NEWS
Murdered pharmacist buried, no one arrested yet
Slain pharmacist Robert Soogrim was buried at St Thomas Cemetery in Chaguanas after a funeral at Miracle Ministries on Thursday afternoon. The 55-year-old father of two owned Fit For Life Pharmacy at the Southern Main Road Chase Village in Chaguanas. The pharmacy is downstairs his home. A close male relative found his body and a hand-written note on the third floor of Soogrim’s home on Friday. There was no sign of forced entry which led police to initially assume Soogrim had killed himself. But an autopsy on Tuesday at the Forensic Sciences Centre in St James revealed he was strangled. Read more here
T&T hosts CPL alone, no fans at grounds
Caribbean Premier League stakeholders will have to adhere to strict COVID-19 guidelines during the 2020 edition of the event here in Trinidad and Tobago next month, Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Shamfa Cudjoe said yesterday. One of the big casualties of this will be that there will be no fans in the stands for the duration of the tournament, which will run from August 18 to September 12, 2020. Cudjoe gave the details of T&T accepting the responsibility to host the entire event at a news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister in Scarborough, Tobago. She said a contingent of over 251 people, including the players, staff and other officials attached to the six CPL teams—the Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Jamaica Tallawahs, St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, St Lucia Zouks and the Trinbago Knight Riders—will come into T&T for the series and will be quarantined at the Hilton Trinidad in Port-of-Spain and must adhere to strict COVID protocols. Read more here
POLITICS
Sinanan: Demerit point system working
Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said the demerit point system has been a great success and continues to work well. “It’s amazing the amount of people who would have been breaking the law before and now are trying to get their act together. I can tell you some drivers’ licenses have already been suspended, I can’t say how many, but within a month they have accumulated enough points to have their licenses suspended, we have had a significant amount of points deducted for being under the influence of alcohol, etc. Read more here
PM invites international observers to August 10 election
The Opposition has welcomed Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s move to invite both Caricom and the Commonwealth to send election observers to Trinidad and Tobago for the August 10 General Election. The Office of the Prime Minister yesterday issued a statement confirming that Rowley has invited representatives of both the regional and international groupings to send election observers. This came after Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar issued her own statement on Wednesday calling on Rowley to have international observers from the United Nations, Caricom, the Commonwealth or the Carter Centre for the election. Read more here
BUSINESS
PM: Money in 2021 budget for community recovery projects
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has told members of the Community Recovery Committee that in the context of addressing the problems of at-risk urban communities, it would encompass the problem of the Afro-Trinidadians who make up the bulk of the people in these specific communities. Read more here
REGIONAL
GECOM can’t direct CEO on what to put in report
Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, has ordered the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield to prepare and submit a fresh Elections Report in accordance with the Certificates of Recount generated during the 33-day National Recount. But the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams, is challenging the GECOM Chair’s authority to dictate the compilation of the CEO’s report. Read more here
Uncertainty Over Belnavis $10m Offer For Gov’t Lot
Sydney Stewart, the newly installed Mayor of St Ann’s Bay, told the monthly meeting of the Municipal Corporation yesterday that he would review and reverse, if necessary, the approved sale of a lot of land in the heart of the capital for $10 million to his predecessor, who resigned last week, as calls grew for him to step down. The councillor for the Bamboo division in St Ann, who has been elevated to the top job in the wake of the resignation of Michael Belnavis last week, signalled that it would not be business as usual at the municipality. The issue was raised by Councillor for the Beecher Town division, Ian Bell, who told the meeting that based on documents he had seen, the land was sold to Belnavis for $10 million. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
The US is diving into a dark Covid hole -- and there's no plan to get out
There is no plan. As the US plunges into an ever deeper coronavirus morass, setting record new infection rates and the death curve begins to rise again, there's no prospect of the nightmare ending for months. Delusion dominates an administration that perversely claims the United States is the world leader in beating this modern day plague. There are only contradictions, obfuscations and confusion from the federal officials who ought to be charting a national course. The massive integrated testing and tracing effort that could highlight and isolate infection epicenters doesn't exist. Attempts to reopen schools in a few weeks are already descending into farce amid conflicting messages from Washington. Read more here
Biden challenges Trump with ‘Buy American’ economic plan
10th July 2020