Tag Archives: St. Kitts and Nevis

Oct 12 2010
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Money & Investment, The Caribbean

St. Kitts and Nevis leads export of goods and services to U.S. among O.E.C.S. group

Golfview Estates and Halfbay Villas, St. Kitts

Erasmus Williams

SKNVibes

St. Kitts and Nevis continues to be the leading exporter of goods and services to the United States among the Caribbean group of O.E.C.S. countries. Its business relationship with the U.S. is more than all the other nation states of the O.E.C.S. combined.

Foreign trade statistics issued by the US Census Bureau reveal that exports from St. Kitts and Nevis to the United States for the first six months of this year were valued at US$25.7 million or EC$69.4 million, while the combined exports of St. Lucia, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines amounted to US$17.2 million or EC$46.4 million.

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Christophe Harbour, St. Kitts-Nevis

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Oct 08 2010
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Africa, World

Two Sides to Every Story: Congo and the Rwandan Genocide

Katherine Iliopoulos

Crimes Of War

A Hutu refugee with open machete wounds on his head stands amidst a group of hundreds of fellow refugees who were surrounded by the Tutsi Army Thursday April 27, 1995, in the school compound of Kibeho, southern Rwanda. At least 2,000 people were killed by army gunfire or trampled in a stampede the previous week while the Rwandan army was trying to close the camp, which the government considered a center for extremist Hutu militias. (AP Photo/Jean-Marc Bouju)

Narratives on the 1990s in Rwanda focus invariably on the country’s darkest hour: the genocide perpetrated by the Hutu against the Tutsi. It seems to many as if the story began shortly before April, 6, 1994, when the incumbent President’s plane was shot down on approach to Kigali airport, unleashing a wave of mass violence that claimed 800,000 lives.

There are scholars such as Mahmood Mamdani who have sought to go beyond popular understanding, by contextualising the genocide in terms of colonial history and developments in neighbouring countries and moving away from the popular understanding that the genocide was simply the product of ethnic hatred. Without wishing to trivialise the 1994 genocide, argue ”moral equivalence” or promote the so-called ”double genocide theory,” most would agree that it is important to recognise that mass violence was committed by both sides. Furthermore, the 1994 genocide needs to be placed in the context of the Rwandan Civil War that began in 1990.

The question of the Rwandan genocide has never really disappeared from the media and popular discourse, but it has been in the spotlight in recent weeks after a draft UN report on the most serious violations of human rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo over an eleven-year period (1993-2003) was leaked to the French newspaper Le Monde.

The lengthy report states that after the Rwandan Patriotic Front’s (RPF) takeover of Rwanda in 1994, it proceeded to carry out “systematic and widespread attacks” against Hutu refugees who had fled Rwanda to neighbouring Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) as well as against the Hutu civilian population of Zaire in general. It concludes that the pattern of these attacks “reveal[s] a number of damning elements that, if they were proven before a competent court, could be classified as crimes of genocide.” Luc Côté, a war crimes prosecutor from Montreal who led the investigation and co-authored the report, told Agence France Presse that the evidence of genocide includes speeches in which Hutus were targeted for elimination, systematic and repetitive killings, the burning of corpses and attempts to bar outsiders from visiting massacre sites.

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Related story:
UN war crimes tribunals appeal to General Assembly for resources, staffing support
The Rwandan Genocide: Revenge Tragedy

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Aug 20 2010
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Announcements, Music, The Caribbean

Caribbean Performance Rights Licensing Organisation pays first royalties

By John Francis

The Eastern Caribbean Collective Organisation for Music Rights (ECCO) Inc. on Thursday 12th August 2010, distributed royalties to its members and affiliates around the world for performances of their music in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

This is the first payout from the organization (formerly HMS) from funds raised under ECCO and relate to royalties collected from music users in 2009 Financial year.

Members and affiliates benefited from a total payout of approximately EC$200,000 with $45,300 being paid directly to ECCO members in the form of Allocations, and the balance being paid on performance details provided by radio stations and major live events such as St. Lucia jazz.

As ECCO expands its operations throughout the OECS it is expected that royalties received and paid out to members and sister societies around the world will increase.

