Daily Archive: Wednesday, April 14, 2021

The Ministry of Health today said that four more persons who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have died.

Stephan Barlow, co-accused in the July 2nd, 2016 murder of Sherwin Johnson, was today sentenced to 18 years behind bars, after pleading to the lesser offence of manslaughter.

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – Bernard Madoff, who was convicted for running the largest known Ponzi scheme in history, died today in prison where he was serving a 150-year sentence, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said.

Brian Mitchell, 36, of Craig Street, Campbellville died last night after an accident on Homestretch Avenue.

A Guyanese fashion designer was yesterday found knifed to death at an apartment in El Dorado, Trinidad, according to the Trinidad Express newspaper.

COPENHAGEN, (Reuters) – Denmark today became the first country to stop using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine altogether, following news of its possible link to very rare blood clot cases, health authorities said.

(Reuters) – Former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak was slapped with an eight-year ban for corruption dating back to his coaching stints with the national team and in several Twenty20 leagues, the game’s governing body said today.

(Trinidad Express) There was another explosive eruption of the La Soufriere Volcano in St Vincent shortly before midnight last night, on a day that pyroclastic flows reached the sea on the island’s west coast.

(Trinidad Guardian) The 40,000 doses of COVISHIELD COVID-19 vaccines from India has arrived in T&T.

(Barbados Nation) Conman and thief Ricardo Cortez Browne has an unenviable record when it comes to appearances before the law courts.

The Court of Appeal yesterday set aside the 1982 conviction and sentencing of Donald Rodney for unlawful possession of explosives stemming from the bomb blast that killed his brother, political activist and historian Dr Walter Rodney. 

By Laurel Sutherland The family of a man who died of COVID-19 is now trying to recover his corpse which was mistakenly buried by the family of another fatality.

Orpheus Johnson who is accused of killing two men—one whose fiancée and son he also attempted to murder; now faces sentencing after pleading guilty to the various offences when they were read to him yesterday morning.

Oil production on Exxon-Mobil’s Liza Destiny oil platform has been reduced to 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) after the discharge silencer began experiencing technical issues during the final testing phase of the reinstalled flash gas compressor and other components of the system.

Investigators testifying at the trial of Regan Rodrigues who is accused of murdering political activist Courtney Crum-Ewing, say that the same gun used to kill Crum-Ewing had been found in Rodrigues’ Riverview, Ruimveldt residence.

Linden resident, Colwyn Arthur, now awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to the 2018 killing of Claude `Sonno’ DeJonge, who at the time shared a relationship with a woman Arthur was also once involved with. 

Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on Monday ruled that Chairman of the People’s National Con-gress Reform (PNCR) Volda Lawrence, Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) District Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo and APNU+AFC activist Carol Joseph will be tried summarily in the Magistrate’s Court for the election fraud charges currently pending against them.

Guyana and Canada on Monday convened their first “Bilateral Consultation” to discuss matters of mutual interest and relevant courses of action.

Community leader and Councillor of the Region 10 Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Serojnie ‘Gem’ Narine yesterday passed away suddenly.

The Guyanese quartet of Shemar Britton, Joel Alleyne, Chelsea Edghill and Natalie Cummings all failed to advance to the next round as the Latin America singles Olympic qualifying tournament commenced yesterday.

More doses of the COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be in Guyana tomorrow according to Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony.

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 152 all out (Suryakumar Yadav 56, Rohit Sharma 43, Andre Russell 5/15) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 142/7 (Nitish Rana 57, Shubman Gill 33, Rahul Chahar 4/27) by 10 runs Mumbai Indians (MI) secured their first victory of the season after beating the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 5 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the M.

A second man was on Monday charged with the murder of Peter Gonsalves, the Kitty contractor who was shot dead in front of the Red Bar at Garnett Street last December.

Guyana will be bidding for matches to be hosted at the country’s only international Stadium, Providence including the upcoming International Cricket Council’s Under-19 World Cup.

Eighty-eight new COVID-19 cases were yesterday recorded and 15 persons are in the country’s Intensive Care Unit. 

Although not yet repaired, the Pirara Bridge in the Rupununi has been reopened to facilitate light traffic.

Roy Jafarally was recently elected president of the resuscitated Berbice Boxing Association.

With the aim of resumption training for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), the local governing body, commenced COVID-19 testing yesterday for several members of the training roster at the entity’s National Training Center, Providence.

Former Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton was yesterday charged with misconduct in public office by SOCU over the controversial renting of a Sussex Street bond for the storing of drugs which had dogged the former APNU+AFC government.

(Reuters) – World number two Daniil Medvedev of Russia has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been withdrawn from this week’s Monte Carlo Masters, the ATP said yesterday.

Dear Editor, The Citizenship Initiative’s leadership has noticed the alarming rise in Covid-19 infections and deaths attributed to the emergence of several strains of the virus characterized by higher transmissibility.

Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) yesterday said it has partnered with the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) to send $13.3m in humanitarian aid to St.

(Reuters) – India A’s tour of England, which was scheduled for this summer, has been postponed due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said yesterday.

(Reuters) – U.S. federal health agencies yesterday recommended pausing use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine for at least a few days after six women under age 50 developed rare blood clots after receiving the shot, dealing a fresh setback to efforts to tackle the pandemic.

Dear Editor, Have you ever tried getting a bus only to have bus operators tugging and pulling at you (while cursing each other and quarreling and fighting over you) to force you into this bus or the other bus, hell bent on not letting you enter another operator’s bus?

The U.S. Agency for International Development is providing an immediate US$100,000 in disaster aid for people affected by violent eruptions of La Soufrière Volcano on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

(Reuters) – Rajasthan Royals and England all-rounder Ben Stokes will miss the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season after breaking his finger in their opening match, his franchise said yesterday.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – Former U.S. Senator Chris Dodd and former Deputy Secretaries of State Richard Armitage and James Steinberg headed to Taiwan yesterday at President Joe Biden’s request, in what a White House official called a “personal signal” of the president’s commitment to the Chinese-claimed island and its democracy.

KINGSTOWN, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,  (Reuters) – The tiny eastern Caribbean island of Saint Vincent was rocked by a fifth day of eruptions from the La Soufriere volcano yesterday as leaders warned of shortages of water and the potential need for hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild.

Dear Editor, Sherwood Lowe’s letter captioned `Information Act Section 13 (3) was never utilised’ in S.N.

Dear Editor, The PPP’s and the PNC’s present strategy seems to suggest that if they concentrate hard enough on ignoring each other, then magically one of them would cease to exist.

RIO DE JANEIRO,  (Reuters) – The surging COVID-19 outbreak in Brazil is increasingly affecting younger people, with hospital data showing that last month the majority of those in intensive care were aged 40 or younger, according to a new report.

Stephen Curry became the all-time leading scorer in Golden State Warriors history with the ninth 50-point game of his career, exploding for 53 in a 116-107 victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets on Monday night.

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW,  (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden called on Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday to reduce tensions stirred by a Russian military build-up on Ukraine’s border and proposed a summit of the estranged leaders to tackle a raft of disputes.

The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT)  has announced Damian Blackburn as the new Chief Executive Offi-cer (CEO)  as of May 3rd while the current holder, Justin Nedd is slated to take up a position at GTT’s parent company, Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN) as its new Vice President of Strategic Programmes.

Dear Editor, If Guyana’s current oil production and oil reserves can be sustained for 50-plus years, then we should go ahead with building the natural gas power plant.

QUITO,  (Reuters) – Ecuador yesterday detained the country’s comptroller and a former energy minister as part of an investigation into corruption at three state institutions, including oil company Petroecuador, the national prosecutor’s office said.

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn.,  (Reuters) – The suburban Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot a Black motorist during an encounter that began as a routine traffic stop, and the police chief who called the slaying an apparent accident, both resigned yesterday following two nights of civil unrest.

(Reuters) – Argentinian tennis player Franco Feitt has been handed a lifetime ban from the sport for his involvement in multiple match fixing activities between 2014 and 2018, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said yesterday.

France yesterday said that it has mobilized its representations in the Caribbean and started the cooperation and relief process for volcano-stricken St Vincent and the Grenadines.

(Trinidad Express) Even with borders closed 70 per cent of Venezuelan migrants entered Trinidad through illegal entry points.

Dear Editor, There is a section (about 1000 metres) of the “New Road” (on the line) between Voorsigtigheid and Spring Hall in Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, where water accumulates during heavy rainfall.

By  Shashi Tharoor NEW DELHI – A flurry of assaults on freedom of the press in recent months has raised troubling questions about the state of India’s democracy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

By Bertrand Ramcharan Seventh Chancellor of the University of Guyana Guyana’s fundamental challenge fifty five years after its independence, is to knit its peoples within a vision of justice, human rights, and equitable life chances.

NEW DELHI,  (Reuters) – India yesterday said it will fast-track emergency approvals for COVID-19 vaccines authorised by Western countries and Japan, paving the way for possible imports of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna shots.

BEIJING, (Reuters) – Each afternoon without fail, a handful of men mostly in their 60s gather at an old bicycle shed in southwest Beijing, clad in sweatshirts and track pants and ready to pump iron.

Last Sunday, the Twenty-second Annual General Meeting of Cricket West Indies (CWI) was held, with Mr Ricky Skerritt and Dr Kishore Shallow being duly re-elected unopposed to serve a second two-year term as President and Vice President, respectively.

President Irfaan Ali yesterday joined First Lady,  Arya Ali for the official unveiling of the ‘Welcome to Guyana’ monument at the roundabout in Timehri, East Bank Demerara.