NEWS
Passport kiosks working
Automated passport kiosks at Piarco Airport are working. In a statement yesterday, the Airports Authority said all automated passport kiosks in the immigration hall at the airport are “fully functional” and were all operational at Piarco last Sunday. Newsday was informed that the kiosks were not working last Sunday. The non functioning of the kiosks resulted in some of the longest lines in the arrival terminal at the airport and an inconvenice to people returning to TT over the long weekend. Read more here
Survivor to police: Be more sensitive to victims
A 55-year-old domestic violence survivor on Monday recounted her life of terror as she called for police officers to be better trained and have more sensitivity when dealing with domestic violence victims and cases. The St Vincentian national, who has been living in T&T for the past 37 years, knows all too well about how dangerous and deadly domestic violence can be. Read more here
POLITICS
Young corrects Mark
National Security Minister Stuart Young yesterday corrected UNC Senator Wade Mark on the standing of TT in the US Department of State’s report on Trafficking in Persons on this country’s Tier 2 Level rating. During the Urgent Questions section in the Lower House yesterday, Mark asked Young what measures were being taken to improve TT’s rating as the report stated that TT has not met the minimum standards for elimination of human trafficking. Read more here
Rowley should have avoided bait
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley should not have ventured into a tit-for-tat situation with the United States. So said former director of the University of the West Indies Institute of International Relations Prof Andy Knight in response to Rowley's attack last Friday on the US State Department for T&T's ranking in their 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report which placed the country at Tier 2. Read more here
BUSINESS
$100,000 funding for Carli Bay Fish Festival
The Carli Bay Fish Festival received a timely injection of cash to the tune of $100,000 from the Proman Group which operates at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate. The cheque was handed over to the Carli Bay Fishermen Association at the Couva Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce facilities on Camden Road. Collis Williams, manager at Proman, said the company which controls IPS, Methanol Holdings and Denovo among others, plans to share what it can with fenceline communities and take an active role in upcoming events. Read more here
REGIONAL
Sept PNP Run-Off - NEC Recommends Presidential Polls Two Weeks Before Conference
The Peter Bunting Rise United camp’s opposition to a much earlier special delegates’ conference for the run-off between himself and Phillips in a People’s National Party (PNP) leadership race has seemingly paid off, with the National Executive Council (NEC) recommending that the showdown be held in September, two weeks before the party’s annual conference. Phillips and his camp had been hoping for an early run-off, with a proposed period of late July. Read more here
GuySuCo aims to produce over 50,000 tonnes of white sugar by 2022
The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) is aiming to produce over 50,000 tonnes of white sugar at the Albion Estate by 2022. It hopes to supply both the regional and local markets with this produce, GuySuCo announced in a release to the media. The local market consumption for white sugar is approximately 20,000 tonnes and the Sugar Company says it intends to meet all or most of the local market requirements. GuySuCo stated that the Albion Factory will be reconfigured with the flexibility to produce both brown and white sugar. Company officials on Wednesday met with the Foreign Trade Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where they discussed GuySuCo’s Strategic Plan for 2019-2021. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Johnson defends Brexit plan and 'row' silence
What shooting down a $110M US drone tells us about Iran
The Iranian downing of an RQ-4A Global Hawk on Thursday is thought to have been the first time one of the Pentagon's surveillance workhorses has been shot out of the sky. Aside from the fact the incident nearly risked taking the United States and Iran to war for a few hours, it was also stark evidence of an escalation in Tehran's military capabilities. "They work," said Jeremy Binnie, Middle East and North Africa editor at Jane's Defence Weekly, of Iran's air defenses. The incident "highlights that when the Iranians really make investment, it can really count," he told CNN. Read more here
25th June 2019