Daily Archive: Thursday, June 21, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO,  (Reuters) – Two service outages within the course of several hours rocked microblogging platform Twitter today, as users worldwide reported significant down-time and slow service across both Twitter’s website and mobile applications.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Popular entertainer Vybz Kartel was today freed in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court of possession of ganja.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The police say a second autopsy conducted on the body of Trinidadian school teacher Michelle Coudray-Greaves has revealed that her death was caused by injuries to the right side of the head.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Jamaican Reggae superstar Buju Banton today lost his appeal against the 10-year prison sentence he is now serving.

The police say they are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Kevin Huggins, 29 years, a miner of Johanna Cecilia, Essequibo Coast.

(Reuters) – The World Boxing Organization (WBO) ruled yesterday that Manny Pacquiao should have won his controversial defeat to Timothy Bradley and has recommended a re-match between the fighters.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson, who has been under investigation for his role in two car crashes earlier this month, said today he was resigning to “prevent distractions” at the department he led for less than a year.

HOUSTON,  (Reuters) – Laura Pendergest-Holt, the chief investment officer for Allen Stanford’s defunct financial firm, pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction today as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The United States today named three alleged leaders of the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram as “foreign terrorists”, the first time it has blacklisted members of the Islamist group blamed for attacks across Africa’s most populous nation.

An attempt was made early this morning to burn down a bond owned by murdered Pest Control Plus boss Mohammed Baksh.

(Jamaica Observer) Former Prime Minister P J Patterson says Jamaica’s trade deficit with non-Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries deserves as much attention as that being given to the imbalance with the regional bloc.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Telecommunications firm Digicel has accused the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) of being “unconstitutional” and setting itself up as “judge, jury and executioner”.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt was released from prison in Britain today after serving seven months of a two-and-a-half year term for involvement in a match-fixing scam that sent shock waves through the world of cricket.

(Trinidad Express) The remains of murdered Michelle Coudray, daughter of San Fernando Mayor Marlene Coudray, will be cremated in Jamaica and her ashes returned to her homeland.

JAKARTA,  (Reuters) – A boat carrying about 200 suspected asylum seekers has capsized in Indonesian waters 120 nautical miles north of Australia’s Christmas Island and many are feared drowned, authorities said today.

(Trinidad Express) The brother of the 24-year-old man whose car slammed into a Caura bar and killed five people on Tuesday said last night that his brother was not drunk as he only had one beer that morning.

(Trinidad Express) Police are investigating reports of several mysterious fires at the home of a millionaire Central businessman.

AMMAN,  (Reuters) – The pilot of a Syrian MiG 21 fighter jet who flew his plane to Jordan today asked for political asylum on landing, Jordanian Minister of State for Information Samih al-Maaytah said.

By Emmerson Campbell Back Circle Stallions (Team Guyana) will look to trample on Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua, St Vincent and St Lucia and run away with the winning spoils when the three-night inaugural Guinness Caribbean Street Football Challenge kicks off tonight at the National Park tarmac.

By Emmerson Campbell Reigning Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) bantamweight champion US-based Guyanese Elton ‘Coolie Bully’ Dharry has pulled out of his upcoming super bantamweight title fight with Rudolph Fraser which was scheduled for June 29 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

By Iva Wharton Underdogs, Business School, showed they meant business by not only upsetting the favoured St.

Skipper Colin Mc Ewan led Assassins dominoes team to victory in the inaugural Father’s Day tournament sponsored by  Adina’s Super Foods of 55E upper Robb Street,(between Albert & Oronoque Streets)  Bourda  and held at the Strikers Sports Club.

EUGENE, Oregon,  (Reuters) – Tyson Gay expects a dog fight in the men’s 100 metres, Allyson Felix is eyeing a spot in the women’s 100 as well as her favoured 200 and Ashton Eaton wants to make history in the decathlon.

The University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) and the University of Guyana Worker’s Union (UGWU) yesterday called for Chancellor Compton Bourne to be removed when its members picketed for better salaries, benefits and working conditions at the Turkeyen Campus.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua,  CMC – Selectors have recalled exiled left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn in a 13-man West Indies A squad for the Twenty20 doubleheader against India A this weekend.

The Interim Management Committee (IMC) yesterday issued a press statement on the recent decision by the Caribbean Court of Justice.

Taxi drivers yesterday foiled a carjacking, which ended after a high speed chase on the East Coast of Demerara.

An argument between neighbours over a cockfighting bird ended in gunfire yesterday morning, leaving one person critical and two others wounded.

