Jamaica Boxing: Battle of the contender veterans goes to 'Lights Out'

Tsetsi Davis is one step closer to making his third Wray and Nephew Contender series final after winning a unanimous decision over Ricardo Planter last night.

The two had met in the Contender Series in 2012 with Planter finding himself on the losing end on that occasion as well. After getting the better of a preliminary round boxer who had beaten him twice before, Planter looked a different man and was expected to put up a fight.

He ended up taking a beating instead.

Davis, one of the competition's favourites, wasted no time in going on to the attack, winning the first few rounds in no uncertain fashion.

By the fifth round, it was clear that Davis could not lose barring a knockout from Planter.

That would not come, as his opponent did not slow down and, in fact, pushed the advantage.

In that round there was a left uppercut, for instance, that did everything except lead to a knockdown.

Waiting on the judges' scorecards at the end of the fight was a mere formality.

Judge Llendel Allen, who scored the bout the closest, gave Tsetsi a 59-55 advantage, while Clifford Brown and Eion Jardene had Davis winning every round of the six, scoring the fight 60-54.

Clueless Woman Who Didn’t Know She Was Pregnant Gives Birth On Flight

A 23-year-old Canadian woman, who had no idea she was pregnant, gave birth aboard an Air Canada flight from Calgary to Tokyo.

FOX 8 reports that Ada Guan and her boyfriend, Wesley Branch, were passengers on an Air Canada flight on Sunday when she began to feel ill. Guan went into labour somewhere over the Pacific Ocean.
Branch’s mother told the Toronto Sun Guan had no idea she was expecting. “She had no idea — she’s just a tiny little thing,” Sandy Branch said.
Guan took a pregnancy test a few weeks before the flight, however the test was negative. Three doctors were on board the flight and helped welcome Chloe into the world.

Chinese Billionaire Takes His 6,400 Employees On $14.5 Million All Expenses Paid Vacation To France

Chinese billionaire, Li Jinyuan, gifted more than half of his 12,000 employees with an all expense paid trip to France. The trip was in celebration of the 20th anniversary of his company.
57-year-old Jinyuan is President of China’s Tiens Group. He treated 6,400 members of his workforce to a 4-day trip to Paris, costing about $14.5 million. Jinyuan booked 140 HOTELS IN PARIS, and 4,760 rooms in Cannes and Monaco. He also paid for the sightseeing tours of the attractions.
Christian Mantel, who is the head of the French tourism development agency Atout France, said that officials are doing all they can to accommodate the wishes of the group. “We have mobilized public services as well as tourism professionals, hotels, restaurants, shops and designer brands,” said Mantel.

Presidential Candidate Of The PPP/C Donald Ramotar Say's That the General and Regional Elections Were Rigged

Presidential Candidate of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Donald Ramotar said he believed that the General and Regional Elections were not free and fair, as was declared by the many international observers, but were in fact rigged.

Ramotar on Thursday disputed the declarations made by the international observers that the elections were free, fair and credible. Some five observer missions participated in this year’s elections: those of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR); the Organisation of American States (OAS), the Commonwealth Observer Mission, Caricom, and the Carter Center.

“I would say it is always useful to have international observers. I do not agree with their assessment of these elections, but that does not mean that in the future I would reject them. I think that they probably need to be more,” Ramotar told reporters.

The observers have all commended the electoral process. The Carter Centre commended the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), noting that thousands of dedicated poll workers, party agents and officials of the Commission served with honesty, integrity, and professionalism.

It was noted that during its observation, the Centre had focused on the administration of the electoral process since the team comprised experienced electoral administrators. The Mission said it was impressed with the work of GECOM on Election Day.

Observers from Caricom had found that the electoral process was a free, fair and transparent one, while the OAS had lauded the massive turnout of voters and certified the process. Representatives of UNASUR had praised the electoral systems in place. They pointed out that the voting stages adopted by Guyana are not seen in any other South American country, referring to the ID display in polling stations, the presence of security personnel at all polling stations and political representatives in the stations among others.

Nevertheless, the PPP/C Presidential Candidate said he strongly believed that the elections were rigged by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) coalition, which, according to the preliminary results, won the polls. He added that there was collusion between GECOM staff and APNU/AFC members.

Ramotar explained that this was one of the reasons why his party requested a recount of the votes for the General and Regional Elections.

