Daily Archive: Monday, September 10, 2012

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – Andy Murray fought off Novak Djokovic to win an epic U.S.

The new roll-on/roll-off ferry vessel ‘MV Kanawan’ today made its long-awaited first commercial trip from Parika to Supenaam, with a total of 46 passengers, 9 trucks, 3 canters and 2 cars on board.

(Reuters) – Bahamas Petroleum Company Plc said its oil drilling permits were renewed by the newly elected government of Bahamas, ending months of speculation that they would not be extended.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuela’s famously anti-capitalist president, Hugo Chavez, has urged rich voters to back him or face “civil war,” while his opponent sought to reassure the poor he will not abandon popular socialist welfare policies if he wins next month’s election.

KABUL, (Reuters) – The Afghan Taliban said today they were doing everything in their power to try to kidnap or kill Britain’s Prince Harry, who arrived in Afghanistan last week to fly attack helicopters.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Half of all people of South Asian, African and African Caribbean descent living in Britain will develop diabetes by age 80, scientists said on Monday in research which also points to an alarming future for rates of the disease in Africa and Asia.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Scientists have found nature’s way of creating colour that never fades, a technique they say could replace pigments used in industry with natural plant extracts in products from food colouring to security features in banknotes.

HAVANA,  (Reuters) – A failure in a main transmission line in central Cuba caused a blackout that cut electricity for hours to more than half the country on Sunday night, but now power has been mostly restored, the government said today.

SIERRA DE PARIMA, Venezuela, (Reuters) – Indigenous Yanomami villagers at the center of an investigation into a possible massacre deep in the Amazon jungle have told visiting journalists and government officials that no killings took place.

DUBAI,  (Reuters) – Pakistan went from the sublime to the disastrous against Australia today, recording their lowest Twenty20 international total and suffering their heaviest defeat in the shortest form of the game.

LONDON, (Reuters) – The world’s most advanced vaccine against dengue fever, being developed by French drugmaker Sanofi SA, proved far less effective than hoped in a clinical trial in Thailand, researchers reported today.

HAVANA,  (Reuters) – Prominent Cuban dissident Marta Beatriz Roque began a hunger strike today along with 12 others to bring attention to what she described as the government’s persecution of its opponents.

(Jamaica Observer) WESTMORELAND, Jamaica — Rev Paul Lewis, the US-based Jamaican-born televangelist who had been on sex-related charges here, was today freed of a charge of perverting the course of justice when he appeared in the Savanna-la-Mar Resident Magistrate’s Court.

(Jamaica Gleaner) A diplomatic stand-off between Jamaica and Zimbabwe seems to be bubbling following recent comments attributed to the president of the African country, Robert Mugabe, who has been quoted as labelling Jamaican men “drunkards and perennially hooked on marijuana”.

 (Jamaica Gleaner) Opposition leader Andrew Holness says the country could collapse, if the government fails to negotiate a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuela has dropped weapons charges against the American captain of a U.S.-flagged

(Barbados Nation) More than 2,000 jobs could be created over the next five years as a result of the Caribbean Digital Media Centre (CDMC) which was officially launched last Friday at the Harbour Industrial Estate.

Guyana’s Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett says Guyanese continue to be unfairly targeted by authorities in Trinidad.

The Community Policing Organisation today expressed shock at the passing of former Police Commissioner Henry Greene and lauded his work.

Murders down 12%, armed robberies up 23% over last year Police statistics for up to August this year compared to the same period last year showed that serious crime was down by 2% but armed robberies were up by 23%.

OSLO,  (Reuters) – The world needs to find the equivalent of the flow of 20 Nile rivers by 2025 to grow enough food to feed a rising population and help avoid conflicts over water scarcity, a group of former leaders said today.

(de Ware Tijd) THE HAGUE — After the political reshuffling of the cabinet, President Bouterse is now drastically restructuring the administrative management at the ministries.

(de Ware Tijd) TAMANSARIE/PARAMARIBO – People were elated on the prospects of a new sugar factory in the District of Commewijne.

(Trinidad Guardian) Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams yesterday suggested that media workers seek police assistance before venturing into high-risk areas to carry out their assignments.

(Trinidad Express) A 22-year-old Valencia man was gunned down yesterday afternoon near the home of his relatives located off Sparrow Drive, Petit Valley.

(Jamaica Observer) Former 100m world record holder Asafa Powell says he will bounce back from the disappointment of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

VIENNA,  (Reuters) – The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief pressed Iran today to grant his inspectors immediate access to the Parchin military site, where they believe Tehran may have conducted explosives tests relevant to the development of nuclear weapons.