Chief Executive Officer of COPS Security and former army Lieutenant Colonel Gregory Gaskin died yesterday, after suffering internal injuries when he fell from his motorcycle at the South Dakota Circuit, Timehri.

AFC Leader Raphael Trotman last evening announced that party Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan would replace him in a few weeks as leader.

CAPE TOWN, (Reuters) – Caster Semenya’s overriding priority this year is to leave three years of controversy behind her by adding the Olympic 800 metres gold medal to her 2009 world title.

The bodies of the three men, who were reported missing after a boat they were travelling in overturned in the Puruni River on Monday last, have been recovered and are said to be at the Puruni Landing.

MIAMI,  (Reuters) – The Miami Heat moved within one win of claiming the NBA title after getting a rousing performance from unheralded guard Mario Chalmers to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-98 on Tuesday for a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.

Prime Minister Sam Hinds says that come July 1, the people of Linden will face higher tariffs for electricity and that residents of the mining town  “will have to manage the best way that they can manage.”

Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman yesterday accused the state-owned Guyana Chronicle of an attack on his office, stemming from a report he described as a blatant untruth.

MIAMI,  (Reuters) – The Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder went about their business as usual on Wednesday, watching film and holding practice, but the atmosphere was charged with the knowledge that the NBA title was on the line in today’s game.

GROS ISLET, St Lucia,  CMC – Head coach Hendy Springer has praised West Indies A for their “quality and commonsense” approach after they crushed India A by ten wickets in the final unofficial “Test” here Tuesday to win the three-match series 2-1.

A 22-year-old Colombian national who at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri was discovered to have entered Guyana illegally was yesterday fined $50,000 and ordered to be immediately deported when she appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

The Berbice Volleyball association will stage the second annual Trophy Stall competition for teams in Berbice on Sunday from 10am at the GTM hard-court in New Amsterdam .  

GDANSK, Poland,  (Reuters) – Players, officials and fans took a breather on the first blank day of the European soccer Championship  yesterday but the rumblings of discontent surrounding co-hosts Ukraine continued.

KINGSTON, Jamaica,  CMC – Newly installed CONCACAF president Jeff Webb says bringing international stars to the Caribbean is high on his list of priorities over the next few months.

Minister of Health Dr. Bheri Ramsaran yesterday denied recent reports in the Kaieteur News about inflated prices for certain drugs under a billion-dollar contract and he also pointed to international concerns about counterfeit items and said his ministry is seeking to avoid this.

Puerto Rico Islanders will face W Connection (Trinidad & Tobago), while Antigua Barracuda FC takes-on Caledonia AIA (Trinidad & Tobago) in the semifinals of the Caribbean Club Champions Cup on Tuesday, in Marabella, Trinidad.

LONDON, England,  CMC – England’s selectors have rested the bowling trio of Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann for the third and final One-Day International against West Indies tomorrow at Headingley.

Guyana has ranked 24 out of 26 Latin America and Caribbean countries assessed in an index examining their ability to foster low carbon energy growth, only faring better than Suriname and Venezuela.

GALLE,  (Reuters) – Victory in the one-day series and the enforced absence of the Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq have boosted Sri Lanka’s confidence that they can end a poor run in the first test starting tomorrow.

Dear Editor, With reference to the editorial (‘Is City Hall now compromised beyond redemption?’

DUBAI,  (Reuters) – India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has raised the possibility of a return to international cricket at September’s Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka after undergoing cancer treatment.

Dr Heather Johnson, Caricom Secretariat Deputy Programme Manager, Youth Development, was decorated in the Order of Grand Officer of the Yellow Star of the Republic of Suriname by the Government of Suriname, last week, said a press release from the Caricom Secretariat at Turkeyen.

KINGSTON, Jamaica,  CMC – Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls squandered a potential match-winning lead at the end of the third quarter to go down to South Africa in an international Test for the first time in nearly three decades here Tuesday night.

Dear Editor, I refer to a letter by Brian Kubeck and Bruce Wrobel of Sithe Global in SN dated June 17 on the proposed Amaila Hydropower Plant, indicating that the final closure price for the Amaila Hydro project will be known later and financial closure is expected within 6 to 8 months time (‘Hopeful that Amaila Falls Hydro project will start final due diligence, documentation in July’).

(Reuters) – Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has declared himself available for the Black Caps’ World Twenty20 campaign a year after bowing out of cricket’s shorter formats to prolong his test career.

The Timehri (North) Community Development Council (TNCDC) last Saturday completed a six-day clean-up campaign and it is putting those responsible for dumping waste in the community on notice that it will move to have them prosecuted if they continue.

