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Jamaica has again been ranked as a tier two country for human trafficking by the US State Department which has cited inadequate efforts to prosecute trafficking offenses and protect victims. In its ninth annual Trafficking in Persons Report released Wednesday, the US described the island as a source, transit, and destination for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation. The report says the majority of victims are poor Jamaican women and girls, and increasingly boys, who are trafficked from rural to urban and tourist areas for commercial sexual exploitation. It says the victims are typically recruited by persons close to them or through newspaper advertisements promoting work as spa attendants...

The deejay, who is known for his graffiti across the Corporate Area, was evicted from the building from which he operated his business, LA Lewis Enterprise Limited. Scores of onlookers gathered outside the establishment located at 24 Burlington Avenue in St Andrew, while the deejay's furniture and equipment were being removed. While the rain fell, his belongings were being placed on either the sidewalk or in a truck parked a few metres away. All this took place just hours after the deejay was released from custody after he was remanded on Tuesday June 09 2009 by Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey. According to the deejay, he was unable to pay his rent because he was losing business as a result of his court case. He said his...

The new single So Fine by Sean Paul is the most downloaded reggae/dancehall song in France, Canada, Belgium, Norway and Sweden but it still has not been released in the US the biggest music market. iTunes, among the internet's most popular online music stores has So Fine charting in those five nations but it is void on the US online charts. Currently Bob Marley's Three Little Birds at number one and Serani's No Games at number two are the top downloads on US iTunes. So Fine has also landed on Billboard's R&B Hip Hop Singles & Tracks tally, as So Fine, the preview to his upcoming album, debuts at number 90. It is Paul's 13th entry on that chart. Though he has topped the Billboard Hot 100 three times before, Sean Paul has only...

Singers Toni Braxton and Neyo are among the top performers added to `the world’s greatest showcase of reggae music,` Reggae Sumfest promoters revealed at a packed New York launch last night. Executive Director, Johnny Gourzong, made the disclosure to the media and VIP guests gathered at a New York night club Thursday night for the annual Big Apple kick-off. Braxton has won six Grammy Awards and has sold over forty million records worldwide. Her number-one single, `Un-break My Heart,` is the second biggest selling single by a female singer in Billboard history. Her most recent albums were More Than a Woman under the Arista label, and Libra, her first and only release on Blackground. Braxton was involved in the 7th season of the...

R&B singer Usher filed for divorce Friday from Tameka Foster Raymond, less than two years after their glitzy wedding at a Georgia resort. The 30-year-old Grammy-winning artiste, whose real name is Usher Raymond IV, filed the petition in Superior Court in Atlanta. Records posted to the court's website did not give any details about the split between the R&B star and his wife, who were married in August 2007. About 200 people attended the wedding between the two at resort built in the style of a 16th-century style French chateau on 3,500 hilly acres (1,400 hectares) outside Atlanta. They have two young sons, 1 1/2-year-old Usher Raymond V and six-month-old Naviyd Ely Raymond. His wife has three children from a previous marriage...

Dancehall artiste KipRich says the rumours surrounding a feud between himself and fellow artiste, Flippa Mafia, are false. According to KipRich: "I did a song at Shocking Vibes studio the other day and some likkle man who love carry news gone and carry it the wrong way and said I did a song that was directed at Flippa. If one next KipRich out deh recording songs, mi ah go ask him fi stop." Flippa Mafia was recently at odds with dancehall's cross and angry 'Warlord', Bounty Killer, because of the song, Unfinished House, a song that Flippa did. According to previous media reports, most thought the song was directed at Killer. KipRich, whose correct name is Marlon Plunkett, is also an affiliate of the Alliance, said: "The person...

Angel's Boutique, which is owned by dancehall artiste Michelle 'D'Angel' Downer, was robbed yesterday morning. The store is located at Princeville Plaza, St Andrew. It was robbed approximately 10:30 a.m. by three armed men. She said one female employee was in the store at the time. She was gagged, tied up and left in the building. The matter was reported to the Constant Spring Police Station. DSP Altermoth Campbell confirmed the incident, saying: "We have some information that we are working on."

