Daily Archive: Friday, March 26, 2021

COVID-19 cases continue to surge here with 109 being reported today by the Ministry of Health.

Retired Assistant Police Commissioner Kevin Adonis and three ranks were today charged with conspiring to steal over $19 million from the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn yesterday called on all prison escapees to surrender.

(CAL press release) Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.– Caribbean Airlines is keeping abreast of innovations and services to facilitate a safe travel environment for its customers.

BEIJING,  (Reuters) – China imposed sanctions on nine Britons including lawmakers in the governing Conservative party for spreading what it said were “lies and disinformation” about alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, prompting a sharp rebuke from London.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – One dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine offers an immune response similar to that generated by infection and could also offer protection from variants to people who have previously had the virus, a British study said today.

LOS ANGELES,  (Reuters) – The University of Southern California has reached a record $852 million settlement with more than 700 women who accused an ex-gynecologist on campus of sexually abusing them as patients and the prestigious school of trying to cover it up, attorneys said yesterday.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Former Prime Minister Bruce Golding has been hospitalised. In a statement, his daughter Sherene Golding Campbell said the former Prime Minister was this evening admitted for a recurring health condition.

Guyana is set to receive 33,600 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from the COVAX facility on Monday March 29th, boosting the government’s plans to begin vaccinating persons over 40  from Wednesday March 31.

The opening of a huge Chinese-owned seafood plant in Guyana has added to concerns that sustainable fishing here, particularly in relation to the seabob, could be threatened.

The operations of the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) were boosted yesterday with the addition of four fire tenders to its fleet at a cost of more than $200 million.

Munilall Sarjoo was on Thursday sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Levan Chanderpaul, whose body was found buried in the Number 68 Village, Corentyne backlands in 2016.

Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn yesterday said that the motive for Sunday night execution-style shooting of gold dealer Ricardo Fagundes remains unclear.

Clinton Allen, who previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter, was yesterday sentenced to seven years, two months and six days imprisonment for the crime.

Media and communications specialist, Namela Henry passed away yesterday following her battle with COVID-19.

The novel coronavirus has claimed four more lives in Guyana. This was disclosed by the Ministry of Health yesterday in press statements where it informed that the country’s death toll now stand at 225.

The opposition APNU+AFC yesterday condemned what is said were efforts by the PPP/C government to dismantle the “guardrails” of democracy by trying to force a change in the Chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament.

The Ministry of Education yesterday announced that it has commissioned smart classrooms at the Brick-dam Secondary School and the East Ruimveldt Secondary School in George-town.

A former president of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has said that the current preoccupation by Business Support Organizations (BSO) with the Local Content spinoffs that promise to derive from the country’s emerging oil & gas industry ought to be matched by a corresponding vigorous lobby for the creation of a domestic economic environment that helps facilitate broader substantive private sector growth.

Civil society group, Policy Forum Guyana (PFG) is urging a more integrated and inclusive approach to Guyanese involvement in decision-making on key issues.

The Caribbean’s road to recovery from the economic effects of COVID-19 could be a long and testing trek particularly for countries whose economies are hinged to a tourism industry battered by the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says in its most recent “Country Focus” on the Caribbean, released last week.

The Golden Jaguars, Guyana’s flagship men’s football program, got off to the worst possible start in their 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers campaign, as they were routed 3-0 by Caribbean rival, Trinidad and Tobago, yesterday at the Estadio Panamericano in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic.

She has been a part of the beauty industry since she was nineteen, gradually growing into a skilled.

Fruta Conquerors Secretary Daniel Thomas declared that the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield, the confederation’s second tier championship, is very important to the aspirations of the club, as it can illustrate that the entity is capable of contending on the regional stage.

Although generally satisfied with the progress of works done as part of the Sheriff/Mandela Avenue expansion project, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill has said the quality in some areas did not meet expectations and he has instructed engineers to address how the situation will be remedied.

A Berbice pensioner was yesterday pronounced dead after he reportedly collapsed and fell into the drain he was cleaning which is located in front of his yard.

It has been more than 30 years since Guyana embraced free market principles that advanced the private sector as the engine room of the country’s economy.

