TTMA IN THE NEWS

Students compete for entrepreneurship title

Over 700 students from schools throughout the country will compete for prizes valued over $1 million in the National Secondary Schools Entrepreneurial competition. The schools have been divided into groups to participate in the “game-like” competition. It uses the Marketplace Live simulation, which brings the business world into the classroom. Students will be given the opportunity to develop their businesses. This competition was founded by the 3Stone company, which is working with the ministries of Education, Sports and Youth Affairs and Community Development, Culture and Arts; the Japanese Embassy; the T|T Chamber of Commerce and the TT Manufacturers’ Associations (TTMA). Read more here

NEWS

Museum brings Fort King George to life

Have you ever contemplated what life was like back in the 18th century at the site of Fort King George, one of the island's leading tourist attractions? Patrons got a chance to relive those historic, sombre moments on Sunday afternoon through an interactive "walking theatre" hosted by the Tobago House of Assembly's Division of Tourism, Culture and Transportation. Held periodically throughout the year, the event gave chilling insight into the occurrences at that time and the fort's role in the island's development. Read more here

Minor ‘runs away’ two weeks before wedding

The par­ents of a 17-year-old girl who ran away from home two weeks be­fore her wed­ding day are plead­ing with their daugh­ter to re­turn home. Last Thurs­day the mi­nor walked out of her home leav­ing be­hind a note on her bed ad­dressed to her moth­er con­fess­ing her love for an­oth­er man. Her par­ents, whose names we’ve omit­ted to pro­tect the girl’s iden­ti­ty, were not at home when she left. In­formed by their son that she was miss­ing, the par­ents filed a miss­ing per­son’s re­port at the po­lice sta­tion. Lat­er that evening, how­ev­er, her moth­er found the note which said she had gone to stay by her new love. Speak­ing at their Pe­nal home yes­ter­day, the par­ents de­nied that her daugh­ter was be­ing forced to get mar­ried. They said their daugh­ter dropped out of school in Form Two and met her in­tend­ed hus­band, age 27, about a year ago. Read more here

POLITICS

Social media biggest threat to democracy

National Security Minister Stuart Young said on Monday while some aspects of social media have brought about positive changes in society, he wishes he could “switch off” social media because of its potential to disrupt democratic processes. A release from the ministry said Young made the remarks during his address at a workshop on regional cybersecurity at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, in which he noted the growing trend of democratic processes being the target of cyber attacks. He said TT was not exempt from such threats and called on stakeholders to do their part in minimising their impact. “Even in a paper-based electoral system, like the one that exists in TT, these cyber threats to the democratic process are a reality, as they can target voters, political parties, candidates and the elections. If there is one switch in the world that I wish I could turn off, it would be the social media switch. It has warped everything. Read more here

January date for Parliament’s Red House return

Af­ter be­ing housed at the In­ter­na­tion­al Wa­ter­front Com­plex, Port-of-Spain for the last eight years, Par­lia­ment will be re­turn­ing to the fa­mous Red House in Jan­u­ary. To­day’s launch of the fi­nal ses­sion of the cur­rent Par­lia­men­tary term will be the last at the Wa­ter­front fa­cil­i­ty. The fifth and fi­nal ses­sion of the Gov­ern­ment’s five-year Par­lia­men­tary term will be launched at 1.30 pm to­day. The PNM ad­min­is­tra­tion has been in charge over the term of this 11th Par­lia­ment. The term con­cludes next Sep­tem­ber fol­low­ing which gen­er­al elec­tions will be due. There will be no cer­e­mo­ni­al open­ing - or Pres­i­den­tial speech- to­day. Both the Up­per and Low­er Hous­es of Par­lia­ment will meet in sep­a­rate ar­eas, have a brief ses­sion where the procla­ma­tion launch­ing the ses­sion will be read, and then pro­ceed­ings con­clude. Lead­ers of each House may de­liv­er brief re­marks, of­fi­cials said. Read more here

BUSINESS

PM: A positive reflection of T&T

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said yesterday his ringing of the opening trading bell at the Nasdaq stock market in New York last Friday represented the country to the world in a positive way, and when this happens, it has a positive impact on the population in the same way as when the country wins a medal at an international event. Read more here

REGIONAL

MCLEOD PROMISES FIREWORKS - 110m Hurdler Sets Sights On Smashing National Record Today

Defending World 110m hurdles champion Omar McLeod has promised something special – national record special – as he looks to become the third man to successfully defend his title in the event at the IAAF World Championships in Doha tonight. McLeod, who looked quite convincing in his win in the heats on Monday, clocking 13.17 seconds, is targeting a 12.8s winning time in the final today, a run that would not only erase his own 12.90-second national record, but test Aries Merritt’s seven-year world record of 12.80 seconds. “I am going to give you a 12.8-something,” McLeod declared. He comes into the championship with a season best of 13.07 seconds, which was done at the beginning of September. Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

'Urgent' Hill briefing on Ukraine comes as impeachment inquiry speeds ahead

The impeachment inquiry that has pitched Donald Trump's presidency into its deepest-ever crisis took a new twist after the independent inspector general from the State Department asked for an "urgent" briefing with congressional committees about documents related to the Ukraine scandal. A congressional aide described the request for Wednesday's briefing as "highly unusual and cryptically worded." The dramatic development came after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attempted to prevent witnesses linked to his department from appearing on Capitol Hill in the coming days. The move appeared to be an attempt to buy time to come up with a long term blueprint to save Trump by turning the politics of impeachment. Read more here

Boris Johnson: No-deal only alternative to Brexit plan

Boris Johnson says there should be "no doubt" the only alternative to the Brexit proposals he will put to Brussels later is no-deal. Addressing his party conference in Manchester, the PM said his plan would be a "compromise by the UK", but he hoped the EU would "understand that and compromise in their turn". The European Commission said they will "examine [the proposals] objectively". The UK is set to leave the EU on 31 October. The government has insisted it will not negotiate a further delay beyond the Halloween deadline, saying this would be unnecessary and costly for the UK. However, under the terms of a law passed by Parliament last month, the PM faces having to request another extension unless MPs back the terms of withdrawal by 19 October - two days after a summit of European leaders. The European Commission's President Jean-Claude Juncker and Mr Johnson will speak on the phone later, and the two sides' negotiating teams will also meet. Read more here

2nd October 2019

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