NEWS
More than 30 Venezuelans face deportation after Appeal Court halts release
Over three dozen Venezuelans who received a temporary reprieve from deportation had their hopes of being released dashed when the Court of Appeal granted a stay which effectively paves the way for their return to their home country. On Thursday, Justice of Appeal Prakash Moosai granted the stay sought by the State preventing the conditional release of the group. Up to 5 pm on Thursday, the group were still at the heliport. Among them are two who were deemed refugees by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) as their applications were approved while the others are awaiting theirs to be determined or are unregistered. Read more here
Boogsie: My dream is for T&T to put pan in the classroom
It’s World Steelpan Day! T&T’s national instrument, the only new instrument invented in the 20th-century, will be celebrated today. The United Nations adopted the resolution on July 24 and declared World Steelpan Day will now be celebrated annually on August 11. Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, Randall Mitchell, introduced the draft resolution at the 77th General Assembly sitting in New York on July 24. It received co-sponsorship from 84 member states of the General Assembly. It’s a joyous day for many in the steelpan fraternity, including the talented hands behinds the sweet sounds of the pan. Composer, arranger and steelband virtuoso Len Boogsie Sharpe said it is a happy occasion for pan people and the world. Read more here
POLITICS
'I STUCK TO THE LAW' – PM defends filings to Integrity Commission
The Prime Minister on Thursday alleged that the Integrity Commission's failure to state that he had obeyed the integrity laws had paved the way for the UNC to claim he had failed to publicly declare his ownership of a townhouse at Inez Gate in Tobago. Ahead of Monday's local government elections, he alleged the UNC was continuing its habit of trying to scandalise his name at election time, following similar allegations that he had violated the Integrity in Public Life Act (IPLA) levelled in the last Tobago House of Election (THA) campaign. Read more here
Nunez-Tesheira resigns from PNM
This country is suffering from “Battered Wife Syndrome” due to the PNM Government, Karen Nunez-Tesheira claimed yesterday, as she resigned from the PNM saying her former party needs to be put out of office. However, while she said she’s not going to be on a UNC platform ahead of the Local Government Elections, Nunez-Tesheira admitted she is examining her political options and aims on a political career. She added that she’s not saying the alternatives to PNM are “wonderful” but if they’re necessary to save T&T, “so be it.” A onetime Finance Minister under the Patrick Manning PNM government, Nunez-Tesheira last November lost her attempt at securing the PNM leadership from Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley in the party’s internal party election. In the four-way race, Rowley got 8,424 votes, Nunez-Tesheira 345, Ronald Boynes 243 and Junior Barrack 99. Prior to PNM elections, she was at UNC events speaking against the Government. Read more here
BUSINESS
Cipriani Labour College to do workplace study for CDB
The Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies has signed an agreement with the Caribbean Development Bank to do a study of workplace practices in 15 of the bank's member states. In a release on Thursday, the CCLCS said the exercise to gather data on workplace issues will be the first of its kind in the Caribbean. It will focus on equity and fairness, worker representation, employment security, and labour administration. "It will fill a critical gap in understanding the dynamics of the Caribbean working environment and facilitate the design of policies that would support social and economic development. The research project will allow for both country-specific and regional analysis of world of work dynamics," the CCLCS said. Read more here
ANSA McAL back to pre-pandemic income
The ANSA McAL Group’s performance for the first six months of 2023 has outpaced the group’s last pre-pandemic performance for the same period in 2019. At the group’s presentation of its financial performance for the January 1 to June 30 period, it was revealed the company recorded a profit before tax of $311 million, more than tripling the $93 million profit before tax reported for the same period last year. Chief financial officer Nicholas Jackman confirmed that the company’s financial performance for period was impressive not only for the post-pandemic recovery period but was favourable in comparison to pre-pandemic numbers as well. The group’s revenues for the six-month period were up by $105 million to $3.251 billion, a 3 per cent improvement. Read more here
REGIONAL
Balanced, impartial, thorough’ examination of Mahdia tragedy anticipated
Three months after a devastating fire claimed the lives of 20 children who were housed at the Mahdia Secondary School dormitory in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) to examine the circumstances around the incident was on Thursday officially established. The CoI will be chaired by Retired Army Chief of Staff Major-General Joe Singh. He will be supported by the Chairman of the National Toshaos Council Derrick John and head of the University of Guyana’s Law Department, attorney-at-law Kim Kyte-Thomas. The trio took their oath of office before acting Chief Magistrate, Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus, in the presence of President, Dr. Irfaan Ali and Education Minister Priya Manickchand at the Office of the President. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Maui fires: Survivors describe harrowing escapes from the flames
Tee Dang was in a rental car with her three children and husband on Lahaina's Front Street when she saw the flames inching closer and closer towards them. But when the vehicles around them began catching fire they decided to grab their food, water and phones and run for the waves. They had already watched others trying to flee the rapidly moving flames do the same, including an elderly woman who was helped into the ocean. "We have to get to the ocean," the Kansas mother told BBC News on Thursday. "There was nothing else because we were cornered in." With their children - ages five, 13 and 20 - they at first stayed close to shore. But as evening approached, and the tide rose, the water started smashing her into the rock wall of the harbour, severely cutting her leg. Read more here
11th August 2023