Daily Archive: Sunday, May 28, 2023

ISTANBUL, (Reuters) – President Tayyip Erdogan extended his two decades in power in elections today, winning a mandate to pursue increasingly authoritarian policies which have polarised Turkey and strengthened its position as a regional military power.

Tragedy Nineteen die in Mahdia dorm arson: Deep sorrow and shock gripped the small Region Eight town of Mahdia and other hinterland communities after arson obliterated a girls secondary school dormitory on Sunday night claiming 19 lives with another nine hospitalised in Georgetown.

  Earlier today,  ranks of the Joint Services were continuing their search for notorious convicted ‘death row’ prison escapee, Mark Royden Williams,  along with his accomplices, along the St Mary’s Quarry Area.

(Trinidad Guardian) Repeatedly targeted, beaten and terrorised by bandits, armed with guns or cutlasses, farmers are buckling under pressure.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – The British government is looking at plans to have retailers cap the prices of basic food items such as bread and milk, the Telegraph reported, as the cost of such essentials continued to rise in the double digits.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s new parliament building today, a modern complex which is part of his Hindu nationalist government’s grand plan to give a makeover to the British colonial-era architecture in the nation’s capital.

Work on the estimated US$1 billion gas-to-energy project is forging ahead as pipes to be laid are in the country and will be installed from offshore coming inwards to Wales on the west bank of the Demerara River, even as administrative work on ExxonMobil’s Final Investment Decision wraps up.

Political party, A New and United Guyana (ANUG) has expressed the view that blame for the deadly Mahdia dormitory fire could be laid squarely on incompetence and says ministers must be held accountable.

BASSETERRE, St Kitts,  CMC – Barbados completed the double by capturing the T20 Blaze, after easily disposing of Leeward Islands by eight wickets in a tense final round here yesterday.

Acres of mangroves protected by the Laws of Guyana have been ripped out  from the west bank of the Demerara River to pave the way for the development of a second oil and gas shore base  in the region.

By Joseph Allen With Local Government Elections (LGE) set for June 12, the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) for the first time in the history of the LGE yesterday, facilitated the signing of a Code of Conduct (CoC) for parties and individuals contesting the elections.

The Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF) Consolidated Financial Statements for 2022 as well as the 2023 Amended Budget were approved yesterday by the regional member associations, elite clubs, and affiliate entities during the Ordinary Congress which was staged at the National Training Centre, Providence.

Dear Editor, The General Education Development (GED) programme was advertised as a hope for Guyanese; an opportunity for Guyanese everywhere, who did not gain passes of 5 subjects at CXC, to have a “do-over” of their education and a chance to secure a proper job or enter a university and further studies upon completion of the GED course, that was supposed to last six (6) months.

Any examination of the recent tragedy at Mahdia that claimed 19 lives would be incomplete without taking into account, the impact of mining on Indigenous communities.

President of the Pan American Mixed Martial Arts Federation Jason Fraser has applauded Nazar Mohamed, proprietor of Mohamed’s Enterprise, for being one of the primary stakeholders in the development of the local MMA landscape.

Dear Editor, The shock, trauma, devastation, and horror of the Mahdia fire has awakened in all students and citizens of Guyana a new consciousness that what Government does or fails to do can cause us to live or die.

National player Jasmine Billingy played unbeaten Friday to cart off the girls’ 13-years-and-under category when the National Sports Commission Independence table tennis tournament got underway at the National Gymnasium.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy have reached a tentative deal to raise the federal government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, ending a months-long stalemate.

Dear Editor, In a shareholder document released on April 13th, 2023 ExxonMobil makes this claim, “ExxonMobil’s affiliate [EEPGL] works cooperatively with the Guyana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ensure environmental permitting relating to exploration, development, and production activity fully complies with Guyana law.”

HONX, a subsidiary of former St Croix refinery owners Hess Corp.,

Dynamic FC, Buxton Stars and Haslington recorded contrasting wins when the East Coast Demerara leg of the National Milling Company (NAMILCO) U17 football competition continued Friday at the National Training Centre, Providence.

