Daily Archive: Sunday, December 18, 2011

(Jamaica Gleaner) The Jamaica police seized over 200 pounds of cocaine and arrested seven men – including two Colombians – in a drug bust off the coast of St Mary yesterday morning.

(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – The political party VHP (Vooruitstrevende Hervormings Partij) wants to help develop a national diaspora policy, which could be beneficial to people in Suriname as well as Surinamese in the Netherlands, for example.

Rumours are rife about all that is happening with the changing of the ministerial guard at the various government ministries.

OTTAWA, ONTARIO, (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney recognized the efforts of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on Friday in tackling residence fraud in the citizenship and immigration program.

Following last month’s national and regional elections which saw the PPP/Civic returned to government, but without a majority, the opportunity is now ripe for the combined opposition to make the University of Guyana (UG) into an institution which produces leaders and which functions on a par with universities in the region and further afield.

ATLANTA, (Reuters) – Rapper Slim Dunkin  has been shot to death in Atlanta, police said on  Saturday.

MOSCOW, (Reuters) – A drilling rig with 67 crew  on board capsized and sank off Russia’s far eastern island of  Sakhalin yesterday while being towed through a winter storm,  leaving more than 50 dead or missing in the icy Sea of Okhotsk.

PRAGUE, (Reuters) – Vaclav Havel, a dissident  playwright who was jailed by Communists and then went on to lead  the bloodless “Velvet Revolution” and become Czech president,  died at 75 today.

The home of former army Chief of Staff Norman McLean and former Registrar of the High Court, Sita Ramlal was destroyed this morning after a fire of electrical origin started in the upper flat.

(Barbados Nation) Police have arrested a Guyanese woman who allegedly tried to smuggle a kilo of cocaine – hidden in her hair, bra, underwear and private parts – into Barbados.

(Barbados Nation) Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Chris Sinckler has come clean on a NATION report that he and ten of his Government colleagues were seeking an “urgent audience” with Prime Minister Freundel Stuart to discuss matters of “grave” concern and to chart a path forward for the retention of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) in Government.

(Jamaica Observer) Erica Atkinson and Shauntell Ferguson sat on a bench outside the arrival area at the Norman Manley International Airport depressed, tired, and infuriated by the treatment they said they received from Antiguan immigration authorities last Thursday evening.

(Barbados Nation) If there was an attempted palace coup against Prime Minister Freundel Stuart of the ruling Democratic Labour Party, heads will roll.

Commissioner of Police Henry Greene is to go on leave in the light of investigations into an allegation of sexual assault against him.

The parliamentary opposition intends to use its majority to review the benefits package for former presidents, to bring it in line with what is received by other former heads of state in the region.

What is striking about the mixed community of Kortberaad, East Bank Berbice (EBB) is the hard work residents are engaged in for survival and their pride in keeping their surroundings spic and span.

A 26-year-old cane-harvester of Manchester, Corentyne died after sustaining a single stab wound to the region of his heart around 11.30 pm on Friday; his assailant is still on the run.

While describing the hung parliament as presenting a “great opportunity” for Guyana, constitutional expert Haslyn Parris believes that the parties must address long-standing systemic deficiencies in the electoral laws or the country will remain in a quagmire as it relates to proper governance.

A 24-year-old miner was stabbed to death at Issano Landing, Mazaruni River last Wednesday during a drunken row and the suspect is in police custody assisting with investigations.

President Donald Ramotar has appointed three persons to a panel he has set up to review the tax system.

APNU candidate at the recently concluded general elections Desmond Trotman has moved to the courts challenging the constitutionality of the controversial benefits package for former presidents.

A man was killed on Friday night after he lost control of the motor cycle he was riding along the Walton Hall, Essequibo Coast roadway.

Ten persons sustained cuts and bruises after a Route 44 minibus and a car collided on the Turkeyen Public Road, on the East Coast of Demerara yesterday morning.

Not for the first time, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) finds itself alienating a large and significant segment of its public.

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) said it has finalized its list of Members of Parliament for the Tenth Parliament but up to last night, no official list had been released to the media.

The curtain will come down today on the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) annual national championships at the National Gymnasium but the marquee event, the men’s singles will be missing some of the biggest names in the sport.

Amelia’s Ward scored an upset win over the 2009 champions BK Western Tigers in game four of the 22nd annual Kashif and Shanghai football tournament at the Georgetown Football Club ground Friday evening.

In the wake of the Golden Jaguars’  success story  this year,  the country’s football problems  continue  to morph with every passing day, and United States-based administrator  Garth Nelson, feels  it’s time to take the bull by the horns  to curb a likely crisis.

Keith Burrowes, Chairman of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited (GNNL), has resigned from this position and some others as he seeks to give President Donald Ramotar a chance to review his tenure and decide on the way forward.

CENTURION, South Africa,  (Reuters) – Rookie seam bowler Vernon Philander covered himself in glory once again as he took five wickets, and 10 in the match, to lead South Africa to victory by an innings and 81 runs in the first test against Sri Lanka at Centurion yesterday.

The Moray House Trust, set up in memory of David de Caires to help nurture the cultural and intellectual life of the nation, was launched this week at the de Caires family home in Camp Street.

Hemchan Narain of the J.C. Chandisingh Secondary School in Berbice is one of three players who lead the individual category of the annual schools’ chess competition which got underway yesterday morning at the Providence National Stadium.

Will the police ever catch the suspect in the brutal murder of 84 year old pharmacist Harold Rachpaul?

Out of nowhere, sometimes from a complete stranger, sometimes from someone who knows you intimately, a chance remark will come to you and set you thinking about a subject you had not previously considered.

