told him that she was leaving and that he was not going to be a part of the childs life.

The court documents said Russell attempted to leave the house when the complainant held on to her hand. She reportedly took a knife from the top of a refrigerator and began to stab at the complainant, who said he felt a pinch to his back.

The complainant reportedly retaliated, held Russell by her throat and pushed her onto a bed. But she reportedly got up and started to stab at him again.

The complainant then tried to get away and while he was going through the door realised that he had been stabbed in his eye.

The complainant, who seemed very distraught, told Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey that he spent three days at the Kingston Public Hospital.

TWO female vendors, accused of plotting to defraud debit card owners of their money by installing a spyware into a banking machine, were last week both offered bail in the sum of $100,000 when they appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court.

The accused, 39-year-old Sophia Bromfield and 46-year-old Annie Hibbert, both of Kingston 19, were arrested on February 16.

Police say that they had received information that a group of people were reportedly seen tampering with a National Commercial Bank ABM on Brunswick Avenue in Spanish Town, St Catherine. On their arrival some of the alleged perpetrators ran and the two women were held.

The police claimed that the door of the machine and the viewing monitor were tampered with.

A building society account passbook, a screwdriver and a spy camera were allegedly taken from the two.

The accused, who are both represented by CJ Mitchell, were granted bail by Resident Magistrate Georgianna Fraser on condition that they surrender their travel documents and report to the Duhaney Park Police Station on Mondays and Thursdays between 6:00 am and 6:00 pm.

They will return to court on June 9.

DENVER, Colorado (CMC) Caribbean countries can expect an above-average 2010 Atlantic hurricane with a 58 per cent chance of a major hurricane affecting the region, respected United States forecasters have said.

The team from Colorado State University is predicting as many as eight hurricanes -- four of which will become major weather systems with winds in excess of 111 miles per hour -- to form over the Atlantic Ocean during the June 1 to November 30 hurricane season. In all, it said that there would be up to 15 named storms.

Dr Phil Klotzbach, the lead forecaster on the university's hurricane forecast team, said the prediction was based on the premise that El Nino conditions continue until the summer.

"We expect current moderate El Nino conditions to transition to neutral conditions by this year's hurricane season," Dr Klotzbach said in a statement.

"The dissipating El Nino, along with the expected anomalously warm Atlantic ocean sea surface temperatures, will lead to favourable dynamic and thermodynamic conditions for hurricane formation and intensification," he added.

The team predicts tropical cyclone activity in 2010 will be 160 per cent of the average season. By comparison, 2009 witnessed tropical cyclone activity that was about 70 per cent of the average season.

The 2010 forecast marks 27 years of hurricane forecasting at Colorado State, led by Dr William Gray. The hurricane forecast team said it makes its predictions based on 58 years of historical data.

"While patterns may change before the start of hurricane season, we believe current conditions warrant concern for an above-average season," Dr Gray said.

Long-term averages are 9.6 named storms, 5.9 hurricanes and 2.3 major hurricanes per year, the team said.

The Colorado State University team said it will issue forecast updates on June 2 and August 4.

JAMAICA'S import bill for agricultural produce decreased by US$71 million last year as more citizens buy into the 'eat what we grow and grow what we eat' concept.

The disclosure was made by permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Donavon Stanberry at Wednesday's launch of Farmers' Month at the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) headquarters on Church Street, downtown Kingston.

 

WESTERN Air a privately owned Bahamian airline -- will next Monday take over Air Jamaica's Nassau route when the 'Love Bird' ceases flying to that destination.

The carrier said it has been granted a charter licence by the Jamaican Government and the Jamaican Civil Aviation Authority to operate daily flights from Kingston and Montego Bay to Nassau. In addition, it said that it was granted a schedule and charter licence by the Bahamian Government and its civil aviation agency to operate flights from the Bahamas to Jamaica.

In a release yesterday, Western Air announced that the Kingston to Nassau flights are scheduled to begin on Monday, while flights from Montego Bay will begin in May.

It will fly between Kingston and Nassau from Sundays to Fridays and between Montego Bay and Nassau twice weekly, on Fridays and Sundays.

"Flying direct from Jamaica to Bahamas eliminates the need to travel through the United States and requiring a United States visa," the airline noted, adding that this is expected to be welcomed by travellers who would otherwise have no direct flights to and from Jamaica when Air Jamaica discontinues service to that country next Monday.

Chief executive officer of Western Air, Rex Rolle, said the airline intends to start service Monday to ensure there is no disruption in air travel between The Bahamas and Jamaica.

"Jamaica is a destination we have been pursuing for the past two years now," he said. "Western Air originally applied for the routes in 2008, but only received word from the Jamaican Civil Aviation Authority back in January, after Air Jamaica announced they were discontinuing service to The Bahamas."

Western Air, he said, will provide employment opportunities for Jamaicans in the future.

Initially, the Kingston and Montego Bay routes will be serviced by Western Air's SAAB 340A 33-seater aircraft. Flights will be operated in Nassau from the existing Air Jamaica ticket counter. In Jamaica, they will be serviced by Jamaica Dispatch Services at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston and the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay.

Western Air was established in 2001 by Rex and Shandrice Rolle. It is the largest privately owned airline in The Bahamas offering daily scheduled flights from Nassau, Freeport, Marsh Harbour, Bimini, Exuma, North and South Andros as well as on-demand charters throughout the Bahamas, Caribbean, Central and South America. The company currently employs 120 persons.

