NEWS
Missing Carli Bay man’s body found at sea
Bruised and entangled in a net, the body of missing Carli Bay fisherman Parasram Boodoo was fished out of the Gulf of Paria yesterday afternoon, two days after he and another fisherman went missing in what police believe to be another pirate attack.
Last night, two people were in police custody after officers retrieved the stolen boat and engine at Granville, Cedros. Read more here…
PAHO: COVID-19 cases dropping in countries with more vaccines
As COVID-19 infections and deaths continue to decrease in the Americas, the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) says the inequity of vaccine access proves that vaccinations are working.
During PAHO’s weekly COVID-19 briefing yesterday, director Dr Carissa Etienne said last week’s data had showed that infection rates were decreasing in countries with higher vaccine coverage, while increasing in countries that had barely vaccinated their populations. Read more here…
BUSINESS
bpTT gas production plummets
The continued massive fall in bpTT’s natural gas production is the main reason for the gas shortage the country continues to grapple with.
A Cabinet Note, which the Business Guardian has obtained a copy of from the Office of the Prime Minister, has revealed that bpTT’s production in May averaged just over 1 billion standard cubic feet per day (bscf/d) which is just over a half of the size of its average production last year and shows the almost free-fall in its output since the end of 2020. Read more here…
Chief Sec: Covid19 cost Tobago $300m in tourism
THA Chief Secretary Ancil Dennis estimates that Tobago’s tourism sector has lost more than $300 million since the start of the covid19 pandemic in March 2020.
Dennis gave the figure on Wednesday at the post executive council news conference, Victor E Bruce Financial Complex, Scarborough. Read more here…
POLITICS
Rock Hard loses lawsuit against Trade Ministry
St Lucia-based cement importer Rock Hard Distribution Limited (RHDL) and its local distributor have lost their lawsuit against the Ministry of Trade and Industry over the Government’s move to introduce a quota and licensing regime for the importation of cement.
Delivering a draft judgment on Monday, High Court Judge Jacqueline Wilson dismissed the companies’ lawsuit over the issue.
The companies filed the lawsuit earlier this year in response to a decision taken by the ministry in November last year, to cap the annual importation of cement at 75,000 tonnes. Read more here…
MP Haynes on de Nobriga's 'joke': Nobody's laughing with you
TABAQUITE MP Anita Haynes says Communications Minister Symon de Nobriga’s recent “joke” about giving State-owned media exclusive access to certain events while restricting independent media has “uncovered a lot of issues.”
She said the “foot in mouth situation” is no laughing matter.
On Saturday, there were reports of media having restricted access while covering the repatriation of Venezuelans from the Cruise Ship Complex, Port of Spain, with state-owned TTT being allowed access beyond a certain point. Read more here…
REGIONAL
UNICEF donates two million water purification tablets
THE United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has handed over two million water purification tablets to the Civil Defence Commission (CDC). UNICEF representative, Irfan Akhtar, stated that clean water is essential for life, especially during times of flooding. Read more here…
Gov’t could impose new COVID measures as numbers spike
Prime Minister Andrew Holness has indicated that there could be a further tightening of the COVID containment measures as the number of infections and deaths continue to rise.
In June, there was an average 52 COVID cases per day, however, so far in July, there have been 62 cases per day. Read more here…
INTERNATIONAL
Death toll rises as passengers recount horror of China subway floods
At least 33 people have died and eight remain missing in central China, as authorities ramp up rescue and recovery efforts following devastating floods that submerged entire neighborhoods, trapped passengers in subway cars, caused landslides and overwhelmed dams and rivers.
Torrential rains have battered Henan province since last weekend, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and causing 1.22 billion yuan (about $190 million) of economic damage, Henan authorities said Thursday. Read more here…
Olympics opening ceremony director sacked for Holocaust joke
Footage of Kentaro Kobayashi from the 1990s recently emerged in which he appears to be making jokes about the Holocaust. Japan's Olympic chief Seiko Hashimoto said the video ridiculed "painful facts of history". Read more here…
22nd July 2021