United secured a place in next season’s competition by winning the Europa League final, and Yorke believes that has put manager Jose Mourinho in a strong position as he looks to challenge for the Premier League title.

“United are obviously looking to add to the squad. We know that, it is not a secret,” he said.

“I think that Man United being the richest club in the world and in the Champions League as well, things are looking up.

“We can attract all the players. Now that we are in the Champions League, I think that we are in a position to strike.” United have already brought in defender Victor Lindelof from Benfica, while sources have told ESPN FC that progress is being made on a move for Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata.

And Yorke said: “I believe that come the start of the season we will get three or four quality players in to make sure we are competitive enough and raring to try and win the Premier League.”

The suspect, from Claxton Bay, recently moved in with an aunt in Cunupia. He was the driver of the getaway car which crashed a short distance from the crime scene. Two assailants who were in the car escaped. The man has since given a statement to police and retained legal counsel.

Police reports state that about 11am on Friday, a gunman who wore a bandanna over his face, rushed into Ernie’s Auto Electrical Ltd at Camden Road, Couva and shot Ramlogan twice in the upper body, in front of customers, while he was doing electrical work on a car engine.

The killer ran into a car which sped off. Ramlogan died within minutes of arriving at the Couva District Health Facility. The quick response of Central Division police resulted in a chase which ended when the getaway car crashed on the roadside.

Police detained the driver but two other suspects ran into the bush and escaped.

Relatives said in January, Ramlogan relocated the business he operated for 15 years from Isaac Junction (opposite KFC) to Camden Road.

He was described as a hardworking and honest man by relatives and friends.

Mere hours after the killing, Couva South MP Rudy Indarsingh said he knew Ramlogan for several years and was deeply hurt that he lost his life at the hands of criminals. The Opposition MP also called on National Security Minister Edmund Dillon to resign in light of the killing.

President of the Couva/Point Lisas Chamber of Industry and Commerce Liaquat Ali, who was also a victim of crime recently, called for Dillon’s resignation saying criminals are taking over the country and are no longer scared.

Homicide Bureau (Region III) is continuing investigations into the killing.

However, the family will have to return to their home once they get help to clean and sanitise the area, chairman of the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation Dr Allan Sammy said yesterday.

He said contrary to a newspaper report, the family was not ordered to leave the shelter, and was neither evicted by the corporation.

“It is not true,” Sammy said of the report.

“She is still there and likely to be there for a few days still.” Sammy spoke with Sunday Newsday after a UNC press conference at Fun Splash in Debe.

Chance, who is pregnant, and her five children were stranded in their one-room, galvanise- home for 14 hours last Tuesday as their home was surrounded by floodwaters in the aftermath of the storm.

The family was rescued from being marooned by two villagers and were later given shelter at the activity centre.

But on Friday Chance, as reported in another newspaper yesterday, said her family was ordered to leave corporation representatives so the centre could resume its community activities.

Sunday Newsday spoke briefly on the phone to Ali yesterday who said he, his wife and their children were still at the centre. Asked how the family was doing, Ali said, “things just cool, man.” Sammy said Chance and others were told they would have to return to their homes eventually, but said the corporation would help them clean up their surroundings.

“We had told her, as we have told all others that we are moving out – we are moving you out because your house didn’t break down. We will clean your house for you, which we did yesterday. We will clean your pit latrine for you, we went to clean it but it can’t be cleaned yet so they will go back when the water goes down.” Sammy said the family will be returned to their home only after the pit latrine was cleaned which he anticipates will take a few days as the floodwaters have yet to subside.

Asked whether proper housing could be provided for the family, Sammy said the regional corporation was not able to provide homes to anyone as that fell under the purview of central government.

During the debate on Thursday on the Criminal Procedure (Plea Discussion and Plea Agreement) Bill 2017, Heath, who is also an attorney, said one of the problems attorneys find is the accused who have had multiple matters dismissed because the police did not turn up to court.

“These persons are not likely to engage into any plea agreement when they know the culture of police officers is that, ‘I’m going to run my case for a little while, see if the officer coming and when he don’t turn up I’m going to hire an attorney and get it thrown out’. That’s another way which we avoid a trial but notwithstanding that throwing out process takes years. So it’s still a clog in the system, so that behaviour has to be discouraged and until such time that police officers are made to account when they do not come to court and their matters are thrown out and they don’t face disciplinary actions then it’s going to keep on happening,” he said.

