A Guyanese wife and mother has been crowned Mrs. New York International. Guyanese-born Bronx resident, Faudia Silletta, was recently Crowned Mrs. New York international and will now represent the state of New York in the upcoming Mrs. International 2016, scheduled for this summer in Jacksonville, Florida. Sillettta, the married mother of two sons, is a Medical Technologist. She holds a Master’s Degree in Microbiology and Chemistry. She replaces 2015 Mrs. New York International, Majorie Vail, who is Haitian. Mrs. International is an annual pageant for married women with exceptional personal and professional stories. Of her victory Silletta, said, “I am so honored to take part in such a wonderful American tradition, especially with my family rooting for me.”(iriejamradio.com/Kaieteur News)…[+]

ISRAEL – A transgender teenager has been jailed for refusing to carry out compulsory military service in Israel. Aiden Katri was sentenced to a week in prison, where campaigners were concerned she would be housed in a male wing and left at risk of stigmatization and abuse.

The 19-year-old said she was taking a stand as a conscientious objector against the “atmosphere of fear” in her home country and could not enforce “oppression” in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Describing her upbringing in the Israeli city of Holon as “conservative”, she said she came to reject “separatism” in society and was striving for equality between religion, race, sex and gender. In a statement the day before she was imprisoned, Ms Katri said she had Israeli Arab friends who were “hated and discriminated against” and had witnessed military crackdowns on Palestinian protests in the West Bank. “Arabs and Jews live in this country as two different classes,” she added.(The Independent UK)…[+]

GREECE – Greek authorities on Thursday began bussing hundreds of migrants and refugees to accommodation in other parts of Greece from a port near Athens, where they spent weeks sleeping in the open and tensions flared over phone chargers and food. At least 51,000 refugees and migrants who reached Greece from Turkey and are hoping to travel north to countries like Germany and Austria are stranded in Greece after Balkan countries closed their borders.

Nearly 6,000 people, most from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, were stuck at the port of Piraeus on Thursday, authorities said. Greece’s largest port lies about 12 km from central Athens. By mid-morning, at least four buses departed for the port town of Kyllini in western Greece, some 280 km from Athens, where they will be housed in a former tourist complex. Families began gathering at the dock as more buses were expected to be deployed. Other buses left for the cities of Ioannina and Larissa in northwestern and central Greece.(Reuters)…[+]