NEWS
Pools still off limits
Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh said the use of public pools for any purpose remains off limits, in keeping with the covid19 protocols. Deyalsingh was speaking at the ministry’s virtual press conference on Monday morning. Read more here
John-Williams confirms doing business with ECOTEC
Former T&T Football Association boss David John-Williams has further confirmed findings of a CNC3 investigative documentary titled “TTFA’s Secret Panama Trail” by admitting for the first time that he brokered a deal with the Panama-based company ECOTEC for structural materials for the Home of Football project in Couva. Furthermore, he says he paid ECOTEC US$282,418.97 (TT$1.97m) upfront for their services in February 2018, as the documentary also uncovered. Read more here
POLITICS
Mayor: Chaguanas starved of funds by Govt
Chaguanas Mayor Faaiq Mohammed has claimed the borough is being starved of funds by the PNM government. He was speaking Monday night at the virtual UNC report. “Local government is the lifeline of communities and it is being stifled and robbed by this PNM government.” He claimed funding was constantly being decreased by the PNM government for the periods 2017, 2018 and 2019. Read more here
Election not to blame for COVID-19 spread – Deyalsingh
Several unanswered questions are surrounding the country’s second phase of COVID-19 infections and the Ministry of Health is yet to conclusively state what catalysed this second phase and what caused the sustained community transmission of the virus for the past two months. But according to Minister of Health, Terrence Deyalsingh, the election is not to be blamed. “One of the peaks which Dr Hinds mentioned was the peak in September which was way after the election and would seem to coincide with that last lap with the weekend. That was way after the election so let’s deal with facts,” Minister Deyalsingh said in response to a question during yesterday’s virtual press conference. Read more here
BUSINESS
Free LED bulb distribution starts today
The 1.6 million LED bulbs promised by the Government will be distributed to some 400,000 T&TEC residential customers starting today. Read more here
REGIONAL
CDC Changes, Then Retracts, Web Posting On How Virus Spreads
The top U.S. public health agency stirred confusion by posting — and then taking down — an apparent change in its position on how easily the coronavirus can spread from person to person through the air. But officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say their position has not really changed and that the post last week on the agency’s website was an error that has been taken down. Read more here
COVID-19 reveals bottlenecks faced by developing countries
THE novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has undermined many of the development gains of past decades and has revealed the development bottlenecks faced by developing countries around the world, said President Dr Irfaan Ali. The President was delivering his inaugural address to the United Nations (UN) on behalf of the Group of 77 and China on Monday. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
The Pandemic was the one chance we had
Covid-19 has devastated the global economy and forced governments around the world to pour trillions into the recovery effort. The pandemic could have been the decisive moment in the fight against climate change -- an opportunity for leaders to bail out the environment and pivot the planet toward a greener future. Instead, CNN has found that some of the biggest fossil fuel-producing countries are injecting taxpayer money into propping up polluting industries. And exclusive new data shows these decisions are taking the world a step closer to a climate catastrophe. Read more here
FinCEN Files: UK bank may have moved money 'linked to terror activity'
A British bank moved money that may have been linked to terrorist financing, leaked documents show. Standard Chartered Bank processed almost $12m (£9.4m) in payments for Jordan's Arab Bank from 2014 to 2016. In 2016, Standard Chartered filed a report alerting authorities to more than 900 transactions that it suspected might have been for "illicit activities under the guise of charity". The report raised concerns about "possible terrorist financing". The payments were reviewed after a US jury in 2014 found Arab Bank had knowingly provided banking services to the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the early 2000s. Read more here
22nd September 2020