Jamaica

After recovering from serious health problems, Richard Lowe traveled to Jamaica to celebrate life. “This vacation was my gift to myself for surviving,” he said. Seeing this pair afloat above the waters off Negril Beach, in western Jamaica, Lowe vowed to parasail on his next trip to the resort. The Los Angeles resident used an iPad. To submit your photos, visit our reader photo gallery . When you upload your photos, tell us where they were taken and when. The more we know about a photo, the more likely it is that we'll feature it in "Your Scene," a weekly photo feature that appears online and in print.

Since background-check legislation was voted down in the Senate on Thursday, Adam Winkler, author of "Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America," expects a "lively" conversation at his panel on guns in America at the 18th annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. "This is a hot-button issue, and we have a collection of some of the leading scholars on guns and gun politics on this panel," he says. "Sometimes things can get heated. But I find that people are really hungering for a balanced, non-emotional discussion.

  Total time: 20 minutes, plus steeping and macerating time Servings: Makes 2 1/2 quarts Note: Adapted from Anthony Medina of La Taquiza 2 cups dried hibiscus (jamaica) flowers -- available in well-stocked Latin markets 2 pounds strawberries, hulled and quartered 1 cup sugar 1. Combine the hibiscus flowers with 4 cups of water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then allow to steep for about 2 hours.

Snoop Dogg had come to Burbank to let loose the lion. Engulfed by a haze of marijuana smoke thick as London fog in a hotel suite high above the so-called Media Capital of the World, the gangsta rap superstar surrendered himself to a hairdresser's strenuous manipulations as she twisted and caressed his skinny braids into cheroot-shaped dreadlocks. The Doggfather's coiffure needed to be Rastafari-real, after all, for his television debut as the new Snoop. One Love Snoop. Reggae Snoop.

Jamaica Located in a quiet residential area, Ivanhoe's Guest House is within easy walking distance of downtown Port Antonio and a good base camp for exploring the northwest corner of Jamaica. Owner Lorna Burke offers 10 comfortable rooms and free Internet access. Breakfast is available for an additional charge. Ivanhoe's Guest House, 9 Queen St., Titchfield Hill, Port Antonio; (876) 993-3043. Rooms from $50. Elizabeth Bardsley Burbank

A tremor registering a magnitude of 4.58 shook Jamaica early today, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Ricky (Sheldon Shepherd), the hero of Storm Saulter's ambitious coming-of-age drama "Better Mus' Come," is a man for all seasons. Gangster, community leader, part-time poet, full-time dad, Ricky negotiates the dangerous complexities of the culture of violence inflaming Jamaica in the late '70s, uncertain what path he should take. "You cannot fight the righteous battle with weapons of war," Ricky is told, though, given the political unrest and poverty of his country, the words are easier to say than practice.

My husband and I had just returned from Jamaica the day before the article by Horace Sutton appeared (July 27). We were fortunate to have stayed at the Plantation Inn he mentioned. This is an outstanding hotel. The atmosphere, staff, food and accommodations are all first-class. Dining is under the stars with music throughout the evening. We were only sorry that we could not kidnap the marvelous old wine steward they have. His jolly, gentlemanly manner will always be remembered each time I'm served a fine bottle of wine.

Haiti and Jamaica are at greater risk for destructive tsunamis than previously believed, according to a new study of tsunamis generated during the catastrophic Haiti earthquake in January. The study, published online Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience, raises troubling questions about the possibility of high death tolls should Jamaica be hit by a large earthquake, which could cause populated coastal areas to collapse into the Caribbean Sea and trigger tsunamis that would rebound back to shore.

Hurricane Lili pounded the Cayman Islands and threatened Cuba after inundating Jamaica, where floods and mudslides killed four people. Police in Jamaica said three people were killed in Trinity Ville, east of Kingston, including a woman and a child swept away by flood waters. A taxi driver drowned when his car was stuck in a mudslide in St. Thomas. In the Caymans, high winds uprooted trees, knocked out electricity and blew roofs from at least two apartment complexes.

First he was Snoop Doggy Dogg, then simply Snoop Dogg. Now, 20 years after the release of his debut single as a solo artist - the still-vibrant "Who Am I (What's My Name?)" - the laid-back rapper from Long Beach has altered his identity once again. And this time he's changed his sound too: Next month, Snoop Lion is to release a full-on reggae album called "Reincarnated," the product of an extended trip he and his crew took last year to Jamaica. "One king, one faith, one religion," he raps (in ersatz island patois)

Ricky (Sheldon Shepherd), the hero of Storm Saulter's ambitious coming-of-age drama "Better Mus' Come," is a man for all seasons. Gangster, community leader, part-time poet, full-time dad, Ricky negotiates the dangerous complexities of the culture of violence inflaming Jamaica in the late '70s, uncertain what path he should take. "You cannot fight the righteous battle with weapons of war," Ricky is told, though, given the political unrest and poverty of his country, the words are easier to say than practice.

