NEWS
Three murders in 24 hours
Police are continuing their enquiries into three unrelated murders that took place hours apart of each other between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. In the first incident, a 30-year-old Ste Madeleine man was shot outside his home minutes after he finished talking with a relative. Police said Kwame Sandiford was standing outside his George Street, Ste Madeleine, home at around 8.40 pm when he was approached by gunmen who shot him several times. Read more here
CARICOM report: T&T officers involved in sex trafficking
Corruption at the hands of state officials and law enforcement officers is a significant factor in the facilitation of human trafficking between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, according to some of the findings of a 2019 CARICOM Human Trafficking study. According to investigations carried out in the Venezuelan town of Tucupita, which included interviews with human traffickers, some of the gangs in the region are headed and operated by law-enforcement officers from Trinidad & Tobago. The research carried out by researcher Dr C Justine Pierre, and assisted by Nayrobis Rodriguez, gathered information from traffickers, smugglers, victims, law enforcement officers, as well as from anti-human trafficking organizations in more than 32 countries. Read more here
POLITICS
Moonilal takes PM to court
Oropouche East candidate for the United National Congress (UNC) Dr Roodal Moonilal has taken legal action against the Prime Minister, a daily newspaper and its editor in chief for defamation. He is seeking an injunction restraining Dr Rowley and the Trinidad Express from publishing defamatory statements against him. In the statement of case, filed by attorneys Larry Lalla and Vashisht Seepersad, Moonilal took issue with a page three story in the Express on January 6, which purportedly reported on an exchange of messages between the prime minister and Kirk Waithe, leader of the NOW party. Read more here
Kamla: Take it to the police
“Take any reports of violence or threats to the police.” United National Congress (UNC) political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said she had not heard of any incident involving her supporters and the deputy political leader for Movement for the Social Justice (MSJ) Radhaka Gualbance when asked about the incident yesterday. “No I have not but if anything should have happened, take it to the police,” said the UNC leader during a motorcade in Barataria. Read more here
BUSINESS
Recovery after Covid-19: What will it look like?
Strict and unprecedented measures were adopted by several governments around the world to curb the infection rate of the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more here
REGIONAL
Bartlett, Tufton Urge Tourism Caution On COVID Travel Ban As Bahamas Locks Out Americans
Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett has cautioned that a ban on travellers from the United States in a bid to contain COVID-19 would deliver a death blow to Jamaica’s hospitality industry. His warning comes in the wake of The Bahamas announcing on Sunday that it was ordering an immediate lockout of travellers from America as coronavirus cases there surge to world-record levels, with nearly 80,000 new infections daily. Florida is one of the major source markets for Jamaica’s travel sector, both with nationals and non-nationals, with the US state nicknamed Kingston 21 because of its high expatriate density. Jamaica had already flagged Florida, along with Texas, New York, and Arizona, as COVID-19 hotspots, but the Sunshine State has moved into territory of its own with more than 10,000 daily infections. Read more here
Declarations or Recount Data?
TODAY, Guyanese are expecting the ruling of Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire in the Misenga Jones v the Guyana Elections Commission et al High Court case, which will determine the legal action which must be taken by the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield towards a declaration of results of the 2020 General and Regional Elections. In this latest court action, Misenga Jones – a registered voter from Tucville, Georgetown – is challenging the elections commission’s decision to invalidate the declarations made by the returning officers (ROs) in the country’s 10 electoral districts, and the use of Certificates of Recount as the basis for the declaration of the elections results. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Trump insists he's 'right' on the virus as more Americans get sick and die
President Donald Trump just offered a telling glimpse into his priorities as the coronavirus lengthens its trail of death and sickness. Not bothering to hide his indifference and contempt for science, the President made clear on Sunday that it's more important to him to be ultimately proven right about the pandemic than to reconsider his disastrous approach that is doing little to stop its deadly spread. Until then, America must endure crammed ICUs in virus-ravaged states, thousands more deaths and the prospect of cities slumping back into economically crippling lockdowns that crush hopes of a return to work and school with normal life as only a memory. Read more here
Coronavirus: Masks mandatory in France amid fresh outbreaks
20th July 2020