He said with this bill there has to be a change in how the police prosecute their matters which they have brought to court. “Because if that doesn’t happen you’re going to find the end user meaning the accused who knows the system is not going to be attracted to this at all (plea bargaining) so that is something that I think simply has to be addressed.” Heath said he also found the bill to be lacking in terms of how it addresses specific sentences.

“It doesn’t speak to for instance a suspended sentence if you were to give by way of plea discussion/plea agreement a suspended sentence.

That person who knows that he has a suspended sentence hanging over his head is more likely than not for a period to engage in behaviour so as not to attract or make that suspended sentence come to fruition and I’m saying that is how we need to start looking at it,” he said.

Heath said with this bill a suspect can benefit from a plea agreement but this he says is hardly to succeed if they do not commensurate with this law a substantial improvement in the evidence gathering.

“A police can have the name of the suspect, matching description, the last thing that will happen is that there has to be an identification parade and it is only after then you can charge, and sometimes that takes a little while to get that going.

So I have no difficulty at that stage but it must be that the evidence has to be disclosed to the suspect and his attorney at that stage. If your case has good evidence there is no need to hold it back, so I’m seeing in this proposed bill that you can disclose a summary, I think you should disclose as much as you think to bring the bargain to the table.”

Not so, with Amy Rajkumar. Sitting in the outdoor patio at Starbucks in San Fernando, you would hardly believe the 22-year-old law student has taken down opponents, both male and female, several times her size, in at least one international fighting tournament.

Despite being a relatively recent addition to TT’s martial arts circuit, Amy has already amassed an impressive reputation as a skilled fighter and is credited with being one of TT’s first female mixed martial artists. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), a full contact combat sport, has taken the world by storm over the past two decades.

Newsday WMN recently caught up with the petite powerhouse to learn more about her journey as a woman in what has been dubbed a blood-sport, her experiences, challenges and her expectations for the future.

“My martial arts training began when I was about 11 in Shotokan Karate at a mall but over time I wanted more than just the basics of selfdefense.

I wanted to be able to learn more that was when I began training in MMA, at one of the first dojos in Trinidad.” Amy explains that when she first decided to pursue MMA seriously, she was met with fierce objection from her relatives who felt that the sport was too violent for her. However she says that her commitment and perseverance has earned her the approval of her family, “Like a lot of parents, they weren’t happy with the idea of me in a full-contact sport especially one as rough as MMA but what really won them over was my dedication to the craft. They saw that this wasn’t just another hobby and it was something that I was prepared to give my all for.

They still haven’t completely accepted it but they understand what it means to me.” In addition to the support she has received from her relatives, Amy says that her coaches and training partners at the Southern Warriors of Mixed Martial Arts (SWMMA), where she trains, have also been a tremendous help to honing her skills as a fighter. She says that while she is aware of the danger of getting in the ring, she tries to maintain confidence in her own ability.

“It’s really interesting because when I enter the dojo where I train, it’s almost as if there are no gender roles. I’m just another person here to train, me being a woman has nothing to do with my training regimen and when I spar with the other guys they come at me just as hard as they would another man.

“A lot of people would be preoccupied with getting an injury or being hurt, I choose to look at the bigger picture. Instead I think about what if I win. What if I beat my opponent? I just visualise the title around my waist and the rest just happens.” In fact, Amy is now recovering from a back injury she sustained during one of her training sessions and is awaiting the go ahead from her physiotherapist to resume her training regimen.

Despite this setback, she is not daunted by the challenges ahead of her.

But sitting opposite me, she looks less like a fighter and more like a fashion model. It begs the question why martial arts specifically? Why would she choose such a physically demanding and dangerous sport when she could have earned an equally impressive reputation on the catwalk than in the ring? Her response is simple but unexpected.

“I enjoy the rush of the fight”, she laughs.

“In the ring, I get to release a lot of anger and energy that I wouldn’t be able to do with anything else. It’s something that has really helped me cope with my studies and my workload. I’m not afraid of dishing out a beating and I’m not afraid of taking one either.” Added to her commitments are her law studies, which have taken up much of her time, she admits that while it can be difficult to navigate between academics and her passion for the martial arts, but credits her success to a tireless work ethic and a highly organised timetable.

