Daily Archive: Thursday, June 4, 2020

The OAS Observer Mission tonight said it has no reason to doubt that the results emanating from the recount at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre will be credible.

GECOM today recounted 83 ballot boxes from the March 2nd general elections, according to Commissioner Sase Gunraj.

PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo today condemned a statement last night by APNU+AFC that the March 2nd general elections were not credible because of an alleged high incidence of fraud.

The Ministry of Education today advised that schools will reopen from Monday June 8th 2020 to teachers and auxiliary staff who shall prepare the schools according to the Public Health protocols outlined in the Gazetted and published examination order.

(Jamaica Gleaner) If anyone had told Natalee Carty that Tuesday, June 2, would have been the last day she saw her 15-year-old son, Raheem Campbell, alive, she would not have believed it.

BRASILIA/SAO PAULO,  (Reuters) – Coronavirus is spreading fast through Brazil’s indigenous populations, with deaths caused by the disease increasing more than five-fold in the past month, according to data collected by a national association of first peoples.

 (Reuters) – The Trump administration has selected five companies, including Moderna Inc, AstraZeneca Plc and Pfizer Inc, as the most likely candidates to produce a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing senior officials.

BERLIN,  (Reuters) – Madeleine McCann, the British girl who disappeared in Portugal in 2007 aged just three, is assumed to be dead and an imprisoned German child abuser is the murder suspect, a German prosecutor said on Thursday McCann vanished from her bedroom on May 3 during a family vacation in the Algarve while her parents were dining with friends nearby in the resort of Praia da Luz.

With 84% of the ballot boxes from the March 2nd general elections tabulated as of yesterday, the PPP/C had tallied 187,549 votes compared to 174,499 for APNU+AFC, a lead of 13,050 votes.

With a recount of the votes from the March 2nd general elections approaching the end and the PPP/C maintaining a significant lead (see other story on page 3), the incumbent APNU+AFC  last night made its strongest signal yet that it was preparing to reject the final result after making a series of claims that have been widely repulsed.

Persons wishing to fly out of Guyana may have to wait until late December or early 2021 to do so as this country will not open up to commercial air travel until it is assured that rigid COVID-19 prevention measures are in place and cases here have reduced significantly, says Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Director (Ret’d) Colonel Egbert Field.

Canadian gold miner, Guyana Goldfields Inc (GGI)  – which runs a large-scale mine in Cuyuni/Mazaruni – is mulling acceptance of a new buyout offer from a foreign-based company.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – West Indies will be without key batsmen Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer when they leave in a few days for their historic “bio-secure” tour of England, but two newcomers have been included in a squad that chief selector Roger Harper believes is up to the challenge of holding onto the Wisden Trophy.

And now for some good news. The Athletic Association of Guyana (AAG) is looking to restart its season, perhaps by mid next month.

Ivor Lynch, one of Guyana’s renowned recording artistes who rocked the local scene in the early 1970’s, died at his US home on Monday night at the age of seventy four.

Herbert McPherson, long-serving head-coach of East Coast Demerara, heavyweight Buxton United, disclosed that the current Covid-19 pandemic has tremendously affected the administration and training regimen of the club.

For the third day in succession, no new COVID-19 case was recorded yesterday even as 27 more tests were done within the last 24 hours.

Dear Editor, On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that an outbreak of the viral disease COVID-19 which was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China had reached the level of a global pandemic.

Experienced local referee/judge, Elton Chase was on Monday presented with his International Technical Officer (ITO) certificate. 

The timetable for the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), as well as health protocols to be followed during the sitting of exams were released yesterday.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The exclusion of Guyanese Veersammy Permaul from the West Indies squad for the upcoming tour of England has provoked the ire of Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) President Hilbert Foster who condemned it as “sickening treatment” and demanded an explanation for the non-selection of the right-handed batsman.

Dear Editor, The world has been aghast at the recent sight of a white police officer squeezing the life out of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

A 36-year-old Lethem resident was arrested yesterday morning after he admitted to smuggling a number of items including forty cases of rum into the country through the illegal Guyana/Brazil border crossing at Mango Grove, Lethem.

An autopsy yesterday on the remains of Sattie Beekharry, the 61-year-old businesswoman who was murdered in her Atlantic Gardens, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home earlier this week revealed that she died as a result of a brain haemorrhage due to multiple trauma to her head.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Kim Clijsters will find it hard to compete at the top level when the WTA Tour resumes following the coronavirus pandemic, says old rival and fellow former world number one Ana Ivanovic.

Dear Editor, I am writing this letter to remind the management and directors of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation about the crucial importance of sexual and reproductive healthcare.

(Trinidad Express) Businessman Michael Patrick Aboud has apologised for comments he made on Facebook on Sunday regarding protests in the United States over the police killing of African American George Floyd last week.

A West Bank Berbice man was yesterday remanded to prison after he was charged with murdering his brother last Saturday.

Dear Editor, Refer to the Editor-in-Chief’s note to my letter `Recount is not about simple numbers but a more complex and complete evaluation’ (Stabroek News 3rd June, 2020).

