An elec­tri­cal black­out at the San Fer­nan­do Gen­er­al Hos­pi­tal left pa­tients hun­gry and in tears yes­ter­day. The hos­pi­tal, which ac­com­mo­dates more than 750 pa­tients, went dark around 1 pm. Be­fore the black­out, pa­tients were told that elec­tri­cal works had to be done and there would be a dis­rup­tion in sup­ply from 1 pm to 7 pm.

When the T&T Guardian vis­it­ed the hos­pi­tal around 5 pm the cor­ri­dors on the low­er floors were in com­plete dark­ness. Vis­i­tor Ra­jesh Ma­haraj, who went to Ward One, said, “You need a torch­light to go in there. The whole place dark and it is not even night time as yet.” Shan­ti Lokai wiped sweat from her brows. “It so hot in there I could not take it. I had to leave. I don’t know how they ex­pect peo­ple to stay in there.”

One the first floor of the Neo-sur­gi­cal Unit, a male pa­tient was seen bare­back on the cor­ri­dor and sweat­ing pro­fuse­ly. “I am feel­ing so sick in there. I can­not un­der­stand how there is no gen­er­a­tor. I am pray­ing that the cur­rent will come back soon,” he said. He added that the worst part of the black­out was the clo­sure of the kitchen.

“They gave us some bread and milk and said that is sup­per. We can­not get any food be­cause the kitchen is closed so we have to pray that some­one vis­its to bring us some­thing to eat,” he said.(Trinidad Guardian) …[+]

The outrage of the students striking from school over climate change inaction is “certainly justified”, according to Sir David Attenborough, who said older generations had done terrible damage to the planet. In an interview with the former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres, the broadcaster and naturalist dismissed critics of the widely praised global movement of school strikes as cynics.

“[Young people] understand the simple discoveries of science about our dependence upon the natural world,” he said. “My generation is no great example for understanding – we have done terrible things.” The protests by young people were enormously encouraging, Attenborough said. “That is the one big reason I have for feeling we are making progress. If we were not making progress with young people, we are done.”

However, asked about the world his great-grandchildren will live in, he said: “I don’t spend time thinking about that because I can’t bear it. I’m just coming up to 93, and so I don’t have many more years around here. I find it difficult to think beyond that because the signs aren’t good.” On Friday, the youth strikes will continue with protests expected in 485 towns and cities in 72 countries, according to the Fridays for Future website. Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenager whose solo strike sparked the worldwide action, told politicians this week: “You lied to us. You gave us false hope.”(theguardian)…[+]

WILLEMSTAD  – With tourism’s expanding role on the island and the launch of the new “Feel It for Yourself” branding campaign, it was time for a new website. The Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB) has built and has just launched a new website. The new site sports vibrant colors and spectacular imagery of the island, with pictures and videos that will no doubt arouse the curiosity of potential travelers, prompting them to come and experience for themselves what the island is all about. Through the new website, the CTB offers travelers an easy-to-use platform that will help them have a memorable experience before, during and after their vacation in Curaçao. At the same time, the site is also a source of information to stakeholders in Curaçao and abroad.
Curacao.com is a key element of the digital marketing efforts to attract more visitors to the island. The new website was designed with modern travelers in mind, who are on the lookout for resources that will allow them to organize and plan their trip in advance. With the new curacao.com, users are for instance able to create an itinerary to visit and experience a number of local tourist attractions. As another feature, the new website also includes authentic experiences as told by past visitors to the island.
The new website offers content in six languages. French has been added to the previously offered languages; English, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese and German. This way, the CTB is providing visitors in the major markets with all the information they need about Curaçao in their own language. Please visit us at curacao.com and Feel It For yourself…[+]

Colombian immigration authorities said some 1,400 Venezuelan military had deserted for Colombia this year, while the Brazilian Army said over 60 members of Venezuela’s armed forces had emigrated to Brazil since Maduro closed the border on Feb. 23 to block an opposition effort to get humanitarian aid into the country.

“Most military people that are leaving are from the National Guard. They will continue coming. More want to leave,” said a National Guard lieutenant, speaking earlier this month. She had just crossed into Brazil on foot, arriving in the frontier town of Pacaraima after walking hours along indigenous trails through savannah.

Officials in both countries said the pace of desertion has sped up in recent months as political and economic turmoil in Venezuela has worsened. The deserters, who asked to withhold their names due to fear of reprisals against their families, complained that top commanders in Venezuela lived well on large salaries and commissions from smuggling and other black market schemes while the lower ranks confronted conflicts in Venezuela’s streets for little pay.(Stabroeknews)…[+]

Facebook has taken down several networks that were spreading far-right content to nearly 1.7 million people in Spain, days before national electionsthat are expected to see a surge in support for the far-right Vox party. The networks were uncovered in an investigation by the campaign group Avaaz, and taken down only after it presented Facebook with its findings.

The discovery of a large network, spreading politically sensitive content unmonitored days before a key European election, is likely to add to concerns about social media firms’ willingness and ability to control hate speech and criminal activity on their sites. On Wednesday British MPs condemned Facebook, Google and Twitter for their refusal to report users to the police when they remove criminal posts, except in rare cases when there is an immediate threat to life or limb.

Avaaz found that the networks in Spain were spreading fake news, including a doctored photo of a political opponent giving a Hitler salute, and misogynist, Islamophobic and homophobic messages. They were also coordinating the publication of identical posts apparently designed to look like spontaneous messages. However, unlike its decision earlier this month to ban British far-right groupsin a crackdown on hate organisations, Facebook said it had not taken down the Spanish pages because of their content, or for “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” – the network’s sanitised term for manufacturing and spreading fake news.(Theguardian)…[+]