News

BRASILIA,  (Reuters) – The government of Brazil’s new President Michel Temer scrambled yesterday to distance itself from a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal that broke less than a week after he took office, involving fraud in the country’s largest pension funds.

NEW DELHI,  (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Sri Lanka free of malaria, hailing it as a “remarkable public health achievement” for the Indian Ocean island, once one of the most affected nations in the world.

LIBREVILLE, (Reuters) – Gabon’s re-elected president, Ali Bongo, came under international scrutiny yesterday as a European Union mission questioned the validity of his narrow win, France recommended a recount and the African Union said it would send mediators.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The Office of the Contractor General (OCG) has stepped into the People’s National Party (PNP) campaign-financing scandal, ordering the party’s general secretary, Paul Burke, and former transport and works minister, Dr Omar Davies, to answer questions under oath.

NORRISTOWN, Pa., (Reuters) – Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial in Pennsylvania has been scheduled for June next year, and if prosecutors have their way, more than a dozen accusers will take the stand to detail what they claim is a decades-long pattern of attacks.

MANAGUA,  (Reuters) – The Nicaraguan government said yesterday it has granted political asylum to former Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes, who is being investigated over allegations of corruption in his homeland.

The Private Sector Commission (PSC) today called on the government and the parliamentary parties to convene a special parliamentary meeting to swiftly set up the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) and the Integrity Commission.

(Trinidad Guardian) Labour Day celebrations in New York turned deadly for one Trinidadian family yesterday.

Approximately 180 workers have been retrenched by Barama Company Limited, according to General Manager Mohindra Chand, who says that a drastic slowdown in the market is largely to blame but the government’s protracted review of the company’s contract for renewal has also contributed.

The police last night said that a suspect in Sunday’s murder of Cummings Lodge woman, Anita Mohan has confessed and they are now in search of an accomplice.

Joyce Lawrence, of Plantation Grove, who was charged in February with trafficking a 16-year-old girl for labour, was yesterday found guilty of the crime and ordered to pay her victim almost $900,000 or face 12 months in jail.

-seeking possession of Cove and John site The Guyana Sevashram Sangha and its trustees have moved to the courts seeking to remove a former Swami from the Hindu organisation’s Cove and John location where he continues to live although he was expelled from the monastic order.

A freak storm on Sunday afternoon damaged 13 homes, uprooted trees and caused a blackout at Blenheim, Leguan, where some residents say they need help to do repairs.

An Anna Regina bar owner was yesterday ordered to post $1 million bail to secure his release after he was charged with two counts of human trafficking in a city court.

Local Dynamic Airways (DIA) spokesman Gerry Gouveia says the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) review of the airline’s air transportation fitness does not affect its flying schedule or status here.

Veersammy Narine, the businessman recently charged with attempting to bribe a police officer, was yesterday granted his release on bail by the High Court.

-as centenary celebrated The Berbice High School (BHS) yesterday celebrated 100 years of existence under the theme ‘Seizing the opportunity to train and build a cohesive society’.

Diabetic patients who would usually benefit from a public supply of insulin have been forced to buy their medication from private pharmacies since public hospitals and health centres in some regions are experiencing a shortage.

-after posing as customers   A Parfait Harmonie, West Bank Demerara shop owner and her brother were beaten and robbed yesterday when six gunmen, two of whom posed as customers, attacked her business.

While the United States is currently assisting Guyana in putting mechanisms in place to address any occurrence of an offshore oil spill, it also recognises that work must be done to put policies in place to ensure sound environmental practices for the petroleum sector.