Daily Archive: Friday, July 4, 2014

President Donald Ramotar (left) and Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves at the Caricom Heads of Government summit in Antigua which ended yesterday.

Caricom Heads at the end of the 35th conference in Antigua and Barbuda yesterday.

Go Brazil! Guyanese and Brazilians at Rockies Bar on Light Street supporting Brazil during its 2-1 victory over Colombia today.

A CARICOM Debt Advocacy Team is to be appointed to lobby for debt relief and/or debt amelioration on behalf of highly indebted CARICOM Member States.

FORTALEZA, Brazil, (Reuters) – A stunning second-half free kick from Brazil’s David Luiz sealed a 2-1 win over Colombia in a frantic World Cup quarter-final today, keeping the hosts on track for a sixth world title.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Several Caribbean Airlines passengers were last night left stranded at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston after the flight, destined to Fort Lauderdale, was denied landing by United States Border Control, while mid air.

At about 0100h today, police ranks of the Police Narcotics Branch conducted a search on the baggage of an American Citizen on an outgoing flight at the CJIA.

The Private Sector Commission (PSC) today said that the rebuke issued to US Ambassador Brent Hardt by acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Priya Manickchand on Wednesday was not in keeping with diplomatic norms.

LONDON, (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron’s former media chief Andy Coulson was jailed for 18 months today for being complicit in widespread phone-hacking by journalists to obtain scoops at the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid he edited.

(Trinidad Express)  Two days after pilot sick-out action caused chaos and cancellations for Caribbean Airlines Ltd, the majority recognised union Trinidad and Tobago Airline Pilots Association (TTALPA) finally released a statement yesterday on the matter to say it cannot sanction industrial action.

The parliamentary opposition will by next Tuesday decide on whether to move a no-confidence motion against the Donald Ramotar administration, APNU executive Dr Rupert Roopnaraine said yesterday.

Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Priya Manickchand yesterday faced a wave of criticism over her attack on outgoing US ambassador Brent Hardt and diplomats say her actions disregarded protocol.

Kevin George and Samuel Johnson, the two teenagers who police say were nabbed with a haversack that contained grenades, an M-16 assault rifle and ammunition, were yesterday found guilty of the crime by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.

A truck driver lost his life yesterday morning after being struck down by a minibus in the vicinity of Yarrowkabra, Soesdyke-Linden Highway.

Hotel Tower has reneged on its promise to pay off workers their salaries and benefits and now says its first obligation is discharging debts.

Lodge Secondary overcame Houston Secondary 2-0 on penalty kicks following a 3-3 score at the end of normal time when the fourth annual Digicel national U-18 knockout football championship continued yesterday at the Ministry of Education ground.

An eight-year-old was struck and killed by a speeding driver yesterday while crossing the Land of Canaan Public Road, East Bank Demerara.

Guyana will boost access to drinking water and sanitation services with a US$16,838,250 ($3.5b) loan approved by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a release from the bank said yesterday.

Patrick Pereira, the businessman and miner who stood up for the mining sector during a period of great uncertainty for the industry in 2010 when many miners feared that proposed conservation regulations would put them out of business, died on Wednesday.

Less than a week after completion, an access road leading to the Den Amstel Koker has already started to show signs of deterioration.

Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh says he is oblivious to what will happen if the National Assembly does not vote to approve his spending of $4.5 billion of the $36.7 billion cut from Budget 2014.

Dear Editor, I recall as if it were yesterday seeing children’s smiling faces as they counted, added, subtracted, and danced their way through the brand new Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) mathematics programmes in 2006.

(Reuters) – Brazil are facing “unbearable” pressure to win the World Cup in style, but have a suspect defence and could well lose to confident Colombia in their quarter-final today, former England coach Glenn Hoddle believes.

Team Guyana suffered their third consecutive defeat, going down to Barbados 80-69 in their final Group-B match-up when the 2014 Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) championships continued yesterday in the British Virgin Islands.