ECCO is an association of composers and publishers of musical works which administers on behalf of its members the performing right within the musical works which are assigned to it.

By virtue of a network of reciprocal agreements with affiliated societies all over the world, ECCO’s repertoire comprises not only the works of its own members but virtually all copyright musical works existing today.

ECCO issues annually renewable licenses to broadcasters, cable operators and premises which play copyright music to the public, from concert venues and discotheques, to hotels, bars, banks, cinemas, shops and offices. In return for a modest royalty payment, licensees are entitled to unlimited access to virtually the entire copyright music repertoire in the world today and saved from the impossible task of contacting and negotiating with individual composers, authors and publishers throughout the world.

ECCO has the mandate to administer the performing right in its repertoire in the OECS, which include Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Anguilla, and the British Virgin Islands.

ECCO was officially launched in St Lucia in January last year. It is governed by a board of directors comprising persons from the OECS with agents in each territory.

_____
Visit Dancebeat Records.
About John Francis.

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Aug 19 2010
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Inspirational, Poetry & Prose

Sometimes we win

By Govia

Thru time
It is love that keeps
Us together.
The kindness
Of good friends that
Quiets the storms.

Your soft hand
Resting on his
At the end of a brutal day
That keeps things
In perspective.

His strong hands
Rubbing
Your feet
That makes you feel
Cherished.

In the world
There are many
Who share a similar
Experience.

People drawn
Together in
A common cause –
Or for one reason or another
Share a special
Connection
With something
Or someone

The connection for what
We speaks
Is remarkably
Beyond Faith.

It is intrinsically
Indescribable.

It is beyond reason
That we relinquish
Our individuality:

With so much sincerity,
We become captive
To that which makes
Us complete.

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Aug 19 2010
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Inspirational, Poetry & Prose, Travel With Literature

As long as the Sun

By Govia

In the end there
Is nothing but
Those thoughts
My friend

Shadows that
Dance
And no one
Sees but you.

Gifts of God
That ask for Life
That is yours
To give

To occupy space
With the gravity
Of feelings earned.

No one can deter greatness!
No one should deter you!

No one can deter
Thoughts that come from
The incubator
Of the unconquerable mind
And sit on a page.

This life will end
And so too yours,
But words live on,
Words live
As long as the sun.

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Aug 18 2010
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Poetry & Prose, The Caribbean, Videos, World

Cricket at New St.

By Govia

Brother bowled right
And batted left.
He was good
At driving balls thru
The covers
But was
Not as tenacious
As Boycott.

At New Street
We salvaged wood
(From carpenters who
Made coffins at Jenkin’s)
And carved them
Into sturdy bats.

Balls
We made from
Bicycle tubes that couldn’t
Be repaired –

We would cut them into
Rings with scissors
And knitted them over paper –
Often with a “lost” golf ball sitting
At the core.

On weekends
Neighbors gathered
to form teams.

One sweep to fine leg
That crossed the next sidewalk
Along the ground
Was four.
A massive hook
That flew
Over the line at long leg
was a sure six.

We smashed balls
Thru doorways
And windows
But no one ever complained
Except Misses Palmer
(The old white lady
Whom we routinely
Ignored).

Occasionally a cop
Would make us stop
But only long enough to
See him go his way.

We played every great cricketer
That ever lived:
Frank Worrell
Gary Sobers
Clive Lloyd
The Chappell brothers
Rohan Kanhai
Donald Bradman
Sir Vivian Richards
And Joey Carew…
The names have faded
From the memory
And replaced in time:
So too
The game
Is no longer played
at New St.

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There have been many great cricketers. Among them Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Ian Botham, Desmond Haynes, Gordon Greenidge, Ricky Pointing, and Brian Lara. “Cricket at New St. was written to recount some of them, and the author apologizes for not having mentioned some of the bowlers of the time Here is a video of the Master Blaster, Viv Richards, one of the best stroke-players of the game.

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May 14 2010
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The Caribbean

Caribbean sons go to Alaska to play basketball

St. Pauls' Tuff Knots power forward is now a Nanook

Javid “Spanish” Williams a 6-foot-5 forward who plays in the island’s basketball league for St. Pauls Tuff Knots became the first University Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks men’s basketball team recruit for the 2010-11 season.

