NEWS
H1N1 drugs run low
Tamiflu, a prescriptive drug used to treat the H1N1 influenza or the seasonal flu, is running out at the nation’s hospitals. Relatives of patients who are being treated for the influenza are also finding it difficult to get the drugs at private pharmacies. Tamiflu is used to treat the flu (influenza) in people two weeks of age and older. In an interview yesterday, Chan Sookoo, whose relative is being treated at the San Fernando General Hospital, said he checked several pharmacies for the drug but was unable to get any. “Why is it the doctors are prescribing this if it is not available?” Sookoo said. Relatives of a Point Fortin security officer currently warded at the Intensive Care Unit also said it was difficult getting the drug. “We checked in pharmacies throughout Debe, Duncan Village, San Fernando and Marabella and we could not get it. Eventually we managed to get ten tablets at a pharmacy in La Romaine,” a relative added. Read more...
PoS Mayor tackles troubling issue of vagrancy in capital city
Port-of-Spain mayor Raymond Tim Kee said the Portof- Spain City Corporation is searching for a space to construct or refurbish a place for the city’s homeless. Tim Kee’s comments come in light of the recent arrests of 17 homeless people in San Fernando.by m He said the process of finding and identifying a space should not take longer than eight to ten months. Much has been said and discussed about the nation’s homeless and the issue drew huge media and national attention under the lead of former Port-of-Spain mayor Louis Lee Sing. Read more...
POLITICS
Kamla wishes opponents well
Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar is wishing her opponents Vasant Bharath and Dr Roodal Moonilal good luck in their attempt to remove her from the helm of the party’s leadership. Both men, who are long-standing United National Congress members, are contesting for the political leader post in the UNC’s December 5 internal elections. Speaking briefly to reporters during Divali celebrations at her Siparia constituency office on Saturday night, Persad-Bissessar shied away from commenting on the three-way race. Asked if she was surprised that Bharath had thrown his hat in the ring, however, Persad-Bissessar said: “I wish them luck. I can say more but not now, maybe after Divali. This is not the place to speak about that.” Read more...
Moonilal welcomes Vasant
Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal yesterday welcomed Opposition Senator Vasant Bharath’s decision to contest the leadership of the United National Congress (UNC) in the party’s internal elections on December 5. Bharath, who was the UNC St Augustine MP from 2007 to 2010, announced his decision to challenge Moonilal and incumbent party political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Saturday. Commenting on Bharath’s entry into the UNC’s leadership race, Moonilal told Newsday, “Mr Bharath has been a valuable member of our Cabinet and Parliament and I wish him all the best.” In the former People’s Partnership government Bharath held the ministerial portfolios of Food Production, Trade, Industry, Investment and Communications. Read more...
BUSINESS
Enill: Not enough innovative minds
A former energy minister says a scarcity of innovative minds locally is why T&T is struggling to hit the diversification mark. Conrad Enill, who spoke at a recent post-Budget forum hosted by Easter Credit Union, said the private sector is failing in terms of diversification. “The fact of the matter is in a hydro-based carbon province where the government is the major provider of goods and services and the major purchaser, the easier thing to do is to go and talk to them and get them to support your business,” he said. Read more...
REGIONAL
Elections to be held in St Vincent and the Grenadines on December 9
Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves announced on Saturday night that December 9 will be the date for general elections in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Nomination Day is November 20. Addressing supporters of his ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP), Gonsalves said that, while his party has not been perfect, it is refreshing and renewing itself for another term. The ULP will face a challenge from the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) headed by Arnhim Eustace, a former prime minister, who lost the last general election in 2010 by an eight to seven margin in the 15-seat parliament. Read more...
Warning issued for Bahamas as potential storm brews in Atlantic
A tropical storm warning has been issued for parts of the Bahamas as a tropical depression that formed in the Atlantic looks set to strengthen into Tropical Storm Kay later today. The warning is in effect for the central and northwestern Bahamas, and for Acklins, Samana Cays, Crooked Island and Long Cay in the southeastern Bahamas. The tropical depression formed overnight about 115 miles southeast of San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. At the time it had maximum sustained winds of 35 miles per hour and was travelling towards the northwest at 14 miles per hour. Read more...
INTERNATIONAL
Myanmar election: Ruling party says it sees more losses than wins
After voting in Myanmar's freest election in a generation, millions of the Southeast Asian nation's citizens are waiting with anticipation for the outcome, which could herald a shift from decades of military-dominated rule. Initial results from the national parliamentary vote Sunday -- the first to be contested by the party of veteran democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi in a quarter-century -- started to trickle in Monday. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy is up against the ruling, military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party of President Thein Sein, a former general who has overseen a series of political reforms in recent years. Read more...
Russian activist sets fire to FSB Lubyanka door
9th November 2015