NEWS

Children vulnerable to effects of crime

Children are vulnerable to the effects of crime and violence, said manager of the police Victim and Witness Support Unit (VWSU) Aisha Price-Corbie yesterday, as she urged victims of crime and their relatives to seek counselling and emotional support from the unit. Speaking at a press briefing at Police Administration Building in Port of Spain, Price-Corbie said children were particularly susceptible to the knock-on effects of crime and criminality and warned that unresolved trauma among victims can manifest in anti-social attitudes and behaviour. Read more here

‘Tsunami of depression descending upon T&T’

Na­tion­al award win­ner and sec­re­tary of the As­so­ci­a­tion of Psy­chi­a­trists of T&T Dr Var­ma Deyals­ingh is urg­ing cit­i­zens to look out for signs of de­pres­sion in their loved ones be­fore it reach­es the point of sui­cide. Speak­ing dur­ing CNC3’s Morn­ing Brew yes­ter­day, Deyals­ingh said a “tsuna­mi of de­pres­sion is de­scend­ing up­on T&T.” Say­ing it was im­por­tant for par­ents, teach­ers, co-work­ers, and friends to look out for signs of de­pres­sion, Deyals­ingh said world­wide de­pres­sion has been on the in­crease. Read more here

Courts South Park Grand Opening

Unicomer Trinidad Limited opened its 21st Courts store in the local market, which was also the company’s 100th store regionally. The $25 million building is located at South Park, San Fernando, comprising over 31,000 square feet of retail space that took a year to complete. Read more here

POLITICS

Take pride in your homes

New owners of Housing Development Corporation (HDC) units should take pride in their homes as it is an investment in their future and the future of their children. Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said this yesterday at a housing distribution ceremony at the Trestrail Lands Housing Development in D’Abadie. He said whatever sacrifices they made now would last for generations to come. The keys for 82 units for single families were handed over and several new owners eagerly put those keys to use as they unlocked their doors for the first time to view their new homes. Read more here

Fuel cover for 20 days after Petrotrin refinery closed - Khan

Up­on the clo­sure of Petrotrin’s re­fin­ery next month, there will be a 20-day sup­ply of fu­el from stock “to start with,” En­er­gy Min­is­ter Franklin Khan has as­sured the trav­el­ling pub­lic. “Trust me - I want to give the coun­try the as­sur­ance there will be a smooth tran­si­tion from re­fin­ery fu­el to im­port­ed fu­el,” Khan added in Par­lia­ment yes­ter­day in re­ply to Op­po­si­tion con­cerns over the fu­el sup­ply af­ter the re­fin­ery’s clo­sure. Unit­ed Na­tion­al Con­gress’ Pointe-a-Pierre MP David Lee had asked about it fol­low­ing re­ports of the re­fin­ery’s im­pend­ing clo­sure on Oc­to­ber 1 and sub­se­quent re­ports it would be done on a phased man­ner. He asked what strate­gic steps were be­ing tak­en to en­sure fu­el isn’t dis­rupt­ed in this pe­ri­od. Read more here

PM: Damaging information in report into Darryl Smith

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said there is “damaging” information in the report into former Sport minister Darryl Smith and the allegations made against him. Read more here

BUSINESS

ADB expands reach to agri-sector

The Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) celebrated its 50th anniversary in January, but the origin of the bank dates back to the 1800s, when it was known at the Agricultural Bank. At the opening on September 15 of its new south branch and the relaunch of its Mobile Banking Unit, the bank’s CEO Sheivan Ramnath said the name was changed in the 1940s to the Agricultural Credit Bank and enactment through the ADB Act, in 1968, gave rise to the bank in its current form. He told those in attendance that the launch is consistent with the bank’s strategic plan, which is structured around four key pillars, designed to propel the organisation and agricultural sector forward. Read more here

Fix forex issues urgently

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is calling on the Government and the Central Bank, referred to by the global institution as the authorities, to address the country’s long-standing foreign exchange market imbalance on “an urgent and sustained basis.” Read more here

REGIONAL

Privacy Built In - Israelis Among Overseas Experts To Help Engineer NIDS For Data Security; $400m Cut From Project's Budget

Israeli cybersecurity specialists were among a number of experts who advised the Jamaican Government about key aspects of the proposed structure that will govern Jamaica's National Identification System (NIDS). Warren Vernon, programme director for the NIDS, confirmed yesterday that along with the Israelis, experts from Jamaica, France, Uruguay, and the Inter-American Development Bank were brought in to conduct a detailed privacy and security review of the user requirements for the soon-to-be-implemented system. Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

Brett Kavanaugh nomination: US senators to hear crucial sex assault testimony

The story that has dominated US politics for weeks will reach fever pitch later on Thursday in a small Senate committee room. Brett Kavanaugh, the man nominated for a vacant post on the Supreme Court, and a woman accusing him of sexual assault will both testify. Mr Kavanaugh has denied allegations by Christine Blasey Ford, along with those of a number of other women. President Trump called it an "important day in the history of our country". Read more here

Trump 'went off' on French president during face-to-face meeting

US President Donald Trump was "ranting and venting on trade" to French President Emmanuel Macron during their bilateral meeting Monday evening, according to a senior diplomatic source. Trump lambasted the European Union for its trade policies, saying it was worse than China -- a complaint that the US president made to his French counterpart in an April meeting at the White House. The source described Trump as "going off" on EU trade during his meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Trump said that the EU had to open up on agriculture -- a continued point of contention in trade negotiations between the two entities. Macron was respectful to Trump and pushed back some on the topic but moved the conversation forward, the source said. Read more here

27th September 2018

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