Williams signed a national letter of intent last Thursday with the program in the NCAA Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference. He will join fellow Kittitian Nashorn ‘Nash’ Maynard on the Nanooks Basketball Roster. The Nanooks head coach is Clemon Johnson, a former professional basketball player who won an NBA title with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1982-83.

Javid 'Spanish' Williams

“Javed is what we consider a raw offensive talent,” Coach Johnson said in a press release on Thursday. “We are encouraged by his ability to rebound the ball, block shots, run the floor and defend the post. He possesses the same competitive nature and eagerness to learn and advance his game that Nash has.”

Williams, who has four years of eligibility, will play either power forward or center for the Nanooks as a freshman. He plans to pursue a degree in computer engineering at UAF.

The independent St. Kitts Sports News contributed to this story.

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May 11 2010
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The Caribbean

India defeats Sri Lanka to take last semi-final position in ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2010

Jhulan Goswami India International

New Zealand crushes Pakistan to top Group B

Australia will face India in first semi-final in St Lucia on Thursday while White Ferns will take on home favorite West Indies at the same venue on Friday

Nicola Browne and Sulakshana Naik take home player-of-the-match awards

India defeated Sri Lanka yesterday to qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament on the last day of fixtures at Warner Park while New Zealand rounded off its group stage of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 with a comfortable victory over Pakistan earlier in the day.

India’s fixture was the second of the day and saw the higher scoring of the two matches at Warner Park with Sulakshana Naik and Mithali Raj both scoring half-centuries to make the total of 145 for Sri Lanka to chase down.

“It’s obviously good to know we’ve now qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament and we’re looking forward to facing Australia next in St Lucia,” said India captain Jhulan Goswami.

“I was very pleased with how we performed today. I felt Sulakshana Naik and Mithali Raj along with Poonam Raut all had Sri Lanka on the back foot from the start. We need to carry this good form to St Lucia,” she said. Naik smashed five boundaries on her way to making 59 runs and was mainly assisted in her innings by Raj after Poonam Raut departed for 12 after being bowled by Udeshika Prabodhani.

Upon arriving in the middle Sri Lanka never quite matched up to India’s batting and made a mere 73 in reply losing a total of nine wickets in its allotted 20 overs.

Nicole Browne New Zealand International

Diana David was by far the pick of the Indian bowlers taking an impressive 4-12 in a haul that included top-order batters Suwini de Alwis, Chamari Polgampola and Sripali Weerakkody.

Earlier in the day, New Zealand pace bowler Nicola Browne led her side’s rout of the Pakistan team in the two teams’ final game of Group B in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 to secure the team top place in the pool ahead of the semi-finals of the tournament due to take place in St Lucia later this week.

Browne, who took 4-15, demolished the Pakistan batting line up with Sana Mir’s side finishing its 20 overs 65-9. Having won the toss and electing to bat only three of Pakistan’s side made it into double figures, Nain Abidi (11), Urooj Mumtaz (14) and Sania Khan (15).

Pakistan’s batting performance was disastrous, New Zealand’s bowling department including the pace of Browne, was simply too strong for the team from the sub-continent.

“We didn’t perform at all well in this tournament,” said Mir.

“The only time we did well as a side was during the warm-up fixtures and this was not good enough for a world tournament. We need to go and improve our game as the standard of women’s cricket has improved a lot in the last year and all credit must go to New Zealand who played extremely well today,” she said.

New Zealand took just 8.2 overs to reach the target set by Pakistan but not before they’d lost four wickets including that of opener Suzie Bates who was caught by Mir and Rachel Priest who departed for just two runs. It was up to Sara McGlashan and Liz Perry to see the White Ferns through to the close and seal the victory for the team.

Sulakshana Naik India International

“It’s obviously good to know we’ve finished top of the group but to be facing West Indies is going to be a challenge in the semi-finals in St Lucia. They are the kind of team that are so unpredictable at Twenty20, one day they could make 80 all out and another 180 for four so I’m not taking the upcoming fixture lightly.

“Hopefully they’ve watched today’s game and seen what kind of a bowling attack we’ve got in our side,” said New Zealand captain Aimee Watkins.

