NEWS
Hunters have no fear over health warning
Wild meat hunters say they are not concerned about warnings of pathogens that causes diseases in humans because they butcher and store the meat as well and as safely as possible. On May 15, during the Health Ministry’s covid19 media briefing, director of veterinary public health Dr Saed Rahaman said pathogens that caused the potentially lethal leptospirosis disease, salmonella, and an organism that can lead to heart conditions which can lead to death, had been found in local wildlife consumed by some people. He added that the lead from the ammunition used in hunting was also toxic. He said research showed the lead predisposed certain populations, especially children, to lead poisoning. Read more here
San Juan masjid distributes Eid hampers
Although COVID-19 prevented Muslims from celebrating Eid with lavish services at mosques across the country, it did not prevent one San Juan masjid from preparing Zakat al-Fitr charity given to those less fortunate at the end of Ramadan. Speaking to Guardian Media in the car park of the Nur-E-Islam Masjid in San Juan on Sunday, Imam Sharaz Ali said like many other Muslims across the world, their prayers were said in strict compliance with physical distancing rules. “We streamed our sermon today (yesterday) and I think it was very well received, there were just a few people in the mosque but everyone was watching on television, on Facebook and it was on the radio as well, so I think everything went well,” Ali said. Read more here
POLITICS
Manning vows not to be an absent MP
Brian Manning is assuring that he will not be an absent representative, should he win the San Fernando East People’s National Movement (PNM) stronghold in the upcoming general election. Manning said although he lives outside of the constituency his ability to represent or be present will not be in question. While his decision to enter the politics has been widely welcomed, some concerns have been expressed about his residential address and the fact that he lived abroad for a long time. “I am in Trinidad now. I live here and I am going to represent my constituency.” Read more here
THTA says unknown hotels on list for THA relief grant
The list of Tobago hotels set to receive portions of the Government's $50 million bailout features businesses without a proper room count and no online presence, says the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association (THTA). In fact, the body says they have never heard of some of the businesses set to receive State money .In a media release yesterday, the THTA questioned whom the additional and unknown businesses belonged to, adding of the list of 449 businesses many are unknown to the hotel industry. The group also accused the Tobago Tourism Agency Limited (TTAL) of listing unregistered businesses to collect State money. Read more here
BUSINESS
Risk aversion in the global market
As the global pandemic continues to sweep through nations globally, central banks and governments remain steadfast in effecting accommodative economic policies to help mitigate both the economic and social fallout which have already proven to be significant. Read more here
REGIONAL
250 ship crew arrive today - Carnival Glory with homesick Jamaicans aboard to dock in Falmouth
Another cruise ship with hundreds of Jamaican crew members aboard is due to dock in Falmouth Monday afternoon. Their return is part of the Government’s stated objective to bring home all nationals stranded at sea before the tentative date of May 31. Thousands of Jamaican ship workers have been unable to return home since the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a ban on inbound travellers here two months ago. Just under 1,400 nationals have returned under the controlled re-entry programme. Read more here
Banks DIH rakes in $3.48B in half-year profit
The Banks DIH group has raked in a profit of $3.48B for the first half of the financial year, despite the prevailing conditions created by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and a protracted electoral process, which is still incomplete. Chairman of the Banks DIH, Clifford Reis, in a statement published in the company’s interim financial report, said the group’s unaudited profit before taxation for six months (March 31, 2020) was $3.48B as compared to $2.98B in 2019, an increase of $498M or 16.7 per cent. He said the group’s third party revenue for the six-month period was $18.10B compared to $16.73B for the corresponding period in 2019, an increase of $1.37B or 8.2 per cent. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Brazilian mayor launches furious attack on 'stupid' Bolsonaro over coronavirus response
The mayor of a Brazilian city that has been badly hit by the coronavirus has rounded on Jair Bolsonaro, saying the President is "co-responsible" for the nation's vast death count. Arthur Virgilio Neto, the mayor of Manaus -- a city of 2 million people nestled in the heart of the Amazon that has been stricken by Covid-19 -- called on Bolosonaro to resign, "shut up and stay at home." The President's "dream" is to be a dictator, "but he's too stupid," Neto told CNN. His broadside comes amid growing anger in Brazil, which has suffered more infections than every country in the world except the United States, and is yet to reach a peak of cases and fatalities. Read more here
Family of exiled top Saudi officer Saad al-Jabri 'targeted'
A senior Saudi security official who for years was the key go-between for Britain's MI6 and other Western spy agencies in Saudi Arabia is now being persecuted along with his family, according to former Western intelligence officials. Dr Saad al-Jabri, who helped foil an al-Qaeda bomb plot against the West, fled into exile three years ago, ahead of a purge by the all-powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Now his children have been seized as "hostages", according to his eldest son, Khalid. "Omar and Sarah were kidnapped at dawn on 16 March and taken out of their beds by about 50 state security officers who arrived in 20 cars," says their brother, Khalid al-Jabri. Read more here
25th May 2020