PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar Monday described the death of Britain’s former head of government, Margaret Thatcher as “ a profound sense of loss”. “The United Kingdom and indeed the world, has lost a woman who, throughout her life, has been a valuable contributor to local and global efforts to improve the well-being of those whom she served” she said in a statement. Thatcher, who was 87, had been in declining health for some years, suffering from dementia. She died peacefully following a stroke.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC - The Environmental Management Authority (EMA) says it is unable to identify any environmental reasons why more than 100 black vultures (Coragyps atratus) died in West Trinidad on Monday. The EMA said it is also working on the theory that the birds may have been feeding on the carcass of an animal which had been poisoned. “We can’t identify an environmental cause as such that they were exposed to. There were 150 birds, we estimated. There was nothing else in the vicinity.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - On the Caricom front, Trinidad and Tobago has unexpectedly been drawn into a low-level confrontation against the United States, its own major trading partner. Two areas of conflict comprise online gambling (whereby players participate in virtual casinos online), as pursued by Antigua and Barbuda, and rum exports to the US, in which T&T shares concerns with some 14 regional states. Antigua and Barbuda has been subject to adverse reviews about its loose controls that have been known to welcome financial adventurers and worse.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC - Dame Hilda Bynoe, Grenada’s first -ever native head of state has died here after a prolonged illness, relatives confirmed. She was 91. “Grenada considers the passing of Dame Hilda as a great loss, not just to Grenada but to the Caribbean as a whole. She came from a rural place and maintained her love for the people,” said Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell. Her son Roland Bynoe described her as a “Caribbean woman. She grew up in an era when the unity of the Caribbean was important”.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC-The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will hear final submissions in the Shanique Myrie case when the court sits at its headquarters in Port of Spain on Monday and Tuesday. The Trinidad-based CCJ will hear testimony in the case brought by Myrie, 25, who alleged that when she traveled to Barbados on March 14, 2011 she was discriminated against because of her nationality, subjected to a body cavity search, detained overnight in a cell and deported to Jamaica the following day.