NEWS
All set for 19,000 SEA students
All is set for over 19,000 primary school students to sit the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exam today. Head of the TT Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) Lynsley Doodhai told Newsday he received no complaints about schools not being ready for the exam. “TTUTA would like to extend best wishes and best of luck to all students are writing the SEA exam tomorrow. Read more here
Hell at home: invasions on the increase
Police have observed an increase in home invasions recently. This followed yesterday’s robbery in Macoya Settlement which led to the stabbing death of a 60-year-old maxi-taxi operator and serious injury to his 54-year-old wife. Read more here
POLITICS
Maxie on the Mend
MINISTER in the Public Administration and Communications Ministry Maxie Cuffie is on the mend and “anxious” to come home. After being out of the public eye for the last eight months, since suffering a stroke, the first photos of the La Horquetta/Talparo MP up and about were circulated online yesterday. The pictures show Cuffie and his wife Hermia outside St Augustine Catholic Church and School in Washington DC. Read more here
No retroactive property tax
Finance Minister Colm Imbert assured yesterday that Government had no plans to make property tax retroactive for two years, removing what would have become a serious bone of contention. The Minister said the plan is to collect the tax in the year that it is implemented. Read more here
BUSINESS
Charles in charge
Acting assistant superintendent Gale Bernadette Charles is the first woman to serve as president of the TT Police Credit Union (TTPCU) in the organisation’s 62-year history. The board elected Charles, an active member for 25 years, at their first meeting after the credit union's annual general meeting on April 21. She has served in several capacities, including secretary to the board and chairman of the education committee. Read more here
Govt: No plan to hike retirement age
Minister of Finance, Colm Imbert, yesterday denied a statement by the leader of the Joint Trade Union Movement, Ancel Roget, that Imbert and Prime Minister Keith Rowley had floated the idea of increasing the retirement age to 65 from 60 as a means of denying workers their legitimate right to National Insurance benefits. In a statement yesterday, Imbert said he had taken note of the reporting on the issue and “wishes to make it clear this statement by Mr. Roget is completely untrue. At no time has the Prime Minister or the Minister of Finance indicated that the Government intends to increase the retirement age.” Read more here
REGIONAL
Peace - Custos Of Portland Confident Parish Will Retain Status As Safest In Island
Custos of Portland Lincoln Thaxter is confident that the parish will retain its status as being the safest in the island despite a 150 per cent increase in murders so far this year when compared to the same period last year. With just five murders so far this year, Portland remains among the parishes with the fewest murders. But some residents have expressed concern that at this time last year, only two murders had occurred in the parish. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Trump and Mueller are closing in on open war
Donald Trump and Robert Mueller look ready to go to war. It was always theoretically possible that the Russia investigation could end with the President and the special counsel on either side of a constitutional showdown. But a breakneck sequence of events over the last two days may have made the nightmare scenario increasingly likely. Trump, the rule-breaking President who relishes throwing punches, has restocked his legal bench and now has a defense team that might better reflect his aggressive tendencies. Read more here
India dust storms: Nearly 100 killed in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan
3rd May 2018