NEWS
Prison Officers Threaten to Shut Down
The government has been given an ultimatum by the nation’s prison officers. Act within a month to improve the security of officers or face protest action designed to shutdown the entire service. The ultimatum comes as prison officers reacted to the murder on Monday of Prison Superintendent David Millette who was gunned down in his car outside his Morvant home. The warning from prison officers came even as National Security Minister Edmund Dillon met yesterday with the Prison Service’s Executive at the Maximum Security Prison (MSP), Golden Grove in Arouca. Speaking during a break in the meeting, Dillon indicated that two of the demands of prison officers: to be provided with firearms and given security outside of the prisons - are being considered. As prison officers threatened to shutdown the prison system, Prisons Commissioner Sterling Stewart appealed to officers to, “continue to be strong and walk with God.” “We are targeted. We are a target. Read more...
No live TV for Soca Monarch next year
The International Soca Monarch final will not be shown live on television in 2016. This news, which is sure to disappoint fans of the Carnival Friday staple, was one of several changes announced by Peter Scoon, chairman of Caribbean Prestige Foundation (CPF), which has hosted the show for more than 20 years. Speaking at the ISM Artiste Forum at the Hyatt Regency on Tuesday evening, Scoon said in trying to sell the production to pay-per-view and cable operators globally, CPF was told that the seven hour-long final show was not television-ready as there were too many gaps between performances. Read more...
POLITICS
Dillon slams Kamla: Don’t politicise crime
National Security Minister Edmund Dillon yesterday slammed Opposition Leader Kamla Persad- Bissessar for accusing Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley of being silent on what she claimed was “an emerging crime crisis” in the country, since the People’s National Movement (PNM) was elected to Government last month. Responding to the former Prime Minister at a news conference at the Maximum Security Prison in Arouca, Dillon declared, “Let us not politicise crime. it is too much of an event that affects all parts of society.” Against this background, Dillon continued, “Therefore it is not a question of politics. Read more...
Alfonso backs guns for prisons officers
Former national security minister Carl Alfonso is supportive of the call by prisons officers to be given weapons to protect themselves while off duty as he believes there are now concentrated deadly attacks being carried out against the nation’s law enforcement personnel. Speaking briefly with reporters after the funeral service of soldier Shervaun Charleau at the Church of Assumption, Maraval yesterday, Alfonso said: “It is sad to see what is happening... that they are killing our own people, meaning law enforcement officers.” Read more...
Business
McDonald’s introduces Peanuts Happy Meal
The joy of Charlie Brown and the gang comes to the nation’s children as the The Peanuts Movie Happy Meal is now available at McDonald’s Trinidad The new Happy Meal features 12 collectible The Peanuts Movie toys, available now for a limited time. For the first time ever, Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the rest of the gang we all know and love from Charles Schulz’s timeless Peanuts comic strip will be making their bigscreen debut. In this CG animated feature film, Snoopy embarks upon his greatest mission as he and his team take to the skies to pursue their arch-nemesis, while his best pal Charlie Brown begins his own epic quest back home. Read more...
C&W Business launches in T&T
Seven months after the closing of the merger of Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) and Columbus International, the combined companies rolled out the T&T leg of their ongoing integrating and rebranding at a gala event at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain yesterday evening. The new brand, C&W Business, made its debut locally by unveiling a new suite of services for businesses in T&T. John Maduri, president and CEO of C&W Business, told the T&T Guardian in an interview just hours ahead of the official launch, that the company is offering solutions to help businesses cope in a fast changing and competitive environment. Read more...
REGIONAL
Grenada PM joins Trinidad in endorsing Commonwealth nominee
On Tuesday, the prime minister of Grenada, Dr Keith Mitchell, issued a statement welcoming the declaration of support by Dr Keith Rowley, prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, for Sir Ronald Sanders to be elected as the next secretary-general of the Commonwealth. “It is well known that the government of Grenada supported the Antigua and Barbuda nominee from the outset, regarding him as a legitimate Caribbean candidate with the knowledge, experience and vision to invigorate the Commonwealth for the benefit of its peoples,” Mitchell said. He also said he joined in the hope expressed by Rowley last week that “others in our region will, in the limited time left, make common cause by unifying our region around Sir Ronald’s candidature”. Read more...
International
More than a decade later, missing Alabama boy found in Ohio
A child who was reported missing in Alabama 13 years ago has been found safe and unharmed in Cleveland, Ohio, authorities say. Julian Hernandez was in the legal custody of his mother when he disappeared on August 28, 2002. He was 5 then. It was suspected that his father, Bobby Hernandez, took him as part of a noncustodial parental abduction, according to the Vestavia Hills Police Department, just south of Birmingham. Read more...
Russia plane crash: Moscow urges caution on cause
Theories about the cause of a Russian airliner crash in Sinai that killed 224 passengers are "speculation" at this stage, the Kremlin says. "Any sort of version of what happened... can only be put forward by the investigation," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. He was speaking after US and UK officials said intelligence suggested the plane may have been bombed. Militants linked to Islamic State (IS) have claimed that they brought it down. Read more...
5th November 2015