Canadian gold mining company Guyana Goldfields, which is advancing the next phase of its mining development project in Aurora, Cuyuni River, is looking for workers for several construction projects.

Dear Editor, I was happy and at the same time concerned on learning that the project concept note for the Amerindian Development Fund (ADF) was approved by the Steering Committee of the Guyana Redd plus Investment Fund (Stabroek News, June 11).

Dear Editor, There would appear to be some curiosities attending the revelations of irregularities (administrative and financial) reported of identified officials of the M&CC Georgetown.

The University of Guyana Berbice Campus (UGBC), Tain will be hosting Drainage and Irrigation (D&I) Systems Management workshops for various stakeholders.

BUCHAREST,  (Reuters) – Former Romanian prime minister Adrian Nastase tried to kill himself yesterday when police came to take him to start a two-year jail term for corruption, a case touted by Romania as proof that it is getting tough on graft.

A man who threatened to physically harm his wife at her workplace because she did not call to wish him happy Father’s Day was yesterday bonded to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for one year.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The Bank of Jamaica, Ministry of Finance and Planning, and the Attorney General’s Department will be collaborating to handle the risks, costs and impact on Jamaican law of local financial institutions’ compliance with United States legislation aimed at catching tax cheats under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

Dear Editor, August 17, 2012 will mark one year since I was assaulted by a senior police officer [name given].

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – A U.S. congressional panel voted yesterday to charge Attorney General Eric Holder with contempt of Congress after the Obama administration invoked executive privilege for the first time since coming to office, withholding some documents related to a failed gun-running investigation.

Dear Editor, The issue of violence in its various forms (criminal, domestic, police brutality, school), has again, within past weeks attracted a significant amount of discussion.  

The police yesterday said that at about 2210h Tuesday night, two men armed with firearms entered the Popeye’s Restaurant at Vlissengen Road and Duncan Street, Georgetown, and held up the three female cashiers and two customers.

HAVANA, (Reuters) – Cuba brushed off allegations that it has been used as a money-laundering center for a U.S.

Dear Editor, When Mr Eusi Kwayana can explain how the trunk or tail can wag an elephant he would be more than welcome to calm the sea in conformity with his lofty proclamation that “The days when the preamble of a constitution could be ignored or brushed aside are over.”

(Jamaica Observer) Dancehall act Busy Signal was on Tuesday extradited to the United States to face trial for jumping bail shortly before the start of his cocaine-trafficking trial a decade ago.

Leader of the Opposition David Granger recently told residents of Sawariwau in South Central Rupununi, “You are not ‘bush’, you are part of a 21st century country and your children deserve a higher standard of education; you deserve better roads and bridges;  you deserve a good life…” Brigadier (ret’d) Granger and his team which included  Member of Parliament Sydney Allicock; Regional Democratic Councillors  Vincent Henry, Carl Parker and  Dionysia Thres visited Sawariwau,

HONG KONG,  (Reuters) – Scientists say they have extracted a powerful antibody from a recovered dengue patient in Singapore that can smother and choke the virus to death, a discovery that they hope may offer a new weapon to control the deadly disease.

KAMPALA,  (Reuters) – Uganda said on Wednesday it was banning 38 non-governmental organisations it accuses of promoting homosexuality and recruiting children.

Solving the two crucial challenges that confront our nation, in the ethnic insecurity showing up in our politics, and pervasive, endemic corruption, calls for an ethical, independent, professional and investigative national media industry.

Dear Editor, Through this letter, I wish to express my full support for your recent editorial that was headlined ‘How many more?’

A man arraigned on two counts of narcotics trafficking  was yesterday remanded to prison after appearing before Magistrate Hazel Octave-Hamilton at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

LEEDS, England,  CMC – As West Indies geared up for the final One-Day International of the three-match series here today, head coach Ottis Gibson admitted that he was at a loss to explain why his side had not lived up to expectations.

(Trinidad Guardian) Planning and the Economy Minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie is confident that this country’s music industry can prove to be a very lucrative export if packaged properly.

This Ask the Consul installment addresses questions and provides useful tips for waivers for immigration related ineligibilities.

Guyana’s Tier 2 status with regard to human trafficking remains unchanged for the second year running, according to the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report for 2012.

RIO DE JANEIRO,  (Reuters) – Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff welcomed world leaders to a rainy Rio de Janeiro yesterday under a cloud of criticism that a three-day summit is falling far short of its promise to establish clear goals for sustainable development.