Guyana News

The Alliance For Change today said that President David Granger continues to act in good faith in relation to Cabinet appointments.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of New York said today he had been fired after he defied a Justice Department request to resign as the Trump administration cleared out federal prosecutors who served under former President Barack Obama.

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack and the former Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force Gary Best were yesterday questioned by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) as part of the ongoing investigation into land sold in the Pradoville 2 housing scheme, which has already seen former President Bharrat Jagdeo arrested and grilled along with a host of former PPP/C government officials.

It is up to the police to determine whether former president Bharrat Jagdeo has immunity in the Pradoville 2 probe, according to State Minister Joseph Harmon, who yesterday argued that the constitutional protection cannot necessarily save a president from judicial intervention and criminal prosecution.

With questions mounting as to how the national procurement board was unaware of a $605M emergency drug purchase for the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), the Ministry of Public Health yesterday deferred the promised release of a statement providing an explanation.

Police in Berbice say they have foiled a plot to murder a well-known Rose Hall Town, Corentyne businessman and three men, including the suspected hitman, are in custody, while the person who allegedly contracted him is still being sought.

President David Granger yesterday appointed six of the seven members of a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into Land Ownership.

British High Commis-sioner to Guyana Greg Quinn yesterday said that Irish consultant Dr Sam Sittlington is serving in an advisory and training capacity at the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) and not in an operational role.

The wife of Troy Simmons, the man who was fatally shot by a security guard after an attempted robbery at the GuyGas Inc.

One of the prosecution’s main witnesses in the trial of Christopher Da Silva, who is accused of murdering teenager Reyad Khan, yesterday recanted his story of seeing the two in a scuffle moments before the killing.

The reportedly ‘missing’ police corporal, who has been implicated in connection with the smuggling of an AK-47 rifle out of the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) compound, at Eve Leary, yesterday afternoon turned himself over to the police in the company of his lawyer.

Two years on, disappointment and pain continue to mar the lives of the parents of Courtney Crum-Ewing, who was murdered in what many believe was a politically-motivated hit.

One year after a gallstone surgery left her in a vegetative state at the Lethem Regional Hospital, Shulinab resident Thelma Ribeiro has died.

The apparent recycling of a message by Junior Education Minister Nicolette Henry made for some confusion during the Department of Culture’s Phagwah celebration yesterday, when she referred to the holiday as “Diwali” and “the Festival of Lights” multiple times during her speech.

A second man was yesterday charged with the murder of Festival City resident Christopher Wharton, who was shot dead execution-style while sitting on the stairs of his home in November of 2015.

Police are searching for three suspects who robbed an overseas-based couple in an armed attack at Brickery, East Bank Demerara, on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after they arrived in the country.

Armed bandits robbed the Shell gas station at Ogle, East Coast Demerara early yesterday morning, after they tied up the security guard.

The government has appointed Dr. Jan Mangal, an expert in offshore and civil engineering, as Petroleum Advisor in the Ministry of the Presidency.

The police say that at 17:30hrs today, Corporal Shevon Marks who had been held over the smuggling of an AK-47 turned himself in to the police.

Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall says based on information received from his clients who were interviewed at SOCU Headquarters in the Pradoville 2 probe, UK adviser Dr Sam Sittlington may have exceeded his remit.