Taiwan Opens Its Representative Office In GuyanaGuyana is now hosting Taiwan’s representative office, as announced by the island’s foreign ministry on Thursday. In a Reuters report, Taiwan has reported that it signed an agreement with Guyana on January 11 to open a Taiwan Office, which in effect is a de facto embassy for the island that “China claims as its sovereign territory with no right to diplomatic ties.” The move apparently drew praise from the United States, which has been concerned about the broadening Chinese influence in Latin America and the Caribbean. Guyana’s Foreign Minister Hugh Todd explained that the…
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OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Canada said Thursday it was extending a ban on cruise ships entering its waters through February 2022 because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The ban applies to ships carrying more than 100 people, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said in a statement. “Temporary prohibitions to cruise vessels and pleasure craft are essential to continue to protect the most vulnerable among our communities and avoid overwhelming our health care systems,” he said. If pandemic conditions “sufficiently improve” during the period, he added, the government could move to rescind the order. The original ban was put in place last…
As a result of the Ministry of Health experiencing significant delays in COVID-19 testing, Prime Minister Allen Chastanet says Government will be engaging private laboratories, including the Forensic Lab, to help in easing the burden. The Government-operated Ezra Long Laboratory is the only credited facility on island performing PCR COVID-19 testing. Being the only facility tasked with testing for the virus, the Lab is now facing a formidable backlog of virus tests, leaving patients waiting much longer periods before receiving their results. Several civil society groups including the Saint Lucia Medical and Dental Association, Bankers Association, National Youth Council and…
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats on Thursday asked Donald Trump to testify under oath for his Senate impeachment trial, challenging the former president to respond to their charge that he incited a violent mob to storm the Capitol. In a response, a Trump adviser said Trump won’t testify. The request in a letter from House impeachment managers does not require Trump to appear — though the Senate could later force a subpoena — but it does warn that any refusal to testify could be used at trial to support arguments for a conviction. Even if Trump never testifies, the request…
St. Vincent and the Grenadines today confirmed eight (8) new COVID-19 cases from samples collected between January 17th and February 2nd . All of the new cases were detected during contact tracing and testing of persons with flu symptoms. There are now nine hundred and eighteen(918) local cases of COVID-19, many of whom are linked as contacts of known positives. A 76 year old female is the third (3rd) person to die from complications of COVID- 19 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The patient, who was admitted to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital on January 31, 2021, had multiple…
The results of some of the tasks carried out during the trip to the summit of the La Soufriere Volcano on Monday 1st February 2021 are as follows: 1. Some gas measurements were done on Monday using a Multi-Gas Instrument and a filter pack. The Multi-Gas measurements were successful and showed the presence of Sulfur dioxide (SO2 gas coming out of the volcano. The filter packs used to measure gas species such as hydrogen chloride (HCl), Hydrogen fluoride (HF), Sulfur dioxide (SO2) and Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) will need to be sent abroad for analyses. 2. Monday February 1, 2021 was…
The Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF) is investigating numerous reports of what appears to be ‘fake job offers”. A post is currently being circulated on Face Book purportedly advertising job vacancies on behalf of “Canouan Beach Resort” for positions of Bartenders, Waiters and Housekeepers. The post encourages persons to call “534-0875” and ask for “Ms. Marshall.” The public is strongly advised not to call the number provided in the post. This is a bogus scam by the individual(s) to possibly lure the vulnerable and innocent into exploitative situations. However, persons who may have called the number…
Chris Gayle plundered 84 runs from 22 balls as Team Abu Dhabi defeated Maratha Arabians by nine wickets in the Abu Dhabi T10 earlier today. The 41-year-old Gayle achieved a strike rate of 381.82, smashing six fours and nine sixes in a brutal onslaught on the Arabians bowling that powered TAD, chasing 98 for victory, to 100 for 1 off just 5.3 overs. The Universe Boss signalled his intent from as early as the first over bowled by Yamin Ahmadzai that went for 18 runs. It was his only over of the match. In fact, none of the Arabians bowlers…
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP)— A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced Sergei Smirnov, chief editor of Mediazona, an online news publication often critical of the government, to 25 days in jail over a re-tweet amid a growing crackdown on critics. Smirnov, 45, was found guilty of repeatedly violating legislation on public gatherings, his lawyer Fyodor Sirosh told AFP. Ahead of a January 23 protest in support of top opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Smirnov re-tweeted a joke that included the time of the protest rally. In the re-tweeted post, a Twitter user quipped that the editor looked like the leader of the punk…
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce said its planned $797 million sale of a stake in its Caribbean unit won’t proceed after regulators rejected the deal, leaving the bank stuck with a business that had been declining in value. CIBC announced the sale of the two-thirds stake in CIBC FirstCaribbean to a company run by Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski in November 2019. The deal, which would have left CIBC with a 25% stake in the Barbados-based bank, valued FirstCaribbean at about $1.2 billion, less than half of its $2.8 billion value when CIBC took over most of the business. “While this…