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The content originally appeared on: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday News People shop in Princes Town on Friday. - Marvin Hamilton As the countdown to Christmas continues, businesses in Princes Town are pleased that the pace of sales is picking up. When Newsday visited businesses in the area on Friday, PS Tots and Teens Toddler 2 owner Paul Sookraj said sales were slow in November but have been improving in the last two weeks. Sookraj told Newsday, “Things have been slowly […]
An HDC official at the site, who did not what to be named, told Newsday the HDC could not give an exact date for the finishing the repairs.
However, the spokesman said the corporation is working to do so as quickly as possible once the weather does not affect the work.
The post Residents: Complete Oasis Greens roadworks before Xmas appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
By Samuetta Hill Drew As another new strand of COVID-19 has been identified, parents continue to have questions about the recently approved Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children and teens. Therefore, last week’s safety article began addressing some of the most frequently asked questions by parents. The references continue to be the Centers for Disease Control and […]
\"I assure you, and the whole world, and all Gambians, that we will have a new constitution and we will have term limit and absolute majority within that constitution. As I said before the election, I will still continue with infrastructural development. As I said : no infrastructure, no development.
CHEF DE MISSION for the national Junior Pan American Games contingent Diane Henderson applauded TT's brazen performances at the inaugural event which concluded in Cali, Colombia on Sunday.
A total of 23 athletes and 17 officials made the trip which served as a fitting platform for the nation's rising athletes to return to competition after almost two years of inactivity.
Two athletes finished among the medals as Kelsey Daniel earned silver in the men's long jump and Tyriq Horsford bronze in the men's javelin. Both are Tobagonians.
With a plethora of covid19 protocols, Henderson said the team coped well and credited the contingent for braving the pandemic circumstances to represent their country.
TT was featured in track and field, 3x3 basketball, boxing, canoe, cycling, swimming and triathlon.
'Covid19 posed no minimum of challenges in managing the delegation in a diverse hotel setting.
'Both athletes and officials are to be commended for their resilience in maintaining focus and restraint in these times of pandemic and a vast amount of protocols to adhere to.
'We thank the officials for their sustained support throughout the games,' she said.
Henderson added that although the event did pose certain challenges, the lack of prior competition for this particular age group of athletes, served as the unit's biggest motivator to go out and perform.
'The development and institution of these games has its purpose; and that is Under-23 athletes. It was clear that the games filled a void for this very fragile age group, providing a platform for young men and women to see their potential and sharpen their craft,' she said.
The TTOC official pointed out that the athletes' long-awaited chance to go out and compete helped reinvigorate their competitive spirit and provided them with an opportunity to put forward their best efforts and shine in some instances.
There were several personal best performances from the six-member swimming contingent while three of the four junior cyclists and the men's 3x3 basketball team got their first taste of international competition.
'The swimmers recorded best times, and record performances in Graham Chatoor. The cyclists saw doors open, and what was not expected, were the performances of the 3x3 basketball men.
'They rose to the occasion and performed against pro athletes and in turn, realised their own abilities in finishing eighth overall and fourth for Ahkeel Boyd in the 3x3 shootout, just short of the podium,' Henderson said.
She also highlighted Daniel and Horsford's podium performances and believes this first-time event served as a good gauge for the young athletes to assess and evaluate themselves moving forward.
'Dreams are not reached at one games so all these athletes' commendable performances give them a future to look forward to, and insight into their competition and knowledge of areas for improvement.
'TT are on good footing but with a lot of work to accomplish if we are to ensure continuity at big games. Given the period of closure for sport
Both the daily number and the 7-day moving average of new coronavirus reports in South Africa are now beyond the highest levels reached in July 2020.
The number of active cases of covid19 continues to climb, now standing at 13,321.
The recorded figure of 881 new cases on Wednesday is the second highest thus far in the pandemic period. The new cases were from samples taken between Sunday to Tuesday.
The death toll is now 2,320 with 17 deaths recorded between Tuesday and Wednesday.
The highest recorded number of daily covid19 cases was 984 on Saturday.
