Daily Archive: Sunday, December 25, 2011

ABUJA, (Reuters) – Islamist militants set off bombs  across in Nigeria on Christmas Day – three targeting churches  including one that killed at least 27 people – raising fears  that they are trying to ignite sectarian civil war.

(Reuters) – The Miami Heat gained a  little revenge for their loss in last year’s NBA finals, by  spoiling the Dallas Mavericks’ championship celebration with a  resounding 105-94 victory on today’s opening day of the season.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The police have reported that a special constable is in custody this evening, after he shot and killed a colleague at a dance off Waltham Park Road in Kingston last night.

(Barbados Nation) Over 3 000 passengers should be arriving in Barbados out of Canada over the next four months on a new chartered flight.

(Trinidad Express) A member of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force was among two people gunned down while liming at a bar at Valencia early yesterday.

Citing court documents, the New York Post says the US is arguing that businessman Ed Ahmad recruited promising Guyanese cricketers, lined them up with cricket clubs and used them as straw buyers in the mortgage scheme that he has been charged in.

(Trinidad Express) The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) faces bankruptcy proceedings in 2012 should it fail to find a solution to its legal battle against 13 Soca Warriors from the 2006 World Cup team.

Police say that at about 2300h last night food vendor Babalyn Cozier, 48 years, and Trenton Benn, 57 years, were at home at Goedverwagting, ECD, when two men armed with firearms entered through an open door and held them up.

Police say that at about 2000h last night, Insurance Agent Andrew Correia, 56 years of ‘D’ Field, Sophia, was walking along the roadway at ‘A’ Field, Sophia, when he observed two suspicious looking men standing on the road.

The police say they are investigating a fatal accident that occurred at about 0125h today  on the Mon Repos Public Road, ECD, and which resulted in the death of pedestrian Naresh Khemraj, 21 years of Pigeon Island, ECD.

A fireman was fatally shot during a robbery at his Alness, Corentyne home last night.

ABUJA, (Reuters) – Islamist militant group Boko Haram  said it planted bombs that exploded on Christmas Day at churches  in Nigeria, one of which killed at least 27 people on the  outskirts of the capital.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Professor Trevor Munroe, executive director of National Integrity Action Limited (NIAL), lauded the five corporate companies that have disclosed their monetary contributions to the island’s two main political parties.

(Barbados Nation) Though police are reporting no upsurge in crime during the Christmas season, cellphone theft and “cash-for-gold” promotions have developed into a major headache for law enforcement authorities.

In what is a new dimension to Guyana’s political landscape, the recent elections results have created a unique situation where both the President and the combined opposition can trigger another election before the five-year constitutional deadline.

The body of a beer garden owner was yesterday discovered in her home aback her shop at Public Road Mc Doom, East Bank Demerara, and from all appearances the incident seems to be a murder/robbery.

Clive Hubert Lloyd, the most successful West Indies captain ever said yesterday that he was delighted to be asked  to head  the Interim Management Committee (IMC) set up by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and had accepted the post.

A lawyer acting on behalf of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has written the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport stating that the proposed decision to replace the executive members of the GCB  with that of members comprising an Interim Management Committee was is unlawful and arbitrary.

Priyanna Ramdhani bagged two singles titles when the Annual Woodpecker Junior Christmas Singles Tournament concluded at the Queens College Badminton Courts on Friday.

Although Christmas is a time of joy and spending quality time with loved ones, it has found Carlann Chester-Welch without her husband, her daughter without her father, and a family without justice.

President of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Ramsey Ali said yesterday that the decision by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport to replace the GCB with an Interim Management Committee  could have a disastrous effect on Guyana’s cricket.

Festive season action in the Georgetown Football Association Banks Beer Cup will kick off today with a quarter-final double-header at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground starting from 18:00hrs.

The body of a man clad in a pair of blue jeans and a beige t-shirt that was discovered on Monday December 19 in the canal at Prospect, East Bank Demerara (EBD) in front a popular drinking bar called the ‘Island’, has been identified as 55-year-old Zokho Persaud Premraj of 102 Grove Post Office Street, EBD.

National scrabble champion Abigail McDonald, would like to see a lot more done for the sport  at the national level and is hopeful that the 2012 period will see better support and development for the game.

