News

CARACAS/HOUSTON/NEW DELHI,  (Reuters) – Venezuela’s state-run oil company, PDVSA, has spent at least a decade trying to build business ties and boost shipments to refineries in India, where crowds once welcomed the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez with cries of “Viva!”

Former Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee says that the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) will have to arrest him at his premises as while he is prepared to co-operate with any investigation he will not be visiting its Camp Road HQ.

Former president Bharrat Jagdeo, former Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon and former PPP/C minister Robert Persaud were among seven  persons who were arrested and questioned by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) yesterday as part of its criminal investigation of the sale of lands in the controversial ‘Pradoville 2’ housing scheme.

The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) has sought approval for an emergency purchase of $605m in drugs from ANSA McAl and concerns have been raised in some quarters over the lack of tendering and the possibility that the best price might not have been obtained.

A security guard at the GuyGas Inc complex at Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara, shot and killed one of three men who were attempting to rob the business during the wee hours of yesterday morning.

Police in the North West District are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding a deadly fire at Morawhanna, which claimed the life of an elderly woman on Tuesday morning.

The latest United States State Department report on human rights in Guyana has found that alleged    government corruption, including among police officials, and laws that discriminate against women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) persons were the most significant human rights problems.

A University of Guyana (UG) business management major was yesterday granted bail after she was charged with harbouring a fugitive from the law.

An urgent revamping of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is needed to make it fit for the collecting of taxes and broadening the taxpayers’ base, according to Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan.

A 15-year-old boy was yesterday charged with the murder of Hemant Persaud, the brother of Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud, who was stabbed to death almost two weeks ago at the Stabroek Market.

The charge against Bollywood Club owner Eladio Peraza, who was accused of trafficking a woman, was yesterday dismissed by the Chief Magistrate.

“I love birds and I don’t have kids,” was Canada resident Davendra Narine’s explanation for attempting to smuggle 10 ‘Towa Towa’ birds onto a flight in his hand luggage.

An arrest warrant was yesterday re-issued for fugitive Marcus Bisram, the alleged mastermind behind the murder of Number 70 Village carpenter Faiyaz Narinedatt, committed last year.

  Two Guyanese admitted to possession, trafficking and importation of 14.5 kilogrammes of cocaine and 2 kilogrammes of cannabis in a Barbados court on Monday A Barbados Today report said Guyanese Coco Profitt and Paul Fraser admitted to committing the crime on a boat, the Lady Sandra, at Bridgetown Port on September 10, 2015.

Over $200,000 in cash and a quantity of phone cards, valued around $30,000, were among the items stolen from Poonai’s Pharmacy and Animal Health Care, in Rose Hall Town, Corentyne during the wee hours of yesterday morning.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Britain’s upper house of parliament voted yesterday to give lawmakers more power to reject the final terms of the country’s exit from the European Union, ignoring pleas from Prime Minister Theresa May’s government not to hamstring their negotiations.

Citizens who have opted for the prepaid meters can now receive them as the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) now has meters in stock, GINA reported yesterday.

SAN FRANCISCO,  (Reuters) – The state of Hawaii said it will ask a federal court today for an emergency halt to President Donald Trump’s new executive order restricting travel from six Muslim-majority countries, becoming the first state to challenge the ban in court.

(Reuters) – A U.S. judge yesterday ruled against Native American tribes seeking to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline as their legal options narrow weeks before oil is set to flow on the project.

Odell Hicks, a mason who was charged in January with unlawful possession of a pistol and live ammunition, was yesterday sentenced to two and a half years in jail after being found guilty of the crime.