The Health Ministry’s covid19 update on Wednesday said the people who died were eight elderly men, seven elderly women, one middle-aged man, and one middle-aged woman. It said 12 of these people had multiple comorbidities, including a mix of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, cancer, lung disease, and a history of strokes. Three people had one of the aforementioned medical conditions, while two people had no known medical conditions.
There are 516 patients in hospital. Of these, there are 91 people at the Couva Hospital and Multi-Training Facility, with 24 in the intensive care unit and 22 in the high dependency unit. There are 65 people at the Caura Hospital, 50 at the Augustus Long Hospital, 46 at the St Ann’s Hospital, 66 at the Arima General Hospital, 89 at the new Point Fortin Hospital, 56 at the St James Medical Complex, 46 at the Scarborough Regional Hospital, Fort King George and seven at the Scarborough Regional Hospital, Signal Hill.
There are 135 patients in step-down facilities, with none at the Claxton Bay Correctional Facility, 30 at UWI Debe, 31 at UTT Valsayn, 30 at the Point Fortin Area Hospital, 28 at the Port of Spain field hospital, eight at the Couva Field Hospital, eight at the Tacarigua Facility, and none in Tobago.
There are 99 people in state quarantine facilities, and 11,699 people in home self-isolation. There are 465 recovered community cases and 470 people have been discharged from public health facilities.
The ministry said that 89.0 per cent or 6,789 of 7,626 patients in the parallel healthcare system were unvaccinated, based on data from July 22 to November 24.
The update said the total number of people vaccinated with their first dose of a two-dose regime was 650,888. Of these, 120,100 took the AstraZeneca vaccine, 414,420 took the Sinopharm vaccine, and 116,368 took the Pfizer vaccine.
The number of people vaccinated with their second dose was 605,916, while the number of people vaccinated with the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 45,219. There are 651,135 people who have been fully vaccinated out of an eligible 1.1 million people. A total of 36,438 people have received an additional primary dose.
The number of people tested in both public and private facilities is 467,729, of which 203,255 were done at private facilities.
The post Trinidad and Tobago records second highest covid19 daily case numbers – 881 appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
The minister with responsibility for operations at the Bridgetown Port said on Wednesday that all necessary steps will be taken to ensure the safe delivery of personal cargo in time for Christmas. Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy Kirk Humphrey sought to give that assurance as he acknowledged concerns raised by members of […]
The post Minister Humphrey says port operations adjusted to deliver cargo appeared first on Barbados Today.
Outspoken children’s advocate Shelly Ross is questioning the Child Care Board’s (CCB) recent revelation that there has been a dramatic drop in reports of child abuse in Barbados. In fact, Ross said the only reason the staterun CCB was able to release statistics last Friday showing that cases have been falling steadily over the past […]
The post Child advocate questions the decline in child abuse cases revealed by CCB appeared first on Barbados Today.
Public Services Association president Watson Duke has said he isn’t prepared to completely abandon public service workers to focus solely on serving as a secretary in the Tobago House of Assembly.
Duke's party, the Progressive Democratic Patriots, celebrated a 14-one victory in the THA elections on Monday night, breaking the PNM’s 21-year, five-term hold over the assembly.
The new assemblymen will be sworn in on Thursday.
The PSA leader was given an ultimatum – choose between becoming a THA secretary or remaining in the PSA – by deputy political leader of the PPD Farley Augustine.
Augustine, who is next in line for the chief secretary position, said on the TTT morning show on Tuesday, “Duke cannot remain as PSA president, on the payroll of the PSA, and simultaneously be a member of the executive. The rules do not allow for that. So there is no need to worry about Mr Duke’s role.”
Hours later, the PSA executive published a notice of a unanimous decision to withdraw all benefits and remuneration assigned to Duke for the remainder of his term.
“However, the president would continue to carry out his constitutional duties in keeping with the PSA constitution,” the release added.
But Duke told Newsday on Wednesday, “I am still the president of the PSA, and I have chosen to do so, as I have chosen to relinquish all my remuneration and benefits associated with the position. So I am working for free as the PSA president, working for the 80,000 public servants for this country.
