Daily Archive: Sunday, May 17, 2020

President David Granger says his government will accept the declaration of the current recount of the March 2 General and Regional Elections. 

BRASILIA, (Reuters) – Brazil’s confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus rose on Saturday past those of Spain and Italy, which was once the epicenter of the pandemic, making Brazil’s outbreak the fourth largest in the world, according to official figures.

KABUL,  (Reuters) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah signed a power-sharing deal to end a months-long political stalemate, Ghani’s spokesman said today, a step that could smooth efforts to end the country’s long-running war.

MELBOURNE,  (Reuters) – Hailed for her leadership during the coronavirus pandemic, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her partner were turned away from a cafe on Saturday because it was too full under the physical distancing guidelines.

No mask, no roti……no mask, no service! Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has advised citizens to obey public health regulations to wear masks when entering public places.

(Trinidad Guardian) Three persons are expected to appear before a Port of Spain Magistrate on May 18th charged with possession of counterfeit cards and card-making equipment.

(Jamaica Observer) Pastor of the King’s Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mount Salem, Charles Brevitt, yesterday warned members of his congregation to “cease and desist” from playing dominoes on the compound, arguing that if the Government is not allowing it to be played in bars, then members must not play the game on church premises.

(Jamaica Observer) Comfortable rooms, on time meals, lots of food, pleasant and professional staff, are some of the descriptions repeated by individuals quarantined at the Jewels Paradise Cove Hotel in this north eastern Jamaica parish.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Caribbean students still stuck at The University of the West Indies, Mona, are anxious to get home as the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the globe.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Oliver Frederick Clarke, the media mogul who stood at the helm of The Gleaner as chairman and managing director for more than four decades, has died.

Forced to endure cramped quarters, shortages in hygiene products and the repeated disruption of their water supply, some patients housed at the government-run COVID-19 isolation unit at Diamond fear that the poor conditions are inhibiting their speedy recovery.

The incumbent APNU+ AFC coalition yesterday both challenged the legality of the ongoing national recount of votes from the March 2 elections and also committed to abiding by its results.

General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday called on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to request the return of international observers for the ongoing recount of votes from the March 2 polls, while saying that the three-member CARICOM team that has been observing the process is not enough.

There are some unsung heroes who we see every day but often do not recognize them for who they are.

Amidst continued calls by Guyanese stranded abroad for the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) to grant permission for them to return home, head of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Lt.

With social distancing mandatory in the United Arab Emirates to help curb the spread of the virus, VOX Cinemas says viewers will be limited to two per car at the open-air venue, which opens on Sunday and can accommodate up to 75 cars at a time.

An audit report on Cricket West Indies (CWI) has raised serious concerns about a financial transaction that could appear to be money laundering and a conflict of interest with a loan pertaining to an employee  no longer with CWI.

Today marks one year since the Empowering Queers using Artistic Learning (EQUAL) Guyana organisation was launched with the intention of utilising art to empower the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.

West Indies fast-bowling all-rounder, Romario Shepherd, is brimming with confidence heading into the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2020 competition with an eye on a spot in the T20 World Cup.

After 11 days of recounting, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has completed 546 of 2,339 ballot boxes but it is still awaiting word from the National COVID-19 Task Force on increasing the number of work stations to meet its deadline.

“I am now getting the hang of it, but I can tell you this is the new me, the planting.

Has the electronic sports (e-Sports) phenomenon officially arrived in Guyana? This is the firm belief of sports journalist Michelangelo Jacobus, who served as the coordinator of the recent inaugural I-Bet Supreme FIFA 20 ‘League of Champions’ e-Sports tournament.

National junior table tennis champ Thuraia Thomas has made a bold pronouncement, making it known that she is aiming to tussle with Guyana’s number-one female player Chelsea Edghill down the road. 

The May/June rains are here again and with them come the common cold, the flu, and other upper respiratory infections.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – Democrats in Congress yesterday launched an investigation into President Donald Trump’s move to oust the State Department’s internal watchdog, accusing the president of escalating his fight against any oversight of his administration.

The police are investigating the death of a Bartica grocer, whose body was discovered in an abandoned mining pit at 3 Miles, Karrau Backdam, Mazaruni on Friday afternoon.

Dear Editor, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Karen Gordon-Boyle in the COVID-19 Daily Update of May 14 described the conditions at the quarantine and isolation facilities.

Out-of-favour West Indies fast-bowler Ronsford Beaton has joined a list of people on the Essequibo Coast sharing out food hampers during this time of uncertainty owing to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Noting the ease with which Region Nine’s first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) entered several communities in the South Rupununi area, members of the South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) are calling on the government to halt all mining practices in order to prevent the deadly disease from making its way into those communities.

