NEWS
Chee Mooke Bakery is back: Morvant says sorry for robbery, returns $$
Chee Mooke Bakery Ltd has said it will continue to sell itsproducts in Morvant after residents apologised for robbing one of the bakery's drivers. On Monday,Chee Mooke said on Facebook, "To the fellas who #ROBBED our driver this afternoon, in the name of JUSTICE for their fallen brethren, thanks for not injuring our employee. "However, please inform ALL the shop owners that THIS bakery will no longer be delivering in your area. Let them know why too, eh..." Read more here
CoP: We know who plotted yesterday’s mayhem
Police have identified one man as the architect behind yesterday’s protests in Port-of-Spain and networked to different areas throughout the country. In an exclusive interview on CNC3 yesterday, Commissioner of Police (CoP) Gary Griffith said one man co-ordinated with other gang leaders to create the mayhem that unfolded yesterday. “There was a deliberate plot. There was a certain individual, we have intelligence that he was the mastermind, was liaising with other gang-leaders, speaking with them, co-ordinating with them and then standing up there and pretending that he was God’s gift and trying to make everything right and pure,” Griffith said. Read more here
POLITICS
AG on bullet at his ministry: 'I am a high-value target'
Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi said the bullet that hit his ministry on Tuesday morning was because he is a "high-value target." "This is not the first time I have had attacks on the Attorney General's office, or the first time I have been targeted." Speaking to Newsday by phone, Al-Rawi said that at about 8.30am there were shots at his office (at the corner of London and Richmond Streets, Port of Spain) and because of the trajectory at which the shots were fired, a bullet entered on the third floor. "It went through two panes of glass and lodged into (an) empty cubicle where someone was previously sitting. The staff was in the room at the time. "We are very lucky nobody was hurt." Read more here
Young: Criminal elements were paid to protest
National Security Minister Stuart Young has claimed that some people were paid to participate in yesterday’s violent protest action over police brutality in and around Port-of-Spain. Speaking at a news conference at the ministry’s office at Abercromby Street in Port-of-Spain, hours after the unrest commenced, Young claimed that he had received reports of persons being recruited by “criminal elements” to perform orchestrated acts including blocking roads and clashing with police officers. “I understand peaceful protest and people being emotionally upset about the incident that took place on Saturday but it has become very obvious, very quickly, that many of these incidents that are not peaceful are being stirred by the criminal elements in our society,” Young said. Read more here
BUSINESS
Angostura sees stronger Covid sales
Angostura Holdings experienced a shift in demand for its products during the stay-at-home Covid-19 period. Bars were ordered to close for more than three months and only reopened on June 22, 2020. Read more here
REGIONAL
Holness headache - Petrojam scandal resurfaces with force as Wheatley labelled ‘dishonest’ in report
Prime Minister Andrew Holness is facing a tough decision on whether to name a key loyalist, the scandal-scarred Dr Andrew Wheatley, among his ruling party’s slate of prospective candidates in the next general election. The embattled former energy minister, believed to be a confidant of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader, has been referred to the director of corruption prosecutions in a damning report released on Tuesday. The director of investigation was caustic in his characterisation of Wheatley’s response to specific questions during a probe into donations made by Petrojam to various organisations and causes between April 2016 and March 2018. Read more here
Border controversy matter rightfully before ICJ
IN rejecting Venezuela’s contention that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has no jurisdiction to confirm the legal validity and binding effect of the 1899 Arbitral Award, Guyana, in a presentation before the Court, said the 1966 Geneva Agreement, in unambiguous terms, empowered the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General to determine an appropriate dispute resolution mechanism to enable a peaceful settlement. It was on that basis, the country argued, that the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, rightfully referred the border controversy, which stemmed from Venezuela’s contention that the 1899 Arbitral Award was null and void, to the ICJ in 2018 for final settlement. Guyana, in its virtual presentation before the panel of judges led by the President of the ICJ, Abdulqawi Yusuf, in the case – Arbitral Award of October 1899 (Guyana v. Venezuela), said that, not only is Venezuela’s current interpretation of the Geneva Agreement illogical and erroneous, but it is in stark contrast to the interpretation the Spanish speaking country had when it signed the very agreement in February, 1966. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Protests break out in Hong Kong as first arrest made under new security law
Hong Kong was facing up to a new reality on Wednesday, after China's central government imposed a sweeping national security law late the night before that critics say has stripped the city of its autonomy and precious civil and social freedoms, and cements Beijing's authoritarian rule over the territory. Hundreds turned out to protest the legislation in the busy shopping district of Causeway Bay but were met with a heavy security presence. Riot police fired pepper spray into the crowd, kettled and dispersed protesters, and deployed water cannons. During the protest, Hong Kong police made the first arrests under the new law, including a man who was holding a black independence flag, and soon afterward a woman with a sign reading "Hong Kong Independence." Read more here
Russia's Putin appeals to patriotism as key vote reaches climax
All week, millions of Russians have been voting to reform their constitution, many using polling stations set up on tree stumps, park benches and even car boots. Giant prize draws have helped entice them to the ballot, with the chance of winning everything from shopping vouchers to a car or flat. Opposition figures have dismissed the whole process as a farce, stretched over seven days with no proper monitoring or independent scrutiny. But for the Kremlin the amendments are vital. The vote will clear the way for Vladimir Putin to stay in power up to 2036, if he chooses. Read more here
1st July 2020