open discussion for all

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PRIME Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has agreed to a debate with Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley.

Chief executive officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Debates Commission (TTDC), Catherine Kumar, made the disclosure yesterday following a workshop for journalists hosted by the Commission, the United States Embassy and the Trinidad and Tobago Broadcasters and Publishers’ Association (TTPBA) at the Embassy’s Briar Place office.

The biggest challenge facing the TTDC at this time for “The Leaders’ Debate” lies in finding a moderator who is agreeable to all, Kumar said. The moderator must be seen as one who is impartial and knowledgeable and both parties must agree to the person chosen, she added.

The Commission is also set to meet with representatives of both candidates to agree on the rules of the event, Kumar said.

Persad-Bissessar is bidding to retain the Prime Ministership after the next general elections, due this year, while Rowley is vying for the opportunity to sit in the chair for the first time.

“As you know they have both already said that, yes, they would debate,” Kumar said.

An attempt in 2013 to set up a face-off between the pair failed to materialise when Persad-Bissessar announced her decision to allow leader of the Congress of the People (COP), Prakash Ramadhar, to represent the People’s Partnership coalition against Rowley.

Rowley then withdrew his participation, saying that as Leader of the Opposition he expected to face no less an officer than the leader of government, Persad-Bissessar.

The latest ministrations of the Commission have seen Rowley again giving his consent to a debate but his handlers in the People’s National Movement (PNM), of which he is the leader, have made it clear that he will not entertain anyone but the Prime Minister.

In 2010, the proverbial shoe was somewhat on the other foot, when then prime minister Patrick Manning refused to enter into a public debate with Persad-Bissessar, then a prospector for the Office of the Prime Minister.

The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Commerce, which formed the Debates Commission that year, had gone on to appeal to Manning to reconsider the debate, which was first proposed by then United National Congress (UNC) chairman Jack Warner, when that party launched its campaign for the 2010 general elections.

Asked yesterday whether there was room this time around for Persad-Bissessar to pull out of the commitment, Kumar said that from a legal standpoint, after the 2013 fallout, it would be “difficult” to say that the Prime Minister’s decision to decline had been a “pullout”.

Kumar said the Commission has learned from that experience in that the rules now define an alliance more broadly and specifies that the person who has been declared the leader of that alliance, is the leader who is expected to appear at the Leaders’ Debate.

The Commission is engaged in readying itself, Kumar said, including having appropriate venues available even though it is operating in a country where “we don’t know when elections will be called”.

Kumar said it was “very important” to the public and added that recent electoral polls have shown a significant number of “undecideds”.

While there were those who would vote for their particular party “no matter what”, Kumar said, “we have lots of undecideds and I think the debates will help them in making that critical decision”.

Asked whether there was room for debates to be held outside of the election seasons, Kumar said the events were “expensive” to pull off, in addition to the organisational work included.

The fact was, she said, that during each five-year period, there were several elections events,including Tobago House of Assembly (THA) elections and Local Government elections and therefore several opportunities for debate.


   

Statement from the National Security Ministry - A 37-year-old Guyanese born United States citizen with immigration status in Canada; and who is wanted in the US on a range of criminal offences including two counts of murder, has been re-arrested by members of the local INTERPOL Bureau.

Balkumar Singh was first detained on March 27th, 2015, for violating this country’s immigration laws, under the name Shauwn Maharaj.

But based on information received by local INTERPOL, the detainee was positively matched as Balkumar Singh who was being sought by US authorities on charges of murder, assault in the first degree, reckless endangerment, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence.

As a result a request was made by the US for the provisional arrest of Mr. Singh, which was agreed to, by the Attorney General. A warrant was subsequently issued on April 30th, 2015 and handed over to Ag. Sgt. Herman Narace of INTERPOL for execution.

On Friday 1st May, 2015, Ag. Sgt. Narace along with PC James Dailey and PC Sham Sinanan took custody of Mr. Singh from the Immigration Detention Centre and conveyed him to the Port Of Spain CID where the warrant was served.

Mr. Singh later appeared before a Port of Spain Magistrate and was remanded into custody until May 28th 2015. Bail was refused. Appearing for the requesting state was Head of the Central Authority Unit, Netram Kowlessar.

Mr. Singh, who has 14 convictions in Canada, including assaults and weapons charges, is also known by the following aliases: Tevin Persaud, Terry Persaud; Kumar Doodnath; Terry Singh and Sean Maharaj.

A biotechnology company developing an unusual drug—derived from the venom of a sea anemone to treat autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis and multiple sclerosis—reported encouraging results from a phase 1 clinical trial.
http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fn2/video/876/493/coral_reef.jpg?ve=1&tl=1
Seattle-based Kineta Inc. said it expects early next year to begin recruiting patients for the next stage of the drug’s development, a phase 2 clinical trial. Kineta said the drug, called dalazatide, is intended to block only the white blood cells that cause many autoimmune diseases. Traditional treatments for autoimmune disorders suppress the entire immune system, putting patients at risk for infections.

