Daily Archive: Monday, December 24, 2012

VATICAN CITY,  (Reuters) – Pope Benedict, leading the world’s Roman Catholics into Christmas, on Monday urged people to find room for God in their fast-paced lives filled with the latest technological gadgets.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s condition has “improved slightly” after a cancer operation in Cuba, the information minister said on Monday, amid doubts over whether the former soldier is in good enough health to continue governing.

(Jamaica Observer) The harsh economic climate has been cited as one of the factors driving an increase in Jamaican youths exchanging sex for money, according to the 2012 HIV/AIDS Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviour Survey (KABS).

JOHANNESBURG,  (Reuters) – Former South African President Nelson Mandela continues to respond to treatment more than two weeks after being taken to hospital in Pretoria and will remain there for Christmas Day, the presidency said today.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The Government is expecting to roll out the National Health Card before January 31 next year.

(Barbados Nation) An infant and two teenagers lost their lives yesterday after a car and a minibus collided, marring the Yuletide season just two days ahead of Christmas.

(Trinidad Express) People’s National Movement (PNM) public relations officer Faris Al-Rawi says UNC chairman Jack Warner has crossed a line in the way he criticised President George Maxwell Richards’ request for information from the Prime Minister on the Section 34 fiasco.

NEW DELHI,  (Reuters) – Indian authorities throttled movement in the heart of the capital today, shutting roads and railway stations in a bid to restore law and order after police fought pitched battles with protesters enraged by the gang rape of a young woman.

(Trinidad Express) Caribbean Airlines communications manager Clint Williams says the State-owned carrier has leased more than one Boeing 767-300 aircraft to get all of the 300 passengers stranded in New York since Friday back home.

KABUL,  (Reuters) – An Afghan woman wearing a police uniform today shot dead a civilian contractor working for Western forces in the police chief’s compound in Kabul, NATO said.

The Region 10 Administra-tion yesterday said it is convinced that Government is out to frustrate the people of Linden and Region 10 by its stance towards its commitment to the August 21, 2012 agreement which ended a bitter protest.

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) remains mum on allegations which surfaced two days ago concerning the battering and ill treatment of 21-year-old Akeem Charles, who was charged and imprisoned by the Army for going Absent Without Leave (AWOL).

A man was yesterday shot to his left arm during an altercation at the Price Rite Mall located at the intersection of Joseph Pollydore Street and Vlissengen Road and his assailant evaded police and remains in hiding after a chase.

A man, who was up to press time unidentified, died by drowning at a Soesdyke Highway creek yesterday and his body is currently at the Lyken Funeral Home, Norton Street, Georgetown.

Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn says that the 75-year-old ferry, MV Lady Northcote is to be put out of commission because of obsolescence of parts due to the age of the vessel and efforts are being made for its replacement.

A transformer at the corner of Bourda and Charlotte streets, last night caught afire and many Bourda market stallholders hurriedly evacuated their stalls.

The Ministry of Health yesterday advertised for persons to submit expressions of Interest (E.o.I)

The police say they are investigating a fatal accident that occurred at about 2305h on Saturday at Main Street, New Amsterdam, Berbice, and which resulted in the death of motor cyclist Shordell Tim, 21 years, of Martin Luther King Scheme, New Amsterdam.

After being hospitalized since Thursday, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr.

MELBOURNE, Australia, Dec 23, CMC – Cricket Australia on Sunday charged Brisbane Heat coach Darren Lehmann for breaching its Code of Conduct after he accused West Indies all-rounder Marlon Samuels of throwing.

Ministers of Government, members of the National Assembly and holders of constitutional offices will receive a salary increase of five percent retroactive to January 1, 2012.

The national T20 cricket squad preparing for next year’s regional T20 tournament which bowls off early next month yesterday broke camp for the Christmas holidays.

By Neil Barry Jr., The National Cricket Stakeholders Group (NCSG) on Saturday stated that they believe that having the Upper Demerara Cricket Association (UDCA) become the fifth arm of the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) could bring an  end to the struggle for control of the DCB and effectively bring an end to the ongoing saga enveloping cricket administration in Guyana.

