NEWS
Prison Officers Assoc head: No prisoners released for covid19
Prison Officers Association president Ceron Richards was confused as to where the “hundreds” of prisoners, which Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi claimed were released had come from. “Maybe they came from a jail in space,” Richards said. “But there has been no special release of prisoners in any TT prison.” Richards said the only outgoing traffic in the prisons was that of “everyday” releases – those people who have completed their sentences or have been released having met their requirements for bail set by the courts. Read more here
T&T’s Lalla now a global UNICEF Youth Advocate
The Office of the Prime Minister (Gender and Child Affairs) yesterday announced that Priyanka Lalla, Trinidad and Tobago’s Child Rights Ambassador, has been specially selected by UNICEF to become the first UNICEF Youth Advocate from the 12 countries of the Eastern Caribbean, along with another representative from Barbados. As a Child Rights Ambassador, Lalla educated children and adults nationally on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Over the past two years, she has also advocated for the promotion of child rights and responsibilities, environmental sustainability and the prevention of non-communicable diseases. Read more here
POLITICS
Rowley: Diego Martin, Siparia to become boroughs
The Prime Minister on Thursday said Trinidad and Tobago will soon get two new boroughs – Diego Martin and Siparia – which are both now regional corporations. Dr Rowley was addressing the opening of the Diego Martin South Community Centre. “The corporation has already agreed and has advanced to the Cabinet that it wants Diego Martin to become the next borough in the nation of TT. Read more here
Health Minister expects anti-vaccine push-back
Even as the government prepares to receive the COVID-19 vaccines, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh is anticipating “anti-vaccine kickbacks” even from within the medical fraternity. Deyalsingh was speaking at the virtual opening of the first National Health and Research Conference on Thursday, one day after he announced that preparations are being done to receive the first batch of vaccines. Read more here
BUSINESS
New pricing on imported items on hold
Supermarket operators are getting anxious about when they will receive the official list from the Government on which imported food items will now attract value added tax (VAT) from January. Read more here
REGONAL
Major sectors take centre stage
A plethora of investment opportunities, across all the major sectors in Guyana, were examined by a high-level team from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), during discussions with the Government of Guyana, on day one of the team’s three-day visit here. The eight-member delegation, headed by his Highness, Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum of the UAE, arrived in Guyana on Thursday and has already met with President, Dr. Irfaan Ali and several other high-ranking officials of the Guyana Government. Read more here
Jamaica To Continue Quarantine Requirement For Travellers
The Government has ruled out lifting mandatory quarantine requirement for international travellers, at least for now. A Pan American Health Organisation official has declared that the measure was not necessary. But both Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton and the chief medical officer Dr Jacquiline Bisasor McKenzie argue that many countries from which Jamaica gets visitors have inadequate protocols to identify potentially infected travellers and therefore, it is critical for the quarantine requirements to remain. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Berlin police hold 'cannibal' after bones found in park
Police have arrested a man suspected of sexually-motivated murder and cannibalism after a victim's bones were found in a park in northern Berlin. Forensic experts determined that the bones were the remains of a 44-year-old man who went missing two months ago. Sniffer dogs led police to the suspect's Berlin apartment, German media reported. He is reported to be a 41-year-old maths teacher. People strolling in the park in Buch found the bones on 8 November. A policeman told the Berlin daily BZ that one bone was "totally devoid of flesh" and there were other indications "which make us strongly suspect that Stefan T was the victim of a cannibal". Read more here
Trump undercuts American democracy as he clings to power
President Donald Trump is trying to steal a free and fair election that he lost by a wide margin to President-elect Joe Biden by tearing at the most basic principle of American democracy: He's trying to throw out hundreds of thousands of votes. Trump's latest escalation of his attempt to subvert the result of the election followed a string of knock-backs in the courts and after a statewide audit in Georgia confirmed Biden's victory in the crucial swing state. Read more here
20th November 2020