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National Geographic UK names Guyana as the 35 top tourist destinations for 2023

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Guyana has been named among the Top 35 places to visit in 2023 by National Geographic UK.

The publication listed Guyana as the 13th best location for travelers to visit.

The 35 destinations were ranked in the following categories culture, nature, adventure, community and family.

According to National Geographic, while Guyana may be one of South America’s smaller nations, it packs a big punch for nature lovers.

Placing Guyana at #13 on the Top 35 travel list, the magazine also noted that Guyana’s Natural highlights range from jaguars stalking in the dense forests to giant anteaters on the savannahs, harpy eagles in the skies and the beautiful Kaieteur Falls.

Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority Kamrul Baksh, in response, said the feature is a culmination of the hard work being done by the government to position Guyana as a sought-after destination.

“It’s because of greater access that the government has been able to secure for Guyana, has made it to one of the top publications and we are very happy about that,” Baksh said.

He noted that in April’s edition of the publication, Guyana was also featured on multiple pages.

“We continue to ensure that all of the beauty of the tourism product is featured in multiple markets,” Baksh said.

To continue to promote Guyana, the country will also be represented in the upcoming world travel market in London.

“All around I believe it’s the efforts being made that have led to this wonderful news this morning,” the GTA Director added.

Baksh noted too that destination Guyana has been getting more interest from tourists.

“From reviews from tour operators that we are in constant contact with, they are getting a lot of traction, a lot of interest in the destination, people are enquiring a lot about the destination, for example with the recent BA (British Airways) announcement with the flights, tour operators who have never looked at destination Guyana are suddenly interested in coming to have an understanding of what is on offer,” he pointed out.

The Ministry of Tourism is preparing to launch a number of activities to celebrate Tourism Awareness month in November.

“I say thank you” – New attorney dedicates her success to late father

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New attorney attributes her success to her late father.

Ismat Bacchus, was about to begin her studies at the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad, she lost her father, who believed in her dream of becoming a lawyer.

In Guyana On Friday, two days before her father’s 68th birthday, the young lawyer was admitted to the local bar by Demerara High Court Chief Justice (ag) Roxanne George.

Addressing the court for the first time as a lawyer, Bacchus broke down in tears as she reflected on the death of her father, Imtias Bacchus.

“My primary supporter throughout my life, my father, Mr. Imtiaz Bacchus, unfortunately, passed away just as I was about to begin my final year of the LLB program and the impact which that had on me was tremendous.

Upon his passing, everything in my life changed abruptly. Simply saying that he and I were close is saying very little. He was the person that stayed up many nights with me whilst I was studying, checking frequently to see if I needed anything…he never questioned what I needed or where he was going to get it. He simply provided,” she said while fighting back tears.

She smiled as she told the court that her late father always boasted proudly about her legal education, and every person that knew him and would meet her would always say,

Attorney-at-law Ismat Bacchus and Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George (Carl Croker photo)

“You’re Mr. Bacchus’ daughter, how are your studies going?”

“…. his belief in me allowed me to believe in myself. In the moments of doubt after his passing, particularly through a very rough first year of my LEC, I always kept pushing myself because I wanted to do it not just for me but for him. And I kept that determination till the end that now I am proud to say that I graduated with almost all As in my final year,” the young attorney said.

Unfortunately, he didn’t get to see her cross the finish line, but she had a photo of him on the court to make sure he was with her to commemorate the bittersweet moment.

“I know my dad would’ve been extremely proud today, as I am certain my mother is as well and to this, I say thank you,” she added.

After completing her studies at the University of Guyana, she attended the Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS) in Trinidad and successfully completed the LEC program. She is a recipient of a scholarship from the Ministry of Public Service.

Guyanese Female cricketer got the best birthday gift when she received the Land title recipient

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Jeune Bailey Van Keric distributed more than 400 housing lots during the sixth zone housing drive.

Guyanese cricketer Shemaine Althea Campbell, a member of the West Indies women’s team, got the best birthday present when she received the title to her Lot 171 Bloomfield Village, Corentyne, Berbice property.

Campbell applied for land 14 years ago and was granted land in Bloomfield Village in 2015. Years later, on her 30th birthday, she added her title.

Despite the long wait, she was happy to finally receive the legal deed indicating the title to the land on which she built her house.

Campbell is the first and only woman to score a century in the One Day International (ODI) format, batting at number seven or below. Her unbeaten 105 is also the highest for any batsman in a women’s ODI innings when batting at number seven or lower.

Over 400 housing lots were distributed in addition to 262 land titles/conveyances at the event held at the Taine Campus of the University of Guyana.

In his featured speech, Housing and Water Minister Colin Croal noted that the current target is 400 housing lots, primarily in villages No. 75 and No. 76 in the Upper Corentine area.

He said a further 200 lots would be distributed at the weekend’s Berbice Show in Albion.

