News

Three years after prominent television broadcaster Chandra Narine Sharma was committed to stand trial in the High Court on charges of having carnal knowledge of a girl and indecent assault, he was yesterday freed after the complainants expressed a lack of interest in pursuing the case further.

In an historic decision, the Bid Protest Committee (BPC) has upheld the Communities Ministry’s award of a $221 million one-year contract to Puran Brothers Disposal Inc for the operation and maintenance of the Haags Bosch Landfill, after finding that the evaluation criteria were followed and that the company had the lowest bid.

Two police officers, accused of accepting a bribe to forgo an assault case, were yesterday each released on bail by a city magistrate after denying the crime.

One week after he found guilty and sentenced in absentia, the police yesterday issued a wanted bulletin for fugitive drug trafficker Barry Dataram and his common-law wife Anjanie Boodnarine.

Jamaal December, the police trainee who was charged last month with stealing from a fellow recruit, was on Monday sentenced to two years on probation as well as counselling for recommendation to the USAID’s Skills and Knowledge for Youth Employment (SKYE) programme.

Jewel Coats, the woman who admitted to dumping her baby on a city street because she did not want the child anymore, was yesterday fined $100,000 after she was found guilty of child endangerment.

A 65-year-old woman is now dead after she was hit down by a car driven by an Assistant Superintendent of Police at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara (WCD).

The opposition PPP/C yesterday staged protests over the government’s delay in establishing the Local Government Commission, for which the administration is still to identify its nominees.

Days after meeting GuySuCo on the future of the sugar industry, the three workers’ unions yesterday said they were disappointed at the engagement in light of the “excessively dark and pessimistic” picture that was painted by the corporation’s management.

As investigators continue to probe the more than one week old investigation into the fatal shooting outside the Rio Inn Nightclub, former murder accused Lloyd Roberts remains in custody and the High Court yesterday granted the police an extension to keep him for three more days.

Today is World Teachers’ Day, which is being observed under the theme of “Valuing Teachers, Improving their Status,” but the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) General Secretary Coretta McDonald is questioning whether local educators are indeed valued and if there is a real commitment to improving their livelihoods.

Some city council workers were yesterday finally paid wages owed to them since last month after a second day of protest action.

Bids were opened yesterday at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board for rehabilitation of Hope Bridge, East Coast Demerara.

MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte yesterday told US President Barack Obama to “go to hell” and said the United States had refused to sell some weapons to his country but he did not care because Russia and China were willing suppliers.

A jury was yesterday empaneled for the trial of Lloyd Britton in the 2013 murder of Elvis Fernandes, who was shot dead on Mandela Avenue during an argument between two motorists.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India is trying to hasten a deal with the United States to buy Predator drone aircraft for military surveillance, one of several defence and nuclear projects the two sides are pursuing in the final months of the Obama administration.

Candacie Marshall, Melissa Naughton and Oladara Christian, who were found guilty in August of fraudulently converting in excess of $48 million from Telecom Solutions Guyana Inc, were yesterday each sentenced to four years in jail.

ABUJA (Reuters) – Two of Nigeria’s 10 presidential jets have been put up for sale as part of a drive to cut costs, a spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday.

The trial of Alvin Dunga, the man accused of killing another by shooting him with a bow and arrow back in 2005 during an argument over stolen gold pieces, began yesterday before Justice Roxane George.

LES CAYES, Haiti/ GUANTANAMO, Cuba (Reuters) – The fiercest Caribbean storm in almost a decade battered Haiti’s southwest coast with 145 mile-per-hour (230 kph) winds and surging seas that flooded coastal towns yesterday, tearing at trees and rooftops before moving on to Cuba.