Daily Archive: Thursday, December 31, 2020

President Irfaan Ali today announced that all public servants will receive $25,000 in a COVID-19 stimulus which is aside from the $25,000 per household cash grant.

TORONTO,  (Reuters) – Ontario’s Finance Minister Rod Phillips resigned today after public outrage over a Caribbean vacation he took earlier this month in violation of his own government’s coronavirus travel warnings.

CASTRIES, St. Lucia,  (Reuters) – Residents of the eastern Caribbean island chain of St.

(Reuters) – Only about 2.6 million Americans had received a COVID-19 vaccine going into the last day of December, putting the United States far short of the government’s target to vaccinate 20 million people this month.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Tesco and Pizza Hut were the two biggest offenders among 139 employers who failed to pay staff the minimum wage between 2016 and 2018, Britain’s government announced today after it resumed a policy of publicly naming firms that broke rules.

BEIJING,  (Reuters) – China approved its first COVID-19 vaccine for general public use today, a shot developed by an affiliate of state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm, as it braces for greater transmission risks over the winter.

(Trinidad Guardian) Police rescued a 92-year-old woman yesterday from what her neighbours called ‘A house of horror’.

(Trinidad Express) A Tobagonian man is claiming he has written 22 e-mails to National Security Minister Stuart Young and his ministry pleading for an exemption to return home.

(Trinidad Guardian) Homicide officers were kept busy Tuesday night following two murders in Chaguanas and Brazil Village.

The Guyana Gold Board (GGB) is currently investigating allegations made to the Minerals Grievance Platform (MGP) that  local large-scale gold trader, El Dorado Trading is connected to illegally sourced Venezuelan gold, a claim the company denied vehemently yesterday.

Although no substantial evidence emerged from an investigation into alleged financial misconduct at the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation’s Asphalt Plant, the probe team says that they found poor internal controls which need to be bolstered in order to prevent the multiple discrepancies that were unearthed.

There will be a forensic audit of the expenses of the Attorney General’s Chambers under the former APNU+AFC Government.

A Region Six sports officer based within Region Six’s compound was yesterday remanded to prison after he was charged with threatening behaviour and possession of offensive weapons that is to say two knives.

A Land of Canaan resident died  following an accident on Tuesday night where he was struck down along the Kuru Kururu Public Road, Soesdyke/Linden High-way.

After nine months of inaction due to the coronavirus pandemic, competitive football made its highly anticipated return with a pair of matches Tuesday at the National Stadium.

The Guyana Police Force has released a wanted bulletin for Leon Waddel in connection with the murder of Hanswar Stoll also known as ‘Red Man’ said to have occurred between November 15-16 at Dadrima Savannah, Kuru Kururu, Linden/Soesdyke Highway.

Cricket-loving Guyanese can finally breathe a sigh of relief after left-arm spinner, Veerasammy Permaul, was included in the West Indies Test squad for the upcoming series against Bangladesh.

Newly-appointed Chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament David Patterson has set January 4, 2021 for its first meeting.

The police have been advised to institute charges against Joel Rodriguez, the Cuban national, who allegedly brutally murdered his partner, Tara Krishnaran and her 11-year-old daughter, Larissa Singh at Princes Street, Lodge on Saturday night.

Tenders were on Tuesday opened at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board for huge supply contracts for the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.

Eighteen new COVID-19 cases were yesterday recorded after 285 more persons were tested for the virus.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Britain yesterday became the first country to approve the coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, hoping that rapid action will help it stem a record surge of infections driven by a highly contagious form of the virus.

Dear Editor, Recently the government announced that it has entered into a deal with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) for additional work at CJIA “to the amount of approximately US$9M at the sole cost of CHEC”, which includes two more passenger boarding bridges, additional commercial space, and completion of outstanding remedial works. 

In an effort to deal with the mental toll of the new norms associated with international cricket, West Indies will travel to Bangladesh with a sports psychologist.

General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) Rawlston Adams last year approved the purchase of a bracelet worth nearly $900,000 for himself with money from the DHB, an investigation into the operations of the Asphalt Plant (AP)  revealed.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – U.S. Senate leader Mitch McConnell dealt a likely death blow yesterday to President Donald Trump’s bid to boost coronavirus aid to Americans, declining to schedule a swift Senate vote on a bill to raise relief checks to $2,000 from $600.

Guyana does not have the capability to test for any new strain of the novel coronavirus.

Dear Editor, Guyanese are not a disciplined people. It is well understood that there had to be a high level of resentment of authority in all post slavery societies – for who would want to work for a family or class of persons that once forced one or one’s parents to work on pain of punishment or even death?

President of the Guyana Volleyball Federation (GVF), Levi Nedd, has been placed on a special committee of the South American Volleyball Confederation (CSV), which was set up to identify development initiatives in the region. 

LOS ANGELES,  (Reuters) – The leading U.S. infectious disease specialist, Dr.

