Daily Archive: Wednesday, June 10, 2020

As it continues to support democracy around  the world, the United States today said that it looks forward to a speedy and credible end to the election recount here.

The Ministry of Public Infrastructure today said that the Manari Bypass Road has become impassable due to a flash flood.

(Trinidad Express) Police are at Barrackpore investigating a murder where a woman was allegedly killed by a close male relative in a case of domestic violence.

(Trinidad Express) The Trinidad and Tobago Regiment is confirming that two of its soldiers, along with two police officers, have been charged in connection with an incident that happened with the “homeless humiliation” in the first days of the Covid-19 lock down.

Insurance Brokers – Guyana Limited today announced the passing of its founder Hans Barrow.

(Trinidad Guardian) “I am bipolar. I am sorry.” This was the apology offered yesterday by Ian Smart for pulling a cap off a policeman’s head during the Black Lives Movement protest in Trinidad and Tobago at the Queen’s Park Savannah on Monday.

(Jamaica Gleaner) A New Jersey state trooper fired his handgun six times, killing a New York state man after a struggle erupted during a traffic stop on the Garden State Parkway last month, recently released video showed.

(Jamaica Gleaner) ST ANN’S Bay Mayor Michael Belnavis has labelled as ‘bad-mind’ detractors who have mounted a withering campaign against him since news broke of the reported $46m COVID-19 expenditure on sanitising the town of Ocho Rios and the $80,000 charging port installed at the municipal office to charge his Porsche motor car.

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – New York lawmakers voted on Tuesday to repeal a decades-old law that shields police officers’ disciplinary records from the public.

STOCKHOLM, (Reuters) – A Swedish prosecutor closed the case of the 1986 assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme today, accusing an insurance company graphic designer who died 20 years ago of the country’s most notorious unsolved crime.

(Jamaica Gleaner) ST ANN’S Bay Mayor Michael Belnavis has labelled as “bad-mind” detractors who have mounted a withering campaign against him since news broke of the reported $46m COVID-19 expenditure on sanitising the town of Ocho Rios and the $80,000 charging port installed at the municipal office to charge his Porsche motor car.

(Trinidad Guardian) Two police officers and two soldiers are expected to be charged for abusing a homeless man while on patrol in Port-of-Spain earlier this year.

The future of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) hinges on a government bailout as the corporation faces possible closure having exhausted its finances and is now desperately seeking support from the Government.

After 35 days, the recount of ballots cast on March 2 concluded yesterday with the certification of the results of both the General and Regional Elections in District Four, the largest and most contentious electoral district.

West Indies assistant coach Roddy Estwick has made a rallying call to fans to support the Men In Maroon on their historic tour of England.

Acting Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire is set to rule tomorrow morning on contempt proceedings which had been filed in March against Region Four Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo.

The upcoming test series between West Indies and England is set to be an interesting battle for a number of reasons.

Citing a number of errors in the judgment granting former murder accused Marcus Bisram his freedom, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack has filed an appeal in which she maintains her order directing that he be committed to stand trial was lawfully made.

Four Guyanese cricketers stranded in Trinidad and Tobago are set to return home tomorrow after they were given the green light by the National COVID-19 Task Force.

The Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs (MoIPA) in collaboration with the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) will be distributing chickens to various indigenous communities across Guyana to ensure that their residents do not suffer from food shortages during the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Oil wealth often threatens democracies in many ways including free and fair elections, with incumbents lasting longer and autocratic leaders becoming more powerful as they consolidate their authority and keep civil society subservient.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – West Indies left the Caribbean late Monday for the United Kingdom where they will face England in cricket’s first-ever “bio-secure” series, amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

LONDON, CMC – West Indies arrived here early yesterday for their historic “bio-secure” three-Test series against England, becoming the first international team to visit the United Kingdom in nearly four months since the COVID-19 lockdown.

A team from the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is to meet today with Commissioner of Police Leslie James for a discussion on security matters of national importance.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Opener John Campbell wants to score heavily on the England tour but says he will not be putting himself under any pressure to do so.

As the nation awaits an official declaration from the March 2 polls, the management of the Giftland Mall has closed the FoodMaxx Superstore and Shoppers Pharmacy until further notice.

(Reuters) – Former West Indies captain Daren Sammy has sought clarification from his former Sunrisers Hyderabad team mates over potentially racist language directed at him when he was part of the Indian Premier League franchise from 2013-14.