“We must recognize that with the commitment of acquiring additional land…we have to gear our minds that we cannot get a house lot necessarily very close to where we reside, but it’s based on the availability,” he said.

Breaking news : Johnny Depp has won his defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard

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Johnny Depp has won his multimillion dollar US lawsuit against former wife Amber Heard after a Virginia jury ruled a 2018 article published in The Washington Post was defamatory.

The jury in the Johnny Depp Amber Heard defamation trial has ruled in favor of Johnny Depp, finding that a Washington Post editorial which she wrote defamed her former husband.

The verdict was returned by jurors after deliberating for around 12 hours, after the testimony and courtroom arguments came to a close last week.

The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million dollars in punitive damages. The jury awarded Heard $2 million in compensatory damages and no money for punitive damages.

Heard kept her eyes down as the verdict was read. Depp was not present in court, but released a statement that said, in part, “the jury gave me my life back.”

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high-profile trial involving actors Johnny Depp, 58, and his ex-wife Amber Heard, 36, began April 12 in Fairfax, Va. The trial revolves around a defamation lawsuit Depp filed against Heard in 2019 about an op-ed she wrote about domestic ab use in 2018.

Following the trial in the summer of 2020 – which saw Heard giving evidence as a witness, rather than as the defendant – the judge handed down his ruling a few months later, finding that an article referring to the actor as a “wife beater” was “substantially true”.

Depp asked the Court of Appeal to grant permission for him to challenge the ruling, with the aim of having its findings overturned and a retrial ordered, but the appeal was denied in March 2021.

Since the judgment in the UK case, Depp has been seen at a few industry events and picked up a lifetime achievement award from a major film festival in Spain – and more recently a medal of honour for his contributions to art in Serbia. He is also promoting his work as an artist.

Depp’s legal team had sued Heard for an amount “no less than $50 million” after claiming that she defamed him by implying that he had ab used her during their two-year marriage. Depp says the article irreparably dama-ged his career.

In turn Heard countersued for $100 million claiming that Depp had carried out a “smear campaign” against her. Her team described the court case as a continuation of the “ab-use and harassment” that she had referred to years earlier.

In final arguments, attorneys for Heard told the panel ruling against her would mean they were telling abuse victims: “If you didn’t take pictures, it didn’t happen. If you didn’t seek medical attention, you weren’t inj-ured.”

The lawyer Benjamin Rottenborn said Heard deserved to win the case if jurors believed she “was ab–used by Mr Depp even one time and we’re not just talking about physical abuse, psychological … se–xual abuse”.

Lawyers for Depp sought to convince jurors Heard lied about abuse, citing records in which the actor admits to hitting Depp and calling him “a baby”.

Recordings of Depp admitting to hitting Heard were not introduced as evidence at the trial because “it didn’t happen”, Depp attorney Camille Vasquez said.

‘Playing for West Indies comes first,’ states Andre Russell

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West Indian swashbuckling all-rounder is a seasoned T20 campaigner, having plied his trade in various T20 leagues and flourishing for them.

However, his injuries have hampered his West Indies career, especially in the shortest format. He has only played two T20Is for the West Indies since 2018.

While some accused him of not being serious enough while playing for the West Indies, Russell claimed there was nothing more important to him than representing his country.

“Playing for West Indies comes first for me. And the energy and effort that I put out playing for West Indies, I wouldn’t do it playing anywhere else. Sometimes people don’t understand what a player like myself goes through with niggles and all of those things. But they’re just going to judge, and it’s easy for them to judge,” Andre Russell was quoted as saying by SportsMax.

The COVID-19 pandemic made it mandatory for the players to get used to the life in a bio-secure bubble. Having already lived in a bubble during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Andre Russell had to move to another one in the UAE as he was playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The 32-year-old was struggling mentally to cope up with life in a bubble. He revealed when he was playing in the IPL, West Indies chief selector Roger Harper had asked him about his availability for the tour of New Zealand.

West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard had asked Andre Russell about the same. But he decided to opt out of the tour as he was not in a proper mental space at that time.

Although he changed his mind later and informed Harper about his availability, the selector said that it was too late then.

“The chairman reached out to me while I was playing IPL, but before that, I was talking to Pollard. And Pollard said:

“Russ, I’m not forcing you, I’m just asking you: Are you coming to New Zealand? I said, ‘yeah, man, I would want to come, but right now, Polly, my headspace is messed up. I’m struggling, I’m not getting no runs, all of this,'” Andre Russell asserted.

“As a player to another player, he will understand what I’m going through. Coming from a bubble in Trinidad [for CPL], come straight into Abu Dhabi [in IPL], days on days, you can only go to practise, and come back to the hotel and your room. You can close your eyes and go to the bathroom, but there is nowhere else to go,” he further added.

With the West Indies keen to defend their T20 World Cup crown in less than a year’s time, Andre Russell’s availability for that tournament will be crucial.