NEWS
Man dies in East PoS blaze; boy, 10, held
A ten-year-old boy remains in police custody, arrested shortly after a male relative died in a fire believed set by the youngster at the victim’s East Port of Spain home during the early morning hours yesterday. Akeil Phipps, 24, was pronounced dead shortly after he was found covered in flames which badly damaged the kitchen in his home. Read more here
San Juan residents use sandbags for relief
Residents, along with workers from the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation, were up to late last night attempting to place sand bags at the Caroni River's bank at El Socorro, San Juan, in a bid to prevent more flood waters from entering the community. Yesterday morning, following the heavy and continuous rainfall over the last few days, the river, which runs parallel to El Socorro South, broke its banks and flooded out several homes – some of which were under two feet of water. Read more here
ODPM deputy CEO resigns after flood of criticism
Less than four days after saying he saw no reason to step down from his job, Col Dave Williams officially tendered his resignation as deputy chief executive officer of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) with immediate effect yesterday. Read more here
POLITICS
Moonilal backing Kamla for political leader
Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal, who ran against United National Congress political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar in the party’s 2015 election, says he would support her should she decide to run again. “I am prepared to support her, assuming she is running again as political leader in the upcoming election,” Moonilal said. Read more here
Kamla dismisses Ganga’s objection
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar says the national executive is acting lawfully regarding the decision to hold the election for the post of political leader a year before it is due. Speaking to the media while visiting flood-hit victims in El Socorro, Persad-Bissessar responded to Singh’s letter of complaint to the UNC in which he accused the National Executive (NATEX) of acting “ultra vires” Article 18 of the Constitution. Read more here
Police mum over request for info on text messages
The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service remained mum yesterday over a request from one of its senior officers to gather information surrounding statements by Oropouche Member of Parliament Dr Roodal Moonilal. Police sources told the Express the request is the norm when allegations involving public officials are received by the TTPS. Read more here
BUSINESS
Nestlé, Massy Stores, Blue Waters top brands
Massy Stores, Nestlé, Carib, SuperPharm and Blue Waters among the companies operating in TT which did well in a recent Best Buy Award Survey. The inaugural TT edition of the survey was conducted by the Switzerland-based International Certification Association (ICERTIAS) in September, using a web questionnaire on a sample of 1,200 local internet users above the age of 15, following the Computer Assisted Web Interviewing - Deep Mind Awareness (CAWI - DEEPMA) method. Read more here
TSTT to close 9 retail branches
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is calling on government to intervene in the situation in which the Telecommunication Services of T&T (TSTT) is getting set to close nine retail stores which it believes will lead to the retrenchment of over 300 employees. During a press conference at the CWU Hall, Port-of-Spain yesterday, CWU President Clyde Elder accused senior officials at TSTT of brokering lucrative deals which he claimed, carried with it a hidden purpose aimed at benefitting only company executives. Read more here
Battery importer to start manufacturing
Chaguanas-based automotive distributor, Lange Trinidad Ltd, is aiming to take its flagship car battery brand, Track, to foreign markets. The company has invested over $20 million in a battery manufacturing plant at the O’Meara Industrial Estate, Arima, which it hopes will be up and running by year’s end. “ Read more here
REGIONAL
Transfer Backlash - St James Stakeholders Say Changing Of Guard Won't Repel Crime Wave
Battered and besieged by the spate of murders that have rocked the parish all year, business leaders in St James are not encouraged by the news that there will be a changing of the guard in the police hierarchy, with Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Warren Campbell coming in to replace SSP Marlon Nesbeth on November 8. In fact, Gloria Henry, president of the Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica (BPIAJ), said, "The changing of commanding officer is a tried and tested solution that has not been effective in the past," adding that she doubts this was the best approach to deal with escalating crime in the parish. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Clinton campaign, DNC helped fund dossier research
Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped fund research that led to the now-infamous dossier of allegations about President Donald Trump and Russia, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The source said the law firm Perkins Coie, as part of its representation of the Clinton campaign and the DNC, retained the intelligence firm Fusion GPS and entered "into an engagement for research services that began in April 2016 and concluded before the election in early November." The Washington Post was first to report the news Tuesday. Read more here
China congress: No heir apparent as Xi reveals top leadership
25th October 2017