Arson caused Saturday night’s fire at the Jainarine Singh Building on Croal Street according to Fire Chief Marlon Gentle who yesterday said that fire investigators found a burnt gasoline bottle which still had some gasoline inside and a broken glass bottle that is believed to have been used to start the fire.

Describing the continued non-access by the opposition to the National Communica-tions Network (NCN) as “intolerable”, Opposition Leader David Granger yesterday stated that APNU will bring “sanctions against them [NCN] in the National Assembly.”

By Johann Earle In Jeju, South Korea Former President Bharrat Jagdeo has declined to respond to the ongoing controversy surrounding his acquisition of two properties in a relatively short time and the uncapped nature of his benefits and other facilities which have been hot button topics for the opposition and other observers in recent days, saying that he will break his silence on the matter when he returns home.

Saying that he understands that “mistakes can be made”, Opposition Leader David Granger yesterday said that there is need for duplicates to be made of parliamentary records and stored at different locations.

It now appears that hassar from the infamous Tobago Hill, Northwest project escaped to freedom through “damaged water pathways” in the ponds.

The lifeless body of a 15-year-old boy was yesterday afternoon pulled from the Lama Conservancy, commonly called the `Blacka’.

The Ministry of Human Services is working with the contractor of the Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintegra-tion at Onverwagt, Region Five, to ensure that the facility is operational by December, according to Minister, Jennifer Webster.

“Several dozens” of statements have been gathered from people in Linden for handing over to the Commission of Inquiry into the July 18, 2012 Linden protestors’ shooting, Regional Chairman of Region Ten, Sharma Solomon said yesterday.

By Neil Barry Sport pundits commonly use the phrase “Cometh the hour, cometh the man” to describe a sportsman who saves his best performances for the most important  moment of his playing career.

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has written to the Secretary of the Linden Commission of Inquiry objecting to the appointment to the commission of two attorneys who it says are closely connected to Attorney General Anil Nandlall.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados,  CMC – The West Indies cricket team flew out of the region yesterday, confidence high, enroute to Sri Lanka for the ICC World Twenty20 tournament.

Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud is not too concerned about the move by WWF France to have oil drilling off the Guianas halted, saying that Guyana will ensure that all environmental safeguards in place.

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – Serena Williams won the U.S. Open women’s singles title at Flushing Meadows yesterday, beating world number one Victoria Azarenka 6-2 2-6 7-5 in a dramatic final to capture her 15th career grand slam title.

Opposition Leader David Granger yesterday said that A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) nominated someone who is going to “look after the public’s interest” to the governing board of the Guyana National Broad-casting Authority (GNBA) and that he could not speak to the  “competence” of the other members of the authority.

Sandeep Chand and his partner Godfrey Lowden got past siblings Seanden and Saevion David-Longe in the men’s doubles category when the first matches of the annual Trophy Stall Doubles Tennis Tournament commenced  Friday at the Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel courts.

The Ministry of Health, Pan American Health Organisa-tion/World Health Organisa-tion (PAHO/WHO) and the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) last week hosted a three-day workshop with health care workers aimed at improving their skills in investigating and controlling disease outbreaks.

BAGHDAD,  (Reuters) – Car bombs tore through mainly Shi’ite Baghdad districts yesterday after Iraq’s fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi was sentenced to death, as more than 100 people were killed across the country in one of the bloodiest days this year.

The Neal and Massy Guyana Group made financial and other donations to 23 charities in Demerara, Essequibo, Berbice and Linden at its third annual charitable event held on Wednesday.

The window of opportunity of Alika Morgan’s promising athletic career seemed to be closing at a faster pace after being once again disenfranchised by the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) at the South American Under-23 Championship trials held a week ago.

Guyana’s long distance king Cleveland Forde yesterday proved that he is far from relinquishing his crown by winning the AINLIM 10k road race comfortably the race ending in front of the company’s head office.

AMMAN,  (Reuters) – Two bombs exploded simultaneously yesterday next to Syrian army compounds in the northern city of Aleppo, killing and wounding scores of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, residents and opposition activists said.

Courts Guyana Limited gave 26 of its lucky customers who purchased TCL television sets and Samsung Smart TVs their goods free while six of them walked away with Samsung Galaxy Tablets, at a presentation ceremony hosted on Tuesday.

School is the primary reason cited by Guyanese World Junior 400m Silver medallist Kadecia Baird for missing the South American Under 23 championships which will be held in Brazil September 28 -30.

