GNN Online Newspaper - 22 FEB 2016

Monday February 22, 2016

McCOY, Abdulla and Hinds granted bail All set for flag raising

SOCU’s original role apparently abandoned-Ramkarran Former Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran has called for a number of answers to be provided with regard to the operation of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).

He is of the view that the original role conceived for the unit appears to have been totally abandoned and it is “out of control.”

Ramkarran, on his weekly blog “Conversation tree,” pointed out that SOCU was intended to be a police unit operating under the authority of the Commissioner of Police but with a close relationship with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) established under the AntiMoney laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism

(AML/CFT) Act, Chapter 10:11 of the Laws of Guyana. The Terms of Reference were approved by the Cabinet. These were not disclosed but “the Unit is expected to be dedicated to investigating suspected financial transactions suggestive of money laundering and financing of terrorism,” according to Dr. Roger Luncheon, the then Head of the Presidential Secretariat, who revealed all of the above in a press conference on September 7, 2014 and in previous press conferences.

“This was certainly what was understood by then Leader of the Opposition, Mr. David Granger, who at a press conference on October 11, 2014, acknowledged that

SOCU was being assigned as the investigative arm of the FIU,” the former Speaker noted.

According to him, Mr. Carl Greenidge, then Shadow Minister of Finance, was even more expansive. He said: “The FIU, after receiving that report (from its reporting institutions), will now send it off to the SOCU which will operate as its investigative arm.” From what Mr. Greenidge said at the time, he clearly envisaged SOCU as a desk bound agency, with accounting and financial expertise, checking transactions, following paper trails and then instituting charges where offences are found to have been committed, the political commentator said.

He added that comments from both Government and Opposition, therefore, suggested that there was broad consensus that SOCU would be an investigative

unit dedicated to unearthing money laundering and the financing of terrorism that may have occurred in the banking system.

One substantial omission, however, was that the Terms of Reference and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of SOCU were not published, Ramkarran pointed out.

“The first indication that SOCU was departing from what the public was told would be its mandate, occurred on November 18, 2014.

It was announced by Mr. Paul Geer, Head of the FIU, at an AML/ CFT Asset Recovery Training Programme, that SOCU had made its first ‘bust,’ namely, the seizure of cash from a Bulgarian national who was attempting to smuggle it from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. Mr. Sydney James, the Head of SOCU, gave further details,” the former Speaker pointed out.

This was SOCU’s first known operational role. No question was raised about its departure from its announced function as the investigative arm of the FIU. It is not known if was this event, or an internal Government decision of which the public is unaware, that prompted Mr. Anil Nandlall, former Attorney General, to assert that SOCU’s role included an operational element, but that it was confined to ports of entry and departure.

According to Ramkarran, “SOCU’s mandate was clearly vastly expanded under the new APNU+AFC Government with no public announcement.

This secretive new role came into sharp focus in a spectacularly tragic manner.”

The horrific accident, which claimed three lives at the Christmas holidays, arose from a stakeout by SOCU, using military personnel, which degenerated into a car

chase, to prevent the removal of documents from a house wrongly thought to be Mr. Winston Brassington’s home. This event attracted widespread public criticism and questioning of the role of SOCU, he pointed out.

He said any felt that it was being used by the Government, with the collusion of the military, as an enforcer and that all restraint and oversight had been removed. No answers were given. “Much the same criticisms are now being made as a result of the raids carried out on homes and the seizure of money and gold. It is argued that these raids cannot be based on reports made by financial institutions as was originally conceived, and that SOCU is out of control. The question is, to whom does SOCU report?

The Commissioner of Police? He has been silent,” Ramkarran hig h lig hte d.

Teixeira writes Norwegian gov’t over Trotman accusations Opposition Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira has written the Norwegian government over allegations made

by Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman in the National Assembly that the previous administration had shared out all of the country’s productive forests.

Dated February 16, to the Director of Government of Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative, Per Fredrik Ilsaas Pharo, the letter stated that the PPP/C was gravely concerned about the recent attacks in recent days coming from the government.

