Daily Archive: Monday, October 5, 2020

Guyana has registered its 91st COVID-19 fatality, the Ministry of Health says.

A retired nurse formerly attached to the Georgetown Public Hospital is Guyana’s latest COVID-19 fatality.

LONDON, (Reuters) – British finance minister Rishi Sunak warned of the damage higher interest rates could do to the country’s debt mountain as he promised today to “balance the books” following his surge in emergency spending to counter the coronavirus crisis.

(Reuters) – Cineworld, the world’s second-biggest cinema chain, will close its UK and U.S.

LONDON, (Reuters) – It was partly thanks to a bet with her sister that Agatha Christie wrote her first detective novel, and 100 years since it was published she is as popular as ever.

(Jamaica Gleaner) “I can’t believe he is gone.” Those grim words capture the shock death of Moreen Dwyer’s* 12-year-old son, one of the youngest casualties of the coronavirus’ fatal clutches in Jamaica.

(Jamaica Gleaner) A ‘fix’ is reportedly on the way for almost 300 students of Jamaica College (JC), a local elite all-boys institution, who were left shocked after learning that more than 90 per cent of them failed the July 2020 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) English language exam.

(Jamaica Star) Detectives in St. Ann have arrested two suspected cattle thieves, following a brazen attack on a police team in the parish on Friday, October 2.

Police yesterday afternoon cleared blockages off the Nos. 3 and 5 villages’ roads on the West Coast Berbice (WCB) after residents protested again over the murders last month of the Henry cousins, Isaiah and Joel, and constricted travel in the area.

Contending that they have no alternative, squatters at Success, East Coast Demerara yesterday said that they are prepared to stand their ground instead of giving up lands that are owned by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).

The Ministry of Health yesterday announced the deaths of four men as a result of COVID-19.

Adamant that their coalition partner APNU reneged on agreements in their revamped Cummingsburg Accord agreement, the Alliance for Change (AFC) yesterday  set up a committee to determine its next move.

In his belief that Guyana can be a model developed economy in Latin America and the Caribbean in the next five to ten years, newly-elected Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President, Mauricio Claver-Carone says that he will do all possible during his tenure to facilitate achieving those goals in a transparent and sustainable manner, benefitting all Guyanese.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Selectors will huddle next week to choose the West Indies squads for the tour of New Zealand, convenor of selectors, Roger Harper, has confirmed.

With criminal trials set to resume this week, the Government of Guyana, the Judiciary, the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Prisons Service are collaborating for speedy hearings and to enable prisoners to appear virtually before the courts.

Former Minister of Finance Winston Jordan on Saturday said that he had recommended a COVID-19 Risk Allowance (CRA) for frontline workers but that the former Ministry of Public Health had failed to provide the requisite information over four months.

The home and business operations of a Buxton, East Coast Demerara family were reduced to ashes yesterday after a fire struck around noon.

West Indies limited-overs skipper Kieron Pollard has been the most impactful Caribbean player in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) thus far.

(Trinidad Express) A prison officer with just a few months of service was shot and killed outside his home at Princes Town last night.

Dear Editor, Recently, the Government of Guyana, through some of its officials, announced its intention to appoint an International Commission of Inquiry “to get to the bottom” of the tragic incidents occurring in Berbice between September 6 and September 10, 2020.

President of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) K.A. Juman Yassin has given the assurance that the Olympic body has been keeping local associations on their toes during the ongoing pandemic.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – Doctors treating President Donald Trump for COVID-19 sent conflicting signals about the severity of his condition yesterday, hours before the president surprised supporters gathered outside the hospital with an impromptu motorcade.

Eighty-eight new cases of COVID-19 were reported yesterday by the Ministry of Health.

RIO DE JANEIRO,  (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Dozens of local authorities and state-owned companies in Brazil are facing lawsuits accused of failing to protect workers including doctors and nurses from COVID-19, data obtained exclusively by the Thomson Reuters Foundation has revealed.

Dear Editor, In a recent letter (`SVN registered 96.60% overall pass rate at CXC,’ SN 9/29/20) we highlighted the continued amazing academic success of the Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) school at Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara. 

Minister of Sport, Charles Ramson Jr., will engage in a second round of discussions with associations beginning this week, perhaps as early as tomorrow.

The Chairman of the Joint Services Coordinating Council, GDF Chief of Staff, Brigadier Godfrey Bess has warned that it can be inferred that there is an intent among unnamed social commentators for a “country-wide breakdown in law and order”.

NAPA, Calif.,  (Reuters) – Wildfires in California have burned more than 4 million acres (1.6 million hectares) in 2020, over twice the previous record for any year and an area larger than Connecticut, the state’s fire agency reported yesterday.

