Judge Patrick Robinson of Jamaica was elected Tuesday to a two-year term as president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the court said in a statement.

Robinson, 64, succeeds Italian judge Fausto Pocar. The new vice-president is to be Judge O-Gon Kwon, 55, of South Korea.

They will take up their duties on November 17.

Jamaican-born disco diva Grace Jones said she was sorry Hillary Clinton had failed to make the cut in the US election and that she `can`t stand` folksy vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

The 1980s style icon, now 60, told German magazine TV Spielfilm Wednesday that Palin stood for a backward vision of America laden with government restrictions of sexuality and social behaviour.

LONDON, Oct 11, 2008 (AFP) - Jamaican reggae star Alton Ellis, known as the 'Godfather of Rocksteady', died overnight of cancer in London, a hospital spokeswoman said Saturday. He was 70 years old.

Ellis passed away peacefully at Hammersmith Hospital, the spokeswoman said.

KINGSTON, August 28, 2008 (AFP) - Tropical Storm Gustav was battering Jamaica Thursday, ripping off roofs in the eastern parish of Portland, authories said.

Four people had to be relocated after the roof of a primary school being used as an emergency shelter was peeled off, according to police, who also reported incidents of looting in Long Bay, Portland.

KINGSTON, August 28, 2008 (AFP) - Tropical Storm Gustav homed in on Jamaica Thursday after claiming some two dozen lives in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, with officials here opening emergency shelters and urging coastal residents to head to higher ground.

MIAMI, August 28, 2008 (AFP) - The Jamaican government on Thursday issued a hurricane warning as deadly Tropical Storm Gustav strengthened while approaching the island, the US National Hurricane Center said.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, March 22, 2008 (AFP) - Jamaican police were investigating Saturday after the body of a retired British nurse was fished out of a septic tank at her home on the Caribbean island, reports said.

Barbara Jayne Scott, 61, had been missing for a week before the gruesome discovery in Somerton, a rural district near Montego Bay, early Friday.

LOS ANGELES, March 4, 2008 (AFP) - A Hollyood studio has purchased film rights to the autobiography of Rita Marley, the widow of reggae legend Bob Marley, industry press reported Tuesday.

Daily Variety reported that the Weinstein Studio has purchased the rights to the 2004 book 'No Woman, No Cry: My Life with Bob Marley,' and hopes to release the biopic at the end of 2009.

KINGSTON, Sept 13, 2007 (AFP) - Orette 'Bruce' Golding, Jamaica's newly-minted eighth prime minister since independence, has deep personal roots with the newly resurgent Jamaica Labour Party, which he led to victory for the first time since 1989.

Golding, 59, was sworn in as Jamaica's leader on Tuesday. He follows Portia Simpson Miller, the island's first female prime minister and for years Jamaica's most popular politician.

Golding pledged to work with Simpson Miller's People's National Party to create a better Jamaica.

KINGSTON, Sept 12, 2007 (AFP) - Jamaica has sworn in a new prime minister, the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) Bruce Golding.

'We want a country to create jobs for everyone. We want a country where not everyone would have to be rich, but no one has to be poor,' Golding said after taking office at King's House on Tuesday by the Caribbean country's Governor General Kenneth Hall.

Golding becomes Jamaica's eighth prime minister. He took over from Portia Simpson Miller, who he defeated at the general elections on September 3 dominating in the 60-seat constituencies 33-27.

KINGSTON, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - The Jamaica Labour Party won an extra parliament seat Thursday as the final vote count confirmed its election victory, paving the way for a new government to run the country after 18 years under the People's National Party.

JLP leader Bruce Golding is expected to be sworn as prime minister next week, succeeding PNP leader Portia Simpson Miller, the Caribbean nation's first woman premier.

The final official count gave the JLP 33 of 60 seats up for grabs, compared to 27 for the PNP, according to the Electoral Office of Jamaica.

MONTEGO BAY, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - Jamaica's first woman prime minister has conceded defeat after the Labour Party edged past her People's National Party (PNP) in the Caribbean island's closest elections in decades.

Portia Simpson Miller, who took over as prime minister in March 2006, said late Tuesday that the PNP accepted the results that gave Labour 32 of the 60 seats in parliament, ending its five-time losing streak at the polls.

Labour leader Bruce Golding, a veteran politician in the former British colony, is now set to become the country's next prime minister.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - Jamaican officials Tuesday began recounting the votes cast in elections here after Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller refused to concede defeat in the island's closest polls in decades.

The Electoral Office of Jamaica confirmed Tuesday the recount had begun, and announced the opposition Jamaican Labour Party (JLP) had in fact increased its wafer-thin lead, taking 32 out of the 60 parliamentary seats up for grabs.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - Jamaica's first woman premier, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, has refused to concede defeat after officials said the main opposition Jamaican Labour Party won a close vote.

The JLP won 31 out of 60 parliament seats in Monday's election, against 29 for her People's National Party (PNP), electoral officials said.

