NEWS
PAHO concerned about covid19 in Eastern Caribbean
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday it is concerned about the increase in cases of covid19 in the countries of the Eastern Caribbean. Dr Sylvain Aldighieri, PAHO's director of incidents for covid19, speaking at a webinar. said there had been a 52 per cent increase in infections at the end of September compared to August, which was causing problems for the health systems of Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis and St Vincent and the Grenadines. Read more here
Low student vaccination numbers worry Tobago officials
Tobago’s student vaccination figures are so low, there is now a concern that the country would not reach the much-needed herd immunity. Tobago’s Secretary of the Division of Education, Innovation and Energy (DEIE), Assemblyman Marslyn Melville-Jack yesterday said of the approximately 6,000 students eligible for the Pfizer vaccine, only 1,917 have received their first dose so far. Melville-Jack was speaking at the Office of the Chief Secretary Media update yesterday and said that only 1,149 students have received their second dose. Read more here
POLITICS
UNC MP on Lake Asphalt woes: Plot to sabotage the company?
An opposition MP has accused the Prime Minister and his Government of living off the fat of the land while workers are starving with no pay, no ability to feed their families and honour their commitments. Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh made the comments on Wednesday in light of the Government’s response to the protest by Lake Asphalt (LATT) workers the day before. Indarsingh said he considered images of LATT workers on their knees, begging for their just dues after weeks without being paid, a defining image of the PNM administration. Read more here
BUSINESS
Bharath, Dookeran on budget roadmap: Government must chart new direction
There is no doubt that the covid19 pandemic has shattered lives and livelihoods across the globe. It has been over a year of managing the crisis and the TT Government has initiated several financial and economic support measures to assist. In April 2020, the Prime Minister commissioned a pandemic recovery team which put forward the Roadmap for TT Post-Covid19 Pandemic report. The report focused on addressing and mitigating the hardship inflicted by pandemic, restarting the economy and laying the foundation for sustained economic recovery. Read more here
Heritage Petroleum’s profits jump 77%
Wholly State-owned Heritage Petroleum has reported a 77 per cent increase in its after-tax profit for the nine months ending June 30, 2021. But the oil company’s financial statement for the period, which is due to be published today, also discloses that the parent company of Heritage, Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Ltd (TPHL), is in default of certain covenants of the credit agreement and indenture. Heritage declared after-tax profit of $1.19 billion for the period October 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, which was 77 per cent higher than the $673.75 million the company reported in the nine months ended June 30, 2020. Read more here
REGIONAL
New ‘Amazonia’ Caribbean Cinemas signals Guyana’s openness for investment
In keeping with its vision of providing entertainment for persons to escape the realities of life, Caribbean Cinemas, on Wednesday, opened its second multi-screen movie theater in Guyana at the newly opened Amazonia Mall at Block M Providence, East Bank Demerara. The state-of-the-art cinema will feature the latest movie releases in its six luxurious auditoriums which have giant screens fully equipped with 100 per cent digital projection technology, 3D technology and digital surround sound. Patrons will also enjoy the high back rocker seats which have cup holders and arm rests. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Ecuador riot: Police storm jail where 116 died in gang war
Four hundred police officers have entered a prison in the Ecuadorean port city of Guayaquil where at least 116 inmates have been killed in a gang war. The brutal prison fight first broke out on Tuesday and officials had said on Wednesday that the jail was back under their control. But early on Thursday, neighbours said they had heard explosions and gunshots. Shortly afterwards, police said it was sending 400 officers back in to "maintain order". Ecuador's police force posted video on its Twitter account of officers moving back into the Guayas prison complex, also known as the Litoral Penitentiary. Read more here
Ex-UK police officer who murdered Sarah Everard gets life in prison with no chance of parole
Wayne Couzens, the former London police officer who has admitted to the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard, has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, an exceptional sentence in the United Kingdom. Delivering the sentence in front of a packed court room, Lord Justice Adrian Fulford described Everard as a "blameless victim of a grotesque executed series of offenses" and called the case "devastating, tragic and wholly brutal." The judge added that Couzens, a serving police officer at the time, had spent the entire evening of March 3 "hunting a lone female to kidnap and rape." Standing in the dock, Couzens kept his head bowed and his eyes closed, as he has done throughout the whole sentencing hearing. The judge made a point of criticizing Couzens' behavior in court, saying it was a show of "self-pity." Read more here
30th September 2021