Guyana Times - Monday, October 9, 2023

Aromatic rice to be made available for local farmers to cultivate in 2025

Farmers’ Market to be held every week until year-end

…aimed at regulating high prices – Agri Minister

Oko West gold project has potential to be largescale mine – Govt

Call made for public inquiry into Raphael Trotman’s signing of 2016 PSA

Police conduct outreaches on crime, violence, traffic offences in Regions 7, 8

23 matters completed at Berbice, Essequibo Criminal Assizes

Over 54 lbs ganja unearthed in Berbice, ECD busts

Security guard dies after being struck down by truck

Traffic Chief urges motorists to comply with road laws

Page

Labourer stabbed to death after defending reputed wife

"Nobody could help us" – Shock and anger in Israel's Ashkelon

Oko West gold project has potential to be large-scale mine – Govt

The Oko West gold project, where exploration for gold is being carried out by a Canadian company called Reunion Gold, has the potential to be a large-scale gold-producing mine. This is according to the Natural Resources Ministry.

Recently, Natural Resources Minister

Vickram Bharrat and Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn visited the site of Reunion Gold’s Oko West project, which is located in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni). According to the Ministry, gold has already been confirmed at the site.

“The company is currently carrying out the Oko West project that entails large-scale gold exploration operations geared

towards a potential largescale gold mine. Reunion Gold’s Oko West project is a new gold discovery for Guyana that is south of the known Oko Mountain gold

region.”

“Exploration techniques such as geochemical survey, trenching and a pilot drilling programme confirmed the presence of the

gold resource in a shear zone mineralisation style on the eastern concession boundary between a greenstone and granitoid assemblage,” the Ministry said.

It was explained that detailed drilling, trenching, geological sampling and geophysics are among the exploration techniques that are being used during the exploration work, with a view of further defining the gold resource and coming up with mining targets.

“Exploration work inclusive of detailed drilling, trenching, geological sampling and geophysics are some of the current exploration methodologies that are being used to further define this gold resource and guide future concession activities and mining targets,” the Ministry said.

Two weeks ago, the company in a release said that it has raised $70 million from a bought deal financing and will use part of the proceeds to advance the company’s Oko West project in Guyana to the next stage of development.

The company said an underwriting syndicate acquired 152.2 million shares at 46 cents per share. It also said the underwriters have been granted the op-

Omai had announced that for the first half of 2023, they had found extensive gold in their Wenot drill site. The announcement was made by the company in a statement, in which they revealed that a total of 3569 metres have been completed in 11 holes in 2023. In hole 23ODD063, visible gold was seen in 37 locations along 299 metres of core.

Back in February 2022, the company announced that it would continue drilling at its Region Seven location since it believes that even more deposits of gold are available at the Wenot deposit.

Prior to that, the company had filed a technical report with SEDAR, which supports the 16.7 million tonnes of indicated gold and 19.5 million tonnes of inferred gold it had announced the Wenot deposit held back in January.

In January 2022, Omai Gold Mines had announced the discovery of significant gold values during initial trenching and drilling on

tion to purchase an additional 15% of the offering to cover over-allotments, if any. The green shoe option remains open for 30 days after closing.

Reunion Gold joins other Canadian companies that have or are operating in Guyana. One company currently operating is Omai Gold Mines Corporation, which has already found gold and is developing an updated mineral resource estimate for its Wenot project in Region Seven.

the Broccoli Hill target at its Region Seven holdings. The company had disclosed that trenching exposed a quartz-rich shear zone with samples assaying 29.3 g/t Au, 7.8 g/t Au, 5.0 g/t Au and 2.2 g/t Au along a 40-metre strike.

Omai Gold Mines, which returned to the Wenot and Fennell pits in 2020 after leaving Guyana in 2015, had announced in December 2020 that it would be pressing forward with a 5000-metre drilling programme. (G3)

…gold already found, exploration continues at Region 7

Ministers Vickram Bharrat and Robeson Benn along with their delegation during the tour of Reunion Gold’s Oko West project

BRIDGE OPENINGS

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Monday, Oct 9 – 00:30h – 02:00h and Tuesday, Oct 10 – 01:30h –03:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Monday, Oct 9 – 13:30h –15:00h and Tuesday, Oct 10 – 14:15h – 15:45h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

Parika and Supenaam departure times – 05:00h, 10:00h-12:00h, 16:00h, 18:30h daily.

WEATHER TODAY

There will be sunshine during the day. Expect clear skies at night. Temperatures should range between 24 degrees Celsius and 33 degrees Celsius.

Winds: Easterly to East North-Easterly between 2.68 metres and 4.91 metres.

High Tide: 10:19h and 22:44h reaching maximum heights of 1.94 metres and 1.99 metres.

Low Tide: 16:07h reaching a minimum height of 1.33 metres.

More specialised food production, innovative ways needed in agriculture – Pres Ali

With the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Government pushing for more innovation and technology within the agriculture sector, President Dr Irfaan Ali also recently stressed the importance of more specialised production of food.

According to President Ali at an event hosted by the Canada-Guyana Chamber of Commerce (CGCC), the focus is on creating a Guyana that is known for its innovation. Considering Guyana’s leadership role on the regional stage in food production, the President stated that more innovation and market analysis must become normalised.

“Digitisation is going to be one platform. We want to set up a country that is known for innovation. Not only the pro-

ed that lifestyles of Guyanese and living arrangements will have to undergo a shift.

“This is just the reality. I’m telling you the reality of a Guyana 2030 and what we’re building, where we’re heading,” he said.

One way Guyana has been innovating is with the intro-

soon embark on trials in regard to the cultivation of millets. This came after the Government received a quantity of millet seeds from the Indian Government.

The first crops of millets were cultivated in Asia and Africa, and cultivation later spread around the world as millets came to be known as an important food source for advanced civilisations. The continents of Asia and Africa are being considered the production and consumption centres for millet crops, and major producers of the grain are India, Niger, Sudan, and Nigeria.

of minerals like calcium, iron, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium. They also contain appreciable amounts of dietary fibre, and vitamins such as folic acid, vitamin B6, beta-carotene, and niacin. The availability of high amounts of lecithin is useful for strengthening the nervous system. Therefore, regular consumption of millets can help to overcome malnutrition.

duction of food, but how innovative can we do it. Applying the best technology, increasing the number of women and youths, people living with disabilities owning farms and food production facilities.”

“Attaching a social value that creates higher value. Looking at specialised production, organics, analysing the market. And investing in the technology and infrastructure that will place us in that market,” President Ali said.

Further, President Ali called for a change in mindset whereby more focus is placed on high yielding business opportunities. He noted that if land space is optimised, this can guarantee access to high yield markets.

“This Guyana that we’re going to build, requires all of us. The future business opportunities do not require 50 acres of land. It requires a strong focus on high yielding opportunities. And that is where the world is going. Very consolidated business models with high yielding opportunities.”

“That is where the business is going. We deliberately took two acres to do the eco-lodges, 30 units. If someone comes to put down an apartment building, the first thing they’ll tell you is they want 30 acres,” President Ali said.

“The reality is that we don’t have that land on the coast. I asked them to produce some photos of the development, so people can understand how close we are to the conservancy and the wetlands.”

President Ali pointed out that while Guyana has a lot of land, 89 per cent of it is covered by forests that will not be cut down. As such, he not-

duction of new crops. This includes millet, with the announcement in August that the Agriculture Ministry will

With millets being gluten-free, their low glycaemic index (GI) facilitates a slower release of glucose over a longer period of time, thus reducing the risk of diabetes mellitus. Millets are rich sources

This, however, is not the only area in agriculture in which India has offered assistance to Guyana. In fact, it was previously announced that specialists would arrive in Guyana to assist in developing a tissue culture laboratory, produce planting materials, examine the rice sector, and commence hemp production. Other types of innovation being explored is the use of shade houses. (G3)

President Dr Irfaan Ali Guyana is expected to receive help with tissue culture in agriculture

An example of a shade house

Editor: Tusika Martin

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Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, marketing@guyanatimesgy.com

Creating a future

As Martin Carter taught us, we have all come from the “nigger yard”, but yet, from each group, there were many who clawed their way out of their degradation through sheer determination and grit, to assert their humanity. We saw this in the great movement of freed Africans to initiate the Village Movement, and in the peoples who followed them to expand “Guyana” beyond the sugar plantations. This capacity was sustained by a willingness, in modern economic language, to defer their gratification.

Today, this willingness to imbibe self-control, plan for the future, and defer gratification to ensure that the plan gets accomplished in the face of humble circumstances is fast disappearing. We are now generally living and consuming for the moment, but still want to see our lives improve over time. We want to “suck cane and blow whistle at the same time”. It can’t be done, so we end up frustrated; sink into despair, or demand handouts. Some, of course, use force and take what they want.

From whence have we imbibed this new ‘don’t give a damn’ attitude? For one, in any group, there will be some that go against the grain. But generally, it’s as a result of outside pressures and influences – cultural and otherwise. In the Caribbean, there are aspects of the hegemonic culture imbibed from the colonials that present some of these pressures and influences, and they were encouraged by those with power.

Back in 1984, there was an International Roundtable in Guyana to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery. Then Prime Minister Desmond Hoyte delivered an address: “Towards 2034: A Deeper View of the Horizon”, in which he made some pertinent remarks on the refusal to live for the future that should be given a hearing by some in his party who are only playing the blame game.

“…(O)ne of the most pernicious consequences of slavery was that it bereft the slave of a vested interest in the future by imposing upon him the need to be constantly preoccupied with the exigencies of the moment. Indeed…the African slave on a WI plantation found himself in a world without horizons. His condition circumscribed within very narrow limits not only his physical, but also his spiritual being. It deprived of the cohering and creative influences of his social organisation and his culture.

“Uprooted from his natural milieu, no longer able to fulfil his civic and religious duties, he was robbed of his spiritual points of reference. His personality disintegrated, and, in a word, he suffered “social death”. It is not to be wondered at, then, that his outlook was little informed by any curiosity beyond the immediate, by any speculation about the distant future.

“And so, lacking a social motive, he developed no interest in, or aptitude for, making long-term arrangements. Moreover, the colonial polity which succeeded the era of slavery did not provide the former slave and his descendants with significantly greater incentive or opportunity for cultivating these pursuits. Thus there persists in our society, even to this day, a reluctance to focus too intently on the future.

“It is critically important, I believe, that we should analyse and understand this phenomenon of our lack of interest in the future, and our failure generally to plan in a serious, methodical way with respect to it.”

While Mr Hoyte’s address focused on the need for planning at the country and international levels, it is important to note that he grounded the fundamental lacuna at the individual level. Today, 39 years after his warning, we must begin. The question is, “Can we teach ourselves how to live for the future, to create the ‘good life’ for all?” Yes, we can.

The evidence of the 48,000 descendants – more than half of the freed enslaved population who quit the plantations within one decade after the Apprenticeship Scheme to found the Village Movement mentioned above — shows that if the opportunities are there, our people will seize them. They deferred their gratification, saved their earnings and turned the “straw” of abandoned plantations into “gold”.

By Max Boot

Ihad been planning to write this week about the negotiations among President Biden, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia to normalize Israel-Saudi ties in return for a U.S.Saudi defense treaty. Analysts I talked to were cautiously optimistic that this megadeal might be concluded by early next year. Despite the continuing civil war in Syria, the region felt calm. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan remarked just last week that “the Middle East region is quieter today than it has been in two decades now.”

So much for that. Saturday’s surprise attack by Hamas fighters into Israel is a grim reminder that, in the Middle East, war-fighting usually takes precedence over peacemaking. It is hard to imagine the Saudi-Israeli peace talks making much progress as Israel reels from the worst surprise attack it has suffered since the 1973 Yom Kippur War — and as it mobilizes for what is likely to be its largest ground assault into the Gaza Strip since Operation Cast Lead in 2008-2009. Indeed, though we don’t know for sure why Hamas chose to strike exactly now, this could well be part of a larger attempt by Iran and its proxies — including Hamas — to prevent a historic reconciliation between Jerusalem and Riyadh.

It is shocking enough to see internet footage of the Hamas attack as an American witnessing events from afar. The shock must be many times greater for Israelis who have to process the calamity that has befallen their country. This

is Israel’s 9/11, and, just as the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks rippled out across the world from Afghanistan to Iraq, so, too, will the 10/7 attacks ripple out in ways that are as dangerous as they are unpredictable.

Israel has gotten accustomed to the threat posed by Hamas rockets — and there was indeed a largescale rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on Saturday. But there is no precedent for the massive ground assault that Hamas also mounted. Hamas’s fighters managed to penetrate Israeli border posts and the border fence enclosing Gaza, rampaging through surrounding Israeli communities, massacring innocent civilians and seizing hostages. They even managed to penetrate Israeli military bases and seize Israeli tanks and other armored vehicles. Hamas fighters are committing war crimes while carrying out a daring terrorist operation that has shaken Israel’s sense of security. Israel will no doubt strike back with an overwhelming military response. Though Israel could never make peace with Hamas, a movement dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state, it had learned to live with a terrorist organization in control of the Gaza Strip as a lesser evil — compared with a renewed Israeli occupation, an even more extremist group such as al-Qaeda in charge, or Libya-style chaos. Israel had mounted numerous military operations against Hamas since its takeover in 2007, two years after Israel pulled out of Gaza. But these were mostly from the air. And even when Israeli troops were deployed, they never stayed for long.

As a 2017 Rand Corp. study noted: “Israel’s grand strategy became ‘mowing

the grass’ — accepting its inability to permanently solve the problem and instead repeatedly targeting leadership of Palestinian militant organizations to keep violence manageable. Dealing with Hamas in Gaza puts Israel in a strategic quandary: It needs to exert enough force to deter Hamas from attacking but not so much that it topples the regime. As one Israeli defense analyst put it, ‘We want to break their bones without putting them in the hospital.’” Now the pressure will be irresistible for Netanyahu, who on Saturday declared that “we are at war,” to order the complete destruction of Hamas. That could lead Israeli troops into extremely difficult fighting in the dense urban terrain of Gaza City against a shadowy foe that can hide among the civilian population. Indeed, Hamas might be trying to draw Israel into a quagmire similar to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, knowing that Israeli forces are much more vulnerable when they are fighting on foot than when they are dropping bombs from the sky.

The Israeli military remains the strongest force in the Middle East, and it will ultimately prevail. But even a tactical victory would leave Israel facing the question “Now what?” Most Israelis have no desire for a long-term occupation of the Gaza Strip, one that would inevitably lead to further Israeli casualties and accusations that their troops are committing war crimes. But they are running out of alternatives.

