Sir Lynton Crosby offered to work on a campaign to cancel the 2022 Qatar World Cup and get it awarded to another country in return for £5.5m, according to a leaked plan that gives a rare insight into the activities of one of the world’s best-known political operatives. The detailed pitch document – “a proposal for a campaign to expose the truth of the Qatar regime and bring about the termination of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar” – was written in April last year and personally signed by Crosby.

He said that if engaged, his lobbying firm, CTF Partners, would require £300,000 a month for 18 months to focus on efforts to delegitimise the Qatari government and put pressure on Fifa to “restart the bidding process” and award the World Cup to another country. As part of the pitch document, named “Project Ball”, Crosby said CTF Partners could set up full-time war rooms around the world to spread negative stories about Qatar in the mainstream media, run fake grassroots campaigns on social media, and lobby potentially friendly politicians, journalists and academics.(theguardian)…[+]

ADS Global Limited, the company that operated Fly Jamaica’s call centre five years ago, is appealing the US$4.2 million awarded to the airline in December for breach of contract. The judgment was handed down in the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court in December.  Attorney-at-law Kent Gammon, who represents ADS Global, believes the evidence presented by Fly Jamaica was inconsistent and insufficient. “How can you say we must then pay US$4.2 million when the airline wasn’t even in operation for eight months?” he questioned.  “How they can even come up with that figure is beyond me.” Fly Jamaica was founded in 2011 and used ADS’ call centre from 2012 to 2014.

Gammon said the assessment of damages was completely unlinked to any real losses that the airline could prove. Fly Jamaica initially brought the suit against ADS Global, claiming that the call centre acted unlawfully by closing its operation without giving proper notice to the airline.  The call centre was closed because Fly Jamaica had failed to pay its required fees.(Jamaica Gleaner)…[+]

Na­tion­al Se­cu­ri­ty Min­is­ter Stu­art Young ac­cused the Op­po­si­tion of be­ing racists, spark­ing a shout­ing match and name call­ing in the Par­lia­ment on Fri­day night. The in­ci­dent oc­curred while Young was mak­ing his con­tri­bu­tion to the de­bate on the Tres­pass (Amend­ment) Bill, 2019 in the Low­er House.

“I have al­so sat here and asked per­mis­sion to en­ter this de­bate be­cause I find it quite dis­taste­ful to sug­gest and re­duce this piece of leg­is­la­tion in the most deroga­to­ry terms and man­ners I have heard from those on the oth­er side to­day by sug­gest­ing it’s for HDC (Hous­ing De­vel­op­ment Cor­po­ra­tion) and it’s for per­sons who live in HDC hous­es and to talk about Dun­can Street, and to talk about East Port-of-Spain in the most deroga­to­ry of man­ners,” Young said. “So as the Mem­ber for Port-of-Spain North/St Ann’s West and a rep­re­sen­ta­tive for a large part of East Port-of-Spain, I rise for the peo­ple that I rep­re­sent and point them out for be­ing the racists that they are here to­day for be­ing those who have come here to at­tack those who sit in HDC hous­es, I am not with­draw­ing it,” Young said.(Trinidad Guardian)…[+]