Daily Archive: Thursday, October 1, 2015

NASSAU, (Reuters) – Powerful Hurricane Joaquin, which battered the Bahamas with torrential rain, powerful winds and storm surges today is now seen as less likely to pose a major threat to the U.S.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – President Barack Obama today angrily called for stricter U.S.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Recently elected Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley believes West Indies cricket is being badly hampered by a lack of management, and says there was no adequate system in place to ensure the region produced a successful cricketing product.

(Reuters) – A gunman opened fire today at a community college in Oregon, killing 13 people and wounding some 20 others before he was shot to death by police, in the latest mass killing to rock a U.S.

Caricom foreign ministers meeting on the fringes of the UN General Assembly in New York have restated their support for Guyana’s territorial integrity but were non-committal on this country’s call for a juridical settlement of the long-running border controversy with Venezuela.

The police today said that a total of 142 weapons had been handed in in the one-month amnesty so far including a staggering 115 shotguns in hinterland locations and one AK 47 rifle.

(Trinidad Guardian) Some 80 employees attached to the Office of the Prime Minister Tobago Affairs were dismissed yesterday after being given termination letters.

Guyana’s children continue to be engaged in child labour in agriculture and in the worst forms of child labour in commercial sexual exploitation, according to the United States Department of Labour (DOL), which also said there is no comprehensive policy to combat child labour since the existing social programmes do not fully address the problem.

The Ministry of Indi-genous People’s Affairs, Ministry of Public Infra-structure and the Ministry of Education’s Department of Culture will work together along with the indigenous people of Guyana to rebuild the Umana Yana, which was tragically burnt to the ground about a year ago.

After enduring years of abuse, the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) now has a chance at a “fresh start” under the new APNU+AFC government, according to the body’s president Patrick Yarde who called for the immediate restoration of the Public Service Appellate Tribunal.

Private cane farmers supplying the Skeldon Sugar Factory are advocating for a reduction in payments to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) for the use of equipment saying that their profits have fallen over the years due to the increasing costs.

Pele FC jumped to the top of the standings in the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite League downing cellar occupants Buxton United 3-1 Tuesday at the Tucville Community Centre ground.

  Although plantain and banana farms across Guyana have been perishing under the onslaught of the Black Sigatoka Disease, resulting in a complete halt in the export of plantains, farmers are now becoming hopeful again as the disease can be controlled with very little or no effect on the quality of production.

Despite having the numerical advantage for most of the match, Fruta Conquerors laboured to a 2-2 draw with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) when the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite League continued on Tuesday at the Tucville Community Centre ground.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Head coach Phil Simmons has apologised to his fellow selectors and to the West Indies Cricket Board for his outburst last Friday, calling his actions “a schoolboy error in a moment of madness.”

A brand new nursing home offering on site activities such as a gym, library and a cinema, opens its doors today on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of International Day of Older Persons, according to a press release.

The Ministry of Public Security has extended the gun amnesty programme for two weeks, with the announcement coming just hours after Minister Khemraj Ramjattan lauded it as a “big success.”

The 13th edition of the South American 10k race was officially launched yesterday at the Light Street Secretariat in Alberttown during a simple press conference.

LONDON, CMC – English County Hampshire have rewarded former Barbados and West Indies fast bowler Fidel Edwards for helping them to stay in Division One by penning a new one-year contract with the 33-year-old.

Noting that government cannot function without public servants, Minister of State Joseph Harmon yesterday said that all efforts are being made to create a “strong and powerful” public service with attention being paid to training and creating links to the public though Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

A suspect is currently in police custody in connection with the murder of 36-year-old Dexter Griffith, who was shot dead in East Ruimveldt on Tuesday evening.

St. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Chairman of selectors, Clive Lloyd, has praised suspended West Indies head coach Phil Simmons for his role in helping to build the regional side but says his controversial comments were ill-advised.

A man was yesterday arrested and is currently in police custody for questioning in connection with two separate murders in the interior.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Former West Indies seamer Kenny Benjamin believes once head coach Phil Simmons was in favour of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, the selection panel should have given him their support.

ZURICH, (Reuters) – Troubled international football bodies FIFA and UEFA, both with leaders involved with a Swiss criminal investigation, have cancelled their annual staff match.

One person was taken into custody yesterday morning after police found twelve kilogrammes of marijuana in a motor vehicle.

Dear Editor, Nowhere in the media have I seen any warning about an impending El Nino drought in Guyana.

(Reuters) – The declining fortunes of West Indies cricket hit a new low yesterday when the Caribbean team failed to qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy in England.

A 23-year-old man was yesterday remanded to prison after being slapped with several counts of illegal gun and ammunition possession.

Dear Editor, I read with some sense of alarm the People Progressive Party’s (PPP) desperate attempt to besmirch the integrity of my ministry and by extension my government’s efforts to improve the lives of Guyanese.

Dear Editor, On the very auspicious occasion of Charlestown Secondary’s Golden Jubilee, please permit me to give a brief account of its history.

