Salt water from the recent spring tides has entered the rice lands in the Mahaicony Backlands and farmers are unsure of future cultivation since the land has become salted and will not be able to sustain growth.

This occurrence is one that the farmers have been dreading as their livelihoods are sustained through rice cultivation and livestock rearing. Currently, farmlands in the communities between Dantzig and Zealand are inundated by salt water.

Two separate springtides over the last month have had devastating effects on the lives of residents leaving them to cope with unexpected damage as well as being flooded. The residents of Mahaicony became vulnerable as a result of the breaches in the sea defence along Dantzig to Fairfield.  The three-kilometre stretch along the shoreline is currently being impacted by major erosion of the foreshore and depletion of the mangrove fringe.

“At Mahaicony, significant stretches of earthen embankment have been subjected to severe erosion and overtopping due to the exceptional natural erosion of the foreshore and the depletion of the system of mangrove. The critical condition of the shoreline has escalated due to the impacts of the current spring tide. Major breaches have occurred releasing salt water into the adjacent Bellamy Canal and agriculture lands…” the Ministry of Public Infrastructure had stated.(stabroek news)…[+]

Boris Johnson has rejected the suggestion from Nigel Farage and Donald Trump that he should work with the Brexit Party during the election. The Tory leader told the BBC he was “always grateful for advice” but he would not enter into election pacts. His comments come after the US president said Mr Farage and Mr Johnson would be “an unstoppable force”.

Downing Street sources say there are no circumstances in which the Tories would work with the Brexit Party. In an interview with BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg, the prime minister said the “difficulty” of doing deals with “any other party” was that it “simply risks putting Jeremy Corbyn into Number 10”.

“The problem with that is that his [Mr Corbyn’s] plan for Brexit is basically yet more dither and delay,” Mr Johnson said. Mr Johnson also said there was “no question of negotiating on the NHS” as part of any future trade deal with the US, but he did not rule out expanding the amount of private provision in the health service in the future. But Labour’s shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, said the public “can’t trust the Tories on the NHS”, saying they would “increase privatisation even further and do a deal with Donald Trump”.(BBC)…[+]

US presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren has offered details on funding for her healthcare plan, which is expected to cost the federal government $20.5tn (£15.8tn) over 10 years. She said the “Medicare for All” plan would not raise taxes “one penny” for ordinary Americans, but be largely paid for by businesses and the wealthy.

Ms Warren is a Democratic front-runner in the 2020 race to the White House. She has faced criticism over lack of detail about her plan. Ms Warren said her plan would not spend “any more money overall than we spend now”, but the share spent by the federal government would increase to $20.5tn.

It would mandate that employers pay the government the same amount that they currently contribute for private health insurance for their employee. According to her campaign, the current US health system will cost $52tn over the next decade. Economists have estimated Medicare for All’s cost at between $13.5tn to $34tn in the same time frame.

“The $11tn in household insurance and out-of-pocket expenses projected under our current system goes right back into the pockets of America’s working people,” her plan states. “And we make up the difference with targeted spending cuts, new taxes on giant corporations and the richest 1% of Americans and by cracking down on tax evasion and fraud. Not one penny in middle-class tax increases.”(BBC)…[+]

The baby dubbed ‘Moses’ who was found in a pit latrine in Cox Piece, St Mary, last week remains at the St Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital under medical care, with the case being monitored by the Child Development Agency (CDA). CDA regional director, North East, Carlyn Stewart, told The Gleaner on Wednesday that the agency has an interest in the case and that the priority at this time is the child’s health and wellness.

“We’re just focusing right now on the child’s medical issues. The child is hospitalised and is being treated, and any other social intervention is going to come after we get the clearance from the hospital that the child is stable,” Stewart disclosed. Stewart said that CDA investigators had been on the ground and had already spoken to both parents involved in the case.(Jamaica Gleaner)…[+]

Phillip Solomon, the labourer charged with fatally beating a friend with a paddle during an altercation at the Timehri Wharf last year, was yesterday committed to stand trial for the offence. The charge against Solomon alleged that on October 24th, 2018, at the Timehri Docks on the East Bank of Demerara, he murdered Vernon Cummings.