In the meantime, he urged supporters to remain calm and wait patiently on a decision to be made.

Breaking News: Coalition Party Apnu+AFC Emerged victors of The 2015 Election

The Preliminary results of the 2015 General and Regional Elections show that the APNU+AFC Coalition has managed to win the elections in an upset victory to the People’s Progressive Party/Civic which has been in power for the last 23 years.

The results released moments ago by the Guyana Elections Commission shows that the APNU+AFC has managed to  gain 206, 817 votes while the PPP/C has managed to gain 201,457 votes in the May 11 national polls.

According to the Commission there are just the preliminary results and the Returnign Officers of some districts are conducting recounts.

CEO Keith Lowenfield said that any variance would not be significant would not be significant.

Chairman Dr Steve Surjubally said it would not alter the outcome of the elections

Cash jet pilot loses three homes, two planes and US$440,000 cash

US prosecutors have started the final process of seizing more than US$400,000 in cash from bank accounts and two planes belonging to Guyanese pilot, Khamraj Lall.

The US$442,743.59 was frozen in accounts at Wells Fargo bank, Citibank and Morgan Chase Bank after investigators zeroed in on Lall after he was caught by Puerto Rican authorities with US$600,000 in cash stashed in his plane back in November. The money from the plane was seized, also.
In essence, the prosecutors are asking that the properties in the custody of investigators be transferred to the state.
According to court documents filed Monday in the Puerto Rican court, prosecutors have also asked that seized properties owned or controlled by Lall in Ringwood, New Jersey; Citra, Florida and Hamptonburgh, New York along with a 2013 Lexus GX wagon be turned over to the state. In late April, Lall agreed to a plea deal with the US authorities with hearing expected shortly in the Puerto Rico court where he was initially arraigned.
Lall, who owns Kaylees Gas Station in Coverden, East Bank Demerara, was arrested by airport authorities in Puerto Rico in November, after his jet made a stop to refuel, on its way to Guyana.
Stashed in different parts of the plane was more than US$600,000 that Prosecutors say was not declared by Lall. He reportedly took responsibility for the cash at the time of arrest. On board were his father and another person.
The pilot, who also owns a limousine service in Guyana, had flown President Donald
Ramotar on occasions on the private jet. His company, Exec Jet Club, has a private hangar at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. There were swirling questions over the operations of the hangar and its accessibility.
Government had denied that it granted the company any special privileges and said that the operations were in keeping with regulations. Exec. Jet has reportedly also closed its Gainesville, Florida Office because of the troubles.
In addition to charges related to bulk cash smuggling, Lall is in deep trouble with the US authorities, who by law can seize properties that are linked to illegal transactions.
As Puerto Rico is a territory of the US, the country’s tax body, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), had stepped into the matter, going after 14 bank accounts, a Lexus car and two planes, including the jet that Lall used on that fateful flight.
Two weeks after he was arrested in Puerto Rico, US tax authorities, on December 8, filed a civil case in New Jersey. They were able to seize US$442,743.59 from accounts controlled by Lall and his companies. This is in addition to the US$600,000 that was found on the jet in Puerto Rico, and which is subject to seizure too.

One of the two planes that will be seized.

Investigators, apparently working on information, started tracking Lall’s deposits to accounts held at Wells Fargo, Citibank and JP Morgan and found startling evidence that between April 2011 and September 2014, the pilot and family members deposited an astounding US$6,324,411.41 (G$1.3B). There were over a thousand transactions.
The IRS believes that a scheme was devised where Lall and others deliberately deposited less than US$10,000 each time in attempts not to trigger suspicion by banks which are mandated to report transactions above that amount. Lall’s wife, Nadinee, and mother Joyce, were named in the transactions.
Investigators tracking the money said that Lall and his family had properties in New Jersey, Florida and New York.
The US Government said that it is not yet requesting seizures of properties that the Lalls control in three states but intends to do so, as proceeds of the deposits were used to renovate or pay mortgages.
According to the US Government, when domestic financial institutions, including banks and money service businesses, are involved in a transaction for the payment, receipt, or transfer of United States currency in an amount greater than $10,000, the institution is required to file a currency transaction report (“CTR”) for each cash transaction, such as, by way of example, a deposit, withdrawal, exchange of currency, or other payment or transfer by, through, or to a financial institution.
“Many individuals involved in illegal activities, such as tax evasion, money laundering and narcotics trafficking, are aware of the reporting requirements and take active steps to cause financial institutions to fail to file CTRs in order to avoid detection of the movement of large amounts of cash.”
The court documents said that Lall and his family and others “structured” their payments deposit below US$10,000.
Lall’s case has been generating much attention in Guyana, Puerto Rico and mainland US, because of the amount of cash that he was found with.

