Daily Archive: Saturday, January 30, 2021

President Irfaan Ali announced this afternoon that some 3,800 COVID-19 vaccines will be available to Guyanese by February and March and will be immediately allocated to frontline health workers, people with comorbidities and the elderly, a release from the Office of the President said.

The Ministry of Health today said that one more person who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has died.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has offered to play a “good offices” role between Guyana and Venezuela on important issues apart from the border controversy between the two countries.

(Trinidad Express) A 23-year-old has been charged with robbing the same supermarket three times.

(Trinidad Guardian) A small road traffic accident in El Socorro has now turned into a criminal investigation after one of the drivers knocked down the other following a confrontation.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Jamaica-born Courtney Grant, who operates several restaurants across Canada, has been spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic to use his businesses to help scores of needy families and children.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The Jamaican Consulate in New York is to be closed for 10 days after a member of staff tested positive for COVID-19 The closure will take effect from February 1.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Former Prime Minister Bruce Golding is reportedly at home resting following a motor vehicle crash in Old Harbour, St Catherine Friday.

SINGHU, India,  (Reuters) – India blocked mobile internet services in several areas around New Delhi today as protesting farmers began a one-day hunger strike after a week of clashes with authorities that left one dead and hundreds injured.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a sweeping order late yesterday requiring the use of face masks on nearly all forms of public transportation Monday as the country continues to report thousands of daily COVID-19 deaths.

(Barbados Nation) Chairman of CARICOM Dr Ralph Gonsalves says that the plan to have vaccines in the region by April, through the COVAX facility, may not be as assured as originally thought.

(Trinidad Guardian) Police are investigating an attempt on a prison officer’s life on Thursday night at his home in Sangre Grande.

After announcing only last month that it had rectified problems on the Liza Destiny Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel which saw the company flaring over two billion cubic feet of associated gas in 2020, ExxonMobil yesterday said that it has begun flaring again after experiencing another issue with its compressor seal.

Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill has asked Auditor General Deodat Sharma to conduct a forensic audit into the construction of the overhead pedestrian crossings along the East Bank of Demerara which were built under the former APNU+AFC administration.

Twelve indigenous communities yesterday received millions in COVID-19 relief to help mitigate the negative economic impact the pandemic has had on their respective villages.

A man who allegedly attacked the police during an attempt to arrest him was yesterday shot dead on the Ogle seawall.

Travel to and from Brazil has been halted as the authorities are concerned about the new COVID-19 variants being detected in the neighbouring country.

Beverly Clenkian, Toshao of St. Cuthbert’s Mission told Stabroek News yesterday that the Village Council is anticipating a second COVID-19 wave and plans are currently underway for a second lockdown.

Days after she was arrested for allegedly attempting to traffic over 500 grammes of cocaine hidden in a box of snacks destined for New York, a 30-year-old mother of two was yesterday remanded to prison after she denied the charge.

A fire of unknown origin last night flattened a two-storey house at Better Hope, East Coast Demerara, leaving two persons homeless.

A government bill that seeks to remove custodial sentences for the possession of  less than 30 grammes of cannabis was sent to a select committee of Parliament on Thursday while an opposition motion to introduce a separate bill setting the no-jail amount at 500 grammes was defeated.

Fifty-eight new COVID-19 cases were on Friday recorded along with an increase in hospitalisations, according to the health minister.

The Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) yesterday issued a list of the 40 restaurants that are thus far allowed to have indoor dining in accordance with the amended COVID-19 gazetted emergency measures.

The Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) on Thursday night said it has handed over its report to the Police Cyber Crimes Unit for action on a dangerous social media post, allegedly made by former Minister and current Member of Parliament, Cathy Hughes on the Facebook page of Nigel Hughes. 

The Guyana Press Association (GPA) on Thursday wrote Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jnr.,

A man was on Thursday discovered at his Coldingen, East Coast Demerara residence lying motionless on his bed.

Sentenced to 80 years back in 2015 for the murder of taxi driver Bhomeshwar Sukhdeo, whose burnt remains had been dumped on the Mocha Access Road in January 2010, Balram Singh has appealed both his conviction and sentence.

An arrest warrant was yesterday issued for Kevin McDonald, the former police officer who allegedly pretended to be a Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) officer.

Dear Editor, The Guyanese diaspora is the most important partner for Guyanese at home to organize, implement, monitor, evaluate, learn and adjust programmes for hunting and resisting corruption.

A vendor was yesterday released on $50,000 bail after telling the courtroom that the virtual complainant is a troublemaker.

Dear Editor, To the best of my knowledge, of the large service providers in Guyana, GTT must be one of the most disrespectful to consumers.

The Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) on Thursday held its annual general meeting and elections at the Muslim Youth Organsation, Woolford Avenue where former vice-president, Neil Barry was elected president.

The partially decomposed body of a mason was late yesterday afternoon discovered in his Number 70 Village, Corentyne house.

“When I came to town all I had was $300,000, a computer, a camera, and a dream,” Keon Hector told The Scene.

Dear Editor, In Stabroek News’ Editorial  ‘Defiance’ (SN, 29th January 2021) SN makes the case that it is ridiculous for Minister Zulfikar Mustapha to hide the identity of whom he issued two fishing trawlers licences to.