Scores in brief:

At Warner Park:
Pakistan 65-9, 20 overs (Sania Khan 15; Nicola Browne 4-15)
New Zealand 71-4, 8.2 overs (Sophie Devine 23, Sara McGlashan 16 not out; Sadia Yousuf 2-9)
New Zealand won by six wickets

At Warner Park:
India 144-3, 20 overs (Sulakshana Naik 59, Mithali Raj 52)
Sri Lanka 71-9, 20 overs (Rasangika 31 not out; Diana David 4-12)
India won by 71 runs

Source: ICC Media

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May 10 2010
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The Caribbean

Australia top Group A as it defeats West Indies in ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2010

Danielle Wyatt England International

Both teams ready for semi-finals in St Lucia

England beat South Africa to finish third in Group A

Stafanie Taylor and Danielle Wyatt take home Player of Match awards

Australia secured its place at the top of Group A in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2010 as it defeated host and fellow semi-final qualifier West Indies at Warner Park in St Kitts.

Despite losing the match by nine runs, Stafanie Taylor led the batting with style for the host finishing 58 not out in an innings that included four boundaries and two sixes. The 18-year-old Jamaican in turn earned herself the Player of the Match award for her stylish performance in front of the huge crowd.

“It was a real surprise to win the Player of the Match award; I didn’t think I was going to win it, especially since we lost the match. I kept trying to get the strike from the lower order batters but at the end of the day I couldn’t get to hit the ball as freely as I would’ve liked,” said Taylor.

Stafanie Taylor West Indies International

Meanwhile, England secured its first and only victory of the tournament today when it beat South Africa by 56 runs in the first fixture of the day at Warner Park.

Having made a competitive total of 141 for the South Africans to chase down, the English bowling attack proved to be too strong for the side.

Nicky Shaw and Danielle Wyatt were the pick of the English bowlers with 3-17 and 4-11 respectively.

Wyatt, who received the Player of the Match award said: “I’m obviously pleased to have won Player of the Match but credit has to go to Anya Shrubsole and Nicky Shaw who came before me. When Charlotte Edwards came to me and asked me to bowl I was really pleased as I knew I could do well and the performance showed. It was good to clean-up the tail-enders.”

Having won the toss in the first game of the day Charlotte Edwards elected to bat first on a hot day at Warner Park and it became the task of the middle-order to provide the runs after Edwards departed for 18 and her partner Sarah Taylor for just six.

The middle order did just that, despite the game effectively being a dead-rubber, with Claire Taylor and Laura Marsh adding 30 for the third wicket before Claire Taylor was removed after being caught by Alicia Smith after making 20 runs. It was then up to Marsh and Lydia Greenway to add a quick 44 for the fourth wicket partnership in just under five overs.

Marsh was stumped by Tricia Chetty for 33, off 32 balls but Greenway ensured she stayed in till the end of England’s innings, remaining unbeaten on 34 off 32 balls. Birthday girl Jenny Gunn supported Greenway in a stand of 32 off three overs to take England to match-winning total.

There were no major contributors from South Africa and the match was sewn up when it lost half its side for 62 in the 11th over. It was then up to Wyatt to show her skills at dismissing the end of the South African batting line up which is exactly what she did.

South Africa captain Cri-Zelda Brits said: “We’ve had a disappointing tournament all round and today our batters just didn’t perform as they should have done.

Cri-Zelda Brits South Africa International

“There are a couple of positives to come out of this tournament, I think we have improved in the field and I think out ‘keeper Tricia Chetty and our young new bowler Chloe Tryon have performed well for us during this tournament.”

In the second match of the day host West Indies took on fellow semi-final qualifiers Australia to fight out who would finish top of Group A in the women’s tournament.

West Indies won the toss and elected to field in the afternoon sunshine at Warner Park and Australia’s opening pair of Shelley Nitschke and Elyse Villani put on 33 runs before Nitschke departed for 19 having hit four boundaries in the process.

Villani departed just four runs and the task of making runs for the Australia side fell to its captain Alex Blackwell who alongside Jess Cameron put on 26 runs for the fourth wicket partnership.

