Cops arrest couple for brutalising child
[Trinidad Express] – Police have arrested the couple believed to be the ones seen in a video circulated on social media savagely beating an infant girl.
The 32-year-old shopkeeper and 21-year-old Jamaican national were held yesterday as they were about to flee an apartment at Manjack Street, Vistabella.
Acting on information, a team including officers attached to the San Fernando CID Operations Unit and Cyber Crime Unit began surveillance at the house late Wednesday night after the video went viral at 3 p.m. then later shown on TV6’s “Beyond the Tape” and TV6 News.
London, Keith Rowley for autonomy talks
[Trinidad Express] – Tobago House of Assemby (THA) Chief Secretary Orville London is expected to meet Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley this afternoon to discuss several matters including autonomy for the island.
The meeting would be held at the Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort in Lowlands from 2p.m.
London would discuss the relationship between Central Government and the THA. And he would raise several matters including equality, boundaries and borrowing.
According to THA, London had written Rowley on matters he wanted addressed.
Among the matters to be discussed were operational activities that require executive direction, representation on State Board, the performance of seven scheduled services in Tobago, improved collaboration between the Chief Secretary and the Prime Mini8ster and between Secretaries and Ministers, the question of legislative arrangements and the self government process.
Rowley arrived in Tobago on Thursday.
He would begin his visit with appearances at his former schools, Mason Hall Government Primary School and Bishop’s High School.
TIVOLI ENQUIRY: 4000 rounds of assorted Ammo found in front Dudus’ office
[Jamaica Observer] – A soldier today testified in the Tivoli Enquiry that his team found 4000 rounds of ammunitions in a car in front the Presidential Click headquarters of Tivoli Gardens don Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.
Major Marlon Kennedy said the rounds were the largest found in the operation and appeared to be a resupply point for gunmen opposing the security forces, which had a warrant for Coke’s arrest in May 2010.
The rounds were reportedly found in a Toyota Corolla motor car. The rounds – those of AK 47, M16 and 9mm – were kept in bottles, bags, and a wash pan in the vehicle.
Kennedy also testified that one of the men from his company had been shot in the hand during the operation and is now restricted to administrative duties at the Jamaica Defence Force headquarters in Kingston.
Jamaica Officials deny presence of Zika virus
[Caribbean 360] – On the heels of a local doctor’s claim that she had diagnosed a dozen cases of the Zika virus, Chief Medical Officer in the Health Ministry Dr Marion Bullock DuCasse is insisting there is no evidence that the mosquito-borne virus has reached Jamaica.
Dr Sandra Williams-Phillips claims she contracted the virus and she had seen 12 patients who also had the virus, although she acknowledged she had not done any laboratory testing to confirm.
But DuCasse says without confirmation, it could not be said the virus was in Jamaica.
“Zika virus has very similar symptoms to dengue and chikungunya and so a conclusive diagnosis without laboratory testing may not be possible. In addition, Zika has never been in Jamaica nor the Latin American and Caribbean region outside of Brazil and Colombia so we could not rely on just a suspicion.
“The ministry would have to take steps to confirm by laboratory testing if it is circulating if there is a suspicion.”
Officials from the St Catherine Health Department has asked Dr. Williams-Phillips to provide required information in a few days so that it can be reviewed and a determination made on whether samples should be sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency for testing.
The Zika virus, also known as ZIKV, is transmitted by the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same mosquito that transmits chikungunya and dengue.
It is from the same family as, and is similar to, dengue with symptoms that include fever, joint and muscle pain, conjunctivitis, headache, weakness, rash and swelling of the lower limbs.
After the bite of an infected mosquito, symptoms usually appear following the incubation period of three to 12 days. They last for four to seven days. No deaths due to the Zika virus have been recorded worldwide to date.
