News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The US Senate yesterday confirmed President Barack Obama’s selection of Gayle Smith to be administrator of the country’s main humanitarian aid organization, the US Agency for International Development, seven months after her nomination.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The West Indies Cricket Board have given Sunil Narine its full backing after the beleaguered off-spinner was on Sunday banned from bowling in international cricket because of an illegal action.

About 0720h. today, the police say that Zhifa Lu, 53 years, was involved in an altercation with a man at the Meadow Bank Wharf during which he was shot and injured to his right foot.

Allan Sim, the man alleged to have murdered Georgetown Public Hospital ambulance dispatcher, Melissa Skeete, appeared before a city court today where he was formally charged with the crime.

During investigations into two reports of burglary committed on homes at Bush Lot, Essequibo Coast, the police say they arrested a suspect at Reliance, Essequibo Coast, yesterday.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked by government with Fedders Lloyd to complete the specialty hospital should be cancelled and the bidding process restarted, former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran has said even as he dismissed as “without merit,” the administration’s statement that it approached the Indian firm in the interest of time.

The Sports and Art Development Fund of the former Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport was not properly managed and millions of dollars were not adequately accounted for, according to the forensic audit report on the entity.

The Public Accounts Com-mittee (PAC) of Parliament is in the process of nominating persons to be members of the long-awaited Public Procurement Com-mission (PPC) and is inviting interested stakeholders to submit names of nominees for consideration.

The ceremony for the Guyana Prize for Literature and Caribbean Awards was last evening held at the Pegasus Hotel.

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo says that Clement Rohee is the leader of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) but he once again on Saturday overruled him insisting that the party’s parliamentarians will donate the increases in their salaries to charity instead of the party’s account.

Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the sugar industry, Vibert Parvatan says that the retreat on Saturday aimed at familiarising members of cabinet with the report ended with Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo declaring that more dialogue may be necessary.

The Government of Guyana is presently preparing the terms of reference for an auditor external to Guyana to examine the operations of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).

The Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) has come out in support of miner Suresh Ramkissoon saying his operation at Isseneru, Middle Mazaruni is lawful and legal gold miners must be allowed to operate and not be bullied by “greedy village councils”.

With November being National Epilepsy Awareness Month, University of Guyana (UG) Medical School student Christopher Martin France, who was diagnosed with epilepsy last year, is using his experience and knowledge about the illness to raise awareness and reduce the stigma that surrounds it in Guyana.

The Justice Institute Guyana (JIG) is calling on the government to begin an immediate public education campaign with a view to abolishing the death penalty no later than midnight on the 25th May 2016, the eve of the country’s 50th anniversary of independence.

In observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers (GAWL) on Wednesday called for a unified resolve to end the violence against women and girls.

BRUSSELS, (Reuters) – Turkey promised to help stem the flow of migrants to Europe in return for cash, visas and renewed talks on joining the EU in a deal struck yesterday that the Turkish prime minister called a “new beginning” for the uneasy neighbours.

The post-mortem examination on the body that was found on Saturday afternoon behind the Park Vue Hotel at Farm, East Bank Demerara is expected to be done today.

PARIS, (Reuters) – Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve urged French Muslim leaders yesterday to develop an “enlightened Islam” to confront what he called the obscurantist views of Islamic State that lead young Muslims into violence.

BANGUI, (Reuters) – Protected by the heaviest security ever seen on his trips, Pope Francis yesterday preached reconciliation in the divided Central African Republic, a nation racked by bloodshed between Muslims and Christians.