NEWS
Help may not have been enough
Sherry Ann Seecharan and her teenage daughter, who were taken into police custody in connection with the shooting death of prison officer Robert Seecharan, were offered counselling by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. Seecharan, a mother of four, was found dead at her sister's home in Barrackpore on Wednesday. Police believe she committed suicide by drinking a poisonous substance. Read more…
Two men gunned down in San Juan
Two San Juan men were killed on Wednesday following what police suspect was a drug deal that may have gone sour. According to police reports, around 8 pm on Wednesday the men — Darryl Ramcharitar, 39, of Don Miguel Road and Roshad Jones, 20, of Prizgar Road — were found lying on the roadway shortly after residents of Chandoo Lane, San Juan, heard gunshots and ventured outside to investigate. Residents called the police and ambulance service and the men were subsequently taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope. Read more…
Deadly Rage
A teenaged girl was stabbed to death by one of her peers in a jealous rage in Second Caledonia, Laventille, on Wednesday evening. But the victim turned out to be the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time when tragedy struck. The 16-year old victim, Jernice Francis, died after being stabbed in the neck by an 18-yearold, who reportedly was seeking out another girl she felt was involved with her boyfriend. She was walking along the Snake Valley Road, Laventille, near to a friend’s home when she was accosted by the jealous girlfriend. Read more…
POLITICS
Rowley: Laptop initiative failed
Leader of the Opposition Dr Keith Rowley says a report prepared by the UWI Faculty of Social Sciences on the role of the Government’s multi-million dollar laptop initiative failed to significantly assist the students in their overall performance. Rowley said so during a meeting of the PNM in Maloney on Wednesday night. The programme was introduced by the People’s Partnership Government, led by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, over the past five years to all students entering secondary schools. Read more…
Fuad: Unreasonable, ridiculous action
Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan said yesterday that “the nurses are being unreasonable in taking such ridiculous action”. He also said he had approached Tertiary Education Minister Fazal Karim to get student nurses to man the wards and hospitals if the need arose. Khan was responding to the nurses' slowdown at Arima Health Facility. Via a telephone interview, Khan said: “I think they are being unreasonable. The PSA is being unreasonable, if they want to take such ridiculous action. My concern is to ensure the citizens get proper health-care, even if I have to hire new nurses and attendants. I think it is a 'red herring'. The PSA wants me to commit in writing so they can use it when they go into bargaining before the recognition board. Read more…
BUSINESS
ANSA Group half year profit at $459m
For the first six months of 2015, the ANSA McAL Group achieved revenue of $2,871 million and profit before tax of $459 million—an 11 per cent improvement over the previous year. Commenting on the groups’ unaudited results for the six months ended June 30, group chairman and CEO, A Norman Sabga said: “I think these results speak for themselves. Our services companies performed significantly better than last year. We believe in the next two months the media company will pick up. “In terms of the automotive sector, revenues are down but our percentage of the market has grown. That is how we measure an industry, the whole market is down but we increase our share. Our beverage industries in the islands have done well. Barbados is doing better than last year.” Read more…
Republic suspends sale of foreign currency
Republic Bank Ltd (RBL) yesterday suspended the sale of all foreign currency at its branches. The action, which was communicated to all branch managers yesterday, will immediately impact on the bank's customers looking for US dollars. Read more…
REGIONAL
West Kingston Enquiry Resumes September 7
Public hearings at the multi-million dollar West Kingston Commission of Enquiry are expected to resume on September 7. The enquiry will be going into its sixth session at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston. The proceedings have been on break since July 6. Following the September session, there will be two others leading to the end of public hearings on December 11. The commission is chaired by Barbadian, Sir David Simmons. He’s being assisted by retired high court judge Hazel Harris and university professor, Anthony Harriott. Read more…
International community should do more to assist small states, says Barbados minister
Members of the international community need to do much more than “study the situation” of developing states in economic crises; they need to develop a plan to assist them in debt recovery. That view was expressed on Wednesday by Barbados’ finance minister, Christopher Sinckler, while speaking at the XI Annual Meeting Group of Latin American and the Caribbean Debt Management Specialists (LAC Debt Group). “For us small states, it is not enough to just speak almost despairingly about our negative debt matrices as if pouring scorn on us for daring to pursue the development of our people and societies. And it is certainly not enough to keep sending missions of sterilised technocrats and academics to ‘study the situation’, and if we are lucky, publish a book to which we get entitled to a free copy. No! Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Kerry to reopen embassy in Cuba, but tensions remain
On Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry travels to Cuba to raise the flag above the U.S. Embassy for the first time in 54 years. The day before, Cuban state media put out an article in the name of Fidel Castro, writing on the occasion of his 89th birthday, in which he made no reference to the historic resumption of U.S.-Cuba relations but instead waxed on about the damage the American embargo has caused Cuba and the anniversary of the United States dropping an atomic bomb on Japan. Read more…
China explosions: Fires still burning after Tianjin blasts
14th August 2015