Regional News

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday disputed Puerto Rico’s official death toll of 3,000 from hurricanes last year and accused Democrats of inflating the figure that was reached in an independent academic study.

SAN JOSE,  (Reuters) – Thousands of Costa Ricans kept up a fourth day of marches and a wide public workers strike yesterday to protest a proposed fiscal reform, dealing their center-left president his first major test since taking office in May.

(JAMAICA OBSERVER) A 19-year-old Jamaican girl has been selected among 63 students for the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the United States, for the 2018/19 academic year.

(TRINIDAD NEWSDAY) THE life-threatening hurricane, Florence, is expected to hover the Carolinas in the US with torrential rains, high winds and massive coastal erosion.

(Trinidad Guardian) Earth­quake dis­placed farm­ers from Los Iros are beg­ging the Min­is­ter of Agri­cul­ture Clarence Ramb­harat to make good on his promise to re­lo­cate them.

(Trinidad Express) The closure of the Petrotrin refinery is a crisis, it is tragic, but it presents an opportunity for Trinidad and Tobago, says economist Dr Terrence Farrell.

(Trinidad Express) The Executive of Arouca/Maloney Constituency of the People’s National Movement (PNM) has called on Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to apologise “unreservedly”  for her “racist, vile and disgusting comments” made about Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley at the her party’s Monday Night Forum.

(TRINIDAD GUARDIAN) Po­lice have de­tained a fourth sus­pect in con­nec­tion with the kid­nap­ping of Na­tal­ie Pol­lon­ais.

(JAMAICA OBSERVER) THE Ministry of Health is urging the country to be on the alert as the forecast model for Tropical Storm Isaac suggests that the storm might impact the island as early as Friday.

(BARBADOS NATION) It is time to resume hanging people in Barbados when all their appeals have been exhausted.

(TRINIDAD GUARDIAN) A con­struc­tion ex­ec­u­tive and his com­mon-law wife have been re­leased on a to­tal of $180,000 bail af­ter ap­pear­ing in court charged with firearm, am­mu­ni­tion and drug pos­ses­sion.

Caribbean Airlines (CAL) says that due to Tropical Storm Isaac, the following flights for September 13, 2018 are cancelled: SEPTEMBER 13 BW 434 Port-of-Spain to St.

 (Government of the BVI)  Scores of persons from various organisations in the BVI joined hands at Long Bay Beach, Beef Island on Saturday September 8 to form a human chain spelling “One BVI” in observance of the first anniversary of Hurricane Irma.

(TRINIDAD EXPRESS) Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar says a caring prime minister would not take a decision to shut down the Petrotrin refinery sending home hundreds of workers.

(TRINIDAD GUARDIAN) Hours af­ter work­ers of In­land and Off­shore Con­trac­tors Ltd (IO­CL) joined hands in prayer for the safe re­turn of Na­tal­ie Pol­lon­ais, a com­bined ef­fort by T&T’s na­tion­al se­cu­ri­ty agen­cies led to her res­cue in El So­cor­ro, San Juan, last night.

(TRINIDAD EXPRESS) — MovieTowne chairman and founder Derek Chin is eyeing St.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela has agreed to hand over at least seven oil fields to little-known companies that will be paid to boost output through contracts similar to ones rolled back under late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, according to two sources and an internal document.

(Trinidad Express) Senior Magistrate Indrani Cedeno has dismissed an application that was made by a defence attorney in the Dana Seetahal murder inquiry for her to step down from further presiding over the matter on the ground of apparent bias.

(Trinidad Express) Police Commissioner Gary Griffith has confirmed that San Fernando resident Natalie Pollonais, who went missing on Thursday, was rescued by police.

(JAMAICA OBSERVER) In the three-and-a-half years since Canada introduced its Express Entry immigration application system, close to 1,500 Jamaicans have left the island’s shores for that North American country, with the number expected to increase in the face of subsequent changes to the qualifying criteria.