Overall market activity resulted from trading in 14 securities of which six advanced, five declined and three traded firm.

JMMB Goup was the volume leader with 786,922 shares changing hands for a value of $944,813.61.

Sagicor Financial Corporation contributed 25,124 shares with a value of $230,092.11, while TTNGL added 17,716 shares valued at $397,981.50.

TTNGL enjoyed the day’s largest gain, increasing $0.53 to end the day at $22.46. Conversely, Republic Financial Holdings Ltd suffered the day’s greatest loss, falling $1.24 to close at $106.74.

Clico Investment Fund was the only active security on the Mutual Fund Market, posting a volume of 6,480 shares valued at $145,994.40. Clico Investment Fund advanced by $0.02 to end at $22.53.

The second tier market did not witness any activity.

We have plenty to be proud of when welcoming tourists to our islands. Stunning beaches, clear seas, dense and biodiverse green spaces, amazing natural landmarks, beautiful buildings and even unusual natural landscapes like a pitch lake and mud volcanoes.

We all know that tourism can mean big business when government and private enterprise work hard to attract visitors. And the figures can be impressive, too. In 2015, Barbados attracted around 1.2 million tourists spending at least one night in the country—about four times its own population size. Spain, one of the most successful tourist destinations in the world, attracted nearly 110 million people in 2015, over two times its own population (itself made of many visitors who went on to settle there). By comparison, using the same figures from the World Tourism Organisation, in 2015 we attracted just over 519,000 tourists spending at least one night with us—less than half of the total population.

Our relatively low number of visitors can and should go up by quite a long margin. After all, we have the beautiful locations and the rich culture that should make us one of the world’s tourism hotspots. Given what we have been reporting on the state of Maracas Beach’s facilities, though, it is a shame that we appear to be so careless when it comes to nurturing this incredible natural and man-made heritage for our own pleasure but also to earn badly needed income from tourism.

The poor experience does not start when the visitor reaches the bay. It starts along the road, as they will face potholes, unfinished road improvements and, depending on the weather, the odd fallen tree partly blocking the tarmac.

Then, when in Maracas, they will face a potholed car park, a number of unfinished new retail facilities and, if particularly unlucky, the stench of stagnant water. The ordeal will not stop there. If they need access to the paid toilet and shower facilities, they will need a helping hand to keep the toilet or changing room doors shut, as many of the locks are now missing due to rust or broken parts. Not much luck with the showers, either. Some are not usable as they do not have working taps; those in working conditions usually provide a trickle of water. That is if they are lucky enough to have water—it is not unusual for the pipes to be dry.

The story behind the poor state of the facilities is, sadly, all too familiar to us in Trinidad and Tobago. Endlessly late building works, bogged down by the state’s bureaucracy or questions over how or why contracts have been awarded. The end result is also, sadly, all too familiar to us: below par facilities and disregard for taxpayers and visitors alike by the authorities responsible for our tourist destinations.

The state of Maracas would be bad enough if it could be described as a unique case. In reality, and with varying degrees of decay or unreliable water supplies, at least the authorities are equitable when it comes to making sure we all have poor beach facilities. Even Tobago’s beautifully kept Pigeon Point is not immune to the odd water supply shortage or some other hiccups.

If we are serious about posing a real competition to our Caribbean neighbours when it comes to tourism, our authorities must be serious about offering visitors—foreign and locals alike—cleaner, better and nicer facilities

Some years ago I had the dubious honour of being appointed the Chair of the Advisory Committee on Special Education to the Ministry of Education. I was aware it would be a waste of time. Convince me, tell me why I should accept, I told the good gentleman who made the offer. You’ll have direct access to the Minister, he said. Might be able to impress her with your arguments.

So I accepted and for one year laboured under the impression that I was “contributing,” as the old fashioned socialists say, you know, giving of your training, experience, whatever little talent you might have, giving back to the country, trying to improve things a bit and finding out that it was all a waste of time and energy. Not that I did not have access to the Minister. In fact she was the only minister I have ever known who actually sat down with me to discuss my ideas and seemingly tried to implement some of them but ultimately was defeated by her technical advisers in the Ministry.

After a year and a half of quite intense work, the Committee, which included senior public servants from various ministries, as well as representatives from the Trinidad & Tobago Unified Teacher’s Association (TTUTA) and the Private Special Schools, finalised a plan to address the difficult question of Special Education and, as was my duty, I asked for and obtained an appointment with the then Chief Education Officer (CEO) of the Republic of T&T to present it formally. That the request took two weeks to be answered should have warned me off.

I duly presented myself one afternoon at 2 pm with the senior technical officer on Special Education at the office, was made to wait 45 minutes and then ushered into the august presence.

Have a seat. Now who are you, he said. This took me by surprise. He had signed my appointment papers 18 months before. The technical officer rushed to explain. Ah, yes, proceed. So I began.

Now it happened that it was the third day of a Test match at the Queens Park Oval. As I proceeded to lay out our case for dealing with what we all agreed was a priority for the educational system of the Republic of T&T to the Chief Educational Officer of said Republic, CEO as it were of a huge organisation receiving millions of dollars, eight-nine per cent of the national budget, I realised I was hearing commentary from the Oval. I stopped and looked up. The CEO was looking straight ahead, eyes closed, deep concentration as befitted a man with high responsibility. As I stopped talking, he turned his head to look at me and I saw the ear piece and wire attached to the small radio on his desk.