Phase 1 trials are preliminary, meant to test the safety and tolerability of a new drug in a small group of patients. The bulk of new drugs tested fail to advance to phase 2 trials, which test a product’s efficacy among a larger group.

Autoimmune diseases affect as many as 23.5 million people in the U.S., especially women, according to the National Institutes of Health. Prevalence of the diseases, in which the immune system attacks the body’s own organs, tissues and cells, is increasing, for reasons that aren’t clear. There is no cure.

“The results of this trial indicate an important advance in developing next-generation treatments for autoimmune disease that specifically regulate the immune response without broad immune suppression,” said Dr. Shawn Iadonato, Kineta’s chief scientific officer.
treat psoriasis, MS
Published May 05, 2015The Wall Street Journal

Police have detained a man in his forties whom they suspect of killing Parham resident Urcil “Sheik” Martin late Monday afternoon.
Elton Charles, aka Chalice, also of Parham, was captured by lawmen hours after he was reportedly involved in an altercation with Martin.
Witnesses said Charles used a cutlass to inflict several wounds about Martin’s body, and that the former football coach succumbed to his injuries just as Emergency Medical Services arrived on the scene.
When OBSERVER media arrived in Parham early Monday evening, the area where the crime had allegedly occurred had already been cordoned off, but the body of the deceased could be seen lying in the yard outside his home. It was covered with a sheet.
Hundreds of Parham residents, who gathered near the scene, described Martin as a community-spirited man, who was easy to talk to and always had the interest of the youth at heart.
Martin was married and was the father of several children.
The suspect, however, has been described by members of the public as a “lunatic”.
The killing comes hours after Prime Minister Gaston Browne said crime had dropped by 85 per cent and that only one murder had occurred so far for 2015.
Lawmen say they will continue their investigations into the matter.
OBSERVER media will continue to follow the story and bring details in a subsequent edition

North Korea says it tests ballistic missile from submarine

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- North Korea said Saturday that it successfully test-fired a newly developed ballistic missile from a submarine in what would be the latest display of the country's advancing military capabilities.

MILLVILLE, Mass. (AP) -- This is the story of a loving tribute from a soldier preparing for war to his mother on the other side of the continent, who didn't know if she would ever see her boy again.

The elaborate pillow sham he sent her, lost for more than 70 years, has finally come home, just in time for Mother's Day.

The sham, emblazoned with the word "Mother" and sent in 1942 by Dominic O'Gara from his Army base in California to his mother in the small Massachusetts town of Millville, was discovered last month by a town native on eBay.

The hope now is to put the sham on display in the town's senior center, just yards from the house where the O'Gara family once lived.

"To me, it's come back to where it belongs," said Margaret Carroll, chairwoman of the town Historical Commission. "It's as close to Mrs. O'Gara as it can get."

Donald Lamoureux, who lives in Cumberland, Rhode Island, but who grew up in Millville, spotted an envelope for sale on eBay, and even though he had no idea what was inside, he knew he had to have it when he saw the date and the Millville address. He paid $5 for it.

He was stunned when he looked inside.

"There was this pillow sham that had been sealed away for 73 years, and it looked brand new," he said.

Although it had deep creases from being folded for decades, it wasn't frayed, stained or faded.

The white pillow cover has a blue fringe, and in addition to the word "Mother" in blue, is decorated with red roses with green stems, and the words "Camp McQuaide, Calif.," where O'Gara was stationed.

It also has this famous poem, written by lyricist Howard Johnson:

---

M is for the million things she gave me

O means only that she's growing old

T is for the tears she shed to save me

H is for her heart of purest gold

E is for her eyes with love light shining

R means right and right she'll always be

Put them all together they spell mother

A word that means the world to me

---

"It was very touching," Lamoureux said.

Millville, about 40 miles southwest of Boston, had a population of about 1,800 in the 1940s. Even these days, it holds only about 3,200 people.

"My grandfather (Rodrique "Pete" Lamoureux) was a World War II veteran, and Millville is such a small town, I just knew they had to have known each other," he said. "I felt this instant connection."

Where the pillow sham has been the past 70-plus years is a mystery. The 6-cent airmail stamp on the envelope was canceled, indicating it had been delivered. But the cover appeared pristine. O'Gara's mother, Catherine, died in 1956.

Lamoureux bought it from a Rhode Island man who runs a collectibles shop and found the envelope in a box of junk acquired from an anonymous seller.