In the face of reports that it had submitted documents to the court with at least three gross errors in the matter regarding ExxonMobil and its parent company guarantee, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that it will respond after the judicial process is completed.

LUBBOCK, Texas,  (Reuters) – The Texas House yesterday voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, a conservative firebrand and ally of former President Donald Trump who has been accused by his fellow Republicans of abuse of office.

Dear Editor, I am writing as a concerned citizen to express my deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathies to all those affected by the tragic school dormitory fire that claimed the lives of 19 children in  Mahdia.

A 19-year-old farmer of Lot 25 Conservancy Dam, Canal Number One, West Bank Demerara (WBD) was remanded to prison on Thursday for the offence of murder committed on Seeram Krishna last Saturday at the conservancy dam, Canal Number One.

Swag Entertainment, Goodfellas, R9, and Quiet Storm were among the winners in the men’s section whilst Dynamo and Speightland clinched victories in the women’s division when the Linden ‘One Guyana’ Beach Football Championship continued on Friday evening outside the PPP/C office in Mackenzie.

Dear Editor, For 3 days this nation has mourned the senseless death of 19 children….the

KYIV, (Reuters) – At least one person died and three were injured in Russia’s night air raid on Kyiv with the defence systems downing at least 20 drones moving towards the capital, city officials said last night.

By Shemika Karim (Intern with the Guyana and Media and Communication Academy) The price of coconut water has soared sharply throughout Georgetown.

If there is any boxing aficionado who thinks that the upcoming `Return of the Scorpio’ boxing card will be all about Elton Dharry or Dexter Marques and not necessarily in that order, he or for that matter she, should think again.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Lloyd’s of London became the sixth organisation to quit a net-zero alliance for insurers within 36 hours on Friday, as a U.N.-backed

Dear Editor, The recent release of the bids to build the three teachers’ quarters in Region 8 must be redone to include the necessary fire safety measures in the construction process.

CANNES,  (Reuters) – French director Justine Triet became the third female director to win the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or on Saturday, beating out 20 other films in competition for the top prize.

Dear Editor,  In recent letters to the press, Robin Singh, a person who is yet to apologise for publicly labelling me and some members of civil society treasonous, is peddling more illogic.

On Thursday, a $34 million Infectious Diseases Centre was commissioned in Lethem, according to the Department of Public Information (DPI) Prime Minister Mark Phillips highlighted the importance of the health sector and government’s commitment to ensuring that all Guyanese have access to adequate services.

Guyanese Alicia Bess-Anderson, who has been successful at several local and international pageants in the past, returned to form earlier this month when she walked away with the crown at the Believe to Achieve Foundation’s sixth Miss International Elegant Mothers Pageant held in St Maarten.

Photographer Keron Bruce has lost a $150 million lawsuit he had brought against social media personality Mikhail Rodrigues, popularly known as “Guyanese Critic,” whom he said had defamed him.

ANKARA, (Reuters) – Turks vote today in a presidential runoff that could see Tayyip Erdogan extend his rule into a third decade and intensify Turkey’s increasingly authoritarian path, muscular foreign policy and unorthodox economic governance.

(Reuters) – Nicaraguan police said yesterday they are investigating several dioceses of the Catholic Church for money laundering, a day after local media reported that the bank accounts of parishes in the Central American country had been frozen.

Dear Editor, I read with approval the caption `President says committed to setting up CoI into Mahdia tragedy’. 

DUBAI/CAIRO,  (Reuters) – Khartoum was calmer yesterday as a seven-day ceasefire appeared to reduce fighting between two rival military factions although it has not yet provided the promised humanitarian relief to millions trapped in the Sudanese capital.

Monday morning, May 22, we all woke to shocking and horrific news!

I saw a post on social media last week on the Tourism Guyana page that had me salivating, and a caption that made me think.

