NEWS
EOC: Discrimination, racism in top 10 issues
While fighting discrimination and inequality remains a challenge, a survey by the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) has revealed that discrimination and racism top the ten most important issues facing TT. Speaking at a panel discussion on Friday on Public Perception of Equality and Discrimination in TT at the Institute of International Relations, UWI, EOC chairman Lynette Seebaran Suite said the commission’s national survey on the public perception of equality and discrimination provided a good resource to ensure continuity of its endeavours. Read more here
Three held in $8m cocaine bust
Three men were arrested and approximately $8 million in cocaine was seized by the Northern Division Task Force (NDTF) on Saturday. According to reports, police officers were on patrol in St Helena when they got a tip-off about two vehicles transporting the drugs and pulled them over. Police say a white pick-up and a black car were stopped and searched. Investigators said they found two suitcases containing 23 packets of cocaine in the vehicles. The drugs weighed 20 kilogrammes. The three men, two from Piarco and one from Gasparillo, were arrested. Sgt Pitt of the NDTF led the exercise. Read more here
POLITICS
4,000 mentally unstable patients in 2018
Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh has reported that more than 4,068 people were officially assessed to be mentally unstable last year and the majority of cases were for some form of depression or depression-related. He was responding to a question in the House on Friday. Chaguanas East MP Fazal Karim asked if the 4,068 figure represented an increase or decrease compared to the previous year but Deyalsingh said he can get the data for the previous years. Read more here
BUSINESS
NCBFG lower, JMMB improves
This week, we at Bourse review the performance of two cross-listed stocks, NCB Financial Group Ltd (NCBFG) and JMMB Group Ltd (JMMBGL) for the period ended 31st December 2018. The companies would have parted ways in recent times, with NCBFG selling its 26.3% stake previously held in JMMBGL. While higher taxation weighed on the performance of NCBFG, JMMBGL reported improved earnings driven mainly by top line growth. Read more here
REGIONAL
Fashion Police Backlash - Lawyers Distance Themselves From Champagnie’s Stance On Students’ Photos
There is division in the legal profession over attorney-at-law Peter Champagnie’s controversial lambasting of the Mona Law Society at The University of the West Indies, posting on social media, pictures of female students skimpily dressed. Champagnie, in a scathing letter to the president of the society, last week expressed his disgust at pictures, labelling them vulgar and disgraceful and informed them that he would not participate in today’s Inaugural Legal Expo as was previously agreed. The pictures were posted as a part of the Mr and Miss Law 2019 competition, which is being held under the theme ‘Jamaica Rewind: From a Taller Time’. The Mona Law Society said the photos were meant to pay homage to reggae and dancehall in Reggae Month. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Okinawa: Tokyo to overrule referendum on US base
Trump could try to sell North Korea a Vietnam model. But Kim's unlikely to be buying
The night before his historic summit with US President Donald Trump last June, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took a surprise stroll in downtown Singapore to see the sights of the wealthy capitalist city. The inference seemed clear. If cash-strapped Pyongyang chooses to engage the world -- and ditch its nuclear weapons -- this could be its future. Trump and Kim will this month have an even more symbolic backdrop for their next meeting: Vietnam, a country which transformed itself from bitter US enemy to peaceful partner in less than 50 years. Read more here
25th February 2019