The opposition Chief Whip singled out a recent statement in the National Assembly during the 2016 National Budget

by Natural Resources

Minister Raphael Trotman, who said that all of Guyana’s productive forest was allocated by previous PPP/C government, mainly to foreign investors.

Minister Trotman had told the National Assembly during the budget debates that, “We were met with an alarming situation where we discovered that 100% or all of our productive forest was allocated by the past Government.” adding that there “is nothing left.”

The following day, Prime Minister Nagamootoo took evidence to the House that supported Trotman’s statement.

The opposition subsequently called for Trotman and Nagamootoo to issue an apology, which so far has not happened.

Teixeira in her four-page letter said that the attacks

followed statements by Finance Minister Winston Jordan during his 2015 Budget presentation that it will be “a downright criminal act of deception were we to proceed with Amaila Falls.”

“These irresponsible public statements on Guyana’s forestry management and Amaila Falls seek to tarnish the Peoples’ Progressive Party’s track record on forest conservation, sustainable forest management and climate change,” Teixeira said.

She also charged that the statements also deliberately question the integrity of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and the GuyanaNorway partnership for which forest conservation is a key pillar and the Amaila Falls Hydropower

plant is a flagship project.

Teixeira said that publicly available data will show that about seven million hectares of forest have been allocated for concessions, less than 38 per cent of Guyana’s 18,483,000 hectares of forest or about 55 per cent of the State Forest Estate.

She added about 2.8 million hectares of large concessions were allocated by the PPP/C Government between 1992 and 2015, and about half of the large concessions were issued by the People’s National Congress Government before 1992, including the seven million hectares to Barama.

Some 5.5 million hectares of the State Forest Estate remains unallocated.

The opposition Chief Whip called on Trotman

to explain what he meant by 100 per cent of the productive forest was allocated by the PPP/C government.

It was also highlighted that since the change of government, a number of initiatives regarding the partnership have been falling by the wayside, including no LCDS MultiStakeholder Steering Committee meeting, the absence of information about GRIF-funded projects on the LCDS website and Amerindian and other stakeholders not being consulted on

the LCDS or the GuyanaNorway partnership.

Teixeira noted Norway’s decision to maintain a 2015 decision to suspend the disbursement of money to Guyana has not been lifted since a new Government is in place.

A payment of US$40 million remains pending.

She said the opposition was also concerned that there seem to be no progress towards a new agreement, despite the fact that the last payment under the partnership was to be paid for performance up to the end of 2014.

Bourda Market vendor robbed A Bourda Market vendor was yesterday morning robbed of an undisclosed sum of money by two armed bandits.

The incident occurred at the woman’s wholesale grocery stall.

Reports are that the woman whose only name was given as

McCOY, Abdulla and Hinds granted bail Forty year old Kwame McCoy, Thirty-four year old Jason Abdulla and Fifty-one year old Sean Hinds were granted bail in the sum of $100,000 after they were jointly charged with throwing faeces in the face of columnist Freddie Kissoon.

The trio appeared before Magistrate Judy Latchman in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court this morning.

While the Prosecution did not object to bail, it was requested that conditions be applied for their pre-trial liberty.

During last week, Abdulla and Hinds confessed to throwing faeces on Kissoon back in 2010, along with Hinds.

McCoy was identified

as the mastermind behind the act.

The men were ordered to lodge their passports and to report to the Criminal Investigations

Department (CID) every Monday morning.

They are scheduled to return to Court on March 11.

Attorneys representing

Goutie was tending to customers when the two men approached her pretending to be customers.

One of the men subsequently pulled out a gun and pointed it at her, demanding cash. The other bandit then relieved the woman of her apron

where she had her cash.

The bandits subsequently escaped on foot.

The matter was reported to the police as investigations are ongoing.

the two accused, Latchmie Rahamat and Glen Hanuman requested that the matter be tried in the High Court. Hinds was unrepresented.

On May 24, 2010, Kissoon had just emerged from Nigel’s Supermarket on Robb Street, Georgetown around 19:00 hours and had already entered his vehicle when a man walked up to him and threw the faeces in his face. Kissoon managed to drive behind the perpetrator who escaped in a waiting white AT 192 Toyota Carina motorcar.

