Daily Archive: Wednesday, March 27, 2013

There was a large gathering at the Guyana National Stadium for Inspire Inc’s phagwah celebration today.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – One of the largest ever cyber attacks is slowing global internet services and the disruption could get worse, experts said today, after an organisation blocking “spam” content became a target.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – An FBI probe into alleged corruption in international soccer has recently intensified after investigators persuaded a key party to be a cooperating witness, U.S.

Phagwah amity: President Donald Ramotar (left) and Opposition Leader David Granger (centre) yesterday played phagwah at the Indian Cultural Centre in Bel Air.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Jamaican businessman Dave Cameron was today elected president of the West Indies Cricket Board, beating incumbent Dr Julian Hunte in a close vote at the Annual General Meeting here.

(Barbados Nation) MICHAEL BROWNE left his office at the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) for the last time yesterday evening with no malice – 24 hours after he was informed that his services as chief executive officer were terminated.

Police say that at about 1615h yesterday, miner Robert Grant, 37 years, of Soesdyke, EBD, was involved in an argument over gold with another man at ‘Bruk Up’ Landing, Yarakita, during which he was shot to his legs.

(Trinidad Express) Bring it on. Investigative reporter Anika Gumbs- Sandiford said yesterday that her life is an open book and she would welcome any investigation into her personal finances.

(Trinidad Express) Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s statement that there were rogue elements in the media was a worrying one.

(Trinidad Express) Two Special Reserve Police officers (SRP) appeared in court yesterday charged with abduction and murder.

CAIRO,  (Reuters) – An Egyptian appeals court today ordered the ministry of justice to reinstate the prosecutor general sacked by President Mohamed Mursi in November, cancelling his decision to appoint a new one, the court judge said.

Lead Opposition spokesperson on finance and economics Carl Greenidge said yesterday the Opposition would not be inclined to approve allocations under the Ministry of Home Affairs in the national budget while Minister Clement Rohee is at the helm and said Government must act to bring efficiency to the sugar industry.

Regional airline LIAT yesterday announced plans for flights to Ogle International Airport by mid-year as the facility was officially bestowed with regional class certification.

Dominic Walsh and Osmond Ghanie, employees of the Guyana Timber Products Inc.,

A fire tore through the Teachers Living Quarters of the Bygeval Multilateral Secondary School, Chelsea Park, East Coast Demerara, on Monday night, displacing five families in its wake.

Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh said that old thinking and customs in the sugar industry must give way to modern, innovative and creative tools if the dismal fortunes in the sector are to be reversed.

Leading Ratings Kenroy Fraser and Henry Caesar of the Coast Guard were yesterday morning arrested by Guyana Defence Force military police at their homes at Belladrum, West Coast Berbice for desertion.

A 16-year-old was yesterday charged with murder and attempted murder stemming from the fatal Mashramani Day mob attack in the city that resulted in the death of a man and the wounding of his brother.

A day after he went to have a swim with friends, the lifeless body of a Regma Primary School student was yesterday morning fished out of a “blue lake” behind Old Kara Kara in Linden.

Following their one week break the National cricketers yesterday took to the National Stadium at Providence as preparations continue for this weekend’s regional four-day match against the Combined Campuses and Colleges team at the same venue.

A doctor will tomorrow report on whether murder accused Sherwin Anthony Hyle is fit to stand trial in the High Court.

Roger Vyphuis was on Monday freed of the 2008 murder of a retired school teacher while his co-accused is to know his fate tomorrow.

Two-time 1500m CARIFTA Games gold medallist Jevina Straker will be competing at the CARIFTA Games in her final eligible year come this weekend and she intends to make it a memorable event by claiming two medals in her middle distance races for the first time.

Former British, Common-wealth and European champion Howard Eastman is in search of his ninth title and an opportunity to represent the Caribbean at the WBC Cup in June.

Police say that the captain and two crew members of a fishing boat, who are resident on the Corentyne, Berbice, have been arrested by the Police after they made a false report of robbery under arms allegedly committed on them on March 12, 2013, off the No.

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC- Trinidad and Tobago have lost the services of six key frontline players as they prepare to resume their campaign in the regional four-day championships this weekend.

The Ministry of Home Affairs in a press release yesterday urged business persons to be more alert while moving with large sums of money. 

President of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) Godfrey Munroe says his association is trying its utmost at this late stage to prepare a team to represent Guyana at the Junior and Cadet Championships that will be held next week in Trinidad and Tobago.

A Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) inspector was sent packing last week after he did not volunteer to take a polygraph test.

The six local members of the CARIFTA Games track and field team yesterday commenced their first training session in The Bahamas at the Thomas Robinson Stadium ahead of tomorrow’s opening of the XLII games.

Sixty-six-year-old racing cyclist Harry Lall rode his final lap last Friday when he succumbed to injuries he sustained when a speeding minibus slammed into him while he was on a training ride last month.

Government has proposed a $19.2 billion investment in the health sector this year and its focus on achieving universal health coverage through primary healthcare would see emphasis on addressing maternal health as well as lifestyle illnesses such as heart disease and hypertension, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh announced on Monday.

