NEWS
Sangre Grande steps up flood preparedness
Three weeks after Sangre Grande and environs were devastated by flood waters after heavy rains, the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation (SGRC) is leaving nothing to chance as all efforts are being made to have a safe shelter for residents who live in flood-prone areas. Several families lost most of their belongings in the recent flood episode. Some had to be evacuated from their homes and placed at the Sangre Grande civic centre which was used as a makeshift disaster centre. Read more here
Cops alarmed at sex crime spike against children
Police yesterday expressed alarm at the spike in sex crimes against children in Trinidad and Tobago. They made the comment after pointing out that so far for the year there have been 926 reports overall of serious crimes against children – which suggests an average of approximately three reports every day. So far for 2018 there have been 564 reports of sexual penetration against young victims, almost double what it was for the same period last year. The “frightening” statistics were disclosed the T&T Police Service (TTPS) Child Protection Unit’s Sgt Michelle Lewis at yesterday’s TTPS’ weekly media briefing. Read more here
POLITICS
Young: PP had attacked Roget
Stuart Young, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, said the former People’s Partnership government had once verbally attacked Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) head Ancel Roget. He spoke in yesterday’s House of Representatives debate on a bill to vest Petrotrin’s assets in successor companies, the Miscellaneous Provisions (Heritage Petroleum, Paria Fuel Trading and Guaracara Refining Vesting) Bill 2018. Read more here
Govt vests Petrotrin assets to new entities
There has been a safe, incident-free shutdown of all Petrotrin refinery operations and preservation and “mothballing” of units is now in progress. Finance Minister Colm Imbert confirmed this status of Petrotrin operations in Parliament yesterday, during debate on legislation to vest assets, undertakings and obligations of Petrotrin into three companies which will comprise the restructured entity: Heritage Petroleum Co Ltd, Paria Fuel Trading Co Ltd and Guaracara Refining Co Ltd. These were incorporated on October 5 to manage new businesses. Heritage Petroleum will manage exploration and production and hold responsibility for all E&P assets, including contracts, with revenue generated through crude sales and crude storage. Read more here
BUSINESS
Caribbean actuary receives international award
Founding president of the Caribbean Actuarial Association (CAA) Daisy May McFarlane-Coke, has won the 2018 Max Lander Award. This award, granted every two years by the International Association of Consulting Actuaries (IACA), is a Consulting Actuary Lifetime Achievement Award given to a member of the actuarial profession who has contributed to the public awareness of the work of the actuarial profession and the promotion of the business of consulting actuaries. The award is named in honour of the late Max Lander who was a founding member of IACA. Read more here
Capitalist migraine
Recently, the United States returned, for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, to its long-held position as the most competitive economy in the world. No, it’s not because of Trump. Or Obama. Sorry Kool-Aid fans. Already, the largest economy in the world—the United States according to the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Competitiveness Report—“with a score of 85.6 out of 100”, is number 1 again “due to its vibrant entrepreneurial culture and strong labour market and financial system.” Read more here
REGIONAL
5-Y-O Knew Her Sisters Were Dead - Young 'Prayer Warrior' Shares Pain Of Feeling Her Two Siblings' Death Before Being Told
Five-year-old Tamelia Thompson knew that her sisters, Tiara and Tiana, were dead long before her teachers confirmed her premonition. "We saw her crouched in a corner, praying," said Carolyn Brown, principal of the Providence Heights Early Childhood Institution in St James. Tamelia confirmed to The Gleaner in a tear-jerking interview yesterday that nobody told her that her sisters had died. "I just knew. I started feeling sad in the class, so I went into a corner and started praying because I love my sisters," she shared between sobs. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
May Faces Commons Grilling
Conservative MP Sir Nicholas Soames - who opposed Brexit - congratulates the prime minister on achieving a draft text of the deal "in difficult circumstances" and asks the prime minister to elaborate on the agreed deal in relation to security. Theresa May says "we will have an independent foreign policy but we have negotiated an ability for the United Kingdom, where it makes sense to do so, to work with our European partners on matters of security and defence". Read more here
Saudi prosecutor seeks death penalty for Khashoggi murder, says journalist was killed by sedative overdose
Saudi prosecutors said Thursday they would seek the death penalty for five people allegedly involved in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A total of 11 people were charged, the Saudi Public Prosecutor's office said, adding that the five people facing capital punishment were directly involved in "ordering and executing the crime." It also shared details of the journalist's murder, saying Khashoggi was killed following "a fight and a quarrel" at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He was tied up and injected with an overdose of a sedative that killed him, then his body was chopped up and given to a local collaborator, the prosecutor said. Read more here
15th November 2018