For the 43rd year, the West Indian American Day Carnival Association is gearing up to celebrate mas in Brooklyn, NY on Monday, September 6, 2010. Fear of being accurately counted and talk of `minding we own business,` will be replaced by skimpily clad revelers, publicly wining and grinding for the cameras as they jump behind floats that will get rolling from noon at Schenectady Avenue on Eastern Parkway this year.

For one weekend, Caribbean nationals in the city will be lauded for their ability to throw a great party and for their great food and drink. Beyond that who cares, really, right? Of course, the celebration is for the entire weekend. Last night, the focus was put on Haiti with a concert to benefit Yele Haiti at the Brooklyn Museum grounds, 200 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, NY.

Grammy Award-winning singer and Haiti`s Presidential hopeful, Wyclef Jean, was a last minute no-show but performances came from the likes of Trinidad and Tobago`s David Rudder, Soca`s Kevin Lyttle and reggae`s Serani, Kymani Marley and Freddy McGregor.

Tonight, Soca star Machel Montano is set to rock the stage at Brassfest along with Patrice Roberts, Destra, Krosfyah and Denise Belfon among others.

Pan, the soul of carnival, gets the spotlight on Saturday night, September 4th at Panorama, as local steel pan bands compete for the title of 2010 Band of the Year.  Rikki Jai, Ajala and Rudder are among the top entertainers planned to take over the stage at this year`s Dimanche Gras competition, set for Sunday night, September 5th.

On Monday, September 6th, politicians will gather to smile and wave at the tens of thousands who are expected to line the route along Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn for the finale of a mas weekend that will end at Grand Army Plaza at 6 p.m. promptly. For one day, all non-Caribbeans will be Caribbeans and politicians will take photos holding black babies and proclaiming their love for the Caribbean and Caribbean nationals.

On Tuesday, September 7th, all will be forgotten as quickly as the New York Sanitation Department cleans up the streets along Eastern Parkway and the Caribbean American bloc will go back to being a dismissed group – until next year of course when it will be bacchanal time all over again. 

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On Wednesday evening, French Gael Monfils, with roots in the French Caribbean, danced his way into the third round of the tourney by beating Russia`s Igor Andreev 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 to claim a victory on his 24th birthday.

The No. 17-seed Monfils took two breaks in the first set to steal the one-set lead, and the level of play only got better from there. Monfils showed off his athleticism, returning everything Andreev threw at him, including a short drop shot at the net that he tracked down with a sprint from way behind the baseline. His return game was just as impressive, and he was able to steal a break late in the set to end it at 6-4.

Andreev then had two break chances at 4-2 to get back on serve, but Monfils managed to hold for a 5-2 edge thanks to Andreev`s costly errors. Match point featured a long baseline rally, but an error on an Andreev shot that sailed long gave the Frenchman the match.

His win came just two days after he got past the big-serving American Robert Kendrick in his opening round match, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4, to advance to the second round on Monday.

The 5-set match was a dog-fight throughout, but got controversial as the match was coming to a close. The controversy happened at 4-4 in the final set with Monfils serving. The Frenchman appeared to clip the ball before it landed out. The chair umpire gave the point to Monfils, which sent Kendrick into a tirade. The American lost his next service game and the match along with it.
Monfils` parents are both from the French Caribbean though he was born in Paris, France. His father, Rufin, a former football player employed as an agent for France Telecom, comes from the island of Guadeloupe while his mother, Sylvette, comes from the island of Martinique and is a nurse.

Meanwhile, Jamaica`s Dustin Brown also scored a win for his country to move on to his second round match in the U.S. Open.

Brown, 25, became the first ever Jamaican to win his first round men`s singles match at the Open, beating Ruben Hidalgo of Spain Wednesday in three straight sets: 6-4, 7-6, 7-5.

Born in Germany, Brown is ranked 113th in the world while Hidalgo is ranked 91. He reached his highest ATP singles ranking, No. 98, on July 26, 2010 and his highest ATP doubles ranking, No. 120, on June 7, 2010.

