NEWS
Energy experts welcome thawing of T&T/Venezuela relations
Trinidad and Tobago’s latest engagement with Venezuela could signal the beginning of a thaw in relations between the two countries following a period of heightened diplomatic tensions that disrupted energy cooperation. Energy expert and former energy minister Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan believes the meeting may have provided an opportunity to ease tensions and begin rebuilding closer ties between Port-of-Spain and Caracas. “In a release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it appears that this meeting was intended to establish measures to improve bilateral relations between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela,” Seepersad-Bachan said yesterday. The discussions covered a wide range of issues, including trade, economic cooperation, agriculture and fisheries, national security, and energy security and prosperity. Read more here
Pensioner: Pull the damn trigger
An elderly couple was robbed of a vehicle, cash and the food they had prepared on Tuesday, during a home invasion by three armed intruders. Pensioner Baboolal “Pike” Ramnarace, 81, and his companion, Minnie Hosein, 67, were at his Cotton Hill Road, Mayo, Bonne Aventure, home when the men held them hostage. Read more here
POLITICS
Kamla & Delcy Turn New Leaf
A new era in Trinidad and Tobago-Venezuela relations is being ushered in following the development of a roadmap aimed at strengthening cooperation in key areas ranging from energy and agriculture to security, which is to be led by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez. The initiative emerged after Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Sean Sobers and his Venezuelan counterpart, Ministry of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Félix Plasencia, met in Caracas yesterday and agreed on a work agenda to guide future collaboration between the two countries. The new phase of relations to be led by Persad-Bissessar and Rodríguez will be grounded in “mutual respect, understanding and good neighbourliness,” according to the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs. Sobers was accompanied by Permanent Secretary and Head of the Foreign Service Randall Karim, officials from the Ministry’s Americas Division and the Defence Attaché at T&T’s Embassy in Caracas. Read more here
BUSINESS
Chief accountant leaves Scotiabank T&T
Scotiabank T&T has announced a change in its senior finance leadership, with chief accountant and comptroller Sameer Mohammed demitting office effective August 31, 2026, to pursue other professional opportunities outside the bank. The departure has triggered a temporary transition plan, with assistant general manager, finance, Adrian Lezama assuming the duties of the position in an acting capacity until a successor is appointed. The disclosure was made in a Notice of Material Change filed under Section 64(1)(b) of the Securities Act, which requires publicly listed companies to notify shareholders and the investing public of significant developments that could affect the organisation. Read more here
‘Woefully inadequate’
AGOSTINI Ltd has offered to acquire shares held by the remaining minority shareholders of Prestige Holdings Ltd for $12.15 in cash per share. The offer, contained in a notice dated yesterday, gives shareholders until November 2 at 4 pm to elect to sell their shares to Agostini under By-Law 26 of the Securities Industry (Take-Over) By-Laws, 2005. Agostini said the offered price represents a 1.4% premium to Prestige Holdings’ current market price and a 2.8% premium to its 30-day average market price. Read more here
REGIONAL
‘Suspicious’ vehicles seen outside President’s private residence, unregistered drones seized
TWO heavily tinted vehicles, which aroused suspicion after being spotted near President Dr Irfaan Ali’s private residence at Leonora in Region Three, were detained by police on Thursday night and a subsequent search reportedly unearthed several unregistered drones in the possession of occupants. Following the incident the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) issued separate statements. The GPF statement said that at about 18:20 hrs, two heavily tinted motor vehicles were “observed acting in a suspicious manner” in the vicinity of the President’s private residence at Leonora, West Coast Demerara, raising serious security concerns. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
'Layer upon layer of miracles': How Nepal flood survivors were rescued from tunnel
A tunnelling expert involved in the rescue operation at a blocked Nepalese hydropower tunnel has described to the BBC how they managed to reach survivors. Arnold Dix has been advising Nepal's hydropower authorities on how to dig through the blocked tunnel to Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station, which was one of several stations hit by last week's massive flash flood on the Nepal-Tibet border. "It's like layer upon layer of miracles" that they found two men on Friday, he said, given the multiple challenges that they faced. The first hurdle was to locate the entrance to the tunnel, in a landscape rendered nearly unrecognisable by the flood that has so far killed 1,300 people. Read more here
4th September 2026