1.Government authorities in Jamaica say they have uncovered a ring involved in trafficking Jamaican children to another Caribbean country. It was unknown how many children were involved. 2.After the meteor explosion last month over Chelyabinsk, Russia, officials hope to develop the area as a tourist attraction. A local travel agency is already booking summer trips for Japanese tourists. 3.The Naked Rambler, a Brit who has twice walked the length of the country while wearing no clothes, was in jail again after he was caught in public in Southampton, England, wearing only boots, socks and a knapsack.

Snoop Dogg has been called many things over the course of his two-decade career -- Snoop Doggy Dogg, Bigg Snoop Dogg and Snoop D-O Double G are just a few of the monikers. When the multi-platinum rapper announced last summer that he'd been reborn as Snoop Lion and would trade in the menacing gangster rap that made him a superstar for rasta patois and issue a disc soaked in reggae rhythms , reaction was mixed, with a few critics writing it off as a gimmick. The rapper-turned-Rastafarian has announced his new album, Snoop Lion's debut, “Reincarnated,” will arrive on April 23. RELATED: Snoop Lion: 'La La La' and a rapper's transition into reggae Executive produced by Diplo and his Major Lazer production team (who even gave Beyoncé a sampling of their dancehall influences)

After recovering from serious health problems, Richard Lowe traveled to Jamaica to celebrate life. “This vacation was my gift to myself for surviving,” he said. Seeing this pair afloat above the waters off Negril Beach, in western Jamaica, Lowe vowed to parasail on his next trip to the resort. The Los Angeles resident used an iPad. To submit your photos, visit our reader photo gallery . When you upload your photos, tell us where they were taken and when. The more we know about a photo, the more likely it is that we'll feature it in "Your Scene," a weekly photo feature that appears online and in print.

See Now Then A Novel Jamaica Kincaid Farrar, Straus and Giroux: 192 pp., $24 There are two ways to read Jamaica Kincaid's mesmerizing new novel, "See Now Then. " The first is the way any work of art should be read: by simply absorbing what's on the page. This is how I read the first two-thirds of "See Now Then. " "See Now Then" is Kincaid's first novel in a decade, and it's the story of a marriage whose toxicity is killing the two people in it. But more than that, the book reads like an allegory or fable about a doomed family, an effect heightened by its protagonists, Mr. and Mrs. Sweet, having two children with names taken from Greek mythology - Heracles and Persephone.

Bob Bradley has earned a reputation for being conservative and unimaginative during his time atop the U.S. national soccer team. But Sunday, facing one of the sternest tests in his five years as coach, Bradley rolled the dice and came up huge, with the U.S. beating Jamaica, 2-0, in Washington, D.C., to advance to Gold Cup semifinals. The Americans struggled to score in pool play, failing to win their group for the first time in tournament history. Yet Bradley responded by benching Landon Donovan, the most prolific scorer in U.S. history, and starting a formation heavy in the midfield.

President Bush said today he will nominate Glen A. Holden, a Los Angeles insurance executive, to be ambassador to Jamaica. Holden has been the head of the Holden Group in Los Angeles since 1973. He would succeed Michael Sotirhos. Bush also said he has chosen Lannon Walker, a career Foreign Service office and one-time ambassador to Senegal, to be ambassador to Nigeria. He would succeed Princeton Nathan Lyman.

Centrally located on Negril's legendary beach in Jamaica, White Sands offers 45 reasonably priced, comfortable rooms. Owner Henry Moo-Young and his family take pride in welcoming repeat guests to this lush property, which offers free Wi-Fi and safe deposit boxes, a private pool, a restaurant and a beachside bar. White Sands, Norman Manley Boulevard, Negril; (305) 503-9074 or (876) 957-4291, http://www.whitesandsjamaica.com . Rates from $69, Dec. 15-April 15. Elizabeth Bardsley Burbank

Kingston Noir Edited by Colin Channer Akashic Books: 285 pp; $15.95 trade paper original Starting in 2004 with "Brooklyn Noir," the more than 50 titles in the Akashic Books series of crime fiction have been distinguished by contributions from writers who live in or write about cities and areas rife with Hollywood-influenced dark sensibilities (Los Angeles, Manhattan, San Francisco) as well as unexpected places (the Twin Cities, Orange County, Delhi) but whose stories teem nonetheless with betrayal, rage and revenge.