Beauty queen charged with husband’s murder

Guyanese beauty queen Carolan Lynch has been charged with murdering her husband, Swiss House Cambio boss Farouk Razac, who was discovered dead on his bedroom floor last Monday. A special prosecutor is to be assigned to conduct the preliminary inquiry into the matter. Lynch was arraigned Friday before Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys at the Georgetown Magistrate's court. She was not required to plead. Lynch's attorney Nigel Hughes said his client was distressed and in a state of mourning added to which, she has been the target of vicious speculation by the print and electronic media.

IMPACT ON ST. LUCIA

By ED HARRIS in St. Lucia

PARTY DESTINATION OF THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN

The curtain came down on St. Lucia Jazz 2007 on Sunday, May 13, 2007 with the aging Isaac Hayes and dynamic Natalie Cole being well received by an appreciative audience. It was a lovely day and the Pigeon Island Landmark being just the right place, patrons enjoyed every moment of the final day of the historic event. The mothers were well represented as many were rewarded by spending special moments with their loved ones enjoying music at its best. Already, the promoters are claiming the event to be a success and from all appearances, it was.

IMPACT ON JAMAICA

Jamaica, UK Ministers talk counter- narcotics, terrorism

Jamaica's Minister of National Security, Dr Peter Phillips last week met with Dr Kim Howells, Minister of State in Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) responsible for Counter Narcotics, Counter Terrorism, Counter Proliferation, Conflict Issues, the Middle East, Afghanistan and South Asia, and UN Reform. During the meeting, the ministers discussed a number of issues, relating to the ongoing cooperation between the UK and Jamaica including the trans-national trade in illegal narcotics, the related issue of guns and ammunition, and their impact on the crime rate. They also discussed the current social intervention initiatives which are partly funded by the UK government.

Choc'late to pray for Jamaican miracle

Tagged as one of the most murderous nations on Earth, many may think Jamaica doesn't have a prayer of changing. But tell that to young Choc'late Allen, who heads here next week Monday to join in the fight against crime and violence - with hands clasped and eyes closed. For three days, starting Monday, Choc'late will be fasting and praying for a turnaround in the nation. The 13-year-old home-schooled girl received worldwide attention in January when she embarked on a similar feat in her native Trinidad and Tobago.

Police sticking to story - Still waiting on more Woolmer results
 

The Police High Command yesterday said it was treating as speculation, reports that Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer died of heart failure. According to the police, they are maintaining their stance that Woolmer was murdered since the results of further tests are not yet available. "That will remain our position until the results of the investigation are known," said police spokesman Karl Angell in a statement.

Jamaica must go global, says minister

Jamaica’s Minister of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce, Phillip Paulwell, has said that it is through active and confident participation in the digital economy, that Jamaica will be best integrated into the global environment. "Jamaica will be able to attract and retain new investments, businesses in general will become more competitive, the consumer will benefit from increased choices and better prices and ultimately economic growth and development will result," Paulwell said.

 

IMPACT ON BARBADOS

PM Arthur rejects bail-out plea from WICB
 

THE Barbados government has rejected out of hand a plea by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to allow it to use Kensington Oval's World Cup (CWC) gate receipts to clear some of its US$15 million debt. "It would be an act of irresponsible folly for us to take the only thing we would get from the World Cup and give it to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to pay its debts," Prime Minister Owen Arthur said on Monday night. He urged WICB president Ken Gordon and other officials of the cricket-managing body to "pass over the gate receipts so that we can start dealing with our financial matters at the Oval".

Barbados: Twelfth ‘fattest country’ in the world

Barbados has been rated as having the 12th fattest population in the world. That's according to a Forbes report, which indicates that Barbados also has the second greatest percentage of overweight people in the Caribbean.
It says that 69.7 percent of the adult population of Barbados is classified as overweight, based on the most recent estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO). Dominica, the highest rated Caribbean country, comes in at number 11, with 71 percent.

Barbados gets lion's share from CWC

BARBADOS bagged over a quarter of the fans who attended matches during the entire Cricket World Cup 2007.

This was revealed by Minister of Tourism Noel Lynch last week at a Press conference held at Sherbourne Conference Centre to discuss the impact of the CWC 2007. According to Lynch, just over 400 000 fans passed through the gates during the course of the tournament which was held in nine different Caribbean nations and of those, 117 000 attended matches held in Barbados. Minister of Sport Anthony Wood said while the early exits of the Indian and Pakistani teams "sent shockwaves through Barbadians", the island was still "able to generate up to 90 per cent of anticipated gate receipts." Commenting that Barbadians were known to "perform better when our backs are to the wall", Wood stated that in the end, matches held in Barbados averaged spectator attendance of 17 000 per game.