The three PPP activists were taken into custody since last week where the confessions were reportedly made.

Meanwhile, questioned on the matter this morning this weekly press conference, PPP

General Secretary, Clement Rohee who acted surprised about the men’s appearance in Court said that the party is providing legal representation and whatever else the men required.

The PPP is insisting that the men are “Political prisoners.”

“By virtue of the association with the PPP and the charges which we consider to be trumped up….that by its very nature makes what they are linked to political.”

The matter is in the Court and the general principle is “everybody is innocent until proven guilty,” Rohee contended. He said that there must be no trial in the media on the matter.

Police recover unlicensed revolver at Cuyuni During Sunday February 21, 2016, police ranks recovered an unlicensed .38 revolver with two (2) rounds at Arangoy, Cuyuni.

A police report stated that a man

who was armed with the firearm was involved in an argument with another man during which he pulled out the firearm. He was, however, disarmed and the

firearm handed over to the police.

He has been arrested and is in police custody.

Police say charges will be made shortly.

Speaker honors court ruling on technocratic ministers The first obligation towards a decision made by the court is to obey and then to take it from there.

This is the view of Speaker of the National Assembly; Barton Scotland relating to a ruling by outgoing Chief Justice Ian Chang on Friday who ruled that government Ministers Keith Scott and Winston

Felix cannot sit in the National Assembly as un-elected members or technocrats because they are on the list of elected candidates for the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition.

At today’s sitting of the National Assembly, Speaker; Dr. Barton

Scotland noted that “as a result of information

regarding a decision by the Supreme Court on a

relating to the honorable Winston Felix and the honorable Keith Scott, they will not be occupying their seats today… The first obligation is to obey those decision (of the court) and we take it from there.”

The speaker told the house that following what was printed in the press, his decision was

made yesterday adding that if the Ministers were in the Assembly today, he would “have requested the honorable members not to occupy their seats.”

Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams says the government is “going to take whatever recourse we consider necessary in this matter” following the ruling.

President begins receiving Republic Anniversary greetings

Presidents of the United States and India have sent greetings as Guyana 46th Republic Anniversary to Guyana which will be observed tomorrow.

In a letter to President David A. Granger, “the

bonds of friendship and cooperation between our two countries have never been stronger, grounded in our shared commitments to citizen security, improved governance, and inclusive democracy.”

The letter which released by the U.S embassy in Georgetown further praised the return of Local Government Elections which will be hosted on March, 18,2016 after more than 20 years.

It noted that friendship between Guyana and the U.S “are exemplified in Guyana by the announcement that local government elections will resume and be held in March for the first time since 1994.

Local elections are essential to bolstering good governance, development, and respect for the rule of law…your efforts to ensure broad participation and an informed electorate will contribute to successful elections and a bright future for Guyana.”

Additionally, President of India; Pranab Mukherjee extended his greetings to the people of Guyana on their Republic Day. “I extend warm greetings and felicitations to Your Excellency and to the people of Guyana on the occasion of your Republic Day,” Mukjherjee said in his message to President Granger.

India and Guyana have traditionally enjoyed warm and friendly relations which have

been strengthened in the last few decades through regular exchanges between the two governments.

“Your excellency’s recent meeting with our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) in New York imparted fresh momentum to our partnership.

We look forward to strengthening the bilateral cooperation between India and Guyana for the mutual benefit of both our peoples,” he added.

Also Sultan of Oman; a nation on the Arabian Peninsula, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin said he has sent a cable of congratulations to President Granger expressing his sincere congratulations and best wishes to the President and Guyana.

Men wanted by police for murder, trafficking in narcotics Police have issued wanted bulletin for three men in connection with trafficking in narcotics and murder.

Kidron Junior Waldron is wanted by the police for questioning in relation to trafficking in narcotics on 2016-0202 at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

He is of African descent

and his last known address is Lot 0 Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara.

Lawerence Browne, age twenty-five is wanted by the police for questioning in relation to the murder of Eddie Branch which occurred on 2015-12-20 at Big Hope, Waini Backdam.