Today I want to look at nutrition facts that seem pretty obvious but a lot of people appear to miss.

MEXICO CITY,  (Reuters) – A move by Mexico’s energy regulator to declare some natural gas-fired power as “clean” drew criticism from environmental groups that say the change will not help the country reach its clean energy targets.

Colts and University of Guyana (UG) Trojans recorded dissimilar wins when the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association ‘Fundraiser U23 Matches’ were staged on Friday evening at the Burnham Court, Parade Ground.

Guyana is mourning. We have experienced the worst mass fire in our history and 19 children (18 of them girls) lost their lives.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, CMC – A first-half double from Anabelle Chukwu sank Jamaica’s Reggae Girls, as Canada put them to the sword with a 4-0 drubbing in their opening game of the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship.

Guyanese literature was highly celebrated last February with the return of the Guyana Prize for Literature and its concomitant Literary Festival during the Republic anniversary observations.

Defending boys’ division winners Charlestown suffered their first loss going down to Westminster whilst Bartica and Waramuri clinched commanding wins in the girl’s section in the ExxonMobil U14 Football Championship yesterday at the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) ground, Carifesta Avenue.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Newly-appointed white-ball head coach Daren Sammy said the “numbers don’t lie” about the performance of West Indies in One-day and Twenty20 Internationals, but the analytics also revealed there was hope for a change in fortunes of the two sides.

Santos, Beacons, and Westside secured hard-fought wins when the inaugural Isun’s Health-Conscious Master’s Football League continued on Friday at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground, Bourda.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Revenge will fuel Gujarat Titans’ title defence when they clash with four-time winners Chennai Super Kings in today’s Indian Premier League (IPL) final in Ahmedabad.

Smallie, as he is known, was probably the most dangerous inmate in the Guyana prison system.

MANCHESTER, England, CMC – Retired West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin lashed an exciting cameo as Thunder won their first game of the Charlotte Edwards Cup with a seven-wicket victory over Sunrisers here yesterday.

Having spent more than half of his life wrapped up in academia at the University of Guyana (UG) and the University of the West Indies (UWI), Dr Mark Kirton is currently working quietly in the background at home but with his heart still on tertiary education.

Chess was designed to provide endless hours of enjoyment and pleasure to the person who indulges it.

Dear Editor, Herein, I respond to Ras Khafra, who sought to give legitimacy to his mischief and self-appointment in a response to my earlier letter of Sunday, May 21, 2023.

Not a single word or words stringed together will ever be able to bring any sense of comfort to the family and friends reeling from pain after learning that they have lost loved ones in the Mahdia dorm fire.

LUCAS STOCK INDEX (LSI) The Lucas Stock Index declined 0.132 percent during the fourth period of trading in May 2023 on the sale of 131,073 shares.

Introduction The main focus of today’s column is to wrap-up consideration of the World Bank’s Staff Conclusions reached in its Guyana SCD (Systematic Country Diagnostic), 2020.

Leading up to the 57th Anniversary of Guyana’s Independence, a searing tragedy occurred in which fire destroyed the girls’ dormitory of the Mahdia Secondary School and took the lives of 19 children, all but one being girls.

A Lost Girl Speaks Do not consider that I lived in vain consider I lived a while in wonder and will now forever live for you.

William Thijs, who describes himself as a former dancer, who is passionate about the growth and evolution of dance in Guyana, has secured the Hip Hop International franchise, which will allow Guyanese the opportunity to participate in the World Hip Hop Dance Competition (WHHDC).

A teenager was found hanging yesterday in the backlands of Anna Regina.

Aristotle, a Greek philosopher once said “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

In this week’s edition of In Search of West Indies Cricket Roger Seymour revisits a day during the 1997 Nortel West Indies Youth Cricket Tournament hosted by Guyana.

As the Local Government Elections (LGE)  date of June 12 edges closer, the joint services, as is the norm, will cast their ballots earlier, on June 2.