Election tension forces businesses to remain close

The anxieties and sporadic disturbances of the 2015 election period have forced many city businesses into a state of inactivity.

Some proprietors are scared while others quite frankly cannot think about going forward without
knowing who will be leading the economy for the next five years.
The owner of an established clothing store on Regent Street for over ten years said, “Well it is all mixed feelings for me. I am anxious to know who will be the next President, if is Granger or if Ramotar will come back.”
“But it is like the city is dead. I opened from 8:00 hrs and I closed up within two hours because people are not out. Everyone is staying in but I would not waste my time opening today. I really want them to hurry announce the results because it is killing business for me.”
Another downtown businessman said, “Oh my goodness, I am scared and other businesses are afraid of what is going to happen during this time because it is a very serious election. I know Ramotar got much to lose and I saw how they rile up the supporters around the country and then Granger come with this “game changing plan”.
“It is a tight race and people on both sides are ready to fight within the second. But I more worried about what will happen after the results. This entire period is slowing up business though.”
Yesterday, the Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Ramesh Persaud spoke to the fact that the business community is very nervous and several have been closed out of caution.
He said that the unrest in Sophia on Monday night has also had an effect on businessmen. On that night,  Riot police, backed by soldiers had to defuse an explosive situation in ‘C’ Field, Sophia, after an angry mob torched several vehicles and attacked a pastor’s home in the belief that PPP/C supporters had set up an illegal polling station in the area.
The building was actually a PPPC Command Centre, which had no ballot boxes, as several residents had believed.  The Lot 589 ‘C’ Field property which came under attack is owned by Pastor Narine Khublall.
The riot all started because of a rumour, reportedly spread by a passing minibus driver, who claimed that the PPP/C has set up an illegal polling station at the location. As the rumour spread, several angry residents began converging in front of Mr. Khublall’s property, where a PPP banner had been on prominent display for the past two months. The rumour was fuelled by the sight of heightened activity at the house, as the PPP mobilized its supporters to vote.
In all, eight vehicles, including a minibus and three SUVs, one of which belonged to PPP candidate Joseph Hamilton, were destroyed by the time police and army ranks brought the situation under control.
Persaud said that the Commission is disappointed with the incident and it is hoped that the situation does not repeat itself.
USA Charge d’Affaires, Bryan Hunt on the issue, said that it is important that as the nation awaits the results, businesses continue with their work.
“The private sector has an important role to play in the country’s future and it should continue to move forward with operations. I understand the nervousness about security but I would hope that everyone would keep in mind that when the Sophia incident happened, the police responded and it was contained. I think we can take a degree of confidence in that,” Hunt expressed.
His colleague, British High Commissioner, Gregory Quinn said that businesses need to remember that life goes on during and after the election.
Quinn said that “next week, we will all still have to buy chicken” and on that note he urged the business community to not fold during this important time.
Further, only commercial banks, public and private schools and some commercial businesses were found to be open for business yesterday. But the “hustle” that usually characterises the city was evidently absent.
Regent Street, which is the centre of the shopping scene in Georgetown, was clearly a ghost town, as were many other places. Most businesses did not open at their usual hours.
School children were, in some instances, sent home due to the unrest and hostility displayed by some citizens awaiting the results of the 2015 Elections held on May 11.
“My children were sent back home because no one was in school”, one business owner explained.
However, a confident proprietor who was opened yesterday said that, “God is in charge,” and on that note, she will continue to keep her businesses going even though the tension is high.

GECOM still to deliver official election results

Despite promising that the election results would have been announced on Tuesday evening, and at the latest, this morning, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) continues to remain iffy on a definite day for the announcement of the highly-anticipated information.

Despite the growing anxiety among the populace, GECOM’s Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally said that the Commission was still awaiting more Statements of Poll (SoPs) while those in its possession were being processed.

