(GIST): PHOTOS from BEYONCE & JAY-Z Trip TO Cuba (PHOTOS)

Jay-Z and Beyonce's trip to Cuba last week reportedly got the U.S. Treasury Department's stamp of approval.

A source tells Reuters, the two visited Cuba last week for their 5th anniversary on a fully licensed "cultural" trip.

As we reported, it's against the law for U.S. citizens to travel to the communist nation if it's purely for tourism ... but exceptions can be made in the form of "cultural exchange" licenses.

Then again, the government doesn't just dole out licenses ... you need to show good reason ... and so far, the justification is unclear.

MORE PHOTOS AFTER CUT:

WAIT! President Jonathan Spent Poor People’s Money on Beyonce & Jay Z?

SaharaReporters has uncovered a document indicating that a million dollars of Bayelsa State’s poverty alleviation fund was spent by then Governor Goodluck Jonathan on bringing American entertainers Beyonce and Jay Z to Nigeria in 2006.
In a letter stamped and signed by Bayelsa officials, N150 million (approximately a million dollars in 2006) was released from the state’s poverty alleviation fund for the first ThisDay Music Festival in Lagos.
The document came to light after a controversy was ignited over how much money American “reality TV” star Kim Kardashian was paid for a brief visit to Nigeria.
Ms. Kardashian, star of a US TV show about her idle rich family and who shot to international fame after a sex tape featuring her and her rapper boyfriend went viral, was reportedly paid half a million dollars for the 24-hour-visit last week.
The sources who provided the 2006 document for Beyonce and Jay Z’s visit told Saharareporters that there was a shady financial link between the producers of some high profile entertainment events and the governors and other officials who control budgets at the state and federal levels. Mr. Obaigbena’s newspaper, ThisDay, is a major sponsor of entertainment events that brings US music stars as well as top public figures for flying visits to Nigeria in exchange for gargantuan paychecks.
“Mr. Obaigbena often lines up financial bonanzas from numerous governors, ministers and other top government officials to finance his jamborees,” said one of the sources who is based in the UK and is knowledgeable about such deals.
SaharaReporters obtained a letter from Mr. Obaigbena to the Bayelsa State government soliciting funds from the oil-producing state ahead of Nigeria’s 46th independence celebrations in 2006. The publisher wrote, “We invite you to partner with us as co-hosts of the festival.” The letter added: “With a total budget of $10 million, the co-host is expected to contribute a minimum of $2.5 million (two million five hundred thousand USD).”
At the bottom of the letter, minuted by hand and signed by then Governor Jonathan’s aides as well as the Bayelsa State accountant general are the words, “Release N150,000,000.00 (One hundred and fifty million naira) only to be drawn from the poverty alleviation subhead.”
One source told SaharaReporters that Mr. Obaigbena sent similar letters to other south-south states.
SaharaReporters could not ascertain how much of the released funds was paid directly to performers at the festival. There is no indication that Beyonce, one of the few entertainment stars internationally famous enough to only need one name, was aware that her performance was being subsidized by the poor people of Bayelsa.


But during Beyonce’s celebrated rendition of the Nigerian national anthem, pictures of Bayelsa State were projected onto the wall of the Lagos concert venue.
According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, 47% of Bayelsans live in poverty. The World Bank says that per capita gross domestic product in the Niger Delta is significantly below the country’s average. According to the state’s own 2005 development strategy, 80% of rural communities have no access to safe drinking water, a key indicator in judging poverty. In Yenagoa, the state capital and Bayelsa’s largest urban area, an estimated two out of every five residents do not have access to safe drinking water.
In 2005, as part of its UN-approved strategy to combat poverty, the state promised to make a fund of N100 million available as soft loans and micro-credit to Bayelsans. The allocated fund was N50 million less than Mr. Jonathan approved for Mr. Obaigbena’s music festival. That promise was made in the Bayelsa State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy, published by the United Nations Development Program and signed by then Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha. A civil rights activist in Yenogoa told SaharaReporters that the state “has been a woeful failure in its poverty reduction program.”
The letter from Mr. Obaigbena to then-governor Goodluck Jonathan said the concert was necessary to show that the news from Nigeria was “not just…HIV/AIDS, conflicts, poverty, kidnapping, strife and riots.”
The publisher added: “This is the longest ever period of democracy in Nigeria, over seven years and counting! And a stable democracy means more investment and economic prosperity for all.”
The publisher went on to give reasons why the state government should contribute to the concert.
The stars’ performances would “tell the world, through music, that Nigeria’s time has come,” Mr. Obaigbena wrote. The letter added, “And once the good news catches on with the young and upwardly mobile, music loving new generation it will catch on with the world of investments and bountiful opportunities.”
In 2006, Mr. Goodluck Jonathan had just become governor of Bayelsa after his boss, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, was impeached and convicted on corruption charges. Mr. Jonathan was then elevated to Vice President to then President Umaru Yar’Adua. Mr. Yar’Adua’s death in 2010 enabled Mr. Jonathan, a zoologist whose PhD focused on tropical fish, to assume the presidency.
Since 2006, Mr. Obaigbena’s parent company, Leaders & Company, has produced a number of high-profile events that have seen such American stars as Rihanna, R Kelly, and Usher perform for Nigerians. The ticket prices for these concerts are usually out of reach of the “average” Nigerian. The events feature tickets that cost many tens of thousands of naira, usually reserved for “VIP access.” ThisDay has also hosted political luminaries like former US President Bill Clinton and former economic adviser to the Obama presidency, Lawrence Summers. At an Africa Rising concert in London, former US Secretary of State Colin Powell came on stage and danced to the popular Naija jam “Yahooze” by Olu Maintain.