Dear Editor, I feel compelled to respond to the allegations made by Mr Basil Williams, MP, attorney-at-law, published in a letter in the Stabroek News of July 2, 2014 (‘Government backdated Gazette to validate Rodney COI proceedings of June 23’).

A four-year-old student succumbed on Wednesday while being rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital for treatment after swallowing a tack.

TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands, CMC – Results of matches played on day three of the 22nd Caribbean Basketball Championships at the Multisport Complex here yesterday.

The murder trial of Paul Anthony Lo Hing, who is accused of strangling his girlfriend to death, commenced on Wednesday in the High Court.

Dear Editor, I wish to commend the “meddling” outgoing US Ambassador Mr Brent Hardt for his commentary, insightful analysis and advocacy on behalf of the Guyanese people for the government to stop making excuses and set a date for urgently needed local government elections.

FORTALEZA, Brazil, (Reuters) – Brazil are coping well with the pressure of competing on home turf, coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said yesterday, playing down concerns some players were too distressed after a nerve-wracking win over Chile.

The Guyana business is being urged to set aside what, frequently, has been a singular preoccupation with operating strategies driven largely by cost effectiveness and profit and move in the direction of ‘greener’ production.

Dear Editor, I read with dismay unfortunate comments made by Guyana’s acting Foreign Affairs Minister at the 238th independence anniversary celebrations of the United States at the home of outgoing Ambassador Brendt Hardt.

Two cousins who believe that they were the targets of a driver who hit them on Saturday evening, leaving both men injured, remain hospitalised even while the accused driver is back out on the road.

SANTO ANDRE, Brazil, (Reuters) – Bayern Munich players are leaving their mark at the World Cup, putting behind them a disappointing 2013/14 season by their own lofty standards, leading the unofficial scoring table for clubs.

Dear Editor, We are a poor country with limited financial resources.

An ambulance had to be summoned to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts complex yesterday after a witness suffered a mild stroke while giving evidence, raising concerns about the absence of a medical outpost at the facility.

A local commercial bank official has told Stabroek Business that the compliance of banks and other financial institutions in Guyana and other developing countries with the provisions of the United States’ Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was “entirely unsurprising” and that “nothing different” could have been expected of the Guyana banking community.

Anthony Downes and Jason Andrews retained their men’s doubles title after defeating Gavin Lewis and Daniel Lopes in the final of the Guyana Lawn Tennis Association (GLTA)/ Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) Open Tournament at the GBTI Recreational Facility on Tuesday night.

Dear Editor, There is a three-card-trick line of questioning in the Rodney Inquiry by the PNC to take us into the realm of fantasy to show that the differences the PPP had with the WPA were more than disagreements on the basis of tactics and strategy.

One gets the impression too that the environmental delinquency in the business sector is, to an overwhelming extent, a function of its awareness that whether through a lack of capacity or an absence of will, enforcement is largely ineffective.

GT&T customers will no longer need to queue up in lines or wait for their mail to receive their bills and manage their accounts with the launch of the company’s postpaid e-billing service.

State of decay: Red Road, Sophia

Accused of stealing over $600,000 in stock from a Barabina, North West businessman and then trying to sell it, labourers Dexter Griffith and Junior Melville yesterday denied the charge and were released on $100,000 bail.

ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Variation will be the key for Twenty20 specialist Krishmar Santokie when he lines up for West Indies in this weekend’s doubleheader against New Zealand.

Who will take the Men’s and Ladies singles titles of the Guyana Lawn Tennis Association (GLTA)/ Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) Open Tournament will be decided from 5:30pm this evening at the GBTI Recreational Facility in Bel Air.

Dear Editor, I always have a sense of dread when driving around our city streets.

  Bahamas-based motivational speaker Dr. Myles Munroe has expressed disappointment that his scheduled trip to Guyana for the National Men’s Rally on Sunday was cancelled.

The Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) said yesterday that unless the increased electricity tariff is withdrawn immediately some Lethem businesses might be prepared to relocate to Bom Fin in northern Brazil where cheaper power is available.

The national under-17 team defeated a national under-15 team by seven wickets yesterday at the Everest Cricket Club ground in their only practice match before departure on Sunday to compete in the Regional U-17 Tournament in Trinidad and Tobago.