Nearly four years after being charged with the murder of Shawnette Savory, who went missing in 2016, the charge against her alleged murderer has been discharged due to insufficient evidence.

BELGRADE,  (Reuters) – Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic has offered a message of support to the players of a Serbian third-tier club who have gone on hunger strike over unpaid wages.

Dear Editor, In a previous letter (published by SN on 2020/04/19) I asked if there was any chance that Mr Granger and APNU+AFC will accept the results of the recount and exit gracefully.

Two new cases of the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) have been recorded within the last 24 hours even as two more persons have recovered.

LAHORE, (Reuters) – Pakistan appointed former captain Younis Khan as batting coach for their tour of England later this year, while also adding former spinner Mushtaq Ahmed to complete an impressive line-up of support staff yesterday.

Dear Editor, It is now an accepted fact that David Granger has breached the Constitution of Guyana in his relatively short reign as President more than any other President.

HOUSTON,  (Reuters) – George Floyd, a black man whose death under the knee of a white police officer roused worldwide protests against racial injustice, was memorialized at his funeral yesterday as “an ordinary brother” transformed by fate into the “cornerstone of a movement.”

Canadian-owned Guyana Goldfields Inc (GGI) has halted its mining activities at its open pit and satellite pits in Cuyuni/Mazaruni.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Players will be banned from the age-old technique of using saliva to shine a ball when cricket emerges from the shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said yesterday.

As part of its efforts to assist students with their studies during the COVID-19 pandemic, ExxonMobil has donated $15 million to support continuing education programmes.

Dear Editor, Permit me to piggyback on the laudable and eloquent letter, `We collectively raise our voices in condemning the murder of George Floyd,’ (SN, June 7), written by a group of Guyanese.  Floyd’s death, vividly captured on someone’s roving camera phone and shown across the world, depicted the deeply disturbing mindset of fired White Police Office Derek Chauvin, who placed his left knee on Floyd’s neck, then used his left hand to press down on his leg to apply maximum pressure on Floyd’s neck, even as Floyd cried out he could not breathe.  One could see the stony seriousness on Chauvin’s face and the cold stare from his eyes at onlookers who were beckoning him to get off Floyd’s neck.

NAIROBI (Reuters) – President Pierre Nkurunziza, a fitness enthusiast who increasingly relied on religion and repression to rule the impoverished and unstable central African nation of Burundi for 15 years, has died, the government announced on Tuesday.

Dear Editor, “I can’t breathe” and it’s not Floyd’s cries heard worldwide but the state of our burial ground the Le Repentir which is a national disgrace.

A shortened 2020-21 season is part of the NBA’s plan to reduce the impact of a compacted offseason.

Although advised by the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs (MoIPA) and other organisations to stay at Masakenari, in Region Nine, flood-affected residents who lack basic necessities don’t see this as a viable option, according to Toshao Paul Chekema.

BRASILIA/SAO PAULO,  (Reuters) – Brazil yesterday restored detailed COVID-19 data to its official national website following controversy over the removal of cumulative totals and a ruling by a Supreme Court justice that the full set of information be reinstated.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Population-wide facemask use could push COVID-19 transmission down to controllable levels for national epidemics and could prevent further waves of the pandemic disease when combined with lockdowns, according to a UK study published yesterday.

Dear Editor, Despite the evident triumphalism by the PPP and its supporters,  the only real news emerging from the recount exercise is that the 2020 elections were riddled with irregularities which in effect amounts to fraud.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar and former Australia speedster Brett Lee have backed the idea of using wax as an alternative to saliva to shine the ball ahead of a crucial International Cricket Committee (ICC) meeting today.

TEL AVIV,  (Reuters) – Israel’s Supreme Court struck down a law yesterday that had retroactively legalised about 4,000 settler homes built on privately owned Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Australia batsman Matthew Wade may decide to keep his lip zipped during the test series against India over the home summer as he says Kohli’s team thrive on verbal confrontations.

‘The Zimbabwe case of Chamisa v Mnangagwa seems to suggest that as a general rule, an election will not be annulled if a breach of the law did not affect the election result.

Dear Editor, Dr  Ian McDonald, a columnist of the Sunday Stabroek who has rarely written on Guyana’s politics, must have been thoroughly peeved to take the unusual step to pen his article “Something rotten in the State”, Stabroek News, May 10, 2020.

Yesterday, a private charter carrying twenty-five West Indian cricketers arrived in Manchester for the start of their 2020 Tour of England.