Since many places across the world have been forced to institute lockdowns, where citizens are forced to stay in our homes and go out only when absolutely necessary, we have seen an increase in the domestic violence cases.

MADRID,  (Reuters) – Spain’s government will seek to extend its coronavirus state of emergency one last time until late June, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday as anti-government protests broke out around the hard-hit country.

Dear Editor, We write to follow up on the letter about COVID-19 published in the press on Saturday 9th May. 

Despite an appeal to de facto Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence and other authorities to suspend mining in Chinese Landing due to fears over the possible spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Region One community, Toshao Orin Fernandes says there has been no response.

RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – A deadly police raid in Rio de Janeiro on suspected drug traffickers on Friday morning drew crowds into the streets of a neighbourhood under quarantine, provoking criticism from residents and activists.

Dear Editor, Since Mingo’s fiasco at Ashmins building, there have been loud and persistent cries of electoral fraud.

Guyanese Timeka Marshall and Adrian Dutchin are among 25 artistes from 14 Caribbean countries who have joined their voices for a song to give hope during the current pandemic.

The Muslim Youth Organization (MYO) which participates in Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) organized cricket competitions is the latest entity to extend acts of kindness during the current COVID – 19 pandemic.

DUBAI, (Reuters) – An Iranian news agency close to the elite Revolutionary Guards said yesterday there would be repercussions if the United States acted “just like pirates” against an Iranian fuel shipment to Venezuela.

At the end of the great novel Lord of the Flies (1954) by William Golding, the hero, Ralph, a 12-year-old schoolboy, cries.

Ganesh Dhanraj, one of the two murder accused who escaped from the Lusignan Prison last month, was recaptured yesterday.

Dear Editor, I am hopeful that whatever plans are in the pipeline for the sitting of the National Grade Six Assessment, they are rooted in safety and not following in CXC’s footsteps of what I consider a barefaced move.

(Trinidad Express) Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced yesterday a further ease up of the regulations related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua,  CMC – Cricket West Indies and the England and Wales Cricket Board are scheduled to meet again tomorrow to hammer out further details, in an effort to ensure the three-Test tour of the United Kingdom comes off amidst the threat of the coronavirus pandemic.

One day after the police issued a wanted bulletin for Donald Sheriff for questioning in relation to the murder of New Amsterdam, Berbice resident Keron Nicholson, he was arrested in Mahdia.

(Trinidad Express) Lurking among gatherings of people, there can be a super-spreader of the Covid-19 virus, who can transmit the virus exponentially to large numbers of the population.

Dear Editor, In 2007, a much younger former U.S. President Jimmy Carter wrote “Beyond the White House,” about his post-presidency work with The Carter Center, an institution he and his wife help create in 1982.

There’s a tenderness to Lucio Castro’s debut film, “End of the Century,” that feels too fragile to be sustained.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad,  CMC – Well-respected television broadcaster, Ian Bishop, believes it would be in the best financial interests of Cricket West Indies and regional players, to take up the England and Wales Cricket Board’s offer of the three-Test series in the United Kingdom this July.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board has put on pause its interview process for a head coach, amidst fears Cricket West Indies’ funding for the Professional Cricket League could fall through.

A birthday – even an 87th birthday which is leaving it a bit late in the day – is a good time to see if there are any aspects of life which need some sort of reassessment.

As the week ended, a clear strategy by APNU+AFC appears to be emerging.

Introduction Some readers query my continued use of modifiers when referring to a coming 2020 economic recession and unfolding 2020 economic depression.

(Trinidad Express) A Maraval man is expected to appear before a Port of Spain Magistrate tomorrow charged with the NY 12 murder of his brother, Atilola Josiah Herod. 

Basically, I come out of the song-writer mould, but every now and then a poem does come to me, as this one does today.

The Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) has been promoting a diversity challenge on social media in an effort to promote harmony.

After glitches during production startup saw flaring of over 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas,  ExxonMobil has assured that it will from this week begin transitioning to using the gas for well injection purposes, Head of the Environment Protection Agency Dr Vincent Adams says.

Dear Editor, It was with a mixture of amusement and disbelief that I read Ms.

The Guyanese population had almost lost its sense of the absurd after the egregious events of the last two-and-a-half months, but our headlines last Monday demonstrated that there were still things which could leave mouths agape.

BRASILIA,  (Reuters) – Brazil confirmed 14,919 new cases of the novel coronavirus yesterday, as well as 816 related deaths, according to data from the Health Ministry.

Castling is an unusual move in chess. The purpose of castling is to place the King in a safe place away from the ferocity of battle.