He is of Amerindian origin and his last

known address is Lot K-54 Guyhoc Park, Georgetown.

In addition, twenty-two year old Fedel Williams is wanted by the police for questioning in relation to the murder of Naldinho De Costa Sousa which occurred on 2016-02-09 at Fish Creek Backdam, Cuyuni River. He is of Amerindian descent.

His last known address is River View, Essequibo River.

Anyone with information that may lead to the arrest

of the three men is asked to contact the police on telephone numbers 4552267, 455-2241, 225-

2227, 225-6411, 911 or the nearest police station.

Police say all information will be treated with strict confidence.

All set for flag raising tomorrow afternoon-Bobby Vieira

The stage is set for the hosting of the traditional Mashramani flag raising ceremony tomorrow afternoon.

This is the assurance given by Executive Member of the National C ommemoration Commission for Guyana’s 46th Republic A n n ive rs ar y, Bobby Vieira.

Contrary to the traditional location for the flag raising ceremony at Parliament Buildings, this time it will be held at the newly and ongoing

developed Durban Park, located aback the 1763Monument.

One of the highlight of the ceremony will be the hoisting of the flag pole, which is 65 feet by 35 feet, the highest flag pole the country has ever had.

Vieira is urging persons to come out early to witness the event and secure parking.

“People who are driving, there is going to be parking on the northern side of Homestretch avenue, there is going to be no parking, no traffic on Hadfield street after a certain time

tomorrow afternoon.

None whatsoever,” he added.

He went on to state that “we want to encourage persons to come out, make sure you come and you witness all that is going for our 46th Republican anniversary with the parade and the hoisting of the flags and the parade, patriotic songs, the choir and the steel band and to witness the arrival of his Excellency.”

Overseer of the Durban Park project, Lieutenant Larry London has given the

assurance that some ten stands will be ready by February 23.

The ceremony will be aired live on National

Communication Network (NCN) from 16:00 hours.

Works are continuing on the

transformation of the once forested Durban Park and is set to be completed by next year.

The traditional Mashramani float parade has been shifted to May when Guyana will observe its 50th Independence annivers ar y.

However, the other activities leading up to Republic have been held.

Among the main activities for Mash 2016 were Calypso, Chutney and Soca competitions; C h i l d r e n ’ s competitions, which were held from February 17 to 20, culminated with the Children’s costume and float parade; Bright up Guyana; and steel band and masquerade competitions.

Organic meat has more key nutrients – Study Organic farming is clearly better for livestock and your palate, but benefits to the human body are still not obvious. A pair of new studies, though, could help strengthen the argument for why eating organic is also the healthier option.

Researchers behind the two papers, which appear this month in the British Journal of Nutrition, say their findings show that organic meat and milk both contain 50 percent more omega-3 fatty acids than their conventionally raised counterparts.

Two provisos quickly worth noting: The study was co-funded, alongside the EU, by a British nonprofit that supports organic farming, and it’s based on 196 preexisting papers

on the topic, instead of on any new research.

Still, per the analysis, organic meat was also lower in two kinds of saturated fat and has slightly more iron and vitamin E. The authors say as a result that eating organic (any kind of animal meat is fine, they note) could pay off in ways besides just a tastier dinner. And it’s not “something magical” about the organic process, they argue, but rather just what the animals are being fed — pasture grass instead of unnatural feed.

Omega-3s — considered one of the “good fats” — have been shown to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease, which is one reason the USDA started

Race may affect risk for Dementia Dementia rates can vary significantly among Americans of different racial and ethnic groups, even if they’re in the same region of the country, a new study finds. Researchers analyzed data on more than 274,000 people from six racial and ethnic groups in Northern California.

Using records of patient visits, the researchers found that the average annual rate of dementia was 26.6 cases per 1,000 for blacks; 22.2 per 1,000 for American Indians/Alaskan Natives; 19.6 per 1,000 for Hispanics and Pacific Islanders; 19.3 per 1,000 for whites; and 15.2 cases per 1,000 for Asian-Americans.

