NEWS
Sando taxi men defend $2 fare increase
President of the San Fernando to Port-of-Spain taxi drivers association, Hayden Whiskey, has defended the two dollar fare increase, which came into effect yesterday, saying the increase had become necessary due to rising maintenance and vehicle costs. The fare increase was also implemented along the Chaguanas to San Fernando and Curepe to San Fernando routes. In a telephone interview yesterday, Whiskey said the increase had nothing to do with the increase in gasoline price, and insisted that the association has been planning an increase since February. “An increase in gasoline is a minor issue. Read more...
2 in court charged with trafficking Venezuelans
After being arrested a week ago for trafficking two Venezuelan women, Sandy Bedasie-Andrews, the owner of the popular Santa Maria Hotel and her employee Eli Sylvester, had to spend another night in jail after police complainants failed to show in court. When the matter was called by Senior Magistrate Lucina Cardenas-Ragoonanan in the San Fernando Magistrates Court yesterday, prosecutor Cleyon Sedan told the court he had no facts on the case. Read more...
POLITICS
Bharath, Moonilal: UNC must get ready
United National Congress (UNC) leadership candidates Vasant Bharath and Dr Roodal Moonilal both welcomed yesterday’s ruling by the Court of Appeal on the party’s election petitions. Both men said new leadership is needed at the helm of the UNC, should any bye-election arise from the eventual court ruling. Bharath, who is one of the petitioners in the matter by virtue of being the unsuccessful UNC St Joseph candidate in the September 7 general election, said he was “very happy” about the ruling. Read more...
Anand slams detractors
The Opposition UNC’s legal team has hailed yesterday’s Court of Appeal ruling as a victory and slammed detractors who had said the UNC’s election petition had been destined to fail. “(Instead) The rule of law, democracy and the Constitution have triumphed today,” said team leader, former attorney general Anand Ramlogan. “The judgments were illuminating, powerful and very incisive from all three judges... we have won a significant victory for democracy. It has put lie to those who cried us down and those who said it was doomed to failure,” he added. Read more...
BUSINESS
Republic offers smartwatches
Republic Bank customers will be the first persons in Trinidad and Tobago to get the new Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch, thanks to a special promotion being run by the bank and the technology company. The latest in wearable technology from Samsung comes in two options — the Gear S2 and the Gear S2 classic. Samsung said it designed the Gear S2 to appeal to two distinct consumer preferences. The Gear S2 classic is made for users who prefer a more timeless watch design, offering an elegant Black finish with a matching genuine leather band while the Gear S2 is ideal for those who are on-thego and have an admiration for minimal and modern design. Read more...
NCBJ now owns 29.9% of Guardian Group
Jamaica’s largest bank by assets, NCBJ, yesterday consummated the acquisition of a 29.9 per cent stake in T&T’s largest insurance company, Guardian Group, for an undisclosed sum. The stake purchased by NCBJ, whose majority shareholder is Jamaican billionaire Michael Lee Chin, is significant because it is just under the 30 per cent threshold that would have triggered a mandatory takeover bid for all of Guardian Group’s outstanding shares. Read more...
REGIONAL
UK representative to Anguilla resigns in protest over 'governance at gunpoint'
Dorothea Hodge, the UK and EU representative to the government of Anguilla, has resigned in protest at what she described as "governance at gunpoint". In a lengthy letter to Chief Minister Victor Banks, Hodge said that it was with a heavy heart and a great deal of regret that she tendered her resignation with immediate effect from the role as the UK representative to the government of Anguilla. Read more...
Convicted Murderer Among Escapees … Six Tunnel Their Way Out Of Freeport Lock-Up
For the second time in just over five months, there has been a major jailbreak in western Jamaica involving numerous prisoners charged with serious crimes, including murder and illegal possession of firearm. In the latest incident, which took place at the lock-up at the Freeport Police Station, in Montego Bay, at an unspecified time before daybreak, six men, including one who was only recently convicted of a double murder, tunnelled their way out of their cell and made good their escape over the station's perimeter fencing. Read more...
INTERNATIONAL
Air Asia QZ8501: Pilot response to equipment malfunction caused crash
The way pilots responded to a technical malfunction resulted in the crash of Air Asia Flight QZ8501, investigators said Tuesday. The ill-fated plane was en route to Singapore from the Indonesian city of Surabaya on December 28 last year when it crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 162 people on board. The plane's flight control computer had a cracked solder joint that kept malfunctioning. Aircraft maintenance records found it had malfunctioned 23 times in the year before the crash, and the interval of those became shorter in the three months prior to the crash. Read more...
Turkey challenges Russia over IS oil trade claim
1st December 2015