Daily Brief - Wednesday 4th November, 2020

NEWS

You can now gift CAL loyalty miles to loved ones

Caribbean Airlines (CAL) has added new features to its loyalty program, Caribbean Miles, giving members the ability to purchase miles to boost their own balance, transfer miles, and for the first time, gift miles to family and friends. These improvements are possible through the airline’s strategic partnership with Points, a global leader in powering loyalty commerce, and Amadeus. The arrangement, a CAL release on Tuesday said, builds on Amadeus’ already existing relationship with Caribbean Miles as the provider of its Passenger Service System and will make it possible for the airline’s loyalty program to better stimulate future demand. Read more here

Another COVID-19 death

One more person has died from COVID-19, the Ministry of Health confirmed yesterday in its daily update. The person was identified as a male with pre-existing medical conditions. It took the local count to 110. Read more here

 

POLITICS

Abdulah tells government: Come clean on Patriotic rejection

Questions are being raised about the shift in government’s policy from an agreed three-year moratorium with a 10-year payback plan for Patriotic Energies and Technologies Co Ltd to an upfront cash payment. Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) political leader David Abdulah said government must come clean and say if a US$570,265,000 bond issue by Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Limited (TPHL) has changed the original requirement for the refinery purchase. Read more here

CWU demands Govt settles TSTT arrears

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is calling on the Government to settle arrears with state-owned Telecommunication Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) for their members. Speaking to Guardian Media at their union hall on Henry Street, CWU Secretary General Clyde Elder said the government is owing TSTT $200 million which he said must be used by the state-owned company to pay outstanding arrears. “We are clamouring for what was owed to us, now the government seems to be reneging on the arrangement but what we are stating here today is that the 500 workers who were retrenched are still owed by the state-owned company”, Elder said. Read more here

 

BUSINESS

Kamla: Who has been chosen?

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has called on Government to say if it has chosen a Chinese or French company for privatisation of the Port of Port of Spain. Read more here

 

REGIONAL

Relief for flooded-affected areas along coast

The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) is in the process of intensifying its drainage capabilities in low-lying and other areas prone to flooding. This is as a result of the secondary or short rainy season which typically lasts from mid- November to January. On Monday, several areas along the coast experienced flooding due to heavy rainfall. Read more here

Comply With COVID Protocols Or Else, Says Gov’t To Healthcare Operators

The Government has issued a strong warning to owners and operators of residential healthcare facilities that failure to comply with regulations and protocols related to COVID-19 by month end will result in prosecutions, closures, and fines amounting to $1 million. “The Government has the responsibility to take the strongest action where those basic arrangements are not in place,” Dr Christopher Tufton, the health and wellness minister, declared in a statement to the House of Representatives on Tuesday. Read more here

 

INTERNATIONAL

Republicans narrow Democrats' path to Senate majority by keeping key GOP seats

After six years of Republican rule, Democrats are hoping to take back control of the Senate, but Republicans have narrowed their path. Republicans have so far thwarted well-funded Democratic bids in Iowa, South Carolina, Kansas, Texas and Montana and taken back a Democratic seat in Alabama. Democrats have captured a seat in Colorado, and have their sights set on several other Republican senators. Read more here

Markets volatile as US election outcome uncertain

European stock markets are volatile as uncertainty continues over the outcome of the US election. Shares in London, Paris and Frankfurt opened sharply lower after incumbent President Donald Trump vowed to launch a Supreme Court challenge. However, they had recovered by mid-morning, trading higher on the day before losing ground again. All three indexes were just in positive territory, while the dollar was up against both the pound and the euro. On Tuesday, the three major US indexes closed higher, with the Dow up more than 2%. Read more here

4th November 2020

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