OH NO!!! 16 YEAR OLD BOY DESTROYS HIS FATHERS $300K LAMBORGHINI . . . BURNS IT DOWN TO THE GROUND!!!! (PICS INSIDE)Check out the pics MediaTakeOut.com obtained of a burnt up Lambo. Apparently some 16 year old kid STOLE his dad's car and when the car began overheating, he kept driving.

It then burst into flames. Luckily the young man wasn't hurt in the fire. He probably suffered CRITICAL injuries once his dad got IN THAT AZZ though!!!

JAMAICA has been placed at the top of a list of no go destinations for gays according to a press release issued by Cheapflights UK, a travel agency website.

Believe it or not, there are still several places in this modern world where being gay is actually illegal and can result in abuse and even arrest in some cases, the release stated.

The list is of no go destinations completed by Fiji, Poland, Nicaragua and Mauritius.

Buggery is against the law in Jamaica and is punishable by a sentence of no more than 10 years at hard labour.

Despite reports from local and international gay groups that gays are persecuted in Jamaica, police blotters indicate that the majority of murders involving gays are the result of lovers quarrels and not homophobic attacks.

The website listed the top five destinations that are welcoming to gays as the US cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans, Amsterdam in Holland and Provincetown in Massachusetts.

Stepdad of NJ girl defends 3 accused of raping her

A horrifying case - a gang rape of a 7-year-old allegedly sold by her teenage stepsister to armed men - grew more bizarre when the girl's stepfather showed up outside the Trenton courthouse Thursday to say that three of the five accused men had actually tried to help the girl.

He was summoned to the courthouse by family members of the suspects, who have his phone number on speed dial, a seemingly strange alliance amid a crime that has inflamed a poor community.

"These three had nothing to do with nothing; I don't know why they locked them up," the stepfather said of Gregory Leary, 20; Timear Lewis, 19; and a 17-year-old whom authorities have not identified because of his age.

The Associated Press generally does not identify people alleging sex crimes and is not naming the stepfather to avoid identifying the girl.

In all, five men and boys have been arrested on suspicion of raping the girl. The other suspects are ages 13 and 14. The 15-year-old stepsister also has been charged with promoting prostitution.

Lewis is scheduled to make his first court appearance Friday. It was his mother who called the girl's stepfather, imploring him to come to the courthouse to talk to reporters.

"Please tell them my son did not do this," Tracy Lewis said. "He was there but he didn't touch anyone."

Police say there is DNA evidence of the crime, but the prosecution may hinge on the word of a little girl, her troubled stepsister and the other men and boys who watched the crime.

According to police, the 7-year-old was prostituted out by her 15-year-old stepsister, who watched as she was raped by as many as seven men and boys at a party at the Rowan Tower apartments on March 28. As many as a dozen people were at the party, held in a vacant apartment in the crime-plagued public housing complex not far from the New Jersey Statehouse.

Investigators said that soon after arriving, the older girl took money to have sex with several men at a party, including Leary. The teen then gave some of the money she had collected to the younger girl to let the men start touching her. It soon escalated to rape, police said, and the men threatened to kill the child if she screamed or told anyone, according to police.

The girl later put on her clothes and left the apartment; her older stepsister stayed, police say. Two women found the child crying outside the apartment and walked her home, where police were waiting because the girls' parents had reported them missing.

The girl told police what happened and her sister was soon found and arrested.

"She should have never took my daughter there," the father said of his 15-year-old.

While the father thinks that three of the men may have tried to get the young girl out of the apartment, he doesn't dispute the fact that she was raped by several men.

"My daughter said these guys were trying to help her," he said. "If you had a gun pointed to your head, you wouldn't be able to do nothing, either."

The confusing case had already strained relations among police and residents and management of the troubled Rowan Tower downtown apartment building where the crime took place.

"They think because we are poor that they can ruin our lives," Tracy Lewis said.

Following the case, police and the mayor held news conferences and said they were taking the case personally. Days later, police conducted a pre-dawn raid on the public housing complex, arresting 27 people who lived there on warrants for violations such as outstanding parking tickets.

In a contentious meeting, the police director and building managers talked with residents, vowing to increase security at a building that already uses uniformed Trenton police as nighttime doormen.

Mayor Doug Palmer met with the 7-year-old girl and her family in his office last week and gave the girl a stuffed bunny rabbit for Easter. He said the family is getting counseling and indicated it may be permanently relocated away from the city.

Leary's lawyer suggested Thursday in court that the child had been pressured to make up the story.

"She was not raped, was not gang-raped," Robin Lord said, adding that the girl's memory is "forever tainted" because she's been given toys, gifts and money.

Leary is charged with aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child. He made his first court appearance Thursday and was ordered held on $500,000 bail. He is also accused of statutory rape; police and his attorney say he has admitted having sex with the 15-year-old.

Assistant Prosecutor said Jennifer Downing said Leary denied having sex with the younger girl. However, she said several witnesses at the party told police they saw Leary "on top of the 7-year-old," raping her.

Police have said they expect additional arrests.

___

Associated Press writer Aaron Morrison contributed to this report.

© Copyright 2010 CSC Holdings, Inc.

The St Catherine North police say they are making success in dismantling the recently formed 'No Order' gang. They recently took two men, suspected to be members of the gang, into custody.

Police said the gang consists of people who have defected from the 'One Order' gang.

One of those detained is Dalton Thomas, 28, unemployed of Homestead, St Catherine. The police are alleging that he is linked to a shooting incident in 2008.

He has been charged with shooting with intent and will face the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.

person of interest

Thomas was said to have been a person of interest for sometime and was picked up by the police last week. He was formally charged on Monday.

