NEWS
Fatal Cuts
A botched Caesarean section resulted in the death of 35-year-old Rose Gordon of Tobago. Graphic details of how Gordon died are contained in the autopsy report by pathologist Dr Hubert Daisley on January 4. Gordon, former principal of the Charlotteville Nursery School, died on New Year's Day at the Scarborough General Hospital after a second surgery to stop uncontrolled bleeding following the C-section via which she gave birth to a baby girl. Read more…
Principal pays fitting tribute to hero student
The funeral for 13-year-old Nathan Barcoo-Campo was a large and sad event. The church, located in Samaroo Village, Arima, was packed with relatives, friends and Trinity College East schoolmates as they said farewell to the teenager yesterday. The youngster died after being chopped repeatedly in his head and chest in late December as he tried to protect his mother from an armed bandit. Read more…
90 Years For Torture
In sentencing a man to 90 years imprisonment, High Court Judge, Justice Carla Brown-Antoine yesterday described as “the most heinous crime” she had ever seen as a lawyer and judge, the kidnap and robbery of a couple at a beach in South Trinidad and the subsequent rape and torture of the woman by two men 12 years ago. In 2003, Darren Samuel, 32, and Marlon Gregory John, 34, both of Quinam, kidnapped a girl and her boyfriend at gunpoint, took them into the Quinam forest where she was raped and robbed. Yesterday, Samuel was sentenced in the San Fernando High Court to 20 years for kidnapping the girl; 20 years for false imprisonment; ten years for robbery; ten years for possession of a gun; ten years for possession of ammunition; ten years for possession of a gun to endanger life and ten years for possession of ammunition to endanger life. Read more…
POLITICS
Expert: Better salaries for MPs could reduce corruption
Higher salaries for Members of Parliament could lead to a reduction in corruption.
This is the hypothesis of parliamentary oversight expert and World Bank consultant Prof Rick Stapenhurst, who delivered a lecture on Tuesday evening at the Hamilton Maurice Room, Tower D, International Waterfront Centre, Port of Spain. In response to a question on whether there was a correlation between increased compensation for MPs and a reduced level of corruption, Stapenhurst said: “I would think so. Read more…
Singh not afraid of WASA audit
Former minister of the environment and water resources, Ganga Singh, says he fears no audit into the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) because “all processes were followed” under his tenure. He made the claim yesterday as speculation continued that the fire which hit the Record Department at the utility’s St Joseph headquarters may have been maliciously set to destroy critical records ahead of a pending audit. Read more…
BUSINESS
20% expenditure decrease for Jazz
Tobago's budget allocation has been sliced by approximately $200 million. This announcement was made by Tobago House of Assembly Finance Secretary Joel Jack, as he and THA Chief Secretary Orville London addressed reporters at a media briefing in Scarborough, Tobago yesterday. The previous budget of $2.779 billion for Tobago has been reduced to $2.556 billion. Read more…
TATT steps up cable compliance
Telecommunications Authority of T&T (TATT) CEO Cris Seecharan says the agency is stepping up action to ensure that local cable service providers comply with intellectual property laws. Seecharan gave that assurance in an interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday following a public outcry over a decision by Flow to drop several channels from its line-up. Effective January 1, the company dropped PBS, WGN, CW11 and MY33 because it is not authorised to broadcast those channels. The company is currently in talks to keep broadcasting popular Bollywood channel ZeeTV which was also due to be dropped from January 1. Read more…
REGIONAL
Cayman bank lent $240,000 to company owned by disgraced former FIFA officials
Former Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) president, Jeffrey Webb, borrowed money from Fidelity Bank in the Cayman Islands on behalf of a sports firm he owned with Jack Warner, his predecessor at CONCACAF, with the help of Webb’s former business partner Canover Watson. Brett Hill, Fidelity’s chief executive, gave evidence in Watson’s fraud trial that officials at the bank approved a loan in 2011 to JD International for US$240,000 at the request of Webb, who was working at the bank at the time, Cayman News Service reported. That firm, which was owned by Webb, Warner and Costas Takkas, has also been embroiled in the ongoing FIFA corruption probes. Read more…
Increase Gas Tax - Economist Urges Gov't To Top Up Petrol Cess As Part Of Reform
Calling for urgent radical tax reforms, economist John Jackson has suggested that the Government increase tax on gasolene in order to fund the national budget. Jackson, in making the proposal, said diesel should be exempted from the cess in order to safeguard the public transport sector. While recommending the increased tax on petrol, Jackson said the Government could provide some easement to motorists by removing the fee on motor vehicle licences. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Iran embassy bombing: Saudis targeted Yemen site - Tehran
What can China do about nuclear North Korea?
As world powers work to verify North Korea's claims that it has tested a hydrogen bomb, others are asking what the country's only real ally -- China -- will do. On Wednesday, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement that it "firmly opposes" this and any futurenuclear tests by North Korea. Spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters that Beijing had not been given advanced warning of the test and would be summoning Pyongyang's ambassador to lodge a protest. Read more…
7th January 2016