The good gentleman was listening to cricket with one ear and pretending to listen to me with the other.

A year and a half later, the Committee was dissolved and the last I heard of that particular officer was that he was planting peas in Tobago.

So it was no shock to read in the papers this week and to have it confirmed by my contacts that the Private Special Schools were about to close down since they had not been paid by the Ministry of Education for almost a year. According to the Express of February 1, the “fourteen private special schools are on the brink of closing as the new Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Education—which ensures funding—has not been renewed.” In 2006 the then Minister of Education, the same one I mentioned above, sought to address the needs of the children with disabilities by providing partial funding to 14 approved schools. Partial funding means that teacher’s salaries are partially paid by the MoE.

All of these schools were started by ordinary citizens back in the 70’s and 80’s, most by parents of children with disabilities and who had despaired of waiting for various governments to act. They are funded by a combination of local and international grants and strenuous fund-raising by parents and teachers. All of the teachers in these schools are underpaid and over worked but retain a certain ethos of responsibility to “their children.” As a director of one of these schools, I confirm that there are months when they are either not paid or paid late because of the lack of funds. Even as they continue to raise funds on their own, the Special Schools cannot pay teacher’s salaries and cannot remain open for any length of time without this money.

On Tuesday September 6, 2016, according to the T&T Guardian, TTUTA’s president, Devanand Sinanan had issued a fresh call for the Government to do more for students with special needs. Mr Sinanan said that students with special needs “have always been treated as bastard children.” He went on to state that “all you have to do is go to these special education centres and see the appalling conditions under which our teachers have to function.”

In response, the Minister of Education then said, “Yes, I agree, our special schools have not been treated in the way they should have been treated and that was in the past.” He went on to declare, “Government has taken the decision that we are going to put our Special Schools on the front burner.”

So? What is the problem Minister? There is no Test cricket at the Oval. And surely your financial officers cannot all be planning on planting peas in Tobago?

SHALIZA HASSANALI

Upgrade to Maracas Bay has seen a significant slash in expenditure from $240 to $50 million.

This according to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley who spoke on Monday during his first of 14 Conversations with the Prime Minister in Maloney.

Rowley said that some people had grown accustomed to waste, which had led the country to borrow significant sums of money to maintain this lifestyle.

Since assuming office, Rowley said his Government had to cut expenditure in several projects, while ensuring that taxpayers get their monies worth. One such project was Maracas Bay restoration project.

Rowley said the price tag to upgrade that facility under the then People's Partnership government was "a $240 million exercise when we thought we had money."

He said there was a contractor on site, aiming to spend this figure.

When the Government changed, Rowley said he warned the country that they would have to curb its spending.

"And that project was already in trouble. We got into it and we discovered that we did not really need to spend $240 million on Maracas especially when we can't buy medication for the hospitals."

Several weeks after high tides caused floodings at Maracas Bay, the popular tourist attraction remains in a deplorable state and an eyesore, with tourists complaining about a stench and poor washroom conditions. The situation was highlighted in Monday's T&T Guardian.

Having examined the project, Rowley said "after months of trying to untangle the carrying on and facing all kinds of threats" they thought they could have done the project for below $100 million.

"We don't have $100 million to spend on Maracas at this point in time and never did. I can tell you today we have done the work on that situation, Maracas will have its carpark, huts for the vendors, road improvement and its sewer treatment plant fix for under $50 million."

Rowley said his Government was now in a situation where they have to do more with less.

"We milled the road from Point Cumana to Tembladora (Chaguaramas)...milled and paved it for $8 million. In that Maracas project the paving of the carpark was down for $34 million. That is what we are dealing with. That is what we are trying to prevent."

Rowley said somehow T&T had gone berserk.

"Some people were doing magnificently well in that kind of arrangement. And those who are making the most noise that nothing is going on...that is what they wanted to go on."

In going forward, Rowley said as projects are announced, Government will get the benefit of competitive tender and "our contractors will give us their best prices or they don't get the work."

Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said he was pleased that the price had been significantly dropped.

Sinanan promised that taxpayers will get its worth upon completion.

It wasn't supposed to take Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin five years to write a book about the death of their son, Trayvon Martin. But their grief has made finding the words unbearable until now.

Martin's parents collaborated to write Rest In Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin, published Tuesday by Spiegel & Grau.

The book recounts the journey of two grieving parents, thrust into the spotlight by tragedy and on some days, still as close to their loss as the day he died.

"The calendar says five years, but it seems like just a few months," Sybrina Fulton said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I know that we're still healing."

Writing the book wasn't a healing experience, but it was therapeutic to know that writing it might help others, Tracy Martin said.

"It was hard because we relived this every time we had to go back and write something about it...It stayed fresh," he said.

Trayvon Martin, shot to death by neighbourhood watchman George Zimmerman in a gated community in the central Florida suburb of Sanford weeks after his 17th birthday on February 26, 2012, became a rallying cry for millions of black Americans seeking justice for the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teen.

Trayvon Martin would have been 22 on Sunday.

