NEWS
Police close crowded supermarket, block off promenade
Police on Saturday were forced to use their heavy hand and temporarily closed a supermarket after customers failed to comply with covid19 protocols issued for supermarkets. Wes Bees Supermarket in Diego Martin was temporarily shut down after a video circulated on Facebook with complaints of overcrowding outside the grocery. Supermarkets operators have urged for only one shopper per family to reduce crowds and can only allow half of the number of people it can accommodate at any one time in keeping with new health protocols which came into effect on Saturday. Read more here
Virologist on CDC’s latest COVID warning: T&T can lose fight if citizens do not play their part
As the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to climb, virologist Professor Christopher Oura is warning that if citizens do not play their part in flattening the curve, then this country can possibly lose the fight to the COVID-19 virus as recently seen in the case of India. Yesterday, T&T recorded 233 new cases and eight deaths, the later being the highest number of deaths during a 24-hour period. There have been 42 deaths for the first nine days of this month and an overall total of 211 deaths. Oura noted that last Friday the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognised that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is airborne and can be transmitted via respiratory fluids, which are fine droplets released during respiration. Read more here
POLITICS
Ex-minister claims Children's Authority failed murdered teens
Former minister of gender, youth and child development Verna St Rose Greaves believes the Children’s Authority failed two teens who were killed after running away from one of their facilities. Greaves, a career social worker and activist, responded to questions by Sunday Newsday on the double murder of Antonio Francois and Semion Daniel, both 15. The teens were shot dead on March 28. The two were among five boys who ran away from a children's home in Valsayn by squeezing through the burglar-proofing on March 20. Read more here
Opposition Senator: 150,000 illegal immigrants in T&T
Opposition Senator Damian Lyder estimates that there are over 150,000 illegal immigrants in T&T. Speaking at a press conference in Port-of-Spain yesterday, Lyder questioned the estimate of 120,000 illegal immigrants that was given during a Ministry of National Security press conference last week. “We expect that it is close to 200,000 based on the rate at which illegal immigrants are flowing into this country,” Lyder said, as he claimed that the lower estimate was revealed by national security experts over four years ago and was recently re-quoted. Read more here
BUSINESS
Now Massy to list in Jamaica
One day after local insurance giant, Guardian Holdings Ltd (GHL), cross-listed its shares on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), another large local company, Massy Holdings Ltd, took the decision to cross-list its shares on the north Caribbean island’s stock exchange. Read more here
REGIONAL
24 COVID-19 deaths recorded in nine days
Two more persons who were tested positive for COVID-19 succumbed to the deadly virus on Saturday, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Health. The total number of deaths, which is now 325, is reflected in the ministry’s daily COVID-19 dashboard for that day. The latest fatalities are two women, aged 82 and 60, from Regions Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), respectively. There have now been 24 deaths recorded for the month of May 2021. Read more here
Mother’s Day grief as woman chopped to death
An eight-year-old boy missed out on Sunday’s Mother’s Day celebration after his 29-year-old mom was hacked to death overnight in a suspected case of jealous rage by her elderly common-law partner in Clark’s Town, Trelawny. When lawmen accompanied the 62-year-old accused to the one-bedroom death house in Parnassus, also in Clark’s Town, it was a ghastly scene of the bloody violence that had unfolded hours earlier, with the partially nude body of Nickeisha Keeling in a pool of blood with several chop wounds. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Fauci joins calls for nationwide lockdown to contain India's Covid crisis
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is under increasing pressure to impose a nationwide lockdown as the country grapples with the world's worst Covid-19 outbreak. On Monday, India reported 366,161 new cases, its health ministry said -- the first time daily infections have dipped below 400,000 since May 6. Its total caseload is now more than 22 million since the pandemic began. Read more here
French soldiers warn of civil war in new letter
Around 75,000 people have signed an open letter warning about the threat of civil war in France. The message, published in a right-wing magazine, accuses the French government of granting "concessions" to Islamism. "It is about the survival of our country," said the text, which was issued anonymously by soldiers before being backed by members of the public. The French government condemned a similar letter published by semi-retired generals late last month. Read more here
10th May 2021