“My job as the supervisor and to ensure things within the PSA operates in a manner that promotes and protects the interest and welfare of the membership.
\"I’m not one to abandon my people at any point in time. So I continue to be president of PSA.”
Ravindra Nanga, chairman of the Water and Sewerage Authority, Duke's official employer, when contacted for comment, said it had nothing to do with WASA.
“As far as we are aware, Mr Duke has been seconded to the union in order to perform his duties for the PSA. As long as he continues to do that, and we are aware of (it), the other things have nothing to do with WASA. We don’t have a view on that. It's really for Duke to decide.\"
But he added, “Speaking as an attorney, I’m not familiar with the PSA constitution, so the reference I'll draw is, for example, where somebody is elected to the House of Representatives, if they do not have a ministerial portfolio, they can continue doing their private work.
\"I would not be able to comment beyond that without having sight of the PSC constitution.”
Curtis Cuffie, a former PSA member, said the executive had acted unlawfully in announcing Duke would carry on with his work as PSA president.
“There is no part of the constitution of the PSA that allows for that, and the PSA executive does not have the authority to make such a decision. For something like this to happen there, the first move must be to host a general council (meeting) and there a motion will be moved to take it before the conference for them to amend the constitution to allo
Press Release - WASHINGTON, DC, Dec. 6, 2021—This generation of students now risks losing $17 trillion in lifetime earnings in present value, or about 14 percent of today’s global GDP, as a result of COVID-19 pandemic-related school closures, according to a new report published today by the World Bank, UNESCO, and UNICEF. The new projection reveals that the impact is more severe than previously thought, and far exceeds the $10 trillion estimates released in 2020.
Allyship, an old noun made new again, is Dictionary.com's word of the year.
The post Dictionary.com Anoints Allyship Word of the Year for 2021 appeared first on Los Angeles Sentinel.
Press Release - A review of SA's labour laws is long overdue -Employment and labour Minister T.W Nxesi
Located in the heart of Swan’s Market, the center’s walls and ceilings are covered with bold painted letters and designs. Chapter 510 also has a retail store where you can purchase a sweatshirt emblazoned with the words, ‘Poetry is Power,’ in addition to beautifully designed books, posters, and notebooks.
The post ‘Chapter 510’ Opens Youth Writing and Publishing Center in Swan’s Market first appeared on Post News Group.
By Brian Blum Israel “sensors-on-a-chip” startup Vayyar has launched Vayyar Care, a camera-free solution that provides round-the-clock protection for seniors at home. The contactless, wall-mounted sensors alert responders when a senior has fallen and isn’t able to push a button or pull a cord to summon help. Seniors won’t have to remember to strap on a wearable monitor every morning. That’s […]
The post Vayyar Teams With Alexa To Aid Seniors Who Fall At Home first appeared on The Florida Star | The Georgia Star.
The content originally appeared on: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday News Finance manager Gina Paul-Schwartz, left, presented a cheque for $21,000 to Dr Asante Le Blanc, the chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Cancer Society on behalf of Sagicor. - Sagicor joined the world in observing Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October by donating to the Cancer Society (TTCS). In a release on Tuesday, the Sagicor group said it held a T-shirt fundraiser – checkyoursout – which took place in its […]
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will give Barbados a two-year break from making payments on its five loans if the island is significantly impacted by a natural disaster. Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn disclosed in the House of Assembly on Tuesday that after lobbying by the Government, the Washington-based institution had agreed […]
The post IDB agrees to natural disaster clause appeared first on Barbados Today.
Workers in the sector were recently awarded a 24,5% salary hike following collective bargaining negotiations.
The post Mine workers unions push for US$600 per month appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.
Analysis - The Sahel is reeling under escalating Islamist attacks. Is Africa's fight against the coronavirus eating up resources urgently needed to combat insurgency?
