News

An Annandale resident who allegedly set herself ablaze on Wednesday was up to yesterday in a critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).

Public Health Minister George Norton says the long anticipated Tobacco Control Bill, which will see a ban on smoking in public places and controls on tobacco advertisement, will be placed on the order paper within a matter of weeks once it has gained the approval of experts.

An ex-convict, who committed a series of fraudulent conversions and obtained money by false pretence, said that after spending over seven years in jail his life is now transformed and he wants to apologize to everyone he would have wronged, as he now totally regrets his actions.

Saying the public education system “is not truly free,” Education Minister Dr Rupert Roopnaraine hopes to do away with the need for extra lessons that can cost parents hundreds of thousands of dollars a month.

Newly-appointed Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams on Thursday said the pillars of the rule of law have to be restored and he signalled the likelihood of more judges being appointed with emoluments that would make it worth their while.

(Reuters) The European Union’s chief executive declined to speak to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras yesterday after the leftist leader rejected as “absurd” international creditors’ terms for a cash-for-reform deal to keep his country from default.

Investigators are hopeful that surveillance footage they have managed to obtain will be useful in leading them to those responsible for the murder of rice farmer Hardat Kissoon, who was shot dead during a robbery last Monday.

ROME (Reuters) More than 2,000 migrants were rescued from five wooden boats in the Mediterranean yesterday and as many as seven other vessels have been reported at sea, the privately funded Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) and Italy’s coastguard said.

The suspect in the fatal shooting of Manu Durant is still at large, Crime Chief Leslie James said yesterday.

A man was arrested on Friday morning in East Ruimveldt after a report was made that he discharged his firearm, the police said in a statement.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A manhunt was underway for two convicted murderers who pulled off an elaborate overnight escape from adjoining cells in a New York state maximum security prison near the border with Canada, police said yesterday.

A 16-year-old girl was on Friday remanded to prison for allegedly attempting to murder her friend in Lethem.

Geeta Boodhoo clutches her left arm reflexively; its hand has been severed.

LONDON (Reuters) – More than 50 lawmakers from David Cameron’s Conservative Party are to join a campaign backing Britain’s exit from the European Union unless the British prime minister achieves radical changes in the bloc, according to today’s Telegraph newspaper.

Four persons including a Police Constable and two females are currently in police custody in relation to the discovery of an AK-47 rifle and 32 rounds.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s government has moved about 40,000 federal police, soldiers and marines into several restive southern states to try to safeguard today’s midterm elections, a source close to the operation said yesterday.

The holding of a 13-year-old girl in the police lock-ups for close to a week after she ran away with an adult male has once again raised the issue of there being a more educated police force and Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan said that he will work to ensure that this is the last case of minors being placed in adult lockups.

(Reuters Health) – In the loudest parts of the US, reducing hazardous noise levels – a risk factor for high blood pressure and heart disease – could save more than $3 billion annually, according to a new economic assessment.

At about 1430h. today, the police say that a businessman, who is also a licensed firearm holder, was at a snackette at Grove, EBD, when four men on two motor cycles drove up.

Government has approved the release of monies to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to ensure that operations at the sugar corporation return to normalcy, GINA said yesterday.