NEWS

bmobile helps connect cultures at this year’s CARIFESTA XIV

Trinidad and Tobago’s anticipated hosting of the 14th Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) got underway with the staging of an exclusive Road Show at South Park Shopping Centre in San Fernando recently. Scores of patrons from the bustling hub were privy to experience an early taste of CARIFESTA which has, over the years, grown into a catalyst for strengthening of regional integration among Caribbean artisans and cultural practitioners. CARIFESTA XIV will celebrate the spirit, culture and heritage of Caribbean people through the expressions of Music, Dance, Theatre, Film, Visual Arts, Literary Arts, Culinary Arts, Fashion, Folklore, Craft and Symposia from August 16-25 at the Queen’s Park Savannah and in numerous other locations throughout the twin-island republic. Altogether, 19 countries will be featured. Read more here

POLITICS

Team to look at Fire Service priority areas

National Security Minister Stuart Young says he intends to set up a committee to look at prioritising concerns by the Fire Service. Young was responding to a question in the House on Friday on complaints by Second Division officers regarding dilapidated office space and the non-functioning and inadequate equipment. He replied that in order to improve and upgrade the physical conditions of accommodation the ministry has embarked on a programme of refurbishment of all fire stations across TT, commencing with the Wrightson Road Fire Station. Read more here

Kamla on FOIA: Amendments obscene, no support from Opposition

A mass ap­peal by at least 30 pri­vate bod­ies, in­clud­ing the Law As­so­ci­a­tion of T&T (LATT) is try­ing to force the Gov­ern­ment to with­draw the Clause 7 amend­ment to the Free­dom of In­for­ma­tion Act (FOIA). The LATT, in a me­dia re­lease yes­ter­day, said it sup­port­ed the call for pub­lic con­sul­ta­tion on the pro­posed amend­ments to the FOIA. "The FOIA has be­come a cor­ner­stone in civ­il so­ci­ety’s ef­fort to hold pub­lic au­thor­i­ties to ac­count. Read more here

BUSINESS

Khan: Brooks saved NGC billions

The great­est achieve­ment of the out­go­ing chair­man of the Na­tion­al Gas Com­pa­ny (NGC) Ger­ry Brooks was his abil­i­ty to re­duce the claims against the com­pa­ny, $4.2 bil­lion, to man­age­able pro­por­tions ac­cord­ing to En­er­gy Min­is­ter Franklin Khan. Khan said the claims re­sult­ed from the “tar­di­ness and neg­li­gence of the UNC gov­ern­ment for not ne­go­ti­at­ing a new gas con­tract.” Read more here

Sagicor shareholders approve acquisition, JMMB advances

This week, we at Bourse provide an update on the progress of the proposed Alignvest-Sagicor transaction, with the shareholder meeting having been held on June 4th, 2019. We also review the latest financial results of Jamaica Money Market Brokers Group Ltd (JMMBGL), whose performance will likely be influenced by ‘New Sagicor’ going forward. Read more here

REGIONAL

Wait Over - Bunting Says Challenge To Phillips Not Premature; Election Too Close To Hold Out Further

In his first address since making public his intention to challenge Dr Peter Phillips for the presidency of the People’s National Party (PNP), Peter Bunting has declared that he is ready to lead the party to victory. Bunting, who said he was not driven by personal ambition, slammed critics who argued that his presidential bid has come at a wrong time. “I have, up to today, never contested for any position I have had in the People’s National Party. So who want to say it is ambition driving this Comrade can talk whatever they want, but there is no evidence to support that,” Bunting told supporters at May Day High School last night at a divisional conference in Knockpatrick, Manchester. Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

These North Korean defectors were sold into China as cybersex slaves. Then they escaped

Wearing big black headphones and sitting on a blue floral bedspread, North Korean defector Lee Yumi was video chatting with yet another stranger online, dark rings shading the pale skin under her eyes. For five years, Lee -- whose name has been changed for her safety -- says she had been imprisoned with a handful of other girls in a tiny apartment in northeast China, after the broker she trusted to plan her escape from North Korea sold her to a cybersex operator. Her captor allowed her to leave the apartment once every six months. Attempts to escape had failed. Read more here

Kathua child rape and murder: India court finds six guilty

Six men have been found guilty of the rape, torture and murder of an eight-year-old Muslim girl in Indian-administered Kashmir. The victim, who belonged to a Muslim nomadic tribe, was found in a forest near Kathua city in January 2018. The case triggered widespread anger and made headlines when Hindu right-wing groups protested over the arrest of the men. All of them had pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. Eight people, including a former government official, four policemen and a minor, were charged. One of them has been acquitted and the minor is set to be tried separately. Read more here

10th June 2019

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