As the innings progressed Anisa Mohammed dismissed both Cameron and Rene Farrell leaving Blackwell to partner Lisa Sthalekar for 25 runs before the captain departed after being caught off the bowling of Shanel Daley by Stacey-Ann King much to the delight of the home crowd.

Sthalekar and Alyssa Healy saw out the Australia innings with Healy departing on the last ball of the innings after being caught by Britney Cooper off the bowling of Daley.

Stafanie Taylor led from the front with the West Indies batting and was only aided in her bid to bring victory to the home supporters by Cooper (27) and Daley (19). The rest of the West Indies batting line-up failed to perform in front of huge home support with Deandra Dottin again departing for a first ball duck, this time falling victim to the bowling of Elyse Perry.

West Indies captain Merissa Aguilleira came to the aid of Taylor in the final over but to no avail with side requiring 15 runs off the final over, a challenge that proved too great for the pair with side falling short by just nine runs.

Alex Blackwell Australia International

Australia captain Alex Blackwell was pleased with the overall result and finishing top of Group A and the impending semi-finals to be played at Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia later this week.

“I’m pleased with how we played today and it was a really great atmosphere here in St Kitts cheering on the teams.

“I think we’ve done well as a side and we’re continuing to do better and better as a side and I hope we continue with that momentum into the semi-finals whether we play India or Sri Lanka or even New Zealand.”

Scores in brief

At Warner Park, England beat South Africa by 56 runs
England 141-6, 20 overs (Greenway 34 no, Marsh 33, Gunn 21, C Taylor 20)
South Africa 85 all out, 17 overs (Brits 20; Fritz 15; Shaw 3-17, Wyatt 4-11)
England won by 56 runs

At Warner Park, New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 47 runs
Australia 133-7, 20 overs (Blackwell 28, Sthalekar 23 no, Nitschke 19; Mohammed 3-17; Daley 3-31)
West Indies 124-7, 20 overs (Taylor 58 no, Cooper 27; Perry 2-19)
Australia won by nine runs

Source: ICC Media Release

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May 05 2010
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The Caribbean, World

Dottin blasts her way to fastest ever century in men or women’s Twenty20

Deandra Dottin

First ever century by a woman cricketer in Twenty20 cricket, the Barbadian and West Indies cricketer struck seven fours and nine sixes to finish 112 not out against South Africa

Australia beats holders England on six hits after double tie in St Kitts

Deandra Dottin produced one the greatest display of power hitting as she re-wrote the women’s record book in the opening game of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2010 blasting an unbeaten 112 – the first ever century by a woman in this format of the game.

The Barbadian Dottin scored the fastest ever Twenty20 century, reaching three figures in just 38 balls hitting nine enormous sixes and five fours as the hosts West Indies beat South Africa by 17 runs at Warner Park in St Kitts.

Dottin, batting at number six, took the record for the fastest ever century by either a man or a woman in ICC World Twenty20 cricket beating West Indies compatriot Chris Gayle, who made a hundred in 50 balls also against South Africa in the opening match of ICC World Twenty20 in Johannesburg in 2007. Her first 50 came in 25 balls – three more than her own record of 22 balls set last year – but the second 50 took just 13 deliveries.

Dottin’s sixth wicket partnership of 118 with Shanel Daley is also the highest in any male or female Twenty20 match comfortably beating the record of 77 set by Australia’s Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey in Auckland in 2005 and   also equaled the second highest partnership ever in women’s Twenty20 cricket

West Indies total of 175-5 was also the highest total by any women’s team in this format while South Africa’s gallant chase, in which Shandre Fritz scored 58, was the second highest score by a side batting second in women’s Twenty20 cricket.

In the second match of the day Australia beat holders England on the boundary count back after both the game and the super over were tied. Defending a modest total of 104 all out, England secured the tie when Beth Morgan ran out Rene Farrell with the scores level. In the super over both sides scored six for two and on count back Jess Cameron’s six, in Australia’s initial run chase, off England’s Holly Colvin, the only one hit by either side, secured Australia a thrilling victory.

Alex Blackwell, the Australian captain, said afterwards: “It was an extremely tense game but I was very proud of the way that we bowled and in the end I think we deserved our victory.”

Australia’s Lisa Sthalekar was voted player of the match after taking three for 29.

Source: ICC Media Release

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