The other man was detained at the Spanish Town Police Station yesterday and will be interviewed about criminal acts that have taken place in the St Catherine North Division.

Informed sources at the station said that several members of the gang are being investigated.

"No effort will be spared to bring these criminals to book, it doesn't matter where they go they would be pursued," a senior investigator said.

A man accused of burying a 12-year-old girl alive three weeks ago has been charged.

He is 26-year-old Garsha Wilson, a taxi operator, of a St Andrew address.

He was charged by detectives from the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences (CISOCA) on Monday with attempted murder, abduction, rape, cruelty to a child and malicious destruction of property.

Reports from CISOCA reported that the little girl disappeared from the Transport Centre in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, on March 22.

Later that same day, Wilson is alleged to have accompanied the child's mother to the Transport Centre to report her missing at the centre's police post.

girl found

However, while there, the police received a call that the little girl had been found.

Wilson is said to have then fled the scene but was arrested three days later following investigations.

Detectives are alleging that the child was picked up at the Transport Centre and taken to Smokey Vale, St Andrew, where she was sexually assaulted.

It is also being alleged that the child was choked to the point of unconsciousness and then buried by her attacker, who thought she was dead.

The child was reportedly buried in a shallow grave covered with rocks but later regained consciousness and dug herself out. She was walking along the roadway and helped by a resident who took her to the police.

Wilson is scheduled to appear before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on Friday.

A mother may be in trouble with the police after she is alleged to have pushed her nine-year-old son's head in a toilet after he went to bed without bathing.

The woman from Trelawny, is said to have travelled from her home to Grant's Pen, St Andrew, to bond with her son the day before the incident.

She, however, defeated the purpose of the visit when she allegedly abused the child.

THE STAR was told that in a fit of rage, the mother also used a piece of electrical cord to hit her son several times and left him with several cuts all over his body.

The woman's sister who had been taking care of the lad, said she is extremely hurt by her sister's action and has since sent the boy to spend the rest of his holidays with his father in Papine, St Andrew.

"He has been living with me in Grant's Pen since he was three just because I realise she wasn't ready for a child. I do everything for him, school, food, clothes, while she does nothing and I don't even let it bother me because that's how much I love him," the aunt said. "Since lately I kept telling her that she needs to be a part of his life and she must come visit him from time to time. Now I feel like I should have just let her live her life and stay in Trelawny because I have never hit the child."

The irate aunt told THE STAR her sister arrived at her home on Friday and was supposed to have spent two weeks there. However, she would only spend one day.

According to the aunt, on Saturday she awoke to the sounds of a little boy crying for 'murder'.

whipped boy

When she went to investigate she allegedly saw her sister swinging the piece of electrical cord wildly across her boy's body.

The lad is said to have ran inside a bathroom and tried to lock himself inside but was soon caught. He was said to have been held by the feet, his head forced inside the toilet bowl while the accused woman allegedly asked: "A dat yu like"?

The aunt said she threatened to call the police and the child was let go.

The mother is said to have left later that day without even saying goodbye to her child.

The aunt said that she sought the aid of the Grant's Pen police on Monday and was told she should submit a report to the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA).

She, however, said that she may reconsider.

"I think I might just forget everything and do my thing. In reality, he is my child, since I've been taking care of him all these years. But I just might let the police get involved and have her locked up," she said.

When contacted, an officer from CISOCA told THE STAR to urge the woman to make a formal report so investigations can take place as incidents like this too often go unreported.

"These things happen everyday and our kids are being abused and will continue being abused if we don't make examples of the abusers," the officer said.

you ever wonder why some man gwan like dem bad esspecially when him see a girl what him want fi impress some a dem all see you and start show it up and  the next time you see dem a check you fi a money because dem done try intimidate you aready some man fi go look work and mine dem youth and stop prey pon desent people

An act of kindness by Jamaican reggae singer Buju Banton while being detained in the Pinellas County Jail in Florida has resulted in him being confined in the maximum security wing of the penal institution and has contributed to him losing around 40 pounds, according to his lawyer David Markus. That's the claim included in an eight-page bond application filed to the United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, on Sunday by Markus. The court will hear Markus' emergency application for bond on Friday. Markus said he hopes to have Buju returned to the non-maximum security unit or have him transferred to immigration custody. Buju and two alleged co-conspirators have been in custody in the United States since last December when they were charged with conspiracy to possess cocaine and aiding and abetting the carrying of a firearm during a drug-trafficking crime. The lanky Rastafarian, who is a vegetarian, reportedly shared a meal with a fellow inmate, which is a violation, and was sent to the maximum security wing for at least 30 days. Markus said he was made aware of the situation on March 18. Since being transferred, Markus said Buju, born Mark Myrie, has been unable to prepare his own meals and "has not been provided with a diet in accordance with his religious views". In the bond application, Markus also intimated that his client might be the victim of personal attacks by the warders. "Mr Myrie has been moved from floor to floor in the jail without explanation and treated differently than the other inmates. The decision to place Mr Myrie in a maximum security wing weeks before his upcoming trial suggests that something else is going on," said Markus in his application, which included a footnote naming a corporal "who has had it out for Mr Myrie during his entire stay". The attorney added that the violation was a minor one not fitting the punishment and that "in sum, Mr Myrie is now in a maximum security wing for caring enough to offer food to another inmate who was hungry and genuinely believing there was nothing wrong in doing so". Food and nutrition consultant Dr Heather Little-White said if Buju were not getting his desired meal, he could be losing an average of two pounds per week. This would result in his "mental frame not being as strong and he would become physically weak". "He would also have deficiencies in vitamins and minerals and would need to be examined by a doctor. Until proven guilty, his likes and dislikes should be taken into account," said Little-White. Markus said Buju's transfer to maximum security has been affecting his client mentally and physically and, by extension, the legal team's preparation for the start of his trial on April 19. "For example, this week when counsel attempted to visit Mr Myrie, counsel was required to wait over two hours until he could see Mr Myrie," he stated in his application. In a radio interview yesterday, Markus said the delay was a ploy to derail his team from winning the trial but that he was "optimistic and we are going to fight this". Buju's arrest in Florida in December came at the tail end of a troublesome year, which included a number of cancelled concerts in the USA brought on by gay rights groups and an out-of-court settlement with former common-law wife Lorna Strachan after she filed a suit in the Supreme Court against him.

