NEWS
Education Ministry: No need for panic at head office
The Ministry of Education denied rumours that a member of staff employed at head office at the Education Towers, St Vincent Street, Port of Spain has tested positive for covid19. In a release Wednesday, the ministry said it was reported to the executive team that a staff member was identified as part of a contact trace investigation for the virus. Immediate action was taken and the officer was removed from the compound and arrangements made with National Maintenance and Technical Services Ltd (NMTS) to sanitise all affected areas of the building as recommended by the health authorities. Read more here
CoP to target bars, motorcades breaching protocols
Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith has heard Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s call for increased policing of bars after it was discovered some of the cases of the latest wave of COVID-19 infections were contracted in such establishments. However, Griffith says he will not stop there as his sights are also now trained on political motorcades which have morphed into “mobile bars.” In a brief telephone interview with Guardian Media yesterday, Griffith said the police’s duty is to uphold the laws of the country and the mandate for regulating the operations of bars is set out in the public health regulations. However, with the August 10 General Election just four days away, Griffith said political motorcades have also been a problem. Read more here
POLITICS
Fake declaration against Padarath, a real advertisement
Princes Town candidate for the PNM Sharon Baboolal on Wednesday said she had no time to comment on a political advertisement bearing a striking resemblance to an official declaration advising voters not to vote for opponent Barry Padarath. Newsday spoke with Baboolal twice yesterday on the issue. When first called, she said she needed to speak with her campaign manager before answering. When called a second time, she said she was “busy” and “had no time for that.” Read more here
Nafeesa blasts PM on UNC platform
Former PNM Senator Nafeesa Mohammed has accused the party’s political leader, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley of “disgraceful behaviour,” and advised him to “get some help,” saying he needs “serious treatment.” Speaking on Tuesday evening at a meeting in El Socorro in support of the UNC Candidate for Barataria/San Juan. Mohammed took umbrage with statements made by the PNM political leader at a meeting in Chaguanas East: “What really trip me off, I could not believe my ears when I got a clip of Dr Keith Christopher Rowley speaking at a political meeting, I think in the constituency that Clarence seeking to represent and he had the audacity to say that I became a senior legal adviser to the Prime Minister because I could not feed my family.” Read more here
BUSINESS
How parties plan to drive TT economy forward
The PNM and UNC, the two political parties which are likely to form the next government after August 10, seemed to have missed the point about what is really needed to develop TT in the face of the ongoing covid19 pandemic, volatile energy prices and other economic challenges. The other political parties contesting the election are offering the population nothing in terms of concrete ideas for national development. This was the opinion of former PNM government minister Mariano Browne. In an interview with Business Day on Monday, Browne said the UNC’S manifesto laid out “very specific and measurable targets but no really clear statements of how they intend to achieve them.” Read more here
Khan: T&T to remain ‘largely untouched’
“The game is changing and therefore Trinidad will have to change with it.” This was the comment made the Energy Minister Franklin Khan yesterday as he responded to recent developments taking place in BP the parent company of bpTT. BP has said it is not going to explore for hydrocarbons in any new jurisdictions. The company in a significant statement of intent also indicated that it plans, by 2030, to reduce its output of oil and gas by a whopping 40 per cent and that it will reduce its Capital Expenditure to between US $9 and $11 billion annually. Read more here
REGIONAL
New Cabinet a mixture of youth, experience
President Irfaan Ali on Wednesday swore in a 19-member Cabinet comprising a mixture of youthful and well experienced individuals, who have all expressed that they are eager to bring about positive change in Guyana. The swearing-in ceremony took place at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) and was attended by Prime Minister Mark Phillips; Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo; Attorney General Anil Nandlall and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira who had all been previously appointed. Read more here
COVID concern soars as election fever rises
Pressure is growing on the Holness administration to expedite the drafting of stricter rules governing crowd control at political events to safeguard against coronavirus risks amid heightened anticipation of a general election. Nudges for a muscling up of the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA) – which gives teeth to the policing of conduct in public and private spaces – come at a time when COVID-19 infections have risen to 928, as at August 5, with eight new cases recorded over the last 24 hours. Of the 121 active cases, seven patients are moderately ill, and 40 people have been hospitalised. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Facebook and Twitter restrict Trump accounts over 'harmful' virus claim
Facebook and Twitter have penalised Donald Trump and his campaign for posts in which the president claimed children were "almost immune" to coronavirus. Facebook deleted the post - a clip from an interview Mr Trump gave to Fox News - saying it contained "harmful Covid misinformation". Twitter followed by saying it had frozen a Trump campaign account until a tweet of the same clip was removed. US public health advice makes clear children have no immunity to Covid-19. Read more here
A Russian ship's cargo of dangerous ammonium nitrate was stranded in Beirut port for years
As Lebanon's investigation into the devastating blast in Beirut continues, officials have pointed to a possible cause: A massive shipment of agricultural fertilizer that authorities say was stored in the port of Beirut without safety precautions for years -- despite warnings by local officials. Documents newly reviewed by CNN reveal that a shipment of 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate arrived in Beirut on a Russian-owned vessel in 2013. The ship, named the MV Rhosus, was destined for Mozambique -- but stopped in Beirut due to financial difficulties that also created unrest with the ship's Russian and Ukrainian crew. Read more here
6th August 2020