The only certainty is that the Hamas attack will make life worse for Palestinians. Gaza is already one of the poorest places on Earth, and its misery has only

been exacerbated by the Israeli-Egyptian blockade designed to prevent Hamas from amassing too much military power. The day before the attacks, The Post ran a heart-rending story about how merchants in Gaza are so poor, they cannot afford trucks and have to rely on donkeys — only to see the supply of donkeys from Israel dry up.

Hamas did not attack because of the miserable conditions in Gaza. Its leaders are insulated from deprivation and motivated by religious and nationalist fanaticism. But the terrible conditions do make it easy for Hamas to recruit fighters from among young men so poor and desperate that they have no better alternative than to become “martyrs.”

Ultimately, Israelis and Palestinians have to recognize that they have no alternative but to live side by side in peace. Responsible Israelis — who are largely missing from Netanyahu’s far-right cabinet — know that Palestinians’ lives have to improve to prevent more eruptions of violence in the future.

An Israeli-Saudi normalization deal, assuming it preserves the possibility of a two-state solution, could make an important contribution to Israel’s long-term security. But the prospect of peace talks advancing is far more remote today than it was yesterday. For now, war and suffering are the order of the day, with no clear end in sight. (Washington Post) (Max Boot is a Washington Post columnist, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of “The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam.”)

This is Israel’s 9/11. The consequences will be dangerous — and unforeseeable

Artists perform during the closing ceremony of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China (Reuters photo)

Bold initiative from AG

Dear Editor, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs said it eloquently when he announced that “A responsible Government has to take steps, steps that may penalise certain sections of the population, but if that is what is required, what do you want the Government to do?”

He answered well, and I must commend him for this. I must also add my full support to what the AG was referring to – the wanton loss of life, damage to property and victims where Guyana’s road driving culture is wreaking havoc.

Let me quickly state that the AG is all about “responsible” living and by this I refer to driving, but there are other domains as well. I will not enumerate on the unabated road incidents, many of which are fatal. But behind the scenes are finan-

cially disabled families, permanently incapacitated victims, and lingering trauma. Thus, time is more than ripe for actions to be taken.

Editor, in no part of the world are there enough law enforcers to ensure that things go the legal way. In many countries, electric monitoring helps, but even so, there is still that vacuum for the erring ones to capitalise. Driving legally, in a safe way, to ensure safety of drivers, and the non-driving public is a necessity, and indeed one way that has helped is ‘upping the ante’ on insurance for those who think that they can get off “scotfree” no matter their driving blunders, even for those who deliberately commit them.

Editor, I inform my readers, and they can check it out for themselves, that in many countries, it is a given that rates will typically increase for the drivers when they

are in “at fault” vehicular accidents. The amount a premium comes up to can even be dependent on factors such as age and experience, since younger drivers and those who recently were issued with driving permits pose “riskier” on the roadways, and hence, the pre-emptive move just in case of accidents. After all, victims must be compensated adequately.

Let me spell out to the driving public that auto insurance must cover more than vehicle repair. It also has to cater for injured crash victims’ medical care and lost wages, as well as the repairs and/or replacement of vehicles and any property damaged in a crash. So “get-real” time is at hand where “animal driving” is concerned.

Now, as I ponder that there will be “Changes to insurance law (that) would

drive up premiums,” I think we will see some positive changes in our road culture. It is a global phenomenon and since the “far-too-many unnecessary in Guyana” accidents are “… resulting in damage to property, private and public, as well as fatalities, there have been growing concerns from citizens about the situation and how the Government plans to handle it.” I mean, it is about time.

According to Nandlall, and rightly so, “… if the (current) law is changed, then insurance premiums will have to be increased drastically. Because of the law, it’s at a minimum level where compensation paid out bears no resemblance to the loss people suffer and sustain from these accidents,” he detailed, and with a promissory warning, that “There is going to come a time where the law in relation to insurance may

have to change to allow higher coverage for motor vehicles, so that those injured or properties destroyed, can benefit from higher insurance coverage,” all because “…his Government is considerate, (and) they have deliberately (been keeping) the insurance at a specific (low) level.” But this is over, as “… allowing persons to keep on being able to afford insurance, they have seemingly been abusing the privilege. Now when the law is changed and the coverage increases, then rates will also increase, whether it be minibus or taxi…”

Editor, the general non-driving public and those with goodwill in their hearts, I urge you all to ignore those few citizens who are reacting negatively and are beginning to voice their concerns” that any good Government must “…take steps, steps that may penal-

ise certain sections of the population” if that will facilitate betterment for all. And we sure need “betterment” on the roadways.

Oh, how true it is, and as the AG pointed out that “…a person may be driving on the road, carefully and sober “but here’s a vehicle coming at them like a “lethal weapon”. Because of their carelessness, recklessness, or maybe the fact that they’re under the influence, they may cause you to lose a limb, suffer serious injuries, become paralysed, and perhaps even die. Since that’s what the Government is dealing with…”

I await the day when drivers will be wary of what they are doing and when reverse psychology will put them on the alert, and not the non-drivers.

Yours truly, HB

Singh

Ubraj’s deception and falsehood

Dear Editor, I have read Ubraj Narine’s vitriolic letter, attacking the credibility of Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo and implying that he is devoid of honesty and integrity in governance. History and existing records reveal that Ubraj’s accusations are scurrilous, unsubstantiated, and malicious. I feel it is imperative that I respond to these but not with polemics and platitudes but rather with evidence.

1. Ubraj derides Dr Jagdeo’s performance on the economy, claiming, for example, that he was responsible for the poverty level.

Ubraj should know that Dr Jagdeo as Finance Minister was able to significantly reduce the debt burden of Guyana through bilateral and multilateral debt relief. He played a vital role in the development of the National Development Strategy in 1997 of which the Poverty Reduction Strategy was an offshoot. He also initiated the National Competitive Strategy.

When the Jagdeo team took office in 1992, the Government had to pay 93 cents on every dollar to service the national debt. In 1992 the GDP per capita was $1146. When Jagdeo left office in 2011, the per capita GDP was $4960 (300% + increase). In 2011, the GDP growth rate was 4.0%, one of the highest in the Caribbean.

For Ubraj’s edification, the poverty level in 1992 was 46%. When Dr Jagdeo left office in 2011, the poverty rate dropped to 30%. Under the PNC pre-1992 period, it was 65% (1988), ac-

cording to Boyd.

Ubraj obviously chose to ignore established facts and stifle his conscience in order to be brainwashed by others.

2. Ubraj’s claim of environmental exploitation is preposterous. His assertion that there is large-scale deforestation and illegal logging, is grossly misleading.

The Pulitzer Center reports that Guyana has one of the continent’s best track records for Amazon rainforest protection. It continues: “as deforestation spikes across much of the Amazon exacerbating climate change and hurting biodiversity, environmentalists say that Guyana offers useful lessons for protecting the world’s largest rainforest.”

Guyana has the second largest forest cover in the world in which an estimated 21.8 billion of carbon dioxide is stored. Forest covers 85% of the country’s land mass. Less than 1% (0.005%) of tress are felled. This amounts to 400,000 cubic meters of wood.

This is not Jagdeo’s but Ubraj’s deception and falsehood. What a corroded narrative! Where did Ubraj get his perverted information?

Ubraj must know that the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) is the brainchild of the VP. His Government has received not only (US$) 250 million forest grant from Norway but also, Dr Jagdeo was named as Champion of the Earth. The VP also negotiated carbon credits totalling (US$) 750 million, and a portion of this sum is allocated for investment in Amerindian communities. The VP is recognised world-

wide for his leadership in climate change, including the LCDS initiative. Ubraj, should read the LCDS 2030 before expressing other people’s contorted views.

Come on Ubraj, we just celebrated Gandhi’s 154th Jayanti, an icon for truth and non-violence. Don’t you subscribe to these principles?

3. Ubraj mentions about the VP suppressing dissenting views and destroying the pillars of democracy. Really!

It was the APNU/AFC party that staged a glaring daylight heist of the 2020 elections. Who have been the democracy busters of Guyana? Everyone knows

that it is the PNCR. Who have rigged elections between 1968 and 1992? PNC. Who operated an autocratic dictatorship role in Guyana where their party was paramount? It was not Dr Jagdeo but the PNC.

This letter is a classic example on how Ubraj expresses his freedom of speech but still finds it convenient to attack Dr Jagdeo for something that does not exist. Ubraj should look into history to learn which party have suppressed freedom of expression.

Ubraj, don’t forget it was your boys and girls who were sanctioned and asked to “step aside,” before democra-

cy was restored. It was your party who attempted to steal our country.

4. Ubraj ends his narrative by saying leaders should value integrity and honesty. And they must not make false promises and use divisive tactics.

The PPP/C has fulfilled 90% of their campaign promises in 3 years and will complete the remaining 10% in another year’s time. And they have shown that they are working toward national unity via One Guyana. Some politicians who are not part of the decision-making pro-

cess always make spurious claims of divisive tactics.

It is apparent that Ubraj is attributing PNCR’s modus operandi to the PPP/C. This is called projection in psychology. Nothing of what he says has any merit; they are simply wild speculations with no foundation in facts or reality. Ubraj needs to study the history of his party, PNCR, and don’t allow others to think for him or to be careful how he expresses their views.

Yours respectfully, Jai Lall

Foundation

Test Questions

Question 1

The Venn diagram below represents pupils in a class who like the subjects Mathematics and Science. Study the Venn diagram and answer the questions that follow.

Saturday’s answers

1a)21, 67, 108, 176, 227, 906

1b) The factors of 21 are 1, 3, 7, 21

1c) The difference between the smallest and largest ticket number = 906 (largest ticket number) – 21 (smallest ticket number) = 885

1d) 67 and 108 would result in 100 if rounded to the nearest 100.

By Horace L MitcHeLL

Golden

dots of fire fleck the western sky

And the leaves dance at the vision, the waters Of the world, brown and blue and ruby red Reflect the beauty.

The sun, as a bird of day, wings its way

Home, as evening nears, beneath the nook

Where earth meets heaven, swoops with graceful sweep. Soundless, as is the fall of a feather from the falcon

In its flight, to where, as a wonder new-revealed, Earth sees it come a ball of golden greeting When Aurora leaves her chamber, the chamber Of the east.

The wind now walks with Zephyr, holding hands

Together they visit the scenes of shade, nestled

Near brooks of calm, where Delight lives with Nature:

They list the symphonies of the streams, Then, like a new romantic pair first Tasting of pure love’s ambrosial bliss

Are lulled into the quiet mood of blithe content To rest with rapture and enrapture.

In this fun and easy science experiment, we’re going to teach you how to make a fizzy soda using science.

Materials:

Baking soda

Pitcher

Water

Lemon juice

Sugar

Yellow food colouring

Measuring spoons

Spoon

Instructions:

Fill the pitcher about half full with water.

Add a drop or two of yellow food colouring.

Add three teaspoons of baking soda to the pitcher of water.

Next, add two tablespoons of sugar to the water and stir the mixture until dissolved.

Now, add two tablespoons of lemon juice and watch your soda come to life.

Feel free to taste your soda, but it may be a little yucky!

How it works:

Your science soda bubbles because you created an endothermic reaction that released carbon dioxide. The baking soda (a base) and the lemon juice (an acid) when combined were the items that caused the chemical reaction and released the carbon dioxide. Make this a science project: Try different temperatures of water. Try adding different amounts of water. Try adding different amounts of baking soda or lemon juice. (sciencefun. org)

The sea retells its tale of ten thousand years Of singing the song of the roving waves to the shore

And of playing and dancing on the beaches. Up in the east Night tears the veil of light Gently from her face, blackened by years Of darkness, and looks on the world of the fading sun.

Her minion stars peep their twinkling tints And see the earth, wrapped in calm, homing To Sleep – birds and men – with meditation. (Kyl-Over-Al)

WORD SEARCH

Farmers’ market to be held every week until year-end

…aimed at regulating high prices – Agri Minister

In light of climbing prices for produce at the major markets across the country, the Agriculture Ministry will be hosting farmers’ markets every week across the country with the aim of regulating the prices to benefit both producers and consumers.

On Sunday, two farmers' markets were held –one at the Leonora Track in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and another at the Albion Community Centre in Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne), where consumers got the opportunity to purchase fresh commodities at affordable prices.

According to Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, these events will become a weekly feature, whereby at least two farmers’ markets will be held across the country for the remainder of the year. The regions being targeted are Regions Two (PomeroonSupenaam), Three, Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Five (Mahaica-Berbice), Six and 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice).

Mustapha explained that the hosting of farmers’ markets was budgeted for in the 2023 budget but the Ministry had some delays in executing these activities. However, heightened efforts were undertaken to facilitate these farmers’ markets after persons have been complaining about the high increases in prices at the markets.

“These [farmers’] markets tend to bring the price to a level where the consumers can afford it and you don’t have any big inflation of the prices. So, I’m hoping that we can be able to control the prices like this across the country

so that people, especially the middle men, would not increase their prices and consumers would not be able to [afford it],” the Minister said.

Over the last few

with the farmers’ market, Government is hoping to cut out the middlemen, whom he said are the ones racking up the prices.

“The middlemen are receiving most of the mon-

Demerara.

The following week, this initiative will be taken to Regions Five and 10, after which it will be repeated in the other regions until the end of the year.

“So, every week from now until the year is out, we’ll have these farmers’ market, hoping that we will get the price back to a normal level.”

The hosting of these farmers’ markets forms part of the Ministry’s Agriculture Month 2023 calendar of activities.

Only on Saturday, a Health and Fitness Walk was held in Georgetown by the Ministries of Agriculture and Health.

Permanent Secretary at

the Agriculture Ministry, Delma Nedd explained that agriculture sets the foundation for a healthy lifestyle.

“Today is all about fitness. You have to eat well and you have to live well. So, agriculture brings an awareness of a healthy lifestyle,” she stated.

The theme of this year’s observance of Agriculture Month is “Accelerating vision 25 by 2025: Investing in Agri-Business and Food Security”. (G8)

weeks, people have been complaining bitterly that the prices of fruits and vegetables as well as meat and eggs have gone up tremendously.

In some markets, one 24-tray of eggs is priced at $2000. However, at these farmers’ markets, the same tray of eggs is being sold at $1400. Meat will also be on sale at affordable prices.