This is the first in a series introducing some of the new faces in Parliament to readers.

Today’s scheduled Georgetown Turf Club horse race meet which was scheduled for Mocha Arcadia has been postponed, one of the organizers said yesterday.

(Trinidad Express) Haunted by what he participated in, one of the men allegedly involved in the kidnapping of Gasparillo businessman Naail Ali, said he wanted to clear his conscience, so he led police to Ali’s bones.

In this week’s column I shall wrap up the discussion of the transmission channels through which the global crisis has been transmitted to Guyana. 

Introduction This, my closing column for what was a truly eventful, indeed historic year is not about introversion or narcissism but one that was forced by reality.

Caribbean Airlines on Friday started a service in which it will be flying non-stop from Guyana and Barbados, three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

(De Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – President Desi Bouterse does not want the war on drugs to relapse.

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines (Reuters) – More than 400 people were killed and an unknown number were missing after a typhoon struck the southern Philippines, causing flash floods and landslides and driving tens of thousands from their homes.

Dominoes fans will swing into the festive season today when the Guyana Dominoes Association stages a 12-team Christmas Pepper pot tournament at the Dynasty Sports Bar.

MELBOURNE, Australia,  CMC – Fast bowler Fidel Edwards and fellow West Indian Chris Gayle both failed to take a wicket and Gayle was dismissed for just four but their Sydney Thunder team, propelled by a brilliant, unbeaten century from new Australia Test player David Warner, beat Melbourne Stars by six wickets in the Twenty20 Big Bash League at the MCG yesterday.

(Jamaica Observer) Low-cost Caribbean airline carrier REDjet, which last month began flying from Barbados to Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana and Antigua, is looking to add new routes as it begins to fine-tune its operations.

BUENOS AIRES/LONDON (Reuters) – Oil exploration by British companies off the Falkland Islands is irritating old wounds with Argentina, where sovereignty claims over the remote South Atlantic archipelago are as strong as ever.

It is far from easy to explain what is happening in Europe. 

(De Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – Gerrit Breinburg, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries (LVV) says that the tampering with fishery licences has not let up.

Two recent events brought Caribbean and Guyanese poet Martin Carter once again into focus. 

(Jamaica Observer) The lives of 17 Jamaican children in the United States may today be in danger after they were adopted and shipped off to that country by a woman the local police believe may be part of a major human trafficking ring operating between both countries.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Soldiers beat demonstrators with batons in Cairo’s Tahrir Square yesterday in a second day of clashes that have killed 10 people and wounded hundreds, marring the first free election most Egyptians can remember.

President Barack Obama’s recent announcement that he will seek to create what may be the world’s largest trading bloc along the Pacific rim raises an interesting question in this part of the world: whether we will see a de facto split of Latin America into a Pacific bloc and an Atlantic bloc.

Life and work in the garden rotates with remarkable speed, and absolutely nothing seems to come round with such speed as the Christian festival of Christmas.

TOKYO,  (Reuters) – FIFA’s growing concern at Brazil’s lagging preparations for the 2014 World Cup have prompted president Sepp Blatter to make the matter a “personal dossier”.

Dear Editor, In mid-2011 there was concern about a shortage of construction lumber on the domestic market. 

ROME/BERLIN (Reuters) – A comprehensive solution to the euro zone debt crisis is beyond the region’s reach, rating agency Fitch said, warning that six of its economies including Italy and Spain could be hit with credit downgrades in the near future.

DHAKA,  (Reuters) – Shakib Al Hasan and Shahriar Nafees shared a record 180-run stand to take Bangladesh to a respectable 234-5 against Pakistan before bad light ended the opening day’s play of the second test  yesterday.

The organizers of the Circus of Dreams show have issued an apology to those patrons who were affected by rain during the performance on Friday night at the Guyana National Stadium.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Arab states may take their proposals for ending Syria’s crackdown on protests to the UN Security Council next week unless Damascus agrees to implement the initiative, Qatar’s foreign minister said yesterday.

Dear Editor, In discussing many sociopolitical and socioeconomic issues over the years, I’ve always bemoaned Guyana’s political system and its inability to accommodate a public arena of engagement and enfranchisement where the values of peace, fairness and justice are actively championed.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Popular deejay Vybz Kartel, who is facing two murder charges, has been ordered by the Supreme Court to pay J$15 million in damages to Jamaican promoter Alton Salmon for his failure to perform at a concert in the Turks and Caicos Islands in August 2009.

(Jamaica Observer) Mavado fans in Zimbabwe who were anticipating his performance yesterday at the Harare International Conference Centre, have been let down as the gig was postponed.

MADRID, (Reuters) – Cristiano Ronaldo netted his fifth La Liga hat-trick of the campaign as Real Madrid brushed off Pepe’s 44th-minute dismissal to secure a crushing 6-2 victory at Sevilla and move back above Barcelona to the top of the standings yesterday.

Commissioner Henry Greene’s less than toned figure suggests a man who has ignored his health for a long time.

Dear Editor, After much anticipation and getting the kids all excited about the Circus of Dreams coming to town, GT&T offered the paying public a great disappointment.

Continued from last week Last week we dealt with paralyses that have their origin in congenital (birth) defects.Today

Top seeds in the Under-21 male and female categories Nigel Bryan and Trenace Lowe respectively played true to the seedings yesterday when the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) national championships continued at the National Gymnasium.

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) football team has withdrawn from the Banks DIH Banks-Beer sponsored tournament which is being run by the Georgetown Football Association (GFA).