Daily Archive: Wednesday, July 22, 2020

The Guyana Court of Appeals’ case management proceedings in the Misenga Jones v The Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) et al.

European Union (EU) spokesperson for foreign affairs, Nabila Massrali today said the recent ruling by the CCJ paves the way for GECOM to issue a declaration of the result from the March 2nd general elections using the figures from the recount.

Clinging to power despite a recount result which showed that it lost the March 2nd general elections,  the incumbent APNU+AFC today said “Any attempt to include fraudulent votes in a ‘Declaration’ will constitute a violation of the Constitution and the fundamental principles of democracy.

BEIJING,  (Reuters) – The United States has told China to close its consulate in Houston, both countries said today, deepening a deterioration in bilateral relations, and a source said Beijing was considering shutting down the U.S.

SRINAGAR, India, (Reuters) – India has cancelled a historic Hindu pilgrimage to a holy cave high in the snow-capped mountains of contested Kashmir for the first time, as cases of the novel coronavirus continued to rise today.

(Trinidad Guardian) Police have detained the babysitters of two male children under the ages of five for alleged abuse.

(Trinidad Guardian) Hours after a video surfaced on social media purporting to be of United National Congress (UNC) candidate for the Toco/Sangre Grande Nabila Greene lying on a bed being showered with money, Greene said if the person in the video turns out to be her, she sees nothing wrong with the clip.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Portland businessman Everton McDonald has lost his second wife to murder in just over a decade when the partially burnt body of 31-year-old Tonia McDonald was discovered in a car at Sherwood Forest shortly before 9 p.m.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Following a spate of chilling dog attacks in recent years, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck tabled a bill that would impose both civil and criminal liability for delinquent dog owners.

-Golding says Guyana failed litmus test of orderly transition After declaring that Guyana is being held hostage, Secretary General (SG) of the Organisation of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro has appealed to the incumbent to desist from further use of the court system to delay a declaration of the results of the March 2 polls.

The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) is currently unable to pay workers their wages and salaries this month as it is still awaiting a disbursement of $750 million from government’s holding company, the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), a source close to the corporation has said.

The lawyers for Misenga Jones have formally asked the Court of Appeal to set aside the decision of acting Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire upholding the validity of the national recount of votes from the March 2 polls.

By Vinode Mamchan (Trinidad Guardian) The Caribbean Premier League (CPL) officials have decided to stick with the COVID-19 protocols as outlined by Trinidad and Tobago’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Roshan Parasram and will be arriving in the country very soon to start putting things in place for the August 18 start.

In an appearance before the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS), Guyana’s representatives yesterday repudiated the CARICOM report on the national recount and erroneously declared that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) had vitiated the process.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Karen Gordon-Boyle yesterday said that that a person is almost ten times more likely to get infected with COVID-19 in Region One than in Region Four, which illustrates the worrying situation in the hinterland region.

By Vinode Mamchan (Trinidad Guardian) Cricket West Indies (CWI) has come good on their promise and has repaid the England Cricket Board (ECB) the US$3M (TT$20.2m) loan that the organisation got in May to help settle players’ outstanding salaries.

(Reuters) – Veteran forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice in the first half to give AC Milan a 2-1 win at 10-man Sassuolo yesterday as they remained unbeaten since the restart of the season and guaranteed a place in the Europa League. 

Well-known contractor Kissoondatt Premsukh, who was gunned down at a construction site at D’Urban Street last Thursday, sustained multiple gunshot wounds to various parts of his body, an autopsy has confirmed.

Detective Constable Richard Persaud, who was accused by two staffers of a Superbet shop in East Canje, Berbice, of taking over $100,000 to assist them in settling a court matter last August, was yesterday remanded to prison after finally appearing in court.

Following significant amendments to the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) Forward Project for 2019-2022 cycle, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) is projected to receive an investment of US$6,000,000 during the four-year period.

West Indies will have a lot to think about when it comes to their batting line up heading into the third and final Test against England on Friday.

Since the emergency lockdown measures were implemented in the Moruca sub-district, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak seems to be stabilising in the area although many persons are not taking advantage of a mobile testing unit, Amerindian People’s Association (APA) Project Coordinator Graham Atkinson has said.

As the number of COVID-19 cases continue to rise, business owners in Georgetown, particularly those along Water Street, over the past four months, are facing multiple daily challenges including a decline in sales as they struggle to stay afloat.

Dear Editor, The recently published Bank of Guyana Quarterly report corroborates what I have written in the past cautioning that the Granger administration’s policies were creating the environment for a, disruptively painful, and avoidable economic recession.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – President Donald Trump, in a shift in rhetoric and tone, encouraged Americans yesterday to wear masks if they cannot maintain social distance and warned that the coronavirus pandemic would get worse before it got better.

(Reuters) – England vice-captain Ben Stokes’ match-winning performance in the second test against West Indies hoisted him above Windies skipper Jason Holder to become the top-ranked all-rounder in the game’s longest format, the International Cricket Council said yesterday.