The Agriculture Minister explained that

ey… They are increasing the prices and because of that, I want our agencies within the Ministry of Agriculture to bring in the farmers [to sell directly]. When the farmers come here, they’re getting a better price for their produce and at the same time, consumers receiving a better price,” Mustapha noted.

Next week, the farmers’ markets will be in Region Two and Four – the latter, at Lusignan, East Coast

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha

Consumers buying baby chicks at the farmers’ market on Sunday

Produce on sale at Sunday’s farmers’ market

23 matters completed at Berbice, Essequibo Criminal Assizes

The Berbice June Criminal Assizes ended last month with State Counsel Mohamed Ali completing 12 matters. Ten of these matters were before Justice Simone MorrisRamall, who had first sat from the February Assizes, and the remaining two were done before Justice Sandil Kissoon.

Of the 10 matters prosecuted before Justice Morris-Ramlall, five were for the offence of murder and the other five were for the offences of attempted murder, manslaughter, inflicting grievous bodily harm, and various sexual offences.

ln one of the five murder cases, three accused were indicted together.

While one of them pleaded guilty as charged and was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after serving 25 years, the trial Judge upheld no case submissions for his two co-accused and directed the jury to return formal verdicts of not guilty.

In the other three matters, the accused pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and were respectively sentenced to four years, 20 years, and 12 years’ imprisonment.

ln the other matter, the accused pleaded guilty to murder, but the trial Judge aborted the trial and ordered a psychiatric evaluation for him.

Of the five other matters, one was for a sexual offence case; the accused pleaded guilty as charged to four counts: rape, robbery under arms, common assault and burglary, and was sentenced respectively to 20 years, 12 years, six years, and 10 years’ imprisonment.

His sentences will run concurrently.

In another three matters, two were for the offence of attempt to commit murder and one for inflicting grievous bodily harm.

The complainants in these cases testified they did not wish to proceed with the evidence and as such, the trial Judge directed the juries to return formal verdicts of not guilty.

ln the one matter for the offence of manslaughter, the accused was acquitted by a jury verdict of not guilty. The two cases presented before Justice Kissoon were for the offence of murder.

One accused was found guilty by jury verdict and is awaiting sentence.

The other matter remains in progress.

The Berbice June Criminal Assizes will continue until October 16.

Meanwhile, the

Essequibo May Criminal Assizes had continued with State Counsel Taneisha Saygon completing 11 matters. Of these, seven were completed before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow; four for the offence of murder and three for sexual offences.

The four accused in the murder matters pleaded guilty; one of them pleaded guilty as charged and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The other three pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and were respectively sentenced to two years and 11 months, 16 years and six months, and 10 years’ imprisonment.

ln one of the three sexual offences matters, the accused was found guilty by the jury and sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 17 years.

ln the other two matters, both accused were ac-

quitted by jury verdicts.

Four matters were presented for the offences of rape of a child under 16 years, manslaughter, attempt to commit murder with an alternative count of felonious wounding before Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry, who sat from July.

Of these four matters, one was for the offence of rape of a child under 16. The accused, who was indicted on four counts, was acquitted by the jury on all four counts.

There were two cases for the offence of manslaughter; in one, the accused pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. The other matter is in progress.

ln the one matter for the offence of attempt to commit murder with an alternative count of felonious wounding, the accused was found guilty by a majority jury verdict.

His sentence is deferred to November.

The Essequibo May Assizes continues on October 23. The Berbice October Criminal Assizes with 104 cases listed to be heard will commence on October 17.

The Essequibo October Criminal Assizes will commence on October 24. (G1)

Looking at… …war

break

If there ever was an area that fits the description “volatile”, it’s Israel and the occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank that’s home to about 5 million Palestinians – who live under military occupation by the Jewish state. The Brits had ruled the area as “Palestine” – which was all Arab after the Jews had left for greener pastures thousands of years ago. During those years there was no struggle by the latter to stay and keep their “Holy Land”.

After Hitler gassed more than six million of them during WWII in Europe – where most had ended up –they decided to “return” to the Biblical Israel – their “Zion”. They declared a “law of return” under their Zionist ideology. Now can you imagine what’d happen if folks occupying land thousands of years ago started coming back to claim it?? Like the Native Peoples that had occupied all of North America?? Well, the Brits unilaterally decided to allow the Jews to pour into Palestine. So, you ask what about the people who were living there?? Arab Palestinians??

Simple…they were to be displaced to make way for the Jews!! Imagine the consternation of those people who were living there from “time immemorial”!! The surrounding Arab States of Egypt and Jordan launched a war in 1948 to recover Palestine and held on to the West Bank (of the Jordan River) and the Gaza Strip near Egypt. However, when they launched another attack in 1967 to deliver justice to the Palestinians, they were defeated and the Jews took control of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

The Palestinians weren’t only ghettoised in their own land, but the Jews continued to form new settlements in the two areas – under protection of their army – driving Palestinians further into their ghettoes. Today, there are over 500,000 Jewish settlers. The Jews also declared Jerusalem – which had been divided into Muslim and Jewish sections as capital of Israel!! Against these injustices – which were condemned by the UN but supported by the US – the Palestinians under the group Hamas attempted to fight back.

Well, as we know from the news that Hamas launched an attack on the Jewish settlements that resulted in about 600 Jews and 300+ Palestinians dead. Remember there were over 700 attacks by Jews on Palestinians in 2023 alone – and plans for another 5000 settlements!! Hamas probably attacked now because the US is brokering a peace deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia – which Palestinians fear would undercut their cause among Arabs.

Not surprisingly, the far-right Israeli Government –under the hawkish Netanyahu – has declared a full out war against Hamas. Deadly rocket attacks are raining down on Palestinian settlements.

This ain’t gonna end well.

…business with Africa

Guyana’s gonna be hosting the second AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum over two days this month’s end under the theme “Creating a Shared Prosperous Future”. The first was held in Barbados a year ago where the AfriEximbank announced a line of credit of US$1.5 billion being opened up to grease the wheels of African businesses to exploit opportunities in Caricom.

Noting that the African Continental Free Trade Arrangement is set to reach US$6.7 trillion in value by 2035, the Caricom Secty General identified the opportunity to “build bilateral cooperation and promote trade, investment, technology transfer, innovation, tourism, culture, and other services.” There was talk of an air-link.

Now, your Eyewitness might’ve been distracted but he hasn’t noticed much – if any – bump in Africa-Caricom trade and businesses. He'd expected all those Opposition social media activists who’re cussing out the PPP Government for practising “racial discrimination” against African Guyanese would’ve seized the opportunities to do business with the Motherland. They’d be welcomed with open arms, no??

No “slave-catchers” there anymore?

…Oil prices

There’s the old saw about silver linings behind every dark cloud. Well, with us now being a “petro-state” and oil prices dropping recently, the Israeli-Palestinian War might just provide the silver lining of reversing that trend!! Yes!!

Call made for public inquiry into Raphael Trotman’s signing of 2016 PSA

Acall has been made by the Guyana Trade Union Congress (GTUC) for a public inquiry into former Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman’s signing of the much-maligned 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) with oil giant ExxonMobil.

GTUC issued this call as part of its proposals for the Government to implement in Budget 2024 next year. In their proposal, they also called for a public inquiry into the exploration agreement that late President Janet Jagan signed with Exxon in 1999.

According to GTUC, the Government should “hold public enquiry into the ExxonMobil agreements signed by President Janet Jagan and Minister Trotman to determine the differences so that action could be taken.”

When the Petroleum Exploration Licence was issued to ExxonMobil in 1999 under the hand of then President Jagan, it

was issued at a time when Guyana had not found any oil despite decades of exploration and the Stabroek Block was still seen as a high-risk venture for investors.

By 2016, however, Exxon had already found oil in the Stabroek Block the previous year and Guyana had been significantly de-risked. Despite these factors, the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government failed to capitalise on these advantages to substantially improve the terms of the agreement.

After a trip to Exxon’s headquarters in Houston, Texas, in April 2016, Trotman in his capacity as Natural Resources Minister signed an agreement with ExxonMobil that increased the royalty Exxon would have to pay from one per cent to a mere two per cent. Additionally, the 2016 agreement increased the profit share from 50 per cent in the

1999 agreement to a mere 52 per cent.

Since the signing of this agreement, Trotman’s actions in not securing a better deal for Guyana have been scrutinised and criticised, with United Kingdom-based NonGovernment Organisation (NGO) Global Witness in February 2020 calling on the then APNU/AFC Government to investigate the matter.

Since the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government came to power in August 2020, it has been fixing many of the loopholes and gaps in the management of the oil and gas sector. This includes a model PSA, which all future agreements with oil companies will have to follow, thereby ensuring better terms for Guyana.

Under new conditions, Guyana stands to benefit from as high as a US$20 million signature bonus for the deep-water blocks and US$10 million for the shallow-water blocks.

Additionally, all future PSAs will also include the retention of the 50-50 profit-sharing after cost recovery; the increase of the royalty from a mere two per cent to now a 10 per cent fixed rate; the imposition of a 10 per cent corporate tax, and the lowering of the cost recovery ceiling to 65 per cent from 75 per cent.

It was only on Friday

that President Dr Irfaan Ali, during an event, reaffirmed the Government’s position on the 2016 agreement. While there have been calls for renegotiating it, the Government has noted that this could tank Guyana’s reputation as an investment destination.

The President also referenced the Government’s efforts to make the most out of the bad hand Guyana

was dealt by the former Government.

“I wish it was a better contract; all of us wish that. We’ve been given a bad hand; we have to correct it now. We have to ensure that the future hands are not that bad, and we are in a better position to call the shots. You got to be realistic sometimes; not opportunistic!” President Ali said.

“This is not a plaything. (It) is very popular to say we can change the contract, that is why we’re careful to say that we have to learn from the mistake, and ensure that future contracts do not make the same mistake. And that is what we’ve done; that is what we’re doing.”

In addition to the 2016’s agreement’s industry low royalty – a meagre two per cent – other features such as a lack of ring-fencing provisions, sweeping cost recovery clauses, tax exemptions, among others, continue to attract heavy criticisms. (G3)

Former Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman

Paper committal proceedings for 2 accused of killing medical doctor

Labourer stabbed to death after defending reputed wife

A25-year-old labourer was fatally stabbed by another man on Saturday night during a dispute over his wife.

Dead is Mark Hilliman. Reports are that Hilliman of McDoom, East Bank Demerara, and also of La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara, was stabbed at about 22:00h at Longden and Croal Streets, Georgetown.

let, heading east between Longden and Croal Streets, and the suspect stabbed the victim to his left side chest with the knife.

Police said that Hilliman walked a short distance and fell to the ground, while the suspect made good his escape on foot in a southern direction with the knife.

There are now ongoing paper committal proceedings regarding the joint charge against two men for the murder of Dr Colin Roach.

Lenrick Mosai Byass and Hilton Oliver Junior Franklin were taken before Magistrate Rhondell Weever at the Georgetown Magistrates' Courts on Friday last.

On November 2, 2021, they are accused of killing 49-year-old Roach of Windsor Estates, East Bank Demerara (EBD), in the course or furtherance of a robbery.

They have not been required to plead to this indictable charge.

A paper committal is when the witnesses’ statements and documentary evidence are tendered without the witnesses being present in court and are inventoried and marked as exhibits.

During Friday’s hearing, several witnesses’ statements were tendered, inventoried, and marked as exhibits. Franklin's attor-

ney, Latchmie Rahamat, and Byass's attorney, Dexter Smartt, have asked to question the Police investigators who obtained caution statements from their clients.

The next court date, October 26, has been set aside for the tendering of exhibits.

The two murder accused have been on remand since November 9, 2021.

Byass of Good Intent Village, West Bank Demerara (WBD), and Franklin of Best Village, West Coast Demerara (WCD), were charged just after the file of evidence compiled by Police as part of the investigation into the murder, was submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Initially, two of the doctor’s employees were arrested and questioned about the murder but were subsequently released since the Police did not find any evidence linking them to the crime.

This was followed by

Police making a breakthrough in the murder after Franklin was arrested while attempting to flee to Suriname and allegedly confessed to the crime.

It was reported that he was a friend of the medical practitioner, who was found in a pool of blood in his Duke Street, Kingston, Georgetown, Georgetown International Medical Clinic.

Following his arrest, he reportedly confessed to inflicting the fatal wound on the doctor but also implicated Byass, whom he claimed assisted him.

Law enforcement officers also recovered two gold rings, a sum of cash, and a cell phone that belonged to Dr Roach which was reportedly stolen from him on the night he was murdered.

The doctor’s Audi SUV was discovered abandoned at Schoonord, WBD, with the number plate and key missing. Dr Roach’s cause of death was given as multiple blunt traumas to the head. (G1)

According to the Police, investigations have revealed that the victim’s reputed 28-year-old wife (who is employed at a fast-food outlet on Water Street) was on duty when the suspect, who is not known to her, went into the establishment and was interfering with her.

During the said time, Hilliman went into the fastfood outlet to visit his re-

Dead: Mark Hilliman

puted wife, and after he observed what was happening, he told the suspect to desist from “interfering” with his wife.

As a result, a heated argument occurred between them. They were both armed with knives. They then left the fast-food out-

The injured man was picked up by public-spirited citizens and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. His body is at the GPHC’s Mortuary, awaiting a PME.

Police on Sunday said that several persons were questioned and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras were seen in the area and are being reviewed by investigators.

Investigations continue. (G9)

Over 54 lbs ganja unearthed in Berbice, ECD busts

Four men were arrested by Police in Berbice, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) on Saturday after they were found with more than 54 pounds of marijuana during an operation.

The cordon and search exercise was conducted between 04:40h and 06:30h during which several houses were searched.

The houses searched were at Heartburn Village, East Bank Berbice, and Glasgow Housing Scheme, EBB, as well

was a 31-year-old labourer of Heartburn Village for alleged robbery under arms; a 19-year-old unemployed male of Glasgow Housing Scheme for alleged robbery under arms; a 50-year-old self-employed man of Pitt Street, New Amsterdam, for possession of narcotics, and a 38-year-old labourer of Stanleytown for possession of narcotics

While conducting searches in Pitt

parcels containing leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be cannabis, which, when weighed, amounted to 54 pounds.

Meanwhile, Police also conducted a patrol in the Cove and John Police Station District on Friday night during which they arrested a 36-yearold construction worker of Nabaclis, East Coast Demerara.