His case-propelled by national news reports and social media-was the predecessor to the Black Lives Matter movement that came in response to similar killings, mostly by white police officers in cities nationwide.

Trayvon Martin's killer, who was not initially arrested, was later acquitted of murder by a jury, further inflaming racial tensions.

Martin's parents say the shooting deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina, and others, have added to their grief. But comforting other parents has helped them heal.

Having a black president who identified with their son from a podium in the White House also "went a long way," Tracy Martin said.

"It meant a great deal for the most influential and most admired president that this country has ever seen mention our son," he said.

"This new administration...you would hope they would have compassion for families who are losing children to gun violence."

The family, which has a foundation in Trayvon's name, has not reached out to President Donald Trump, but is open to working with the administration in their efforts, Tracy Martin said.

Sybrina Fulton campaigned frequently for Hillary Clinton last year, along with other black mothers who had lost their children to gun violence.

She said that the experience reinforced what she and Tracy Martin believed they should be doing, and that both are now exploring public office, though they have not decided what they would run for.

"We've been researching it, talking about it, trying to see what's available," she said, adding that they would likely start at the local level in their community in Miami.

"We know that if we want change, we have to be a part of that change."

The Trayvon Martin Foundation, based at Florida Memorial University, is marking his birthday with a peace walk on February 11.

Sybrina Fulton said she doesn't observe her son's death, but chooses to celebrate his life.

"It speaks to what he was doing: Walking home, in peace," she said.

"He wasn't allowed the opportunity to do that. The message we have is that we want our young people to know that they have the right to walk in peace...without being murdered." (AP)

ANDREW MARTIN

and

Steelpan scholars from across the world descended on Paris in early December for an international conference on steelpan held at the Université Paris Ouest La Défense.

Dr Aurelie Helmlinger, an ethnomusicologist at the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (Laboratoire d'Ethnologie et de Sociologie Comparative-Centre de Recherche en Ethnomusicologie), hosted and organised the conference as part of her Pan-e-pedia project. Participating scholars came from the United States, Europe, and Japan. The conference focused on the development and history of the placement of notes on various steelpan instruments and cognitive and learning issues as they relate to playing steelpan.

The Pan-e-pedia project is a web-based database of steelpan layouts created by Aurélie Helmlinger and her team of researchers in Paris in the last few years. The database has well in excess of 400 different layouts based on historical instruments, current instruments, and everything in between, spanning the steelpan's history since the 1930s.

Funded by the Fyssen foundation of France, the database is based on months and months of fieldwork Helmlinger conducted in T&T between 2013 and 2015 with the generous assistance of PanTrinbago regional officers. Among her many findings, Helmlinger found the note positions on the steelpans to be very diverse and oftentimes unique; layouts are not necessarily based on musical harmony.

Each uploaded layout includes a wealth of information, such as the location (Invaders Panyard, for example), builder/tuner of the steelpan, time, date, and other related information such as style (eg lead pan) and particular variant, eg Invader-style Lead Pan.

The various steelpan layout styles are also presented through a multimedia analytic tool highlighting the musical intervals between notes. It even includes a software tool that can generate interactive animations of steelpans in performance.

At the conference, presenters shared research on the developments of steelpan layouts in their respective countries or regions.

Dr Rachel Hayward offered a lively synopsis of her work studying and performing steelpan in the UK for over 20 years. She noted the research on steelpan in the UK has been both sporadic and fragmentary so far, and its history needs more work.

England was an important destination for those migrating from the Anglophone Caribbean in the years following World War II and, after the initial visit of TASPO in 1951, a small number of Trinidadian steelpan players started what has grown to a sizable community in England, with a number of community bands and various programmes in the school system.

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steelpan layouts in the UK, their relation to important steelpan pioneers such as Russell Henderson and Sterling Bettancourt and their evolution over the decades in this part of Europe. According to Hayward, "The conference was an excellent launch for Dr Helmlinger's fascinating research project which provides a wealth of information previously undocumented in the field of pan studies." Hayward further noted that Helmlinger's work on steelpan layouts "provided an excellent opportunity for fruitful exchange of ideas across the pan and academic communities."

Hayward's recent doctoral dissertation focused on the pop American song Yellow Bird based on a Haitian folk song and the strange way it became the most performed and recorded song by steelbands in the sixties. It is a stunning piece of research and an important contribution to our understanding of steelpan repertoire.

In addition to her research, Hayward is an accomplished pannist and is a sought-after performer, arranger, and clinician, and she has recently released a new album titled Red Heat of original music and arrangements.

Co-author Dr Andrew Martin gave a paper on the evolution of pan instruments in the United States. Over the course of the past 60 years, steelbands across the United States have grappled with the eclectic nature of steelpan's note layouts and many have devised inventive ways to handle the instrument's inconsistencies. Others prefer specific note layout patterns as a means of teaching and learning music theory and harmony. Martin's research examined a brief history of steelpan note layouts in the United States with specific focus on certain layout examples that are preferred by American-based steelbands, and the music literacy and harmonic pedagogies that these steelpans support. Several theories were discussed towards explaining preferences of American pannists who, before learning steelpan, had previously received traditional western music education.

