NEWS
Naked Girls in Van
Policemen recoiled in shock and horror yesterday when they found two intoxicated sisters, aged nine and 14, naked and lying on the seats inside a heavily tinted Nissan Navara van. The 39-yearold driver, found clad only in his underwear and a jersey, was immediately arrested and remains in custody. According to reports, at about 10.50 am, a party of officers led by Ag Sgt Ramlogan and including PC Leelum and others were on an exercise when they observed a heavily tinted black Nissan Navara van parked in an abandoned Caroni Ltd cane field near Cedar Hill Estate in Barrackpore. Officers instructed the driver to come out of the vehicle and submit to a search, but he instead started the engine and drove off at high speed. Officers gave chase and the van was intercepted and forced to stop a short distance away. The officers quickly surrounded the van. What they saw inside made them recoil in horror and revulsion. They saw a 14-yearold girl, naked and lying on her back on the front passenger seat which was reclined. On the backseat, also naked and lying down, was a nine-year-old girl. Both children appeared disoriented. Officers found quantities of alcohol inside the vehicle, leading them to theorise that the man made the girls drink in order to impair their senses and make them easy victims. Police sources told Newsday the sisters were unaware of their surroundings when they were rescued. Read more…
I tried my best to live with him
Krishna Ramlal’s biggest regret in raising his son, Sham, was leaving him when he was just a boy in Trinidad and journeying to New York in search of a better life for his family. Ramlal now believes that Sham was starved for love in his formative years, causing him to act out with violent outbursts towards him and his wife, Flora Siewnarine, in his adult years. Ramlal, 60, was released from police custody on Saturday night, six days after he was detained for questioning in Sham’s death. Sham died at the house he shared with his parents from a stab wound to the stomach on Mother’s Day. In an interview yesterday, Ramlal had this advice for parents: “Do not miss out on those important years in your children’s lives. It can make all the difference in the world.” Read more…
Govt earning people’s trust a major concern
A government that does not have the trust of the people is in charge of nothing but dead institutions. This was the view of Express columnist Michael Harris yesterday during a panel discussion on “Privacy and Law Enforcement”, hosted by the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) of The University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine.
Harris said the disintegration of trust started a long time ago where different leaders did things to erode and minimise people’s trust in them and the rebuilding of this trust will depend on Government’s inclusion of the people. “It is not a question of ‘we in charge now so deal with it’...Governments that don’t have the trust of people are in charge of nothing but dead institutions and you could pass all the legislation you want in the world, without the trust of the people, nothing will change,” he said. Read more…
POLITICS
No-confidence motion gets green light
The Opposition's motion of censure brought against Attorney General Faris Al Rawi could be debated as early as next week. The motion, filed in the name of Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal, was released to MPs yesterday by the Clerk of the House of Representatives Jacqui Sampson-Meiguel. It was approved - procedurally - for debate by House Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George. The Government and Opposition have been exchanging barbs over the motion since it was filed for approval last week. Al-Rawi has said he plans to “trounce” the motion by simply presenting facts, while Moonilal yesterday expressed confidence in the measure, which has no chance of being approved without Government MPs backing it. Read more…
Life Sport audit completed—AG
Possible arrests stemming from the controversial Life Sport programme can soon materalise following a completed audit. So said Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, who was fielding questions from members of the media after speaking at a privacy and law enforcement forum at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, yesterday. He said the First Citizens’ ILO audit is also completed and that would also engage the attention of relevant officials to determine the next course of action. “As a result of audits performed in the government sector and institutions, information has come forward and due process has to be followed and that will happen by those who have the responsibility to do that. You will hear about that quite soon,” Al-Rawi added. Read more…
Imbert: Increase drilling so oil output can climb
In the face of declining oil revenues, Finance Minister Colm Imbert questioned yesterday why the Ministry of Energy was not doing more to get the main companies to increase drilling so that oil production could climb. The Finance Minister also asked why was the country increasing the sale of LNG (liquefied natural gas) in North America where the prices were low, while reducing the sale of LNG in Asia, where the prices were high. “Can you tell us what is going on?” he asked. Read more…
