Daily Archive: Saturday, February 28, 2015

Venezuela has objected to the planned offshore exploration for oil in local waters by US company Exxon, the latest effort by Caracas to thwart Guyana’s search for petroleum.

The newly formed A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change coalition today held a workshop at the Oceanview Convention Centre to fine tune campaign strategies and plans.

PERTH, Australia, CMC – Windward Islands batsman Johnson Charles has been called up to replace Darren Bravo in the West Indies World Cup squad.

NCN will be airing an interview with PPP/C PM candidate Elisabeth Harper this afternoon.

The University of Guyana administration and the two unions which called a strike five weeks ago this morning committed to sign two agreements  which should clear the way for classes to resume.

AUCKLAND, (Reuters) – Kane Williamson coolly struck a straight six to give New Zealand a one wicket victory over Australia in a dramatic battle between the cricket World Cup hosts at Eden Park today.

Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang has directed the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) to account for the contentious $3B loan agreement signed by both agencies last month.

Several senior employees of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE) hired on the directive of Minister Robert Persaud are being paid significant sums by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) even though their exact job portfolios and the value of their work is unclear to the agency.

Of the $361.4 million disbursed by the State as financial assistance for medical treatment in the 2012-2013 period, the majority – over $200 million – was spent on top government officials and their associates and the opposition yesterday questioned the absence of a structured policy.

By Sharda Bacchus   A Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) engineer was gunned down yesterday morning in a suspected hit along the Little Diamond Public Road, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

A terminally-ill woman, whose six-year-old son has been in State care all his life, is fighting to prevent his adoption by an American couple because she wants to be reunited with him.

‘My husband was brutalised and killed by the police and something should be done to stop this from happening to others.

An autopsy conducted yesterday on the body of Zaharudeen Rozan, a detainee who died in the lock-ups at the Parika Police Station, has found evidence that he suffered an epileptic seizure, police said yesterday.

Travis Lowenfield, the bus conductor who was shot in the gut on Thursday, succumbed early yesterday morning at the George-town Public Hospital (GPH) and two persons have since been held.

Five weeks into a strike at the University of Guyana, it remains unclear when classes will resume and a workers’ union official said they will be meeting the Ministry of Labour today and hopefully, the issues can be resolved.

The prosecution yesterday closed its case in the Neesa Gopaul murder trial, after the cross-examination of a state witness, who firmly disagreed with suggestions by the defence that her testimony in the matter was given in exchange for a reduction in her prison sentence.

Sacked Magistrate Chandra Sohan is preparing to challenge the decision to terminate his services, which he thinks may have been due to him being in the way of whomever is being elevated to be the next Chief Magistrate.

At a Republic flag raising ceremony on Sunday that saw the booing of government minister Juan Edghill and a confrontation involving MP Vanessa Kissoon, Region Ten Chairman Sharma Solomon called on all eligible voters in the region to vote at the upcoming May 11 general elections.

Murder accused Ojay Van Gourie, also called ‘OJ,’ and Troy Holligan, called ‘Shatta,’ walked free from the berbice High Court on Thursday after Justice Brassington Reynolds upheld a no-case submission put forward by their attorney Peter Hugh.

    Another adjournment has been granted for the sentencing of Samuel Hinds Jnr, who has been found guilty of assaulting and threatening the sister of his partner.

SYDNEY, Australia, CMC – West Indies were stunned back to reality following their recent revival, suffering the joint worst-ever defeat in World Cup history as South Africa claimed a massive 257-run victory in their ICC Cricket World Cup contest here yesterday.

SYDNEY, Australia, CMC – Chris Gayle has come in for high praise for World Cup legend Clive Lloyd, who has compared the opener’s strength that of former West Indies batting supremo Sir Vivian Richards.

At 40-years-old, Alisha Fortune is not letting age be the barrier to pushing her sporting boundaries.

Banks DIH Limited and The Trophy Stall have been added to the list of sponsors for the inaugural E-Networks Crossfit Games tomorrow.

SYDNEY, Australia, CMC – South Africa skipper AB de Villiers has backed his young West Indies counterpart Jason Holder to succeed as captain, and says he also expects the Caribbean side to pose a threat in the ongoing World Cup.

The New GPC will be assisting the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) financially and with medical supplies as the ruggers prepare for international engagements.

