NEWS
Stabbed man died a hero
Dillon Lucas, 31, who was stabbed to death while protecting friends outside a nightclub in Debe on Saturday, will lways be remembered as a hero. Police were yesterday expected to take a statement from a suspect who was stabbed in the incident and remains warded under police guard at San Fernando General Hospital. “He (Lucas) will always be remembered as our hero. He risked his life to protect his friends. He didn’t deserve to die like this. It hurts so much. He didn’t deserve this,” said a close relative yesterday. The relative said Lucas had a heart of gold and would go out of his way to protect anyone whom he thought was being treated unfairly. Read more here
Piarco gets automated passport system
Long immigration lines in the arrival lounges at this country’s two major airports could soon be a thing of the past, after the Ministry of National Security, Ministry of Works and Transport and the Airports Authority of T&T yesterday launched a new automated border control system at the Piarco International Airport. The pilot project, which features 12 kiosks, is set to be tested on selected citizens arriving at the airport over the next two weeks, before being unveiled fully to travellers on July 28. Read more here
Murders hit 301
One man is dead while another is hospitalised in a serious condition at Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex following a shooting incident in Mt Hope. And a man was killed in Aripo on Sunday night. Read more here
POLITICS
Honours Even
Political spoils were shared in yesterday’s by-elections in Barataria and Belmont East. The Opposition United National Congress (UNC) wrested Barataria away from the People’s National Movement (PNM) while the PNM retained the Belmont East seat. The third party in the race, the fledgling Progressive Empowerment Party (PEP) failed to make any significant gain in the two seats. Read more here
Galleons Passage faces media scrutiny
Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan, Nidco officials and the media will finally tour the Galleons Passage this morning after it finally docked at the Port of Port-of-Spain overnight following unexpected delays on the way here yesterday. Initially, the vessel was scheduled to arrive at the port at 2 pm yesterday but at about 11 am a release from the National Infrastructure Development Company said it experienced strong currents some 75 nautical miles off PoS and its captain had to reduce its speed accordingly. Read more here
Kamla: UNC ready to beat PNM
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said last night that the United National Congress (UNC) victory in the Barataria by-election is a clear indication that her party stands ready to beat the People’s National Movement (PNM) and return to office to take T&T forward. Read more here
BUSINESS
Starbucks stocks up on local chocolate
On the heels of the successful launch of his own brand of dark chocolates, young businessman James Burn has landed a deal to produce a special brand of chocolates for the local Starbucks franchise. Burns, 28, said his venture into the agri-business started on the cocoa estate owned by his family at Gran Couva in central Trinidad where he started producing his brand of JB Chocolates just over four years ago. Using beans from the Burns Cocoa Estate, the young entrepreneur created chocolates bars in 14 flavours. Read more here
Fisherfolk complain as spill dampens sales
Fisherfolk say they are being severely impacted by the rupture of an abandoned well that is emitting oil and gas and polluting the Gulf of Paria. The decommissioned well, which the Ministry of Energy said is in an unlicensed area and not part of Petrotrin’s assets, ruptured earlier this month. Read more here
REGIONAL
Dump Disgrace - MoBay Mayor, Business Leader Call For Urgent Measures At Retirement Landfill After Major Fire
Montego Bay’s mayor, Councillor Homer Davis, is calling for improved security measures at the Retirement landfill in St James, which was the scene of a major fire last weekend, and resulted in some sections of the western city being blanketed with smoke until midday yesterday. According to Davis, the time has come for unauthorised persons to be removed from the dump site and proper security measures put in place to prevent further intrusion by those whose actions might lead to future fires. “In securing the dump, we will have to make the [surrounding areas] sterile,” said Davis. “The dump needs to be secured by fencing, secured by surveillance cameras, and secured by the necessary security [manpower].” Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Trump caved spectacularly to Putin. Here's what might happen next
For as long as history remembers Donald Trump, it will be a day that will live in infamy. The President's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday is already one of the most notorious moments in the tortured relations between Washington and Moscow. Trump's humiliation is taking its place alongside John Kennedy's bruising at the hands of Nikita Khrushchev, and George W. Bush staring into Putin's eyes and getting a sense of his soul. Like those moments in US-Russia summit lore, the events that unfolded Monday are likely to have significant and unpredictable political and geopolitical reverberations in the United States and around the world. Read more here
ECHR condemns Pussy Riot and Anna Politkovskaya cases
17th July 2018