TTMA IN THE NEWS
Illicit trade in Tobacco - A societal issue
Globally, the illicit trade in tobacco products presents a range of economic and social effects that range from adverse impact on public health to tax evasion and the financing of terrorist groups. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one in every ten cigarettes smoked is illicit. [i] Read more here
NEWS
CoP: Cyber threats against the law
Police Commissioner Gary Griffith said no formal complaint is necessary in cases where threats of violence are made over social media. Speaking with Newsday on Sunday, Griffith said he noted several inflammatory remarks being made on social media in the aftermath of last week's general election in which threats were aimed at supporters of various political parties and warned the public that such activity is against the law. He said through the social media unit of the police cyber crime unit, monitoring of social media activity has been effective in tackling threats of violence. Read more here
Man in viral video beating woman arrested and charged
The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) is confirming that a 22-year-old man who was caught on social media beating a woman in the middle of the road, was arrested on Sunday night after the incident. 22-year-old Shaquille Sarjeant will appear before a Chaguanas Magistrate tomorrow, Tuesday 18th August 2020, to answer to charges laid today. A release from the TTPS states that around 9 pm on Sunday 16th August, the Central Command Centre received a domestic violence report, and conveyed the information to officers on mobile patrol. Read more here
POLITICS
Cudjoe happy with PNM’s election strategies in Tobago
Tobago West MP-elect Shamfa Cudjoe said the PNM Tobago Council devised separate strategies for Tobago East and West in the August 10 general election. Speaking to Newsday on Monday, she said the PNM broke tradition for 2020 with its candidates running unique campaigns. Cudjoe won the Tobago West seat by a landslide, earning 9,275 votes while Progressive Democratic Patriots's (PDP) Tashia Grace Burris, her nearest opponent, received 4,501. In the East, PNM's Ayanna Webster-Roy was victorious with 7,127 votes while PDP leader Watson Duke got 5,866. Read more here
Montano, Moonan join call for Kamla to step down
Longtime UNC stalwart and commentator Robin Montano has been critical of the United National Congress’ (UNC’s) leader staying on the job and the UNC’s Rabindra Moonan has also frowned on any vote of confidence being given to a “serial loser.” Theirs are the latest in continuing comments on the UNC’s leadership issue following the party’s defeat by the People’s National Movement (PNM) in last Monday’s general election. Read more here
BUSINESS
Thousands chip down The Virtual Road
COVID-19 has caused events all around the world to be cancelled. But the organisers of the Toronto Carnival decided they were not going to allow the pandemic to rain on their parade. And so the concept of The Virtual Road was born. The Toronto Carnival was held online this year replacing the regular Grande Parade, Aneesa Oumarally the chief executive officer at Festival Management Committee the producers of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival told Guardian Media. Read more here
Tobago beach restaurants brace for second shutdown
Food shops and restaurants at the Pigeon Point Beach Facility are bracing for slow sales with the closure of the country’s beaches for the next 28 days. Read more here
REGIONAL
Virus Caution To Crash Colourful Nomination Party
With a worrying rise in the number of Jamaicans contracting COVID-19 in the last week, prospective election candidates who plan to crank up their political machinery in a show of strength today – nomination day – are being warned that campaign activities should be restrained. That alarm comes amid Monday’s revelation of 16 new coronavirus cases, with infections surging to 1,129. Half of the newest cases are linked to Kingston and St Andrew (eight), with six in Clarendon, as concerns rise about the virus wending its way through densely populated cities and towns amid a looming general election. St Thomas and Manchester each recorded one new confirmed case. Read more here
Key foreign posts announced
Audrey Waddell has been appointed permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and new positions have been announced for former Ministers Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Robert Persaud and Carl Greenidge. Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd made these announcements on Monday evening. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Michelle Obama makes a moral case against Donald Trump
Former first lady Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention was not just a powerful condemnation of President Donald Trump's record and handling of the pandemic, it was an appeal aimed at the heart and conscience of every American who has watched the chaos of the last four years and yearned to make things right. Reprising her role as "the closer" -- this time for former Vice President Joe Biden on the convention's opening night -- Obama spoke as the wife of a former President who has seen "the immense weight and awesome power" of the presidency up close. She spoke as a mother trying to teach empathy and instill "a strong moral foundation" in her daughters. And she spoke as an American pained "to see so many people hurting" at a time when the coronavirus has claimed more than 170,000 lives in the US and cast millions into unemployment. Read more here
Wuhan coronavirus: From silent streets to packed pools
Thousands of people packed shoulder-to-shoulder with no face masks in sight, frolicking on rubber floats and cheering along to a music festival. It's not a very 2020 image, but it was the scene this weekend in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where Covid-19 first emerged late last year.
18th August 2020