Daily Brief - Thursday 20th April, 2017

NEWS

PATT gets ‘new’ ferry for Tobago

Members of the public travelling between Trinidad and Tobago will not have to hold any strain when the Super Fast Galicia leaves the inter-island ferry route on Friday. This is because the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago has organised a replacement ferry - the MV Provider - to pick up the slack almost immediately this weekend. Read more here

Deadly Play

Tragedy has befallen a Claxton Bay family after a 15-year-old schoolboy accidentally hanged himself while playing from a rope swing attached to the branch of a tree at the back of his grandmother’s home on Tuesday afternoon. The victim’s 67-year-old grandmother Marilyn Davis almost collapsed on seeing the body of her grandson Luke Rolle hanging from the tree at 12.15 pm. Minutes before, she saw her grandson screaming in delight as he swung on the rope. According to police, Rolle of No. 4 Circular Drive, Mt Pleasant Road in Claxton Bay was spending the long Easter weekend at the home of his grandmother. Read more here

Girl vanishes on trip to the bakery

The mother of a 16-year-old schoolgirl who went missing on Tuesday is appealing for help to find her daughter.  Deokie Ramlakhan said her daughter, Salina San­chez, walked out of her home around 1.30 p.m. and within minutes could not be found.  “A short while after she left, my son went to look for her and couldn’t find her anywhere. We don’t know what happened to her. She has ne­ver done this before,” she said.  Read more here

 

POLITICS

Health Ministry orders audit into prisons

The Health Ministry has ordered an health audit of all of the country’s prisons after Newsday yesterday reported on a major rat infestation in the nation’s penal institutions. Officials from the ministry which is headed by Minister Terrence Deyalsingh will conduct health and safety audits at Portof- Spain prison, Golden Grove prison in Arouca, Carerra Island prison and the immigration detention centre in Santa Rosa. Read more here

Tax Time

People with luxury homes equipped with swimming pools and fancy additions can expect to pay more to the tax man, as the Government moves to implement the controversial property tax. Property owners have until May 22 (or about a month) to submit their documents for the implementation of the property tax or face a $500 fine for breach of the law. Read more here

 

BUSINESS

Scotia looking after C’bean youth

For the past eight years, Scotiabank has been the Lead Chair of the University of the West Indies Toronto Benefit Gala, which celebrates the contributions of leaders of Caribbean heritage and social change agents while raising much needed funds for well deserving UWI students across the Caribbean. Read more here

USVI governor submits bill to attract financial service industry

US Virgin Islands Governor Kenneth Mapp has submitted for legislative approval The Virgin Islands Financial Services Improvement and Corporate Modernization Act of 2017 (FISA 2017). In a letter to Senate President Myron Jackson, the governor wrote the act will “modernize Virgin Islands corporation law, based on best practices in the States and authorize the creation of new statutory trusts, based on Delaware law, which are increasingly utilized by US and international businesses to structure large and sophisticated financial transactions.” Read more here

 

REGIONAL

Jamaicans Called To Action As Island Ratifies Paris Agreement

With the ink barely dry on Jamaica's ratification of the historic Paris Agreement, Jamaicans have been reminded of the need for deliberate and coordinated action, toward the island's climate-resilience agenda. "As a country, climate change affects us all in a big way more intense storms and hurricane result in more expenditure in preparing for these disasters, in cleaning up and doing rehabilitation work in the aftermath," said Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Daryl Vaz. Read more here

For Venezuela's government, protesting is 'terrorism'

Six protesters have died, President Maduro's government is accused of using torture on protesters to obtain false confessions of “terrorism,” and evidence of police abuse is circulating on social media. Despite the clampdown, the protests in Venezuela haven't stopped since the end of March. Read more here

 

INTERNATIONAL

Panama Papers: Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif survives corruption ruling

Pakistan's Supreme Court has ruled there is insufficient evidence of corruption to remove Nawaz Sharif from the role of prime minister. It instead ordered a further investigation into money transfers. Questions arose over the business dealings of Mr Sharif's family when three of his children were linked to offshore accounts in the Panama Papers leaks in 2015. Read more here

Mockery, anger in South Korea over USS Carl Vinson 'bluffing'

US President Donald Trump said he was sending "an armada" to Korean waters to potentially deal with threats from Pyongyang. But its no-show has caused some South Koreans to question his leadership and strategy regarding their unpredictable neighbor in the north. Read more here

20th April 2017

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