Rush on for CWC BMWs
 

A LOT OF BARBADIANS want to get their hands on the Cricket World Cup BMW cars. Sources close to the importers, Warrens Motors, told the WEEKEND NATION enquiries were "coming fast and furious", even before the games ended, and they anticipated that in about four to five months all 56 would have new owners. But first, every offer to buy will have to be ratified by the Ministry of Finance, under the instructions of Prime Minister Owen Arthur.

IMPACT ON GUYANA

An Open Letter to the Guyanese Diaspora and shared with those living the reality at home…..

I am writing to you as one of your peers - an ordinary Guyanese torn from our homeland many years ago. Whether you live in Guyana or in the Diaspora, I believe that in terms of our homeland, we share many of the same fears, pain, frustration, love, hope and passion. I believe that given the right opportunity and environment, we would want to work together to do what we must as a generation, to bring the dawn of a new era to Guyana. I ask that you take the time to read these few pages, and after you have, search your conscience. Ask yourself like I did:  'If not us, Who?  And if not now, When?'

Rawle Marshall - Guyana’s First NBA Player

By Patrick Haynes

Rawle Junior Kalomo Marshall (born February 20, 1982 in Georgetown, Guyana) is an American basketball player. He is a 6 ft 7 in (200 cm) and 190 lb (86 kg) swingman. Early life: Not selected during the 2005 NBA Draft, Marshall has participated in several summer leagues (Southern California Summer Pro League with the Memphis Grizzlies, Rocky Mountain Revue with the Dallas Mavericks). His performances (18.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 27.4 minutes per game in the Rocky Mountain Revue) helped him sign a one-year contract with the Dallas Mavericks on August 5, 2005.

Linden bauxite industry officially handed over to Chinese

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Managing Director of BOSAI, Mr. Yuan Zhilun shook hands on the lawns of Watooka House, Mackenzie, two Sundays ago to symbolically signal the official handing over of the Linden bauxite industry to the Chinese firm. Reporting on the event, the Government Information Agency (GINA) said the previously known Omai Bauxite Mining Incorporated (OBMI) will now be called BOSAI Minerals Group Guyana Incorporated (BMGGI). Mr. Hinds remarked that, with BOSAI as a partner, Guyana has the chance of redeveloping the bauxite resources during the next ten years.

IN SEARCH OF A NEW LEADER

By RICKFORD BURKE

Dear Editor:

The PNC is in serious trouble. The current debate in Guyana’s main opposition party, the People’s National Congress (PNC), about who is best suited to be leader is necessary and stimulating. For the past decade, the Party resigned it- self from fostering a succession of leadership and failed to grant the necessary grooming and exposure to bright young people who have an interest in political life. It did not support constructive debate and divergent opinions. Instead, it employed strong-arm tactics to extricate revolutionary, progressive thinkers. This has dissuaded honest, open dialogue, drove out independent thinkers, and seriously impeded growth.

Kidnapped businessman killed

Kidnapped Guyanese businessman Khemdat Sukhul was found clinging to life in Unity Village, Mahaica Saturday morning with numerous chops about his upper body, but he succumbed less than an hour later. In a release the Police Public Relations Office said that five persons had been arrested as a consequence of a call which had been traced. In addition, a hire-car driver had been held in connection with information received. According to the police, residents had seen an unlighted minibus reversing into Cremation Road, Unity Village on the East Coast of Demerara from which something had been dumped. Other reports indicated he had been found in a clump of bushes after his cries for help alerted residents in the wee hours of the morning. They called the police, who transported him to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he died.

Former PNCR chairman Vincent Alexander has offered himself as a candidate for the post of leader of the party at its upcoming Biennial Congress. Alexander wrote to PNCR party groups to inform them of his availability, after members of the party's Central Executive Committee notified Leader Robert Corbin that they intend to lobby for support for a candidate to contest at the August Congress. "I am not trying to overthrow Mr. Corbin," he explains in an undated letter seen by Stabroek News, "My intention is to contest for the position in keeping with the provisions of the constitution of the party." The letter also reveals that the other executive members who, along with Alexander, approached Corbin last week--Deborah Backer, James McAllister, Dr Dalgliesh Joseph, Ivor Allen, Joe Hamilton and Hamley Case-- have indicated their intention to support Alexander for the position of leader at the congress. The correspondence was copied to Corbin as well as General Secretary Oscar Clarke and Chairman Winston Murray.

Hollywood stars for Guyana’s Independence event

Sean Patrick Thomas

Famed Guyanese-American Hollywood actor, Sean Patrick Thomas and Guyanese-born actress CCH Pounder, will join their compatriots for the raising of Guyana's flag, the Golden Arrow Head, in Manhattan on Guyana's Independence Day, May 26, 2007, in honor of the South American nation's 41st anniversary of independence from Britain.