With official concerns over the evasion of taxes and indifference to the payment of National Insurance Scheme (NIS) contributions by many emerging business enterprises having become an issue of some measure of official concern, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Oneidge Walrond last Friday used the forum of the Small Business Bureau (SBB) Small Business awards ceremony to remind  business owners of their obligation to comply with the laws of the land through their payment of taxes and National Insurance Scheme (NIS) contributions.

A logger on Monday died after being pinned by a falling tree at Kaburi Backdam, Region Seven.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – President Joe Biden vowed yesterday to push China to play by international rules, criticized his Republican opponents and defended his policy to provide shelter to children crossing the U.S.

The now former Ministry of Education (MoE) Senior Public Relations Officer (PRO) Brushell Blackman is claiming that his dismissal from the post is an attempt to hinder the development and progression of young professionals based on perceived political affiliation but this claim has been rejected by Minister Priya Manickchand.

Events of the past week continue to yield a lack of clarity as to just where Venezuela’s oil industry is headed as the Donald Trump administration in the United States continues to fade into history.

ISMAILIA, Egypt  (Reuters) – A container ship blocking the Suez Canal like a “beached whale” created a new setback for global trade yesterday as officials stopped all ships entering the channel and the salvage company said it may take weeks to free.

Dear Editor, Everything in Guyana does not revolve around ethnic rivalry, but we cannot deny that it is a major factor in our lives.

Dear Editor, March 21 was the United Nations declared International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

CMC – Unflappable right-hander Nkrumah Bonner composed a high quality maiden Test hundred to undergird West Indies’ final day resistance, as the home side defied a determined effort from Sri Lanka to earn a deserved draw in the opening Test here yesterday.

Rayon Carter now faces a retrial after a jury was unable to arrive at a verdict on the indictment levelled against him for the 2018 murder of former Kane-ville machine operator, Ishwar Ramanah.

As Caribbean governments continue to contemplate a way back from the devastation inflicted on the region’s respective economies arising out of the still raging coronavirus, outgoing President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Dr William Warren Smith says that as part of the recovery process, countries should cede a bigger role to their respective private sectors.

(Reuters) – Several powerful tornadoes tore through northern Alabama yesterday, killing at least five people, injuring dozens of others and destroying entire neighbourhoods.

Residents of Beehive North, East Coast Demerara  were on Wednesday consulted on a land matter that has been a problem for more than a decade.

Dear Editor, In a letter to SN entitled “ERC functioned and never lost its way“, ERC Commissioner Ashton Simon detailed the ‘activities’ he considers as contributing to the ERC’s success.

Locked in what appears increasingly, to be an uphill battle against childhood obesity, and what has been described as the “regional epidemic” of non-communicable diseases (NCD), the Caribbean appears to be preparing for its latest pushback against these twin scourges that lie close to the top of the region’s key health concerns.

ATLANTA,  (Reuters) – Georgia yesterday enacted broad voting restrictions championed by Republicans that activists said aimed to curtail the influence of Black voters who were instrumental in state elections that helped Democrats win the White House and narrow control of the U.S.

(The UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica) – A grant from Silicon Valley-based company, Eon Reality, to The UWI Open Campus is the largest in decades for the University, and provides a critical foundation that will support the rise of The UWI Global Campus.

Dear Editor, I admit I was numbered among many persons in Guyana and around the world who were skeptical about the anti-Covid-19 vaccination.

As if the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic is not in itself, already posing the most serious of human health challenges, the World Economic Forum (WEF) is saying that spinoffs from efforts to push back the virus are in themselves, creating other problems.

DUBAI,5 (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates, one of the world’s largest gold hubs, is strengthening its defences against financial crime, including new restrictions on the movement of cash and precious metals, the Gulf state said yesterday.

A labourer was on Wednesday fined $70,000 after he pleaded guilty to stealing a quantity of clothes from a vendor while his co-accused was granted bail.

(Trinidad Guardian) Growing tensions between T&T and India over the gifting of COVID-19 vaccines to the CARICOM region ended yesterday, following the announcement it would be donating 40,000 doses of the WHO-approved Astra Zeneca vaccine to this country.

