As the Ministry of Finance gears to finish the Half Year Report, statistics thus far indicate that the economy is performing creditably. According to Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, economic growth is being spurred by the mining and construction sectors with spill off effects into the services sector. He said that the main driver of economic growth in the mining sector is gold, with production for small and medium size miners as well as Guyana Gold Fields and Troy Resources continuing to increase.(Kaieteurnews.com /photo: kaieteurnews.com)…[+]

De nationale feestdag van Frankrijk is 14 juli: Quatorze Juillet. Op deze feestdag wordt de Franse Revolutie van 1789 herdacht. Op 14 juli 1789 werd de Bastille in Parijs door de burgerij bestormd. Het kasteel met acht torens stond symbool voor de gevestigde orde. De bestorming van het kasteel luidde het begin van de Franse Revolutie in. Nog steeds is de verjaardag van die opstand een groot feest in heel Frankrijk. Overal hangen rood-wit-blauwe vlaggen en mensen dragen een rozet met die kleuren en trekken hun beste kleren aan. Op het plein van elke stad worden grote tafels neergezet en er speelt een muziekkorps. ‘s Avonds wordt er gedanst en heel wat wijn gedronken.

Wantrouwen van de ‘gewone bevolking’ ten opzichte van de koning en de aristocratie is kort samengevat de hoofdoorzaak van de bestorming van de Bastille. De druppel die de emmer deed overlopen, was vermoedelijk dat de populaire minister Jacques Necker werd ontslagen. De bevolking voelde zich na dat ontslag niet langer meer vertegenwoordigd en besloot het heft in eigen hand te nemen. Op 14 juli 1789 kwam de bevolking van Parijs in opstand vanwege de koning die het land slecht bestuurde en met zijn hofhouding in weelde leefde. De koning, zijn vrouw en leden van de hofhouding werden onthoofd…[+]

Passengers of the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) Ferry Service, particularly those travelling between Parika and Supenaam, are once again raising concerns over the management of the boarding system at the Parika Stelling.

The passengers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed the belief that the system is being misused for financial gain, despite efforts by the T&HD to curb such occurrences. Commuters have noted the adverse effects the system has had particularly on the business community in the Essequibo region.

“If yuh have stocks to carry on over (the river), plenty time yuh does got to pay money for yuh truck to pass…and who pay more get in front,” one driver noted.(Kaieteurnews.co/photo: kaieteurnews.com)…[+]

ITALY   –  Sobs and screams pierced the air outside an Italian hospital yesterday as relatives departed after finally identifying some of the 27 people killed in the collision of two passenger trains a day earlier.

One by one, relatives were called in to the hospital mortuary in the southern city of Bari and asked to confirm the identities of the deceased. Many left crying and yelling. Two trains collided head-on Tuesday in the countryside east of Bari, killing 27 and injuring more than 50 others, Italian news agency ANSA reported — a crash that a local prosecutor has said may have been caused by human error.(CNN.COM/photo: AFP)…[+]

US –  A 9-year-old girl has set a new state record by reeling in a massive 94.6-pound fish.  It took 20 minutes for Emma Zajdel to bring in the record-breaking cobia that weighs more than she does, and towers over her at 66.5 inches long.

Father-daughter pair Emma and Ed Zajdel were joined by friends for a day of fishing on the waters of Little Gull Shoals, near Maryland’s Assateague Island, on June 30th. Minutes after Emma set her hook and cast it into the water, the line went tight. “I kept the boat in gear and followed the fish at a 45-degree angle to keep the line tight and Emma settled,” Ed told Maryland Department of Natural resources.

“When she got the fish in and we lifted it on board it went ballistic.” After a group effort, the fish was wrestled into the fish box and iced down, said Ed.(CNN.COM/photo: CNN.COM)…[+]

AUSTRALIA   –  A wedge-tailed eagle tried to fly away with a terrified boy at a popular wildlife show in central Australia.

A crowd of stunned onlookers watched the enormous bird latch its talons on to the screaming boy’s head during a show at Alice Springs Desert Park. Witnesses said the bird attempted to pick him up “like a small animal”. The boy – believed to be between six and eight years old – escaped with a “superficial” gash to his face. Christine O’Connell from Horsham in Victoria state was visiting the park with her husband on 6 July when the attack occurred. She told the BBC the eagle flew straight for the boy from about 15m away.(BBC.COM/photo: Instagram)…[+]

GERMANY   –  A woman aged 45 has admitted involvement in the deaths of eight newborn babies whose corpses were found in a house in the southern state of Bavaria last year.

Andrea G’s lawyer told a court in Coburg that she had wrapped the babies up in towels and hidden them whether they showed signs of life or not. The bodies were found in plastic bags in a house in the town of Wallenfels. The woman’s ex-husband, 55, has also gone on trial accused of complicity. Andrea G is charged with the deaths of four of the eight children, due to the bad state of decomposition of some of the other bodies.

.(BBC.COM/photo: AFP)…[+]

Veteran Government Engineer Walter Willis, the technical mind involved in works like the Providence National Stadium and the now renamed Arthur Chung Convention Centre, passed away at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital last evening. He was 66.

Willis, who suffered a brief bout of illness, was rushed to the hospital on Saturday last, complaining of stomach pains. He was subsequently placed on life support, where he died surrounded by family.  Willis befuddled the nation and his workplace, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, in his final hours. The Ministry Monday released a statement announcing his death, only for it to be revealed that Willis still clung to life.(Kaieteurnews.com/photo: kaieteurnews.com)…[+]

USA – The United States Coast Guard says since October last year, it has been repatriating an increasing number of Cuban migrants who have been making desperate attempts via the Caribbean Sea to land on US shores.

“Since Oct 1, at least 5,043 Cubans have attempted to illegally migrate to the US via the maritime environment compared to 4,473 in fiscal year 2015”, the Coast Guard said. “These statistics represent the total number of at-sea interdictions, landings and disruptions in the Florida Straits, the Caribbean and Atlantic”, it added. It said the 50 migrants repatriated were a result of five separate interdictions of chugs, or rustic vessels, in the Florida Straits. “Migrants who choose to board unseaworthy vessels put their lives at severe risk of injury and death”, Gordon continued. “Immigration policies have not changed, the Coast Guard’s missions have not changed. Migrants interdicted at sea will be returned to their country of origin in accordance with immigration laws.”(Jamaican observer)…[+]

/abonnement/SPAIN – President Barack Obama arrived in Spain Saturday for an 18-hour stop, the first U.S. president to visit in 15 years, before returning home to pressing problems in his own country. White House officials said Obama is visiting Spain to demonstrate its importance as a NATO ally. With that in mind, the President will tour the U.S. Naval Station in Rota, Spain, where four U.S. Navy vessels are stationed to bolster NATO security. The President’s trip to Spain — likely his last to a European country as president — is highly anticipated by a nation that has not seen a U.S president visit since George W. Bush in June 2001 and whose political system is in chaos. (CNN)…[+]