Is America tightening the screws in 'Dudus' extradition dispute?

THE United States Department of Transportation (DOT) has failed to grant a desperate request from Air Jamaica by April 5, 2010, that would have allowed the airline an easier transition to ownership by Trinidad-based Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL).

At the same time, the Government has dispatched a team to Washington to try to convince the Department to renegotiate Jamaica's current Open Skies Agreement, giving Caribbean Airlines the right to operate on routes the Jamaican airline currently flies.

The technical team is also seeking to press the US to grant Air Jamaica's March 24 request to continue to operate on the terms of its existing authority during the six to 12 month transition period expected under the divestment with CAL. The Jamaicans had asked the US to respond by April 5.

Failing that permission, the airline is asking the Americans for an urgent waiver of the DOT's standard ownership and control policy in order for it to maintain services for the one-year period, under its Transitional Services Agreement (TSA) with Caribbean Airlines.

Apparently running well behind schedule now, Air Jamaica yesterday announced it was pushing back its previously publicised April 12, 2010 deadline for the TSA to April 30.

Last week, chief executive officer (CEO) of Air Jamaica Bruce Nobles confirmed contents of a letter from the airline's lawyer saying that Caribbean Airlines could not operate under Jamaica's current bilateral Open Skies Agreement without permission from the US and Canadian departments of transportation.

"Clearly, for Caribbean Airlines to take over the Air Jamaica routes they would have to have the authority from the countries we fly to be able to do so and Jamaica has an Open Skies Agreement that will have to be renegotiated," Nobles told the Observer.

That was not something the airline would get involved in because it was the purview of the Ministry of Transport and the air policy committee, he added.

Nobles explained that this would be part of the transition agreement and as such approval for Caribbean Airlines to operate the Jamaican routes would not happen in the initial stage.

"That is a political discussion that is going to transpire over a period of time," he said, noting that discussions about bilateral and legal authorities would be between the governments of Jamaica, Trinidad, US and Canada.

"That is way above my pay grade and it is really inappropriate and premature to speculate on these things," Nobles said when pressed as to whether there was anything that could prevent the granting of such permission.

Speculation was rife that with the extradition dispute over Jamaica's refusal to hand over Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke -- to face charges of gun and drug trafficking -- the US would use the occasion to tighten the screws.

But yesterday, an upbeat Information Minister Daryl Vaz, while admitting that the April 5 deadline was not met, said the team currently in Washington was reporting that the negotiations were going well.

"Based on the report that came to Cabinet yesterday by Minister Henry, those discussions are going very well and we don't see any problems in terms of the transition between Caribbean Airlines and Air Jamaica," Vaz told journalists at yesterday's post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House in Kingston.

Meanwhile, Vaz explained that Cabinet had approved an Open Skies policy for negotiation of future and renegotiation of the current air service agreement between Jamaica and other states.

"The Open Skies policy will allow for unfettered seven freedom traffic rights in relation to cargo. Seven freedom rights allow airlines to carry passengers or cargo between foreign countries without any continuing service to one's own country," he explained.

With respect to the route schedule, Vaz said there would be no restriction in regard to route and traffic rights, frequency of service or capacity.

 

The outcome of a football match proved too much for a Och Rios, St Ann man on Saturday.

The man is alleged to have attacked his girlfriend and her sister moments after the final whistle was blown and cemented the fact that his favourite team had lost.

Angry relatives of the victims, who contacted THE STAR, said they knew the alleged attacker, Rubbletook football games very serious but never expected he would become violent in the event his team lost.

Rubble* is said to be an ardent fan of the English club Manchester United. He was reportedly devastated about their 1-2 loss to Chelsea in the English Premier League.

"Man can love football so dat him a guh beat up him woman 'cause him side lose?" asked the mother of the women yesterday.

Checks with the Ocho Rios police revealed that they had heard of the incident but a formal report was not submitted. "I cannot say much because I don't see anything in the diary," a constable who answered the telephone said yesterday.

THE STAR was subsequently told that family members of Rubble had begged that the police not be contacted.

However, the father of the women said the police will be contacted by Friday as payments which were promised for the doctor bill for his daughter's injuries, are not forthcoming.

"Dem call mi and a beg seh wi nuffi get di police involved and dem a guh pay fi everything. Dat a from Saturday and all now. So we jus a give dem until Friday," he explained.

It is alleged that Rubble was at his girlfriend's house in Ocho Rios and had just finished watching the match. He is said to have suddenly began inflicting several blows upon his girlfriend's body before doing the same to her sister after she tried to intervene.