The United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Guyana, yesterday donated 1,944 face shields to the Ministry of Education (MoE) to assist in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. 

KAMPALA,  (Reuters) – Uganda’s long-serving President Yoweri Museveni has collected papers to seek nomination as the ruling party’s candidate in next year’s presidential election, the party said yesterday.

Dear Editor, Transfer payments have systemic implications for the nation’s economy.

MELBOURNE,  (Reuters) – Australia’s cricket board said yesterday it has given up trying to use a “crystal ball” to predict the impact of COVID-19 on revenues and is drawing up a new model after a backlash from state associations over proposed funding cuts.

Writer Ruel Johnson was yesterday released on station bail after he was questioned by the police about a rape allegation levelled against him.

NEW DELHI,  (Reuters) – The Indian cricket board (BCCI) will seek government permission to stage this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) in the United Arab Emirates, league chief Brijesh Patel told Reuters yesterday.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden accused the Trump administration yesterday of “egregious tactics” in cracking down on protests in Portland, Oregon, saying the response by federal agents was stoking divisions in the country.

Region Seven’s Regional Health Emergency Committee (RHEC) is now looking into having a COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Bartica Regional Hospital along with the preparation of a COVID-19 centre.

(Reuters) – Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James said the hardest part about quarantining during the COVID-19 pandemic was the time he was forced to spend away from his mother.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department yesterday indicted two Chinese nationals over their role in what the agency called a decade-long cyber espionage campaign that targeted defense contractors, COVID researchers and hundreds of other victims worldwide.

Dear Editor, Apologies to the  fan club, but this letter is longer than my usual by necessity.

MELBOURNE,  (Reuters) – India will have to abide by Australia’s 14-day quarantine requirement ahead of the test series starting in December but arrangements will be made to ensure their players can prepare as well as possible, Cricket Australia (CA) said yesterday.

Tyron Inniss, the motorcyclist involved in the recent fatal accident at Dundee, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, that left his cousin dead, has been charged with riding without a licence and a breach of insurance.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said yesterday the United States wants to build a global coalition to counter China as he accused Beijing of exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to further its own interests.

Dear Editor, I had, in a previous letter, posited the view that the APNU+AFC is doing a great disservice to its members and supporters by promoting a narrative that it has won the March 2, 2020 elections when the entire democratic world know otherwise.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The United States yesterday imposed sanctions on Venezuelan Chief Justice Maikel Moreno and announced a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction for allegedly participating in transnational organized crime.

Dear Editor, Chief Justice Roxane George has been a beacon of fairness, maturity and professionalism whenever she has had to sit and hear matters relating to the almost 5-month electoral process in Guyana.

(Reuters) – West Ham United manager David Moyes said yesterday that his Manchester United counterpart Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is building an exciting team having been given time on the job – something the Scot felt he was not afforded at Old Trafford.

Following the Cummings Lodge apartment complex fire, which claimed the life of her brother and his family, one of the victims is still awaiting word from police on their investigation of the cause.

HAVANA,  (Reuters) – State-run stores in Cuba began selling some food and hygiene products in U.S.

LIMA, (Reuters) – Protesters in Peru attacked a convoy of vehicles from the Las Bambas mining group, one of Peru’s largest copper producers, and set fire to some of them, underscoring tensions in the country that has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

Dear Editor, Reference is made to a letter by Mr. Eusi Kwayana, `In the tissues of every general election here are the fibres of communal struggle (SN 7/21),’ in which he says: “Many may wonder at the USA’s high activism in our affairs in the face of a global pandemic of the present scale.

Investigators at the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) have concluded that the fires which gutted three public buildings including the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) office in Linden early last week were deliberately set, Fire Chief Marlon Gentle said.

(Trinidad Express) Touchstone, the Canadian energy exploration company, has reported discovery of estimated reserves of 381 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas in its onshore Cascadura Assessment Area in its Ortoire exploration block in Trinidad.

BOGOTA, (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Ecuador’s indigenous groups in the Amazon have launched an information dashboard to monitor the coronavirus and identify contagion hotspots as the disease spreads through the rainforest and threatens ancient cultures, a leading rights group said yesterday.

(Field Level Media) The San Francisco Giants’ Gabe Kapler became the first major league manager to kneel during the national anthem, joining a number of his players in the action before a Monday night road exhibition game against the Oakland Athletics.

(ESPN) The men’s T20 World Cup has been pushed back by a whole year.

Stephen Kinzer of Brown University USA, who has chronicled a century of USA regime change and whose video has recently been doing the rounds on social media in Guyana, claimed that the lesson his research teaches is that Americans love democracy when it throws up leaders that do their bidding.

Jack Charlton, the former England defender, a key member of the 1966 World Cup winning team, passed away on 10th July following a long illness.

AMSTERDAM,  (Reuters) – A Dutch military helicopter crashed in the Caribbean Sea near the island of Aruba, killing two of the four people on board, the Dutch defence ministry said on Monday.