NEWS

Let’s talk about suicide

For too long, suicide has been a shadowy almost taboo topic, lurking in the dark corners of society. But this needs to change.“Talking about suicide opens the conversation and reduces stigma,” Wendy Jeremie, of the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Psychologists (TTAP), said as she spoke on Saturday at the association’s latest community seminar. With statistics that show a suicide every two days in this country, Jeremie said the association wants to point to these realities as well as long-held taboos, stigmatization and misconceptions which shows a need for suicide and suicide prevention as being topics which need to be pushed to the front of the national discourse. Read more here

Junior Sammy’s $3.5m court levy delayed

A con­tract­ing com­pa­ny was yes­ter­day forced to tem­porar­i­ly with­draw its levy against Ju­nior Sam­my Con­trac­tors Lim­it­ed over an un­paid $3.5 mil­lion court judge­ment. Court mar­shals, po­lice of­fi­cers and lawyers rep­re­sent­ing West­ern Gen­er­al Con­trac­tors Ser­vices Lim­it­ed went to Ju­nior Sam­my’s com­pound in Clax­ton Bay, around 6 am yes­ter­day morn­ing, to ex­e­cute the judge­ment and be­gin the process of seiz­ing items to re­cov­er the debt. How­ev­er be­fore they could en­ter, the Reg­is­trar of the Supreme Court in­struct­ed them to put the process on hold as Ju­nior Sam­my Con­trac­tors had ap­plied for a stay of the judge­ment pend­ing an ap­peal. Read more here

POLITICS

Le Hunte: Multi-faceted plan to fix water issues

A multi-faceted plan is the only route to address water issues, Minister of Public Utilities Robert Le Hunte has said. Current figures show one of WASA’s four dams is at half its average water level and another contains a third of the usual amount. The other two are also well below average levels. But Le Hunte is confident if all plans work, the water situation will remain stable, even if this year’s rainfall doesn’t replenish reservoirs in time for next year’s dry season. He told Newsday his ministry will focus on addressing the issues of interconnectivity, supply, and demand. Read more here

Rowley: Former PM told Marlene about charges month before arrest

An in­con­gru­ous po­lit­i­cal sit­u­a­tion led Prime Min­is­ter Dr Kei­th Row­ley to re­veal to the Par­lia­ment that Op­po­si­tion Leader Kam­la Per­sad Bisses­sar tipped off her po­lit­i­cal ad­ver­sary, Mar­lene Mc Don­ald one month be­fore her ar­rest. “I didn’t know Mar­lene Mc Don­ald was go­ing to get ar­rest­ed but one month be­fore she was ar­rest­ed the Leader of the Op­po­si­tion could have called her to her of­fice and tell her she was go­ing to be ar­rest­ed,” Row­ley said. As the dis­clo­sure echoed through the Cham­ber of the Par­lia­ment on Mon­day night, gasps and wows em­anat­ed from the Gov­ern­ment bench. Read more here

BUSINESS

Focus on power generation

BP, one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, is concerned about the global rise in energy consumption. “BP’s position is we want to see a rapid transition to a low carbon energy system,” said Spencer Dale, chief economist of the BP Group. “The first question you may ask is really? You’re BP, you sell oil and gas, surely you don’t want a rapid transition to a low carbon energy future because that’s going to move away from the things you sell,” he said. Read more here

REGIONAL

$20-BILLION DRAIN PLAN - Gov’t Hopes To End Recurring Corporate Area Flooding Nightmare

The Andrew Holness administration is looking to shell out up to US$150 million (J$20.5 billion) to construct a new drainage network across Kingston and St Andrew to put an end to the flooding nightmare in areas of the Corporate Area after heavy rainfall. Holness, the prime minister, announced yesterday that already a request for proposals for the design of the drainage system has been completed. “Hopefully, they will go to contracting within a month and the period of design will be about six months,” he told the House of Representatives. “So, hopefully, we will have that ready in terms of the major drains that will have to be reconstructed or new drains to be put in for Kingston and St Andrew.” Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

Arab nations condemn Netanyahu's Jordan Valley annexation plan

Arab nations have condemned a plan by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to annex a third of the occupied West Bank. On Tuesday Mr Netanyahu pledged to apply Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea if he is returned to office following a general election next week. Officials in Jordan and Saudi Arabia sharply criticised the announcement. The Palestinians said the move would be "illegal", while the UN said it would destroy the chance of new peace talks. The annexation proposed by Mr Netanyahu would "bury any chance of peace", said chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. Read more here

Why John Bolton had to leave and what to expect next

 John Bolton had to go -- because he wanted to cancel President Donald Trump's worldwide reality show. For a time the now ex-national security adviser, who first caught Trump's eye with his tough talk on Fox News, was useful to the President -- sharing his desire to shake up the globe. But like everyone else in Trump's dysfunctional foreign policy team, Bolton wore out his welcome, standing in the way of his boss' impetuous instincts and seeking a share of the spotlight. Only in the bizarre Trump orbit could the exit of a national security adviser seen as an ideologue and aggressive hawk also be perceived in some ways as the removal of a stabilizing force. But he did have a view of American interests and the use of US power that while hardline was predictable and logical and positioned within the historic boundaries of US diplomacy. Read more here

11th September 2019

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