Dear Editor, I was enjoying my period of ‘spiritual renewal’ since the end of February while observing ‘Lent’ and had decided that I was not making any public statements during this period.

A woman who was dealt several chops about her body, allegedly by her husband, is in critical condition, while the man is in police custody.

TAIPEI,  (Reuters) – Taiwan has begun mass production of a long-range missile and is developing three other models, a senior official said yesterday, in a rare admission of efforts to develop strike capacity amid growing Chinese pressure.

Gold Prices for the three day period  ending Thursday March 25, 2021 Kitco is a Canadian company that buys and sells precious metals such as gold, copper and silver.

(Reuters) – Seven times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton indicated yesterday he was unlikely to retire at the end of a season that he hoped would be the most exciting yet.

We once lived on a gentle hill bordering a serene, southern Trinidad bay with stunning panoramic views of the curving coastline.

After ending a nine-game skid emphatically against the Denver Nuggets, the Toronto Raptors will try to carry the momentum into their game against the visiting Phoenix Suns tonight at Tampa.

On any given day, one can see long lines stretched outside of the Central Housing and Planning Authority.

(Reuters) – Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre said an addiction to painkillers led him to contemplate suicide shortly after steering his team to a Super Bowl title in 1997.

(Reuters) – New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Jamieson has been fined 15% of his match fee for “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision” during Tuesday’s One Day International against Bangladesh in Christchurch, the governing International Cricket Council said.

The Orlando Magic are trading All-Star center Nikola Vucevic to the Chicago Bulls as part of a four-player deal, ESPN reported yesterday.

(Reuters) – Former Netherlands forward Marco van Basten has called on football’s lawmakers to consider scrapping the offside rule, saying the sport would be better off without it.

WELLINGTON,  (Reuters) – New Zealand’s parliament has passed legislation giving mothers and their partners the right to paid leave following a miscarriage or still birth, becoming only the second country in the world to do so.

(Jamaica Observer) KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica recorded 458 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday and one additional death, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 37,128 and the death toll to 546.

MANCHESTER, England, (Reuters) – They used to be spotted in the directors’ box, notepad and pen in hand and with a face familiar to supporters in the stands.

The D’Urban Park tarmac, Georgetown, will be a hive of activity tomorrow from 9.00am when the Public Service Georgetown Office Assistants stage an Under-18 Boys Lucky 7 Super 4-over Knockout Tape Ball Cricket Competition.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 907’s trading results showed consideration of $12,637,918 from 127,803 shares traded in 18 transactions as compared to session 906’s trading results which showed consideration of $18,136,621 from 216,244 shares traded in 33 transactions.

The Houston Rockets are trading Victor Oladipo to the Miami Heat, ESPN first reported yesterday.

Guyana Police Force ranks yesterday conducted a narcotics eradication exercise at De Veldt, Upper Berbice River between 5 am and 5.30 pm, where they destroyed hundreds of suspected cannabis plants.

Dear Editor, Under taxation law; tax avoidance is legal based on the relevant provisions enshrined in the Tax Act but tax evasion is illegal.

God still `loves’ criminals and riggers? My lead caption will be dealt with by way of personalised levity and very serious recall.

(Reuters) – England skipper Eoin Morgan has been ruled out of the final two one-day internationals against India in Pune after splitting the webbing between his thumb and index finger in Tuesday’s opener, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said yesterday.

It seems like many moons ago since street banditry took the form of choke-and-rob, with the assailant armed with no more than a knife.

If we appear persistent in our call for the government to prepare, publish, and implement a countrywide programme of activities to mark International Year of Fruits and Vegetables (IYFV), so designated by the United Nations since December last year, that is because we see possibilities not just for Guyana’s participation in a global event that can boost the morale of the large numbers of local farmers during a period of trials and frustrations, but also because we can use IYFV as an important base on which to further consolidate an agricultural sector that is of significance to building a food-secure regime both here in Guyana and in the wider Caribbean.

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – England all-rounder Ben Stokes was unsure if his Rajasthan Royals team mate Jofra Archer would be able to play any part in this year’s Indian Premier League due to injury and praised the fast bowler for prioritising his national team commitments.