Carribbean Governments are rethinking the practice of imprisoning regional immigrant criminals because of the cost involved. National Security Ministers are said to be seriously considering deporting convicted criminals so that they can serve their sentences in their home countries. According to Martin Joseph, the National Security Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, CARICOM Governments are reviewing reciprocal arrangements for deporting non-national criminals. He says it costs too much to maintain foreign prisoners in jails in the twin island republic.Regional Governments are also concerned about the United States policy of deporting foreign criminals. Several convicts of Caribbean origin have already been deported to the...

The brother of talent-show contestant Susan Boyle says the singer has left a mental health care facility and is doing better. Gerry Boyle stated Friday that his sister had been released from the London clinic. She was admitted Sunday, after coming in second place in the "Britain's Got Talent" television show. Gerry Boyle says his sister suffered from an anxiety attack but now seems "a lot more like herself." In eight weeks, Boyle went from the quiet life of a church volunteer in a small town in Scotland to global fame.

A police Sergeant and a Constable are the latest to fall into the ongoing anti-corruption dragnet. On Thursday, Detective Sergeant Winston Pollack and Constable Tyrone Bryan were arrested for suspected breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act and conspiracy to commit a criminal offence. The police report that in February, the proprietor of a supermarket and wholesale in St. Catherine paid Detective Sergeant Pollack $115,000 to obtain a Jamaican passport. The shopkeeper is a foreign national with a Jamaican work permit and was not entitled to a Jamaican passport. Investigators believe the cops used some of the money to employ another individual to secure the passport which was eventually delivered to the foreigner...

Last year's Sting has come and gone and saw Mavado and Vybz Kartel squaring off. But now, various members from the rivalling groups (Alliance and Portmore Empire) have voiced songs attacking each other. The latest song that has sparked much discussion since its release last week is Vybz Kartel's When Since on Foxx's 'Life After Death' rhythm. In the very explicit song, Vybz Kartel holds nothing back as he attacks Mavado, Wayne Marshall, Bling Dawg and Bounty Killer. He even goes as far as to stating that at least two of the members of the Alliance participate in oral sex. Download Vybez Kartel - When Since Already one of the Alliance's members, Bling Dawg, has responded to When Since, saying that Vybz Kartel is hooked on...

An erotic dance craze sweeping Jamaica has been blamed for a number of pelvic injuries and now faces a government crackdown. "Daggering," a lewd dance style where couples simulate dry sex in various positions to the beat of the music, is characterized by over-the-top gyrating, heavy pelvis-thrusting and daredevil leaps. YouTube - MR. VEGAS - DAGGERING Many couples have taken the “rough” daggering dance from the club to the bedroom, with disastrous consequences. Jamaican doctors were prompted to issue a warning on the dangers of daggering when presented with a range of fractured penises caused by rough intercourse.The number of cases tripled in the last year. The rising popularity of the new dance — and subsequent public...

The erotic dance which Jamaicans have gone coo-coo about has caused a flooding of broken penises on the island, which is why the authorities are planning on banning it, Australian News reports. Daggering, a lewd dance style simulates sexual intercourse in various positions to the rhythm, is characterised by exaggerated rubbing and pelvic thrusting into the partner. YouTube - RDX daggering Otherwise, daggering is a colloquial term which insinuates hardcore sex or “dry humping”, an activity of persons publically simulating intercourse and positions. Many couples who performed daggering on the dance floor also introduced it to the bedroom, with severe consequences. After numerous cases of broken penises, doctors have issued out...

Daggering Shocks Mutabaruka.. Talk show host Mutabaruka was bamboozled, shocked and was in a state dismay recently when he discovered the now-a-days dancing/daggering in the dancehall. Muta was most shocked about the recent incident where a young lady was knocked out cold in a Daggering incident. Another incident where one young lady used a stone as her "pleasuring tool" ..aka cakkie have the well known Dub poet and Rastafarian flabbergasted. YouTube - Mutabaruka views on DAGGERING (REALTALK/SUPER FUNNY) Part 1 According to Mutabaruka the dancehall is currently making carnival look like church and that this is pure animalistic bahaviour. Well all good things must come to an end.. and so will the bad and the...