The East Canje, Berbice family members who were involved in Friday morning’s West Demerara  accident are recovering slowly from their injuries at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).

JERUSALEM,  (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cancellation of a security cabinet session on Iran following a media leak last week laid bare a conundrum long troubling Israeli strategists: could they count on any element of surprise in a war on their arch-foe?

Dear Editor, What a slap in the face to students. The University of Guyana Turkeyen announces “improvements” in new academic year.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – P. Chidambaram has a simple message for investors disillusioned by India’s policy drift: it is no longer ‘business as usual’ in the corridors of North Block, the sandstone colonial building that houses the finance ministry in New Delhi.

Dear Editor, I seek to respond to a letter (‘Jagdeo observed the ten-year condition attached to the transport for Pradoville I land to the letter‘) written by the learned Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr Anil Nandlall, and published by the Stabroek News on September 7, in response to my missive titled ‘The evidence shows that former President Jagdeo got preferential treatment for Pradoville II land,’ published by the Stabroek News on September 4.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – High Performance Centre head coach, Graeme West believes conditions on the upcoming tour of Bangladesh will be a major test for his fledgling side.

Police say that at about 1100h on Saturday, fisherman Shameer Safeek, 44 years of Good Hope, ECD, and three crew members were fishing in the Pomeroon, Essequibo area when they

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad,  CMC-Barbados, without four key players, lost to Afghanistan by five wickets, to finish the Asia vs.

Dear Editor, The growing number of road fatalities should be of concern not only to road users but to all who care about life.

(Trinidad Guardian) The biggest fraud cases in this country’s history—which saw billions of dollars in taxpayers money allegedly being pumped into the pockets of the United National Congress (UNC) financiers—are expected to be dismissed later this week.

Over 60 high-level delegates from 18 countries across the Central America and Carib-bean regions concluded a milestone meeting in Belize on Tuesday resulting in the signing of the Belize Declara-tion on Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) aimed at harmonizing fisheries management and development across 24 states.

TORONTO, (Reuters) – Cult novel “Cloud Atlas” was once considered unfilmable.

Dear Editor, It was impossible to obtain statistical data on the premier Essequibo batsmen of yesteryear.

(Jamaica Gleaner) An Afghan man with United States (US)citizenship has been detained and is now under investigation by the local US Embassy and the police for suspected links to terrorist organisations.

Northern Rangers are the 2012 Grassroots Under-13 champs coming out winners by virtue of having a better goal average in the competition played Saturday at Banks DIH Limited Thirst Park ground.

(Barbados Nation) Grounded Barbadian-based airline REDjet owes well in excess of Bds$2 million in landing and other fees to the airports of Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, but under a new company plan, just released to creditors, the airports will only get back Bds$580 000 collectively.

Dear Editor, I have read Vishnu Bisram’s letter in Thursday’s edition of your newspaper regarding my response (SN, Sept 2) to his initial letter (SN, Aug 31) on the upcoming US election. 

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – A new day brought the old familiar Novak Djokovic back to the U.S.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – The North American box office hit a slump at the weekend, with top earner “The Possession” taking in less than $10 million and what could be the gloomiest overall haul since the aftermath of the Sept.

(Trinidad Express) Five killings in ten hours, including that of a 51-year-old mother of eight, between Friday night and Saturday morning, have pushed the country’s murder toll to 289 for the year so far.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – A bible which once belonged to Elvis Presley and contains his handwritten notes and thoughts has sold for 59,000 pounds ($94,600) at an auction in England, the auction house said.

Interviews and Photos by Mandy Thompson This week we asked persons at the Amerindian Heritage Month exhibition at the National Exhibition Centre in Sophia their thoughts about the exhibition, what can be improved next year and what have they seen on display that is interesting.

By Marlise Andrews Think of a space where Caribbean artists meet to share and interact.

Shrouding the contretemps between the government and Fedders-Lloyd over the contract for the specialty hospital is the stark fact that the infrastructure for the most rigorous examination of complaints by bidders – the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) – is still not in existence, more than a decade after it was catered for in groundbreaking constitutional reform.

Politikles

Dear Editor, One would believe that with the advent of electronic gadgets in the developed world, books would have become unpopular as a social pastime.

Taking literacy seriously:

Introduction Last week, we looked at the Public Service Commission (PSC) that is constitutionally empowered to appoint, discipline and remove public officers.

(Trinidad Express) Congress of the People (COP) vice-chairman Vernon De Lima’s motion to have National Security Minister Jack Warner removed from Cabinet failed by majority vote yesterday.