Source: SaharaReporters

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SEE!! Beyoce Finally shows Ivy's Face

Thank God she has shown us the girls's face cos we thought she was never going to show us until ivy's wedding day ...any way she is a very cute baby with her father's face...

full list of winners from the 2013 Grammys

The top prizes at this year’s Grammy Awards, went to Gotye, FUN. and Mumford & Sons.

British folk band, Mumford & Sons went home with two plaques, including the Album of the Year, for their song, Babel.

Best New Artist and Song of the Year, went to Indie-pop trio FUN, while Australian singer, Gotye won three Grammys, including Record of the Year for his hit song, Somebody That I used to Know, which featuredKimbra.

Here is the full list of winners:

• Album of the year: Babel, Mumford & Sons.

• Record of the year: Somebody That I Used to Know, Gotye featuring Kimbra.

• Song of the year: We Are Young, fun.

• New artist: fun.

• Pop solo performance: Set Fire to the Rain (Live), Adele.

• Pop vocal album: Stronger, Kelly Clarkson.

• Rock performance: Lonely Boy, The Black Keys.

• Urban contemporary album: “Channel Orange,” Frank Ocean.

• Rap/sung collaboration: No Church in the Wild, Jay-Z, Kanye West featuring Frank Ocean, The-Dream.

• Country solo performance: Blown Away, Carrie Underwood.

• Country album: Uncaged, Zac Brown Band

• Pop/duo group performance: “Somebody That I Used to Know,” Gotye featuring Kimbra.

• Traditional pop vocal album: Kisses on the Bottom, Paul McCartney.

• Rap performance: N****s in Paris, Jay-Z, Kanye West.

• Rap song: N****s in Paris,” Shawn Carter, Mike Dean, Chauncey Hollis, Kanye West.

• Rap album: Take Care, Drake.

• R&B performance: Climax, Usher.

• Traditional R&B performance: Love on Top, Beyonce.

• R&B song: Adorn, Miguel Pimentel.

• R&B album: Black Radio, Robert Glasper Experiment.

• Rock song: Lonely Boy, The Black Keys.

• Rock album: El Camino, The Black Keys.

• Hard rock/metal performance: Love Bites (So Do I), Halestorm.

• Alternative music album: Making Mirrors, Gotye.

• Dance recording: Bangarang, Skrillex featuring Sirah.

• Dance/electronica album: Bangarang, Skrillex.

• Latin pop album: MTV Unplugged Deluxe Edition, Juanes.

• Latin rock, urban or alternative album: Imaginares, Quetzal.

• Latin jazz album: Ritmo!, The Clare Fisher Latin Jazz Big Band.

• Tropical Latin album: Retro, Marlow Rosado Y La Riquena.

• Country duo/group performance: Pontoon, Little Big Town.

• Country song: Blown Away, Josh Kear, Chris Tompkins.

• Gospel song: Go Get It, Mary Mary.

• Gospel album: Gravity, Leerae.

• Blues album: Locked Down, Dr. John.

• Folk album: The Goat Rodeo Sessions, Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile.

• Americana album: Slipstream, Bonnie Raitt.

• Bluegrass album: Nobody Knows You, Steep Canyon Rangers.

• Reggae album: Rebirth, Jimmy Cliff.

• World music album: The Living Room Sessions Part 1, Ravi Shankar.

• Children’s album: Can You Canoe?, The Okee Dokee Brothers.

• Spoken word album: Society’s Child: My Autobiography, Janis Ian.

• Comedy album: Blow Your Pants Off, Jimmy Fallon.

• New age album: Echoes of Love, Omar Akram.

• Jazz vocal album: Radio Music Society, Esperanza Spalding.

• Jazz instrumental album: Unity Band, Pat Metheny Unity Band.

• Large jazz ensemble album: Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You), Arturo Sandoval.

• Pop instrumental album: Impressions, Chris Botti.

• Compilation soundtrack album: Midnight in Paris, various artists.

• Score soundtrack album: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross.

• Song written for visual media: Safe & Sound (From “The Hunger Games”), Taylor Swift, John Paul White, Joy Williams.

• Musical theater album: Once: A New Musical, Steve Kazee, Cristin Milioti.

• Producer of the year, classical: Blanton Alspaugh.

• Producer of the year, non-classical: Dan Auerbach.

• Instrumental composition: Mozart Goes Dancing, Chick Corea.

• Orchestral performance: Adams: Harmonielehre & Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Michael Tilson Thomas (San Francisco Symphony).

• Opera recording: Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen, James Levine and Fabio Luisi.

• Choral performance: Life & Breath: Choral Works by Rene Clausen, Charles Bruffy.

• Short-form music video: We Found Love, Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris.

• Long-form music video: Big Easy Express, Mumford & Sons.

• Historical album: The Smile Sessions (Deluxe Box Set), Alan Boyd, Mark Linett, Brian Wilson, Dennis Wolfe.