St Joseph MP Gerald Yetming is cautioning the Finance Minister and the Central Bank to pay close attention to the influx of Jamaican investors in Trinidad and Tobago. He said their entry into the domestic financial sector further underscored the need for tighter financial services regulation.

From today contractors will begin to harvest cane for grinding at the Usine Ste Madeleine Sugar Factory. Over the weekend, contractors were putting the final touches on harvesting equipment to ensure the 2004 crop would run smoothly.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning had very little to say yesterday on the crime situation in Trinidad Tobago. Manning, who is also head of the National Security Council, said there had been several announcements by National Security Minister Martin Joseph and Police Commissioner Everald Snaggs.

His costumes are considered by many as the benchmark in Carnival presentations but this year there will be no mas from veteran designer Peter Minshall. "There will be no mas by Minshall for Carnival 2004," a brief e-mailed statement issued by the masman's Callaloo Company in Port of Spain confirmed yesterday.

Jamaican businessman Michael Lee-Chin is challenging St Joseph MP Gerald Yetming to repeat the bribery allegations he made last Friday outside of the House of Representatives. "Mr Yetming if he is so sure of the veracity of his allegations should repeat them outside of Parliament, confident that he can withstand any legal action," Lee-Chin, Chairman of AIC Limited, said in a statement issued from Ontario, Canada.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning has denied he has requested a write-off of an estimated TT$1 million in personal debt owed for legal action in 1997 while in office. Manning said it was while he was Opposition Leader, in 1998, that he applied for forgiveness for the TT$1,072,018.82, the outstanding balance on his debt incurred after losing a constitutional motion when he challenged the crossing of the floor of former MPs Vincent Lasse and Rupert Griffith.

A man stormed the home of a Rousillac family that sells doubles early yesterday and stabbed and chopped three women before kidnapping another said to be a deaf mute. There was no ransom demand up to late yesterday for doubles vendor Aneesher Rangoo.

In an attempt to stem decreasing attendance at the annual steelband Panorama competition a number of radical adjustments have been made to the preliminary round of which gets under way January 29. The revised regulations for the 41st edition of Panorama include categorising of steel orchestras into small, medium and large groups, a system long used by masquerade bands in their competitions, reduction in playing time of each band and an initiative aimed at reducing tiresome intervals between performances.

Suspected, but never proven, to be one of this country's biggest narco-traffickers, the two- decade reign of Dole Chadee (Nankissoon Boodram) in his self-made "kingdom" in Piparo, ended with his arrest in 1994 for the murders of four members of a Williamsville family and his hanging in 1999, along with his gang of eight.

Jamaican and Canadian business tycoon Michael Lee Chin has described as "preposterous, unfounded, reckless and irresponsible" the suggestions by former finance minister Gerald Yetming that he made a payment to a Government minister to secure 20 per cent of First Citizens Bank (FCB).

Consumer Affairs Minister Danny Montano is advising consumers to eat cassava and Guyana rice as alternatives to National Flour Mills rice, the price of which is to be increased by 15 per cent. In an interview yesterday, after meeting with the Supermarkets Association, Montano was upset over the decision, saying he had not been consulted by NFM, whom he accused of "leading a cartel" in this regard.

Tempers flared in Parliament yesterday, when Opposition MP Gerald Yetming accused Government of conspiring with Jamaican billionaire Michael Lee Chin, chairman and majority owner of the AIC group, to control 20 per cent of First Citizens Bank. Yetming’s accusation drew the ire of Trade and Industry Minister Ken Valley.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning is seeking a write-off of an estimated $1 million in personal debt owed for legal action he undertook in 1997. Acting Attorney General Camille Robinson-Regis disclosed yesterday the PM has asked the Chief State Solicitor for a waiver of TT$1,072,018.82, the outstanding balance on his debt.

Acknowledging that "we are in a national crisis" with regard to what is happening in the education sector today, head of the School Intervention Strategies (SIS) Unit Dr Michael Alleyne yesterday sought to reassure persons that the Ministry of Education's programmes have already started to help reduce the violence and acts of indiscipline occurring within the school system...

Persons wishing to apply for US visas need not worry about increases in application fees as embassy officials yesterday deemed media reports inaccurate. Officials yesterday responded to media reports carried via television and in another newspaper, that there were plans to increase fees from TT$610 to a maximum TT$1000.

A Pointe-a-Pierre man is now warded at the San Fernando General Hospital, after he was shot in the thigh by a security guard at the KFC outlet in Marabella on Sunday. Police said at around 7.20 pm, a man went to the outlet and allegedly threatened to kill his 31-year-old ex-common-law wife. The Vistabella woman, who works at the outlet, told police the man went to her workplace and demanded to see her.

Works and Transport Minister Franklin Khan said yesterday that Cabinet would decide on a multi-million-dollar security upgrade for local ports at this week's meeting. “On Thursday, Cabinet will deliberate on a note to put into effect a new regime to upgrade our port security”, Khan said. He was speaking at the sod-turning ceremony for the reconstruction of Berth Seven at the port of Port-of-Spain.

The hearts of Trinidadians swelled with pride yesterday when local boy Dave Mohammed scored a handsome 36 runs in his batting debut versus South Africa. But it was the heart of his mother, Saferan, that soared to the sky when her son strolled to the crease.

Works and Transport Minister Franklin Khan revealed that Government had been told by the United States that any ship which berths at a port which does not have the required level of security will not be allowed to enter the United States, effectively ending trade between the two countries unless the standard is met.

Trinidad and Tobago must play its part in the global fight against terrorism. So said United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. In addition, he said, Trinidad and Tobago, along with the rest of the world, has not done enough to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic that is ravaging the populations of many Third World nations. Annan made the comments during a conference held at Whitehall yesterday, after he met with Prime Minister Patrick Manning.