Daggering Shocks Mutabaruka.. Talk show host Mutabaruka was bamboozled, shocked and was in a state dismay recently when he discovered the now-a-days dancing/daggering in the dancehall. Muta was most shocked about the recent incident where a young lady was knocked out cold in a Daggering incident. Another incident where one young lady used a stone as her "pleasuring tool" ..aka cakkie have the well known Dub poet and Rastafarian flabbergasted. According to Mutabaruka the dancehall is currently making carnival look like church and that this is pure animalistic bahaviour. Well all good things must come to an end.. and so will the bad and the indifferent... but for now we can definitely say were in the era of not only Obama but also...

Though he went into an early retirement last September, pay that no mind. After a bout of issues surrounding his career, health and the need to spend time with his children, Vegas has abandoned that ghost and instead embarked on a glorious return to form in 2009. What exactly prompted last year's decision might not be entirely clear to some. Still what matters is the 'now'. And right now, he has no plans of disappearing from an industry that has earned him much acclaim. Vegas has been described as an artiste with an 'uncanny knack of making hits.' Truth be told, in recent years, he has had huge success with most of his released singles. Dancehall, like much of Jamaica's other music has often borrowed from church. This is...

Dancehall artiste Rodney Pryce popularly known as "Bounti Killa" is scheduled to stand trial in the Traffic Court on Tuesday. In February, Bounti Killa appeared in court on several counts of reckless driving and other traffic violations, including refusing to submit to a breathalyzer test. The artiste is accused of running seven traffic lights in an incident in Half Way Tree late last year. The police reported that on December 29, 2008, Bounti Killa and members of his entourage left a dance on Hillview Avenue off Eastwood Park Road about 3am and ran a red light. They were signalled to stop by a police patrol team but the men reported sped away with the cops in pursuit.The police say during the chase, Bounti Killa ran six...

Download Since the 1960s, the Rastafarian way of life has provided the cultural depth that makes reggae unlike any other popular music. Rastafarians have expressed their adherence to a disciplined diet, allegiance to an African homeland and especially the exaltation of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I. But the Rastafarian female voice is rarely heard in reggae and even scarcer is the Rastafarian female artist who possesses a repertoire of hits appealing to traditional reggae fans and dancehall devotees alike. Staking her claim towards obliterating Jamaican music’s proverbial glass ceiling is Queen Ifrica whose stirring mix of spiritually empowering anthems, lover’s rock tunes and searing social commentaries have become a...

The police are still questioning the two men held in Stony Hill, St. Andrew Saturday night with a large quantity of ganja. Their names have not yet been released. Spokesman for Operation Kingfish, Detective Sergeant Jubert Llewllyn says more than 1,700 pounds of the drug was seized. "Just after 9pm, members of Operation Kingfish, the Mobile Reserve, the St. Andrew North Police and the Narcotics Police were on an operation in the Stony Hill area when a Toyota Hiace van with two men aboard was signaled to stop. The driver complied and following a search of the vehicle, over 1,700 pounds of compressed ganja was found," said Sergeant Llewllyn. He added that is a worrying trend for the police as a week ago, a similar bust was...

Jamaica reported its first cases of H1N1 yesterday, making it the fourth Caribbean island to confirm the virus' presence. A 4-year-old girl from Linstead in St. Catherine has reportedly tested positive for the Influenza A H-1-N-1 virus popularly known as swine flu. Health Ministry spokeswoman Marion Bullock-Ducasse says lab tests show that two Jamaicans apparently contracted the H1N1 virus during recent visits to New York City and have since recovered Cases of Influenza A H1N1, formally called swine flu, were detected first in April of this year with cases in Mexico then the United States. The World Health Organization has to date confirmed over 17,000 cases world wide of which it says 119 persons have died from the...