The Supreme Court has acknowledged receipt of 2,339 Statements of Poll and a similar number of Statements of Recount from the Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield.

UNICEF Representative Nicolas Pron yesterday presented three of the winners of UNICEF Guyana’s Reimagine Illustration Challenge with Samsung tablet computers.

Cricket development at the West Demerara Secondary School has been given a major boost following the presentation of a large quantity of equipment Thursday.

Do you have eating phases? You know a period of time when you can’t seem to get enough of a particular food or drink; you make it regularly and consume it almost daily.

AMSTERDAM,  (Reuters) – A Dutch appeals court yesterday held Royal Dutch Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary responsible for multiple oil pipeline leaks in the Niger Delta and ordered it to pay unspecified damages to farmers, in a victory for environmentalists.

Dear Editor, Those two recent Orders placed before the House of the People to increase the budget ceiling stand as confirming testimony of how PPP leaders operate, conduct the business of this country today, and what they hang over the nation’s head.

BOGOTA,  (Reuters) – Colombia has reached agreements for doses of COVID-19 vaccines developed by Moderna Inc and Sinovac Biotech Ltd and plans to begin a mass vaccination campaign on Feb.

The Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) Referee/Judges Commission is now complete and comprises mostly women.

Anti-blackness is everywhere in the fashion industry but some days it just feels more pronounced than others.

A mason was on Thursday taken before the court and fined $100,000 or two months imprisonment on a break and enter and larceny charge.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – A chat with U.S. Democratic lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez drew more than a million viewers overnight to a website best-known for video game players, where she dissected this week’s headline-grabbing battle between Reddit online traders and hedge funds.

Dear Editor, On an almost daily basis motorists have to contend with stray/roaming animals on the East Coast of Demerara main road.

A Linden man was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment yesterday after being found guilty of exposing his genitals to a relative.

OTTAWA,  (Reuters) – Canada’s major airlines have agreed to suspend all flights to Mexico and the Caribbean for three months starting tomorrow as the country’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout suffered another setback, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday.

Pageant veteran Paul Charles will close that chapter of his life when he represents Guyana at the international leg of the Mr Model of Tourism World in May; it will be his final pageant.

Dear Editor, In another few hours, we will be observing the 73rd anniversary of the assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the renowned and respected Mahatma. 

(Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson yesterday said its single-dose vaccine was 72% effective in preventing COVID-19 in the United States but a lower rate of 66% was observed globally in the large trial conducted across three continents and against multiple variants.

(Reuters) – Left-arm spinner Nauman Ali took five for 35 on debut to brush aside the South African tail in their second innings and help Pakistan to a comfortable seven-wicket victory on day four of the first test at the National Stadium in Karachi yesterday.

GENEVA, (Reuters) – More than 200,000 people have fled fighting in the Central African Republic (CAR) since violence erupted over a December election result, the U.N.

CHATTOGRAM, Bangladesh, CMC – Head coach Phil Simmons says the experienced players in the West Indies squad will be critical to the side’s chances in the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh.

MEXICO CITY,  (Reuters) – Mexico plans to import about 870,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine from India in February, as well as producing it locally, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said yesterday.

(Reuters) – Former world number six Carla Suarez Navarro said she dreams of a return to competitive action following cancer treatment and this year’s Tokyo Olympics would be the perfect stage to call time on her career.

When I read and listen to what has been said about the local sugar industry, my mind wanders to its dark origins.

Written for his wife, Steven Ramphal’s latest single, a Bollywood Refix love song “Never Leave You” was released last week Thursday and has already become a hit in Trinidad and Tobago with fans there specially requesting it.

When major online platforms restricted trades in certain stocks earlier this week, apparently to ease the pain of hedge funds with costly “short” positions, thousands of investors concluded that the fix was in.

Blake Griffin scored 23 points and the host Detroit Pistons held the Los Angeles Lakers scoreless for nearly seven minutes in the fourth quarter while pulling away to a 107-92 victory on Thursday.

CHATTOGRAM, Bangladesh, CMC – Interim Test captain Kraigg Brathwaite struck a half-century and featured in two half-century stands but West Indies batting still faltered on the opening day of the three-day tour game against the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI here yesterday.

Dear Editor, The recent discussion on the new roads to reduce congestion is a healthy one.

A teen was on Monday held at gunpoint and robbed by two bandits at Fox Hill Foot, Half Mile Wismar, Linden.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Director of Cricket, Jimmy Adams, says the recent whitewash in Bangladesh has renewed existing concerns over the ability of the region’s cricketers to execute under pressure, and has once again brought the standard of the domestic tournaments under the microscope.

CHATTOGRAM, Bangladesh, CMC – Captain Kraigg Brathwaite said he was anxious to assess the progress of the bowling group on today’s day two of their three-day tour match, after the batsmen turned in an inconsistent performance here yesterday.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic made a confusing cameo at an exhibition event and Serena Williams took her daughter to the zoo yesterday as some of the world’s top tennis players soaked up their freedom after 14 days of quarantine ahead of the Australian Open.