Daily Archive: Wednesday, October 7, 2015

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – The widow and children of late Oscar-winning actor Robin Williams, who died by suicide last year, have reached a proposed settlement after a bitter dispute over his estate, according to court papers.

EU Ambassador Jernej Videtič today paid a courtesy call on Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson and Minister in his ministry, Annette Ferguson at their Kingston office.

The APNU+AFC Administration will organise its research efforts to better serve rice farmers and other stakeholders in the agriculture industry, GINA reported today.

The Government of Guyana will be looking forward to Canada’s support against the territorial claims by Venezuela even as it seeks to boost its ties and bilateral agreements with the state, through new Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Pierre Giroux.

Investigations are being conducted into the murder of fisherman Ronald Emanuel Reid, 27 years, of Castello Housing Scheme, Georgetown, which occurred yesterday on a fishing boat off the Lichfield Foreshore, WCB, the police say.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, CMC- West Indies captain Jason Holder says he hopes the conflict between suspended head coach Phil Simmons and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) could be resolved quickly allowing him to be reinstated.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – A woman filed a lawsuit against Bill Cosby on Tuesday alleging sexual assault, saying the veteran comedian drugged and molested her at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles in 2008, when she was a minor.

The police say that investigations are being conducted into the murder of Amanda Mohan, 20 years, of Pike Street, Kitty, which occurred at about 0540h.

(Trinidad Guardian) Crime continues to be a major concern for business in T&T and while the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce has wholeheartedly concurred with the strengthening of the national security infrastructure, there is a similar need to enhance the regulatory framework, urged the chamber’s president Robert Trestrail.

Cabinet Ministers are to see their salaries rise by 50% in a move likely to generate criticism as public servants were given a small salary hike after having been promised a “significant” increase by the APNU+AFC government.

Photos by Keno George   President David Granger yesterday vowed that Guyana’s National Awards would once again be conferred every year as part of the country’s obligation to deserving citizens.

Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan yesterday defended the appointment of new Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) Dr Richard Van West-Charles, saying he was hired through an application process although he was not clear on the advertising of the vacancy.

Family and friends said farewell to the late Dr. Keshav ‘Bud’ Mangal, who was remembered yesterday as a man larger than life.

Thirty-nine years after a terrorist attack killed eleven Guyanese on board a Cubana Airways flight, President David Granger yesterday reminded that justice for the act was still outstanding.

City Mayor Hamilton Green yesterday ruled out seeking another term. Green, 80, has served as Mayor since 1996.

A Director of Youth cannot be appointed until the National Youth Council is appointed, according to Minister of Education Dr Rupert Roopnaraine.

A two-storey wooden building located at East Street, Cummingsburg was yesterday afternoon gutted by a fire of unknown origin leaving four persons homeless and millions of dollars in losses.

North West farmer Edward Simon was yesterday arraigned for the murder of Lionel Williams, the miner who was fatally stabbed at Tin Cup Backdam in a drunken quarrel earlier this year.

Attorney Roysdale Forde yesterday concluded his arguments on his motion for the elections petition filed by the opposition PPP/C’s Ganga Persaud to be struck out over the lack of material facts.

Former Minister of Agriculture, Dr Leslie Ramsammy yesterday said that a $100m disbursement from the rice board in 2014 which is being investigated by the government comprised a reimbursable payment to rice farmers who had been left in the lurch by Quality Rice Co-op.

The trial of the five men accused of burning down the Ministry of Health building is listed among some 218 criminal cases scheduled to be heard in the Demerara Assizes, which opened yesterday at the Supreme Court, in Georgetown.

The Regional Democratic Council of Region # 3, yesterday received tenders for the procurement of medical equipment.

The government has approved the detailed examination of a proposal by Guyana Wind Farm Incorporated (GWF) for a 26-megawatt wind energy plant at Hope Beach, Public Infrastruc-ture Minister David Patterson disclosed on Monday.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, CMC-West Indies cricket captain Jason Holder has welcomed the decision to honour cricket icon Sir Garfield Sobers during the upcoming Test Series between West Indies and Sri Lanka.

