NEWS
Praying for a miracle
Four more suspects have been detained by police following a police dragnet in Goodwood, Tobago, on Sunday night, as the T&T Police Service continued to try to bring closure to the case of missing toddler Angelo Tobias-Plaza. The string of arrests came minutes after Goodwood villagers held a vigil at Cambridge Trace on Sunday night, appealing for divine intervention in the disappearance of two-year-old child. Apart from the toddler’s mother Kalifah Tobias, 22, and her boyfriend Shannon Miller, police now have the driver of a vehicle in custody. The child’s mother and boyfriend have been in custody since last Friday, while the other suspects were rounded up even as police intensified the search for the missing toddler on land and at sea. Read more here
Widower files suit against AG, NCRHA
A 26-YEAR-OLD waitress who developed paralysis days after receiving a Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, and later died, has become the subject of a High Court lawsuit against the State and the North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA). The claim was filed by Nicholas Francis on behalf of his late wife, Alisha Kanna Seebaran, who passed away in May 2023 after what court documents describe as a vaccine-induced neurological injury. According to the claim, Seebaran received her first dose of the Pfizer mRNA vaccine at an NCRHA mass vaccination site in Arima on October 6, 2021. Read more here
POLITICS
Escalating Middle East crisis worries Caricom members
The 15-member Caribbean Community (Caricom) grouping has expressed “serious concern” over the continued hostilities in the Middle East, marked by military action in the Strait of Hormuz. “Caricom is alarmed by the severe loss of life, threats to civil infrastructure, and the instability in global markets that have resulted from the ongoing conflict,” the grouping said in a statement yesterday. United States President Donald Trump has warned Iran that the “clock is ticking” as talks to bring the war to an end have stalled. On February 28, the United States and Israel launched massive air attacks against Iran, which has responded to the latest US proposal by saying that exchanges with Washington were continuing through Pakistani mediators. Trump suggested last Friday that he would accept a 20-year suspension by Iran of its nuclear programme – a major sticking point between the two countries – in what appeared to be confirmation of a shift in position away from a demand for a total end to it. Read more here
‘Citizenship for sale’
A corruption racket has been uncovered at the Immigration Division, where millions of dollars were allegedly paid over the years for citizenship, residency permits, work permits and passport appointments, Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander has said. In response to questions from the Express yesterday, the minister confirmed that investigations were conducted into Immigration officials and employees at the Division who have allegedly been charging members of the public for passport appointments for several years. Read more here
BUSINESS
Rebuild fiscal buffers
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on Trinidad and Tobago to channel higher-than-budgeted energy revenues primarily into rebuilding fiscal buffers, including renewed deposits into the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF), as the country grapples with persistent fiscal deficits and rising public debt. In its Article IV Consultation for Trinidad and Tobago release yesterday, the IMF executive board said the priority should be strengthening buffers to preserve external stability and manage volatile energy revenues, even as near-term fiscal support from the energy sector improves the outlook. Read more here
REGIONAL
‘A powerful endorsement’ – President Ali says
President Dr. Irfaan Ali has hailed the formal participation of the United Nations in the Global Biodiversity Alliance as a “powerful endorsement” and a critical step in elevating biodiversity protection on the international agenda. Speaking at the official declaration ceremony held at Office of the President on Monday, President Ali framed the event as “very special, not only for Guyana, but for all of the stakeholders who value the environment [and] value biodiversity.” He underscored the UN’s longstanding role in Guyana’s development and expressed hope for deepened collaboration with the right data sets and right priorities. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Ebola may be spreading faster than first thought, WHO doctor warns
An Ebola outbreak which has killed at least 131 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo may be spreading faster than originally thought, a World Health Organization (WHO) representative has warned. Dr Anne Ancia told the BBC that the more the agency investigates, the clearer it becomes that cases have spread to other areas. Officials said more than 513 cases were suspected in DR Congo as of Tuesday, while one person has died in neighbouring Uganda. But modelling by the London-based MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis released on Monday suggested there had been "substantial" under-detection, and that it could not rule out there had already been more than 1,000 cases. Read more here
19th May 2026