Reports are that the ranks were patrolling at Nabaclis Railway Embankment, East Coast Demerara, when they searched the man but nothing illegal was found on his person. However, a search was conducted on a blue plastic barrel about 10 feet away from where he was, and a transparent plastic-wrapped parcel containing a quantity of leaves, seeds, and stems was found.

as at Stanleytown, New Amsterdam, and Pitt Street, New Amsterdam, Berbice.

Among the four persons arrested during the exercise

Street, New Amsterdam, ranks searched an empty lot where they found a multi-coloured bag in a clump of bushes.

According to the Police, the bag contained 12 bulky

Ranks took possession of the narcotics and the man was arrested and taken to the Cove and John Police Station, where the cannabis was weighed and amounted to 424.5 grams. He remains in custody pending charges.

Dead: Dr Colin Roach Murder accused: Hilton Oliver Junior Franklin Murder accused: Lenrick Mosai Byass

The marijuana that was discovered by Police in Berbice

The plastic wrapped ganja that was found at Nabaclis Railway Embankment

2 convicted of killing fellow prison inmate

Two prisoners from the New Amsterdam Prison were convicted at the High Court in Berbice last week of killing another prisoner during an attack at the facility more than six years ago.

A jury returned verdicts of guilty against Dillon Boucher, 25, formerly of Haslington, East Coast Demerara (ECD), and 23-year-old Ramchand Latchman, 23, of Number 65 Village in Corentyne.

Neshan Jagmohan, 27, was murdered by the two on June 21, 2017.

The two will return to court on October 26 for sentencing by Justice Sandil Kissoon.

In 2020, Rooplall Abrahim, 24, formerly of Lot 4 Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice (WCB), who had testified on behalf of the State against Boucher and Latchman during their trial, had pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter in relation to the death of Jagmohan.

He was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Both Naresh Jagmohan,

a cane harvester from Hampshire Squatting Area, and his older brother Ramnarine Jagmohan, a farmer from Belvedere Squatting Area, had been remanded on murder charges in connection with the death of Davendra Deodat, a 34-year-old businessman from Hampshire Squatting Area, in October 2013.

According to reports, Deodat was chopped and shot dead at his home after a group of masked men stormed the grocery shop he and his wife operated.

The bandits also chopped Deodat’s wife in the head and shot his father-in-law.

On June 21, 2017, after appearing in court,

the brothers went back to their cells in the New Amsterdam jail, where they were attacked by inmates armed with homemade weapons.

The men were taken by ambulance to the hospital, where Neshan was immediately pronounced dead while his brother was kept there for some time. Neshan was found to have died from puncture wounds to the heart, lungs, and kidneys after a post-mortem examination.

Ramnarine was eventually freed of the crime in 2019 after the trial Judge upheld the no-case submission made on his behalf by his attorney-at-law.

Abrahim, who is serv -

Traffic Chief urges motorists to comply with road laws

In a stern message to motorists, Traffic Chief, Senior Superintendent Mahendra Singh has once again emphasised the importance of complying with the “rules of the road”. Singh issued a warning that failure to adhere to these rules could lead to severe penalties, including imprisonment.

Singh specifically urged all drivers to exercise caution when parking their vehicles, especially near key Government organisations. He highlighted that congestion in these areas often leads to reckless parking, obstructing roadways, and the creation of hazards for both traffic flow and pedestrians.

“Some motorists would go and park and leave their vehicles on the roadways in such a way it is left in a dangerous position. That is to say, it affects the smooth flow of traffic, it also poses an obstacle to persons who are using the roads on foot,” he said.

The Traffic Chief emphasised that individuals found violating road rules would be issued tickets. Failure to pay these fines would result in legal action, leading offenders to face the court. Singh stressed the gravity of the situation, stating that those found guilty might even face imprisonment.

“We are seeking to sensitise as much as possible to cause a realignment of focus on each motorist, to ensure that they understand the implications when such an act is being committed…we are asking you [motorists] to comply with the rules of the road…We

are taking this step to inform you, to empower you, and to assist you…” he explained.

In response to these concerns, the Guyana Police Force has called upon all road users to operate their vehicles with due care and caution. Additionally, the Police are urging drivers to park their vehicles only in designated areas and spaces, ensuring the

smooth flow of traffic and the safety of all road users. This warning comes as part of ongoing efforts by law enforcement authorities to maintain order on the roads and enhance road safety awareness among the public. Motorists are urged to heed these warnings, thereby promoting a safer environment for everyone on the streets. (G9)

ing three life sentences for killing three persons in Berbice, including a couple, has moved to the Court of Appeal where he is asking for a reduction of the sentences.

In both cases, he pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.

In the first case, he admitted that between January 8 and January 9, 2016, at Bush Lot, Middle Dam, West Coast Berbice (WCB), he unlawfully killed US-based Guyanese Arthur Doodnauth Rajkumar, 81, and his re -

puted wife, Diane Devi, 45.

It was reported that the man and his wife were chopped several times by robbers who demanded cash and other values. The couple, however, did not hand over anything. Police later found their mutilated bodies after receiving reports of screams coming from their home.

Also, Abrahim pleaded guilty to unlawfully killing 49-year-old Anita Baichan by arson between January 3 and 4, 2016. Media reports are that the wom -

an’s bound and gagged body was discovered at her Plantation Hope, WCB home, which was set on fire.

Abrahim and his accomplice, Madanpaul Gocoul, called, “Clown”, raided Baichan’s home and escaped with $150,000 before setting it on fire. Gocoul was jailed for 24 years.

Following a trial in 2011, Abrahim was acquitted of the September 2008 murder of 13-yearold Kavita Panday, whose body was fished from a canal at Bath Settlement, WCB.

Based on reports, the young girl went missing after she was last seen in the company of Abrahim. After the teenager failed to return home, her family launched a search for her. Her partially nude body was found floating in the canal. (G1)

Guilty: Dillon Boucher

Guilty: Ramchand Latchman Dead: Neshan Jagmohan Confessed killer: Rooplall Abrahim

Traffic Chief, Senior Superintendent Mahendra Singh

Security guard dies after being struck down by truck

A63-year-old security guard of 13th Avenue, Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, lost her life on Sunday morning after being struck down and crushed by a motor lorry.

Dead is Patricia Huston.

Reports are that at about 06:30h, the woman was struck by the mo

tor lorry along the public road at Ogle, East Coast Demerara.

Police on Sunday said the motor lorry, GAE 8189, was driven by a 26-year-old man of Supply, East Bank Demerara. According to Police, the driver claimed that he was proceeding east along the southern driving lane of the northern carriageway on Ogle Public Road when he observed the traffic light in his direction change from green to amber, and then red.

He alleged that upon seeing this, he attempted to apply brakes but the vehicle failed to stop and he consequently changed lanes from the southern

lane to the northern side of the road, where the lorry's back wheel collided with the pedestrian.

Huston, who had just disembarked from a minibus, was waiting to cross the road. As a result of the collision, she fell onto the road, sustaining injuries to her head and body. She was picked up in a semi-conscious state and placed into an ambulance, which took her to the Georgetown Public Hospital.

She, however, succumbed to her injuries at about 08:30h as she was receiving treatment. The lorry driver is in Police custody, assisting with the investigation.

Just two days prior, an -

Overseas-based Guyanese among 3 nabbed with illegal gun

Three men, including an overseas-based Guyanese, were apprehended in the early hours of Sunday for possessing an illegal firearm.

other tragic incident occurred on the Foulis Public Road, West Coast Berbice, resulting in the death of Lavie Long, a 38-yearold woman. She was fatally struck and crushed to death by a bus belonging to the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), driven by a 46-year-old Staff Sergeant from Timehri North, East Bank Demerara.

The incident occurred around 01:05h, and Long, a resident of El Dorado Village, West Coast Berbice, sustained fatal head injuries and died on the spot.

The Staff Sergeant, associated with Base Camp Stephenson, was driving at a high speed when the collision happened. Police took him into custody at Vigilance Police Station for investigation. A breathalyser test was conducted, and no alcohol was detected in the driver's system.

Long's body was taken to Bailey's Funeral Parlour, awaiting a post-mortem examination. (G9)

According to Police reports, officers were on mobile patrol duty at about 00:30h along Church Street, Georgetown, when they spotted a black Toyota Tacoma, GAD 8333, parked in the centre of Church Street, between East and Cummings Streets.

Upon approaching the vehicle, they found a 40-year-

The gun that was found on Sunday morning

old labourer in the back passenger seat; a 31-year-old vendor in the front passenger seat, and a 55-year-old US-based Guyanese, who was driving.

The officers instructed the men to exit the vehicle and conducted searches. The black Taurus 9mm pistol (with the serial number filed off and without ammunition) was found hidden in the pants of the overseas-based Guyanese. When questioned about the firearm licence, the man confessed he did not have one and was arrested. The trio was escorted to the Alberttown Police Station, and placed in custody. Investigations into the matter are ongoing. (G9)

FFTP donates 10 sewing machines to GPS garment programme …recognises importance of changed behaviour to reintegrate prisoners into society

Food For The Poor (Guy) Inc handed over 10 industrial sewing machines to the Guyana Prison Service at the Lusignan Prison.

Sharing her thoughts at the simple ceremony last week was FFTP (Guy) Inc, Senior Project Manager, Andrea Benjamin, who said, "These machines are going to strengthen

haviour to facilitate the successful reintegration of inmates into society later in life.”

Benjamin noted that FFTP (Guy) Inc has been supporting the Guyana Prison Service for several years. She further related that FFTP will always contribute to a positive impact on the inmates and will continue to col -

plimented FFTP on a job well done, as the donations will greatly benefit the garment construction programme. "This will enhance our training programme, in line with our manifesto, strategic plan, and mandate, to ensure that prisoners are exposed to various methods of rehabilitation. "So, once again, we at the GPS would like to thank FFTP (Guy) Inc for this kind gesture," Elliot shared.

the capacity of the Prison Service's garment construction programme and, by extension, aid in their rehabilitation efforts.

Food For The Poor recognises the importance of promoting changed be -

laborate with the Guyana Prison Service.

Meanwhile, Director of Prisons, Nicklon Elliot revealed that he is pleased to be a part of the collaboration between GPS and FFTP (Guy) Inc. He com -

The garment construction programme is part of the Prison Service's efforts to successfully rehabilitate and reintegrate inmates into society through skills training and job creation. It is FFTP (Guy) Inc's goal to assist in the rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates. It is important to conduct rehabilitation programmes for inmates as it helps to build their capacity and provide them with skills that can be used to earn an income upon reintegration into society. By doing so, this will reduce the likelihood of them returning to their previous lives that led them into prison.

Dead: Patrica Hutson

FFTP (Guy) Inc Senior Project Manager Andrea Benjamin hands over the sewing machines to Director of Prisons Nicklon Elliot

Aromatic rice to be made available for local farmers to cultivate in 2025

As Guyana aims at introducing an aromatic variety of rice, Chief Scientist attached to Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) Rice Research, Dr Mahendra Persaud has said that in order for farmers to get a premium price for it, it will have to be processed separately.

If millers do not do this, Director General of the Agriculture Ministry, Madanlall Ramraj believes farmers will not want to cultivate the aromatic variety.

Currently, according to Dr Persaud, the GRDB is in the final stages of field testing which is being conducted at four locations and by 2025, it will be tested in farmers’ rice fields.

Aromatic rice is a medium- to long-grained rice. It

is known for its nutty aroma and taste, which is caused by the chemical compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline.

Aromatic rice provides the most benefits of health and nutrition. These are considered healthier as they

possess more vitamins and fibre in their outer bran layers. Brown aromatic basmati rice contains 20 per cent more fibre than other brown rice varieties, which prevents the formation of cancerous cells in the body.

According to Dr Persaud, in order for farmers to get a premium price from aro-

matic rice, millers will have to process it separately and package it separately.

“Because you don’t want contamination with the aromatic and non-aromatic or even the bio-fortified rice because you will not be able to attract a premium price like that.”

Currently, bio-fortified

seed paddy is being made available so that farmers can cultivate it for the next crop. Rice biofortification is a novel, promising, cost-effective, and long-term strategy for providing micronutrients to people who do not have access to a varied diet or other micro-

nutrient-based remedies. The variety developed in Guyana has zinc added to it. Meanwhile, the aromatic paddy variety is sold at a price that is about 10 per cent higher than other varieties of rice. However, the price on the shelves is considerably higher. (G4)

MoE warns against scammers targeting Region 7

The Education Ministry is alerting residents of Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) to be aware of scammers who are operating a fraudulent ‘small business’ grant under the guise of the Ministry.

In a notice posted to its Facebook page, the Education Ministry on Sunday especially warned residents of Jawalla that there is no small business initiative being started by the Ministry or by Education Minister Priya Manickchand.

“The provision of Small Business Grants is NOT an activity of the Ministry of Education. To be clear, the Ministry of Education has no programme to issue small business grants of $250,000 to anyone,” the

22 drivers ticketed at Eccles for speeding

Ranks of the Guyana Police Force led a robust traffic enforcement operation at Eccles, East Bank Demerara (EBD), on Sunday, between 08:00h and 11:30h.

The operation resulted in 22 drivers being apprehended for speeding violations. During the operation, law enforcement officers monitored the flow of traffic, identifying and stopping vehicles that exceeded the speed limits. As such, drivers were caught violating the speed limit.

In addition to the speeding violations, one individual failed to produce a valid driver’s licence.

The operation received positive feedback from local residents and commuters, who appreciated the efforts taken to promote road safety awareness. The Guyana Police Force continues to

stress the importance of these exercises in preventing accidents and ensuring the safety of all road users.

The “Respect the Road” initiative was launched in July of this year in a desperate move to reduce accidents following a rise in fatalities and reckless use of the roadways. In the first half of 2023, over 2000 persons were charged with ticketing offences.

Acting Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken has noted that despite harsher penalties being imposed on defaulters, violation of traffic laws remains high. According to him, factors contributing to the alarming statistics include speeding, driving under the influence, poor driver behaviour, distracted driving, and inadequate infrastructure. (G9)

notice detailed.

It went on to urge residents, especially business owners, to exercise all caution in dealing with customers.

“Business owners and shop proprietors should not grant phone credit, goods, or services to any -

one alleging that they are ‘from the Ministry of Education to share business grants’,” the missive stated.

The notice further added, “The Ministry of Education wishes to make it clear that it will not ask any business owner or res -

ident for credit nor to advance monies under any circumstances.”

