NEWS
TSTT pensioners wants money owed to them
Wayne Caesar, chairman of Telecommunications Services’ (TSTT) pensioners’ committee, yesterday called on TSTT’s management to pay former workers money owed to them. A small group of TSTT retirees staged a silent protest in front of TSTT’s head office, Edward Street, Port of Spain. Caesar said TSTT had owed retired workers more than $8 million for the past four to five years. “We have people sick that wanted to come out here today (yesterday) but they cannot because they can’t walk. Read more here
Venezuelan killed in shootout with cops
A Venezuelan national was killed by police during an alleged shootout in Diego Martin on Wednesday night. A female Venezuelan national was also shot during the incident and was said to be warded in hospital. Up to late yesterday, the name of the dead man was not released. Read more here
I apologise to her family, says suspect’s brother
Thurian Garcia, the elder brother of the man who allegedly stabbed Anita Bahadur on Wednesday at the Croisee in San Juan, apologised yesterday on behalf of their family. Read more here
POLITICS
Rowley rubbishes claim of no consultation
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on Wednesday dismissed claims by Cumuto/Manzanilla MP Christine Newallo-Hosein that there was no public consultation on the proposed Cumuto/Manzanilla Highway and its possible impact on the Aripo Reserve. Contributing to debate on the Land Adjudication Amendment (No 2) Bill 2017 and Land Tribunal Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives, both of which were passed, Rowley said Newallo-Hosein should be the last person to talk about a lack of consultation since she had been invited to the government’s presentation on the project, but left prematurely after handing him “a letter from God.” Read more here
AG: Cops must act on domestic abuse reports
The police are the first responders to domestic violence cases and they must take the matters seriously, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi made clear yesterday. But everyone must also become their relatives’ keeper in T&T and if a family member is suffering domestic violence, “...You can’t say ‘that’s not my business’,”|Al-Rawi added. Speaking at yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing, the AG advocated action and speaking out in order to help deal with the domestic violence problem. Read more here
Dillon accused of abuse and fraud in US
For the past seven months, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon has been visiting the United States to attend a US Supreme Court civil matter in which allegations of “elder financial abuse, exploitation and fraud”, have been levelled against him. Read more here
BUSINESS
Educational fun at UWI’s Agri Tech Expo 2018
A FESTIVE mood engulfed the University of the West Indies’ St Augustine campus yesterday as over 350 students from pre-registered primary and secondary schools across TT were treated to a day of educational fun at the campus’s annual Agri Tech Expo. The event, which featured the latest innovations in agricultural and scientific technology, as well as livestock and locally grown produce, was aimed at engaging students with a passion for science and food production. Read more here
$648m after tax profit for Ansa McAL
Automotive, trading and distribution were the highest revenue earners for the Ansa McAL Group which recorded an after tax profit of $648 million for the period ended December 2017. The group’s total assets increased to $14.3 billion from $13.9 billion for the previous year and it achieved $2 billion in cash and cash equivalent compared to $1.7 billion in 2016. Read more here
‘T&T Spirit’ delayed again
Do not expect to see the T&T Spirit back in the water today, the Port Authority said yesterday while not providing a new date on which the passenger ferry might resume service. Read more here
REGIONAL
Don't Worry - Green Says Every GSAT Student Has A Place
Junior Education Minister Floyd Green has urged the more than 39,000 students completing the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) today, along with their parents, not to lose sleep over the results. He assured them that there is a space for every child across the education system. This, he says, as the education ministry has embarked on a programme to raise the profile, level, and quality of every secondary institution. Green, who, yesterday, visited the Hope Valley Experimental School to deliver words of encouragement to students sitting day one of the two-day examination, opined that it is becoming less important which school children attend. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Bolton's move to White House signals a more hawkish turn
John Bolton promised President Donald Trump that "he wouldn't start any wars" if he were hired to be the third national security adviser at the White House in just 14 months -- a claim that generated skepticism across Washington. Bolton, a hawkish neoconservative, has advocated war with Iran and a pre-emptive strike on North Korea, and remains an unapologetic supporter of the Iraq War despite the flawed intelligence used to justify the US invasion. So the claim that Bolton would avoid conflict, described to CNN by a source familiar with negotiations between the President and the former ambassador to the UN, raised eyebrows when news broke Thursday that Trump was ousting H.R. McMaster and replacing him with the 69-year-old Baltimore native. Read more here
France Trèbes: 'One dead' in hostage-taking at supermarket
23rd March 2018