The West Demerara/East Bank Essequibo Chamber of Commerce has been renamed the Guyana Region 3 Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Prize winners of the just concluded Woodpecker Products annual badminton singles competition on Friday received their prizes at Queen’s College.

Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai last week presented a $10M tractor to the Region Nine community of Taushida.

HAMILTON, Bermuda,  CMC – Doubt surrounds sprinter Kyle Webb’s involvement in next year’s CARIFTA Games, following a serious road accident that left him hospitalised for a week.

Health Minister Dr. Bheri Ramsaran on Thursday presented a wheelchair to Royston Smith, a double-amputee, who represented Guyana at the Paralympics, a release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said.

HOBART, Tasmania, CMC – West Indies Twenty20 star Chris Gayle failed again to extend his poor run of form as his Sydney Thunder remained winless in the Australian Big Bash here Saturday.

Twelve customers of the Police Consumers Co-op Supermarket in Robb Street, on Saturday won consolation hampers in a promotional drawing for this Christmas.

Tucville Primary School drubbed Company Road Primary by seven goals to nil to record their second victory of the inaugural Chico/Kashif and Shanghai Under-13 schools football tournament which continued yesterday at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground.

Haiti will invest US$17.25 million in programmes to promote the development of micro-, small, and medium-size enterprises, and support the launch of leasing services to stimulate economic growth and generate sustainable employment, with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) among the funders.

(Reuters) – LeBron James jammed home 30 points as the NBA champion Miami Heat silenced the Utah Jazz 105-89 on Saturday to move past the New York Knicks atop the Eastern Conference.

The Board of Industrial Training (BIT) of the Ministry of Labour on December 14 held a graduation ceremony at the New Amsterdam Town Hall for 187 persons who successfully completed training in over 21 areas under the National Training Project for the Youth Empowerment (NTPYE).

The Caribbean has told the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) bloc of countries to find new links outside of the European Union (EU) and to use its numbers to secure its position on critical issues.

MELBOURNE, Australia,  CMC – Despite the presence of several West Indies stars, interest in the Australian Big Bash appears to be waning with television ratings and crowd attendance down from last year, the Melbourne Age has reported.

ADELAIDE, Australia, CMC – Football authorities here have imposed a two-year ban on a man found guilty of racially abusing Barbadian international Paul Ifill.

BEIRUT, (Reuters) – Dozens of people were killed and many more wounded in a Syrian government air strike that hit a bakery where a crowd was queuing for bread yesterday, activists said.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – Some U.S. lawmakers voiced concern yesterday that the country would go over “the fiscal cliff” in nine days, triggering harsh spending cuts and tax hikes, and some Republicans charged that was President Barack Obama’s goal.

By Chevy Devonish A Plaisance businessman who was shot twice on Saturday night in what family members and neighbours believe was a botched robbery, died about five minutes after being rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Former skipper Cri-Zelda Brits has been included in a 14-member South Africa Women squad for next month’s limited overs tour of the Caribbean.

Parika deterioration: A decrepit section of the Parika Wharf. This Arian Browne photo was taken on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI,  (Reuters) – Sonia Gandhi, the usually reserved and poised leader of India’s ruling Congress party, leapt from her front-bench seat in parliament last week to grab back a document that a lawmaker had snatched from a government minister’s hands.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – West Indies opener Lendl Simmons put an ordinary tour of Bangladesh behind him to stroke an aggressive half-century in the North/South Twenty20 Classic at Queen’s Park Oval here on Thursday.

BAMAKO,  (Reuters) – Islamist gunmen destroyed several tombs in Timbuktu yesterday, residents said, days after the United Nations authorised African states to ready a force to take on al Qaeda-linked groups in Mali’s northern desert zones.

Slow disbursement of money from the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) has seen a role being developed for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to intermediate funds under the Guyana-Norway forests partnership.

NEW DELHI,  (Reuters) – Cricket legend Kapil Dev remembers what it was like playing for his country against India’s bitter rival, Pakistan, when he made his international debut in 1978: a bowler was expected to aim at the batsman’s body.