Dear Editor, Since assuming office in 1992, the various PPP/C administrations have expended tens of billions, if not hundreds of billions, on roads across the country.

A vigorous regime of trading ensues in the dead of night right here in the capital.

Antonio Joseph defeated Dustani Barrow by a 3-1 score line when the Guyana Squash Association (GSA) Digicel-sponsored National Senior Championships commenced on Wednesday at the Georgetown Club squash courts.

The Georgetown Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (GCCI) is partnering with Caribbean Export to deliver a three-day workshop with the objective of further building capacity amongst small and medium-sized enterprises.

Dear Editor, I have taken the time to invest in watching the Rodney Commission of Enquiry and there is one video clip that expresses some statement on Rodney that must be corrected.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. employment growth jumped in June and the jobless rate closed in on a six-year low, decisive evidence the economy was growing briskly heading into the second half of the year.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, CMC – Grenadian sensation Kirani James streaked to victory yesterday at the Athletissima Diamond League meet in the fifth fastest men’s 400 metres of all time, setting a new national and meet record and scoring another crucial win over nemesis Lashawn Merritt.

Dear Editor, I enjoyed reading Ambassador Brent Hardt’s article on LGBT rights in the Guyana Chronicle of June 17.

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil, (Reuters) – An unfinished overpass collapsed in the Brazilian World Cup host city of Belo Horizonte yesterday, killing at least one person and casting a shadow over a tournament that has suffered repeated construction accidents and delays.

LONDON, (Reuters) – It was “a weird match with a weird ending” but all Eugenie Bouchard cared about was the split-second in which she saw Simona Halep’s lunging service return spinning into the net.

Shaan Khan has nothing but a scowl for a society, which he feels has more or less lost its appreciation for classy drawing rooms and tastily furnished bedrooms.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Hit hard by the severity of pressures being applied by significant international partners, the Portia Simpson Miller administration might have been forced to ensure that Police Commissioner Owen Ellington be immediately stripped of his position, following a series of alleged mishaps in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), according to Gleaner sources.

Dear Editor,   I am almost sure that your readership would have welcomed your ‘Centenary Supplement’ of ‘The First World War 1914-1918’ dated Sunday, Jun 29, 2014.

BEIJING, (Reuters) – The Silk Road, an obscure Kazakh-inspired security forum and a $50 billion Asian infrastructure bank are just some of the disparate elements in an evolving Chinese strategy to try to counter Washington’s “pivot” to the region.

Dear Editor, There is a bad system at the Eye Clinic of the Georgetown Public Hospital that needs to be changed to better serve patients.

Stock market updates

IBAGUE, Colombia, (Reuters) – Colombian youth coach Armando Yull Brenner never suspected he had found one of the world’s greatest talents as he saw seven-year-old James Rodriguez dribble past teammates to score almost two decades ago on a shabby neighbourhood pitch.

-Our 2014 “Summer” has arrived   These brief notes on my lead subject are occasioned by both my involvement in and with a Non- Government, Civil Society Public Policy Group and two recent letters to the Press.

(Prepared by the Guyana Marketing Corporation and published by Stabroek Business as a public service)

ARBIL, Iraq, (Reuters) – The president of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region asked its parliament yesterday to plan a referendum on Kurdish independence, signalling his impatience with Baghdad, which is fighting to repel Sunni insurgents and struggling to form a new government.

Dear Editor, Amidst the clashing swirls of words, there is this disinterested watching of the high stakes political drama unfolding.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Airlines with direct flights to the United States have been told to tighten screening of mobile phones and shoes in response to intelligence reports of increased threats from al Qaeda-affiliated militant groups, U.S.

100 years ago last Saturday, a young Bosnian Serb, Gavrilo Princip, fired shots that were heard around the world, the reverberations of which are still being felt today.

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – Sri Lanka off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake, who was reported for a suspect bowling action during the one-day international series against England last month, has been included in the squad for the first two ODIs against South Africa.