Guyana News

LILLE, France, (Reuters) – Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was placed under formal investigation today by authorities looking into a suspected prostitution ring in the French city of Lille, his lawyer said, following a day of questioning by judges in a closed courtroom.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama said today he was suspending trade benefits for Argentina because of the South American country’s failure to pay more than $300 million in compensation awards in two disputes involving American investors.

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba, (Reuters) – Pope Benedict landed in eastern Cuba today for a three-day visit to showcase improving Church-state relations and push for a larger Church role at a time of change on the communist island.

(WICB) GROS-ISLET, St. Lucia — Darren Sammy said it was important for his side to quickly switch from the 50 overs to Twenty20 mode, as they prepare for the first Digicel Twenty20 International against Australia on Tuesday at the Beausejour Cricket Ground here.

LONDON, (Reuters) – A gas cloud has encircled Total’s Elgin Franklin platform in the North Sea after failed attempts to shut a problematic production well caused a leak, an RMT union official said, based on eyewitness accounts from workers on nearby rigs.

At about 1500h. on Saturday March 24, 2012, the police say they conducted a search on a camp at Powis, Five Star Backdam, North West District, where they found an unlicensed .32 pistol with eight .32 rounds.

The West Indies Cricket Board is seeking legal advice on a letter from counsel for Guyana’s Attorney General, Anil Nandlall instructing that the shares of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) be transferred to the Government of Guyana.

Questions are being asked about why  a senior Berbice Anti-Smuggling Squad (BASS) officer is still stationed in the area despite being ordered transferred after being implicated in trying to “set-up” a senior Customs officer.

(de Ware Tijd) BENZDORP ─ A criminal Brazilian gang is raiding the hinterland aiming their criminal activities at Chinese shopkeepers.

(Jamaica Observer) New York, USA — The lawyer representing convicted Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke is standing by controversial statements alleging complicity between United States (US) authorities and the Jamaican government in bringing charges against, and subsequently extraditing, his client.

The Associated Press is reporting that four persons died when their small plane crashed yesterday shortly after taking off from a tiny airport in the Bahamas en route to Florida.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Almost two years after the Professor Alvin Wint-led Sugar Industry Enquiry Commission concluded its examination of the local sugar industry and made recommendations for its improvement, nothing has been done in terms of implementation.

WELLINGTON, (Reuters) – Standing less than six feet tall and with a short bustling run-up, Vernon Philander is not the prototypical fast bowler yet his accuracy, late movement away and surprising pace has catapulted him into the record books.

(Barbados Nation) William Layne says he was a tough Supervisor of Insurance when he essentially shut down an insurance company in the mid-1990s because it was not meeting its statutory fund obligations.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Former New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns was awarded 90,000 pounds ($142,800) damages today in his British High Court libel action over an accusation on Twitter of match-fixing which he said questioned all his achievements in the game.

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – Six players from a South African rugby club are feared dead after being swept out to sea during a post-practice ocean swim, officials said today.

Angry residents of Kumaka in the Mabaruma Sub-Region have expressed concern about the state of ongoing revetment works there as the Aruka River continues to threaten the area.

Former audit office head, Anand Goolsarran has described former attorney general Charles Ramson’s advice on lotto monies not being paid into the Consolidated Fund as “very flawed” and said had he still been auditor general he would have disagreed with the advice and hoped it would have been reconsidered by Ramson.

Vulnerable persons are expected to benefit from a humanitarian village that will be constructed at Ankerville, Port Mourant, Corentyne by the New Jersey Arya Samaj and its Guyana Chapter, the Guyana Central Arya Samaj Humanitarian Mission.

President Donald Ramotar says that he is not prepared to rule out any probe into investment deals, including the Queens Atlantic Investment Inc (QA11) transaction, even as he vouches for his Government’s transparency.