NEWS

CARICOM Rapporteur to fight for persons with disabilities

Jamaican Senator Floyd Morris, CARICOM Special Rapporteur on Disability, on his second visit to this country, made no bones about expressing his desire to go out and get some good Trini food prompting laughter from the audience, but on a serious note, vowed to fight for persons with disabilities in the region. The senator was at the time addressing the audience at the US Embassy World Down Syndrome Day Workshop held at the US Embassy Public Affairs Section in St. Clair yesterday. Read more here

Met Service: Another wave of Saharan dust coming

The Health Min­istry is ad­vis­ing cit­i­zens to take per­son­al pre­cau­tions as a fresh plume of Sa­ha­ran dust is ex­pect­ed to en­ter T&T’s at­mos­phere on Mon­day. Since the be­gin­ning of the dry sea­son, the coun­try has ex­pe­ri­enced sev­er­al waves of the dust how­ev­er; the Met Of­fice said this year’s oc­cur­rences are no dif­fer­ent from that seen in pre­vi­ous years. “This is noth­ing out of the norm. Years gone by in this of­fice here, we had se­vere dust out­breaks with the vis­i­bil­i­ty was down to less than one kilo­me­tre,” an of­fi­cial from the of­fice told Guardian Me­dia. He said that ac­cord­ing to their mod­el, this plume is ex­pect­ed to be less than the last. Read more here

POLITICS

Rowley unfazed by Trump blank: So what?

The Prime Minister was unfazed by a perceived snub by the US whose President will tomorrow Friday meet five Caribbean leaders but left out TT. Donald Trump will hosts leaders of the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, and Saint Lucia at his private resort at Mar-a-Lag to discuss the Venezuelan crisis and China trade practices. Rowley said a man’s house was his castle and so Trump was free to invite who he liked. Read more here

PM waiting on good bids for Paria Fuel

Prime Min­is­ter Dr Kei­th Row­ley says if some­one is buy­ing, then the Gov­ern­ment will sell Paria Fu­el Trad­ing Com­pa­ny. He made the com­ment yes­ter­day as he gave the Gov­ern­ment’s fi­nal stance on the com­pa­ny’s fu­ture at the post-Cab­i­net brief­ing at the Diplo­mat­ic Cen­tre, St Ann’s. He ex­plained that while the Gov­ern­ment had not yet put the com­pa­ny up for sale, it would in­deed be open to of­fers. “There is no po­si­tion tak­en by the Gov­ern­ment to sell the Paria com­pa­ny, which is the fu­el sup­ply com­pa­ny, but based on what pro­pos­al is made to us, Paria is an as­set which the Gov­ern­ment will lever­age to the best in­ter­est of the peo­ple of Trinidad and To­ba­go,” Row­ley said. Read more here

BUSINESS

Down syndrome and employment

Employment is more than merely a source of income. It gives persons a sense of purpose, it fulfils the need for an individual to be productive, it promotes independence, and enhances self-esteem. However, most importantly, in relation to persons with Down syndrome, it will allow for participation in the mainstream of life so that they are no longer forced to remain in protected or sheltered environments where their potential runs the risk of being stifled. I have previously discussed the lack of inclusion in the mainstream education system. This lack of access to education and training in skills relevant to the labour market is a major barrier to the job market for persons with Down syndrome. Read more here

REGIONAL

Running Scared - Teacher Bruised In Bust-Up With C-Bar Track Stars; Champs Sponsors To Probe Assault

A teacher at Calabar High School is now scared for his safety after making several attempts to ensure that two of the school’s elite track athletes serve suspensions for allegedly assaulting him in December 2018. The Gleaner was reliably informed that the teacher told a senior colleague at the Red Hills Road, St Andrew, school that he would not enter the premises after he was summoned to a meeting late yesterday evening for fear of being harmed. The teacher, who has requested anonymity because of security concerns, had released a media advisory early yesterday saying that he would be pressing charges against the athletes, who are expected to play roles in Calabar’s title defence at the 2019 staging of the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships next week, after the school failed to adequately discipline the athletes. Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

Cyclone Idai: 300 to 400 bodies washed up on Mozambique road, eyewitness says

As many as "300 to 400" bodies line the banks of a road out of the city of Beira, in Mozambique, according to an eyewitness account, suggesting that the human toll of Cyclone Idai is likely to far exceed official estimates. The harrowing scene, described by Zimbabwean Graham Taylor, follows reports from aid agencies on the ground detailing how entire villages and towns have been completely flooded in the wake of last Thursday's high-end Category 2 storm. Taylor said the bodies were located on a 6 kilometer (3.7 mile) track of highway, where flood waters had created an inland ocean, submerging entire villages around a "densely populated" sugar-cane plantation. The area is a mere fraction of the land in the southeast African nation left flooded after two major rivers burst their banks in the days following the storm. Read more here

Brexit: Departure date pushed back by at least two weeks

Theresa May has been granted an extra two weeks to come up with a Brexit solution after talks with EU leaders. The UK's departure date had originally been set for 29 March. If Mrs May can get her withdrawal deal through Parliament next week, that date will be pushed back to 22 May to give time to pass the necessary legislation. If the prime minister can't get the deal through, the UK will have to propose a way forward by 12 April for EU leaders to consider. European Council President Donald Tusk said all Brexit options would remain open until then. Read more here

22nd March 2019

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