Of course, Lamoureux wanted to return the pillow cover to O'Gara's family, but he couldn't find any living relatives.

He found that O'Gara, the son of Irish immigrants, was an artilleryman who served in Italy in World War II, then lived for years in the nearby town of Milford before dying in 1998. His wife died in 1974.

Lamoureux turned to his own parents, Donald and Diane Lamoureux, and their friends in Millville, including Carroll and Council on Aging member Ellen Ethier Bowen, who both remembered the O'Gara family. But even Carroll, who has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of town history, came up empty.

The group discussed it and came up with the idea of framing the pillow sham and envelope and hanging them in the senior center. The building is a short walk from the O'Garas' former home in a section of town known as Banigan City, named for the former president of a now-closed rubber manufacturing plant who built the homes for his workers.

Bowen hopes to bring the proposal to the full Council on Aging. It would be perfect if the pillow sham could be hung by Memorial Day, she said.

"This whole story just tugs at your heartstrings," she said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson says the United States should rethink the notion that a president must enforce laws the Supreme Court declares constitutional.

Carson said Sunday "we need to discuss" the court's long-held power to review laws passed by Congress. That authority was established in the 1803 landmark case Marbury v. Madison.

Carson was asked on "Fox News Sunday" whether the executive branch is obligated to enforce laws that the Supreme Court declares constitutional. Carson said it's an open question that deserves debate because the "original intent" of judicial review has changed.

Carson has said a president is obliged to carry out laws passed by Congress, but not what he called "judicial laws" that emanate from courts.

Carson is a former neurosurgeon who has not held elected office.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Cuban President Raul Castro paid a call on Pope Francis at the Vatican on Sunday to thank him for working for Cuban-US detente and later said he was so impressed by the pontiff he is considering a return to the Catholic church's fold.

"Bienvenido!" Francis said in his native Spanish, welcoming Castro to his studio near the Vatican public audience hall. The Cuban president, bowing his head, gripped Francis' hand with both of his, and the two men began private talks. The meeting lasted nearly an hour, as the Argentine-born Francis and Castro spoke in Spanish.

Francis will visit Cuba in September en route to the United States.

After leaving the Vatican, Castro, the brother of Fidel, the revolutionary leader who brought the Communists to power in Cuba, gushed with praise for Francis.

The pontiff "is a Jesuit, and I, in some way, am too," Castro said at a news conference. "I always studied at Jesuit schools."

"When the pope goes to Cuba in September, I promise to go to all his Masses, and with satisfaction," Castro said at a news conference at the office of Italian Premier Matteo Renzi, whom he met with after the Vatican talks.

"I read all the speeches of the pope, his commentaries, and if the pope continues this way, I will go back to praying and go back to the church, and I'm not joking," he said.

It was a startling assertion for the leader of a Communist country, whose crackdown on dissidents in the past had drawn sharp Vatican criticism.

"I am from the Cuban Communist Party, that doesn't allow (religious) believers, but now we are allowing it, it's an important step," Castro said.

Speaking about Francis, Castro said he has been "very impressed by his wisdom, his modesty, and all his virtues that we know he has."

Castro had already publicly thanked Francis for helping to bring Havana and Washington closer together after decades of U.S. government policy of strict isolation of the Communist-ruled Caribbean island. On Sunday, he stepped up his praise on Francis' push for the two nations to put enmity aside and work for reconciliation for the benefit of Americans and Cubans.

As he took his leave from the Vatican, Castro told journalists, "I thanked the pope for what he did."

Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the president also "laid out to the pope the sentiments of the Cuban people in the wait and preparation for his upcoming visit to the island in September."

After his meeting with Renzi, Castro expressed hope that his country would quickly see more fruits of the thaw between Cuba and the United States. "Maybe the (U.S.) Senate will take us off the list of terrorist nations" soon, Castro told reporters.

Francis gave Castro a medal depicting St. Martin of Tours, known for caring for the destitute.

"With his mantle he covers the poor," Francis told Castro, saying more efforts on behalf of the poor are needed.

Fidel Castro met with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 1996. That encounter helped pave the way for John Paul's 1998 pilgrimage to Cuba, the first visit by a pontiff to the island. John Paul was also eager for Cuba to grant more visas for foreign priests to bolster the dwindling corps of clergy on the island.

The Vatican's general policy of opposing economic sanctions as a foreign policy tool carries appeal for Cuban leaders and people, after decades under a U.S. economic embargo. With the Vatican keen on protecting the interests of its Catholic followers under Cuban Communist rule, Pope Benedict XVI also visited the island.

Castro told reporters that "we are trying to carry forward improvements of our political, social and cultural system. But it's very difficult to do it without causing shocks, without leaving some in the street."

He came to Rome on his way back from celebrations in Moscow of the 70th anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany in World War II.