Born in Guyana, but based in Barbados, 27 year old Toneika Thompson has returned to her place of birth with a determination to promote her country. She will be aiming to do just that while embarking on a tour of the United States from June 17.

Thompson, who is a Communications major from the University of West Indies, will be making stops in Washington, District of Columbia (DC); Virginia; Delaware; Madison Square and Merlin. Recalling how the tour was arranged, she stated that influential persons heard the song she wrote and recorded for Guyana’s 50th Anniversary, ‘50TH Jubilee’. “That’s when the invitation was sent out for me to come on down to Washington DC to perform at the Embassy and it ended up being a jubilee tour as well to commemorate Guyana’s 50th Independence and also to celebrate Caribbean American heritage month.” One aspect of her tour will encompass a performance at a private event at Guyana’s Embassy in Washington. Kaieteur News understands that it is an event to highlight the achievements of Caribbean nationals and Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary.(Kaieteurnews.com/photo: kaieteurnews.com)…[+]

There are supposed to be 27 children in Harold Boyd IV’s second-grade classroom, but how many of them will be there on a given day is anyone’s guess.

Since school began in September, five new students have arrived and eight children have left. Two transferred out in November. One who started in January was gone in April. A boy showed up for a single day in March, and then never came back. Even now, in the twilight of the school year, new students are still arriving, one as recently as mid-May. At Public School 188, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, students churn relentlessly in and out. Administrators estimate that nearly half the students enrolled at the school do not last the full year. And how could it be otherwise?(nypost.com)…[+]

Over the years, William R. Ponsoldt had earned tens of millions of dollars building a string of successful companies. He had renovated apartment buildings in the New York City area. Bred Arabian horses. Run a yacht club in the Bahamas, a rock quarry in Michigan, an auto-parts company in Canada, even a multibillion-dollar hedge fund.

Now, as he neared retirement, Mr. Ponsoldt, of Jensen Beach, Fla., had a special request for Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm well placed in the world of offshore finance: How could he confidentially shift his money into overseas bank accounts and use them to buy real estate and move funds to his children?…[+]

INDIA  –  Police in New Delhi have made a number of arrests in connection with a suspected organ harvesting scheme operating out of one of the city’s most prestigious private hospitals.

Five people remain in police custody after being arrested for illegally trading human kidneys, Mandeep Randhawa, Deputy Commissioner of Police of Southeast Delhi, told CNN. The scam allegedly involved falsified documents given to poor patients by a gang at the city’s Indraprastha Apollo Hospital Delhi, CNN affiliate CNN News 18 reports. (CNN.COM/Photo: i2.cdn.turner.com)…[+]

USA  –  A Memphis Police Department officer is dead following a string of shootings near the city’s famed Beale Street, authorities said.

Officer Verdell Smith, 46, was struck by a suspect’s vehicle while trying to clear a crime scene last weekend, Memphis Police Department Director Mike Rallings told reporters. Smith was killed after two separate shootings Saturday night.  “I am angry this morning angry at the senseless loss of a dedicated public servant, and angry at the absolutely unacceptable level of violence in our city,” Mayor Jim Strickland said in a statement. “We must not accept this as our norm. I most certainly will not, and I will continue to act to make our city safer.”(CNN.COM/Photo: wgntv.com)…[+]

Police were last weekend summoned to the Kaieteur News Saffon Street offices after unidentified individuals hurled a grenade under a vehicle belonging to owner and publisher Glenn Lall.

The incident occurred shortly after 22.00 hrs, and Mr. Lall’s vehicle, a Lexus, was parked on the western side of Saffon Street. Mr. Lall and other staffers were outside the Kaieteur News building participating in a wake for Assistant Editor Dale Andrews, when a security staffer heard an unusual sound near Mr. Lall’s vehicle. Thinking at first that someone had shattered one of the windows, the staffer checked the vehicle, but observed no damage.(Kaieteurnews.com/Photo: kaieteurnews.com)…[+]

The Board of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) has finally set in motion a plan that will see all broadcasters having to reapply for licences to operate.

Even before the new Board of the Authority was appointed, the APNU+AFC government had said that it will make good on its promise to regulate the Broadcast industry and revoke all those radio licences that former President Bharrat Jagdeo had granted days before demitting office. Today, the licences remain valid. GNBA said that it was caught between a rock and a hard place when it tried to maneuver ways and means to revoke the licences without legal implications. The new GNBA board was appointed in September. Leonard Craig was named Chairman. In April, the GNBA held its first press conference. At that forum, strong statements were made to the effect that the Board intends to act forcefully in the best interest of Guyana. The media was told that within two to three weeks it would have received information about the way forward with regards to revoking the radio licences. Nothing was heard.(Kaieteurnews.com/photo: kaieteurnews.com)…[+]