NEWS
We Are Champions!
Barbadian all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite forever etched his name into West Indies history yesterday with four consecutive sixes in the last over to clinch a breathtaking final against England in the ICC World Twenty20 tournament at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India. Needing 19 runs to win, Brathwaite clobbered England pacer Ben Stokes’ first four balls over the boundary ropes to claim an unprecedented second World T20 title for the Windies. It was sweet victory for the West Indies and capped a splendid year for the various teams, winning the Under-19 World Cup in February and the Women’s World T20 crown in the first match of yesterday’s finals doubleheader. But the hard-hitting of the West Indians was not over and perhaps the biggest shot of the match was taken at the presentation ceremony by their captain Darren Sammy. Read more…
Five-year-old killed by cyclist: Family mourns for little Jaden
All five-year-old Jaden Cudjoe wanted on Saturday evening was a “sweetie.” But the trip to a nearby mini mart for the sweet treat eventually cost the youngster his life, as he was struck by a motorcycle and killed a stone’s throw away from his home. The incident which took the First Year Tabaquite Presbyterian School pupil’s life took place around 6.30 pm along the Tabaquite Main Road, Tabaquite. However, the reports on how young Jaden died differ, as his family members said yesterday he was on the side of the roadway when the cyclist careened into him, flinging his small body almost 30 feet away. His uncle, Mikhail Joseph, who took him to the Radica’s Mini Mart that evening, recalled the events leading up to his nephew’s death during an interview with the T&T Guardian. Read more…
St Ann’s escapee caught at Chaguaramas
After five days on the run, murder-accused prisoner Sheldon “Rhino” Henry, one of six inmates who escaped from St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital last week, has been recaptured. Western Division officers found Henry, also known as Sheldon Thomas, hiding below a jetty at Staubles Bay in Chaguaramas around 11 p.m. on Saturday after they received information from members of the public that he had been seen in the area earlier that night. A news release issued by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service yesterday stated that, after receiving the information around 8 p.m., head of the Western Division Snr Supt Basdeo Ramdhanie, along with a party of officers including members of the Task Force went to the area. Upon reaching the location they spotted a man on the compound of Lennox Industries fitting Henry’s description wearing a black shirt and black three-quarter pants. The release stated that the officers called out to the man, who fled and jumped into nearby waters. Members of the Coast Guard were called in and the escaped prisoner was found hiding under the jetty in the company of a Venezuelan man identified as 26-year-old Alfredo Garcia. Read more…
POLITICS
Many challenges ahead, Rowley
No one in this country will escape the effects of adjustments and decisions Government must take to deal with the current economic recession due to the decline in the price of oil and gas, says Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley. “What is happening now will affect us in some way or the other. Nobody can say that what is ahead of us will not affect them. Is either you not aware or you don’t care,” he said. Rowley spoke yesterday on a number of issues at the People’s National Movement (PNM) Special Convention, held at St John’s Ambulance Brigade Headquarters, Port-of-Spain, to amend the party’s constitution to enable the oneman- one vote system for officers of the Tobago Council of the PNM. Noting there were many challenges ahead, Rowley said that Government was not going willy- nilly like a bull in a china shop to deal with the issues. Read more…
Imbert meets ministry official on ArcelorMittal pension plan
Finance Minister Colm Imbert yesterday said he would speak with the senior official at the Ministry of Finance appointed to liaise with Republic Bank Ltd, the trustees of the ArcelorMittal Point Lisas pension fund, to determine the true facts of the state of the fund. This comes one day after the Steel Workers’ Union of T&T (SWUTT) said the pension plan was jeopardy. Imbert had announced at a March 21 press conference that a senior ministry official was instructed to get the facts on the adequacy of the company’s pension plan. But yesterday, Imbert said he had still not received information from the official. “The senior official has not yet reported back to me. I would speak with him tomorrow (today),” Imbert said in a telephone interview. Read more…
Decision to buy made since 2012
Former national Security Minister Gary Griffith said a request for the change of vehicle for the former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar was not a luxury, but a necessity. It was made since 2012. Griffith also said it should not be seen as a matter of playing politics, but it was necessary to secure Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley. Read more…
BUSINESS
Caricom pushes agenda for renewable energy
Renewable energy objectives set out by Caricom will become the saving grace of members states saddled with high energy cost, says to Niebert Blair, project officer with the Energy Caribbean Community Secretariat. She said benefits of those plans could yield results as early as next year, based in the organisation’s Caribbean Sustainable energy targets for renewable power and energy efficiency. The renewable energy agenda set out in the short term plan, with progress to be realised with the next ten months, includes 20 per cent renewable energy generation. Five years after that, in the medium term, the projection for development of this energy source based on calculations would be 28 per cent, with a 19 per cent hike by 2027. Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre said laws governing the operations T&TEC and the Regulated Industries Commission (RIC) will be amended to facilitate government’s renewable energy agenda. Read more…
REGIONAL
'I'm Being Targeted' - Burke Claims Hanna Misguided As No-Confidence Motion Brought To NEC
Claiming that he's being "targeted", Paul Burke, the embattled People's National Party (PNP) general secretary, says a motion of no confidence brought against him yesterday by Region One Chairman Lisa Hanna is misguided for reasons he is refusing to state publicly. Burke's stewardship of the secretariat of the 77-year-old party has come into question since the February 25 general election in which the then Opposition Jamaica Labour Party overturned a 21-seat deficit to return to state power. Yesterday's meeting of the party's National Executive Council (NEC) - the highest decision-making body outside of conference - unmasked much of the venom that has been building up against some of the PNP's leaders. Burke accepted that he and all other senior members must be held accountable. "I strongly believe that it is healthy for the PNP. Whatever the motives are, and I outlined four of the five motives to the NEC, why I believe I'm targeted," Burke said last night, declining to state what was fuelling the campaign against him. Read more…
Chinese fast-tracking megaresort sale, says Bahamas PM
Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie on Friday revealed that the China Export-Import (EXIM) Bank is fast-tracking its process to find a buyer for the troubled multibillion dollar Baha Mar megaresort property, which has been mostly shuttered for more than nine months. “I’m expecting discussions with the bank and the construction company for next week,” he told reporters. “I had a farewell visit with the ambassador for China, we had some positions that we gave to him and that we felt like the government of China can assist us with. “The idea is to still try and get construction to resume. What is clear to me is that they are going through a process of identifying a buyer and they are fast [tracking] that. “We have had visitations from potential buyers who have come in and asked whether the government can give the same concessions and so we have been kept aware of what’s taken place.” Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Syria war: 'Islamic State' loses al-Qaryatain to government forces
Panama Papers: Rich and powerful respond to claims they hid billions offshore
Elected leaders and top officials from around the world are responding with denials and outrage to allegations that they used secret offshore companies and accounts to hide billions of dollars. The media reports, based on a massive leak of documents, allege the existence of a clandestine network involving associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and business ties between a member of FIFA's ethics committee and men indicted for corruption. The Kremlin has dismissed the allegations as "a series of fibs," while the FIFA official has described them as "ridiculous" and "outrageous." But some governments are acting on the information -- the U.K., France, Australia and Mexico have pledged to investigate for possible cases of tax evasion. Several news organizations published reports Sunday drawing on more than 11 million documents leaked from a law firm in Panama that allegedly helped set up secret shell companies and offshore accounts. Read more…
4th April 2016