Amid the setbacks and challenges presented during the ongoing COVID pandemic, young people in Barbados are still eager to get themselves job-ready as they pursue new opportunities in the world of work.This was the view expressed on Wednesday by Senior Youth Commissioner Elizabeth Bowen, on the final day of the Get Hired programme held by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment in partnership with the Prince’s Trust International.“For the seminar, most persons are looking to gain employment because young persons coming are job-ready. They are job-ready because they meet the criteria of being 75 per cent or more ready in terms of having the requisite skill sets. They would have had previous work experience and the preliminary day [of the programme], would also have exposed them or refreshed them to areas that employers are looking for,” she said.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) says a new study of Afro-descendant populations in 18 Latin American countries demonstrates that they live with “dramatically unequal social and economic conditions that damage health.”
Samantha Snell drove to her doctor's office in Uniontown, Ohio, for a routine ultrasound. The mother of three was 23 weeks along and eager to get a glimpse of her new baby boy. 'Getting an ultrasound is fun and cute,' Snell, who at the time was working as a phlebotomist shares. 'But this was a […]
TT-born Tonya Villafana is the global franchise head, vaccines and immune therapies, at AstraZeneca, the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and developer of the Oxford/AstraZeneca covid19 vaccine.
Newsday caught up with Villafana who talked about her career, her life and the vaccine.
What was it like growing up in Trinidad?
I grew up in Trinidad and it really was obviously a wonderful experience to grow up on a Caribbean island in the 70s and 80s.
My love for science began with my schooling in TT, particularly when I went to high school at St Joseph's Convent in Port of Spain. And I was really encouraged to follow my passion, follow science. And I did that all through high school and was supported in developing all of my interests in the scientific field from a very early age, both at home by my parents, but also at school.
When and how did your interest in the medical field begin?
I always had an interest in science, and when I went to college, learned so many new and different things especially in the biological sciences.
It really was as an undergraduate that I became more interested in the field of immunology. The field was blossoming at the time, particularly with the HIV pandemic, which helped to push the boundaries of science and what we understood about the immune system.
As an undergrad, I had the opportunity to study and work in a laboratory where we were learning about HIV and other retroviruses and where we were in the early stages of developing DNA vaccine technology.
How and why did you get involved in the field of immunology?
I was excited by my first classes as an undergrad and by my lab studies. When the time came to go to graduate school, I wanted to focus on immunology as my foundational area of expertise and training. During my training and in my career I have focused on how the immune system works both in states of health and disease and specifically in the fields of rheumatology and infectious disease.
What about your work with malaria?
Around 2001, I moved to sub-Saharan Africa to work on HIV vaccine development and worked on setting up some of the first phase 1 vaccine studies in the sub-Saharan African region. I was based in Botswana, and I did that for about five years, working for a collaboration between the Ministry of Health of Botswana and the Harvard School of Public Health (where I had trained in public health), working in the field and conducting HIV studies in sub-Saharan Africa.
Towards the end of my time there, I joined a group that was developing a malaria vaccine in sub-Saharan Africa, so I had the opportunity to be part of the team that conducted very important trials for the first approved malaria vaccine.
I moved back to the US, but I was working mostly in Africa on the malaria vaccine. So I was travelling back and forth to Tanzania, to Gabon, Senegal and other countries.
I'm really excited about where that vaccine is today. In October 2021, the vaccine was endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) fo
[Egypt Online] President Abdel Fattah El Sisi attends on Wednesday in the New Administrative Capital the Global Forum for Higher Education and Scientific Research and the ISESCO general conference, said Presidential Spokesman Ambassador Bassam Radi.
Directed by Oscar Lwalwe, the movie Tozeza Baba is story that is themed around gender-based violence.
The post Mashingaidze ecstatic with role in Tozeza Baba appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.
The Holiday Season is officially upon us! And many of you out there are pondering what to get your loved ones during this season of giving. Well, if the ones you love also love St. John, you're in luck. Because there are plenty of ways to give the gift of Love City for the holidays. ... Read moreGive the Gift of Love City This Holiday Season
Moyo suspended Mafume for 45 days in September because he was facing corruption allegations that are before the courts.
The post Harare mayor Mafume fights on appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.
The popular music streaming platform Spotify is kicking off its new Frequency platform after launching the program earlier this year.