Small miners in Omai, Region 8 are being threatened with eviction in order to facilitate a large foreign mining company with which the government intends to sign an agreement.

Caribbean United of Barbados and Milerock secured similar 2-0 victories over Winners Connection and Seawall FC respectively when action in 22nd annual Kashif and Shanghai tournament continued at the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) Ground on Friday evening.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Trinidadian Harold Taylor, a Caribbean Football Union (CFU) presidential candidate, claims that the recent decision by football presidents to form a Normalisation Committee to execute various tasks on behalf of the CFU is illegal.

A 42-year-old man was burnt to death when a fire of unknown origin destroyed his Corentyne home early yesterday morning.

Every now and then you run into people who are true masters at what they do.

KARACHI,  Test series wins over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have whetted Pakistan’s appetite for success and they are capable of beating world number one test side England next month, coach Mohsin Khan said.

MELBOURNE,  (Reuters) – Having India shake off their image as home-track bullies is one of captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s goals as he bids to lead his team to a breakthrough test series win in Australia.

It may be the season of peace on earth, goodwill towards men but, for West Indies cricket, such sentiments have long since meant nothing.

I regret I start with grimness in my Christmas column this year.

Two persons perished in an early morning fire yesterday morning at 38 Public Road, Kitty after they failed to escape the flames, while the occupants of an adjoining house which was also razed managed to get out but saved nothing but the clothes on their backs.

The VB New Approach General Construction Company awarded workers for outstanding service, while its Christmas party provided a forum for political banter where the proprietor renewed his pledge to source contracts only through the proper channels.

Hustle and bustle: Christmas Eve shopping at

Ever since President Castro first announced that Cuba was embarking on a far-reaching process of economic change there have been concerns about the implications this may have for the rest of the region.

Dynasty Sports Bar and Malteenoes Sport Club will host a two-day country wide 27-team Domino tournament starting on Boxing Day at the Malteenoes Sports Club, Thomas Lands.

Secretary of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)  Anand Sanasie said yesterday that the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)  will continue to function although they have been asked to hand over to an Interim management Committee which is expected to run the affairs of the GCB for the next six months.

The Youth Coalition for Transfor-mation (YCT), the youth arm of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), on Friday urged Guya-nese to prepare for a year of street pressure combined with intense parliamentary activity to secure a number of demands.

Part 2 Introduction Today as we celebrate Christmas, a day marked as much for its commercial opportunities as for its religious significance, Business Page concludes a look-back at some of the articles carried in these columns during 2011.

Dear Editor, With reference to a letter by Gecom’s press officer seeking to “educate” Mr Freddie Kissoon (“Gecom followed the law…’ SN, December 24) on matters pertaining to Gecom’s management of the registration and electoral process, I am sure that Mr Kissoon will respond shortly in his own uniquely elegant manner, but permit me to offer some comments on two sections.

Introduction In last week’s column I completed a brief description of the ten most important channels through which the negative effects of the global financial crisis and economic recession, which erupted in 2008 impacted Guyana and Caricom.

N&S Mattai & Co on Thursday distributed hampers of food items to the needy as a part of giving back and helping those in

A 43-year-old miner was on Friday shot and killed during an argument at Enachu, Cuyuni, North West District.

DURBAN,  (Reuters) – South Africa and Sri Lanka both have the opportunity to put an end to unwanted records when they clash in the second test at Kingsmead in Durban  tomorrow.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – New Barbados captain Kirk Edwards has described his beleaguered West Indies skipper Darren Sammy as a “fighting cricketer who gives his all”.

A key United Nations think tank that has been very bullish about Latin America in recent years is sounding a little less optimistic about the region’s economies for 2012.

Dear Editor, I would like to let persons with disabilities know that they can become whoever they want to become if they have determination.

Dear Editor, Several years ago around the time when Compton Young was the Mayor of Georgetown a female member of the Consumers Association speaking on one of her radio broadcasts said that Georgetown had moved from Garden City to Garbage City and that “Georgetown literally stinks.”

A very happy Christmas to all my readers. There are many shrubs that are pruned with shears.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Inclement weather has forced organisers to call off a four-team Twenty20 Festival here from December 28 to 30.

(Trinidad Express) The economic situation in Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the Caribbean remains very fragile and suspect to external shocks, Minister of Finance Winston Dookeran has told an international audience of finance experts.

