Nine-year-old Keri Alfred, of Mt. Pleasant, Tobago, is well on her way to becoming an exporter of milk and cheese, and diversifying Tobago's economy.  Watch her here  or copy this URL into your browser https://bit.ly/2xxlR94.
Source: Omardarth Maharaj

NEW YORK (AP) — A former Caribbean soccer official fighting extradition in the FIFA bribery scandal has been ordered to pay $79 million in damages from a related U.S. lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge William Kuntz ordered the default judgment against Jack Warner in the 2017 civil action accusing him of embezzling tens of millions of dollars from the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football. The written ruling was issued in federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday after Warner failed to contest the claim.
The soccer association "intends to pursue all available avenues to enforce the judgment in any jurisdiction where CONCACAF has reason to believe Mr. Warner may have assets," plaintiff lawyer John Kuster said in a statement Wednesday.
Warner, 76, is a defendant in a sprawling criminal investigation that has resulted in convictions of several top soccer officials. He's out on bail while challenging a U.S. extradition request to Trinidad and Tobago, where he's denied any wrongdoing.
There was no immediate response Wednesday to an email sent to one of his lawyers.
The suit accused Warner and Chuck Blazer, another soccer official who died after it was filed, of negotiating bribes and kickbacks in connection with lucrative broadcasting rights for tournaments including the confederation's Gold Cup championship. Allegations in the suit also mirrored criminal charges saying that Warner, while he and Blazer were members of FIFA's executive committee, took a $10 million payment to influence voting on which country should host the World Cup.
Warner "agreed to provide Blazer with $1 million of the $10 million bribe," according to the suit. "Unsurprisingly, when the FIFA Executive Committee vote was held on May 15, 2004, South Africa was selected over Morocco to host the 2010 World Cup. Warner and Blazer both voted for South Africa."
Blazer's estate agreed earlier this year to pay $20 million in damages in the civil case.
Warner's sons, Daryll and Daryan, pleaded guilty to fraud charges in the criminal case in 2013 as part of a cooperation deal. They're both out on bail with travel restrictions within the U.S. and are awaiting sentencing.
Source: Daily Express, July 10, 2019

​Blog name has been changed to "News and Bits", as it is not a blog in the true sense of the word.  Since this is really a mix of news from Trinidad and Tobago and about Trinis making news elsewhere, jokes, recipes and other items of interest, the new name better describes the content of this section.  I hope you will check it often.

Congratulations to actor Winston Duke and Director/Producer and Frances-Anne Solomon who were invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences earlier this week! 🇹🇹🏆💫🇹🇹🏆✨
The two TT Nationals are among 842 new members of the film industry to now be part of the Academy. They are joining more than 6,000 members of the film industry who will now vote for the best among their peers at the Annual Oscars.
In accepting the invitation to join, Duke said: "Oh man... Argyle Village, Tobago we reach....! As a kid growing up on a small island of 60,000, I was constantly watching movies and becoming enamored with stories, dreaming to one day be in the business myself. This is a dream come true. I can now vote on what movies and creatives win #Oscars and participate in a community of artists who lead through intention and execution. Thank you @theacademy for this auspicious gift. 🙏🏿 #blessingsonblessings"
Solomon meanwhile, said the invitation was a great honour and she looked forward to using her vote to choose next year's Oscar winners. She said: "This year, despite more diversity and better representation across the board, there were no women nominated or who won in the Best Director/ Best Movie categories. Hopefully gender parity in this year's crop will mean that does not happen again."
Source: TTT Live Online

For more click on this link
or copy and paste this URL : ​https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/life/travel/tobago-eco-holiday-destination-652967?fbclid=IwAR1fQrWD1Y8A2RW9EaFn09Zjk9t9oBJWh8Kv3IwsYusdRr8x2rI34DqxF5g

​Cabinet has accepted a National Protected Areas Systems Plan, proposing to protect approximately 20,000 square kilometres of protected land and marine space in TT. This is part of the Government’s policy to preserve biodiversity and improve the management of protected areas. This announcement was made at a forest replanting exercise on Corpus Christi last Thursday in Chaguaramas.
A release from the Ministry of Planning and Development said the aim of the plan was to identify areas in TT that were in need of protection so that the biodiversity in forests and other wildlife can thrive.
The new plan proposes the establishment of 136 protected areas. Those include 92 terrestrial and freshwater areas, 79 of which are in Trinidad and 13 in Tobago; 40 coastal and marine areas, 18 in Trinidad and 22 in Tobago; and four deep-sea marine areas. In total, approximately 1,933 sq km – 1,866 sq km in Trinidad and 67 sq km in Tobago – of the country’s land mass is proposed to be land and freshwater protected areas. The proposed coastal and marine protected areas approximate to 580 sq km – 14 sq km in Trinidad and 566 sq km in Tobago. The proposed open-ocean waters and deep-sea marine areas cover 15,600 sq km.
Some of the areas are part of a pilot plan because of their globally important biodiversity and ecosystems which include the Caroni Swamp, the Nariva Swamp and coastal zone, the Matura Forest and coastal zone, the Trinity Hills, the Main Ridge Forest Reserve and the North East Tobago Marine Protected Area.
A number of stakeholders participated in a series of consultations with the Planning Ministry such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Forestry Division; the Institute of Marine Affairs; the Environmental Management Authority (EMA); the Tobago House of Assembly; non-governmental organisations; and local universities. The National Protected Areas Systems Plan is an intervention coming out of the project titled: Improving forest and protected area management in TT, the implementation of which is being co-ordinated by the Planning Ministry and administered by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO/UN) on behalf of the Government.The project was done over the last four years – from 2015 to 2019 – at a total cost of US$30,510,074. Funding was provided by the TT Government, FAO/UN, the European Union and the Global Environment Fund. More information can be found on the Project Website: www.protectedareastt.org.tt.

Click on this link for full list of activities for the Canada Day weekend, or copy and post this URL into your browser
​ https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/canada-day/calendar.html