LUASANNE, Switzerland, CMC – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has chastised the ousted executive of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) for accusing it of bias in the battle against the sport’s world governing body, insisting that it is “independent and impartial from all parties”.

Winnette Lawrence and Robert Singh represented Guyana at yet another virtual international archery competition held on 31 May 2020.

Dear Editor, I refer to a few letters in your publication calling on the US ambassador to Guyana to provide some statement on the protests in the US on police brutality.

Vendors in the Bourda and Stabroek markets have been vocal about the hardships they continue to face as sales decrease due to the implementation of COVID-19 measures by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH).

(Trinidad Guardian) As hundreds of citizens request exemptions to re-enter Trinidad and Tobago, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh says Government may consider asking people to pay for their COVID-19 quarantine stays.He

(Jamaica Observer) President of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association Owen Speid, claiming that with fewer educators dying since schools were shuttered in early March due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, says it might be an indication that the stress levels of the classroom have adversely impacted the health of teachers.

(Jamaica Observer) Major changes are coming to the operations of regional telecommunications giant Digicel, which has entered into a joint venture agreement in the French Caribbean and is reportedly considering selling its Papua New Guinea business.

Dear Editor, I am a former top student at A levels who has studied physics on scholarship in the United States.

SYDNEY,  (Reuters) – Small crowds at sporting events may be possible in the near future, Australia’s deputy chief medical officer said yesterday, citing successful efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus.

(Trinidad Guardian) Overwhelmed by the outpouring of donations and support by the public over the last few weeks, Teeluckdharry Seemungal, exclaimed: “It comes like we’re living in a paradise now!”

Guyana’s de facto Foreign Minister, Dr Karen Cummings has expressed the view that small economies like Guyana are in need of concessional financing in order to effectively address the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Dear Editor, If I may take you back to election 2015, we can possibly have a confirmed rather than a convoluted understanding as to why we are in a current state of morass.

(Barbados Nation) Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley announced yesterday that the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved about BDS$280 million in support, and the money should be in Barbados’ account by today.

(Trinidad Express) Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh plans to have a meeting with heads of the maxi taxi and taxi associations over the wearing of masks.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) has joined a number of international sport stakeholders calling for equality and justice following the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed in police custody in the United States of America.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) has joined a number of international sport stakeholders calling for equality and justice following the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed in police custody in the United States of America.

Linden Mining Enterprise (LINMINE) General Manager Emmet Alves is incensed at the indiscriminate dumping of garbage in key locations in Linden which he blames for stymieing repair works to key bridges in the bauxite-mining community.  

Dear Editor, My attention was drawn to an article online on the selection of a 25-man West Indian squad to tour England for a three-test series.

RIO DE JANEIRO,  (Reuters) – Brazil registered a record number of daily deaths from the novel coronavirus for a second consecutive day, according to Health Ministry data released yesterday, even as city and state authorities move aggressively to open commerce back up.

MINNEAPOLIS,  (Reuters) – Prosecutors yesterday  leveled new criminal charges against four Minneapolis policemen implicated in the death of a black man pinned by his neck to the street during an arrest that sparked more than a week of nationwide protest and civil strife.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Playing in empty stadiums is not ideal but a bigger challenge for players during England’s home series against West Indies will be changing the way they shine the ball and keeping a lid on celebrations, former England captain Nasser Hussain has said.

The Amerindian Peoples’ Association (APA) yesterday urged that hinterland students get “constructive redress” before sitting exams in July since these students have had little or no access to learning for almost three months.

MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – Mexico overtook the United States in daily reported deaths from the novel coronavirus for the first time yesterday, with the health ministry registering a record 1,092 fatalities it attributed to improved documenting of the pandemic.

The asphyxiation of George Floyd by a police officer in Minnesota, USA late last month, compounded by the almost laissez faire attitude of the authorities towards the crime immediately after, was the proverbial straw that set in motion the current widespread protests against injustice and racism in the United States and other parts of the world.

WELLINGTON, (Reuters) – Professional sport in New Zealand could welcome fans back to stadiums as early as next week with the government set to decide whether to lift all social distancing restrictions imposed to due the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Jamaica Observer) Jamaica has recorded its 10th COVID-19 death. The deceased is an 87-year-old woman from Kingston and St Andrew.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Scientists using an aerial remote-sensing method have discovered the largest and oldest-known structure built by the ancient Maya civilization – a colossal rectangular elevated platform built between 1,000 and 800 BC in Mexico’s Tabasco state.

Only one of the twelve juveniles who escaped from the Sophia detention centre earlier this month remains on the run while the others are being held at the Kitty Police station while investigations continue.

“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes” is the chilling line from a rhyming couplet by William Shakespeare in his famous play “Macbeth,” that we whispered to each other along lit school corridors.

Dear Editor, I have noticed with increasing alarm, Dr. Henry Jeffrey’s attempt to accuse the PPP of rigging the elections (Stabroek News, Wednesday, 03 June 2020).

(Jamaica Observer) The Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) is reporting that there are at least seven people who remain in the island’s prisons having already spent 40 or more years each, despite not being convicted for any crime.