SYDNEY, Australia, CMC – Captain Jason Holder says West Indies are confident of still making the second round of the World Cup of the World Cup, and has urged his side to quickly forget yesterday’s thrashing at the hands of South Africa.

Dear Editor, On February 23 I took some time out from my Mashramani revelry to pay a visit to the Sevens Ponds (Place of Heroes) in the Botanical Gardens.

(Reuters) – A man shot and killed seven people in a house-to-house shooting spree in a sparsely populated part of Missouri before shooting himself, the state Highway Patrol said yesterday.

MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – Mexico captured its most wanted drug lord yesterday, former primary school teacher Servando “La Tuta” Gomez, and delivered a boost to a government battered by gang violence.

MOSCOW, (Reuters) – Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s involvement in the war in Ukraine, was shot dead steps from the Kremlin in central Moscow late yesterday.

Dear Editor, Having written to the press on the Guyana Prize and receiving replies to statements he made, Ruel Johnson begs off from continuing the discussion (‘Knowledgeable persons need to be brought together…’ SN, February 26) saying it is “ad hoc cross talking” in which he is too busy to engage and finds tedious.

For the second year the GBTI/Buxton Steel Orchestra walked away with the first prize for the school big band category in the Mash Steel Panorama competition and it is testimony to the hard work of the young members who have taken to steel pan.

Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and The Jewel runs until March 5 at the Theatre Guild and those who haven’t seen it yet should make the time to do so.

Dear Editor, Unlike Guyanese at home, who have traditionally voted for a party based on ethnic affiliation, Guyanese abroad are accustomed to observing, even participating, in elections that feature bread-and-butter or social issues.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Cuban and U.S. officials held a second round of talks yesterday toward normalizing ties and both sides said they made good progress, although they did not set a date for renewal of diplomatic relations that Washington severed 54 years ago.

(The Sports Xchange) – -LeBron James scored a season-high 42 points, guard Kyrie Irving added 24 and the Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors 110-99 for their 18th victory in 20 games.

UNITED NATIONS, (Reuters) – The United Nations Security Council yesterday condemned what it described as the latest “barbaric terrorist acts” in Iraq by Islamic State militants, including the destruction of priceless religious and cultural artifacts.

Dear Editor, Even though we may not be able to convince Mr D Sookdeo, a former Assistant Chief Labour Officer, that his comments about the role of the Ministry of Labour are ill-founded and derisory, we will nevertheless attempt to clarify his obviously false and spurious misconceptions.

Hi Everyone,  Last weekend I bought 2 breadfruit. I cooked one on Saturday and promised myself that I’d cook the other one on Sunday, and store it in the refrigerator to have with my meals during the week.

A story which appeared in the February 26 edition of this newspaper, emanating from the Anna Regina Magistrate’s Court, headlined “Seventeen year old sentenced to 18 months for fraudulent conversion” had incorrectly stated that the convict, Troy Singh, was 17 years old.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuelan military officers are questioning four American missionaries after they took part in a health initiative and distributed medicine in a coastal village, the head of a Venezuelan evangelical group said yesterday.

SYDNEY, Australia, CMC – Top order batsman Darren Bravo has been ruled out of the ICC Cricket World Cup after failing to recover in time from a hamstring injury.

LUSAKA, (Reuters) – Zambia’s former mines minister, Maxwell Mwale, was jailed for corruption on Friday, in a rare case that prompted calls for a wider crackdown on graft among public officials.

DHAKA, (Reuters) – Machete-wielding assailants hacked to death a blogger in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, in the latest of a series of attacks on writers who support freethinking values in the Muslim-majority nation.

Dear Editor, When partners reach the stage in any organisation, domestic or otherwise, that they are not on speaking terms, it can’t get much worse.

If you are expecting me to tell you how fabulous my Mashramani was, think again!

(Reuters) – Former President Alfonso Portillo returned to Guatemala on Wednesday following his release from a U.S.

Questions about the secretly negotiated deal which approved plans for a transoceanic waterway three times as long and twice as deep as the Panama Canal stand at the centre of a heated political quarrel over government transparency in Nicaragua.

Dear Editor, The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) has reportedly taken offence over the IDB continuing to honour financial commitments to the Guyana government on the ground that elections are due to be held shortly and therefore there is an absence of parliamentary oversight over financial expenditures over resources provided by the Bank.

Beginning today and continuing until Saturday May 9, 2015, Stabroek News will publish a weekly column from the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) dealing with Civic and Voter Education.