Dear Editor, I hasten to respond to an article in your publication of December 20 pertaining to the withdrawal of the GDF Football Club from the GFA/Banks DIH Knockout Tournament, and their subsequent suspension by the Georgetown Football Association from all football-related activities under their auspices.

Children having fun on a Merry-go-round at a fun day in

DURBAN,  (Reuters) – Vernon Philander, South Africa’s latest fast bowling sensation, had his participation in the second test against Sri Lanka thrown into doubt after he pulled up with a knee injury in Durban  yesterday.

On entering the village of Meten-Meer-Zorg one encounters a series of canals, a reflection of the grid-like order imposed upon the coastal landscape by the drainage patterns of the sugar plantation.

As you read this, the New Year celebrations are just around the proverbial corner.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of flag-waving and chanting protesters called yesterday for a disputed parliamentary election to be rerun and an end to Vladimir Putin’s rule, increasing pressure on the Russian leader as he tries to win back the presidency.

Conqueror Movement Youth Development Association (CMYDA) on Thursday spread Christmas cheer with the children and staff of the Ruimveldt Children’s Home and Care Centre. 

Dear Editor, Minority governments can never be a precondition for the majority opposition in the legislature to internalize the illusion that, by virtue of its majority, it has an executive role.

SANAA (Reuters) – Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said yesterday he would leave for the United States and give way to a successor, hours after his forces killed nine people demanding he be tried for killings of protesters over the past year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The US State Department said yesterday it deplored Cuba’s failure to free Alan Gross – a US citizen serving a 15-year prison term in a case that has stalled progress in US-Cuba relations – as part of an announced humanitarian release of some 2,900 prisoners.

The East Coast International Restaurant, Apartments and Mini Mall in

A post-mortem examination performed on the body of Tuschen accident victim Puran Ram on Friday revealed that he died as a result of multiple injuries.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s two leading Islamist parties won about two-thirds of votes for party lists in the second round of polling for a parliament that will help draft a new constitution after decades of autocratic rule, the election committee said yesterday.

The Iwokrama Forest and Rupununi Wetlands are home to healthy populations of Guyana’s Giants.

(Reuters) – With Santa’s departure from the North Pole imminent, preparations to track his global trek were underway on Friday at an aerospace command center in Colorado.

This homeless man took a seat on

Christmas is a religious festival, but it is much more than that. 

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Funerals for 44 people killed in twin suicide car bombs in Damascus turned into a show of support for President Bashar al-Assad yesterday, with thousands of mourners denouncing the United States and its Arab allies for interfering in Syria.

The five persons who were arrested in relation to Sunday’s gruesome murder of 74-year-old Mahaica farmer Ramlogan Singh, called ‘Tun Tun’ have all been released as police continue to hunt for the killer/s and the motive.

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea appears to be making an orderly transition after the death of leader Kim Jong-il last week, but the risk of collapse is higher than before and regional powers need to start discussing that contingency with China, diplomats and analysts say.

KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) – Gun battles between Nigerian security forces and an Islamist sect killed at least 68 people in two days of fighting in northern Nigeria, authorities and hospital sources said yesterday.

TILTON (Reuters) –  Ten days before the first votes in the 2012 Republican presidential race, Mitt Romney’s well-funded campaign machine has held off the most serious challenge to his White House bid and is keeping him near the top of the pack.

Sunday Cartoon

For the last 15 years Christmas Day has found 49-year-old Jennifer Gulliver pounding the streets of Georgetown selling newspapers.

With such a short space between the announcement of election results and Christmas, the usual ferment of the season took on an additional frenzied quality.

Dennis Sookdeo of Herstelling East Bank of Demerara yesterday won himself a brand new Toyota Vitz compliments of

‘B’ Division Commander Stephen Merai has said that the directive given to divisional commanders against speaking to the media was an “irresponsible move.”

(Trinidad Express) WORKS Minister Jack Warner yesterday called on residents to oversee road repairs as, in the new year, poor work by contractors will have to be redone or payments will not be made.

(Trinidad Express) The man accused of setting fire to a Laventille apartment complex, which claimed the lives of three children, a woman and an unborn baby girl, was last night charged with four offences of murder and causing grievous bodily harm to eight other people.