Magistrate Leron Daly, who presided over the preliminary inquiry (PI), yesterday told Solomon that based on the evidence led by the prosecution’s witnesses, there was sufficient evidence for him to stand trial at the next practicable sitting of the Demerara Assizes.(stabroek news)…[+]

A hungry herd of 500 goats has helped save the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library from the California wildfires. In May, the library hired the goats to clear flammable scrub surrounding the complex as a preventative measure.

The goats ate the brush, creating a fire break that slowed the flames and gave firefighters extra time to react. The library near Los Angeles was threatened by the Easy Fire, the latest in a spate of fires causing evacuations and power cuts across the state. The caprine contractors included Vincent van Goat, Selena Goatmez and Goatzart. They helped save exhibits including an Air Force One jet and a piece of the Berlin Wall. “We were told by one of the firefighters that they believe that fire break made their job easier,” Melissa Giller, a library spokeswoman, told Reuters.

The goats were hired from a local company – 805 Goats – to clear around 13 acres of land. Scott Morris started the company last November and charges around $1,000 (£771) per acre of land. As California continues to have more wildfires, Mr Morris says he will need to double his herd to meet demand. Another large southern California institution – the Getty Museum in Los Angeles – was also protected this week by scrub-clearing work carried out by staff.(BBC)…[+]

Former US President Barack Obama has challenged “woke” culture telling young people: “The world is messy.” He made the comments at the Obama Foundation’s annual summit in Chicago on Tuesday. Mr Obama said that calling people out on social media did not bring about change, and that change was complex.

“Woke” is described as being alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice, along with being aware of what’s going on in the community. Mr Obama told the audience: “I get a sense among certain young people on social media that the way of making change is to be as judgemental as possible about other people.

“If I tweet or hashtag about how you didn’t do something right or used the wrong verb, then I can sit back and feel pretty good about myself because ‘Man did you see how woke I was? I called you out!'”

“That’s enough,” he said. “If all you’re doing is casting stones, you are probably not going to get that far.” Mr Obama added that “people who do really good stuff have flaws”.(BBC)…[+]

The police are preparing to charge a Patentia, West Bank Demerara (WBD) man with several offences including possession of an illegal firearm. Police spokesman Jairam Ramlakhan in a press release said that the police yesterday conducted an intelligence-led operation at the suspect’s Skull City, Patentia, WBD house during which an unlicensed pistol was unearthed.

The suspect was detained, shortly after which he handed over 30 grammes of suspected cannabis, which he had concealed in close proximity to his premises, Ramlakhan said. The suspect is also accused of disorderly behaviour and threatening to shoot the police during their presence at his house.(Stabroek News)…[+]

Spring tides Tuesday battered the door of a koker at Stewartville, Region Three and posed a threat of major flooding in neighbouring communities. However as the tide fell the water that had accumulated on the land quickly began to recede.

Just around 5pm yesterday, residents of Stewartville, West Coast Demerara said they observed the water levels in the drains and trenches rising rapidly. It was upon inspection, one resident said, that he learnt that the koker door had broken away.(Stabroek News)…[+]

The grandfather of a toddler who fell to her death from an open window on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in July has been charged with negligent homicide.

Salvatore Anello, 50, was playing with one-year-old Chloe Wiegand while the ship was docked in Puerto Rico when she fell from the 11th floor. The Indiana family blamed the cruise ship company for the accident. But on Monday, San Juan authorities alleged Mr Anello was responsible for Chloe’s death. The family’s attorney Michael Winkleman said the charges were ” pouring salt on the open wounds of this grieving family”.

He said the fall was “clearly a tragic accident” and that the family’s goal is for something like this to never happen again. Mr Winkleman is representing the family in a civil suit being prepared against Royal Caribbean. Mr Anello is being held on $80,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on 20 November. Chloe’s parents are Kimberly and Alan Wiegand. Mr Wiegand is a South Bend, Indiana, police officer.(BBC)…[+]