NEWS

Non-voters have no faith in 2 big parties

Historically, voter turnout for local government elections is low. The exact numbers will be revealed by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) in the near future. However, there is a common assumption that young people are not engaged in the electoral process, but the EBC does not give disaggregated data on voter turnout based on age, leaving it impossible to know the age of voters or if the youth demographic was less engaged than the rest of the voter population. This was confirmed by Bobbi Rogers, manager of corporate communication at the EBC. Read more here

Most influenza deaths from high-risk group—Ministry

The Min­istry of Health has said that of­fi­cials have con­duct­ed an epi­demi­o­log­i­cal ex­am­i­na­tion of the in­fluen­za deaths for this sea­son and it has been not­ed that the ma­jor­i­ty of the per­sons who have died from in­fluen­za this sea­son ex­hib­it­ed at least one of the fol­low­ing char­ac­ter­is­tics:

• 65 years of age or old­er;

• Five years of age of less

• Di­a­bet­ic

• Hy­per­ten­sive

• Obese

Read more here

POLITICS

One Tobago Voice gets chewed out

Former senator and MP for Tobago East Nathaniel Moore caused quite an uproar when he openly bitterly criticised the leaders of the One Tobago Voice (OTV). On Sunday, the leaders of the new coalition party – Ho­choy Charles of the Plat­form of Truth (TPT), Tobago Forwards leader Christlyn Moore and Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) leader Ashworth Jack – met with their mem­ber­s in Bon Accord. The purpose of the meeting was to rat­i­fy the 24 articles of the con­sti­tu­tion of OTV. This meeting was the fourth conversation on "Uniting the peoples of Tobago" to take charge of their destiny and to address the challenges affecting Tobago and its people, and consisted of 60 registered participants. Read more here

EBC: Voter turnout 34%, UNC wins popular vote

The Elec­tion and Bound­aries Com­mis­sion (EBC) says the vot­er turnout in Mon­day's Lo­cal Gov­ern­ment Elec­tions was 34.49 per cent of the vot­ing pop­u­la­tion. This rep­re­sents a mi­nor in­crease over the turnout in the 2016 Lo­cal Gov­ern­ment elec­tions, which was 34.34 per cent. In a state­ment is­sued Tues­day night, the EBC said that of an elec­torate of 1,079,976 in the 139 elec­toral dis­tricts in Trinidad, to­tal votes cast were 372,503. The Unit­ed Na­tion­al Con­gress re­ceived the pop­u­lar vote with 202,584 votes or 54.38% of the to­tal votes cast. Read more here

BUSINESS

Regents provides executive treatment

Dial­y­sis is an ex­treme­ly time-con­sum­ing process. Each he­modial­y­sis treat­ment usu­al­ly lasts up to four hours and can be re­quired up to three times a week. No mat­ter how long it takes, though, those suf­fer­ing from kid­ney dis­ease need to put in the time, be­cause it could lit­er­al­ly be a mat­ter of life and death. Those re­quir­ing dial­y­sis need to struc­ture their lives around their treat­ment. Aman­da Ra­hael, how­ev­er, wants to change that and give peo­ple a chance to re­claim their lives and fit treat­ment in­to their sched­ule in­stead. As re­sult, she has opened Re­gents Dial­y­sis; an ex­ec­u­tive dial­y­sis treat­ment ser­vice, with ex­clu­sive and pri­vate treat­ment, and per­son­al nurs­ing. Read more here

UWI scientist gets Anthony Sabga award

Local astronomer and microbiologist Dr Shirin Haque is among the 2020 lau­re­ates in the An­tho­ny N Sab­ga Caribbean Awards for Ex­cel­lence. Haque was selected for the award in the field of Science and Technology. Read more here

REGIONAL

Exxon applies to drill 31 more wells

ESSO Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, has applied to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the authorisation to explore 31 wells in three oil blocks offshore Guyana. A notice published by the EPA, on Tuesday, indicated that the projects include a 25- well exploration programme in the Stabroek Block; a 3-well exploration programme in Kaieteur Block and a 3-well exploration programme in Canje Block. The EPA has screened each application and found that they will not significantly affect the environment and are therefore exempt from the requirement of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). However, EEPGL will have to present an Environmental Assessment and Management Plan for the projects. “The Environmental Assessment and Management Plan will assess any possible impacts to the environment and, or, human health, and detail specific mitigation measures to be undertaken to ensure that the proposed project is implemented in an environmentally-sound and sustainable manner,” the notice stated. Read more here

Edna Lecturer Faces Axe - Board Wants To Boot Accused; Principal’s Fate Still In The Balance As Sexual Harassment Probe Continues

While the fate of the principal of the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, Dr Nicholeen DeGrasse Johnson, remains uncertain, a male lecturer at the centre of a sexual harassment scandal brought to light by The Gleaner in May is set to be sacked. Karl Samuda, the Cabinet minister with responsibility for the education portfolio, made the revelation in the House of Representatives yesterday. Samuda was responding to a raft of questions posed by the opposition spokesman on education, Peter Bunting, who joined colleagues in a walkout after Samuda refused to withdraw “unparliamentary utterances”. Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

A grave charge and a momentous turn in the Trump impeachment inquiry

The stunningly consequential accusation spelled out in the Democrats' impeachment report represents the most sweeping effort yet to capture the span of President Donald Trump's alleged offense and to boil it into a crisp indictment. In effect, the 300-page House Intelligence Committee summary of witness testimony, timelines and phone records accused Trump of perpetrating one of the most serious political crimes in the history of the United States. The report is a roadmap toward formal articles of impeachment -- an argument to a nation split in two on Trump's political fate that there is no alternative but to remove him from office 11 months before the next general election over his pressure on Ukraine for political favors. Read more here

Tetsu Nakamura: Japanese doctor among six dead in Afghan gun attack

A Japanese doctor who devoted his career to improving the lives of Afghans has died, after being injured in an attack in eastern Afghanistan. Gunmen shot Tetsu Nakamura, 73, while he was travelling in a car to monitor a project, officials say. Five Afghans were also killed in the attack, which happened in the city of Jalalabad. Dr Nakamura headed a Japanese charity focused on improving irrigation in the country. In October this year, he was awarded honorary citizenship from the Afghan government for his humanitarian work. Read more here

4th December 2019

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