NEWS

Murder – and fixing it

Understanding the motivation behind acquiring an illegal gun, particularly in high-violence communities, is one of the first steps in addressing gun violence in those communities. This is the view of criminal psychologist and criminologist Renée Cummings, responding to questions about the country’s murder toll. As at yesterday evening, the murder toll stood at 167, compared to 174 for the corresponding period last year, and according to the police, the murder toll for the first quarter is the lowest in the past four years. But speaking with the Express last week, president of the Police Social and Welfare Association, ASP Michael Seales said the numbers game ought not to be played. Read more here

WMA warns over vaccine hesitancy

The World Med­ical As­so­ci­a­tion has ex­pressed its alarm about in­creas­ing re­ports of measles out­breaks in many parts of the world. At its Coun­cil meet­ing in San­ti­a­go, Chile, the as­so­ci­a­tion said that mis­con­cep­tions about vac­ci­na­tions and re­duced vac­ci­na­tion rates posed a sig­nif­i­cant chal­lenge for health au­thor­i­ties of all na­tions. An emer­gency res­o­lu­tion agreed by the meet­ing said it was clear that in­creas­ing glob­al trav­el by ‘less than ap­pro­pri­ate­ly pro­tect­ed in­di­vid­u­als’ as well as mis­con­cep­tions posed a chal­lenge. The res­o­lu­tion strong­ly reaf­firms the World Med­ical As­so­ci­a­tion’s 2012 State­ment on the Pri­ori­ti­sa­tion of Im­mu­ni­sa­tion, de­nounc­ing un­found­ed and in­ac­cu­rate claims about the pos­si­ble dan­gers of vac­cine ad­min­is­tra­tion. Read more here

POLITICS

President: Safe workplaces essential

TT must have a modern and responsive regulatory framework for workplace safety, said President Paula-Mae Weekes in her messsge on the occasion of World Day for Safety and Health at Work, which is marked today. The country needs to enforce existing regulations and work towards improving workplace safety and health, especially, she stressed. Given the recent influx of both legal and illegal immigrant workers. The country, in her view, "must make sure that the fundamental human right to a safe and healthy working environment is respected at all levels and in all circumstances.” Read more here

‘T&T, small islands like hamsters on wheel’

T&T and small Caribbean is­lands are like “ham­sters on a wheel” be­cause of the ups and downs of try­ing to de­vel­op says Plan­ning and De­vel­op­ment Min­is­ter Camille Robin­son-Reg­is. Ac­cord­ing to a re­lease from the Min­istry of Plan­ning, Robin­son-Reg­is made the state­ment while speak­ing in San­ti­a­go, Chile at the glob­al 2030 Agen­da at the Third Meet­ing of the Fo­rum of the Coun­tries of Latin Amer­i­ca and the Caribbean on Sus­tain­able De­vel­op­ment. The event took place from April 24 to yes­ter­day. The re­lease said t T&T had been in­vit­ed to share as best prac­tice the progress made re­gard­ing the glob­al 2030 agen­da. Read more here

REGIONAL

Killer Cops Cornered - Alleged Rogue Policeman Shot After Murderous Attack; Crony Arrested

At least three top-level probes have been launched into a dramatic early morning murder in St Catherine yesterday that culminated in a high-speed car chase and a deadly shoot-out involving an off-duty cop and the alleged attackers, who turned out to be his colleagues. The rogue cops were on suspension from the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Mobile Reserve outfit to which they are assigned. One of them was killed in the shoot-out, another arrested, while the third escaped, police sources have reported. A motorist was also killed in the crossfire. Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

Spain election: Socialists win amid far-right breakthrough

Spain's governing Socialists won the country's third election in four years, but have fallen short of a majority. PM Pedro Sánchez's party polled 29% and will need the help of either left-wing Podemos and regional parties, or the centre right, to form a government. For the first time since military rule ended in the 1970s, a far-right party, Vox, is set to enter parliament. Vox opposes multiculturalism, unrestricted migration, and what it calls "radical feminism". Analysts say support for Vox has been boosted by widespread anger at the Catalan independence drive. The party fervently opposes any concessions to the secessionists. Read more here

Destroyed on the battlefield, ISIS begins new chapter of terror

The 59-second video shows eight men clasping hands and pledging allegiance to the "Emir of the Believers" and the "Caliphate of the Muslims." They were about to launch a series of devastating attacks in Sri Lanka, an atrocity that took the lives of more than 250 people and simultaneously declared that ISIS is far from extinguished as a global threat. Within days of the attacks, ISIS' online publication al Nabaa crowed about "raising the Caliphate banner in new arenas... The days are pregnant with more disappointments for the enemies of Allah." The video was released by a news agency linked to ISIS. There is much yet to be learned about the organization behind the Sri Lankan attacks, but counterterrorism experts are united on one point: the small Islamist groups on the island could not have carried out such a complex attack without outside help. Read more here

29th April 2019

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