The Ministry of Agriculture has reported that construction of the radar tower at Hyde Park, Timehri is moving apace and that 63 percent of the work has been completed eight months after construction began.
It stated that by October the site should be at a stage to accept the radar equipment and commissioning is likely at year-end. The project has a completion deadline of November, 2008.
In a release issued today, the Ministry said that rainfall over the last two months  ‘affected construction to some extent however; the minor delays experienced are not foreseen to affect the completion date of the project’. Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud and a team of technical officers visited the site last week to check on the progress of construction. Read the full story

A wildfire threatening hundreds of homes in Southern California
spread slowly through scenic canyonlands Saturday, straining resources
as crews struggled to contain hundreds of other blazes around the
state. “The
firefighters are stretched thin, they are exhausted,” and some have
gone days without sleep, said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who visited a
command post in Santa Barbara County. A slew of wildfires, most
ignited by lightning two weeks ago, has burned more than 800 square
miles of land throughout California. The blazes have destroyed at least
67 homes and other buildings and contributed to the death of a
firefighter who suffered a heart attack while digging fire lines. About 1,400 fires have been contained, but more than 330 still burned out of control Saturday. Schwarzenegger
said California’s top priority was in the coastal region of Santa
Barbara County, where nearly 2,700 homes were threatened by a
four-day-old fire in the Los Padres National Forest that has consumed
about 13 square miles. Cooler, moist air yesterday morning kept
the fire sluggish and helped firefighters trying to surround it, said
Pat Wheatley, county spokeswoman. The fire was 24 percent contained,
she said. Wheatley said 2,663 homes remained under mandatory Read the full story

Abbas Tyrewala’s directorial debut, which stars newcomer Imran Khan, has a certain sparkling spirit, a zest for living life and a certain zing about the way the characters look at life and love. It’s not only about the way the characters’ exuberant yearnings connect with the audience, it’s also about the casual, free-flowing events and dialogues in the narrative that give the characters an edge over other urbane youngsters who have come and gone in the past. Read the full story

Ricky Ponting will make an early departure from the Caribbean as he continues to battle an injury to his right wrist. Ponting will fly out for Australia immediately after it became clear he was unlikely to play in the final ODI of the series against West Indies in St Kitts on Sunday. Read the full story

Nikolai Valuev will fight John Ruiz for the vacant WBA heavyweight title before August 31. After Ruslan Chagaev pulled out of his mandatory defence against the Russian Giant for the second time in a row, the WBA decided in Buenos Aires on Thursday that the two ex-champions will face each other. “We wanted Nikolai Valuev to fight for the title as soon as possible,” Sauerland managing director Chris Meyer said. “We consider the WBA`s decision a big success.” Read the full story

A man posing as a priest has been caught trying to hear confessions in St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, a judge in the city-state has said.

Judge Gianluigi Marrone said in an interview with the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano the man had clerical robes and documents. Judge Marrone did not say when the incident took place. He said the man was tried by a Vatican tribunal but would not reveal the verdict or any punishment. Read the full story

Clashes between guards and prisoners at a jail in Syria have resulted in many deaths, human-rights groups have said.

At least 25 people were killed after military police fired live bullets at Islamist inmates, the groups said. The Syrian authorities have so far not commented on the situation. Prisoners said the clashes were sparked by raids in which guards beat inmates. One inmate told the BBC he believed the death toll was higher. The prisoners are reportedly holding hostages. Several prisoners have managed to contact Syrian human rights group, as well as the BBC, by telephone.

They said the guards had also desecrated copies of the Koran. The inmates said the early-morning raids were in response to a protest by detainees several weeks ago about conditions at Read the full story

South Korea has announced the first in a series of measures intended to tackle the cost of rising fuel prices.

Thousands of public sector vehicles will only be allowed on the road on alternate days and government buildings air conditioning will be restricted. Prime Minister Han Seung-soo said that if oil prices continued to rise, more extreme measures would be taken. Correspondents say the move is largely symbolic as it covers only a limited number of vehicles and buildings. South Korea has to import all its crude oil supplies and expects to spend $111.2bn (£56bn) on oil this year, up from $60.3bn (£30.4bn) last year. Mr Han told a press conference: Read the full story

Archaeologists have unearthed an ancient tomb in northern Peru that could throw light on the pre-Columbian Moche Indian culture.

The tomb in Ucupe, 670km (416 miles) from the capital Lima, contained well-preserved human remains along with jewellery and ceramics. The finds suggested the tomb related to nobility, experts said. The Moche Indians thrived from 100-800 AD and were famed for their ceramics, architecture and irrigation. Read the full story

Rising food and oil costs, an uncertain global economy, climate change and Zimbabwe’s political crisis face the G8 leaders who are gathering in Japan.

The summit is being held at a secluded resort on the northern island of Hokkaido guarded by some 20,000 police. Protesters have been gathering ahead of the three-day forum starting on Monday. A US official said the gathering was likely to “strongly condemn” Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe over a disputed presidential election run-off vote. The Group of Eight (G8) consists of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. Read the full story