WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday predicted Mexico would strongly enforce a new deal under which it agreed to expand a controversial asylum program and boost security on its southern border to stem Central American migrants trying to reach the United States.

The deal, announced on Friday after three days of negotiations in Washington, averted Trump’s threatened imposition of 5 per cent import tariffs on all Mexican goods starting Monday. “Mexico will try very hard, and if they do that, this will be a very successful agreement between the United States and Mexico,” Trump wrote in a tweet yesterday morning.

The Trump administration believed the deal would “fix the immigration issue,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said yesterday in a Reuters interview on the sidelines of a G20 finance meeting in Fukuoka, Japan. Mnuchin warned, however, that Trump retained the authority to impose tariffs if Mexico failed to enforce the new agreement. Trump also tweeted yesterday that Mexico would immediately begin buying “large quantities” of agricultural goods from U.S. farmers, who have been hit hard by his trade war with China and risked a new blow from Mexican retaliation if Trump had imposed tariffs.(Reuters)…[+]

A Venezuelan mother of three was shot dead allegedly by her Venezuelan boyfriend in Carapichaima early ­yesterday. Evelyn Mata Rojas, 29, was shot twice in the chest and died in a laundry area ­outside her rented apartment at Ojar Maharaj Extension, Waterloo Road. Police are searching for the boyfriend who also lived in one of the apartments, as well as another man, in  connection with the incident.

Rojas’ landlord, Jeffrey Dyette, who lives upstairs the apartment complex, said Rojas, her children, her boyfriend and ­other relatives moved into the apartment last month. Dyette said Rojas had been living in Trini­dad for about three years and spoke ­English well.

The landlord said for the past month she had not worked and did not go anywhere, and that she had several visitors during that time. Dyette said he spoke to her hours ­before her death about people coming to see her. “I told her that when woman have three and four men, that does cause death and fighting. I didn’t know I was talking to her about her death,” he said. “She used to call me ‘Daddy’. She said, ‘Daddy, me eh understand.’ She say, ‘I love you, love you.’”(Trinidad Express)…[+]

PORT-OF-SPAIN-Vybzing 2019 has ended; but for the dozens of young people who took part in the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) flagship youth engagement forum this year, the experience was one that will live on with them.

Barbadian student and entrepreneur, Britney Sealy said the three-day event which ended on Monday, June 3, gave her an expanded sense of possibility. “One of my big takeaways was that anyone can go forward and achieve their goals. Seek those resources, seek the help that you need but you can do it,” said Sealy.

Vybzing, now in its 18^th year, had a new feel and format this year. For the first time, the Bank expanded the annual event, which takes place ahead of its Annual Meeting, to include participants from the across Region. Young people from 17 of CDB’s 19 Borrowing Member Countries received the opportunity to go to Trinidad and Tobago for the event.

Cherline Dabel, a 21-year-old civil servant and culinary entrepreneur had previously participated when the Turks and Caicos Islands hosted the Meeting in 2017. She said she found the broadened regional scope to be “powerful.” “It was nice to experience what the other countries are experiencing and realising that it’s not really different to what we’re experiencing. We came together and made unique solutions to those problems and that was pretty amazing. [It’s] more powerful I think when you have diverse opinions coming together,” shared Dabel.

On the forum’s first day, 50 young people from Trinidad and Tobago joined the residential participants for the event, which was held this year under the theme ‘Youth-Led Innovation, Regional Transformation!’ During the event, the group of activists, entrepreneurs and innovators learned how to leverage technology and innovation to further their causes and enterprises…[+]