NEWS

Moruga rice time now

Now is the time for Moruga Hill rice to make its mark. Trade and Industry Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon and Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat expressed this view at a grant-funding ceremony in Moruga on Tuesday. At the ceremony, Gopee-Scoon presented Caribbean Sea and Air Marketing (producers of Moruga Hill Rice) with $317,500 in grant funding from the Trade and Industry Ministry’s Research and Development Facility (RDF). Read more here

Nishal’s mental state worries lawyer

One week af­ter his ar­rest, Nishal Sankat’s at­tor­ney is urg­ing au­thor­i­ties to move his client from prison to an­oth­er fa­cil­i­ty un­der a pri­vate physi­cian’s care amid fears over his men­tal state. The 22-year-old Sankat, who is the son of for­mer UWI St Au­gus­tine prin­ci­pal Prof Clement Sankat, is re­port­ed­ly un­der sui­cide watch at the Bre­vard Coun­ty Jail, ac­cord­ing to his at­tor­ney Greg Eisen­menger. The lawyer has told US au­thor­i­ties that con­di­tions at the prison are tak­ing a fur­ther toll on Sankat’s men­tal health. Read more here

POLITICS

Youth convention chair: Imbert must invest in young people

As Budget Day approaches, the founder and executive chairperson of the TT Youth Convention (TTYC), Nikoli Edwards, has called for Finance Minister Colm Imbert to invest in youth development. Speaking at the TTYC at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA) on Wednesday, Edwards said such an investment would essentially help young people to capture and make full use of the educational, recreational and entrepreneurial activities already afforded to youths. Read more here

Parliament opens today

To­day’s open­ing of the Fourth Ses­sion of Par­lia­ment will fea­ture the ap­point­ment of a new In­de­pen­dent Sen­a­tor re­plac­ing Dr Dhanayshar Ma­habir whose March res­ig­na­tion let­ter from the In­de­pen­dent bench be­came ef­fec­tive last night when the Third Ses­sion end­ed. Ma­habir, the for­mer In­de­pen­dent Bench co-or­di­na­tor told the T&T Guardian yes­ter­day his res­ig­na­tion was ac­cept­ed by Pres­i­dent Paula- Mae Weekes a few days ago. Af­ter Weekes took of­fice in Feb­ru­ary, Ma­habir, by let­ter in March of­fered his res­ig­na­tion—ef­fec­tive this month’s end of the Third Ses­sion of Par­lia­ment—to al­low Weekes to ex­er­cise her con­sti­tu­tion­al pow­er to choose In­de­pen­dent Sen­a­tors. Read more here

BUSINESS

Good news on the natural gas front

When Min­is­ter of Fi­nance Colm Im­bert de­liv­ers his fourth bud­get on Mon­day, he will be in a po­si­tion to an­nounce that the en­er­gy sec­tor has turned the cor­ner and its growth is dri­ving eco­nom­ic ex­pan­sion, ac­cord­ing to the Cen­tral Bank’s lat­est eco­nom­ic bul­letin. Last year, Im­bert pred­i­cat­ed his bud­get on an oil price of US$52 and a gas price of $2.75 per mmb­tu. At the time he told Par­lia­ment: “It should be not­ed that our as­sumed oil price is be­low the In­ter­na­tion­al Mon­e­tary Fund fore­cast of $56.20 per bar­rel for 2018 and low­er than the cur­rent oil price fore­casts made by the World Bank, Unit­ed States En­er­gy In­for­ma­tion Ad­min­is­tra­tion (USEIA) and In­ter­na­tion­al En­er­gy Agency (IEA).” Read more here

REGIONAL

Lift Sanctions Against Cuba - Holness Renews Calls For US To Remove Embargoes Against The 'Friend Of Jamaica'

Prime Minister Andrew Holness yesterday reiterated the call by Jamaica and the rest of CARICOM for the United States to lift the embargoes imposed against Cuba almost six decades ago, arguing that societies function best within an inclusive global environment, where no one feels left behind. "Implementation of the SDGs (sustainable development goals) must be people-centred. Embargoes and other financial and economic barriers must not become tools to prevent people such as our neighbours, the citizens of the Republic of Cuba, from attaining their right to development. Jamaica continues to call for a lifting of the embargoes against that country," he told the United Nations General Assembly in New York, US. Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

A wrenching day, and now a decision

The Senate Judiciary Committee will once again be the scene of a national drama Friday as its members prepare to vote on President Donald Trump's embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Friday's scheduled vote at 9:30 a.m. ET is an effort by Republicans to bring a swift end to a confirmation process roiled by sexual assault allegations, even as Democrats demand more answers. Read more here

Air Niugini plane comes down in Micronesia lagoon

A passenger aircraft has come down in a lagoon off Chuuk International Airport in Micronesia after it missed the runway, airport officials say. The Air Niugini plane from Papua New Guinea was seen sitting in shallow water just off the coast. Locals responded by approaching the plane in small vessels to help rescue the 36 passengers and 11 crew. A hospital official told Reuters that four passengers were in a serious condition after the crash. Read more here

28th September 2018

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