"A inna di kitchen mi deh a look after breakfast and mi hear when him shout out one big, long bad word. When mi go look mi jus in time fi si wen mi daughter go to him and ask him if him alright. Di man just start fling some lick pon har jus like dat, and wen mi next daughter try fi help him, him tun di lick dem pon she," the victims' mother recalled. "Me couldn't help because me a diabetic and mi foot sick."

After dishing out the beating, Rubble is said to have just left and has not been seen since. His victims are said to have suffered several bruises and swellings all over their bodies.

The victims' father said he has conducted his own investigations and claims to have heard that Rubble had placed a $15,000 bet on his team.

"When me come home and hear wa gwaan mi touch di road same time a look fi him. Mi get fi understand seh him did bet $15,000 pon di match suh a mussi dat get to him," he said.

Not his real name.

A man who was reportedly found with two teenage girls at his home, including one that had been reported missing, has found himself in trouble with the law.

Clarence Jackson has been charged with failing to report a child in need of care and protection.

The allegations are that the police got a call from a resident in the accused man's community, who reported that he had seen two teenage girls living with the accused. A team of officers went to the address and they reportedly saw the girls.

One, according to allegations, attempted to run away when she saw the police, while the other was being held in a room. It is alleged that nails were used to fasten the door.

It is alleged that the teens told the police that they were half-sisters and that the accused said he was their granduncle. Both of these claims were found to be false.

It was later discovered that one of the girls had run away from home and had been reported missing since February 2010.

When the case was called up in court on Thursday, a new date of April 12 was agreed on. The court was told that further charges are to be laid against the accused.

Thieves broke into the Old Harbour Health Centre, in St Catherine, between Wednesday night and Thursday morning and stole equipment valued at approximately $50,000.

Among the items that were reported to have been stolen is, a television set, a stove and a cylinder of gas.

A number of persons who turned out for treatment at the Health Centre yesterday expressed a desire to see the building relocated.

Workers told THE WEEKEND STAR that they are fed up with thieves plaguing the health centre.

"In 2008, a four times them tear it down and last year them ease up but it look like them start again, " a visitor to the centre said.

The Old Harbour police said that investigations are under way.

A St Elizabeth woman is accusing a pastor from the parish of helping to destroy her marriage.

The woman, Sharnella Yoot, told THE WEEKEND STAR that the pastor's niece got involved in a relationship with her husband a little over two years ago and got pregnant shortly after. She said the woman gave birth to a daughter that is now two years old and even though the entire community, including the pastor and his family knew about it, she only found out about it two weeks ago.

The 30-year-old woman said she had her suspicions about a relationship between her 34-year-old husband and the girl, who was then 17, but had no idea that the two shared a child. She said: "I never know anyting about the child and I come to find out that the whole community, including mi husband family, knew about this child. Is just the other day mi find out."

She said she got the shocking news from a fish vendor, who after trying to woo her with lyrics to no avail, blurted out the truth. "Mi buy some fish from him and I was walking away and him seh 'man a look yu and u cotch up wid da man deh whe have pickney wid next ooman'."

She said when she confronted her husband, he admitted to having a child but said he could not bring himself to telling her the truth.

Yoot said the pastor would often visit a relative's house where he kept fasting and night services, sometimes inviting she and her husband, all the while knowing the truth. She said: "When I went to the pastor about it, after I found out, he smiled and said it was not his place to tell me. After I begged him to tell me the truth, that is when he told me."

She said: "As a pastor you supposed to be putting people together and saving marriages, not destroying one." Yoot has not yet decided whether she will divorce her husband, but said a lawyer advised her to seek counsellingbefore making a decision.

In the meantime, the pastor told THE WEEKEND STAR that he had done nothing wrong. He said his niece had made a mistake by getting involved with the man, but at the time they had no knowledge that he was involved with anyone, let alone married.

"After we found out, I made sure she had no connections with this man. They have had nothing to do with each other since then. In fact, my niece went overseas for two years. That was my role, to tell her not to be involved with him anymore and that's what I did," he said.

With regards to keeping the truth from Yoot, he said: "I don't have a right to tell her. We are not friends and we don't talk."

He said his primary obligation was to ensure his niece's well-being and he did just that by ensuring that she cut off all contact with Yoot's husband. He said: "I am positive that there is nothing going on between them (now). In fact, she is engaged to someone else. Me and my wife and the child's mother are the ones that take care of the baby. We don't even ask this man for anything."

He said he would not allow Yoot to mar his image as he is an upstanding citizen and has done nothing wrong.

Name changed

AUGUSTA, Georgia (AFP) -- US commentators yesterday raised doubts whether Tiger Woods was really telling the truth about being a changed man after fooling his wife for years about his multiple sexual affairs.

"Should we believe Tiger Now?" headlined a USA Today column yesterday where Christine Brennan noted, "There is no way to know if the Tiger Woods we watched Monday is telling the truth," while admitting "I want to believe Tiger Woods."

The golfing superstar won high marks for his answers at a Monday news conference at the Augusta Masters during which he faced 35 minutes of questions from reporters, the first inquest since his adultery scandal broke in November.

But after the revelation of his secret life, "living the life of a lie" as Woods put it in a television interview last month, the bigger question about golf's number one player is "How can anyone believe anything he says?"

Woods says he is meditating more and returning to core morals and Buddhism.

"I had to really take a hard look at myself," Woods said Monday. "That's when I started finding peace and strength."

Woods has laughed and joked with spectators in practice rounds at Augusta National, but such moves are easy when they are vital to influencing the public reaction that will in large measure decide how Woods will be judged hereafter.

