Daily Archive: Thursday, July 11, 2019

Following another two-hour meeting today, representatives of President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo failed to find consensus on six nominees for the post of chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

(Barbados Nation) The families of missing American couple Oscar Suarez and Magdalena Devil are taking matters into their own hands.

(Jamaica Observer) KINGSTON, Jamaica — Digicel this morning announced the appointment of Allison Cole Philbert as its chief executive officer (CEO) in Jamaica.

(Trinidad Express) Trinidad and Tobago track and field athlete Michelle-Lee Ahye has been charged with domestic violence in the United States.

The judiciary today expressed “grave concern” over attacks on it in a Guyana Chronicle report.

LONDON,(Reuters) – Three Iranian vessels tried to block a BP-operated tanker passing through the Strait of Hormuz but backed off when confronted by a Royal Navy warship, the UK government said today.

(Jamaica Observer) CASSANDRA Brown, after having two daughters, was over the moon when she was told during a prenatal clinic visit that she was having a boy.

NEW DELHI,  (Reuters) – Indian police raided the offices and homes of two top human rights lawyers today in an investigation into foreign funding for their NGO, prompting criticism they were being targeted for political reasons.

(Jamaica Observer) Police are puzzled over the gun murder of a Bishop Gibson High School teacher at her home in Melrose Mews, a few miles east of here, in the very early hours of yesterday morning.

(Trinidad Guardian) The US Em­bassy has do­nat­ed 110,000 rapid HIV test kits to the Min­istry of Health.

(Trinidad Guardian) Po­lice and Im­mi­gra­tion of­fi­cers are search­ing for 14 per­sons who es­caped from the Im­mi­gra­tion De­ten­tion Cen­tre (IDC) in Aripo.

Two suspicious insider trading transactions totalling $5.6 billion were reported to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) during 2018 and represent the highest overall monetary value from among the 331 Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) submitted.

Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan and Commissioner of Police Leslie James both yesterday declined to say whether any investigation regarding crimes committed on local soil by  recently released Guyanese drug kingpin Roger Khan has started or if there are plans to do so in the near future.

The Opposition PPP/C has asked the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to order the APNU+AFC administration to hold elections no later than 18th September and that the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) be selected within 10 days from tomorrow.

The brother of Cynthia Cozier, who was chopped last week and later succumbed to her injuries, was yesterday charged with murder.

The Ministry of Public Health yesterday commissioned a $539 million drug bond at Kingston which is expected to improve the ministry’s storage capacity threefold, according to Minister Volda Lawrence.

The suspect in the Vlissengen Road accident that claimed the life of a motorcyclist and left the pillion rider hospitalised, was taken before the traffic court yesterday and charged with driving under the influence and driving without a tint permit.

Guyana’s 4.1% growth in GDP last year despite challenges in the traditional sectors is partially attributable to developments in the construction sector and growth in the services sector, as preparations are made for the oil and gas industry.

PPP executive, Gail Teixeira, has written to Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, requesting clarity over the classifications assigned on Tuesday to the list of persons nominated by the Opposition for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman.

The Department of Tourism, within the Ministry of Business, yesterday hosted its first ever Regional Tourism Review Session, where representatives of groups within the respective regions were able to present and speak on what can be done to boost tourist in their areas.

MANCHESTER, England, (Reuters) – New Zealand survived Ravindra Jadeja’s late onslaught to stun India by 18 runs in a low-scoring thriller yesterday and reach the Cricket World Cup final for the second time in a row.

Head of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) Sydney James has been sent on administrative leave, Police Commissioner Leslie James confirmed yesterday and sources say that his contract, which expires soon, is unlikely to be renewed.

The national men’s rugby team will return to the drawing board after last weekend’s forgettable Rugby American North (RAN) 7’s campaign in the Cayman Islands. 

Sharmila Inderjali, the mother of Guyanese murder accused, Marcus Brian Bisram, was on Tuesday acquitted of a witness tampering charge, after the magistrate upheld a no-case submission.

The Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Georgetown Championship was officially launched yesterday during a simple but significant ceremony at the Thirst Park Sports Club.

Minister of State, Dawn Hastings-Williams along with Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon and Director General of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig yesterday turned the sod for the construction of a $96M Regional Disaster Management Centre in Lethem.

Both of Guyana’s doubles pair participating in the ongoing 2019 JITIC U14 lawn tennis tournament in the Twin-Island Republic have advanced to the quarter-finals of the tournament following first-round wins on Tuesday. 

Twenty Venezuelan families will soon benefit from government assistance for the provision of essential services, following the launch of the Social Protection Ministry’s Shock Responsive Social Protection System.

The Mayor and City Councillors have raised concerns about continued vending at the derelict Stabroek wharf.

GENEVA,  (Reuters) – Nearly two dozen countries have called on China to halt its mass detention of ethnic Uighurs in the Xinjiang region, the first such joint move on the issue at the U.N.

Guyana’s lawn tennis ace Afruica Gentle was forced to retire from her opening round match of the 2019 International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior International Tournament in Jamaica on Tuesday. 

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Republican chairman, Senator Jim Risch, introduced legislation yesterday punishing Saudi Arabia over human rights abuses and criticizing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but not halting weapons sales.

As part of its ongoing efforts to improve the standard of mathematics at the secondary level, the Ministry of Education (MoE) is continuing the implementation of the Guyana Secondary Education Improvement Project (GSEIP).