The researchers calculated that among people who reach age 65 without dementia, 38 percent of blacks, 35 percent of American Indians/Alaskan Natives, 32 percent of Hispanics, 30 percent of whites, 28 percent of Asian-Americans and 25 percent of Pacific Islanders would

develop dementia in the next 25 years.

The study was published online Feb. 10 in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.

“Most research on inequalities in dementia includes only one to two racial and ethnic groups, primarily whites and blacks,” said study lead author Elizabeth Rose Mayeda.

“This is the only research that directly compares dementia for these six racial

and ethnic groups, representing the true aging demographic of the United States in a single study population,” she said.

Even in the groups found to be at lowest risk, the lifetime risk of developing dementia is high, said principal investigator Rachel Whitmer, a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. “In every racial and ethnic group, over one in four people who survive to age 65 can expect to be diagnosed with dementia in their lifetime.”

She said the study has major public health implications. “These findings underscore the need to better understand risk factors for dementia throughout life to identify strategies to eliminate these inequalities,” Whitmer said in the news release.

The next step is to learn what’s behind the racial and ethnic differences in dementia rates. (Adapted from MSN)

Bolivia’s President set to lose referendum on fourth term An attempt by Bolivian President Evo Morales to run for another term by amending the constitution appeared to be heading towards a slim electoral defeat, according to unofficial partial vote counts and early results.

Morales, 56, now serving a third term, was trying to change the constitution so that he could run for re-election in 2019, potentially allowing the former coca grower to remain president until 2025.

But exit polls showed that he may have lost the vote. An Ipsos poll had the “no” side at 52.3 percent and “yes” at 47.7 percent, while a Mori poll gave a narrower 51 percent to 49 percent lead to the “no” side.

Early official results had the “no” side winning with 66 percent of votes, although that covered only 3 percent of returns.

Turnout had been very high, at nearly 88 percent, according to the electoral commission.

The government urged

Trinidad and Tobago’s Education Minister, Anthony Garcia, is assuring members of the public, parents/ guardians as well as teachers and students of the Chaguanas North Secondary School that measures have been put in place to ensure the continuity of classes at the school, today.

His assurance comes in the wake of a reported gun attack that was supposed to take place at the school on Friday last. The attack was foiled after a student alerted a teacher about the possibility of the attack at the school, which resulted in the early dismissal of classes at 9 am.

In a statement

yesterday, Minister Garcia said classes will resume as scheduled today.

In light of the serious

Likening the ‘pay day’ tax policy of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to a broken campaign promise made in 2007 to double the salaries of nurses, the governing People’s National Party has made yet another appeal for Jamaicans to view the promised abolition of income tax for persons earning $1.5 million or less as empty.

“Beware of those people who are promising to do everything overnight,” PNP President Portia Simpson Miller said Saturday night.

Fitz Jackson, the PNP standard-bearer for

South St Catherine, noted that in 2007, Audley Shaw, as spokesman on finance, said his administration would double nurses pay, a commitment that was not honoured.

“I believe that this is something that I would like to give the commitment that, as minister of finance, this would have to be just the starting position, doubling the salary of nurses,” Shaw said. The promise was, however, not honoured.

Jackson said that the JLP income tax promise smacks of desperation

and represents lack of respect for the intelligence of Jamaicans.

“When I listen and see the level of desperation by the Jamaica Labour Party, I fret. I fret because I never believe that in 2016, a group of persons, who call themselves educated persons, would reduce themselves to making promises that disrespect the intelligence of the Jamaican people,” Jackson said.

He said that not only do people still recall the promise to double salaries, but they understand the country

patience, calling the results a tie and saying it was too early to call.

“We are really talking about a dead heat at the moment. So it would be better to hold your enthusiasm and calmly wait for results,” Alvaro Garcia, the country’s vice president, told reporters.

“All your celebration may well turn into weeping.”

If the result is confirmed, it would be another blow for South America’s once dominant populist leftist movement that has suffered a series of

recent electoral defeats across the continent.

Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president, has been credited with slashing poverty in one of the region’s poorest countries.

He took office in 2006 and was re-elected in 2014 with 61 percent of the vote.

