NEWS
New US ambassador promises stronger ties with TT
Despite the challenges facing both countries, US ambassador to TT Candace Bond is optimistic that diplomatic ties between her country and TT can be further strengthened during her term in office. Bond was appointed as ambassador to TT in March and succeeds Joseph Mondello who served as ambassador between October 2018 and January 2021. Mondello died on August 1. Before her appointment as ambassador, Bond, 57, worked as a business consultant and music industry executive and acted as vice president for Motown records. She is the daughter of academic Anita Bond and general surgeon Dr Leslie Bond, both of whom were activists during the civil rights era. Read more here
POLITICS
Duke knocks Farley’s meetings with PM
Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) leader Watson Duke has taken issue with Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Farley Augustine’s meetings with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley. He accused Augustine of “watering down” the post of Chief Secretary. Duke, who spoke on the Tobago Updates talk show yesterday, went on the offensive against Augustine and other Assembly members who recently resigned from his PDP party. More people resigned from the PDP executive on Wednesday. Commenting on the party’s future, Duke said people have been elected for posts and the PDP chairman would make those names known at the appropriate time. Read more here
BUSINESS
Clico Investment Fund to close by year’s end
Clico Trust Corporation Ltd as trustee of the Clico Investment Fund has notified unitholders that in accordance with the provisions of the trust deed, the fund will be terminated on January 2, 2023. A notice posted on the T&T Stock Exchange yesterday said the trustee further advised unitholders that the last trading day for units in the fund will be December 30, 2022, and the record date for distribution of the fund assets will be January 5, 2023, in accordance with the settlement period of three working days for the mutual fund market of the T&T Stock Exchange. It is expected the fund’s assets (including the shares in Republic Financial Holdings Ltd, Government Bonds and cash) will be transferred to the brokerage accounts of qualifying unitholders before the end of January 2023. Read more here
REGIONAL
Renewable-energy priorities remain intact
Guyana is on course to developing a total of 13 new solar farms along with 19 new solar mini grids, and other projects over the next three years, as part of investments that will total billions of Guyana dollars. This was according to President, Dr Irfaan Ali, on Thursday evening during his address at the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI)’s 133rd Annual Awards Presentation and Gala Dinner, at the Marriott Hotel. Dr Ali delivered his presentation under the theme, “Government’s Outlook and Projections for 2023,” as he outlined how 2023 will see the continuation of the government’s aggressive transformational plans in the area of food security, energy security, technological services, ecological services and human development. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Lyon fire: Ten dead, including five children
Ten people, including five children, have been killed in a fire in an apartment building near Lyon, France, the local government says. Officials released a statement saying a "sizeable fire" broke out in a seven-storey block of flats in the suburb of Vaulx-en-Velin. Four people are in a critical condition and 15 others reported minor injuries, including two firefighters. The fire is now out and prosecutors are investigating its cause. The flames appear to have started on the ground floor before spreading upwards. "I was awakened by the screams... we wanted to help people but the smoke was too heavy. I saw a dead woman... it's dramatic," a local resident told Le Progres de Lyon newspaper. Read more here
16th December 2022