Daily Archive: Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Kendall Skeete, one of the 13 prisoners who tunneled out of a Lusignan pasture on Monday, was recaptured today.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The Trump administration imposed sanctions on 13 senior officials of Venezuela’s government, military and state oil company PDVSA today, U.S.

(Trinidad Guardian) An employee from the Port-of-Spain General Hospital (PoSGH) and his father, a retiree who also worked at the hospital, were both ambushed and killed by gunmen in Laventille yesterday, while responding to a call of an accident along Picton Road involving one of their vehicles.

A veteran pilot attached to domestic airline, Roraima Airways died yesterday afternoon after his plane crashed while approaching the Eteringbang airstrip in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

Before being laid to rest, Odinga Wain Wickham, the Prison Warden who was gunned down during the July 9 Camp Street jailbreak, was yesterday remembered as a fallen hero who had been a role model to all.

A rank of the Major Crimes Unit yesterday testified that he had suggested that Andrif Gillard, the man who claimed he was offered money to assassinate President David Granger, be charged with giving false information to the police.

A Melanie Damishana labourer was in critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) up to last night after he was shot by police, who have since launched a probe into the shooting.

Up to press time last night 10 “hardcore” prisoners remain on the run.

The Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) attributes about 90 percent of blackouts to “trips” in the distribution grid and says that it has already set plans in place to remedy the situation and give its customer uninterrupted power.

Guyana will open their Central America and Caribbean Basketball Championships (CentroBasket) U17 tournament today against Caribbean champions The Bahamas in the Dominican Republic.

A   24-year-old farmer from Crabwood Creek, Upper Corentyne is in critical condition following an attack by a gang of seven men on Sunday.

The Guyana Girls Academy (GGA) in collaboration with the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) officially launched their inaugural Summer Girls Academy yesterday at the GFF Boardroom, Section-K Campbellville.

GALLE, Sri Lanka, (Reuters) – Indian batsmen have done their homework and will not allow Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath to wreck them again at Galle, captain Virat Kohli said on the eve of the first test between the neighbours yesterday.

Franz Paul, the former cadet officer who was charged with shooting the then 15-year-old Alex Griffith in the mouth in 2014, yesterday called his sister and father as witnesses when his trial continued.

BUDAPEST, (Reuters) – The world championships came alive yesterday as Lilly King of the United States won the women’s 100 metres breaststroke title in one of three world-record swims at the end of a breathtaking evening session.

A disturbance erupted yesterday morning at the new brick prison on Camp Street, hours after 86 prisoners were transferred there from the Lusignan Prison pasture but members of the Joint Services were able to keep the peace.

Dear Editor, Many persons have been calling on the Government of Guyana to release the full text of the Production Sharing Agreement with ExxonMobil and its partners, but the government has refused, consistently, to publish this document.

Dear Editor, The Community Police Groups are voluntary organizations. The G Division Executive is an interim body in office since January of 2016, inheriting an almost nonexistent Division Community Policing Group.

GTT yesterday said that vital  telecommunication infrastructure was on July 22, sabotaged for the third time in nine days, affecting over 20,000 customers and it announced a reward of $1m for information leading to the arrest of those responsible.

LONDON, CMC – West Indies Women’s captain, Stafanie Taylor, has continued her slide in the international rankings, as the fallout continues from her side’s wretched outing at the recent ICC Women’s World Cup in England.

Three-time losing finalist and Region 7 champions DC Caesar Fox Secondary sealed their berth to tomorrow’s semi-final round after crushing South Georgetown winner Sir Leon Lessons 5-2 when the Digicel Schools Football Championship continued yesterday.

A city magistrate yesterday issued an arrest warrant for Shawn Harris, one of the prisoners still on the run after escaping from the Lusignan pasture holding area.

Dear Editor, A former Commissioner of Police doing immigration. A former investment banker given an ambassadorship to India.

The home of television personality, Joel Ghansham was broken into on Saturday last, and bandits carted off approximately $7.5 million in cash, jewellery and other valuables.

T&T (233) & 117-2 vs Windwards (153) – 2nd day, 1st round BASSETERRE, St Kitts,  CMC – Trinidad and Tobago, leading Windward Islands by 80 runs on first innings, were 117 for two in their second innings at the close on the second day of their first round game in the CWI Regional Under-19 three-day championship at Conaree here yesterday.

Dear Editor, The news that 13 prisoners escaped from the makeshift Lusignan Prison, and there was renewed unrest in the Camp Street prison makes it difficult at this juncture to have a comprehensive, objective discussion, on where and with whom responsibility for the 2017 Camp Street Prison riot lies.

The Board of Directors  of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) on Friday announced approval of a grant of US$295,000 ($60.7m) to support climate-smart agriculture here.

GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador, CMC – Trinidad and Tobago meet Ecuador for the first time here today, in a friendly international that forms part of their ongoing preparation for their flailing 2018 World Cup campaign which resumes in September.

A Guyanese man has been busted by the authorities in the United States for being part of a cocaine trafficking ring operating out of the JFK International Airport in New York.

Dear Editor, The Amerindian Action Movement of Guyana (TAAMOG) is reliably informed that the one week of Amerindian heritage celebrations at Heritage Village, Sophia, will now only be held for three days (Sept 1-3, 2017).

Dear Editor, In 2017 the Digicel school football tournament has a new coordinator whose son plays for Chase Academy.

A 31-year-old Guyanese man has been arrested in Trinidad and Tobago after he was accused of raping another man, according to a Newsday report.

Hosts Cuba and rivals the Dominica Republic (DR) walked away with nine gold medals between them at the just-concluded 59th annual Senior Caribbean Table Tennis Championships.