Despite MMA’s global popularity among women, Amy says that as a sport it remains largely unknown locally but is con_ dent that in time, through popular faces such as Ronda Rousey, it will gradually gain momentum.

Citing a recent experience with students of a secondary school, she said that more and more women are becoming interested in the sport.

“We (The SWMMA) recently had a selfdefense workshop at St Joseph’s Convent in Penal and it amazed me how many girls didn’t know about it. They were so surprised to learn that women can get involved in the martial arts. Probably because it’s something they’ve not seen before. It was a really empowering experience for them.” Indeed, empowerment is a recurring motif, as Amy says that while hesitant at first, many of her female relatives have often come to her for self-defense tips.

She says that this further underlines the importance of MMA to women.

So what’s next for the martial arts pioneer? Amy is in her _ nal year of her degree and looks forward to becoming a fully accredited lawyer, with special focus on women and gender-based violence. She says that she intends to take up the fight against domestic violence both literally and figuratively.

“It’s something that I’m very passionate about. A lot of persons might get a degree just for the sake of having it but I want to actually do some good for others.” In addition to her upcoming graduation, Amy is also carded to appear in this year’s tenth annual Caribbean Ultimate Fist Fighting Tournament (CUFF) to be held in Trinidad later this year. Amy’s story promises to be the _ rst of many other women who choose to take a stand for themselves and their relatives.

Her story and the countless others like it remains a testament to the strength and spirit of women

Nevertheless the announcement was met with opposition from the outset until the end of Wonder Woman’s contract less than two months later. Opposing voices felt that the Wonder Woman image was an overly sexualised one and her clothes boasted American flag emblems that were culturally insensitive to other nations. Despite this, in 2017, Wonder Woman (played by Israeli actress Gal Gadot) is making her presence felt at the box office in the first live-action feature film where she gets her own script.

The plot is an intelligent combination of genres – Greek mythology combined with real-life historical backdrops smartly interwoven to provide a very credible story.

This is an origin story so naturally, here we have a paradise – the island of Themyscira or Paradise Island – where the Amazons, skilled warrior women governed by Queen Hippolyta, live. Here, men are prohibited and children are made from clay (thought Princess Diana aka Wonder Woman is actually the daughter of Zeus in this script). The island has been hidden for centuries behind a magic membrane created by the god Zeus so as to protect the Amazons from the world of men. Peace reigns here.

In bursts Steve Trevor, a British intelligence officer, flying into the world of the Amazon warriors in a malfunctioning airplane that penetrates the magic membrane. In so doing he allows for the entry of a German naval fleet that is in pursuit of him.

The Amazons thunder down onto the beach where the queen’s sister, the greatest warrior and leader of the army, Antiope is killed in battle. The Amazons win the battle against men but it inspires their princess to leave their safe world to go into the world of men to fight in the “war to end all wars”. The reference is brilliant – mythical in sound but based in fact.

World War I otherwise known among other names as the “War to End All Wars’ (a term coined by science fiction writer HG Wells) or “The Chemist’s War” (as Dr Poison represents) is a perfect setting for Wonder Woman’s origin story.

Steve Trevor’s unwitting penetration of the magic membrane that had protected the Amazons from the outside world is the first indication of the impact of the war on borders and boundaries. World War I set the stage for the disruption of geography, the reshaping of boundaries and nations, the creation of ethnic rivalries, the growth of new nations and also set into motion events that would trigger World War II almost 20 years later.

It was the first time that all nations were involved in a war of such massive scale, an observation that made science fiction writer, HG Wells remark, that this “was not a war of nations but of mankind” (Edwin Steep A War to End All Wars, Vision. Other articles on Wells’ essay are available online) No doubt, the writer of the 2017 script would have been influenced by Wells’ ideas. It is ideally the sort of world into which we should introduce a heroine such a Wonder Woman, a heroine with the right amount of love for mankind and the moral will to do what is right.

But even she realises, like Wells did, that even though she defeats Ares, the god of war, such victories are short-lived for there is a dark side to humans. Ironically, Greek gods have both light and dark sides and are significant archetypes for human behaviour but we gloss over this in the film. Instead, we focus on the fact that Wonder Woman is the idealist, the form that wishes to triumph with love.