Brown will face Andy Murray this morning in the Arthur Ashe Stadium while Monfils will face Janko Tipsarevic in his third round match-up.

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The rally is set for today, Friday, September 3rd from 6 p.m. at the scene of the crime on Utica Avenue near Carroll Street in Brooklyn, NY.

Mathias Wilkie, chairman of the Saint Lucia House Foundation, explained: `We are calling on witnesses to come forward with whatever information which they may have, as this will aid in speedy arrests.`

The rally, organized by the Saint Lucia House Foundation in New York in collaboration with a number of other New York-based St Lucian organizations, is focused on getting as many Saint Lucian nationals and friends of Saint Lucia to come on out in large numbers and sending a message to the person or persons responsible that they will not rest until justice is served, organizers said in a statement yesterday.

Pastor Gilford Monrose, assistant PRO of the Saint Lucia House Foundation said `the NYPD have been mobilized and are doing everything in their power to see speedy results, but they do need the assistance of everyone on the ground with any kind of information.`

The rally comes on the heels of the memorial prayer vigil at the Saint Lucia House Foundation where some 300 gathered to remember Tisson, 27.

Tisson died from gunshot wounds to his head in a car on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn, early Monday morning, hours after scoring the goal that sent the Saint Lucia Soccer team to the finals of the Digicel Caribbean Cup. His death came just moments after he left a Brooklyn club where he had been partying with friends.

Meanwhile, an account has been set up at Chase bank to allow persons who wish to contribute toward the burial of Tisson. The Saint Lucia House Foundation is hoping that with generous contributions, the family will not have to bear any expenses toward the burial of Tisson, whose body is set to be returned to his native land.

Donations can be made to the St. Lucia House Foundation, account number: 2965950724.
 

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Brown, 25, who made history Wednesday by becoming the first ever Jamaican to win his first round men`s singles match at the Open, will face Andy Murray at 11 this morning at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, NY.

Brown beat Ruben Hidalgo of Spain Wednesday in three straight sets: 6-4, 7-6, 7-5 to advance.

Born in Germany, Brown is ranked 113th in the world while Hidalgo is ranked 91. He reached his highest ATP singles ranking, No. 98, on July 26, 2010 and his highest ATP doubles ranking, No. 120, on June 7, 2010.

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Between September 6th and 8th, six Caribbean ministers of tourism, along with the Caribbean Tourism Organization Secretary General, Hugh Riley, will be in London for talks on the Air Passenger Duty with a range of organisations, including the Association of British Travel Agents, the Caribbean Council, Caribbean Diaspora representatives, the British Air Transport Association and the British Caribbean All Party Parliamentary Group.
 
The Caribbean delegation will be lobbying for a fairer alternative to the current APD system, which currently taxes flights from Britain to the Caribbean more heavily than travel to Hawaii, and is set to rise for the second time in a year within the next two months.
 
In November 2008 APD was re-worked into a four-tier band system, categorising destinations according to the distance between London and their national capital. From 1 November, APD on flights to the Caribbean will have risen by up to 94 per cent over two years, meaning that a four-person family travelling to the Caribbean in premium economy will pay £600 in APD alone.
 
The ministers will be lobbying for their region, officially the most tourism-dependent in the world (14.5 per cent of the region`s GDP and, for some islands, over 70 per cent) to potentially be moved into the same band as the USA and Bermuda, or for the APD system to be replaced with a fairer structure.

`We feel that the size of the delegation which is coming to the UK on 6 September underscores the importance that the Caribbean attaches to this issue and the seriousness of our intent to minimise the possible damage that this second set of price increases will bring about,` said the CTO`s Riley in a statement Thursday. `The rises come at time when a second British recession is being forecast and the Caribbean governments and people feel that it is paramount that we discuss the issue with every responsible body in order to find a mutually acceptable solution as soon as possible.`

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