NEWS

TT welcomes New Zealand High Commissioner

New Zealand is not one of this country’s major trade partners, nor is it a significant aid donor to this country or other Caricom states, yet cooperation between the two and other small island states have a global impact on issues such as combating the effects of climate change. The New Zealand High Commission hosted a reception at Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain on Thursday, where recently-accredited high commissioner to TT Anton Ojala, addressing a gathering of diplomats and government officials, said cooperating on such issues, such as addressing climate change, has shown to be more impactful to both countries than existing trade arrangements. Read more here

3 cops charged with misbehaviour in office

An act­ing po­lice sergeant and two po­lice con­sta­bles at­tached to the Ch­agua­nas Rob­bery Squad will ap­pear be­fore a Port-of-Spain Mag­is­trate on Tues­day af­ter they were all charged with mis­be­hav­iour in pub­lic of­fice. The charge arose out of an in­ci­dent last Thurs­day in which they al­leged­ly de­mand­ed mon­ey from a Cen­tral busi­ness­man. The 51-year-old Cen­tral busi­ness­man re­port­ed that he went to pur­chase a mo­tor ve­hi­cle in Cen­tral Trinidad when he was con­front­ed by three men, one of whom al­leged­ly point­ed a firearm at him and de­mand­ed he hand over $50,000 in cash. Read more here

POLITICS

Khan: Shell, EOG, BP and BHP still on board

Energy Minister Franklin Khan has reported that international oil companies (IOCs) Shell, BP, BHP and EOG have assured their continued investment in the upstream sector in TT contrary to negative assertions by detractors. "It is this commitment that has resulted in an increase in gas production from 3.3 bcf (billion cubic feet) per day in 2016 to the current rate of 3.8 bcf per day." He made the comment yesterday while providing a statement on Government's strengthening of the energy sector and provided an update on the outcome of negotiations between a team led by the Prime Ministers and the IOCs. Read more here

Kamla vows to challenge FOIA changes

Any at­tempt by the Gov­ern­ment to sti­fle the pub­lic's free­dom to in­for­ma­tion will be met with court ac­tion, Op­po­si­tion Leader Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar warned on Mon­day night. Al­though de­bate on the Mis­cel­la­neous Pro­vi­sions (Tax Amnesty, Pen­sions, Free­doms of In­for­ma­tion, Na­tion­al In­sur­ance, Cen­tral Bank and non-prof­it or­gan­i­sa­tions) Bill 2019 had been sched­uled for Par­lia­ment, Per­sad-Bisses­sar took time off to at­tend the Unit­ed Na­tion­al Con­gress' Mon­day Night Fo­rum at Na­pari­ma Col­lege in San Fer­nan­do. Read more here

BUSINESS

Reduce electricity wastage urges Le Hunte

Should T&T con­serve 10 per cent of the gas it cur­rent­ly us­es T&TEC would save TT$100 mil­lion per an­num. And if that gas is sold on the in­ter­na­tion­al mar­ket, this coun­try could earn an ad­di­tion­al TT$200 mil­lion per an­num, amount­ing to a to­tal of TT$300 per an­num, said Pub­lic Util­i­ties Min­is­ter Robert Le Hunte who was speak­ing at the En­er­gy Cham­ber’s en­er­gy ef­fi­cien­cy and re­new­ables con­fer­ence held at the Hilton Ho­tel, on Mon­day. Read more here

REGIONAL

Victims Again - Years After Beheading, Kingston Family Finds Going Tough In Crime-Plagued Clarendon

Five years after Karen Rainford was beheaded by the father of four of her six children in Mountain View, St Andrew, her elderly mother and children are desperately seeking a safer home after jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. The four children and their grandmother, Arlene Campbell, have been sharing a small two-bedroom board and concrete hovel in the crime-ridden community of Effortville, otherwise called ‘Farm’, in Clarendon since their mother’s death. At least 10 persons have reportedly been killed in Effortville in recent months, as gunmen put Clarendon under siege. Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

A Russian journalist was arrested on drug charges. The backlash has blindsided the Kremlin

At first glance, the arrest of investigative journalist Ivan Golunov seemed to be the latest in a string of attacks on the free press in Russia. The reporter was brought up last week on what to many appeared to be a fabricated drugs charge. But the response to his detainment took the Kremlin -- and Russian society -- by surprise. For starters, Golunov's arrest prompted an outpouring of journalistic solidarity. Over the weekend, Russian reporters took turns staging solo protests, lining up to hold placards outside the Moscow branch of Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs. Those single-person pickets -- which do not require a permit -- continued into Monday evening. Read more here

Danube boat accident: More bodies found as vessel is raised in Hungary

Four more bodies have been recovered after salvage crews raised the wreck of a tourist boat that sank on the Danube in Budapest last month. A floating crane raised The Mermaid to the surface, allowing divers to enter. The boat was carrying South Korean tourists when it was hit by a cruise ship and capsized, killing 20 passengers and leaving eight missing. Recovery efforts by Hungarian and South Korean teams have been hampered by high water levels in the Danube. Footage from the scene on Tuesday morning showed the cabin and upper deck of the boat emerge from the water and divers carry out a search for victims still trapped inside. Read more here

11th June 2019

Back