But a growing number of critics charge his administration with corruption, waste and authoritarianism. Recent allegations about an ex-girlfriend whose company won lucrative

government contracts have weighed heavily on his popularity.

Morales presided over an unprecedented economic boom as prices for raw materials soared just as he took office. He built airports,

highways and of La Paz, an built aerial system. from Al

nature of the situation, Minister Garcia also indicated that he will be visiting the school, along with

his Executive Team tomorrow following the culmination of the National Consultation on Education in Tobago today.

In the statement, Minister Garcia confirmed that school security at the Chaguanas North Secondary will also be beefed up considerably, and also reiterated that

any form of school indiscipline or violence will not be tolerated.

He said he has discussed the matter with National Security Minister Major General Edmund Dillon, who confirmed that there will be regular police patrols close to the school to ensure the safety of all. (Adapted from the Trinidad Newsday)

cannot afford it. “When dem win the election and the nurses come to them and ask, what about the 100 per cent salary increase promised to dem, dem a tell dem not a red cent

more,” Jackson recalled.

“That is the same Opposition that has come to you, the Jamaican people, and say if you earn up to $1.5 million we not going to charge you income tax. But

where is the credibility of those persons to make any promise?” he said.

Simpson Miller said that the JLP tax proposal could hurt the country’s fragile economy. (Adapted from the Jamaican Gleaner)

the pride Austriantramway (Adapted Jazeera)

Increased security at T&T School following reports of planned gun attack

Jamaica’s Prime Minister warns of Opposition empty promises

India caste protesters accept government offer

Indian protesters demanding better conditions for their caste say they have accepted a state government offer, as troops established control over a canal that supplies much

of the capital’s water.

Authorities in the northern state of Haryana said on Monday they expected that order would be restored after apparently reaching a deal with leaders of

the Jat caste, who said they were discussing whether to call off violent protests that have lasted more than a week.

Police say that at least 12 people have been killed in rioting by members of the Jat community, who had called for castebased quota systems.

The violence in the north Indian state of Haryana on Saturday and Sunday also affected water supplies in the capital New Delhi as protesters cut off canal gates feeding treatment plants that supply a

reported 60 percent of the city’s tap water.

Officials said that the state began lifting a curfew in key towns as protesters removed roadblocks. Thousands of troops with shoot-onsight orders had been deployed to Haryana to quell the violence.

The week-long demonstrations turned violent on Friday with protesters setting fire to homes, shops and government buildings, as well as blocking motorways. Authorities had urged people to

ration water and Delhi schools were ordered to be closed before the security forces flushed out thousands of protesters overnight.

However, the crisis appeared to ease after the state government on Sunday agreed that the Jat community should be given quotas for highly sought-after government jobs and university places under India’s castebased quota system.

Jats are the single largest community in Haryana, with nearly eight million members, and are

traditionally a farming community. They were angered by comments in recent weeks from a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which rules the state and the nation, who opposed quotas for them.

India already sets aside a proportion of jobs and university places for Dalits, known as “untouchables”, and for other so-called “backward castes”, under measures intended to remedy centuries of discrimination.

(Al Jazeera)

A tiny disc that can record and preserve human history for billions of years It’s official: your data will outlive you by a few billion years.

On Tuesday (Feb. 17), a group of researchers from the University of Southampton’s Optical Research Centerannounced they have developed a

new way to store data that can keep your digital information safe for an estimated 13.8 billion years.

The new method, called five-dimensional (5D) data storage, can store 360 terabytes of data in the nanostructures in

glass. The researchers have been working on this since 2013, when they released a paper outlining the procedure, but perfected it only recently.

They recently stored digital versions of the Magna Carta, the King

James Bible, Opticks

by Isaac Newton,and the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

As The Verge explains, 5D discs can store more data because the information can be packed into the tiny spaces inside of a glass disc, which is made up of fused quartz.

Normal CDs store data by encoding them

onto the surface of the glass, not inside of it.

So, while a Blu-Ray disc can store 128 gigabytes of data, a 5D disc can store 3,000 times that amount.

With that kind of storage capability, the opportunity to

commercialize 5D storage is clear. It could be useful for large corporations with lots of record-keeping, big data storage for tech giants, as well as preserving historical documents.

