NEWS
School on Ash Wednesday
Education Minister Anthony Garcia has appealed to both parents and children for students to attend school on Ash Wednesday and to stop the perennial problem of poor attendance. “Ash Wednesday is a normal school day.” He said they encouraged students to enjoy themselves and to actively participate in every aspect of the celebrations but to remember that school is of great importance. Read more here
Cell phones, weapons seized as three prisons locked down
Raids carried out at three major prisons across the country yesterday saw the seizure of numerous improvised weapons and cell phones. The searches started around 8 am simultaneously at the Port-of-Spain and Maximum Security Prisons and the Golden Grove Remand Yard. The items, according to prison sources, were seized from the cells of inmates. Read more here
Aaron cops 5th chutney soca crown
Aaron Duncan left the Junior Chutney Soca stage yesterday like a king. The 14-year-old pupil of St George’s College won his fifth Junior Chutney Soca Monarch title in the secondary schools category of the National Carnival Schools Intellectual Chutney Soca Monarch Competition, at the Grand Stand, Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain. Read more here
POLITICS
Mayor: No $$ for Arima mas
Carnival celebrations in Arima are in jeopardy as a result of inadequate funding from the National Carnival Commission (NCC). In light of its slashed budget, Arima mayor Lisa Morris-Julian yesterday admitted that several competitions for Carnival, organised by the Arima Carnival Committee (ACC), had to be cancelled. Read more here
OPM reminds public to be safe through texts
Text message tips people have been receiving from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) are meant to remind them to be responsible as there is life after Carnival, says Government Minister Ayanna Webster-Roy. Read more here
BUSINESS
Angostura’s Solera opens in San Fernando
A complete one-stop outlet which offers the sophisticated wine and spirits consumers a specialised shopping experience, supported by a very knowledgeable staff. That is how Angostura CEO Genevieve Jodhan referred to Solera, the House of Angostura’s retail store. The second branch of Solera officially opened on January 25 at the C3 Centre, Corinth on the outskirts of San Fernando. The other outlet is at the corner of Tragarete Road and Gray Street, Port of Spain. Read more here
Rowley talks energy with industry leaders
A number of energy industry leaders met with Prime Minister Keith Rowley at the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday. According to a media release on the meeting, the Prime Minister "received an update on Shell’s various upstream exploration projects from the energy company’s Executive Vice President Integrated Gas Ventures, De La Rey Venter and Vice President and Country Chairman Shell Trinidad and Tobago, Derek Hudson." Read more here
CDB projects 2% growth for 2018
Regional development bank, Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), has projected that the Caribbean economies will grow by two per cent this year, compared with 0.6 per cent in 2017. The bank’s director of economics Dr Justin Ram said this is mainly driven by a return to growth in T&T and a 2.3 per cent uptick in Jamaica, which accounts for about a fifth of the region’s Growth Domestic Product (GDP). Read more here
REGIONAL
We Value Your Help - Washington Tells Kingston Its Role In Region Is Appreciated
Calling Jamaica its closest partner in the region, United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson yesterday pledged continued support by his government to bolster the capacity of Jamaica's security forces to clamp down on transnational and other crimes impacting both countries. "We appreciate that the Government of Jamaica has made important progress in combating lotto scamming, cooperating closely with US authorities to extradite suspected lotto scammers to the United States and establishing a bilateral lotto scam task force," Tillerson told local and international journalists at a press conference at Jamaica House. He was in the island yesterday for a three-hour working visit, after travelling to Mexico, Argentina, Peru and Colombia. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
US-led coalition strikes kill pro-regime forces in Syria
The US-led coalition fighting ISIS in Syria conducted air and artillery strikes against pro-regime forces in Syria on Wednesday, killing an estimated 100 pro-regime fighters, according to a coalition statement. The coalition described its action -- which if confirmed could represent the largest number of pro-regime casualties inflicted by the US-led coalition -- as carried out in "self defense." Read more here
North Korea holds military parade ahead of Winter Olympics
8th February 2018