NEWS
Mom pleads: ‘Please find monster who killed my son’
Grieving mother Dularie Ramcharan said, “There is nothing anyone can say or do that would bring back my son. My only wish now is that police find his killer. Please, I am begging the police to find the monster that did this.” Through her tears, Ramcharan told Newsday she has not been able to sleep for the past few nights knowing that her son’s killer is out there. “What would bring me peace is knowing that his killer is arrested and charged. I just want some closure please.” Read more here
T&T author wins C’wealth Short Story Prize
Trinidadian author Kevin Jared Hosein has won the Commonwealth Short Story title—one of the world’s most global literary prizes. The announcement was made by novelist and poet Sarah Hall, chair of the judges, during the prize-giving ceremony at the Centre of Visual Arts and Research in Nicosia, Cyprus, last night. Having been named the Caribbean regional winner for the prize in 2015 and again this year, Hosein convinced the jury with “a truly crafted piece of fiction” that was “immediately and uniformly admired” in Passage, she said. Read more here
Sentenced to 12 years for manslaughter; served 13: A free man
Former boat captain Anthony Ballai was sentenced yesterday to a 12-year prison term for the death of fisherman Rodney “Jock Yuh Waist” King whose boat engine was also stolen on the night of May 24, 2005. Read more here
POLITICS
PM rejects Devant’s CEPEP claims
The Prime Minister yesterday rejected former minister Devant Maharaj’s claims about an alleged conversation between a government minister and an MP about the selection of certain Community Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) contractors. Maharaj based his claim on an audio clip which was circulated on social media. The people in the conversation allegedly referred to Dr Rowley. Contacted for comment, the PM was blunt. “I do not respond to daily diet of mischief put out by Devant Maharaj,” he said. Read more here
$Billions in tax revenue loss through non-filers
The Ministry of Finance and Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) came under fire yesterday for allowing billions of dollars in tax revenue to be loss annually through non-filers without raising a finger. The issue was raised by Ramnarine Ramdass, a chartered accountant and a former BIR employee who worked up to the level of assistant commissioner, during a T&T Revenue Authority (TTRA) stakeholders meeting with accountants and tax professionals at Government Plaza, Port-of-Spain. The meeting was held in collaboration with the Finance Ministry and Institute of Chartered Accounts of T&T. Read more here
Griffith: I was not part of cover-up
Gary Griffith yesterday denied the statement in a story on Page 4 of yesterday’s Express that former national security minister Jack Warner had accused him of being part of a conspiracy to cover up the investigations into the plant-like substance, discovered at the private residence of then-prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar in April 2013. Read more here
BUSINESS
4 challenges women entrepreneurs face and how to overcome them
Question:
Dear AFETT,
I’ve been dreaming about having my own business for a long time and I think that I am ready to quit my corporate job to become an entrepreneur. Even though I feel ready, I am still a bit apprehensive. I think one of the factors that is fuelling this apprehension is fear. How can you help me overcome my fear and other challenges women face in starting a business?
Entrepreneur–In-Waiting
Dear Entrepreneur-In-Waiting
Women entrepreneurs are the fasting growing segment in the business world. The latest research by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor supports this statement. According to its 2016/2017 Women Entrepreneurship Report, women’s entrepreneurial activity was up ten per cent, closing the gender gap by five per cent since 2014. In the past year, 163 million women started businesses across 74 economies worldwide, while 111 million were running established businesses. Read more here
BP to invest up to US$8Bn in T&T
The arrival of the Angelin, bpTT’s 15th offshore platform in T&T, is part a ten-year development plan which will see the energy company investing up to US$8 billion in nine major projects. Claire Fitzpatrick, who was appointed Regional President in February, unveiled some of the company’s plans during an open house session at bpTT’s corporate offices in Port-of-Spain yesterday. She emphasised, however, the need for T&T to remain competitive within the BP Global portfolio for final successful decisions on investments. Read more here
ANSA McAL drops $3
Overall market activity resulted from trading in 15 securities of which five advanced, seven declined and three traded firm. Read more here
REGIONAL
'Don't Worry' - Clarke Tries To Ease Fears Despite 'Politicising Of The Exchange Rate
Minister of Finance Dr Nigel Clarke has expressed concern over what he describes as the politicising of the exchange rate over the years. With the Jamaican dollar trading at a record high of over J$134 to US$1, Clarke yesterday told The Gleaner that with Jamaica's floating exchange rate, movements in the value of the dollar were inevitable. "So far, we have politicised the exchange rate, and that commentary completely excludes the international context as if to suggest that Jamaica exists in a zone of isolation," said Clarke. "The movement in the exchange rate has long been politicised in Jamaica to the detriment of the Jamaican people. We have been fooled into seeing it as a proxy for economic health. We have somehow been led to believe that in the context of a floating-rate regime, appreciation is to be celebrated, and depreciation is bad," Clarke argued. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Why Trump blinked
President Donald Trump has spent weeks drawing battle lines for a trade war with Europe and courting Vladimir Putin -- causing almost universal angst in Washington. On Wednesday, he blinked on both. Trump's decisions to put trade hostilities with the European Union on hold and to delay the Russian President's visit he had planned for the fall are likely to be widely welcomed among Republicans and among US allies who have been concerned by his tendency to elevate US enemies while criticizing friends. At the White House, Trump declared what appeared at first to be a stunning breakthrough in transatlantic trade amid fears of an all-out trade war. Read more here
Greek fires: Residents 'worsened disaster' by illegal building
26th July 2018