Daily brief - Thursday 2nd August, 2018

NEWS

TT Pride welcomes archbishop’s statement

Rudolph Hanamji, organiser of this country’s first Pride parade last Sunday, yesterday welcomed Monday’s statement by RC Archbishop Jason Gordon in support of the LGBT community’s right to publicly advocate for their rights. In June, Gordon was among a group of six religious leaders, including Hindu and Muslim, under an umbrella group, RebuildTT, who declared their opposition to gay marriage, but on Monday he said the LGBT community had “legitimate concerns for their rights” which must be taken seriously in a democratic country. Read more here

Residents beg for relief

Claxton Bay residents are calling for their drains to be cleaned, the river dredged and for a crackdown on illegal structures obstructing the watercourse following heavy flooding in the area on Tuesday. Yesterday, several residents at Springvale, Cedar Hill Road, Lightbourne and Housa Street, Gasparillo, Carli Bay and Windsor Park, California, were still cleaning up debris from their homes and properties and drying and discarding their belongings after being hit by severe flooding on Tuesday. Read more here

Emancipation Day misery

While some celebrated the Emancipation Day holiday, for others, it was misery. In parts of Central Trinidad, people were marooned to their homes as heavy rains caused major flooding. Read more here

 

POLITICS

Vasant says oppositiopn should have supported griffith

Former Trade and Industry Minister Vasant Bharath has described the Opposition party’s failure to support former national security minister Gary Griffith’s candidacy for Commissioner of Police as “regrettable” saying the MP’s should have “put party politics aside” in the fight against crime. During Monday’s sitting of Parliament, nineteen government MPs voted to approve Griffith’s nomination while 13 Opposition MPs abstained. No one voted against. Read more here

Kamla: Cherish and guard against hard-won freedom

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar is rallying the nation to come together to make T&T “better, stronger and safer,” in her Emancipation Day message. She said the crime situation had severely reduced the quality of life of all citizens. Persad-Bissessar recalled the “determination and spirit,” of those who fought for and won their freedom from slavery. She said the “incredibly brutal conditions under which slaves lived and the indignities they suffered are inconceivable, and their strength, sheer will and capacity to hope are enduring reminders of the power of the human instinct to survive and thrive.” Read more here

PM: Slavery not over yet

Modern slavery extends beyond the plantation field towards the economic denial of opportunity, says Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley. Read more here

 

BUSINESS

Joke leads to a pepper sauce brand

What started as a joke has led to a thriving business for two young entrepreneurs. When they first spoke casually on the phone late one evening, Colin Pereira and Renisa Baldeo had no idea the subject of the conversation was the start of a business. Pereira, 25, is a national long distance runner and Mayaro resident. His fiancée, Baldeo, lives at Oropune Gardens, Piarco. The duo always found their conversations leading back to starting their own business and Baldeo recalled "cracking a joke about wanting to make pepper sauce" and her fiancé's ready agreement. After a few discussions on the procedures and process of their new venture, PEPs Pepper Sauce was born. Read more here

Trade Minister: T&T strengthening links with Africa

Between 2014 and 2017, T&T’s average exports and imports with the African continent were $1.4 billion and $7.5 billion respectively, resulting in a trade deficit of $6.1 billion. The top export markets in 2017 were Morocco, Senegal, Liberia, Ghana and South Africa, while the top import partners were Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, South Africa and Morocco. The figures were revealed by Trade Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon when she spoke at the Emancipation Support Committee’s 18th Annual Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Symposium at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain on Tuesday. She said for January to May 2017, the largest export product to Africa was ammonia, while the largest import was crude petroleum. Read more here

Minister urges Roget to stay: Threat to leave National Tripartite Advisory Council...

Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus on Tuesday urged head of the Joint Trade Union Movement, Ancel Roget, to rethink his position on pulling the body out of the National Tripartite Advisory Council (NTAC). Read more here

 

REGIONAL

Court To Hear No-Locks-In-School Case This Friday, Says JFJ - OCA Sides With JFJ, Family In Constitutional Action

The first hearing in the constitutional claim filed by Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) to have school policies that prohibit the wearing of dreadlocks by children struck down is scheduled for Friday. Filed on July 18, the legal action is being pursued on behalf of the parents of a five-year-old girl who, last month, was allegedly informed by the principal of the St Catherine-based Kensington Primary School that their daughter had until August 29 to remove her locks in order to enter grade one in September. Additionally, the Office of the Children's Advocate (OCA) had applied to join the constitutional action on the side of the family and the JFJ. Read more here

 

INTERNATIONAL

Zimbabwe election: Shops shut in Harare as army patrols

Businesses have shut in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, as the nation awaits the release of heavily disputed presidential election results. Armed soldiers and police are on patrol, ordering people to "behave". Three people were killed in the city on Wednesday in clashes between the security forces and supporters of opposition leader Nelson Chamisa. Mr Chamisa says Monday's elections were being rigged to give President Emmerson Mnangagwa victory. The elections were the first since long-time ruler Robert Mugabe was ousted in November. Read more here

Trump's Sessions eruption hints at concern over direction of Mueller probe

Donald Trump and his political and legal teams are mounting an extraordinary escalation of his attacks against the special counsel's investigation, an apparent sign of increased worry among his allies that Robert Mueller's findings could potentially be deeply damaging to the President. Trump issued his most explicit and public call on Jeff Sessions to shut down the probe on Wednesday, the latest of a series of threats and pressure on the attorney general and the Justice Department that if carried out would move the drama into Nixonian territory. "This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further," Trump tweeted. "Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!" Read more here

2nd August 2018

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