BUSINESS
Liberty Global takes control of FLOW
Customers of Flow’s cable television service are being offered the possibility of a wider range of cable programmes by Liberty Global, the biggest international cable television and broadband company, which yesterday completed its acquisition of Cable and Wireless Communications, giving it control of Flow. Michael Fries, Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Global said the company spends US$2.5 billion on programme content, “and we acquire content from all the major programmers all around the world so we certainly hope that we can bring some greater availability and access to content to Cable and Wireless, hopefully better pricing, all with the objective of improving the consumer experience and making sure they have all the channels that they want to watch. So that is one of our main goals here but time will tell. It’s easier to say it than to do it.” Fries said that Liberty Global had invested considerable sums of money in a very innovative, advanced television platform in Europe called Horizon and later this year will launch a new cloud-based 4K device to support Horizon. Read more…
Reid takes helm at CWC
Now that US-owned cable operator Liberty Global has officially taken control, Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) is part of Liberty Globals Latin American and Caribbean (LiLAC) group tripling the size of that entity from US$1.2 billion revenue to US$3.6 billion. The merged operation has substantial business to business and submarine fibre operations and will serve ten million video, voice, broadband and mobile subscribers in more than 20 countries. The size of the combined workforce is 7,200. John Reid, the new interim CEO of CWC and former president of Columbus Communications, is in charge of the integration of the two telecommunications entities. He takes over from Phil Bentley, the outgoing CEO of CWC. Read more…
Massy Group does better overseas than locally
Local conglomerate the Massy Group performed better overseas than it did in its home country Trinidad and Tobago, its published half-year results have shown. In its financial statements published on Sunday, Massy chairman Robert Bermudez said: “Enhanced by the depreciation of the (TT dollar), profit before tax (PBT) from overseas operations contributed 55 per cent of the profit before head office costs compared to 43 per cent in March 2015.” Read more…
REGIONAL
US officials warn of possible coup in Venezuela
According to US intelligence officials, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is at risk of being ousted by his own military, as the country experiences widespread unrest prompted by severe food shortages, daily power outages, triple-digit inflation and serious political tensions. As protests rocked Caracas on Saturday and civil war appeared all but inevitable, opposition factions are attempting to oust Maduro, who has blamed the United States for the crisis in his country. Addressing the nation on Friday, Maduro declared a "constitutional state of emergency ... to tend to our country and more importantly to prepare to denounce, neutralize and overcome the external and foreign aggressions against our country." He also called for military exercises to take place next weekend to prepare for "any scenario”, including a foreign invasion. Read more…
'Sham' Budget - Phillips Rips Government On Revenue Measures, Claims Another Tax Package To Come
Dr Peter Phillips, opposition spokesman on finance, yesterday declared the Budget presented less than a week ago by Finance Minister Audley Shaw a "sham" and warned Jamaicans to brace for a new round of taxes in the current fiscal year. "It is clear from the unreliable Budget numbers that the Government will impose additional taxes on the people of Jamaica later in this financial year," Phillips said as he took note of the $13.8-billion tax package proposed to make up for $12.5 billion in income tax relief announced for PAYE workers earning up to $1 million. Making his contribution to the 2016-2017 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives, Phillips contended that both the recurrent and revenue sides of the Budget were unreal. "They did it before. They imposed four tax packages in 2009-2010; they will do it again," he said. "It is unreliable; the numbers don't add up." Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
US election: Trump 'has regrets' but 'had to fight campaign this way'
ISIS has executed almost 50 in Libya, Human Rights Watch says
Public beheadings. Corpses hanging from scaffolding. Floggings for violating the law. This is life in the ISIS-held city of Sirte, Libya -- a Mediterranean coastal city that's about 350 miles away from Malta -- according to a new report from Human Rights Watch. Many of the 45 former and current residents of Sirte Human Rights Watch spoke to say they live in a continued state of fear. "As if beheading and shooting perceived enemies isn't enough, ISIS is causing terrible suffering in Sirte even for Muslims who follow its rules," said Letta Tayler, a senior terrorism and counterterrorism researcher at Human Rights Watch. "While the world's attention is focused on atrocities in Syria and Iraq, ISIS is also getting away with murder in Libya." Read more…
18th May 2016