The Education Ministry cautioned that it will not be responsible for any losses incurred by anyone who entertains the scammers. (G8)

Tickets that were issued to drivers who were caught speeding along Eccles Public Road

Chief Scientist attached to GRDB, Dr Mahendra Persaud

The aromatic variety is currently being tested at four locations across Guyana

Police conduct outreaches on crime, violence, traffic offences in Regions 7, 8

With the goal of fostering a better relationship with members of the public, the Guyana Police Force is conducting a series of community outreaches across the country, targeting specific areas such as crime, violence and traffic offences.

These exercises were carried out over the past few days in several Policing Divisions across the country. These outreaches are a direct mandate from Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken, with the aim of strengthening public confidence in the Force.

In Regional Division Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), a “walkabout” was conducted in the Karrau Village, Lower Mazaruni, last week by several ranks of the Bartica

munity outreach” at Itaballi Landing, Cuyuni River. During the exercise, the ranks met with residents and business personnel from the community who were in-

ner.

As a result, the Police team held a meeting with several vehicle operators where they were encouraged to use the road more cau-

Singh from the region’s Traffic Department conducted a Traffic Sensitisation Exercise a few days ago around the township of Mahdia as part of the aware-

ecuted.

Among the important sections of the Amendment Act is Section 54A of the Principal Act. This new section imposes a duty upon li-

permit drunkenness on the licensed premises and creates new obligations which require the licence holder to discourage drinking and driving.

Police Station.

The Police team was headed by Sergeant Mentis and comprised D/W/Cpl Sealey, D/Cpl Caines and W/ Cpl Bamfield.

Then on Saturday, Sergeant Mentis led a team of ranks from the Bartica Police Station on a “com-

vited to voice their concerns regarding crime and violence within their community. Several concerns were raised, including the prevalence of drug use in the community by adults and underage children as well as vehicle operators using the main road in a reckless man-

tiously and safely.

Persons also expressed their satisfaction with the service that the Police ranks are providing in the area.

Traffic sensitisation

Meanwhile, in Regional Division Eight (PotaroSiparuni), Lance Corporal

ness to educate the owners of bars, night clubs and restaurants, as well as members of

cence owners or their servants to verify the age of a person before employing

Some of the obligations imposed on the licence holder include: Not permitting drunkenness or any violent, quarrelsome, or riotous conduct to take place on his premises; Not to sell, give or barter intoxicating liquor to a drunken person; Not to allow another person [for example an employee or servant] to sell, give, or barter intoxicating liquor to a drunken person; Not to sell, give or barter intoxicating liquor to a person he knows is likely to leave the premises by driving unless that person has identified another person to be the designated driver of the motor vehicle; Not to sell, give, or barter intoxicating liquor to any person identified as a designated driver; To inform the nearest Police station and request their immediate assistance in cases where he knows that a drunken person is attempting to drive or is in charge of a motor vehicle on the road or other public place; Post signs that discourage drinking and driving at conspicuous places on the licensed premises; and to ensure that announcements are made at regular intervals on the premises that persons should not drink and drive.

Additionally, Section 54 has also been amended to increase the fines for breach of these obligations by the licence holder to G$100,000 for the first offence, and to G$200,000 for a second offence.

Meanwhile, Section 56 of the Principal Act was amended to now make it mandatory for a licence holder refuse

the public, about the recent amendment of the law.

Liquor Licence holders have been warned that they will soon face the brunt of Guyana’s law enforcement if they continue to flout provisions of the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing (Amendment) Act 2022.

The principal objectives of the Amendment Act are to, among other things, create a mechanism for licence holders to be more accountable by imposing obligations that require them to play a more active role in the prevention of drinking and driving.

Bar owners who are not in compliance with their obligations under the Amendment Act will be charged and pros-

such person, selling any intoxicating liquor to them, or allowing them into any bar on the licensed premises.

Section 54 of the Principal Act was amended to expand licence holders’ existing obligations not to

to admit any person who is drunk, violent, quarrelsome, or disorderly into his licensed premises. This section has also been amended to increase the fines to be paid for breach of this provision to G$100,000. (G8)

Ranks conducting an outreach at Itaballi

Police ranks engaging residents of Karrau during a recent outreach exercise

A Police officer engaging vehicle operators at Mahdia

Simulation exercise held to enhance Fire Service skills

The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) on Friday conducted a rescue and firefighting simulation exercise, aimed at enhancing its capabilities and skills to respond to fires.

Speaking to the Department of Public Information (DPI) at the GFS headquarters located on Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown, Officer in Charge of Operations,

Suresh Persaud said the exercise also forms part of the host of activities planned for Fire Prevention Month 2023.

The firefighters and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) utilised a hydraulic platform, a water tender, and an ambulance to perform Friday’s simulation exercise

He reminded that the main priority of the Fire Service is the saving of lives. In keeping with this aim, the exercise forms part of their improvement agenda to ensure that not only is the Fire Service equipped with the necessary amenities, but that these amenities are strategically utilised to ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness. The officer also clarified a common misconception regarding fire trucks gravitating to open sources at the scene instead of utilising the reserves from the water tender. He said this is also a strategic measure.

Based on an assessment of the fire, the Fire Service will determine whether the water that is housed in the water tender will be sufficient to deal with the magnitude of that fire.

“Whenever you notice the fire truck arrives on the scene and then moves to an open source of water, it’s not because we don’t have water, but we would have realised that the water in that tank is insufficient to

With just over 600 persons within the Fire Department, the Operations Officer stressed the importance of the general public doing their part to enhance safety countrywide. Public awareness

ing community outreaches, and fire safety exhibitions at several schools in Georgetown, the East Bank and the East Coast. This year, Fire Prevention Month is being observed under the theme “For The Future of Our Nation, Practice Fire Safety and Prevention”.

Safety fair

Meanwhile, Fire Prevention Officer Sheldon Sauns provided insight into the range of events scheduled to take off this month.

fighting activities, especially through the use of firefighters, among other things,” Sauns noted.

While stressing that fire safety is everyone’s responsibility, he said that a collective effort is needed to achieve a safer country. He added that the Fire Service’s agenda aims to embed fire safety in the younger generation so that it becomes second nature in every household.

“We’re looking to capture a wider audience as we disseminate information relating to fire safety,” he said.

deal with the magnitude of that fire. That is why we go for a continuous supply,” Persaud explained.

He added that there are strict penalties attached for a lack of water in the water tender, including immediate dismissal, which speaks to the firmness with which the issue is treated.

and partnership are key cornerstones in the Fire Service’s agenda for modernisation and adeptness.

“With input, advice, and learning from past events, we would have recognised that we need to take cognisance of that and prepare ourselves to respond in the event of any simultaneous

rescue and firefighting occurrence. We are evolving and I think that is the way forward, modernisation of the Fire Service, more training, all in an effort to reach a standard that is required.”

A number of other activities are planned for Fire Prevention Month, includ-

Scheduled to take place on October 20, the fire safety fair will engage schools in Georgetown and the East Bank and East Coast, as well as several companies closely aligned with fire prevention activities for a packed day of enrichment and practical participation.

“We’re going to be seeing some trivia games. We are going to have them participate in some fire-

In advancing public awareness of fire safety, the GFS has been actively engaging with persons working at the various markets to sensitise the workers of this mandate.

So far, market vendors at eight markets have been sensitised to the importance of fire safety. Also on the docket for this month are community outreaches and fire safety exhibitions.

T&T doctor fined for drug trafficking InterCaribbean Airways to start operations in Barbados

A29-year-old doctor has been fined $14,000 after pleading guilty to drug trafficking.

Police say Andell Jaggernath, of Diamond Village, San Fernando, was held with ecstasy, ketamine and psilocybin (magic mushrooms).

Police on patrol in Valencia on Tuesday saw a white Hyundai Tucson parked on the Eastern Main Road.

They stopped to speak with the occupants and detected a strong scent of cannabis coming from it.

On searching the vehicle, they discovered a black drawstring bag on the back seat containing nine transparent plastic packets.

Two packets contained a powder-like substance, six contained a brown translucent, solid substance, and in

the other was dried plantlike material resembling dried mushrooms. Police also found a square plastic container containing similar plant material.

The men were detained, and during questioning the driver said the items –1.6 grammes of ketamine, 1.7 grammes of ecstasy and 5.3 grammes of mushrooms –were for his recreational use.

Jaggernath appeared before Sangre Grande magistrate Cheron Raphael to an-

Starting December 1, the regional carrier, interCaribbean Airways will start operating fully in Barbados with FlightSupport Ltd, a subsidiary of the InterIsland Aviation Services Group (IASG).

range of scheduled air carriers.

Dr. Tariq Jagnarine Family meDicine, enDocrinology/DiabeTes

Shingles is a viral infection that results from the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chickenpox. It typically affects a single sensory nerve ganglion and the skin surface that the nerve supplies.

In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 1 in 3 people develop shingles during their lifetime. People can develop shingles if they had chickenpox in the past. This virus can lie dormant for years, and then reactivate as shingles. A person who has not had chickenpox before can get chickenpox through exposure to someone with shingles.

Shingles is most common after the age of 50, but it can appear at any age if a person has previously had chickenpox.

SYMPTOMS

Shingles usually affects one side of the body – most

swer drug charges, including possession of mushrooms for the purposes of trafficking, possession of ecstasy and possession of ketamine.

He pleaded guilty and was fined $6,000 for the mushroom-trafficking charge, $4,500 for possession of ecstasy, and $3,500 for the possession of ketamine.

Jaggernath was given six months to pay the fine or will serve nine months' hard labour in default. (T&T Newsday)

According to airline officials, the move is a strategic one that will bring better operational control and efficiencies to strengthen the airline’s presence and services in Barbados and the Southern Caribbean enhancing connectivity and flight options for travellers in the region.

FlightSupport Ltd., under the leadership of its Founder and Chairman Lyndon Gardiner, who also serves as Chairman of interCaribbean Airways, provides above – and below-wing support to a wide

HEALTH TIPS SHINGLES

often the waist, chest, abdomen, or back. Symptoms can also appear on the face and in the eyes, mouth, and ears. The virus can also affect some internal organs. Shingles typically affects a single sensory nerve ganglion near the spinal cord, called a dorsal root ganglion. This is why the symptoms occur in specific areas of the body, rather than all over it. The pain results from nerve involvement, rather than the rash itself.

Symptoms can vary in nature, depending on where on the body they appear. Some people have pain but no rash. Others may have a rash with pain that is accompanied by other symptoms, such as fever, chills, or headache. Some of the most common symptoms of shingles include:

* Constant dull, burning, or gnawing pain, or a sharp, stabbing pain that comes and goes.

* Skin rash that resembles a chickenpox rash but only affects certain areas.

* Fluid-filled blisters that develop as part of the rash.

Other symptoms

There may also be other symptoms, including fever, fatigue, chills, headache, upset stomach.

Symptom progression

Symptoms typically progress as follows:

* Pain, tingling, numbness, and itching start to affect a specific part of the skin.

* After up to 2 weeks, a rash appears.

* Red blotches and itchy, fluid-filled blisters develop

* The blisters may

merge, forming a solid red band that looks similar to a severe burn. The gentlest touch may be painful.

* Inflammation may affect the soft tissue under and around the rash.

* After 7–10 days, the blisters gradually dry up and form scabs or crusts. As the blisters disappear, they may leave minor scarring. Shingles usually last around 2–4 weeks. It is contagious until the blisters dry up and crust over. Most people will only have an episode of shingles once, but it can recur in some people.

TREATMENT

A doctor may prescribe antiviral drugs to stop the virus from multiplying. Antiviral treatment can help with:

* Reducing the severity and duration of symptoms

* Preventing complications from developing

* Lowering the risk of the rash coming back

In addition to antiviral drugs, there are several other ways to help manage symptoms, including:

* Using pain relief medication

* Reducing stress as much as possible

* Eating regular, nutritious meals

* Getting some gentle

As Barbados serves as interCaribbean Airways’ hub for the Southern Caribbean, this transition to full “in-house” operations by FlightSupport Ltd. solidifies and expands the airline’s presence in the Southern Caribbean region.

“We are thrilled to be able to manage our full operations in Barbados finally,” said Lyndon Gardiner, Chairman and Founder of FlightSupport and interCaribbean Airways. “Barbados is a valued and critical partner to us, and a key destination and hub for interCaribbean Airways. Given our commitment to providing seamless travel experiences to our passengers in the region, having

FlightSupport Ltd with a presence in Barbados will undoubtedly improve our reputation on reliability, and efficiency for service in this region.”

FlightSupport Ltd is leading interCaribbean Airways’ employment recruitment drive to hire new team members in Barbados and bolster its local and regional teams.

interCaribbean Airways is a privately-owned and operated airline, headquartered in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

With a network spanning Georgetown, Guyana, in the south, Barbados to the east, Havana, Cuba, to the west, and Nassau, Bahamas, to the north, interCaribbean connects twenty-eight cities across seventeen countries in the Caribbean. (CMC)

exercise

* Wearing loose-fitting clothes for comfort

* Relaxing activities that will reduce stress and take a person’s mind off the pain, such as watching television, reading books, socialising, listening to music, or engaging in hobbies.

* Applying calamine lotion for itching

* Take a lukewarm oatmeal bath.

* Placing a cool, damp washcloth on the blisters

Most people will recover with home treatment, but a person should seek medical help if other symptoms appear, such as a fever. Around 1–4% of people will need to spend time in the hospital due to complications.

CONTAGIOUSNESS

It is not possible to directly transmit shingles to another person. However, a person who has never had chickenpox can contract the virus by coming into direct contact with the fluid in the blisters of a person who currently has shingles. If this happens, and the person has not received a vaccination against chickenpox, they will develop chickenpox first, not shingles.

Taking the following precautions can help pre-

vent the transmission of the virus:

* Covering the rash

* Washing the hands often

* Avoiding touching or scratching the rash

DIAGNOSIS

Doctors usually diagnose shingles through a physical exam by evaluating the appearance of the rash and blisters on the body. In some cases, they may collect a tissue sample from the fluid of the blisters and send it to a lab to check if the virus is present.

They may also conduct a blood test to look for antibodies, which can determine whether a person has ever been exposed to the virus.

VACCINE

Vaccination can offer protection from both chickenpox and shingles.

For children: Chickenpox vaccine

Experts recommend routine immunisation with the varicella vaccine (chickenpox vaccine) during childhood. With two doses of the vaccine, there is at least a 90% chance of preventing chickenpox. Preventing chickenpox will also prevent shingles. Children should receive the first dose at 12-15 months. The second dose is 4-6 years.