Consumer advocate Leonard Craig has called for performance indices to be established for public service agencies which receive government subventions.

Guyana qualified for the semi-final stage in the Pan American Hockey Federation (PAHF) Challenge, drawing with top seed and group-A leader Brazil 2-2 in their final group fixture yesterday in Chicklayo, Peru.

The Guyana Foundation will be launching the first in a series of suicide prevention training workshops to tackle the high rate of death by suicide in Guyana.

The Police Officers of the Ancient County defeated West Berbice by 22 runs in the ongoing Berbice Cricket Board (BCB)/Tenelec 50 overs round robin first division competition.

With local government elections likely to be called soon, scores of persons took part in a two-day training exercise coordinated and executed by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) last Saturday and Sunday.

Golden Jaguars International and Pele FC forward Gregory Richardson was officially selected yesterday as the Courts Guyana Incorporated ‘Player of the Month’ for his exploits in the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite.

Political analyst Freddie Kissoon yesterday accused the former PPP/C administration of utilising contract workers to engineer the ethnic transformation of the public service in Guyana.

With four rounds of the Stag Beer Elite League already completed, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) has officially selected the inaugural All Star XI of the month yesterday.

The operational capacity of the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will soon be receiving a boost with the planned restructuring of the Foreign Service Institute.

A bus conductor will be spending the next three years in jail after being found guilty of possession of cannabis.

(Reuters) – Five of South America’s leading players will be missing when the continent’s 2018 World Cup qualifiers kick off this week.

LONDON, (Reuters) – With an almost unbelievably cruel and ironic sense of timing, Michel Platini’s grand plan to open up the European championship finals to more countries than ever before is reaching its climax just as he faces a possible suspension from football.

(Reuters) – Pakistan have recalled all-rounder Shoaib Malik from the test wilderness, adding him as the 16th member to their squad for the three-match series against England starting this month in the United Arab Emirates.

(BBC) Rafael Nadal had his serve broken four times by one of his former ball boys before progressing to the second round of the China Open yesterday.

Dear Editor, Earlier yesterday (October 6), seven individuals, some in the uniform of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), visited residents in Uitvlugt on the West Coast of Demerara.

(Reuters) – Pakistan off-spinner Bilal Asif has been reported for a suspect bowling action following his match-winning performance in Monday’s third one-day international against Zimbabwe in Harare.

Dear Editor, It was with deep regret I received the saddest news that Dr Mangal has left us.

(Reuters) Former Germany and Bayern Munich striker Gerd Mueller, who is the Bundesliga’s all-time top scorer, is suffering from Alzheimers, his club said on Tuesday.

Dear Editor, Besides being filled with utter rage, abhorrence and disgust on reading of the midnight intruder who sneaked into the Georgetown Public Hospital to molest an in-patient teenager (Kaieteur News, October 5), I am also questioning what sort of security is offered those during a vulnerable period in their lives?

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – U.S. authorities charged a former president of the United Nations General Assembly, a billionaire Macau real estate developer and four others yesterday for engaging in a wide-ranging corruption scheme.

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – Oscar Pistorius may appeal a parole review board’s decision to delay his release from prison, where he is serving a sentence for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, his lawyer said yesterday.

Hamilton Green conferred with Order of Roraima: Former Prime Minister of Guyana and current Mayor of Georgetown Hamilton Green (right) was yesterday bestowed with the Order of Roraima for his “long and outstanding involvement in the struggle for independence and for his role in providing public service for three generations.” 

BRASILIA, (Reuters) – Brazil’s attorney general turned to the Supreme Court yesterday in another bid to prevent a ruling on embattled President Dilma Rousseff’s accounts that could pave the way to an impeachment hearing.

BEIRUT, (Reuters) – At a meeting in Moscow in July, a top Iranian general unfurled a map of Syria to explain to his Russian hosts how a series of defeats for President Bashar al-Assad could be turned into victory – with Russia’s help.