The University of Southampton says commercializing 5D storage is on the roadmap, and the group is currently looking for industry partners.

(MSN)

Man calls 911 to chat ‘because he was bored’ Police arrested a 28-year-old Florida man because he was calling 911 out of boredom, authorities say.

DeLand Police say Michael Gilman called 911 at least six times in one day, including five times in a five-hour time span, to save himself from monotony.

They say he discussed random topics such as his eligibility to vote, being “poor,” as well as Adolf

Hitler on the calls.

At around 1 a.m. on Saturday, police arrived to Gilman’s home, where he was still on the phone with the 911 dispatcher.

According to a police report, an officer heard him talking about “Hitler and Jews.”

When the officer asked Gilman what he was doing, he allegedly said: “Talking to your dispatcher because I’m bored.”

Police say he also asked the dispatcher to throw people out of their homes in order to “serve and protect.” Gilman also allegedly tried to report an emergency at The White House.

He was arrested and charged with misuse of the 911 system. He was later released.

(MSN)

At least 129 dead as ISIL claims string of Syria bombs A series of suicide bombs near a Shia shrine in Damascus and in Homs have killed at least 129 people on a day the United States and Russia claimed progress in securing a ceasefire to end the Syrian conflict.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, which has seized territory in Syria and Iraq, claimed that it was behind Sunday’s attacks,

which killed at least 63 in Damascus and 46 in Homs. Some sources put the death toll higher.

SANA, the official government news agency, said a car bomb followed by two suicide attacks in the area of Sayyida Zeinab shrine killed 83 people and left 178 others, including children, wounded.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

gave a lower toll of 63 dead but said many of those wounded were in critical condition.

At least 60 shops were damaged and cars were totally destroyed, the AFP news agency reported.

At the end of January, bombings claimed by ISIL killed at least 70 people near the same shrine.

Sayyida Zeinab is believed to contain the grave of a granddaughter

of Prophet Muhammad and is particularly revered as a pilgrimage site by Shia faithful.

The violence on the ground in Syria came on a day the US secretary of state said that a “provisional agreement” had been reached on a ceasefire to end the ongoing war. John Kerry, speaking in Amman alongside Nasser Judeh, Jordan’s foreign minister,

said he had spoken earlier that morning with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, about the agreement.

Now, he said, both the US and Russia planned to reach out to the various

sides of the conflict.

Kerry said he hoped that President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin would talk soon and implementation could begin after that. (Adapted from Al Jazeera)

Russia wants to fly over US with advanced digital camera

Russia will ask permission on Monday to start flying surveillance planes equipped with high-powered digital cameras amid warnings from U.S. intelligence and military officials that such overflights help Moscow collect intelligence on the United States.

Russia and the United States are signatories

to the Open Skies Treaty, which allows unarmed observation flights over the entire territory of all 34 member nations to foster transparency about military activity and help monitor arms control and other agreements.

Senior intelligence and military officials, however, worry that Russia is taking advantage of technological advances to violate the spirit of the treaty.

Russia will formally ask the Open Skies Consultative Commission, based in Vienna, to be allowed to fly an aircraft equipped with hightech sensors over the United States, according to a senior congressional staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the staff member wasn’t authorized to discuss the issue publicly.

The request will put the Obama administration

in the position of having to decide whether to let Russia use the high-powered equipment on its surveillance planes at a time when Moscow, according to the latest State Department compliance report, is failing to meet all its obligations under the treaty.

And it comes at one of the most tension-filled times in U.S.-Russia relations since the end of the Cold War, with the two countries at odds over Russian activity in Ukraine and Syria.

A State Department official said Sunday that treaty nations had not yet received notice of the Russian request, but that certification of the Russian plane with a “digital electrooptical sensor” could not occur until this summer because the treaty requires a 120-day advance notification. (Adapted from MSN)

Time is running out for Trump’s rivals to stop him Donald Trump’s rivals are running out of time to stop him after his dominant performance in South Carolina.

