NEWS
PH driver stabbed, killed
A PH taxi driver was stabbed to death in Port of Spain on Friday night. Police said around 10 pm on August 2, Jabari Phillip, 31, of St James parked near the corner of Henry Street and Independence Square and got out of the car. Phillip had an argument with a man standing on the road, who then pulled out a knife and stabbed Phillip once in the chest. The man ran off. A passer-by took Phillip to the Port of Spain General Hospital but he was pronounced dead on arrival. Read more here
2 friends die in crash after night out
A night out for a group of friends ended tragically on Sunday, after two of them fell to their deaths when the pick-up they were travelling in ran off the highway and plunged into the Cipero River in San Fernando. The Hunters’ Search and Rescue (HSR) team discovered the bodies of businessman Sachin Teeluckdharry, of Clarke Road, Penal, and Ryan Ramnanan, of Tulsa Trace, San Francique, at 2.38 pm. Both men were already dead. Scores of relatives, friends and onlookers crowded the bridge along the Solomon Hochoy Highway, which passes over the river, moments after the discovery. Emergency vehicles parked on the road created traffic congestion for hours as Mon Repos firefighters worked to retrieve the bodies from the badly mangled pick-up, even as the rains came. Read more here
POLITICS
PM laments: No convictions under Firearms Act
The Prime Minister says ongoing investigations into the affairs of the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) are causing certain people to become concerned. Dr Rowley made the comment at the PNM Diego Martin West 51st annual constituency conference on August 3. Rowley also questioned why no one had been convicted of any offence under the Firearms Act. Read more here
Govt expanding agriculture initiatives to Tobago
Tobagonians also stand to benefit from programmes being initiated by the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service. This was announced by Minister of Youth Development and National Service Foster Cummings at the opening of the Central Horticultural Society’s two-day exhibition at the Preysal High School, Couva, on Saturday. Cummings said his ministry was currently in talks with the Tobago House of Assembly to ensure Tobagonians benefit from farming incentives being offered to the youth in Trinidad. ‘We are working out a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Youth and the THA where we will roll out many of the programmes we have for the young people in Trinidad for the young people in Tobago as well and the Youth in Agriculture Programme would also be on that list of programmes we want to roll out in Tobago,” Cummings said. Read more here
BUSINESS
Elias concerned about $475.8m HDC contract
Executive chairman of NH International (Caribbean) Ltd Emile Elias said he is “deeply concerned” about the intention by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) to award China Harbour Engineering Company (T&T) Ltd a near half-a-billion-dollar contract to construct houses in Santa Rosa. Other contractors who spoke to the Express under the condition of anonymity, for fear of victimisation, said the Chinese company submitted the highest bid of $475.8 million when local contractors’ bids were much less. Read more here
REGIONAL
Increased credit to ‘agri’ sector results in massive production boost –President Ali says
Owing to strategic policies, credit to Guyana’s agriculture sector has seen a whopping increase from $12. 2 billion in 2019 to $21.9 billion by 2023, President Dr. Irfaan Ali has said. “That is confidence in the policy; that is people responding to the policy. That is the policy working in the interest of the people increasing production,” Dr. Ali said during a recent broadcast address.
He further noted that the implementation of several polices shielded citizens from the full brunt of global economic conditions, and ensured that food production remained stable. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
How Bangladesh's protests ended Sheikh Hasina's 15-year reign
“One, two, three, four, Sheikh Hasina is a dictator!"
The words had become a rallying cry for young Bangladeshis in recent weeks - and on Monday their fury ended the prime minister's 15-year reign. The 76-year-old Ms Hasina had ruled the South Asian nation of 170 million with an iron fist since 2009 - just a month ago, protests demanding her resignation would have been unthinkable. But by Monday morning, she was stuck in a deadly stalemate. It had been several days since the top court scrapped the job quotas that originally sparked the protests in early July. But the agitation continued, morphing into an anti-government movement that wanted her out of power. Read more here
Sea moss punch: The Caribbean's cooling, healthy elixir for summer
Plucked from the ocean, Trinidad's answer to the summer milkshake is now part of a frenzied craze around the world. "I am de sea moss man. Allyuh, $10 a bag! Wat yuh want? Ah have some nice sea moss today..." intones a marchand (vendor) at a public market in Trinidad, one half of the twin island republic of Trinidad & Tobago. He holds bags filled with brownish strands of seaweed. This sea moss, the most prized seaweed in the Caribbean, will likely be transformed in local households into a delicious cooling, milky, spiced drink or punch. Read more here
5th August 2024