LONDON/BRUSSELS,  (Reuters) – British lawmakers approved Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union yesterday, as both sides looked to begin a new chapter of relations just days before their divorce becomes a reality.

A United States Coast Guard (USCG) vessel – USCGC Stone, has embarked from its base in Pascagoula, Mississippi on a multi-month deployment to the South Atlantic with countering illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing, as part of its mission.

The Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) has uplifted $1.5M worth of cricket gear donated by former Guyana and West Indies opener, Clayton Lambert. 

Dear Editor, As the year draws to a close, it is necessary for us to take time out to reflect on our successes.

RIO DE JANEIRO/SAO PAULO,  (Reuters) – Brazil will soon weigh emergency-use approval for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after Britain gave the green light yesterday, as the South American country was forced into making regulatory concessions to speed up its lagging immunization program.

(Reuters) – Dawn Wells, who parlayed her girl-next-door charm and wholesome beauty into enduring TV fame as the sweet-natured desert island castaway Mary Ann on the classic 1960s sitcom “Gilligan’s Island,” died on Wednesday at age 82, her publicist said.

Dear Editor, On the twenty-ninth day of December in the year two thousand and twenty, as I attended the first virtual graduation ceremony of the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE), a plethora of thoughts inundated my mind.

Guyana Jaguars are set to hit the ground running in the new year as they being preparation for Cricket West Indies’ Regional Super50.

MOSCOW/LA PAZ,  (Reuters) – Russia’s sovereign fund, Russia Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), agreed to supply Bolivia with enough of its two-dose Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine to vaccinate 2.6 million people, RDIF said yesterday, marking the South American nation’s first major vaccine deal.

In preparation for the completion of the Tiger Creek Bridge in Region Eight, the Ministry of Public Works (MoPW) on Monday advised that it would only be opened to light vehicular traffic.

ADEN,  (Reuters) – At least 22 people were killed and dozens wounded in an attack on Aden airport yesterday, moments after a plane landed carrying a newly formed Saudi-backed cabinet for government-held parts of Yemen.

Today is the last day of 2020. Midnight marks the official end of the year the earth stood still.

BRISBANE, Australia, CMC – West Indies all-rounder, Keemo Paul, had little impact with either bat or ball but his Hobart Hurricanes still managed to pull off a one-run victory over Brisbane Heat in the Australian Big Bash here yesterday.

The Milwaukee Bucks made an NBA record 29 3-pointers while routing the host Miami Heat 144-97 in a wire-to-wire victory on Tuesday night.

MADRID, (Reuters) – A Luis Suarez header gave Atletico Madrid a 1-0 home win over Getafe yesterday in coach Diego Simeone’s 500th game in charge, moving them two points clear at the top of La Liga with two games in hand.

WELLINGTON, (Reuters) – New Zealand’s bowlers produced a late final session surge to guide their side to a tense 101-run victory over Pakistan in the first test in Mount Maunganui yesterday and keep alive their hopes of reaching next year’s World Test Championship final.

The president and members of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) have extended congratulations to Veersammy Permaul and Romario Shepherd on being selected  to the West Indies teams for the tour of  Bangladesh in January 2021. 

Dear Editor, There  are  little  things  –  that  are  really  big  things –  which  help  to  make  Barbados  special  and  give  credence  to  the  oft-repeated  boast  of  its  brilliant  first  female  Prime  Minister,  Mia  Amor  Mottley,  that  “This  is  who  we  are”….

A taxi driver was on Tuesday night robbed at gunpoint of his valuables by two unidentified men at Good Success, East Bank Demerara, including his car which the men drove off with while it was still occupied by a passenger.

The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) will bring the curtain down on 2020 with the staging of the National Blitz Chess Championship today at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence East Bank  Demerara. 

BOGOTA,  (Reuters) – Colombia has reached an agreement with Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical division Janssen to acquire 9 million doses of coronavirus vaccines, President Ivan Duque said in a televised address yesterday.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Opening batsmen David Warner and Will Pucovski have been included in Australia’s 18-man squad for the third test against India in Sydney but Joe Burns has been dropped after twin failures in Melbourne.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton was awarded a knighthood in the UK New Year’s honours list published yesterday.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Cricket West Indies says it has no hard feelings towards players who have declined selection for the tour of Bangladesh, saying the global COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in “unprecedented times and unprecedented conditions”, under which to play cricket.

Across schools in the region, students have long been taught that millions of indigenous Taino people died out following the catastrophic arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, but recent revolutionary genetic studies are suddenly rewriting our history.

A visiting Guyanese-born heart surgeon on Tuesday presented President Irfaan Ali with a ground-breaking medical device – Vital360 in the hope that the president can lead by example as it pertains to raising the level of health awareness.

A twenty-five-year-old barber was on Tuesday night allegedly robbed at Crane, West Coast Demerara by a man with whom he was drinking only moments before at Parika.