After what I would consider a decent enough plot with some screwball comedy that is inevitable when an Amazon enters the world of men, the ending is a disappointment as the film closes with a clich?d line on love as the triumphing spirit (something to that effect). It is nevertheless, the brilliant interweaving of periods and worlds that remains the strength of the story.

In our current world of rapid technological advancement, experiments with weapons of mass destruction and the threat of another war, the films is even more relevant in its call for a different type of governance.

Where literature and film present us with possibilities this new version of the Wonder Woman story itself makes us aware that we have the power to rework narratives.

And that, for me, is the usefulness of art.

Namely, “How will the balance sheet be apportioned between those three companies? What are the implications for future re-financing of the US $850 million bond? What are the implications for the pension plan; how will it be separated?” Ramnarine also wanted the person/ s who recommended the split to explain how Petrotrin’s current liabilities would be divided amongst the three new entities.

“As at 2016, the company’s current liabilities were $12.2 billion, with total liabilities of $28.2 billion.” Noting that a current liability “could be something which you have to pay quickly while a non-current liability (includes) de-commissioning costs, money set aside for persons who are retiring and so on,” Ramnarine asked, “How is that ($12.2 billion) going to be apportioned across three companies?” Ramnarine shared his concerns on Thursday evening, while delivering the feature address at a technical talk on the “Future of TT’s Petroleum Industry: Challenges and Opportunities”, held at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine. Rather than split it into three, Ramnarine advocated Petrotrin should maintain its integrated structure but with reduced operating costs and increased oil production.

“According to Rex Tillerson, former chairman and CEO of Exxon- Mobil, now US Secretary of State, integrated oil companies allow for greater degrees of flexibility (because) they can adapt quickly to the changing needs of customers. It also allows for shared services across the organisation, such as information technology, human resources and legal services.” Ramnarine argued that, “without the integrated approach at Petrotrin, you would have the triplication of services; resulting in increased costs, inconsistent policy, confusion in strategic direction and so on.

That, of course, means increased head count. And finally, corporate planning and allocation of scarce resources, including funding and investment, is inefficient if you have three separate companies.” Looking ahead, Ramnarine recommended five key things be done, if Petrotrin is to return to profit: 1) Keep the integrated structure intact; 2) Manage cost downward and cut waste and inefficiency; 3) Focus on increasing production; 4) Increase the joint venture, lease operator farm out (LOFO), incremental production service contract (IPSC) programme – “this has been proven to work since 1989”; 5) Focus private capital on drilling and Petrotrin capital focus on asset integrity and paying debt; and 6) Re-finance the US$850 million bond “as soon as possible.” Regarding the bond, Ramnarine warned that this may prove “difficult to refinance with three separate companies because an integrated company has more clout when it sits before a bank.” The technical talk at which Ramnarine spoke was hosted by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) ,Young Professionals of TT Chapter and AAPG UWI STA Student Chapter, in collaboration with the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) TT Young Professionals Chapter and SPE UTT Student Chapter.

Harvest has been and gone at Chateau Morvan.

The trouble with mango trees is you get all you’re going to get all at once. So one day you’ve got buckets of them under water to try to keep them until you fancy one again and the next day the tree is bare.

We had so many that when the guy came to fix the phone line and asked if he could have one for his daughter I gave him a shopping bag full.

The issue now, though, is avocados.

Or rather one avocado.

The only one left on the tree.

It’s half a mile in the air and so well camouflaged that every time I look it takes a minute to locate it.

But today is the day and I have plans for it: plans involving Worcestershire sauce and a knife and fork.

Cut it in half, mash it up and splash some of the spicy brown nectar on it. It’s the easiest starter in the world, but the kind of thing that impresses people if they’ve never come across it before. They’re funny things, avocados.

Rock hard for most of their life, perfect for about two days and then garbage. Of course I could go to the shop and get one, but when you’ve got a tree right outside the house, spending money that way seems wrong.

So there it hangs, dark green and seductive (and there aren’t many things you can say that about). In the house we had when we first arrived in Tobago there was a pool in the back yard.

An added bonus about that was that swimming pools tend to come with a long-handled net for sweeping leaves out.

And if you angle them up instead of down, you’ve got a perfect avocado grabber.

Wave the swaying pole in the right direction until it pops under the fruit, give a sharp tug and you’ve got half a meal right there.

The house with the pool is way in the past, though, and therefore avocado retrieving devices have to be improvised.

