NEWS

Tropical Storm Kirk downgraded

With Tropical Storm Bret still fresh in the nation’s collective memory, both the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) together with the TT Meteorological Service (TTMS) continue to monitor Tropical Storm Kirk which formed in the Atlantic on Saturday. In a media statement yesterday, the Ministry stated the disaster management units (DMU) of the 14 municipal corporations are also closely monitoring the “development and path” of the storm as TT currently falls within the storm’s forecast cone. Read more here

Country still in great debt

For­mer Cen­tral Bank gov­er­nor Ewart Williams has said that while the econ­o­my is im­prov­ing, the coun­try still in sig­nif­i­cant debt. “The econ­o­my is turn­ing around slow­ly in the sense that we are get­ting some good news from the en­er­gy sec­tor. And I think if you look far enough, I think con­fi­dence in the pri­vate sec­tor seems to be im­prov­ing some­what,” said Williams at the Na­tion­al Acad­e­my for the Per­form­ing Arts on Mon­day. He said is­sues there con­tin­ued to be ma­jor prob­lems with­in the pub­lic sec­tor. Read more here

A bigger, better Restaurant Week

A culinary experience the whole family can enjoy. That’s what Trinidad and Tobago Restaurant Week (TTRW) founder Shira Mohammed is promising from the sixth edition of the much-anticipated islandwide food fair. Read more here

POLITICS

PM: Set aside differences, unite as one

Prime Min­is­ter Dr Kei­th Row­ley wants the peo­ple of T&T to set aside their dif­fer­ences and unite as one. He al­so called for a greater sense of one­ness as he briefly ad­dressed the au­di­ence at the Queen’s Park Sa­van­nah yes­ter­day dur­ing the in­ter­faith ser­vice ti­tled Songs of De­vo­tion, which marked the na­tion’s 42nd an­niver­sary as a Re­pub­lic. Read more here

BUSINESS

Employee to entrepreneur: Making the transition

There comes a time in one’s ca­reer that change, some­times dis­rup­tive change, can set in. You could face job-loss due to cost cut­ting. You might be re­con­sid­er­ing your op­tions out­side of be­ing an em­ploy­ee. Or you might have a per­cep­tion that change is com­ing to the or­gan­i­sa­tion and this might not fit in­to your ca­reer plans. Many ca­reer pro­fes­sion­als of­ten con­sid­er the en­tre­pre­neur­ship op­tion as one that can of­fer sig­nif­i­cant op­por­tu­ni­ties. Read more here

PM defends Sandals deal

The Government’s Tobago resort deal with Sandals Inc could close off by the end of November, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said on Sunday. Read more here

REGIONAL

Missing Meals - Schools Bemoan Scarcity Of Healthy Food Supplies From Ministry

Concerns are being raised in the education sector about few or no alternatives to bulla cakes and other high-sugar products following their withdrawal from public schools. Education Minister Ruel Reid, while addressing the 54th Jamaica Teachers' Association's Annual Conference earlier this year, had announced that several food items, including the popular bulla cakes, would be removed from local schools as part of a campaign to promote healthier eating among students. Since 1973, Nutrition Products Limited (NPL) has been providing public schools under the education ministry's portfolio with meal items, including bulla cakes and bag juices. Under the new initiative, the education ministry mandated them to provide healthier meals to students. Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

Swedish PM Lofven ousted in no confidence vote

Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven will have to stand down after losing the support of parliament. The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats (SD) backed the vote to remove him, weeks after a general election that delivered a hung parliament. In Tuesday's dramatic vote, 204 MPs voted against Mr Lofven while 142 voted in favour. Parliament's speaker will now propose a new leader - a process that could take weeks. Mr Lofven is expected to stay on as caretaker prime minister while his replacement is decided. Read more here

US is putting a knife to China's neck, says trade negotiator

China's deputy trade negotiator on Tuesday acknowledged the challenge in resuming negotiations with the US, saying: "How could you negotiate with someone when he puts a knife on your neck?" Wang Shouwen made the remarks at a press conference in Beijing aimed at highlighting a newly issued government policy paper on bilateral trade frictions, in which China portrays itself as a victim of US protectionism and bullying. The paper was released Monday shortly after US President Donald Trump slapped 10% tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. China has retaliated with 5-10% tariffs on $60 billion worth of American goods. Echoing a position outlined in the 36,000-word document, Wang left the door open for further trade talks but emphasized it was "entirely up to the US side" to show respect and sincerity for negotiations to restart. Read more here

25th September 2018

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