Perhaps the most informative presentation at the recent conference in Paris was that of Professor Akira Tomita of Hirosaki University in Japan. Interestingly, Tomita is professor of instrument building-not steelpan or percussion per say-and in addition to steelpan he is an accomplished performer and builder of several traditional Japanese instruments. Tomita's presentation detailed the history of steelpan Japan and the instrument's rise in popularity during the first half of the 1990s.

Tomita notes that before the 1990s, Trinidadian steelbands first visited Japan for occasions such as Expo 1970 in Osaka and Expo 1975 in Okinawa. This was due in part to efforts by the Japanese government who tried to establish international prestige by hosting cultural events that "Displayed the World". Several key professional musicians, such as Haruomi Hosono, took steelpan for their artistic creation as a form of self-orientalism/self-exoticism.

In the 1970s-80s, the timbre of steelpan was diffused by electric organs with the name of "steeldrum" in music unrelated to its origins. According to Tomita, "Japanese people do not necessarily care too much about Carnival or steelpan culture, they mostly like steelpan as an instrument." Then things changed in the 1990s when several steelbands from Trinidad, such as Renegades and Pamberi, toured Japan numerous times and record stores started to sell imported steelpan recordings. At present, there are more than 20 steelbands, approximately 1,000 steelpan players, and five steelpan builders currently active in Japan.

The conference acted as the first step to take Helmlinger's research in T&T to a wider focus. Helmlinger seeks assistance from Trinidadians and pannists all over the world to help add layouts and information to the database. "This is only a beginning," notes Helmlinger who wants the project to incorporate steelpan layouts all over the world. "From this data, anyone from anywhere in the world can find a pan, discover the maker, his village or town in Trinidad or wherever, and can then have a better appreciation of where pans come from and who makes them."

Dr Andrew Martin is an ethnomusicologist, percussionist, pannist, and Professor of Music at Inver Hills College in St Paul, Minnesota. Retired Alaskan judge Ray Funk is a Fulbright scholar who is passionately devoted to calypso, pan and mas.

MORE INFO:

To learn more about the Pan-e-Pedia project and see how you can be involved, contact Dr Aurelie Helmlinger at aurelie.helmlinger@gmail.com.

To learn more about Rachel Hayward's work, see this link: http://steelpan.co.uk/ and for a link to her new album Red Head, see http://cdbaby.com/cd/rachelhayward3

The Caribbean premiere of Carnival Medea-A Bacchanal opens at the Little Carib Theatre today, dedicated to the memory of Mrs Joyce Wong Sang, the Grande Dame of the Prime Minister's Best Village Trophy Competition.

Wong Sang, who passed away on January 14, was the original coordinator mandated to oversee the competition by her brother-in-law, the late Dr Eric Williams.

Director Rhoma Spencer, who is a Best Village alumna, said Wong Sang single-handedly mobilised the villages across T&T to come together in the fields of performing and culinary arts, and horticulture.

A member of the Barataria Community Council from 1980 to 1999, where she began as a performer and later playwright, director, lighting designer and makeup artist, Spencer's works are continuously inspired by the Best Village school of thought.

Spencer said she remembers with fondness the training she received in the Barataria Community Centre, in preparation for the Best Village Competition.

"Summer intensives at the Creative Arts Extra Mural Summer Camp, organised by the UWI, were basically populated by Best Village practitioners.

There was training in drama, acting and improvisation, and dance by practitioners like Sonya Moze, Belinda Barnes, Valerie Bethel, Noble Douglas, to name a few.

"These were members of the faculty that were passing down their own expertise in their field of discipline to the common Best Village performer.

"As a result of that training, we went back to our communities a little more informed in our particular discipline and we were able to take our performance skills to another level when competition time came around.

"Part of our prizes were scholarships to go and study theatre at the Jamaica School of Dance, the Jamaica School of Drama or the Edna Manley School of Visual Arts, even as far as the New York School of Arts, at New York University", Spencer disclosed.

It is for all these reasons she has opened up Carnival Medea's Preview Performance to Best Village practitioners and community groups.

She said she hopes that practitioners will see how "one can take and use original text and adapt it to some of the characteristics of what we know as Best Village, which is music, dance and drama, and how all this is incorporated in the staging of a production."

Christopher Sheppard, who is the choreographer of the production, is also a Best Village alumnus, having worked with the Lower Morvant Best Village Group; he today still works as a tutor.

Carnival Medea-A Bacchanal is a production of Lordstreet Theatre Company and is written by Dr Shirlene Holmes of Georgia State University and T&T's Rhoma Spencer. It retells the classic Greek tragedy of Medea and Jason using T&T's traditional mas characters. The Grenadian Medea, a Baby Doll, flees Carriacou with Jason, a Tobagonian stick fighter, to live in Trinidad.

After some years of marriage, he forsakes her to marry a younger woman. Distraught, she is determined to wreak havoc on the new bride and spite Jason where it hurts the most-by denying him access to his two sons.

The production is set in T&T circa the 1950s when the traditional mas characters were at their zenith of existence.

Carnival Medea-A Bacchanal will run from February 9 to 12, February 16 to 19 and March 2 to 5 at the Little Carib Theatre.