For older adults: Shingles vaccine

A different vaccine, the herpes zoster vaccine, is available for people aged 50 and older who have had chickenpox and therefore carry VZV. Experts also recommend this vaccine for those who have not

had chickenpox or shingles. The options available are Zostavax and a newer vaccine called Shingrix. After two doses of Shingrix, a person will have more than 90% protection against shingles, falling to just above 85% after 4 years, according to the CDC.

POSSIBLE RISK FACTORS AND TRIGGERS INCLUDE:

* Older age

* Certain cancers or cancer treatment options

* HIV

* Treatments that suppress the immune system

* Stress or trauma

COMPLICATIONS

Rarely, complications can arise — especially in people with an impaired immune system. Possible complications of shingles include:

* Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN)

* Inflammation of the brain or spinal cord, increasing the risk of stroke, encephalitis, and meningitis

* Eye and vision problems

* Weakness

* Problems with balance and hearing

* Damage to blood vessels, which could lead to stroke.

* Pneumonia

According to the CDC, around 10-18% of people who have shingles will develop PHN, a long-term complication in which the pain of a shingles rash lasts long beyond the rash itself. It is more likely to occur if a person develops shingles after the age of 40, and the risk continues to increase with age.

“Nobody could help us” – Shock and anger in Israel's Ashkelon

Sunday should have been the start of the working week and the return to school in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, with the end of the Jewish high holidays.

Instead, the streets were virtually empty.

Just a day ago, some of the hundreds of Palestinian gunmen from Gaza were at large there and shocking events have continued to unfold nearby.

Social media video shows Israeli forces pursuing militants who had stolen a car. They were killed in a dramatic shootout on the roadside.

The only small crowds encountered are by the Barzilai Medical Centre. Weary medics stand by the entrance to the emergency ward. They have treated more than 400 patients because of the surprise attack by Hamas, the militant group which governs Gaza.

"It was very difficult, a lot of casualties have been brought one after one, one after one very quickly," says the hospital's general director, Prof Hezi Levy. "I

am very experienced, but I haven't seen in my life such a scenario."

One 30-year-old man having a cigarette looks badly shaken. He says he is a medical worker from Tel Aviv, but is there as a patient after joining an overnight dance party in the fields near Gaza which ended catastrophically on Saturday morning. He asks that his name not be used.

He has been shot in the hand, losing a finger, and has wounds on his head.

"In the morning, the rocket fire started. Everyone got scared and started running towards the road to drive home. As we got on the road, the gunfire began. It was really shocking. People were murdered, there were car accidents," the man says.

"I called the police. Nobody could help us. For an hour and a half, we sat inside a battle, helpless. Eventually I got into the car with some people. I'm a medic so I tried to evacuate two wounded. As I reached a junction I saw people in army fatigues – but they

weren't military – they started firing at me."

Many Israelis are shocked at how their powerful security forces were overwhelmed by the scale and complexity of the Hamas operation. Now there are complaints of a lack of help from the authorities.

One tearful couple are making their own inquiries going from hospital to hospital. They do not know if

their missing son is injured, dead or among the dozens of hostages who have been snatched by armed fighters and taken back to Gaza.

A distraught mother, Rachel Ezra confronts an Member of Parliament (MP) who is visiting the hospital. "I want you to help me find my boy, Oz and his girlfriend Naomi –they're aged 24 and 23," she shouts. "I don't know what to say!"

She calls for the toughest military action against Gaza in retaliation for what has happened, and she is not the only one.

An Israeli volunteer – who does not want to give his name – rushed to Ashkelon from his homea three-hour drive away in northern Israel, to help the medical staff. He says he has been caring for many of the wounded soldiers –amid "horrible" bloodshed –

Death toll passes 1100

Israel pounded the Palestinian enclave of Gaza on Sunday, killing hundreds of people in retaliation for one of the bloodiest attacks in its history when Islamist group Hamas killed 700 Israelis and abducted dozens more.

Hamas fighters' rampage through Israeli towns on Saturday was the deadliest such incursion since Egypt and Syria's attacks in the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago and has threatened to ignite another conflagration in the long-running conflict.

In response, Israeli air strikes hit housing blocks, tunnels, a mosque and homes of Hamas officials in Gaza, killing more than

400 people, including 20 children, in keeping with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vow of "mighty vengeance".

"The price the Gaza Strip will pay will be a very

heavy one that will change reality for generations," said Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in the town of Ofakim, which suffered casualties and had hostages taken.

Beyond blockaded Gaza, Israeli forces and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militia exchanged artillery and rocket fire, while in Egypt, two Israeli tourists were shot dead along with a guide.

Appeals for restraint came from around the world, though Western nations largely stood by Israel while Iran, Hezbollah and protesters in various Middle Eastern nations lauded Hamas.

In southern Israel on Sunday, Hamas gunmen were still fighting Israeli security forces more than 24 hours after their surprise, multi-pronged assault of rocket barrages and bands of gunmen who overran army bases and invaded border towns.

and like him they want to see Hamas hit hard.

"I spoke to the soldiers also and they're very disappointed. They want us to react way stronger and to be less politically correct when it comes to our way of warfare," he says, adding that he believes foreign diplomats contain Israel's response.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military insists it is carrying out a decisive campaign in the Gaza Strip just a short distance away.

"The days ahead will be long and difficult," its chief spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari has said. "We have paid a heavy price, but we will restore security to the people of Israel."

Overhead, there are regular booms as Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system intercepts rockets which have been fired by Palestinian militants.

It has protected residents through many previous rounds of fighting with Hamas. But right now, nobody in Ashkelon feels very safe. (BBC News)

Israel's military, which faces awkward questions for not thwarting the attack, said it had regained control of most infiltration points along security barriers, killed hundreds of attackers and taken dozens more prisoner.

The military said it had deployed tens of thousands of soldiers around Gaza, a narrow strip of land that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and was starting to evacuate Israelis around the frontier.

"This is my fifth war. The war should stop. I don't want to keep feeling this," said Qassab al-Attar, a Palestinian wheelchair user in Gaza whose brothers carried him to shelter.

Israel has not released an official toll but its me -

dia said at least 700 people were killed, children among them. Military spokesperson Daniel Hagari called it "the worst massacre of innocent civilians in Israel's history."

Several Americans were killed by Hamas attackers, a White House National Security Council spokesperson confirmed, saying the US would continue to monitor the situation closely.

The shocking flare-up may undermine US-backed moves towards normalising relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia – a security realignment that could threaten Palestinian hopes of self-determination and hem in Hamas' main backer, Iran. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Rachel Ezra is distraught as she pleads for help to find her missing son Oz and his girlfriend Naomi

An artillery unit fires near the Israeli side of the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, October 8, 2023 (Reuters/Amir Cohen photo)

Smoke rises following Israeli strikes in Gaza, October 8, 2023 (Reuters/Mohammed Salem photo)

People flee their homes amid Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip, October 8, 2023 (Reuters/ Ibraheem Abu Mustafa photo)

Regional Colombia, EMC armed group begin peace process, suspend offensive actions

Colombia's Government and the country's largest group of dissident former FARC rebels on Sunday suspended offensive actions and celebrated the start of a peace process meant to end the group's role in almost six decades of internal conflict, the rebel group announced.

The negotiations with the Estado Mayor Central (EMC) – a dissident group of the now-demobilised Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas – form part of President Gustavo Petro's efforts to reach "total peace".

The EMC rejected a 2016 peace deal with the State that ended the FARC's role in the conflict, which has killed at least 450,000 people and displaced millions.

The Government will issue a formal ceasefire decree on October 16, the day when the exploratory process concludes and peace talks formally begin, the

Colombian Government and EMC rebels said in a joint statement Sunday.

The two sides have said the ceasefire will initially last 10 months, but they did not mention its length in the statement.

The event took place in Tibu, in Norte de Santander province, the scene of frequent clashes between Colombia's military and a plethora of illegally armed

OAS names mediators for Guatemala conflict that threatens transfer of power

The Organisation of American States (OAS) on Saturday named the representatives that will lead its mission to mediate between Guatemalan officials and street protesters seeking an orderly transfer to power to President-elect Bernardo Arevalo, according to a statement published on social media site X.

OAS Head Luis Almagro previously said late on Friday that he accepted the invitation from Guatemala's Government that asked to achieve "consensus among different sectors" of the country.

groups and where vast swathes of land are covered in crops of coca, the chief ingredient in cocaine.

The EMC currently has some 3530 members – 2180 combatants and 1350 others – in regions across Colombia where illicit trades like drug trafficking and illegal gold mining occur, according to security sources. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Jamaica condemns Hamas attack on Israel

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness has condemned the attack by the Hamas group on Israel which killed hundreds of people.

“The Government of Jamaica condemns in strongest terms the attack by the Hamas group on Israel, resulting in the deaths, injury and abduction of Israeli civilians. We convey our sympathies to the Government and people of Israel and to the families of all those affected,” Holness said in a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter. Palestinian militant group

Hamas launched a large-scale surprise attack against Israel Saturday, firing thousands of rockets from Gaza and sending ground units to kill or abduct people as Israel retaliated with air strikes.

More than 24 hours after the attack, Israeli forces were still trying to defeat the last groups of militants holed up in several towns. At least 700 people have reportedly been killed in Israel — a staggering toll on a scale the country has not experienced in decades — and more than 400 have been killed in Gaza as Israeli air-

strikes pound the territory.

Holness called for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict while noting that there is no place for “violence and terror” in international relations.

“Jamaica firmly believes that the use of violence and terror has no place in international relations and should never be used against innocent civilians,” Holness said.

“We call for a cessation of hostilities, a return to peace within internationally-agreed guidelines and the pursuit of diplomatic solutions.” (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

Venezuelan Opposition Leader says party to decide his primary candidacy

Two-time former Venezuelan presidential candidate Henrique Capriles placed the future of his candidacy in limbo on Sunday, saying he would let his party decide if it wanted to replace him because of his political disqualification.

Capriles is one of three candidates running in the October 22 primary who is barred by the Venezuelan Government from holding public office.

"The reality is that I keep facing political disqualification that makes me decide that I can't continue with this electoral race," Capriles said in a statement on social media platforms Instagram and X.

It will be up to the "bases that elected me in my party" to decide the future of his candidacy, he added.

It was unclear if his Justice First party will choose another candidate to replace him, or if it can decide to continue with his candidacy.

A possible withdrawal by Capriles, a 51-year-old lawyer, had been anticipated in some local media for weeks, in part because his campaign was not taking off in the polls and his political star seems to have waned following previous attempts to become President.

Capriles has repeatedly said Opposition unity was the only way to defeat President Nicolás Maduro in the 2024

Former Uruguayan Defence Minister Luis Rosadilla and the OAS Secretary of Access to Rights and Equity Maricarmen Plata will lead the mission.

"The aforementioned mission will seek to meet with the main actors of the social and political situation that occupies the country and will present specific recommendations," said the document published Saturday.

These suggestions

would have the purpose of allowing the Guatemalan Government "to adopt urgent political decisions that lead to the effective solution of the issues that are the subject of the social protest that is currently developing," it added.

Tens of thousands took to Guatemala's streets this week, demanding the resignation of powerful senior prosecutors accused of working to undermine Arevalo's ability to take office.

Rosadilla and Plata

will travel to Guatemala City "at the earliest possible date," and they will be joined by the representative of the OAS office in Guatemala, Diego Paz, the organiaation specified.

Arevalo was elected in a landslide in August, but since then Attorney General Consuelo Porras has intensified efforts to disqualify Arevalo's anti-graft Movimiento Semilla party and ordered raids on the electoral authority's offices, seizing ballots . (Excerpt from Reuters)

Trinidad: Public servant files complaint with PSC over credit union commissioner

Asenior public servant in Trinidad has filed a formal complaint to the director of Personnel Administration demanding “disciplinary action” be taken against the acting Commissioner for Cooperative Development.

The complaint was made on Friday to DPA Corey Harrison by Angela Ramkissoon, a cooperative officer III at the Cooperative Development Division of the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service.

Ramkisson has also alleged being bypassed for the post of Commissioner.

In the formal complaint, Ramkissoon’s attorneys, Anand Ramlogan, SC, and Vishaal Siewsarran, complained about the appointment of Deborah-Ann Scott as the acting commissioner by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary and not the Public Service Commission.

Scott’s appointment has been raised in a lawsuit by the Eastern Credit Union (ECU) which alleges she was not appointed to

the position by law and has been “misrepresenting herself as the lawfully-appointed acting commissioner for Cooperative Development.”

Ramkissoon’s complaint also said Scott should have known she was not appointed by the PSC.

A complaint was also made about the purported actions of the Permanent Secretary.

Part of Ramkissoon’s complaint also seeks information in a freedom of information request. (Excerpt from Trinidad Newsday)

presidential elections. The Head of State has not yet formalised his candidacy, but it is widely believed he will seek re-election.

Capriles did not express support for any other candidate on Sunday, but reiterated his call for unity.

María Corina Machado, a 57-year-old industrial engineer, leads the primary polls with more than 40 per cent, while her closest rivals barely touch 10 per cent.

Machado, like Capriles, is prohibited from seeking elected office under a decision by the Controller General, seen by critics as an arm of Maduro's Government.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Bajans urged to take preventative measures against Dengue

The Ministry of Health and Wellness has confirmed a dengue fever outbreak in Barbados.

Health officials say the threshold was reached at the end of September where 518 cases (both suspected and confirmed) were recorded. In the same period during 2022 there were 241 cases.

The following are some of the symptoms of dengue fever: high temperature, severe headaches, muscle

pain, joint pain, vomiting and feeling of nausea, skin rash, swollen glands, and a blotchy rash made up of flat or slightly raised spots.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Kenneth George is urging members of the public to take immediate protective actions that include:

Source reduction – removal of sites and receptacles where stagnant water can collect. For example, the overflow dishes of plant pots

in homes, plant cuttings and discarded tyres, using mosquito repellent on the skin, wearing light-coloured, long-sleeved shirts and long pants, particularly during peak biting times – dusk and dawn, using mosquito nets over infant beds, cribs, carriers and strollers, and installing window and door screens to keep out mosquitoes. (Excerpt from Nation News)

People participate in the installation of the peace dialogues between the FARC guerrilla dissidents calling themselves the Central General Staff (EMC) and the Colombian Government, in Tibu, Colombia, October 8, 2023 (Reuters/Camilo Cohecha photo)

People march to demand the resignation of powerful senior prosecutors accused of working to undermine President-elect Bernardo Arevalo's ability to take office, in Guatemala City, Guatemala October 7, 2023 (Reuters/Josue Decavele photo)

Around The World OIL NEWS

Afghan earthquakes kill 2445, Taliban say, as deaths mount

OPEC leaders make case for fossil fuels at Riyadh climate event

More than 2400 people were killed in earthquakes in Afghanistan, the Taliban administration said on Sunday, in the deadliest tremors to rock the quake-prone mountainous country in years.