GECOM had assured that it will ensure that the results of the General and Regional Elections are released in the soonest possible time. Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield had said provided that all went well on Election Day, the elections body would have tried to have the results available by Tuesday evening or by this morning.

On Monday morning, a media notice was sent out promising that GECOM will be announcing to the media Tuesday at 11:00h (at a press conference), the first set of Preliminary Results. However, as media operatives eagerly awaited the results, they were merely greeted with the information that the elections body had received more than 1500 official SoPs from various parts of the country, but could not produce any preliminary results 18 hours after the polls had closed on May 11.

Dr Surujbally’s statement was substantiated by the Chief Elections Officer, who said he was still awaiting the SoPs from Regions One, Seven and Eight, while several SoPs of the other regions had to be returned for corrections and checks as the Representation of the People Act dictated.

However, at another press conference which was called at 18:00h, GECOM said that the legal requirements stipulated under the Representation of the People Act, coupled with the wet conditions and other factors in the hinterland regions, were the reasons the results were being delayed.

According to Lowenfield, when a SoP is brought to GECOM, it is thoroughly checked for errors and discrepancies so as to ensure that there is no compromise or loss of integrity in the process. Lowenfield said that if it is found that a SoP has an error, whatever it may be, the Representation of the People Act demands that the SOP be returned to the Presiding Officer at the polling station from which the data was derived. It was on this note that he admitted that several errors were discovered and as such, these had to be returned. Lowenfield explained that this was a long and drawn-out process; hence, adding delays in the release of results.

Thus far, however, after almost 24 hours (up to press time), Lowenfield said that 279 SoPs were fully processed by the body. These were not confined to one area but were drawn from Regions Three, Four, Five, Six and 10. As it currently stands, the figures released by GECOM to the media indicate that the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition was leading, followed by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

The coalition had a lead in the largely two party-race, with some 6797 votes more than the PPP/C in the General Elections and 4059 votes in the Regional Elections out of 29,000 counted votes. The Chief Elections Officer promised that by midday today, more results would be forthcoming since the other SoPs would have reached GECOM by then. Dr Surujbally maintained that the body was ensuring that the results are credible and would not sacrifice accuracy for expediency.

When questioned on the time taken by the elections body to provide the results of the elections when compared to other nations across the world, in the 21st Century, Dr Surujbally said he would like to see a change made in the next elections by having electronic systems in place.

“We cannot continue to remain with Jurassic methodologies … we cannot continue this way… we have, in the past, recommended that this system be changed,” he noted.

He urged citizens to remain patient, explaining that GECOM has to follow the law and ensure that the integrity of the results is maintained and the systems followed to ensure accuracy before dispatch.

How to Use Free Classified Ads to Your Advantage

When you have a growing home business, free classified promotions is a great tool to utilize. First and foremost, its simple on your financial plan, which is a major ordeal for most upcoming entrepreneurs. For an alternate, the majority of these free classified ads are anything but difficult to get to (an alternate in addition to). The key is to discover the ones that will work the best for you and your business.

How to Prepare
There are some things you need to think about before you even place an ad, whether it's free or not. You need to have a registered business name and a business license so that your business is a legitimate entity. If a potential customer or client wants to verify your business, they should be able to find it registered under the city, county or state where your business is located.
You also need to have a catch phrase or a simple description of your business that you include as part of the ads you place. This will allow potential customers or clients who see your ad to know exactly what your business has to offer. If it's descriptive, you might even use a copy of your business card as the ad itself.
Find the Classifieds that Match Your Product or Service
The biggest way to utilize free classified ads to your business' advantage is to make sure the classifieds you choose actually match with the customers you want to reach. For instance, you don't want to place a free ad in a car magazine if you sell brand name hand bags. It doesn't matter if the classified ad is free; you most likely won't find new customers in that particular market.
Know When to Use Internet Advertising
There are tons of places you can try, for free marketing on the web. And, it's always a great idea to place general business ads just to get your business name out there. However, to fully use classified ads to your business advantage, there are certain times to use certain ads.
For instance, people that have mortgage and rent payments usually have to make those payments at the beginning of the month. Therefore, its smart business to create a free Internet ad with a discount or a coupon attached to it during the first week of the month. People love a bargain, particularly during lean times.
Include the Right Information
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Internet advertising is a smart way to boost business if you are smart about how you use it. It doesn't take much effort to create new business and increase your income.