NEWS

Augustine to Charles: End victimisation

Former contract teacher Farley Augustine is calling on Secretary for Education, Innovation and Energy, Kelvin Charles to “end victimisation season” and pay all gratuities owed immediately. This comes after Friday’s ruling by Jus­tice David Har­ris in the High Court ordering the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) to im­me­di­ate­ly pay con­tract teach­ers all out­stand­ing pay­ments, plus in­ter­est. Augustine, one of the litigants and currently serving as a Minority Assemblyman, said he felt really excited that justice will finally be served. Read more here

Dubarry’s murder accused in court

Two days af­ter Gabriel­la Dubar­ry was cre­mat­ed, the man ac­cused of her mur­der has been sent for a psy­chi­atric eval­u­a­tion at the St Anns Psy­chi­atric Hos­pi­tal. Vishal Bir­ju, 30, a PH dri­ver of Pep­per Vil­lage, Fyz­abad ap­peared be­fore Mag­is­trate Ava Van­den­berg-Bai­ley at the Siparia Mag­is­trates Court on Tues­day morn­ing. The court heard that on Thurs­day 9th Jan­u­ary, Bir­ju went in­to the home of Dubar­ry’s par­ents at Je­bodhs­ingh Dri­ve, Av­o­cat and shot her on the head. He was not called up­on to plead as the charge was laid in­dictably. Read more here

POLITICS

Dr Khan hits back at Mr Killa over music comments

Former health minister Dr Fuad Khan on Tuesday vowed to go “down to the wire” against International Soca Monarch Hollice “Mr Killa” Mapp on Khan's claims that Carnival music degrades women. Lamenting the domestic killing of three women this year, Khan had recently said such music demeans women as sexual objects, so men feel okay to degrade them. Mapp, at a briefing on Monday, had scoffed at Khan’s claims, saying, “Did he smoke? You never hear a soca saying to beat someone or kill anybody. I don't know how he made a connection.” Khan in a Facebook post on Tuesday hit back at Mapp. Read more here

State loses final helicopter appeal

At­tor­ney Gen­er­al Faris Al-Rawi may have suf­fered an­oth­er big le­gal loss yes­ter­day in the mat­ter be­tween the State and in­ter­na­tion­al he­li­copter provider, Cob­ham PLC. Ac­cord­ing to a state­ment on the mat­ter, the State is ex­pect­ed to now pay out over US $10 mil­lion to the com­pa­ny. The State, rep­re­sent­ed by the AG’s of­fice, “lost its fi­nal ap­peal filed by Cob­ham re­lat­ing to the com­pa­ny’s ser­vice pro­vi­sions that pro­vid­ed crew, train­ing, and main­te­nance of the now per­ma­nent­ly ground­ed Trinidad and To­ba­go Air Guard (TTAG) he­li­copter fleet”. Guardian Me­dia con­tact­ed Al-Rawi who said he was not aware of the rul­ing but would con­firm whether the State had re­al­ly lost the case. Min­is­ter of Na­tion­al Se­cu­ri­ty, Stu­art Young yes­ter­day dis­tanced him­self from the mat­ter, say­ing that on­ly Al-Rawi would be able to an­swer. Read more here

BUSINESS

$5m grant for pan makers and tuners

Pan manufacturers and tuners are expected to benefit from a $5 million grant for the establishment of the Steelpan Manufacturing Grant Fund Facility. Read more here

REGIONAL

‘HIGH’-RISK RETREATS - Hundreds Of Americans Swarm Ja For Mushroom Drug Sessions

Hundreds of Americans are flocking Jamaican shores annually to get a high from magic mushrooms in pricey rural retreats, but the naturally occurring hallucinogen presents dangers and local authorities warn that importation of the fungal drug is illegal. Magic mushrooms are also marketed to Jamaicans on Instagram for $1,500 per gram, and can be purchased in shops or on the streets of Negril and other resort towns. Several mushroom retreat centres currently operate in Jamaica. One such operation is run by Eric Osborne, founder of MycoMeditations, who told The Gleaner that more than 600 people have visited his retreats. Read more here

Commonwealth Technical Adviser arrives to support GECOM

Already, international support is arriving in Guyana to assist the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) with preparation for the March 2, 2020 elections. On Tuesday, GECOM Public Relations Officer, Yolanda Ward announced that Commonwealth Senior Technical Adviser, Dr. Afari Gyan had arrived in Guyana and met with the full Commission inclusive of GECOM Chair, Justice (rt’d) Claudette Singh and Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield. Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

Australia fires: Family blames teenager’s death on bushfire smoke

One night last November, Courtney Partridge-McLennan said goodnight to her family in Australia and went to sleep in her room. At some point in following hours, the 19-year-old woman suffered a suspected asthma attack. When her parents checked on her the next morning, Courtney had died. Her family believes that Courtney's death in Glen Innes, New South Wales, was triggered by smoke from nearby bushfires. Like many populated areas across Australia's east, the town has been shrouded by smoke in recent months. "She was found with her phone torch on, as though she was looking for something," her sister, Cherylleigh, told the BBC's Outside Source programme. "Her Ventolin [inhaler] was on the bed with her." Courtney was diagnosed with asthma as a child. It was not usually severe but tended to flare up around dust and air pollutants, according to her sister. "She had no symptoms before she went to bed," Cherylleigh said. "She was healthy and that's what made it the biggest shock for us. It was so out of nowhere." Read more here

6 takeaways from the Democratic debate in Iowa

Caution ruled the night of the final Democratic presidential debate before the Iowa caucuses. There were some clashes on stage, but the generally careful approach from the four candidates that sit atop the Iowa polls -- former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren -- suggested they all believe they have paths to victory and weren't eager to change the race's course so close to the first real test of 2020. The CNN/Des Moines Register debate's most memorable moment might have come from Warren, who, in a direct pitch for her electability, made the case that a woman is best suited to beat Trump in 2020. Read more here

15th January 2020

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