"Woods said he's a changed man. It's impossible to know how honest he is when that is the quality he abandoned. He deserves a chance to prove himself. Grace transforms the grotesque," wrote the Miami Herald.

Without some level of public trust, the man who became the greatest pitchman in sports history for product endorsement deals might find even his life's dream of 18 major titles a soured achievement.

"I take full responsibility for what I've done," Woods said. "I lied to a lot of people, deceived a lot of people, kept others in the dark and even lied to myself.

"I acted just terribly, poorly, made just incredibly bad decisions that have hurt so many people close to me."

Deeds, not words, have been the trademark for Woods, his incredible shotmaker skills matched by zealous guarding of his private life. Does Woods regret his misdeeds, or only that he was caught?

One person was quick to pass judgement Monday.

"He is a big fat liar. He is not honest," said Joslyn James, a pornographic film star who is among more than a dozen women claiming a relationship with Woods. "After the birth of his daughter he was with me 10 days later."

Only time and actions, perhaps a lifetime of both, are likely to provide a final answer about Woods the man, no matter how Woods the golfer fares in his return.

"We know that he is special," wrote Matthew DeBord in the online Huffington Post. "But we also know that Tiger Woods is capable of monstrously distorted conduct. There is Jekyll. There is Hyde. There is Tiger."

MIAMI A rap music smackdown looms in a federal courtroom between oft-troubled impresario Marion 'Suge' Knight and controversial star Kanye West over a shooting at a star-studded Miami Beach party.

Knight, founder of Death Row Records and promoter of some of rap's biggest acts, was shot in the right leg in August 2005 by a still-unknown assailant at the ultra-trendy Shore Club. West was hosting the party before the MTV Video Music Awards held that year in Miami.

No one has ever been arrested, and like many other shootings in the rap world, police found few witnesses although the club was packed with partygoers, including celebrities Jessica Alba, Eddie Murphy, The Black Eyed Peas and Paris Hilton. At least six shots were fired, police said.

More than four years later, Knight is claiming in a lawsuit that West and the Shore Club's owners failed to provide security necessary to keep out people with weapons. Knight's attorney, Marc Brumer, said Tuesday that Knight had $200,000 in medical bills from a gunshot that shattered his femur and will seek total damages of well over $1 million.

In court papers, West and the Shore Club ownership have denied Knight's claims of negligence. The damages total includes a 15-carat diamond earring valued at $135,000 that Knight said came loose during the shooting chaos and was picked up by an employee who promised to return it. Knight doesn't know the identity of the employee but has never seen the earring since, according to court papers.

Knight claims in his lawsuit that it should have been obvious to West and the Shore Club that the party could produce a "dangerous environment" because of well-known feuds between East and West Coast rap figures that have triggered a lot of violence.

One of Knight's biggest stars, Tupac Shakur, was shot and killed in 1996 while riding in Knight's car. At the time, Knight was feuding with Sean Combs' Bad Boy label, and Bad Boy's top artiste, the Notorious BIG, was gunned down months later in Los Angeles. Relatives of BIG have accused Knight of involvement, but police have never named him a suspect.

"Prior to the party, defendants knew that it was critical to screen guests, employees and others entering the party premises for weapons," Knight's lawsuit says.

In fact, Knight said in the lawsuit that he and his entourage were patted down by security personnel before they went inside, leading him to assume that was true for all guests.

The burly Knight, nicknamed "Suge" for Sugar Bear, was one of the most powerful music figures of the 1990s. With superstar rappers like Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre and Shakur in his stable, plus *lo**s gang members on his payroll, he made millions and enemies in equal abundance.

West, meanwhile, is a multiple Grammy winner and one of today's biggest stars, but is prone to boorish behavior in public. These stunts include a 2005 comment that former President George W. Bush "doesn't care about black people" because of the slow government response to Hurricane Katrina and West's heavily criticised decision to grab the microphone from singer Taylor Swift during last year's MTV awards. West has previously lashed out at awards shows when he didn't win.

The lawsuit was originally brought in Los Angeles as part of Knight's 2006 filing for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws, which resulted in an auction of Death Row Records assets and sale of Knight's mansion in Malibu.

f

Nicollette Sheridan has sued Marc Cherry, the creator of "Desperate Housewives," alleging he struck her across the head and face on the set, and after she complained he fired her.

In the legal papers, obtained by TMZ, Nicollette is suing for assault and battery, gender violence and wrongful termination.

Sheridan is suing for more than $20 million. 

In the lawsuit, Sheridan claims Cherry created a hostile work environment from the get go, "behaving in an extremely abusive and aggressive manner toward the individuals who work on the show."

Sheridan says during the 5th season, Cherry put her in his crosshairs. She claims on September 24, 2008, he physically assaulted her after she questioned him about something in the script. According to the lawsuit, "Cherry took her aside and forcefully hit her with his hand across her face and head." 

According to the suit, after the alleged incident, Cherry went to her trailer to "beg forgiveness."

Sheridan says she immediately reported the incident to ABC, but Cherry's aggressiveness only worsened and ABC failed to take action.

And get this ... The suit alleges when Cherry found out Teri Hatcher went above his head to complain about him, he said, "I hope Teri Hatcher gets hit by a car and dies."

And, she says, she was killed off the show unfairly.

UPDATE: ABC tells the L.A. Times "While we have yet to see the actual complaint, we investigated similar claims made by Ms. Sheridan last year and found them to be without merit."

WE GOT THE FIRST PICS OF CHRISTINA MILIAN AND THE DREAM'S BABY GIRL!! For these pics and more, check out the LATEST issue of Us Weekly . . . on stands now


...