CAPE TOWN,  (Reuters) – Caster Semenya will chase a golden double at next month’s world championships in London after adding the women’s 1500 metres to her 800m entry, Athletics South Africa (ASA) said yesterday.

The witness in the murder case of Number 70 Village carpenter, Faiyaz Narinedatt who was hospitalised with suspected poisoning, has been discharged from the hospital.

Dear Editor, My telephone number (landline) is listed on Muneshwers Travel’s website as one of their numbers.

The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) is again hosting the Subraj Foundation Transplantation Team on their 25th Mission to Guyana up to July 30th and corneal transplants are to be done.

(Reuters) – Former world number one Novak Djokovic is in doubt for the U.S.

Dear Editor, I refer to SN’s editorial titled, ‘Dialogue and the Trini experience’ (July 24) on crime consultation and management there, and then the reports of the Lusignan embarrassment here. 

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Two more people named to an alternative Supreme Court in defiance of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government were arrested yesterday by intelligence agents during a fast-escalating political showdown, the opposition said.

Dear Editor, Praise must be given to the University of Guyana (UG) for organizing the Diaspora Engagement Conference.

(The Sports Xchange) – The Golden State Warriors announced they have re-signed free agents Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Zaza Pachulia and David West, making official what had been reported over the past several weeks.

Bids were opened yesterday at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) for a prisons restructuring consultancy.

The Bina Hill Institute’s  eighth graduation ceremony saw 34 youths graduating after being certified in 11 technical skills.

In effort to prepare for the upcoming CONCACAF U15 championships in Florida, United States of America (USA), the Guyana U15 boys team will face-off with the Trinidad and Tobago national U15 team.

Dear Editor, It is obvious that cricket here has seen a rapid decline, but it cannot get worse than the failure to issue a release about the departure of the Guyana Under-19 squad to play in the Cricket West Indies Regional tournament.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly yesterday to slap new sanctions on Russia and force President Donald Trump to obtain lawmakers’ permission before easing any sanctions on Moscow, in a rare rebuke of the Republican president.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – A plan to repeal and replace Obamacare that Senate Republicans have been working on for months failed to get the 60 votes needed for approval last night.

A witness on Monday denied telling police that he was a supporter of Nizam Khan, the man accused of offering to pay for the assassination of President David Granger, and he denounced a claim that he was seen joining a car with Khan last week as a lie.

Dear Editor, The disclosure that the thirteen escaped prisoners from Lusignan Prison dug their way out of the facility is as damning as it is damaging and worrying.

BOGOTA, (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Peruvian authorities have launched a major crackdown on modern slavery after a warehouse fire in Lima last month killed four workers, including two who were trapped inside a padlocked container on the roof.

LONDON, (Reuters) – South African strike bowler Kagiso Rabada is eager to return to action for this week’s third test against England at The Oval after serving a one-match suspension for disciplinary reasons, bowling coach Charl Langeveldt said on Monday.

Minister of Natural Resources and Co-chair of the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) of the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Raphael Trotman says the government has started creating new laws and enforcing current ones to run alongside the initiative but it is still not prepared to release the contract which had been clinched with ExxonMobil in 1999.

(Barbados Nation) Police have arrested and jointly charged three teenagers, in connection with the murder of 58-year-old Colleen Beresdean Payne of Lodge Hill, St Michael.

Dear Editor, As a property owner at 36 Ocean View Drive, Ruimzeight Gardens, Ruimzeight, West Coast, Demerara, I draw to your attention a situation which has been overlooked by the Central Housing and Planning Authority and other authorities, and which has now gotten out of hand.

JERUSALEM, (Reuters) – Israel removed metal detectors from entrances to the Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City yesterday in favour of CCTV cameras, hoping to calm days of bloodshed, but Palestinians said the modified security measures were still unacceptable.

BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – Reigning champions Trinidad and Tobago made a strong start to their title defence, taking honours on the opening day of their first round match in the Regional Under-19 three-day championship against Windward Islands here Monday.

SAO PAULO,  (Reuters) – About 1,000 landless peasant families invaded a farm belonging to a firm owned by the family of Brazilian Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi yesterday, according to a statement from the group backing the occupation.

In August, 1907, an English army officer Robert Baden-Powell organised an experimental camp on Brownsea Island on the south coast of England, off Dorset County.

This has been an unusually good week for finding issues to comment upon, but apart from joining those celebrating the success of the 2017 STEM Guyana team, I want to focus on two matters.

Dear Editor, Sport sometimes mirrors life. Cricket lovers in the West Indies worry about the future of the game for good reason.

Youth housed at the Juvenile Detention Centre in Sophia will soon be able to benefit from a literacy and numeracy project through a collaboration between EPIC Guyana and Nations University.

City councillors will be meeting with vendors who sell at the dilapidated Stabroek Market wharf and in the surrounding area on a plan to relocate them ahead of scheduled rehabilitation works in the first quarter of 2018.

Two young men were yesterday released on $20,000 bail each by a city magistrate after they denied an armed robbery charge.

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – Ng Lap Seng’s dream of “fame and more fortune” drove the Macau billionaire to bribe United Nations officials to win support for a multibillion-dollar conference centre he hoped to build, a U.S.

ExxonMobil Corporation yesterday announced it has discovered additional oil in the Payara reservoir offshore Guyana, increasing the total Payara discovery to approximately 500 million oil-equivalent barrels.

(The Sports Xchange) – Free agent point guard Derrick Rose and the Cleveland Cavaliers reached agreement on a one-year contract, ESPN reported Monday, citing league sources.