For further information, go to www.carnivalmedea.wordpress.com, find them on Facebook at Carnival Medea-A Bacchanal and join their mailing list for updates and giveaways.

Shastri Boodan

Michael Ramroop, aka Michael S'obrian, is back and in his own words he wants "to make chutney great again."

Going by the sobriquet Showtime, Ramroop is one of the finalists in Saturday's Chutney Soca Monarch competition with the song Mr Popular.

Showtime is a native of Montreal, Canada and his parents, Allan and Dolly Ramroop, are from Gasparillo, South Trinidad.

He began his career at a young age and has roots in the music business on the maternal side of his family that includes the Ramnarine family of Gasparillo who are members of Dil-e-Nadan.

Showtime said he feels good about going up against big names in the CSM as Ravi B, KI and Rikki Jai adding "I love healthy competition."

Showtime, made his debut on the Chutney Soca scene in 2015 with Heavy Drinkah, a popular track, that featured his cousin Raymond Ramnarine, lead singer of Dil-e-Nadan.

Prior to entering the Chutney Soca arena, Showtime sang covers of Caribbean hits and Bollywood tracks with his Montreal-based band, T&T Express.

Speaking about his 2017 offering he said: "The song Mr Popular was an idea I had last year and I thought that since everyone is usually singing about stealing someone's girl or being that womaniser-type figure, I'd probably touch on the subject as well but do it in a way that's never been done before," he said.

"So I decided to go past stealing a girl or two and decided to be that figure that can steal them all. And so Mr Popular was born.

"The song was written and produced by me and I also had co-writers and producers on the track by the names of Kevin R and 24K."

He continued: "My goals in music are very simple. Make great music and make it enjoyable to everyone.

"In a world where there are so many great divides music is the one true unifier.

"It's what brings people together and I'd love to be responsible for that type of positivity as much as possible through out my career."

Gail Alexander

While the Maracas Bay upgrade won't be completed in time for Carnival visitors to enjoy, facilities are in place to ensure a proper standard of comfort at the popular beach, Works Minister Rohan Sinanan said on Tuesday.

Replying to Opposition questions in the Senate, Sinanan said the upgrade began in July 2015 costing over $100 million and more than $25 million was spent on the project up to January 2016, but it was only ten per cent complete. It was stopped following reasons the contractors gave about "unforeseen circumstances" regarding the tender, he said.

Sinanan said Nidco re-scoped the project to be completed in the next five months. While it won't be completed before Carnival, to ensure visitors don't have the discomfort which occurred during recent heavy rains, pumps and teams are on site to keep the facilities at certain standards.

Sinanan said the former contractor, Kallco, has been terminated and Nidco was evaluating new bids. He said the Attorney General has been examining many contracts since entering office.

"I'm sure this (Kallco contract) could engage his attention," he said.

On other queries, Senate leader Paula Gopee-Scoon said talks are taking place between the Education Ministry and officials of the School for the Blind to resolve issues and find an alternative following a recent lock out of staff and students. She said the Ministry was trying to deal with the matter speedily.

RACAHEL KING

Cameshia Leslie showed her class i

Spectators at the Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena in Tacarigua were treated to some accurate shooting from the goal-shooter, who hit 47 goals from 54 tries in Fire's 50-24 victory over Police.

Responsible for feeding Leslie the ball in the goal-attack position were Daniella Hall early on and later Pearl St John. Hall added the other three goals from seven attempts while St John missed her only try.

Fire jumped to an early lead, closing the first half up 32-12 after leading 18-6 at the end of the first quarter. It was much of the same in the second half with the firewomen increasing its advantage to 14 before easing to the 26-goal win.

Fire ends round one, unbeaten with victories over Defence Force (45-10), with Leslie scoring 39 from 51, the University of Southern Caribbean (USC), 62-14, she produced 57 in 73 and the University of the West Indies (UWI), 63-17 where Leslie hit 52 of 67 tries.

Police, who had Cheryse Aguilleria leading its shooting with 13 in 24, record stands at two wins and two losses. It defeated Defence Force (21-16) and USC (23-11) and lost to UWI, 27-21.

In the later match, thanks to Nekeisha Peters Williams with 25 off 33, Defence Force sealed its first win of the season, 30-22 over USC.

The army/coastguard squad was determined to get its first points of the opening round in the five-team competition and led from the first pass. It held the lead at the end of each quarter, 10-3, 14-7 and 21-18, to come away with the eight-goal victory.

Carla Victor did all of the shooting work for the losing USC side, connecting 22 of 31.

Results

Standings

Fire 4 4 0 0 220 65 8

UWI 4 3 1 0 110 125 6

Police 4 2 2 0 89 104 4

Defence Force 4 1 3 0 69 124 2

USC 4 0 4 0 75 145 0

Jack Nicholson is a Hollywood icon, make no mistake. From Chinatown and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to Batman and Terms of Endearment, the man has left an impressive mark on the movie world over his six decade-long acting career. However, since 2010, Nicholson hasn't appeared in a single movie, last being seen in 2010's How Do You Know. Fortunately for fans of the actor, that hiatus is about to come to an end, as Nicholson has just boarded an upcoming remake of a foreign film that's been earning a lot of accolades in recent months.