What we have here is a long aluminium strip with an l-shaped profile, as if it were for protecting the edge of an interior wall.

Maybe that is what it was made for, but in its retirement it has languished, unloved, in our back yard, covered with dirty sand.

Now, though, in its twilight years it has been given a chance to be useful again.

With a wire coat-hanger attached to one end like a noose, it is a humble masterpiece of homemade avocado-picking technology.

The trouble is, the object of my hunger is a long way up and even my flimsy metal friend can’t reach it.

Where is my 13-year-old tree-climbing son when I need him? Now 22 and living in Barcelona, as a matter of fact.

Which leaves his old man to perch precariously on a bar stool and fish in the sky, more in hope than expectation.

My wife, the reviver of a plan which I had already considered and rejected, has the vital job of holding the stool while I risk my neck.

Aren’t women supposed to be the cautious ones? It has to be done. You can’t live in such a bountiful place and be deterred by such a piddling obstacle as height.

Madam seems to think it will be a doddle: thrust the device skywards at an angle of perhaps 70 degrees and it will garotte its target like an 18th century brigand who’s just swum ashore with a dagger between his teeth.

My superior grasp of the situation includes the words “no” and “chance”, which doesn’t go down well.

So, while she abandons her stabilising role in favour of getting a good look from a distance and offering left-rightup- down advice, I poke the tool with as much accuracy as randomness will allow and the coat-hanger snags a branch.

My adviser is excited and urges me to shake it.

I shake. Leaves flutter and suddenly a pear-shaped heavy object loses its grip on the branch and plummets to the ground.

It’s undamaged and hard, but nothing a couple of days wrapped in newspaper won’t cure. Or buried in flour, or whatever old wives’ tale you favour. This is the life.

Free food, and nobody was hurt during the capture.

Maybe I should borrow somebody’s pool-cleaning net and sit on a rock at Bacolet, dipping it into the sea and returning with some magnificent, nutritious and free fish for the main course.

There’s a worldwide boom in avocado prices and a gang in California was recently busted for a $300,000 avocado heist, but hey, we’ve got a tree that prod u c e s them for nothing.

Pity it s e e m s to be c l o s e d for the season, that’s all.

You might still be marooned but at least you would have all your electric appliances and expensive furniture untouched.

What is a kitchen and drawing room doing on the same level as the swamp? Maybe some people like the headache of having to purchase new electrical appliances and furniture every rainy season.

If you have to use the ground floor of your property, how about only plastic furniture and any other household equipment lightweight enough to be carried upstairs? A small fridge and a microwave oven, a two-burner stove, a couple hammocks could be at ground level.

Fix up downstairs with some small plants and lightweight decorations.

Make it look nice. People could still come by the house to lime. I have no suggestions for parking cars and trucks or about the planting of the swamp land.

That is beyond my imagination. I from down in town.

LYNETTE JOSEPH Diego Martin

“We are proud to belong to a community that boast of having world renowned cricketers such as: Rangie Nanan, Inshan Ali, Dinesh Ramdhin, Gopaul Sahadeo, Eugene Antoine and Giles Antoine,” Indarsingh, the Couva South MP, said in his address to the 2017 graduating SE A class of the Preysal Government School at Preysal Community Centre on Thursday.

Indarsingh told students that as they bid farewell to the primary school, they can draw inspiration from sportsmen who have shown great determination to advance from a simple club to national cricketer and to be named as West Indies players.

He congratulated the captain of the Preysal Cricket Club, Dillon Balkaran, a graduate of the school.

To the parents, Indarsingh advised that while every child cannot come first or become among in the first 100 in SE A, the children must be encouraged to never give up but to strive for excellence at secondary school. “There is the need to continue to love, support and embrace your child to realise his/her full potential through their secondary school careers,” he said.

Parenting, he said, is a full time responsibility and not a part-time one.

“It is your duty to look after your children at all times,” he said, adding that children may need better supervision due to the many devices of the 21st century. “Laptops, smart phones and ipads may be useful to get information and transfer messages but it can be dangerous when children choose to look at games and shows not suited for them,” he stated.

He urged parents to be strong and decisive in fulfilling their roles and at the same time develop a line of effective communication with their children so that in secondary school they can approach them to discuss any challenges they may face.

Principal Vashti Ali was happy to report that students of the graduating class were well-behaved and have been excellent in their studies.