Daily Brief - Thursday 26th April, 2018

NEWS

Death after rum bottle to head

A father of one who was struck on the head with a rum bottle has died. Roshan Ramdial, 43, died at the San Fernando General Hospital last Thursday night, the day after he was injured. An autopsy on Friday revealed he died of blunt force cranio-cerebral trauma. Last Wednesday evening Ramdial was at a birthday party at a neighbour’s house near his Railway Reserve Road, Princes Town home when he and a 32-year-old man had an argument. Reports said the man picked up a rum bottle and hit Ramdial on the head. Ramdial was taken to the Princes Town District Health Facility and later transferred to the hospital, where he died the next day. Read more here

Free grad dresses, suits for students

A young couple from Penal is giving deserving secondary students across the country the chance to go out in style for their final days in school by offering free graduation dresses and suits on loan. Karissa Collin and her husband Anjit Rennie Gopiesingh, who heads the Penal/Debe Community Organisation, said they were offering an opportunity to students who wanted to attend their graduation but could not because of the high cost of suits and dresses usually sold for the annual exercises at schools across the country. Read more here

Guyanese writer wins second Burt Award

Guyanese writer Imam Baksh was last night presented with the 2018 CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature. It was the second time Baksh had won the award. Read more here

 

POLITICS

Mayor shuts down Charlotte Street Market

Port of Spain Mayor Joel Martinez has admitted the City Council did not consult with vendors who operate along the Charlotte Street Heritage Route Market, when they made the decision to shut it down yesterday at a special caucus. Instead of plying their trade, he has now invited vendors to use the Central Market on Abattoir Road in the interim, or else wait until the new location two blocks east at the site of the old Angostura Bond Building, between Nelson and George streets, is opened. The decision, Martinez said, needed to be made as soon as possible, to expedite development of the site. Read more here

Opposition wants info from T&T

The Venezuelan Parliament, which has an opposition majority, will be sending an official request to the T&T Government for information regarding the circumstances surrounding Saturday’s repatriation of 82 Venezuelan nationals. According to online news site NTN24 Venezuela, which has over 1.3 million viewers, the decision by the opposition National Assembly was prompted by the criticism put forward by the United Nations Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) regarding the exercise.Deputy Carlos Valero, in his announcement, said, “We are going to meet with the largest number of people who have been affected, to request a formal meeting to the Embassy here in Caracas from the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and if possible we will try to mobilise there to follow up.” Read more here

Former ambassadors write Dillon

Three former United Nations ambassadors calling themselves “SOY VENEZUELA” have written to National Security Minister Edmund Dillon expressing concern that Venezuelans in Trinidad have been “arrested, ill-treated and returned to their country, without due administrative procedure and without consideration of their human rights.” Read more here

 

BUSINESS

Original Bar-B-Que franchise

Twenty-one years after he established the Original Bar-B-Que Hut halal brand, David Bukhal is on the verge of franchising his business model. Bukhal’s vision is to see his signs and logos all over the country and his product being enjoyed by barbecue lovers in areas other than San Fernando, where he is established. Read more here

New revelations in A&V issue

Energy Minister Franklin Khan is being asked to explain a new Petrotrin internal report which, according to attorney Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, casts doubt on whether the energy company was justified in terminating a contract with A&V Oil and Gas for production and supply of crude oil. The August 2017 report, which was compiled by Petrotrin’s internal audit team, was passed to Maharaj by St Augustine MP Prakash Ramadhar, who told the T&T Guardian he preferred that Maharaj speak on the issue. Read more here

Republic launches Cardless Cash

Republic Bank yesterday officially launched a mobile cash service, which allows anyone holding an account at the bank to transfer up to $500 daily to themselves or anyone with a mobile number without the use of a card. Read more here

 

REGIONAL

Mahfood Fires Back - Calls Anti-Obesity Campaign Biased

Chairman of Wisynco Group Limited William Mahfood has labelled the public education campaign 'Are You Drinking Yourself Sick?' "very biased" but insists that his company is not trying to shut down the initiative. Mahfood acknowledges that Wisynco is a large retailer of sweet drinks and concedes that they provide no health benefits but points out that Jamaicans consume "a completely diverse set of food items". "Calories come in many forms. Calories from starches such as rice and flour are the same as calories from sweet drinks, but that campaign doesn't speak to anything but sweet drinks," he told The Gleaner yesterday. Read more here

 

INTERNATIONAL

Macron thinks Trump will scrap Iran deal, calls US policy U-turns 'insane'

French President Emmanuel Macron said he believes US President Donald Trump will pull out of the Iran nuclear deal next month "for domestic reasons," describing the US as "insane" for its constant global policy U-turns, according to reports. Macron's remarks appeared to be a concession that he may have failed to convince Trump to stay party to the agreement during his three-day visit to Washington. Trump has repeatedly threatened to ditch the landmark deal, which obliges Iran to limit its nuclear program in exchange for the suspension of economic sanctions. Read more here

Kim Jong-un to meet Moon Jae-in at Korean border for summit

Kim Jong-un is set to become the first North Korean leader to cross into South Korean territory since the end of the Korean War in 1953, as final details are put in place for the summit. South Korea said President Moon Jae-in would personally meet Mr Kim at the border at 09:30 (00:30 GMT) on Friday. The historic summit will focus on the North's recent indications it could be willing to give up its nuclear weapons. Read more here

26th April 2018

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