The Ministry of Agriculture last Friday commissioned an Automatic Weather Station at Copeman, Region Five, as part of its ongoing drive to automate all weather stations countrywide.

Excitement is at fever pitch for Sunday’s lucrative fourth annual Guyana Cup Fever horse race meet organized by the Port Mourant Turf Club in collaboration with Jumbo Jet Auto Sales set for the Port Mourant Turf Club ground.

Dear Editor, Thank you for sending your reporter Gaulbert Sutherland to a meeting at Kako on 18 March (SN 23 March, “Our last refuge’ – Kako battling to protect river from miners’).  

Japan presented a US$97,300 grant to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on Friday to augment the equipment in the Paediatric Ward.

Popular softball team Floodlights downed their softball bats and balls to take on the Brazilian miners in two games of football last Friday evening at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) ground. 

The Leonora Technical and Vocational Institute has graduated the first batch of students to have completed the one-year training programme which started last January.

Dear Editor, I read in the SN March 22nd edition the news item `Charges Soon For Illegal Marudi Miners’ (SN Friday March 22nd 2013) and I could not help wondering what unprofessionalism was on display by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – President Barack Obama yesterday chose veteran agent Julia Pierson as Secret Service director, the first woman to lead the male-dominated agency, a year after its reputation was tarnished by a scandal involving agents and prostitutes in Colombia.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The West Indies Cricket Board won a major battle in their long-running case with regional players union, WIPA, when the High Court in Trinidad and Tobago  yesterday ruled in their favour regarding the contentious issue of the MOU/CBA.

Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy says a new Memorandum of Understanding will be drafted between Guyana and Haiti to allow students from that country to be trained at the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) and for the production of fruits and vegetables.

DURBAN, South Africa,  (Reuters) – China and Brazil agreed yesterday to swap up to the equivalent of $30 billion in each other’s currencies if need be so that their fast-growing commercial ties will not suffer if a new banking crisis causes dollar trade finance to dry up.

Dear Editor, I refer to a letter published by Stabroek News on March 26, 2013 under the caption: “Emaciated ponies at the National Park.”

DOHA,  (Reuters) – To applause from Arab heads of state, a foe of Bashar al-Assad took Syria’s vacant seat at an Arab summit yesterday, deepening the president’s diplomatic isolation and diverting attention from rifts among his opponents.

Fire of unknown origin yesterday morning destroyed part of the Parfait Harmonie Primary School, West Demerara affecting the more than eighty students who were in the process of writing the Grade Six Mathematics assessment paper.

(BBC) India’s Tamil Nadu state has said it will not host Indian Premier League games with Sri Lankan players, amid anger over Colombo’s rights record.

MATURIN, Venezuela,  (Reuters) – Emerging from his bus, Venezuela’s opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles is engulfed by frenzied female supporters who push past bodyguards to hug, kiss and photograph their idol.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Europe’s top teams took important steps towards next year’s World Cup finals in Brazil with qualifying victories yesterday, notably world champions Spain who scored a hugely significant 1-0 win over France in Paris.

Dear Editor, To no great surprise, Ashni Singh’s latest Budget was yet more of the same – biggest budget ever rhetoric. 

President Donald Ramotar says Budget 2013 focuses on the needs of the populace noting the increase in old age pension and proposed $1billion investment in the sugar industry, when he travelled to Berbice on Monday for the centenary anniversary of the Rose Hall Martyrs.

ROME, (Reuters) – Italy’s top court yesterday ordered a retrial of American Amanda Knox and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, re-opening a case that prompted harsh criticism of the Italian justice system.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Australia can bounce back from their 4-0 humbling away to India and become the top test nation within two years, according to head coach Mickey Arthur.

Dear Editor, The death of the wheelchair bound man at the Houston junction was almost predictable.

The Mayor and City Council on Monday said that it has taken a decision to suspend the sale of spots on the seawall (from the band stand to Camp St) for Easter Monday.

Dear Editor, In response to my SN letter of March 21, Mr.

AUCKLAND, (Reuters) – Wicketkeeper Matt Prior produced a belligerent century to ensure England saved the series-deciding third test against New Zealand at Eden Park yesterday, despite Kane Williamson taking two late wickets that almost snatched victory for the hosts.

On Easter Monday, a nominal fee will be charged by the National Parks Commission for vendors; and for patrons wishing to take their vehicles (buses, cars, motor-cycles) into the Botanic Gardens and into the northern side of Joe Vieira Park (unfenced). 

Dear Editor, I have been a strong advocate for budgets that expand the base of the Middle Class.

The United States, at its highest leadership level, travelled to the Middle East last week, presumably as a demonstration of its continuing deep interest in the Region as a second-term Obama administration begins.

Context is everything and with the defeat of Janet Jagan in 1999, the political context in Guyana changed into the debilitating, acrimonious and anti-developmental environment we now inhabit. 

ORLANDO, Florida, (Reuters) – For Chris Bosh, the entire NBA season has felt like one big playoff game and there was no easing up on Monday as the Miami Heat dumped the Orlando Magic 108-94 to extend their winning streak to 27 games.