BERLIN,  (Reuters) – The COVID-19 pandemic could trigger a debt crisis in some countries, so investors must be ready for granting some form of relief that could also include debt cancellation, World Bank President David Malpass was quoted as saying yesterday.

By Eion Jardine First there was `Hands of Stone’ the nickname of the legendary Roberto Duran.

Written by Sergio Saffón InSight Crime https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/suriname-jaguar-trade-poaching-paste/   The jaguar’s head slumps over the back of an all-terrain vehicle.

Dear Editor, Vincent Alexander has chided President Irfaan Ali for insisting he will not speak to Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon until the latter quits referring to him as “illegitimate”.

BAKU/YEREVAN, (Reuters) – Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev demanded yesterday that Armenia set a timetable for withdrawing from the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding Azeri territories, and said Azerbaijan would not cease military action until that happened.

A miner and a dredge owner have been taken into police custody following the death of a Venezuelan national, who was working on the mining camp at ‘Big Hope’ Backdam, Region 7 as a cook.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – The final tanker in a flotilla of three Iranian fuel tankers docked at eastern Venezuela’s Guaraguao port yesterday, according to Refinitiv Eikon data and a person familiar with the matter, as President Nicolas Maduro promised to normalize fuel supply in the gasoline-starved country.

A fine half century from Marcus Nandu followed up by a four-wicket haul from Raqib Shamsundeen spurred Kaieteur into the playoffs of the Brampton-Etobicoke & District Cricket League Premier Division in Canada.

Dear Editor,  “O, what a tangled web we weave…” The PPP/C, upon assuming office, has been convincingly trying to undo many of the iniquities of the former APNU+AFC, mostly revealing the level and scope of corruption, as well as the shortfalls in terms of economic development.

LOS ANGELES, , (Variety.com) – Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” willed itself past the $300 million mark globally this weekend even as the overall domestic box office appeared to be on the verge of collapse.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Supermarkets, food manufacturers and restaurant chains under pressure from campaigners over their environmental impact urged Britain yesterday to strengthen a plan to stop tropical forests from being cut down to grow cocoa, palm oil and soy.

(Reuters) – Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli said he has a love-hate relationship with cricket after rediscovering his form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the United Arab Emirates.

PARIS, (Reuters) – German Alexander Zverev said he played with fever and breathing difficulties during his fourth-round French Open defeat to Italian teenager Jannik Sinner yesterday, raising questions about the COVID-19 protocols at the claycourt Grand Slam.

At his press conference on Friday, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo shut the door comprehensively on the use of the approval of the Payara licence as a means of leverage to improve the scandalous Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) concluded by the APNU+AFC government in 2016 with ExxonMobil’s subsidiary EEPGL and its partners Hess and CNOOC.

By Dr John Deep Ford Dr. John Deep Ford is former Caribbean Region Director of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and former Guyana Ambassador to FAO and WTO.

(Trinidad Guardian) The UWI Seismic Research Centre (UWI SRC) has confirmed that an earthquake of 5.2 magnitude on the Richter scale occurred yesterday in Trinidad and Tobago.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) broke the three-match losing streak and returned to winning ways in some style as they beat Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) by ten wickets in Match 18 of the Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

MANCHESTER, England, (Reuters) – A shambolic Manchester United suffered a club record-equalling defeat in the Premier League era as they crashed to a 6-1 loss at home to Tottenham Hotspur yesterday.

BIRMINGHAM, England, (Reuters) – A superb first-half hat-trick from Ollie Watkins helped Aston Villa to a stunning 7-2 victory over Liverpool in the Premier League yesterday to end the champions’ 100% start to the season in extraordinary fashion.

SYDNEY, (Reuters) – New Zealand’s women’s cricket team hopes of winning back the Rose Bowl from Australia for the first time this century have suffered a blow with top-order batswoman Suzie Bates ruled out of the final two one-day internationals with a shoulder injury.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – The Indian Premier League (IPL) has launched an investigation after one of the players in this year’s tournament in the United Arab Emirates reported being approached for possible corruption, the league’s integrity chief told Reuters yesterday.

Dear Editor, Tomorrow, Tuesday October 6th, 2020 marks the 40th Anniversary since the imposition of the 1980 Constitution under the Government of the late President Linden Forbes Burnham.

The PNCR on Saturday said a Lexus vehicle being used by former President David Granger was assign-ed to him in accordance with the  Former Presidents (Benefits and other Facilities) Act The PNCR was responding to remarks made by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Friday over a vehicle being used by Granger.