A close look at the election calendar suggests that if the New York billionaire’s rivals don’t slow him by mid-March, their only chance to deny him the Republican presidential nomination may be a nasty and public fight at the party’s convention this summer. The reason is delegates and how they’re awarded.

Winning states

generates headlines, but the nomination is earned by collecting a majority of the delegates awarded in primaries and caucuses.

Next up: Nevada’s caucuses on Tuesday.

This year, most contests award delegates proportionally, based on each candidate’s share of the vote.

If one candidate can run up a significant lead, as Trump has begun to, then proportional contests also make it difficult for rivals to catch up.

South Carolina is the perfect example of this problem for Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. The state isn’t winner-take-all when it comes to delegates, but Trump’s strength in all parts of South Carolina allowed him to haul in

all 50 delegates awarded in Saturday’s primary.

Trump now has 67 delegates. Cruz and Rubio took home none from South Carolina, leaving them with a total of 11 and 10, respectively.

Trump is well on his

way, and he knows it.

“Folks, let’s go, let’s have a big win in Nevada, let’s have a big win in the SEC,” Trump said in his South Carolina victory speech, referring to the states with universities in the Southeastern Conference that will vote next month. “Let’s put this thing away.”

Only a small fraction of the delegates to be won in the GOP primary season, which began Feb. 1 in Iowa and ends June 7 in California and a handful of other states,

have been awarded to date. But some of Trump’s opponents acknowledge he could build an insurmountable lead by mid-March if current trends continue.

But the nomination isn’t formalized until the party’s presidential n o m i n a t i n g convention, scheduled for July this year. The last time the Republican nomination wasn’t decided before the convention was 1976.

(Adapted from MSN)

Monday February 22, 2016

McCullum lauded for fastest Test ton in swansong

whatever you would’ve achieved in life, certainly it would be you. You’re one of those individuals who help to put bums on seats. Long may that continue. Well done, man,” he added.

McCullum came to bat when New Zealand were struggling at 32 for three on the opening day of the second Test against Australia at Christchurch.

McCullum smashed 100 runs off just 54 deliveries to pull New Zealand out of trouble and in the process also broke Richards’ record set against England in 1986.

New Zealand batsman Indies batting legend Brendon McCullum Vivian Richards for was lauded by West posting the fastest

hundred in Tests off 56 balls jointly with Pakistan’s Misbah-ulHaq till McCullum broke it on Saturday, was all praise for the Kiwi skipper for his record-breaking feat.

“Let me take this opportunity to congratulate Brendon…(I’ve) been a great fan of yours for many years. Well done on your achievement,” said Richards in the video on Twitter, posted by Pakistan Super League (PSL) side Quetta Gladiators.

“And if there was going ton in Test cricket off an incredible high. to be an individual just 54 balls, bidding Richards, who held the who you would’ve adieu to the game on record for the quickest liked to have surpassed

BRIDGETOWN – Guyana Jaguars, set 405 for victory, were 52 without loss against Barbados Pride at the close of play on the third day of their seventh round regional Professional Cricket League first-class match at Kensington Oval here Sunday. Rajendra Chandrika was not out on 28 and Tagenarine Chanderpaul was on 23 as the visitors made an encouraging start to their second innings.

Earlier, Barbados declared their second innings at 320 for four with Shai Hope unbeaten on 114 and Jonathan Carter on exactly 100 not out. They shared an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 162 runs.

Hope batted for 338 minutes and faced 225 balls while hitting five fours. Carter’s century came off 104 balls in 141 minutes with eight fours and three sixes.

Fast bowler Keon Joseph and left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul took two wickets each for 35 and 108 runs respectively.

Scores: Barbados Pride 274 (Kevin Stoute Volcanoes 323-6, Scorpions 225 and 56 not out, Shamarh Brooks 56, Kraigg 155 vs Red Force 206 and 113-1.

Brathwaite 40; Keon Joseph 3-49) and 3204 declared in 93.2 overs. Guyana Jaguars 190 in 61.5 overs (Leon Johnson 40; Roston Chase 5-27) and 52-0 in 20 overs In other close of play scores on the third day: Hurricanes 327,

Jaguars set 405 for victory after Hope, Carter hit centuries