According to Variety, Jack Nicholson has been cast in the English-language remake of the German comedy-drama Toni Erdmann. Paramount has apparently secured the rights to the movie, and Nicholson will play the lead character in this new version, while Kristen Wiig has reportedly been cast as the man's daughter. The studio is still looking for a director and writer, but there already a lot of producers attached, including The Big Short's Adam McKay, Will Ferrell and original Toni Erdmann writer and director Maren Ade.

First shown at least year's Cannes Film Festival and later released in Germany last July, Toni Erdmann followed an older man named Winfried Conradi, who has a penchant for practical jokes and creating weird alternate personas, trying to reconnect with his daughter, Ines, who has moved to Bucharest, Romania to pursue a business consulting career. In order to get close to her, Winfried creates a new alter-ego: Toni Erdmann, who becomes a life coach for Ines' CEO. Now screening in certain areas of the US, Toni Erdmann has earned and been nominated for numerous awards, which includes winning five European Film Awards, as well as being nominated for a Bafta and Golden Globe and an Academy Award.

While there were reports indicating that Nicholson had retired from acting due to memory issues, he later said in 2013 that he simply wasn't as interested in taking projects anymore. Fortunately, he's finally found something that's piqued his interest, as the Variety report said that Nicholson approached Paramount's Brad Grey with the idea for a remake after enjoying the original.

Driftwood Restaurant is located in the Tradewinds Hotel in St Joseph Village, San Fernando. They opened their doors in 2006 when Tree House Restaurant - managed by the hotel - closed down.

In 2008, the establishment was changed to 3's Wine House and Restaurant, trading as Driftwood Restaurant under the new leadership of its owner Gordon Easton, and it is operated as a family business.

Driftwood Restaurant serves a wide range of items, specializing in authentic Caribbean cuisine including American, Mexican and other international dishes and favourites such as burgers, steak and lobster. Their space seats 50 persons indoors and 80 persons poolside, and visitors can also enjoy live entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights by the pool.

The Hotel has two conference rooms with a maximum seating capacity of 80 and 20 persons respectively, which can be used for small weddings, dinners and conferences. These are serviced by Driftwood Restaurant, which is known to be one of the best in South Trinidad.

Their hours are from 5am to 11pm, Mondays to Sundays. For reservations, please contact Suzette at (868) 679-9748 or Gail at (868) 653-0382 or (868) 292-1703.

At Privé, we offer exquisite spaces for everyone, from couples to companies. Privé Restaurant has an unparalleled collection of the world's best cuisines and dining experiences.

Diners can choose from four separate yet comfortable dining areas: our air-conditioned Dining Room; the covered Patio; the earthy Iguana Deck or the open air Casuarina Courtyard. All events from romantic dinners (and weddings) to lavish corporate celebrations can find the perfect space at Privé - and delectable food to match!

Our new business hours are Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5pm to 10pm, Fridays and Saturdays from 5pm to 11pm and Sundays from 11am to 3pm.

Be sure to join us for Wednesday Night Buffets, Friday After Work Cocktails and Sunday Luncheon Buffets.

Privé, "where Ambiance meets Elegance".

With over 20 years of serving excellent Chinese cuisine, Kam Wah has become a Trinidadian institution and, after 2016's rebuilding, Kam Wah's edifice at last reflects its standing in Trinidadian society.

The new, ground floor fine dining restaurant (accessed via Picton Street) takes elegance to a hitherto unimagined level, giving it the proper ambience in which to enjoy Kam Wah's culinary breakthroughs.

It should be noted that Kam Wah was the first to serve honey-garlic dishes and readily defends its boast of serving Trinidad's best crispy-skin pork, Peking duck and whole roasted suckling pig. The new all-glass informal dining room at the Maraval Road street level also brings Kam Wah's more casual side into the 21st Century (while maintaining the finest Chinese traditions, occasionally modified to suit the Trinidadian palate).

Donna Mohammed

For centuries, humanity has been searching for that powerful aphrodisiac that will make sex more attainable or take sex to unheard of pleasurable heights. Throughout the world cultures vary in beliefs on certain rituals, exercises, scents or even visual aids that prove to be the coveted love potion, however, the one thing they all agree on is aphrodisiac foods.

Consuming aphrodisiac foods is thought to increase blood flow to the genitals, release natural bio-chemicals in the body to help you feel more aroused and relaxed and provide nutrients that improve the health of the sex organs. Whether you believe in the science of it all or just adventurous enough to try anything that might get your mojo going, here are some love foods claimed to boost your sex drive naturally.

The famous 18th Century lover Casanova, was said to eat 50 oysters for breakfast every morning. Oyster is high in zinc, which is vital for testosterone production and healthy sperm. It also improves dopamine levels, which boosts the libido in both men and women.

Chocolate in its raw form is known for its high antioxidant content and contains phenyl ethylamine, said to stimulate a sense of excitement and well-being, the same hormone your body releases during sex. It also sparks dopamine production in the brain, which we already established increases the libido.

The ancient Aztec's nickname for avocado was "ahuacati" or "testicle tree" because of its shape. It seems this fruit has been tagged an aphrodisiac for many years, but whether it is because of its shapely form or the fact that it is high in essential fatty acids and B6 (both increase male hormone production) is left for you to decide.