Decorated international boxing referee Ian Jardine, yesterday, departed Guyana to officiate his 48th world title fight. 

Guyana Beverages Incorporated [GBI] renewed their long-standing partnership with Tucville-based  Fruta Conquerors, inking a one-year contract yesterday during a simple presentation ceremony  at the Red Cross facility, Eve Leary.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Britain’s ambassador to Washington quit yesterday after days of stinging criticism from Donald Trump, leading to accusations that Boris Johnson, the favourite to be the next British prime minister, had “thrown him under the bus”.

A month’s adjournment was last Wednesday granted by a city court in the matters against former PPP/C Minister of Housing Mohamed Irfaan Ali, who is facing 19 fraud charges over the sale of land in the ‘Pradoville 2’ Housing Scheme.

Left-arm spinner Kaysia Schultz is overjoyed as she moves one step closer to making her international debut after being selected for an upcoming West Indies training camp.

Dear Editor, I have noted the recent news stories on the application for an oil block made by ABR Oil and Gas Exploration (“ABR O&G”). 

KIEV,  (Reuters) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had a regional official expelled from a meeting broadcast live on television yesterday because of a past criminal record.

BIRMINGHAM, England, (Reuters) – Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell’s absence from a net session does not mean he will miss the World Cup semi-final against England, his captain Aaron Finch said yesterday.

A city magistrate yesterday granted $100,000 bail to a prison warden who was allegedly found with over 100 grammes of cannabis during a security search at the Camp Street Prison.

BRASILIA,  (Reuters) – Brazil’s lower house of Congress approved a landmark overhaul of the country’s pension system yesterday by a far wider margin than predicted, delivering a resounding victory to the government in its quest to restore public finances to health.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua,  CMC – A star-studded West Indies A will hope to ease some of the pain from the senior team’s World Cup travails when they take on India A in the first one-dayer of the five-match series here today.

Dear Editor, Guyana is in a crisis caused by obtuse interpretations of its constitution; an obstinate administration is refusing to accept the consequences of losing a motion of no-confidence in the legislature.

A man was sentenced to jail yesterday after he pleaded guilty to threatening his father over money.

BRATISLAVA,  (Reuters) – Slovakia’s new president, a former activist lawyer, used a meeting with China’s top diplomat yesterday to criticise Beijing’s human rights record, in a rare departure for an east European politician in a region hungry for Chinese investment.

Dear Editor, Permit me to commend the Ministry of Education for awarding L-Dee Johnson of Ann’s Grove and who attended Clonbrook Primary School for the best composition at the 2019 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) and for making public her piece at the announcement of the NGSA results.

COLMAR, France,  (Reuters) – Defending champion Geraint Thomas hinted he might lose more time to Ineos co-team leader Egan Bernal when the Tour de France’s sixth stage ends at the Planche des Belles Filles today.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – U.S. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta yesterday dismissed calls for his resignation and defended a controversial non-prosecution agreement he approved more than 10 years ago with financier Jeffrey Epstein, who has now been charged with sex trafficking in underage girls.

An unidentified decomposed body was found yesterday morning in a trench located in Crabwood Creek, Upper Corentyne.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – The deafening cheers erupting around Wimbledon as Rafa Nadal stood at the baseline, bouncing a ball and poised to take a two-set lead against Sam Querrey, provided the newsflash he welcomed and dreaded with equal measure — Roger Federer was through to the semi-finals.

Dear Editor, I am finding it increasingly frustrating and bewildering to be a relatively new mommy in Guyana and wish to start documenting some parenting challenges so we can try to resolve and help younger parents in the future enjoy parenthood in our beautiful country.

As part of its corporate social responsibilities, ANSA McAL Trading yesterday recognised the performance of seventeen students who sat this year’s National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examination.

NEW YORK,  (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – More than 7,000 colleges, universities, technical schools and community colleges from around the world declared a climate emergency in a joint letter which was set to be delivered to the United Nations yesterday.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuelan authorities yesterday buried the remains of a navy captain who died in military custody last month, despite the opposition of family members who say he was tortured to death and want an independent autopsy.

Dear Editor, Instead of addressing the evidence I presented that Hindu beliefs cannot be a motivation for corruption, Professor Kean Gibson not only digresses to something totally different, the problem of inequality ` All sacred texts have an underbelly of violence and greed’  (SN 6/28/2019), but in a show of some disdain, assumes the right to tell me, as an insider and practitioner, that my position on Hinduism is marginal while imposing her own characterization as central. 

The Art Williams and Harry Wendt Aeronautical Engineering School (AW&HWAES) last week held its 26th Annual General Meeting, at which a new Board of Directors was appointed.

Last month, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ Population Division revised its estimate of the world’s population growth.

BIRMINGHAM, England,  (Reuters) – England may change their bowling combination for today’s Cricket World Cup semi-final against Australia if the Edgbaston pitch assists spinners, captain Eoin Morgan said yesterday.   

BEIRUT/AMMAN,  (Reuters) – President Bashar al-Assad’s assault in the northwest has been met with a painful rebel counterpunch that underlines Turkish resolve to keep the area out of his hands and shows why he will struggle to take back more of Syria by force.

French writer, Albert Camus popularised the philosophy of the absurd in his works, including the essay, “The Myth of Sisyphus,” about the cunning Greek king, condemned to a cruel fate.