NEWS
Japan blanks Carnival: Fear lingers 2 years after Asami’s murder
Fear has led to Japanese people virtually blanking TT Carnival this year, almost two years after one of their own, Asami Nagakiya, was strangled and her body dumped under a tree at the Queen’s Park Savannah. To date, her killer has not been found. This fear factor was confirmed yesterday by ace pan arranger Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharpe and Yoichi Watanabe, a Japanese who teaches music technology and audio engineering at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). Read more here
New methods needed to combat crime—Seales
One of the nominees for the post of Police Commissioner has admitted that deploying manpower in known criminal “hot spots” may not be the most effective way of combating crime. President of the Police Social and Welfare Association Insp Michael Seales said the initiative which has been used in past five years was not bearing results. Read more here
Male Pupils Touching Female Teachers
The provocative way some female teachers dress leads to inappropriate touching by male pupils. The National Parent Teacher Association (NPTA) therefore says a conversation is needed about the manner in which some female teachers dress for the classroom. Read more here
POLITICS
Charles: Govt wasting Parliament time
Naparima MP Rodney Charles accused the Government of wasting Parliament’s time by their allegedly poor replies to listed questions to ministers posed by the Opposition. In a statement, he called for “genuine responses” by the Government to let citizens fully understand the reasoning behind their decision-making. Read more here
Garcia downplays Valencia school fight
Education Minister Anthony Garcia has accused the media of sensationalizing a fracas at the Valencia High School earlier this week. In an interview at his ministry yesterday, Garcia claimed that reports, which alleged that teachers had locked themselves in classrooms during the incident, were untrue based on a report he received from the school’s principal. Read more here
BUSINESS
NEDCO offers VSEP to staff
Voluntary separation of employment (VSEP) packages were yesterday offered to staff of the National Entrepreneurship Development Company Limited (NEDCO). The announcement was made by chairman Clarry Benn during a special staff assembly in El Socorro, the main purpose of which, NEDCO said, “was to bring them up to date on decisions taken by the board to restructure and rebrand the company.” Read more here
Govt denies PSIP funds used to build pool
As public ire continues to grow following the announcement that government had spent TT $7.6 million to build a new pool and pool deck at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, officials have again sought to justify the expense as they claimed the money did not come from the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP). Instead, they said the upgrade was internally funded by eTecK. Read more here
REGIONAL
Regular Heroes - Even Children Gave Their Mite To Walker's Place Of Safety
There was no handing over of mock cheques, let alone media, on hand for publicity. However, the contributions made by many ordinary Jamaicans in the aftermath of the inferno that swallowed the Walker's Place of Safety is just as significant as the big bucks forked out by corporate Jamaica and wealthy citizens, the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) has asserted. In fact, the CPFSA yesterday lauded the charitable spirit of ordinary Jamaicans, stating that they, above all, recognised the need first and acted with the little that they had. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Kenya TV shutdown: Court suspends stations' ban
Trump squares off with a (new) FBI director
President Donald Trump has already canned one FBI director. Now's he's getting close to the point of no return with his replacement. The bureau's public call for the White House to halt publication of a Republican memo condemning its conduct in the Russia investigation puts FBI Director Christopher Wray in open conflict with the President -- and his job on the line. The statement expressing "grave concerns" about the release of the memo, possibly as soon as Thursday, was more significant than the usual wrangling inside the US government over the release of intelligence material. Read more here
1st February 2018