The Saturday quakes in the west of the country hit 35 km (20 miles) northwest of the city of Herat, with one of 6.3 magnitude, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

They were among the world's deadliest quakes this year, after tremors in Turkey and Syria killed an estimated 50,000 in February.

Janan Sayeeq, spokesman for the Ministry of Disasters, said in a message to Reuters that the toll had risen to 2445 dead, but he revised down the

number of injured to "more than 2000". Earlier, he had said that 9240 people had been injured.

Sayeeq also said 1320 houses had been damaged or destroyed. The death toll spiked from 500 reported earlier on Sunday by the Red Crescent.

Ten rescue teams were in the area, which borders Iran, Sayeeq told a press conference.

More than 200 dead had been brought to various hospitals, said a Herat health department official who identified himself as Dr Danish, adding most of them were women and children.

Bodies had been "taken to several places - military bases, hospitals", Danish said.

Beds were set up outside

the main hospital in Herat to receive a flood of victims, photos on social media showed.

Food, drinking water, medicine, clothes and tents were urgently needed for

rescue and relief, Suhail Shaheen, the head of the Taliban political office in Qatar, said in a message to the media. (Excerpt from Reuters)

US ‘disturbed’ by Russia’s plan to reverse nuclear test ban ratification

OPEC heavyweights said on Sunday oil and gas should not be stigmatised in the climate debate and that the industry had a role to play in an orderly energy transition.

Energy Ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, the three largest members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), have gathered in the Saudi capital Riyadh for the UN MENA climate week.

"The three of us here as major hydrocarbon producers also have a responsibility to the world to provide the transition with enough hydrocarbon resources to make sure we are transitioning at a responsibly priced manner," UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said on a panel that grouped the three countries.

The UAE will host the COP28 climate summit scheduled to take place in Dubai between Nov 30 and Dec 12.

The summit is an opportunity for governments to try to accelerate action to curb global warming to prevent the most devastating consequences of extreme weather following a year of record temperatures, wildfires and drought.

Reports so far show countries are off track to meet a UN target to keep the rise in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C.

"COP28 will deliver transformational outcomes for this region, and for the world," Sultan al-Jaber, COP28 president, said in his opening remarks on Sunday.

The choice of Jaber to lead the summit has drawn criticism from environmental campaigners because his country is an OPEC member and a major oil exporter, and he is the boss of state oil giant ADNOC.

He has argued for a more inclusive COP that brings the oil and gas industry into the climate debate and allows it to be part of the solution through decarbonisation initiatives.

Ahead of COP28, countries are divided between those demanding a deal to phase out planet-warming fossil fuels, and nations that say coal, oil and natural gas have a continued role combined with technology to capture their emissions.

"We have had 27 COPs, and you might be surprised to learn that 17 of them have been hosted in fossil fuelproducing nations," Jaber said.

"The fact is, energy is fundamental to everyone, everywhere."

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman also said the industry should not be stigmatised and the world still needed hydrocarbons.

"There is a case for us to be in oil and gas," he told the audience. (Reuters)

The United States said it was “disturbed” by a Russian envoy’s announcement that Moscow will reverse its ratification of a 1996 treaty that banned the testing of nuclear weapons.

Russia’s envoy to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO), Mikhail Ulyanov, said on Friday that Moscow will revoke its ratification of the pact.

The announcement by Ulyanov added new fuel to

tensions between the world’s largest nuclear weapons powers amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and US military support for Kyiv.

Ulyanov said on social media that “Russia plans to revoke ratification [which took place in the year 2000] of the Comprehensive Nuclear-TestBan Treaty [CTBT]”.

“The aim is to be on equal footing with the US who signed the treaty, but didn’t ratify it. Revocation doesn’t mean the intention to resume nuclear tests,” he said.

Tens of thousands protest against possible Catalan amnesty deal

Waving Spanish and Catalan flags, tens of thousands of people marched through Barcelona on Sunday to protest against a potential amnesty deal which Spain's Socialists must strike over Catalonia's 2017 separatist bid if they want to form a Government.

The protest, organised by the anti-separatist organisation Societat Civil Catalana, took place five days after Spain's acting Socialist Prime Minister was nominated to seek backing of other political parties for a new mandate.

Pedro Sanchez needs the support of Catalan separatist parties Junts and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, which want the unpopular amnesty in exchange for votes in Parliament.

Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of the opposition conservative People's Party, and Santiago Abascal, leader of the far-right Vox party, attended the march which Police said attracted 50,000 protesters.

Holding a sign which said "Spain for Sale", Isabel Martinez said: "We cannot allow an amnesty because not all Catalans believe that these (separatists) should be pardoned. They want to live in conflict forever but we want to live in peace."

Sanchez has defended his conciliatory policy with Catalonia, including a 2021 pardon to nine jailed leaders, and said the 2017 crisis "brought nothing good".

The amnesty could potentially cover more than 1400 people involved in the independence bid that came to a head in 2017, pro-separatist Catalan group Omnium estimates. These are a mix of people in jail and facing charges.

That would be the largest in Spain since the 1977 blanket amnesty for crimes committed during the Francisco Franco dictatorship, and the first amnesty law approved in the European Union since 1991, according to Spain's CSIC research council (Excerpt from Reuters)

Though Washington signed but has not ratified the CTBT, it has observed a moratorium on nuclear weapons test explosions since 1992.

Bottom of Form

Responding to Russia’s announcement, the US State Department said it was “disturbed” by the move.

“We are disturbed by the comments of Ambassador Ulyanov in Vienna today,” a US State Department spokesperson said in a statement.

“A move like this by any state party needlessly endan-

gers the global norm against nuclear explosive testing,” the State Department said. Russia should not be “wielding arms control and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric in a failing attempt to coerce other states”, the State Department added, appearing to suggest that Moscow’s plan to withdraw from the ratification of the treaty was aimed at pressuring the US and other countries who are supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russian forces. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

World breaches key 1.5C warming mark for record number of days

The world is breaching a key warming threshold at a rate that has scientists concerned, a BBC analysis has found.

On about a third of days in 2023, the average global temperature was at least 1.5C higher than pre-industrial levels.

Staying below that marker long-term is widely considered crucial to avoid the most damaging impacts of climate change.

But 2023 is "on track" to be the hottest year on record, and 2024 could be hotter.

"It is a sign that we're reaching levels we haven't been before," says Dr Melissa Lazenby, from the University of Sussex.

This latest finding comes after record September temperatures and a summer of extreme weather events across much of the world.

When political lead-

ers gathered in Paris in December 2015, they signed an agreement to keep the long-term rise in global temperatures this century "well below" 2C and to make every effort to keep it under 1.5C.

The agreed limits refer to the difference between global average temperatures now and what they were in the pre-industrial period, between 1850 and 1900 - before the widespread use of fossil fuels.

Breaching these Paris thresholds doesn't mean going over them for a day or a week but instead involves going beyond this limit across a 20 or 30-year average.

This long-term average warming figure currently sits at around 1.1C to 1.2C.

But the more often 1.5C is breached for individual days, the closer the world gets to breaching this mark in the longer term. (Excerpt from BBC News)

A boy cries as he sits next to debris, in the aftermath of an earthquake in the district of Zinda Jan, in Herat, Afghanistan, October 8, 2023 (Reuters/Stringer)

DAILY HOROSCOPES

Take the path of least resistance. Refuse to let changes going on around you throw you off guard. Make your plans and form valuable alliances. Consider an unusual suggestion with alterations in mind.

(March 21-April 19)

Dodge anyone who wants to debate. Put your plan in place and head in a positive direction. Refuse to let emotions or outside influences take charge when you need to step up and take control.

(April 20-May 20)

Consider what life can offer and set a budget. Don’t jeopardize your position, reputation or personal stability for someone or something that benefits others more than you.

(May 21-June 20)

Don’t allow someone to push you to make changes that you aren’t ready to adopt. Getting involved in something you care about will lead to a change of heart.

(June 21-July 22)

Practicality is necessary to maintain a good reputation and keep troublemakers at bay. Think, plan and promote, but don’t give away secrets that will give someone a chance to undermine your next move.

(July 23-Aug. 22)

Take better care of yourself and tend to relationships. How you react and proceed will inspire others to pitch in and help. Make changes and honor your commitments.

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Let passion drive you, but be smart as well. Put together a plan that will ease stress and help you ward off any negativity that comes your way. Avoid pushy people and health risks.

(Sept. 23-Oct. 23)

Evaluate your home and work situations and consider how best to achieve greater equality between the two. Less tension will lower stress and give you peace of mind. Patience will be necessary.

(Oct. 24-Nov. 22)

Pay attention, learn as you go and rely on yourself. Trust your instincts and speak up. Refuse to let an outsider interfere with what works best for you. Stay on track.

(Nov. 23-Dec. 21)

Keep your thoughts to yourself. Don’t allow anyone to get the better of you. Take the road that enables you to invest in yourself and your objectives instead of bowing to someone else’s whims.

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Seize the moment and make things happen. Put everything you’ve got into your efforts, and you will make your mark. Protect your money, health and reputation.

(Jan. 20-Feb. 19)

Revisit an old plan or partnership. Check your emotions at the door and approach new beginnings with common sense and practicality. An offer may entice you, but don’t invest in someone else’s dream.

(Feb. 20-March 20)

Rahul, Kohli guide India home after early scare on tricky track

The hosts and favourites for the 2023 World Cup are up and running. But as clinical as India's six-wicket victory over Australia looks on paper, there was far more jeopardy out on the field in Chennai.

Ravindra Jadeja's exemplary 3 for 28 restricted Australia to 199, but the pursuit of a modest target began with a historically bad start. India were reduced to 2 for 3 – the first time in OneDay Internationals (ODIs) three of their top four were dismissed without scoring;

done that" world-beaters. A stand of 165 turned a problematic start into a cakewalk of a finish. So much so that while Kohli fell for 85 – he was dropped on 12 – Rahul was able to manoeuvre himself into a position for an outside shot at ODI century number seven.

With 91 to his name and five left to get, a four and a six would have taken him to three figures. Alas, too sweet a connection on a lofted drive off Pat Cummins cleared the boundary sponge at extra cover, finishing the match and

second innings wore on and the ball stopped talking.

Hazlewood's 3 for 38 ended up being the only plus point in the second half. But one imagines most of the post-match debrief will centre around the inabili ty to combat the turn and nous of Jadeja, Yadav Ashwin.

spin amigos shared six wick ets between them selves, instigating

stump, beaten on the outside edge and losing his off stump. It was the first of three wickets to fall in the space of 10 Jadeja deliveries. Marnus

Mitchell Starc removed Ishan Kishan for a first-ball duck before Josh Hazlewood's double-wicket maiden snared Captain Rohit Sharma lbw and Shreyas Iyer, caught tamely at short cover.

But from the ruins rose Virat Kohli and KL Rahul – two of India's "been there,

leaving the keeper-batter dismayed on 97 not out.

It was particularly chastening for Australia for the match to end in such one-sided circumstances. Cummins' decision to be the first captain to win the toss and choose to bat at this World Cup looked optimistic, especially as the

SCOREBOARD

BOWLING O-M-R-W

Jasprit Bumrah 10-0-35-2

Mohammed Siraj 6.3-1-26-1

Hardik Pandya 3-0-28-1

Ravichandran Ashwin 10-1-34-1

Kuldeep Yadav 10-0-42-2

Ravindra Jadeja 10-2-28-3

India (T: 200 runs from 50 ovs)

Rohit Sharma (c) lbw

b Hazlewood 0

Ishan Kishan c Green

b Starc 0

Virat Kohli c Labuschagne

b Hazlewood 85

Shreyas Iyer c Warner

b Hazlewood 0

KL Rahul † not out 97

Hardik Pandya not out 11

Extras (b 1, lb 1, nb 1, w 5) 8

TOTAL 41.2 Ov (RR: 4.86) 201/4

Did not bat: Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Ishan Kishan, 0.4 ov), 2-2 (Rohit Sharma, 1.3 ov), 3-2 (Shreyas Iyer, 1.6 ov), 4-167 (Virat Kohli, 37.4 ov) •

BOWLING O-M-R-W

Mitchell Starc 8-0-31-1

Josh Hazlewood

an inescapable chokehold epitomised by the 16.5 overs worth of dot balls within their collective 30. The control assumed throughout the guts of Australia's innings was primarily through Jadeja, who was introduced in the 20th. Australia had made a steady start before an eight-overstraight spell of 3 for 38 from the Chennai Super Kings stalwart on familiar conditions demolished those foundations.

Despite losing opener Mitchell Marsh for a six-ball duck – edge found by Jasprit Bumrah, well-taken by Kohli tumbling to his left at first slip – David Warner was typically breezy, moving past 1000 ODI World Cup runs in just his 19th innings, setting a new benchmark for the feat having done so in one knock fewer than Sachin Tendulkar and AB de Villiers.

Labuschagne was adjudged caught behind off a sweep, before Alex Carey lasted just two deliveries before behind adjudged lbw in front of middle. Both batters took Australia's two DRS reviews back to the dressing room.

At 119 for 5, the onus fell on the last two remaining "full-time" batters Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green to conjure a partnership of note. Maxwell was able to strike Jadeja through extra cover for the first boundary in 73 deliveries, but an awry shot across the line to Kuldeep followed by Green's lazy cut to backward point off Ashwin took the score from 140 for 5 to 140 for seven in the space of four balls.

side to bring the innings to a close with three balls to go. But within four balls of the restart, the left-arm quick had Kishan departing first ball, slashing to Green at first slip.

Hazlewood followed with his double-hit in his opening over and, just like that, India's task looked far from academic. But the fact there was only 197 to clear in 48 overs when Kohli and Rahul came together meant no undue risks needed to be taken.

And yet, India should have been 19 for 4 when a top edge from Kohli on 12 –hurried by a skiddy bounc-

movement with the two new balls under lights, dissipating Australia's incisiveness. By then, Starc had changed his angle to over the wicket to both right-handers, hoping to elicit either movement or a mistake off the straight.

