NEWS
Ashworth: Light a candle to dispel darkness
“We can waste time cursing the darkness or we can light a candle” So says, Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) political leader Ashworth Jack as he responded to the recent controversial statements about Tobagonians made by Maha Sabha general secretary Sat Maharaj. Speaking with Newsday on Saturday, Jack said: “There are things that irresponsible leaders do and say to some people who are easily riled by stupidity. I want to admonish every leader – whether it be religious, political or otherwise – that they have a responsibility to do more to hold our society together…You might have your own personal feelings, but we also need to be careful how (we) react to something said by someone we know that’s the nature of the people.” Read more here
CoP revamping OCIU after bad Buju raid
Police Commissioner Gary Griffith says a police search of the hotel room of Jamaican reggae artiste Buju Banton (real name Mark Myrie) may have been the last act for the Organised Crime and Intelligence Unit (OCIU) of the police service. In an interview with Guardian Media yesterday, Griffith announced a major overhaul of the unit in the wake of the incident, saying while he had been contemplating it before the embarrassment of the Banton raid made it an absolute necessity now. He said the decision by the OCIU to search Banton’s hotel room on Saturday could have started an inter-island feud. Read more here
POLITICS
An Easter to forget...on the east coast
Member of Parliament for Mayaro Rushton Paray said his constituents and visitors should brace for a miserable Easter weekend as the coastal community has been without a supply of pipe-borne water for more than two weeks. Paray described the situation as “the worst water crisis Mayaro has ever experienced”. Read more here
BUSINESS
Bank hunts for hackers
The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT) says it is conducting a survey to determine the adequacy of financial institutions’ cybersecurity frameworks to assess security measures currently in place by institutions to lower the risk of loss. The CBTT said last week it has taken note that cyber risk has become a key operational risk impacting licences given the high prevalence of cyberattacks on the networks of financial institutions. Read more here
REGIONAL
Third Man Held In 8-Y-O’s Murder Probe
Investigators have taken a third man into custody in relation to the murder of eight-year-old Shantae Skyers of Sterling Castle Heights, St Andrew. This brings to three the number of persons now being questioned by investigators. “One other man is being held in connection to the murder of little Shantae and is being questioned by investigators, while the two men who were taken in last week by the police remain in lock-up,” Assistant Superintendent Dahlia Garrick, head of the police’s Corporate Communications Unit (CCU), told The Gleaner. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Democrats may not be learning the right lessons on impeachment
History can be a wise teacher, but it's also crucial to take the right lessons. Confronted with a should-they-or-shouldn't-they proposal on impeachment, Democrats worry that if they fail to learn history's lessons, they are doomed to repeat them. As they held a conference call to consider the Mueller report on Monday, party leaders in the House tried to resist falling into the same trap as Republicans who tried to oust President Bill Clinton and paid a heavy short-term political price. They also stepped up their post-Mueller investigations by subpoenaing President Donald Trump's former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify in their investigation into whether the President obstructed justice, even as Trump sued to block another committee from accessing his financial records. Read more here
Sri Lanka attacks: Mass funerals held as nation mourns
23rd April 2019