A man was yesterday released on bail after being accused of stealing a quantity of articles from a family friend.

MALMO, Sweden, (Reuters) – Cristiano Ronaldo joined Raul as Real Madrid’s most prolific goalscorer when he netted both goals in their 2-0 win over Malmo in Champions League Group A yesterday.

ZURICH, (Reuters) – Key nations backing European soccer boss Michel Platini as the next FIFA President are adopting a more cautious approach to his bid while Swiss authorities investigating graft at world soccer’s governing body look into a $2 million payment it made to him.

On October 31 between 7.30 am and 3 pm, Scotiabank Robb Street branch will host its annual cake sale fundraiser to aid in breast cancer prevention and treatment programmes.

Dear Editor, The recent letters of Dr Ramesh Gampat (SN, September 15) and Mr Rajendra Rampersaud (SN, September 24) in drawing attention to Guyana’s high investment/low growth puzzle raise important questions of relevance to future development strategy.

Dear Editor, As a former rice extension officer and farmer of Region Two, it was brought to my attention that some of the young extension officers at the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) are allegedly not visiting the farmers’ fields to determine the bug population and the level of infestation.

The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) trained three members of staff of the Bahamas Bureau of Standards (BBS) in Metrology (weights and measures.)

(Reuters) – Derrick Rose’s troubled tenure with the Chicago Bulls took a fresh twist on Tuesday when he suffered a facial fracture from an accidental elbow during the team’s first day of practice.

A cervical cancer awareness and screening campaign starts today, with medical teams conducting outreaches in parts of Region Four as well as Charity and Wakapoa, located in the Pomeroon riverine area of Region Two.

MANCHESTER, England, (Reuters) – Manchester United battled back after conceding a fourth-minute goal to grind out a hard-fought 2-1 victory over VfL Wolfsburg at Old Trafford yesterday, the English side’s first Champions League win of the season.

Dear Editor, Sugar is a subject I know very little of.

Dear Editor, Agriculture has always been the basis of Guyana’s development.

(Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron said his administration would not make reparations for the country’s role in the Caribbean slave trade, the BBC reported yesterday.

GLADBACH, Germany, (Reuters) – Sergio Aguero scored a last minute penalty to give Manchester City a 2-1 comeback win at Borussia Moenchengladbach yesterday to drag their Champions League campaign back on track with their first three points in Group D.

Dear Editor, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo is quoted in the press as saying that “Government could buy out the Berbice Bridge”.

(Jamaica Observer) Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday an-nounced that the British Government will help fund the construction of a prison here, where Jamaicans in-carcerated in England will complete their sentences.

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Russia launched air strikes in Syria yesterday in its biggest Middle East intervention in decades, plunging the four-year-old civil war into a volatile new phase as President Vladimir Putin moved forcefully to stake out influence in the unstable region.

KIEV, (Reuters) – Defender Dario Srna scored a late own goal from a shot by Zlatan Ibrahimovic as Paris Saint-Germain wrapped up a 3-0 win at Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League yesterday.

 Passengers travelling from Bartica to Parika via speedboat are calling on the Maritime Administration to increase its monitoring of the waterways as some boat operators continue to violate the rules of travel with infractions ranging from overloading to operating after the stipulated 5 pm end time.

With Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Greene set to turn 81 on November 9th, the Mayor’s Cup organizing committee will stage the Mayor Hamilton Green 81st birth anniversary Inter-Ward football tournament from November 8th.

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – At least 10 million poor people face hunger this year and next because of droughts and erratic rains linked to record global temperatures and an expected “super” version of the evolving El Nino weather pattern, aid charity Oxfam has warned.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Colombia cannot punish Marxist guerrillas for war crimes as severely as some would like if the country wants a peace deal to end a 50-year conflict that has killed nearly a quarter million people, President Juan Manuel Santos told Reuters yesterday.

Dear Editor, I was under the impression that the $50,000.00 minimum wage was applicable to employees within the band scale in the public service, but, having read Sasenarine Singh’s article, ‘Motivation to stay’, in the Guyana Chronicle it would appear that my impression was wrong, since, as he asserts, it is applicable to every employee.

Not content with its aggressive posture towards Guyana and provoking tensions with Colombia, its western neighbour, the government of the so-called Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has also trained its sights on the new Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro.

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CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s government has revised its economic data for 2014, showing that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined 4.0 percent in the worst performance around Latin America, according to a filing yesterday in the United States.

Dear Editor, The death of 769 pilgrims outside Mecca, Saudi Arabia is most tragic.

The Guyana Floodlights Softball Cricket Association (GFSCA) will this morning launch the fifth annual international softball competition at the Georgetown Cricket Club members’ pavilion.

Politikles

BARCELONA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Indigenous people and local communities lack legal rights to almost three quarters of their traditional lands, sparking social conflict and undermining international plans to curb poverty, hunger and climate change, researchers said.