Kohli would win the race to the half-century, whipping a Cummins bumper off his nose to reach fifty for the 114th time in ODIs, off 75 balls. Soon after the century stand was reached, Rahul square drove his 72nd delivery for a 16th fifty in the format. ODI hundred number 48 looked odds on for Kohli, only to fall 15 short when

(Cameron Green, 36.2 ov), 8-165 (Pat Cummins, 42.2 ov), 9-189 (Adam Zampa, 48.2 ov), 10-

199 (Mitchell Starc, 49.3 ov) •

Pat Cummins

Glenn Maxwell

Cameron Green

Adam Zampa

A return catch for Kuldeep's first of two dismissals ended his stay on 41, and a stand of 69 with Steven Smith, who himself made it to 46 before losing his off

Starc and Cummins were valiant in pursuit of late runs; the latter striking the first six of the innings midway through the 40th over (Kuldeep heaved over deep square leg) before the former bashed the second over the same region off Bumrah.

Starc would be the last to fall, holing out into the leg

er from Hazlewood – fell through the hands of Marsh running in from square leg after some miscommunication with Carey behind the stumps. Kohli then survived an edge past his own stumps off Cummins on 13.

Kohli was soon back into his work, supreme through midwicket for back-to-back fours off Green – the first just his second boundary in 50 deliveries. The pair exchanged strike regularly, until Rahul struck three fours – two fine of third, then a drive through cover – to take 13 off Adam Zampa's opening over to jump-start his innings.

That the legspinner was held back until the 17th over spoke of the loss of that early

pulling Hazlewood straight to Labuschagne at midwicket. His walk-off suggested a desire to take the side home, but with 33 required off 74, the finish line was in full view.

And so came the sprint finish. Hardik Pandya charged Hazlewood to muller him over wide long off for India's first six of the tournament. Rahul then followed with the second in the next over, planting Maxwell into the stands down the ground.

Perhaps a century for Rahul would have been the neatest of bows on a professional opening win. As far as consolations go, sizeable red ink and victory by 52 deliveries should more than make up for it. (ESPNcricinfo)

KL Rahul's match-winning six left him three short of an unbeaten century

The ball went through Mitchell Marsh's hands to hand Virat Kohli a life

Ravindra Jadeja struck thrice in two overs to dent Australia

Kohli capitalised on the dropped chance to finish with 85

Australia win with 211 balls to spare after West Indies skittled for 83

Without the injured Hayley Matthews, West Indies were no match for Australia in the first One-Day International (ODI) at Allan Border Field as the home side raced to an eight-wicket win in a contest that lasted little more than 42 overs.

West Indies were skittled for 83 by a collective effort from the Australia attack after the new-ball pairing of Megan Schutt and Kim Garth had set the tone.

After a sedate start to the chase against a new ball that nipped around, Alyssa Healy then put her foot down with six boundaries in 10 balls, including four, in a row off Aaliyah Alleyne before glancing a catch down the leg side. Ellyse Perry added the finishing touches to the pursuit.

In overcast conditions, Healy had put West Indies into bat and they never got

a foothold in the innings. There was not a run from the bat until the fifth over and the first boundary came in the ninth with an edge through the slips.

Garth, who had replaced Jess Jonassen for the final T20I, and Schutt were impressive with the new ball and after 10 overs West Indies were 14 for 3.

Garth struck first when debutant Djenaba Joseph, asked to fill the huge shoes of Matthews, who was ruled out with the quad strain picked up in the T20I series, skied a pull shot. She then had Rashada Williams taken at point. Schutt joined in when Zaida James, who had laboured 25 balls for 3, sliced to gully.

Martinelli hits late winner as Arsenal beat City

Gabriel Martinelli scored a dramat-

ic late winner as Arsenal earned a statement victory over defending Premier League champions Manchester City at Emirates Stadium.

A largely-disappointing game was given a stunning finale four minutes from time just as both sides looked certain to have to settle for a point.

Making his return from a hamstring injury as a substitute, Martinelli's strike deflected in off Nathan Ake to earn Arsenal a first league win over City since December 2015.

It was a moment that sparked wild celebrations and put the Gunners level on points with north London rivals Tottenham at the top of the table.

The biggest talking point until the goal was how City's Mateo Kovacic somehow stayed on the pitch after late tackles on both Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice.

City had the better early opportunities when Rice cleared off the line from Josko Gvardiol before Ake scooped a shot over the bar from close range.

Arsenal keeper David Raya, who had an uncertain time, was twice almost caught in possession on his line by Julian Alvarez.

But it was the home side who were elated as Martinelli, introduced off the bench for the second half, made that vital contribution.

Arsenal show their mettle Arsenal seemed gripped with nerves early on against a City team who have maintained such a stranglehold

on them in the Premier League in recent years.

Raya was hesitant, especially with the ball at his feet, and even the Arsenal fans who have been so supportive of Mikel Arteta's side were showing signs of impatience.

The introduction of Martinelli for Leandro Trossard after the break made a huge difference as the Brazilian ran at the City defence and finally posed problems – even though visiting keeper Ederson was initially largely untroubled.

Arsenal were organised and resilient in defence, keeping Erling Haaland at bay, and all their hard work was rewarded with the winner, albeit with it coming through that crucial deflection off Ake.

City and Pep Guardiola have cast a shadow over Arsenal in recent years, not least when they hauled them in at the critical point of last season's title race, but this victory will surely give the Gunners huge self-belief.

City come up short City previously had to go back to December 2018 to recall the taste of successive

Premier League defeats, when they lost at home to Crystal Palace and away to Leicester City.

They dropped only three further points all season after that double jolt. Now they must recover again after losing in the league at Wolves and at Arsenal, where they were way short of their best.

City, as usual, had plenty of possession, but they lacked their normal thrust and sharpness, with striker Haaland reduced to the role of a virtual spectator.

There was indiscipline, too, from Kovacic, who was fortunate to only be shown a yellow card for a poor challenge on Odegaard yet still followed it up almost immediately with another on Rice.

The indiscipline spilled over at the final whistle too as a clutch of City players, including Haaland and Kyle Walker, were involved in a heated exchange with a number of Arsenal's backroom staff.

Guardiola's side will be bitterly disappointed with these past two league results – but history shows City have the quality and character to return to their best swiftly. (BBC Sport)

Darcie Brown claimed the key wicket of Stafanie Taylor before leaving the field

Briefly Stafanie Taylor and Shemaine Campbelle resisted, although the scoreboard barely moved, and when Taylor edged behind off the somewhat wayward Darcie Brown, West Indies' best chance of posting any sort of total had vanished.

Campbelle fell to Ashleigh Gardner's first ball when she top-edged a sweep which

was well caught by Georgia Wareham.

The one bright spot in West Indies' batting display was Alleyne, who took on Wareham's legspin with five boundaries through the cover region, showing an intent that had not been on display from her team-mates.

Australia were sharp in the field with Healy pull-

ing off two smart pieces of work to help wrap up the innings – a direct hit to run out Cherry-Ann Fraser for a diamond duck and a smart stumping to end Alleyne's sprightly innings.

The only concern for the home side was that Brown left the field after three overs with a tight left hamstring. (ESPNcricinfo)

Jamaican Olympian CuthbertFlynn honoured by Guyana Jamaica Friendship Association

knowledged the tremendous work being done by the Association.

“I was inspired listening to the many stories and the impact of the Association on numerous young lives. I thank you all for presenting me with an award.” (Sportsmax)

In recognition of her stellar athletic career, Jamaican Olympian Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn was honoured by the Guyana Jamaica Friendship Association in New York on Saturday, October 7.

The 59-year-old Cuthbert-Flynn famously won two silver medals at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992 running a lifetime best time of 10.82 in the 100m final won by American Gail Devers. She ran 22.02 for her second silver medal of the Games in the 200m final.

She won a bronze medal as a member of Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta in the United States. Also among her many global accolades is a gold medal that she won as a member of Jamaica’s sprint re-

lay team at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

On Saturday night, those significant accomplishments among others were recognised by the Association formed in January 2014 with the goal of fostering friendly relationships between the two Caricom countries.

Cuthbert, who is now State Minister in Jamaica’s Ministry of National Security, was gracious in her acceptance of the award.

“I am humbled to receive recognition for my athletic achievements by the Guyana Jamaica Friendship Association. I wish to thank Dr Frank Benbow, Claudenette Powell and their members,” the Jamaican icon said in a post on Instagram.

Cuthbert-Flynn also ac -

Gabriel Martinelli's late strike deflected in off Nathan Ake

Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn at the award ceremony

Aaliyah Alleyne played a lone hand

letter concerning CWI VP election

On the heels of a Cricket West Indies (CWI) missive regarding a letter sent by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) concerning the election of CWI Vice President Azim Bassarath, the local cricketing body has publicised the letter.

Read below the full letter:

“The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB had, at the subject meeting, submitted a letter and made clear its position that it had withdrawn its nomination of Mr Azim Bassarath for the post of Vice President of Cricket West Indies (CWI). That the process was al ue constitutes, flawed and il Mr Bassarath.

The GCB had on previ ous occasions re quested of CWI information per taining to the legal basis by which that par ticular election was held. Also, we had expected to have been provided with copies of the legal opin ions on this matter that the CWI contends it had received. During the virtual meeting

held on the morning of September 21, 2023 at the request of CWI, the GCB once again unequivocally and unwaveringly stated its position that Mr Bassarath was illegally occupying the position of Vice President of CWI and must demit office in order to facilitate a new and legal process.

Unfortunately, nothing of consequence came out of the meeting as there was no consensus reached on this contentious matter.

As a result, the GCB summoned an urgent virtual meeting of its Executive Members at 05:30 pm of the very day (September 21, 2023) to discuss and decide on the GCB's next course of action.

The Executive Members having carefully considered this matter have unanimously decided to demand the resignation of Mr Azim Bassarath from the position of CWI Vice President.

Should there be non-compliance within fourteen (14) days of the date of this letter, the GCB, as a responsible and progressive shareholder of CWI, will resort to legal recourse as advised by our Attorneys and issue a press release accordingly.”

NAMILCO U17 National playoffs… Berbice, East Coast, Upper Dem pick up wins as tournament kicks off

There was much excitement at the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) National Training Center (NTC) over the weekend, as the National Milling Company (NAMILCO) Under17 National Academy play-offs kick-started.

No matter the teams in action, however, the final score was the same on both Saturday and Sunday. The East Coast Football Association (FA) Academy defeated East Bank FA Academy, Upper Demerara FA Academy got the better of West Demerara FA Academy and Berbice FA Academy upstaged Georgetown FA Academy; all by a 4-1 margin.

In the first game on Saturday, Isaiah Alphonso (28th), Kobie Benjamin (42nd), Bryan Wharton (46th) and Travis Williams (71st) all netted one apiece for East Coast as they overcame East Bank. Ian Daniels’ strike in the 11th minute was the lone goal for the East Bank Academy team.

Later on, a Keishan Leacock brace in the 70th and 85th minutes led the charge for the Upper Demerara Academy in

their victory over West Demerara. Kamara MacLauren (36th) and Kymani Sealey (61st) also added to Upper Demerara’s tally.

Shekel King was the man with the consolation goal for West Demerara in the 53rd minute of the encounter.

Then on Sunday morning, Berbice’s Academy stunned Georgetown. Georgetown took the lead first, by way of a Shem James strike in the 13th minute but, Berbice’s Kemani Spelling would lev-

el the scores a minute later.

It was only in the second half that the remaining goals came, as Jaden Thom netted a brace in the 51st and 74th minutes, while Quancy Fraser added another in the 56th minute. Georgetown had no other reply.

The NAMILCO National Academy U17 play-offs are expected to continue next weekend, with four games on Saturday, October 14 and one on Sunday, October 15, both at the NTC, Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

LGC golfers dominate day 1 of DBS Bank Suriname Open

…Sabi Dhori leading in female category

Atotal of 18 golfers represented the Lusignan Golf Club (LGC) in the De Surinaamsche Bank Golf Open. The first day of action saw stellar performances from the Guyanese contingent.

The golfers who are participating in the tournament are: Rakesh Harry, Avinash Persaud, Pope London, Shanella London, Eureka Giddings, Mike Mangal, Roy Dhori, Sabi Dhori, Vishal Dhani, Brian Hackett, Patanjilee Persaud, Ayube Subhan, Carlos Adams, Miguel Yunes, Rohan Albert, Maurice Deo, and Lakeram Ramsundar.

Speaking at the end of day one was LGC Vice President Brian Hackett, who said, "The Guyanese contingent are really prepared for this event, over the past couple of weeks. Coming out of today's tournament, we can see those results bearing fruit as quite a number of players are doing well in their flights and we can see also that the performance of some players have improved year over year. Last year, we had quite a number of players in the winners’ row, in-

cluding current President Patanjilee Persaud and myself, and there is no doubt that we are expected to do better or maintain that position. And this year, we see both Shanella London and Eureka Giddings also coming out strong on the first day. We expect to see them doing even better on Sunday."

The LGC VP also noted that the team selected was the largest contingent the club has ever had coming to Suriname. He further relat-

ed that the team were filled with a number of champions.

"We have Miguel Yunes, who recently won his category in the Barbados Open; Eureka Giddings, who recently won the Trinidad Open; Shanella London, who is the former Guyana Open champion; Avinash Persaud, who is the 10 times Guyana Open champion; the President Patanjilee Persaud and myself, who were victorious in our respective categories in the Suriname Open last year. So, day one has con-

cluded; the results are out. But let's be prepared for tomorrow being tougher, and expect to improve," Hackett stated.

The results for day one were as follows:

Flight D – 3rd – Shanella London, 34 points

Flight E – 2nd – Sabi

Dhori, 39 points; 3rd –Eureka Giddings, 34 points

Flight C – 2nd – Carlos Adams, 33 points; 4th –Maurice Deo, 27 points

Flight B – 1st – Patanjilee Persaud, 36 points; 3rd –Pope Emmanuel London, 35 points; 4th – Brian Hackett, 31 points; 5th Lakeram Ramsundar, 31 points; 11th

– Rohan Albert, 28 points; 13th – Roy Dhori 24 points

Flight A – 6th – Rakesh Harry, 34 points; 7th – Avinash Persaud, 14 points; 8th – Mike Mangal, 33 points; 20th – Andre Cummings, 30 points; 22nd – Miguel Yunes, 29 points; 25th – Vishal Dhani, 26 points and 26th – Ayube Subhan, 23 points.

LGC President Patanjilee led his category on day 1

Part of the ladies action on day 1

The East Coast outfit