OTTAWA, (Reuters) – In September, two months after China’s state-owned CNOOC Ltd made an unexpected $15.1 billion bid for Canadian energy company Nexen Inc, Canada’s spy agency told ministers that takeovers by Chinese companies may threaten national security.

Reaching out: Women Reaching Out recently spread Christmas cheer at the Palms Home on Brickdam.

(BBC) Record-breaking India batsman Sachin Tendulkar has retired from one-day international cricket.

Dear Editor, It is quite clear that the amount of money spent to execute a project is much more important than who stands to benefit from its execution.

BANGUI, (Reuters) – Rebels in the Central African Republic yesterday seized the town of Bambari, the biggest prize yet in a push that has brought rebels to within 400 km (250 miles) of the capital, Bangui.

St John’s, Antigua – The bumper season of international cricket in the Caribbean will reach a crescendo when the three biggest teams in Limited Overs cricket clash in the Caribbean in June and July next year in a seven match One Day International Tri Nation Series.

Christmas cheer in memory of Ronald Waddell: The annual Ronald Waddell (inset) Children’s Christmas Cheer was held yesterday at the Friendship Primary School, East Coast Demerara  and over 200 hundred children were feted.

Dear Editor, We are celebrating another Christmas Day during very strange and troubling times.

(Jamaica Observer) The Office of the Contractor General (OCG) says that the J$1.2 billion in cost overruns on Government projects last year was just the tip of the iceberg as the true figure could be “frightening”.

OSLO, (Reuters) – West Antarctica is warming almost twice as fast as previously believed, adding to worries of a thaw that would add to sea level rise from San Francisco to Shanghai, a study showed yesterday.

Shout out your destination:  Confusion ensues at the Parika Speed Boat Stelling as passengers for Supenaam, Leguan and Bartica

Dear Editor, As Guyana continues to witness increasing levels of violence against women and girls, we read of an ‘Ole British Pub’ in the new Giftland  Mall.

(Reuters) – Prolific batsman Kevin Pietersen has been left out of England’s limited-overs squad for next year’s New Zealand tour as part of a policy to better manage the workload of players, the country’s cricket board said yesterday.

Diaspora Column Editor’s Note: In October, travelling to Guyana from Toronto, I noticed that nearly all of the passengers were men, hauling bags of various shapes and sizes.

DHAKA, (Reuters) – Bangladesh have not made a definitive decision to tour Pakistan next month, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hasan said on Saturday, contradicting statements by his counterpart Zaka Ashraf.

(Trinidad Express) A Florida juror who voted to convict Jamaican reggae singer Buju Banton on drug charges has denied improperly researching the case during trial, in spite of a weekly newspaper’s report that quoted her as saying that she did.

Dear Editor, I refer to your editorial of Thursday, December 13, captioned ‘Adding insult to injury.’

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Road-trip movies have been dominated by teenagers on wild adventures or “Hangover” style bro-mances, but Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen are driving the genre into new territories with mother-son comedy “The Guilt Trip” to usher in the holiday season.

(Reuters) – Ed Cowan believes his partnership with swashbuckling left-hander David Warner at the top of the order is a work in progress which could turn out to be a long and fruitful one for Australia.

Christmas crush: Vehicles and people juggling for room on a busy Water Street on Saturday (Photo by Arian Browne)

Death came within a flash and violently to six occupants of a boat in the Pomeroon River on Tuesday.

Your right is to work only and never to the fruit thereof.

Dear Editor, The Christmas year end holiday season is upon us once again and the New York-based Guyanese are set to welcome the holiday cheer.

(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author, and not necessarily of Thomson Reuters) By Shilpa Jamkhandikar (Reuters) It seems unfair to devote a whole review to Arbaaz Khan’s “Dabangg 2”, given that this is hardly a film.

Interviews by Chevy Devonish with photos by Arian Browne This week, the run-up to Christmas we asked people in Parika to talk about life and opportunities in that East Bank Essequibo village.

(Barbados Nation) The police are warning Barbadians to be careful with their cash after one Bridgetown firm said it had encountered counterfeit dollars.