Buju Banton - Noel Thompson

A LEADING events promoter in Trinidad and Tobago has said his show, I Am Legend III, "suffered a great loss" because of the imprisonment of reggae superstar Buju Banton.

According to the Trinidad Express, the promoter Glenroy Watson said that I Am Legend III was tailor-made for Buju.

"I Am Legend was built on Buju and I miss him here tonight. Water run out my eyes, tears flowed from my eyes because I know, trust me, Buju is fighting a fight that you and I can't see," the promoter said.

Buju, whose given name is Mark Myrie, has been in a Florida jail since December last year when he was arrested and slapped with drug trafficking charges. He is scheduled to face the court for trial beginning April 19.

anti-gay stance

In the article, as reported by the Trinidad Express on Monday, Watson said Buju has been targeted because of his anti-gay stance. He said United States authorities are persecuting the reggae superstar for his renowned youthful hit song Boom Bye Bye.

"He has never been seen for who he truly is because of that song, Boom Bye Bye, and it's a persecution he's going through right now for what he believes," Watson said.

However, some responders to the article online have scoffed at the promoter's claims about the reason for Buju's arrest.

"He's not going through persecution for what he believes ... No matter what his beliefs are about homosexuality, Buju is awaiting charges for purchasing illegal drugs," a responder said while arguing that Watson has "plenty better things to cry over, like the killings and murders going on in Trinidad".

Another responder said artistes like Buju are "a bad influence to the country's youth".

"They only spew violence and negativity in their songs, and the knucklehead, not knowing any better, seems to follow. Keep them out of the country, we don't need them," a Trinidadian, who posted his comment under the name Buju said.

EXCUSIVE!!! T-PAIN PUNCHED IN THE FACE FOR TALKING RECKLESS!!!

A VIA bus driver throws a punch at a passenger and is allowed to keep his job.

VIA is currently working on a passenger code of conduct policy that it plans to post in all buses come this summer.

American pop diva Whitney Houston's comeback tour hit more trouble Wednesday when she had to cancel four European dates after being hospitalised in Paris for a respiratory infection.

Michael Douglas dumped his "greed is good" catchphrase and pulled out of the stock market after losing almost half his fortune.

The Hollywood star -- who made the motto famous as trader Gordon Gekko in 1987 film "Wall Street" -- said he chased the big bucks for years.

Then it all came tumbling down.

The actor, 65, said: "I lost 35 to 40 per cent of my net worth on the 2008 crash."

Despite prices starting to recover, he was shocked into ending his profiteering -- and pulled most of his cash from stocks.

He revealed: "At the end of last year, I took a whole bunch out."

But he admitted he had loved his earlier years of gambling on the markets like slimy Gekko.

The movie veteran said: "I played. Years ago, through the tech booms, I definitely did it.

Michael, who is married to Catherine Zeta Jones, 40, is estimated to be worth more than US$212.5 million.

He owns homes in New York and Bermuda.

A sequel to Gekko's story, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps", is out in September.

It follows the character after a jail term for insider trading.

Douglas said co-star Shia LaBeouf, 23, played the markets to get into his role.

He told Esquire magazine: "He took US$20,000 and in six weeks he was up to US$380,000. He did all right."

Lawyers representing reggae superstar Buju Banton are livid after a US court yesterday announced another delay in the start of his trial. 

Mark Buju Myrie, has been in custody since December 10 last year and was initially slated to face the court in March. 

That was changed to April 12 before a final date of April 19 was set for the start of his trial on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, and possession of a firearm. 

However in an order released yesterday, the US District Court in the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, announced a reschedule of the trial which will now start on Monday, June 21. 

The court also announced that a status conference is to be held on Thursday, June 3, at the US Sam Gibbons Courthouse in Tampa, Florida. 

This did not sit well with lawyers representing Buju, who immediately filed a motion for a status conference to discuss the trial date. 

Yesterday Bujus attorney, David Markus argued that the court rescheduled the trial at a disadvantage to Buju. 

He said the defence attorneys have been working very hard to be ready for the date and had put plans in place to begin the work to free the singer. 

According to Markus, the defence team is willing to have the case transferred to a different judge in its effort to have the case begin earlier than the June 21 schedule.

Elva will be the new host for the 2010 season of the Tastee Talent Trail competition. - File

Thirty years on, the Tastee Talent Trail, Jamaica's longest and most successful Talent contest has, as it did in 2007, undergone major changes.

The first prize has been doubled to $1 million in cash with $250,000 going to the second place winner, and $50,000 for third place.

In addition, the series, which has given us some of Jamaica's biggest stars in the form of Nadine Sutherland, Beenie Man, Yellow Man, TOK, Brian and Tony Gold and Glacia Robinson, has changed both its host and its panel of audition judges.

 

audition judges

Comedy star Elva takes over as host from Trecia 'Sparks' Spence while audition judges read like a who's who of Jamaican personalities. Oral Tracey the lone male, will be flanked by actress Karen Harriott and Timberlee.

Elva has carved a place for herself on the local comedy scene with her sharp witty delivery and facial expressions.

Oral Tracey has been known to push the envelope in his Sports Commentary and will bring his acidic tongue to the final judges tent.

Karen Harriott, in keeping with character, will be Karen, while the young and effervescent Timberlee will add to the mix.

 

major sponsors

With major sponsors Tastee and Pepsi, the Trail will open with two dates in May, the first in Portmore and the second in May Pen.