'However perplexing some may find the results, the fact is that the people have spoken,' said JLP leader Bruce Golding.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - Jamaica's Labour Party won Monday's elections, toppling Jamaica's first female head of government, who did not immediately concede after a tight vote marred by violence.

The JLP won by a razor-thin margin of 31-29 seats, according to election officials, snapping a string of five straight losses to the People's National Party (PNP) and will form the next government.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - Voters went to the polls in Jamaica Monday after a hotly contested campaign colored by political violence and amid complaints about long delays at polling stations.

With control of the impoverished island's government at stake, the threat of violence hung over the vote after shots were reportedly fired at one polling station and after seven people were killed in suspected politically motivated attacks late Friday.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - Voting got underway in Jamaica Monday with no reports of violence in what was expected to be one of the closest general elections in the country's history, officials said.

Some minor delays and glitches were reported amid high tensions after seven people were killed in suspected politically motivated attacks late Friday ahead of the vote, with control of the impoverished island's government at stake.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - Polls opened Monday and voting got underway with no reports of violence in what was expected to be one of the closest general elections in Jamaica's history, officials said.

Tensions remained high after seven people were killed in suspected politically motivated attacks late Friday ahead of the voting, with control of the impoverished island's government at stake.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - Jamaica prepared Sunday for one of the closest general elections in its history, as the second mega-hurricane in two weeks threatened to blast voters with heavy winds and rains.

As a tight race unfolded over control of the government of the impoverished Caribbean island, violence threatened to derail the last full day of campaigning before Monday's polls.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, Aug 31, 2007 (AFP) - Jamaicans are gearing up to vote Monday in what is expected to be one of the closest general elections on the Caribbean island since independence in 1962.

Political tensions have been rising since the vote was postponed when Hurricane Dean ravaged the island earlier this month, and there have been reports of politically-motivated shootings and fights.

GENEVA, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - Some 17,000 people in Jamaica and Belize are in need of relief aid after Hurricane Dean swept through the Caribbean and Mexico, the United Nations said Friday.

Fifteen thousand Jamaicans, especially in poor western areas of Jamaica's capital Kingston, were the hardest hit, said Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the UN humanitarian coordination office (OCHA).

WASHINGTON, Aug 21, 2007 (AFP) - The United States announced Tuesday an additional 500,000 dollars in humanitarian aid for quake-hit Peru, bringing the total aid to the South American nation to nearly 1.5 million dollars.

Immediately after the disaster struck last Wednesday, Washington provided 100,000 dollars for local purchase of emergency relief supplies.

It later increased this support by an additional 200,000 dollars and sending in relief commodities valued at 290,000 dollars, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) said.

KINGSTON, Aug 20, 2007 (AFP) - Jamaicans began a massive clean-up Monday after Hurricane Dean slammed into the island, killing one person, toppling trees and power lines and whipping up giant waves which flooded low areas.

Despite the scenes of devastation though, most residents were grateful that the Caribbean tourist hot-spot had been spared the worst of Dean's wrath.

Police confirmed one man had been killed when his house caved in on him at the height of the hurricane which wheeled past the island late Sunday, before barreling towards Mexico on Monday.

KINGSTON, Aug 20, 2007 (AFP) - Jamaicans began a massive clean-up Monday after Hurricane Dean slammed into the island, killing one person, toppling trees and power lines and whipping up giant waves which flooded low areas.

Scenes of devastation greeted residents of the Caribbean tourist hot-spot as they emerged red-eyed from a sleepless night, the sounds of the roaring winds and driving rains still pounding in their ears.

KINGSTON, Aug 19, 2007 (AFP) - Jamaica's prime minister hinted that its general election this month may have to be postponed due to disruption from the fierce hurricane that hit the country Sunday.

'Looking on what is happening, I am not so sure the security forces will be able to (vote), because we have to ensure that we assist the people to at least get their lives back,' Simpson Miller said.

KINGSTON, Aug 19, 2007 (AFP) - At least 17 people were reported stranded on a tiny island off the coast of Jamaica after refusing to evacuate as Hurricane Dean bore down on the island, officials said Sunday.

The 17, believed to be Spanish divers, would have to fend for themselves on the small sand bank of Pedro Cays as any rescue attempt was now too late, said Captain Havland Honnigan, chairman of the Fishermen Co-Operative in the town St Elizabeth.

CRAWFORD, Texas, Aug 18, 2007 (AFP) - The United States is prepared to send disaster relief assistance to Jamaica if it becomes necessary after the passage of powerful hurricane Dean, the White House said Saturday.

The US package would include aid teams, relief supplies, water containers, medicine, generators, and disaster hygiene kits, national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said as US President George W. Bush was on his Texas ranch.

MONTEGO BAY, Aug 18, 2007 (AFP) - Jamaicans are on full alert for the arrival of hurricane Dean, and from early Saturday thousands of residents descended on supermarkets, markets and gas stations to stock up on supplies.

Work men hammered shutters on office building and homes windows as the island braced for what appears to be one of the biggest storms to hit it in years.

Television news showed long lines at gas stations and empty shelves in super markets as consumers prepared for what could be days of heavy rains.