Every celery stalk is packed with androstenone and androstenol. When a man chews a celery stalk, odour molecules are release in his mouth, which travel up the back of his throat to his nose. Once there, the pheromones boost his arousal releasing scents and signals that make him more desirable to women. Not a big fan of celery? Don't worry the effects are fast acting as the pheromones are released immediately.

Keep in mind that even though these foods might help you get your groove on, they might cause more harm if you have any medical conditions that advise a certain diet. If that's not the case, then move over Viagra, you've got some powerful love foods to try out.

Donna Mohammed

For centuries, humanity has been searching for that powerful aphrodisiac that will make sex more attainable or take sex to unheard of pleasurable heights. Throughout the world cultures vary in beliefs on certain rituals, exercises, scents or even visual aids that prove to be the coveted love potion, however, the one thing they all agree on is aphrodisiac foods.

Consuming aphrodisiac foods is thought to increase blood flow to the genitals, release natural bio-chemicals in the body to help you feel more aroused and relaxed and provide nutrients that improve the health of the sex organs. As a result, they are said to increase your arousal, energy, body temperature, or heart rate, sexually stimulating you. Considering that our brain is our largest sexual organ, some foods might even get you excited simply because they are associated with sex. Whether you believe in the science of it all or just adventurous enough to try anything that might get your mojo going, here are some love foods claimed to boost your sex drive naturally.

The famous 18th Century lover Casanova, was said to eat 50 oysters for breakfast every morning. Oyster is high in zinc, which is vital for testosterone production and healthy sperm. It also improves dopamine levels, which boosts the libido in both men and women. That aside, the seductive sensation of eating the oyster is sure to spark some romance between you and your lover.

Chocolate in its raw form is known for its high antioxidant content and contains phenyl ethylamine, said to stimulate a sense of excitement and well-being, the same hormone your body releases during sex. It also sparks dopamine production in the brain, which we already established increases the libido. Is it a coincidence that the gift of choice for valentines is chocolates?

Visually speaking, asparagus has got it going on but it also is packed with B Vitamin which is known as a folate that aids in increasing the production of histamine that is important for a healthy sex drive in both men and women.

Don't know what to do with all those pumpkins after Halloween? Like oysters, pumpkin seeds are high in zinc, which is essential for preventing testosterone deficiency in men. They are also loaded with libido vitamins and minerals like vitamin B, E, C, D, K and minerals including calcium, potassium, niacin and phosphorous. So, the next time you're ready to throw out the remnants of your pumpkins, keep the seeds and roast them to have as a snack.

The ancient Aztec's nickname for avocado was "ahuacati" or "testicle tree" because of its shape. It seems this fruit has been tagged an aphrodisiac for many years, but whether it is because of its shapely form or the fact that it is high in essential fatty acids and B6 (both increase male hormone production) is left for you to decide.

Some experts have called watermelon the new Viagra. With its high lycopene content, this deliciously cool fruit also contains citruline amino acids, which is good for the cardiovascular system and may have a Viagra-like effect on the body, as it relaxes blood vessels and improves circulation.

Maca, a root that belongs to the radish family is most commonly available in powder form. Also known to the Peruvians as "Peruvian ginseng" maca is rich in vitamins B, C and E and provides plenty of calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and amino acids. It is thought to boost the libido, increase endurance, balance hormones and increase fertility.

Every celery stalk is packed with androstenone and androstenol. When a man chews a celery stalk, odour molecules are release in his mouth, which travel up the back of his throat to his nose. Once there, the pheromones boost his arousal releasing scents and signals that make him more desirable to women. Not a big fan of celery? Don't worry the effects are fast acting as the pheromones are released immediately.

Keep in mind that even though these foods might help you get your groove on, they might cause more harm if you have any medical conditions that advise a certain diet. If that's not the case, then move over Viagra, you've got some powerful love foods to try out.

Indulge your appetite with love at Rizzoni's this Valentine's Day with newly added Rizzoni's signature dishes crafted from generations of secret recipes and techniques, such as our Ravioli Fritti and Salmon Carpaccio and our new brick oven pizzas including Chicken Tikka Masala, Hawaiian BBQ Chicken, Shrimp Scampi, Pear Prosciutto and Gorgonzola Pizza and so much more.

Of course, we've also added new additions to our classic pastas, seafood and meat dishes that we all enjoy. With our recently opened location now at MovieTowne C3 Centre, San Fernando, we're sharing the love of Italy just in time for this romantic day.

Guests in Port of Spain also have the luxury of ordering via our ToGo app; just Pay, Pick-Up and Enjoy!

Keeping the traditions of the Rizzo and Pisoni families with their Italian heritage (and our appreciation for them allowing us into their lives), we're so very proud to grow Rizzoni's Ristorante Italiano!

So, this Valentine's Day, come and enjoy our delicious signature heart shaped pizzas* and cheesecakes while sipping on our Valentine's Day cocktails and our 2 for 1 promotion on pre-selected sparkling wines with live entertainment. The first 100 women will be treated to roses and a gift courtesy L'Oréal.

*Pizzas coming soon to C3 location.

Rizzoni's Level 1, MovieTowne, POS, 627-RIZZ (7499)

Rizzoni's C3 Centre, San Fernando: 657-RIZZ (7499)

Golden Palace Chinese Restaurant & Lounge located in Southern Main Road, Marabella, is well known for their authentic Chinese cuisine.

Since opening their doors in 1987, they have been providing excellent meals and service to their clientele. The atmosphere is one of relaxing elegance, where individual attention provided by the staff lends to the customer's sense of welcome and comfort.

This year for Valentine's Day, the Golden Palace Restaurant is offering a special buffet dinner starting at 6 pm and with another seating at 8 pm, each featuring a variety of Chinese exotic dishes that includes desserts and complimentary wine, as well as live entertainment. Daily, the Golden Palace has a happy hour from Mondays to Fridays, 4:30pm to 6:30pm and on Saturdays from midday to 4pm. Selected drinks will be half price.

Secure parking is provided for patrons. They also cater for any functions, weddings, etc. In addition to their take-out and delivery services, they also have a fast food section offering local and Indian cuisine.

Golden Palace Chinese Restaurant & Lounge also caters for parties, weddings, banquets and all social occasions. Truly, customers always have a memorable experience at The Golden Palace and their staff are always happy to serve you.

Every other year, the International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling hosts a competition in which computer systems designed by conference participants try to find the best solution to a planning problem, such as scheduling flights or coordinating tasks for teams of autonomous satellites.

On all but the most straightforward problems, however, even the best planning algorithms still aren't as effective as human beings with a particular aptitude for problem-solving-such as MIT students.

Researchers from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory are trying to improve automated planners by giving them the benefit of human intuition.

By encoding the strategies of high-performing human planners in a machine-readable form, they were able to improve the performance of competition-winning planning algorithms by ten to 15 per cent on a challenging set of problems.

The researchers presented their results this week at the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence's annual conference.

"In the lab, in other investigations, we've seen that for things like planning and scheduling and optimisation, there's usually a small set of people who are truly outstanding at it," says Julie Shah, an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. "Can we take the insights and the high-level strategies from the few people who are truly excellent at it and allow a machine to make use of that to be better at problem-solving than the vast majority of the population?"

The first author on the conference paper is Joseph Kim, a graduate student in aeronautics and astronautics. He's joined by Shah and Christopher Banks, an undergraduate at Norfolk State University who was a research intern in Shah's lab in the summer of 2016.

Algorithms entered in the automated-planning competition-called the International Planning Competition, or IPC-are given related problems with different degrees of difficulty. The easiest problems require satisfaction of a few rigid constraints: For instance, given a certain number of airports, a certain number of planes, and a certain number of people at each airport with particular destinations, is it possible to plan planes' flight routes such that all passengers reach their destinations but no plane ever flies empty?

A more complex class of problems-numerical problems-adds some flexible numerical parameters: Can you find a set of flight plans that meets the constraints of the original problem but also minimises planes' flight time and fuel consumption?

Finally, the most complex problems-temporal problems-add temporal constraints to the numerical problems: Can you minimise flight time and fuel consumption while also ensuring that planes arrive and depart at specific times? For each problem, an algorithm has a half-hour to generate a plan. The quality of the plans is measured according to some "cost function," such as an equation that combines total flight time and total fuel consumption.

Shah, Kim, and Banks recruited 36 MIT undergraduate and graduate students and posed each of them the planning problems from two different competitions, one that focused on plane routing and one that focused on satellite positioning. Like the automatic planners, the students had a half-hour to solve each problem.

Certainly, they were better than the automatic planners. After the students had submitted their solutions, Kim interviewed them about the general strategies they had used to solve the problems. Their answers included things like "Planes should visit each city at most once," and "For each satellite, find routes in three turns or less."

The researchers discovered that the large majority of the students' strategies could be described using a formal language called linear temporal logic, which in turn could be used to add constraints to the problem specifications.

The results varied, but only slightly. On the numerical problems, the average improvement was 13 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively, on the flight-planning and satellite-positioning problems; and on the temporal problems, the improvement was 12 per cent and ten per cent.

"The plan that the planner came up with looked more like the human-generated plan when it used these high-level strategies from the person," Shah says.

"There is maybe this bridge to taking a user's high-level strategy and making that useful for the machine, and by making it useful for the machine, maybe it makes it more interpretable to the person. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

In terms of getting to us, we couldn't be easier to find. Cara Suites Hotel is only 15 minutes away from San Fernando and approximately ten minutes from Point Lisas.

Each of our well-appointed air-conditioned guest rooms are well equipped with modern conveniences that include a safe, high definition television, microwave and complimentary internet access. Complimentary buffet breakfast is also included.

With spectacular views over the Gulf of Paria and personalized service, Cara Suites is an ideal location for conferences, meetings, cocktail receptions, weddings and other special events. Our multi-purpose ballroom and meeting rooms can accommodate over 400 persons and free parking is provided.

Other guest facilities includes the Metropolitan Restaurant, a relaxed casual style restaurant opened daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner, The Bay Bar (a sunken bar open daily from 11 am), fitness centre and an outdoor swimming pool.

Cara Suites Hotel & Conference Centre… a Caribbean tradition in the making!