Thereafter the Trail will include; Ocho Rios in June, Savanna-La-Mar in July, Montego Bay in August before ending in Kingston in September.

The Grand Finals are set for December 9, at the Tastee Open Air Theatre in Cross Roads.

There are other significant changes to the format of the 2010 staging of the Trail which will be announced shortly.

BIG POPPA OFFICIALLY DUMPS ATL HOUSEWIFE KIM . . . GOES BACK TO HIS WIFE!! (PICS OF MRS POPPA INSIDE)

POOR GIRL!!! BRITNEY SPEARS PHOTO'D DRIVING AROUND LOS ANGELES . . . AND SHE'S HYSTERICALLY CRYING BEHIND THE WHEEL!!!

	April 09, 2010. To email this story to a friend enter email address here: SEE COMMENTS UNDER THE PHOTOS:

YOU KNEW THIS WAS COMING!!! KATT STACKS EXPOSES HERSELF IN NEW VIDEO!!!MediaTakeOut.com just learned that GROUPIE Katt Stacks has graduated from PROSTITUTE to adult film star. Check out these screenshots from her latest video. We would post it . . . but we're just SO DANG SICK of hearing her voice.

And besides . . . she gave up all her dirt already . . . 

Deejay Flippa Mafia

 

Deejay Flippa Mafia has been charged with violating the United States Immigration law and is facing possible deportation.

According to a report previously published in THE WEEKEND STAR, the deejay, real name Andrew Davis, is alleged to have attempted to enter the United States on a boat from The Bahamas with the assistance of two men in March. The deejay was arrested on March 16 and was being held as a prosecution witness against the men, Julio Santiesteban and Armando Amat, who are charged with encouraging and inducing an alien to enter or reside in the United States.

The deejay, known for songs such as Dem Yah and Unfinished House appeared before the United States District Court of the Southern District of Florida on April 2. When contacted a source from the special counsel to the US Attorney told THE WEEKEND STAR that the material witness complaint against Davis was dismissed on Wednesday afternoon, he will not be returning to district court and is currently in immigration custody.

When contacted, Nicole Navas public affairs specialist/spokesperson U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), stated: "Andrew Davis is still in federal custody with US Bureau of Prisons. He has been charged with being in violation of US Immigration law and faces immigration removal proceedings."

THE WEEKEND STAR last week published a summary of the case against Davis and two other men which was compiled from an affidavit sworn by Matthew Parker, a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security, United States ICE.

According to Special Agent Parker in the affidavit, during questioning: "Davis, a Jamaican national stated that he left the United States for Jamaica in December of 2009. Davis said that he knew he had no current legal immigration status in the US and that he knew he would not be able to lawfully re-enter the United States."

It further stated that, "on March 5, 2010, Davis flew from Jamaica to The Bahamas in order to see some friends and find a way to be smuggled into the United States."

While in The Bahamas, Davis allegedly met with a friend who agreed to smuggle him into the US. The friend then introduced Davis to two Cubans, Santiesteban and Amat, who had arrived to pick up a load of Chinese people that never arrived. Davis reportedly paid US$3,000 (J$270,000) for passage to the United States.

The money was reportedly accepted and on March 15 an attempt was allegedly being made to transport Davis to United States on the boat. The United States Coast Guard intercepted the vessel, however, and conducted a search. Upon boarding the vessel, Parker said that the Coast Guard found Santiesteban and Amat, and during a search later found one unaccounted person (Davis) laying down in the cabin of the vessel. The men were taken in for questioning.

One of MediaTakeOut.coms faithful reached out to us, claiming that she was DEFRAUDED by Tyra Banks and her show. The girl , who attends an IVY LEAGUE college, claims that she was pushed into lying on Tyra's show about being anorexic. Now she says that her life is ruined.

Here is her story:

My name is Lin W, and I am the actress/model who appeared on Tyra Banks' pregorexia segment that most recently aired on January 2010.

With last summer being the season that numerous models/actresses were getting preggo and looking skinny, [Tyra] decided to do a segment regarding this issue. I signed on to doing the show with a clear understanding that I as a model, would be explaining to America my healthy eating/diet habits that I adopted while pregnant. . . while also promoting a show that I recently appeared on.

Instead, 30mins before taping on the day of the show, the producers give me a script to memorize with lines about how I starve myself because I care what my boyfriend thinks, and staged responses to the questions Tyra would ask me (I only eat 2 cups of rice a day, I refuse to let myself gain weight, LIES LIES LIES)

The producers even took the footage I recorded, and wiped out all the detailed explanations i had given. . . instead leaving parts in to make me look like an anorexic.

Not to mention, Tyra hissing at me to "poke my tummy out to look more preggo" for more of a reaction when I get on stage, and 2 producers yelling at me to "cry" on que when pictures of malnourished babies came up.

Now I was under contract to do this, but the whole time during the show I was really confused and emotionless. like "wtf, this is so left field"

Basically, I was hired to portray a false image of myself. as an anorexic pregnant woman.

The result of this? Wave upon wave of people making threats to incarcerate me or put me in a hospital, my medical records were tapped into, and overall distress amongst my family.

I feel that Tyra needs to be put on blast for this, because her treatment towards me was wrong. Had i really been a lady with an eating disorder instead of some actress they paid to play this role, it really would've shaken that woman up.

All i want out of this is a re-taping and an apology. To switch up on me last minute and make me memorize lines to s*** that wasn't even asked.

You know there's TWO SIDES to every story. But if Tyra did this, she is REAL FOUL!!!!

Check out below for a clip from the show: