Daily Archive: Saturday, January 9, 2010

…as gunmen attack Safraz’s Bar A waitress was shot dead last night as gunmen went on a five-minute rampage at Safraz’s Bar and Restaurant, injuring three other persons.

Graphically highlighted by a skit, the mining industry yesterday expressed profound disagreement with a proposed six-month notice before any mining can commence.

Vibert Weeks, 28, of North East La Penitence, Georgetown was pronounced dead on arrival at a private hospital this morning after being riddled with bullets by a gunman outside of the Red Dragon on Robb Street.

A 28-year-old labourer of Shieldstown, West Bank Berbice succumbed to injuries he sustained to his face and head during a beating around 8:30 pm on Boxing Day and two persons have since been arrested.

The Guyana Bauxite & General Workers Union (GB&GWU) met the Ethnic Relations Commission yesterday over the two-month-old wage impasse at Aroaima and called for a public enquiry into their complaint of discrimination.

Eugene Frank was yesterday placed on bail in the sum of $70,000 when he appeared at the Georgetown Magis-trate’s Court to answer to a charge of exhibiting obscene photos of a female.

The Food and Drug Department has announced that a voluntary recall of Tylenol Arthritis Pain Caplets has been issued.

With eyes firmly fixed on the upcoming Las Vegas IRB USA international seven-a-side rugby tournament, the players on the national rugby team will today commence training under the close scrutiny of West Indies Rugby team’s head coach, Joe Whipple.

The Georgetown Cricket Association’s (GCA) Life Skills Programme got a shot in the arm yesterday with a donation of $100,000 from the firm M.

Some Digicel customers will have the opportunity to win millions of dollars when the company holds the final Merry Mansion television game show this month.

By Marlon Munroe Reserve player Gajanand Singh completed his century on the final morning of the second trial match which ended in a draw after the match was called off at tea yesterday at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground yesterday.

The Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) has set up additional sites to deal with queries over the distribution of fertilizer vouchers.

Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson ordered that a Jamaican who appeared before her at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday, pay a fine of $40,000 and that he return to his homeland as soon as possible.

The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) on Thursday in collaboration with the Guyana Softball League and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, launched a 10/10 countrywide softball tournament.

Local golfers will have an early start to the 2010 season with the first tournament set to take place today at the Lusignan Golf Club, East Coast Demerara.

Sonia Noel is the kind of woman for whom it seems there is never a dull moment.

The three police officers who were hauled in for questioning after $3.4 million went missing from the Eve Leary Finance Office have been released.

(BBC) Floyd Mayweather Jr. is “thoroughly disgusted” at the suggestion that he is to blame for the collapse of a super-fight against Manny Pacquiao.

Yes I know, I know. Bah! Humbug! was Ebenezer Scrooge’s Christmas greeting, but it’s what my new year feels like: I am tired and broke!

Notice has been served in the National Assembly of PNCR-1G MP Deborah Backer’s intention to move a motion to have Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh questioned before the Parliamentary Committee of Privileges in relation to the motion he moved to have her disciplined.

Hi Everyone, “I ain’t seen you since last year!” A corny joke, it’s true, but we all do it every New Years and this, after all, is my first column for 2010.

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand,  CMC – Captain Andre Creary stroked a half-century but West Indies Under-19s still went under by six wickets in their second unofficial warm-up match against a full-strength Northern Districts team on Thursday as they continued their build-up to the ICC Under-19 World Cup.

Members of the Washburn University were in Guyana recently on a fact-finding mission to observe whether an entrepreneurial centre similar to one the university has set up in Kansas, USA can work here.

INNSWOOD, Jamaica, CMC – Nikita Miller tore though the Windward Islands batting to hand defending champions Jamaica the upper hand in the WICB Regional four-day, first-class yesterday.

KINGSTON, Jamaica,  CMC – Leeward Islands’ batsmen stumbled and stuttered and their bowlers then proved listless, as Barbados grabbed the upper hand on the opening day of the first round of matches in the WICB Regional Four-Day, first class season yesterday.

Local Islamic groups are hosting their 13th Annual Cultural Programme tomorrow to mark the beginning of the Islamic New Year 1431.

There is a pot of social commentary brewing in the Mashramani Calypso Competition this year which is expected to kick off in early February and some of the usual suspects are lined up and ready to take on a string of newcomers.

Dear Editor, I wish to refer to AFC Executive Member Mr Sewnauth Punalall’s column entitled ‘Crop Insurance Required for Our Farmers’ dated January 3, 2010, in the Kaieteur News, in which he argued that Guyana needs to increased micro-financing for small entrepreneurs and have a coordinated approach to crop insurance in order to address the issue of food security. 

Peter Yates’ charming 1979 film, Breaking Away, is the first selection for Classic Tuesdays for the year and will be screened next Tuesday at 6 pm, at the National Gallery, Castellani House, Vlissengen Road, Georgetown.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, CMC – Opener Omar Phillips missed out on a century but was forced to share the spotlight with Trinidad and Tobago’s spinners as they restricted the Combined Campuses and Colleges to 191 for seven at the close of the opening day of the WICB Regional Four-Day first class tournament yesterday.

-USAID Mission Director The successful completion of the US-funded two-year Guyana Threshold Country Plan/Implementation Project (GTCP/IP), has placed the government in a better position to raise more revenue and to implement more strategic and efficient economic plans, Mission Director of USAID Carol Horning says.

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – Danilo Gallinari drained a pair  of late three-pointers to help the New York Knicks seal a 97-93  victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Thursday.

LONDON (Reuters) – No two lists are the same, but as pop pundits gaze into their crystal balls at the start of a new decade it is single female acts who look destined for the top, at the expense of indie bands.

(Jamaica Observer) – Prime Minister Bruce Golding admitted on Wednesday evening to feeling the pressure of his job, but disclosed an unorthodox way of tackling the stress of the nation’s problems; he heads for the kitchen.

Dear Editor, Mr Robert Corbin, the Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition, in his New Year message (‘Downward spiral will continue unless…’ SN, 1.1.10) repeated the now hackneyed truism that “breaking the cycle of division and ethnic polarization in the country is an important key for unlocking the potential of the country’s people to ensure a prosperous future.”

-Persaud Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud has tasked the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) with ensuring that Mahaicony Rice Limited (MRL) pays farmers for the current crop.

Dear Editor, My telephone 220-2512 was reported to 097 as being out of order on Monday, December 21, 2009.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – President Hugo Chavez devalued  Venezuela’s bolivar currency yesterday, attempting to  resuscitate local production but running the risk of worsening  inflation in the South American oil-exporter’s flagging  economy.

LOME/LUANDA, (Reuters) – Unknown assailants opened  fire on the coach carrying Togo’s national football squad to the  top African tournament in Angola yesterday, killing the driver  and wounding four others, a Togolese official said.

(Antigua Sun) – After having been denied bail last December (2009) in the St John’s Magistrates’ Court, a Guyanese woman charged with forging an Antigua and Barbuda immigration extension stamp has finally been released until her trial.

One of the three men, who had been charged with the kidnapping of the daughter of Pike Street businessman Beharry ‘Natoo’ Dookie last year, yesterday reappeared in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court charged with failing to give information to the police in relation to the matter.

(EUR) A rep for Keyshia Cole has officially confirmed the singer’s pregnancy and announced she is engaged to the baby’s father, Cleveland Cavaliers player Daniel “Boobie” Gibson.

Dear Editor, With reference to Syeada Manbodh’s letter of January 6 (SN, ‘Spay pets in 2010’), I must say what a great advocate Syeada is for the voiceless animals.

(EUR) After winning Favourite R&B artist at the People’s Choice Awards on Wednesday night, Mariah Carey went backstage and attempted to explain to the press her bizarre behaviour from the night before.

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – Left-arm swing bowler Wayne  Parnell and leg-spinner Imran Tahir have been added to South  Africa’s squad for the fourth test against England, Cricket  South Africa (CSA) announced yesterday.

(Jamaica Observer) – The majority of the more than 51,000 offensive weapons seized by the police last year, were taken from children and persons who loiter in public spaces, Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Glenmore Hinds disclosed.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The United States yesterday  denied President Hugo Chavez’s assertion a U.S.

An 80-year-old man died on Thursday after he was hit by a car at the junction of Norton and Chapel streets.

(Jamaica Gleaner) – The Jamaica Constabulary Force has released the murder figures for 2009.

The University of Guyana (UG) says its library will be opened on some Sundays from 10am to 5pm.

A year-end report on criminal gangs in Trinidad and Tobago offers little hope that violent crime there, or elsewhere in the Caribbean, will be significantly reduced during the next decade.

(Billboard) Let’s coin a new term to describe Kara DioGuardi. Instead of a multihyphenate, she’s a mega-hyphenate.

DHAKA, (Reuters) – Upul Tharanga and Mahela  Jayawardene struck centuries as Sri Lanka romped to a nine-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the tri-series One-day tournament in Dhaka yesterday.

Dear Editor, The Opposition Leader of T&T, Basdeo Panday, faces a tough challenge to his leadership of the UNC party he founded 20 years ago. 

NEW YORK – Federal authorities yesterday arrested two men  linked to a suspected al Qaeda-inspired bomb plot after one of  them led the FBI on a high-speed chase during which he invoked  the name of Allah in a 911 call, a law-enforcement source said.

Fifty lucky shoppers of the N & N Supermarket at Bush Lot and Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice won food hampers worth $5,000 when their names were drawn from entries submitted from November 1 to January 6.

Vibert Weeks, 28, of North East La Penitence, Georgetown was pronounced dead on arrival at a private hospital this morning after being riddled with bullets by a gunman outside of the Red Dragon on Robb Street.

A waitress was shot dead last night as gunmen went on a five-minute rampage at Safraz’s Bar and Restaurant on David and Lamaha streets, injuring three other persons.