Dear Editor, What has been grating on me is that amidst the obvious and welcome outpourings of patriotism on the Venezuela issue, the political partisanship, cavalier misinformation, flying fast and loose with facts and truth avoidance are still rampant in the analyses.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Norwe-gian Air Shuttle ASA hopes to sell one-way tickets to Europe for $69 as early as 2017 by flying from U.S.

MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – The head of the Mexican army will not permit international experts to interrogate his troops over allegations they may have been involved in the apparent massacre of 43 students last year, and rejects any suggestion they may have been involved.

(BBC) Moeen Ali impressed with the ball as England drew their opening tour game against Pakistan A in Sharjah yesterday.

Dear Editor, Charles Sohan in his SN letter of September 29 seeks to challenge Minister Harmon’s statement on the problem of construction cost of the Kato Primary School Region 8, which contract was originally awarded to the contractor in 2013 for $780M but which has already cost approximately $1B with no end in sight.

BRASILIA, (Reuters) – Brazil’s top electoral authority ruled yesterday there are grounds to investigate irregularities in President Dilma Rousseff’s re-election campaign last year.

STOCKHOLM/LONDON, (Reuters) – Three scientists from Japan, China and Ireland whose discoveries led to the development of potent new drugs against parasitic diseases including malaria and elephantiasis won the Nobel Prize for Medicine on Monday.

SEOUL, (Reuters) – South Korea’s Chung Mong-joon has said he is facing a 15-year suspension by FIFA’s Ethics Committee that has “sabotaged” his campaign for the FIFA Presidency, but he denied any wrongdoing and vowed to continue his bid to lead soccer’s world governing body.

(Reuters) – Microsoft Corp unveiled yesterday its first laptop, a line of Lumia smartphones, a new Surface Pro tablet and an updated version of its wearable fitness tracker, Microsoft Band, all running on Windows 10, its latest operating system.

SYDNEY/WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Early industry reaction to a long-sought trade agreement reached between 12 Pacific Rim countries on Monday amounted to faint praise that it could have been worse and umbrage that the United States appeared to be the biggest winner.

Dear Editor, In response to my letter which appeared in Stabroek News on Sept 29 regarding cost overruns at the Kato Primary School (KPS) being constructed in the Potaro-Siparuni Region, Lindon Stephney apparently Minister of State Joseph Harmon’s spokesman has stated elsewhere [see also letter above] that he was of the opinion that these were not due “to poor design but poor management of the greedy and corrupt.”

The previous column makes the point that perceived or actual marginalization results from the political process which is bedevilled by ethnically skewed voting patterns.

STOCKHOLM/LONDON, (Reuters) – A Japanese and a Canadian scientist won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physics yesterday for discovering that elusive subatomic particles called neutrinos have mass, opening a new window onto the fundamental nature of the universe.

A few weeks ago, in accordance with its commitment made under the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC), Guyana published its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), stating how it was prepared to help to prevent the climate change disaster that is likely to engulf humankind unless we immediately take more radical action to protect the earth’s resources and utilise them more carefully (Gov’t identifies three priority sites for hydro -ignores Amaila.

Dear Editor, I learnt that the DEA plans to establish a permanent office here soon.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC- A former director on the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Jackie Hendriks, says he disagrees with the decision to suspend Phil Simmons as head coach for publicly alleging interference in team selection.

In last week’s editorial on the continuing interchanges between the major powers, in particular the United States and Russia, we noted that both powers had come to realize that Syria’s civil war was forcing an increasingly direct diplomatic confrontation between them.

Dear Editor, Your paper carried several news reports as well as an editorial (Aug 30) and several letters on the long-term lease of the state-owned Red House to the Cheddi Jagan Research Inc, a private entity.

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC-A disciplinary hearing against suspended West Indies head coach Phil Summons has been pushed back to next week following a request by his lawyers, according to media reports emanating from Trinidad.

SAN SALVADOR, (Reuters) – The number of homicides in El Salvador soared 72 percent in the first nine months of 2015, the country’s forensic institute (IML) said on Tuesday, as gang-related violence increased.

(Trinidad Guardian) CAL doesn’t need a bailout just yet. That’s the declaration of its chief executive, Michael DiLollo.