NEWS

Supermarkets welcome 10 pm closing time

Supermarket Association president Rajiv Diptee says he welcomes the new 10 pm closing time as lockdown measures continue to be relaxed. It was previously 6pm for supermarkets. The Prime Minister made the announcement at a press conference in Scarborough on Saturday. Speaking with Newsday on Sunday morning, Diptee said the association had proposed 8 pm as the closing time to the Road Map to Recovery team, so he is pleased with the decision. “We made a submission based on an increase in traffic on the road and remember, during the lockdown, people who were considered non-essential were required to stay home. But as of the last phase, there’s a much higher crowd out there and a much bigger after-work crowd. Read more here

Archbishop hurting over Aniah's murder

The killing of two-year-old Aniah McCloud over the weekend clearly begs the question about the kind of nation Trinidad and Tobago has become, Archbishop Jason Gordon says. Gordon made the comment on Sunday as he was asked his views on the continuing spate of murders in the wake of the killings of young Aniah and her father Stephon McLeod, 40, on Friday night in Tunapuna. McLeod and his daughter were ambushed and shot dead around 7.30 pm as they drove along Achong Trace, which is located off Balthazar Street in Tunapuna. Yesterday, Gordon expressed sadness to see the increasing crime rate. Read more here

POLITICS

Time for labour to hold reins of power –Abdulah

The Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) said the objectives of the June 19, 1937 revolution have not been achieved. MSJ leader and trade unionist, David Abdulah said while the labour movement has won constitutional reform and set the foundation for ending the worse forms of exploitation, labour has not been able to achieve political power. “Labour has not been in power. Let us complete the Revolution now,” Abdulah, who is one of the MSJ’s candidates, said. Read more here

Hosein claims edge over Williams in San Juan

Opposition Senator Saddam Hosein believes his time in the Upper House will give him the edge in the race for the San Juan/Barataria seat in the forthcoming general election. Hosein was named as the man to succeed Dr Fuad Khan, the current MP for the area, by the UNC executive over the weekend and was the most recognisable of five candidates unveiled for the election. He will face former Road March winner and radio personality Jason Williams for the marginal seat, which Khan only won by 540 votes in 2015. Read more here

BUSINESS

An end to globalisation?

The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted a wave of protectionist measures as governments around the world rushed to impose travel bans, additional visa requirements and restrictions to reduce the infection rate in their countries. Read more here

REGIONAL

Sewage Overflow Swamps Old Harbour Fire Station

Imagine having to turn up to work every day to contend with an irrepressible faecal odour, sleeping with a cesspit under the same roof, and routinely having to run for cover from sewage overflow. That’s the miserable life for almost 30 firefighters of the Old Harbour Fire Station in St Catherine, where one bedroom of a retrofitted house on Marlie Acres Drive had to be abandoned last week following a heavy downpour that flooded the station, causing the pit’s contents to cream the floor of the old structure. The station is metres away from the constituency office of Everald Warmington, the Member of Parliament for St Catherine South Western. Read more here

‘Fresh elections under new list’

A Senior official of the APNUA+AFC Coalition is hopeful that the Court of Appeal would order fresh elections under a new list of electors. The three-panel court will rule today on a series of orders being sought by the coalition regarding the March 2, 2020 polls. Should these orders be granted and the elections are nullified, the official said as a consequence the court should order fresh elections. “We have seen the Chief Elections Officer proffering what he called valid votes amounting to some 185,000 but we do not believe that those votes should be used to declare a winner, fresh elections under a new list would be the best solution to this crisis,” the official said. Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

Germany's coronavirus reproduction rate soars after massive outbreak at meat plant

The reproduction number (R) of the coronavirus in Germany has risen sharply, the country's center for disease control has said, after an outbreak at a meat processing plant infected hundreds of workers. The value indicates how much the virus is spreading in the country. A reproduction rate of 1 means each person with coronavirus will infect an average of one other person. Data published by the Robert Koch Institute puts Germany's R-number at 2.88. Chancellor Angela Merkel has repeatedly said that Germany needs to keep the number below 1 if the country is to successfully combat the virus. Read more here

Coronavirus: Brazil becomes second country to pass 50,000 deaths

Brazil has become the second country, after the US, to register more than 50,000 deaths from Covid-19. It comes amid growing political tension and just days after the country confirmed more than one million coronavirus infections. Graphs of Brazil's deaths and infections show a continuing climb. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also recorded the biggest one-day increase in cases globally, with most of the new infections in the Americas. The decision of Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro to oppose lockdowns and focus on the economy has been hugely divisive. Two health ministers - both doctors - have left their posts as deaths and infections have surged. The first was sacked by Mr Bolsonaro, the second resigned after disagreeing with the president. Read more here

22nd June 2020

Back