NEWS
Kirk Waithe launches NOW campaign
Kirk Waithe, chairman of Fixin’ TnT and former representative of Arrive Alive, launched the general election campaign for his party, National Organisation of We the People, in Beetham Gardens on Sunday. Waithe told reporters the party will contest one seat – Laventille West – for elections. “Laventille west is a community with immense talent and creative spirit where innovation lives. “We intend to nurture the brilliance of Laventille West, not just through agriculture but through sport, the arts, entrepreneurship, and science. I am certain the next major app developer can come from Laventille West. The next owner of a conglomerate is living in Laventille West. We need to find him or her and facilitate the opportunity for him or her to grow.” In an address to Beetham residents, Waithe encouraged people to “vote for change” and said for years the constituency has been neglected, but now they have a party that will represent them after election day on August 10. Read more here
T&T medical students in Cuba return home
A group of Trinidad and Tobago medical students in Cuba are scheduled to return home today on a Caribbean Airlines repatriation flight. The green light for the students to return home was given by National Security Minister Stuart Young in an email on July 1. The students then received confirmation from CAL. Initially, the repatriation flight was scheduled for July 4 but was rescheduled for today. Speaking to the Guardian Media on Sunday, one of the students, now elated at the prospect of finally coming home, said: “Most of us who can go home at this time, we are actually relieved that we can go home, that we can get the stuff that we need and most importantly spend time with our family before us leaving to come back (to Cuba) in September for the start of the new semester.” Read more here
POLITICS
MSJ hopes to 'create a balance' in Parliament
The Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) announced its campaign slogan, Create a Balance, as well as a catchy upbeat song, Balancing the Scale, by 1994 Road March winner Preacher, as the party gears up for the general election next month. At a press conference at MSJ’s head office in San Fernando on Sunday, leader David Abdulah shared some of the party’s plans including the reopening of the defunct Point-a-Pierre refinery which the Government closed in 2018. Saying there should not be any more delays, he called on the Government to immediately sign the legal documents to allow the transfer ownership from Petrotrin to Patriotic Energies and Technologies Company. Read more here
EBC makes arrangements for quarantined voters
Individuals in quarantine will be able to file their ballots come the August 10 general elections. And United National Congress Princes Town candidate Barry Padarath will be allowed to file his nominations via an election agent while he spends 14-days in quarantine. This was confirmed on Sunday by Chief Elections Officer of the Elections and Boundaries Commissioner Fern Narcis-Scope, who said the Representation of the People Act allows Padarath to apply to have an election agent file nomination papers on his behalf. Read more here
BUSINESS
Review of equity markets
International market review. The novel coronavirus was declared a global pandemic in early March and triggered a fear that pervaded all sectors and all countries. Read more here
REGIONAL
‘Propaganda’ - Phillips Stands By Hanna, Paulwell As PNP Grapples With Cronyism Scandal
People’s National Party (PNP) President Dr Peter Phillips says his full-throated defence of senior opposition legislators Lisa Hanna and Phillip Paulwell does not mirror Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ position on Dr Andrew Wheatley amid the Petrojam scandal. Speaking with The Gleaner Sunday on the sidelines of a meeting of councillors and councillor caretakers from Regions One and Six at the S Hotel, Phillips said there was no basis on which to compare the actions of Wheatley with Paulwell’s or Hanna’s. “Absolutely not! My defence of Paulwell and Hanna is in no way, shape, or form a reflection of what the Government has done based on the report of the OCG,” Phillips, who is also opposition leader, said of the Office of the Contractor General. Read more here
‘All eyes on CCJ’
Prime Ministerial Candidate of the APNU+AFC and Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan has stated that it would be “totally misguided” and contrary to the Constitution and other binding agreements for the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to rule that it has jurisdiction to hear the elections matter currently before it. On Sunday, the minister expressed his Party’s position on the matter in relation to the Eslyn David V Chief Elections Office et al case, while a guest on 104.3 Power FM radio. He said that while lawyers representing the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) have argued that it is the Court of Appeal’s jurisdiction to rule on the said matter that they question, and not the jurisdiction of the CCJ, Article 177 (4) of the Constitution not only places the ruling on such matters into the remit of the Court of Appeal, but limits the CCJ’s jurisdiction to rule on the said matter subsequently. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Australia to seal off 6.6 million people in virus-hit state as outbreak worsens
Australia will isolate 6.6 million people in the state of Victoria from the rest of the nation at 11.59 p.m. on Tuesday, as authorities take drastic action to control a coronavirus outbreak in the city of Melbourne. The border between Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) -- Australia's two most-populous states -- will be closed for the first time since the pandemic began, Victorian State Premier Daniel Andrews announced Monday. Military personnel and police will line the border, allowing very few people to cross, according to CNN affiliate 7NEWS. Read more here
Xu Zhangrun: Outspoken professor detained in China
6th July 2020