NEWS
Smothered with towel
The completed autopsy into the cause of death for Shannon Banfield yesterday revealed the 20-year-old was smothered with a towel in the IAM and Company Limited warehouse where she was found. Last Friday, pathologist Dr Hughvon Des Vignes had stated that the autopsy was inconclusive pending further investigations. Yesterday, Des Vignes finally completed his report after Crime Scene Investigators returned to where Banfield was found and discovered a bloodied towel they suspect was used to end her life and took it back to the FSC for testing. Read more here
Looters strike
Police believe that there are arsonists deliberately targeting groceries so that they can loot after the Fire Service put out such blazes, following two fires in the North Eastern Division in the past four weeks. The most recent incident took place yesterday morning. Read more here
POLITICS
Imbert: UNC MPS operating as tyrants
The FATCA (Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act) Bill remains in limbo as both Government and Opposition stand fast on their positions. The Opposition remains determined to boycott the sittings unless the Government agrees to send the FATCA Bill to a joint select committee (JSC) of Parliament. And the Government is calling upon the Opposition to make its case inside the Parliament. Read more here
Kamla: Send FATCA to joint select committee
The Opposition yesterday renewed its call for the establishment of a Joint Select Committee of Parliament to consider the FATCA legislation that was debated in the House of Representatives. During a hastily-called news conference, before the start of the Parliamentary session, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said government had agreed to a joint select committee to discuss the issue but without explanation, changed its mind. She said FATCA legislation was being rushed through Parliament by a government unwilling to listen or consider amendments intended to protect the interests of the citizens. Read more here
BUSINESS
Scotia facilitates TGU US$600M bond
Scotiabank yesterday announced that it has facilitated a US$600 million bond offering by Trinidad Generation Unlimited (TGU). The fixed bond, which will reach final maturity in November 2027, is amortised with six equal, semi-annual instalments due leading to maturity; principal payments to begin in year nine. The bond, which does not have a government guarantee, was priced on October 27, 2016 and issued in New York in 144A/ Reg S market. Funding took place on November 4, 2016. Read more here
REGIONAL
New UN secretary-general sworn-in
Sworn in on Monday as the ninth and next United Nations secretary-general, António Guterres pledged to reposition development at the centre of the Organization’s work and ensure that the UN can change to effectively meet the myriad challenges facing the international community. “The United Nations needs to be nimble, efficient and effective. It must focus more on delivery and less on process; more on people and less on bureaucracy,” said Guterres after taking the oath of office at a ceremony before the 193-member UN General Assembly. Read more here
IMF chief Lagarde goes on trial
The first female managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, went on trial on Monday in a French court for alleged misuse of public funds. The charge of negligence stems from a €425 million payment to a French businessman in a 2008 lawsuit settlement against the state when she was France’s finance minister. Lagarde was elected to the top post in the IMF in 2011 after then managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned in the face of a sex scandal. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Trump picks Exxon chief Rex Tillerson for top job
President-elect Donald Trump has confirmed the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, Rex Tillerson, as his choice for US secretary of state. Mr Trump praised Mr Tillerson, 64, in a statement as among the "most accomplished business leaders and international dealmakers" in the world. Mr Tillerson is said to have a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, alarming both Democrats and some Republicans. Read more here
Aleppo: Reports of executions as Syrian army closes in
The last of Aleppo's rebel-held neighborhoods look set to fall to the Syrian regime, in a bloody end to the four-year battle for control of the key city. Government forces are now in control of most of eastern Aleppo, which had been held by rebels for four years, and there are several reports of mass executions. Activists say anyone with links to the rebels who seized control of the enclave in 2012 is being hunted down. Read more here
13th December 2016