Thomas who starred in big movies like Barbershop, Barbershop 2, Batman and The Foundation, is the son of Guyanese Carlton and Cheryl Thomas.

CCH Pounder - The event is being organized by the Committee For Guyana's Independence Anniversary, a group comprising of several prominent Guyanese and is the brainchild of Hard Beat Communications CEO, Felicia Persaud, and the Bowling Green Association of New York. Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) President, Rickford Burke disclosed that "the Institute will play a key role in helping to organize the event" and said CGID members would be working with Persaud, Guyana's Ambassador to the USA, Bayney Karran, Ron Bobb-Semple, Chuck Mohan and others to ensure its success.

UNIVERSITY OF GUYANA LECTURER DIES

Theo Morris, 56, lecturer at the University of Guyana died Tuesday morning after a long period of illness. He resided in Kitty.

A MOTHER’S LAMENT . . .

Dear Editor,

I am greatly saddened by the Guyana government's refusal to give my son a trial after all this time. God knows, after five years he has certainly served a sentence already for his imagined and manufactured crimes against them. I am informed by certain factions that his continued detainment has more to do with the judiciary than the government but I can only conclude that these people are either clueless or are attempting to mislead me. It is pubic knowledge of the relationship that exists between the government of Guyana and the judiciary and it is no accident that Mark's case does not get called up even though he is listed in every assizes for trial.

Head of the Guyana Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon says treason accused Mark Benschop is one of many prisoners languishing in jail awaiting trials because of the present state of the criminal justice system. Rejecting claims that Benschop is being discriminated against, he said, Cabinet discussed the issue after calls were sounded in the media for government to take action in the case. He said that Cabinet recognized the present state of the system and the impact it has on prisoners. Speaking with reporters Thursday at his weekly press briefing, Luncheon said, Cabinet is working on correcting the situation but noted that more judges and magistrates need to be appointed to clear the backlog so that there will be fewer Benschop-type experiences in the court system. He said the incident in which Benschop is implicated is serious, adding that those who pretend that it was an inconsequential or a trivial occurrence not warranting the application of the full course of the law are deluding themselves.

The Guyana Government had agreed to pay former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik some $20M or US$100,000 for his consultancy services. Prime Minister Samuel Hinds made the disclosure in the National Assembly last Thursday in response to a question from People's National Congress Reform-One Guyana Member of Parliament, Winston Murray. However since the Kerik contract was supposed to become operational on February 1 this year, Hinds could not say whether any money was used from the contract to pay Kerik for the period until he withdrew from the contract. The prime minister requested time from the National Assembly to provide such information which he said he "did not know." Hinds was also unable to say whether Kerik received any advance on the contract. The embattled ex-New York City Police Commissioner has been forced to pull out of his contract as security advisor to President Bharrat Jagdeo because of the charges he may soon face in the US. "[Kerik] said he doesn't want the country to be tainted," Jagdeo revealed at a press conference on April 11, adding that similar reasons were given for his decision to put off his involvement in Trinidad and Tobago.

IMPACT ON T & T

BIG POVERTY DROP

Report puts level at 17%

The Government is readying itself to roll out a report which will say that poverty in the country has been cut in half over the last five years. The Poverty Reduction Unit in the Ministry of Social Development is said to be completing consideration of a report from a team of consultants which put the national poverty figure at 17 per cent. This is half the 35 per cent figure which the Government says it met when it took office in 2002.

Nine charged for Vindra murder

FIVE months of rumors, suspicion, searching, public outcry, prayers and blame over the XtraFoods chief executive officer Vindra Naipaul-Coolman reached a turning point Monday with the appearance of nine men at the Port of Spain Magistrates' Court. And one of the nine charged with the murder of kidnap victim Naipaul-Coolman turned spokesman for all the accused to request a speedy preliminary enquiry. "We are all brethren here, right, Miss, and we either have children or have children to come," was what Shervon Peters used as the basis for his argument to Senior Magistrate Lianne Lee Kim for a quick enquiry so "this could go to the High Court". The accused murderers- Peters, 20, Keida Garcia, brothers Marlon, 22, and Earl, 30, Trimmingham, Ronald Armstrong, Antonio Charles, Joey Lewis, Akeil Keron Glaster and Joel Fraser-are all from Upper La Puerta, Diego Martin.

Millions of dollars recovered from Trinidad airport scandal

Trinidad and Tobago's Attorney General, John Jeremie, has told the nation that the government has been successful in retrieving millions of dollars stolen by several persons connected to the TT$1.6 billion Piarco Airport scandal.
The project was completed in the year 2000 under the past UNC administration and the allegations of fraud involved former government ministers. Building of the airport and the process used came under national and international scrutiny when it was learnt that substandard work had been done at the airport. Money was also channeled from the project to private bank accounts in the US and other parts of the world.