​THE Devil's Woodyard mud volcano erupted this afternoon almost at the same time a 6.9 magnitude earthquake shook TT, Venezuela, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and Guyana.
Councillor from the Princes Town Regional Corporation for Hindustan/St Mary's, Michelle Benjamin, told Newsday that residents reported hearing a loud sound coming from the volcano at the same time the first tremors from the earthquake began.
Benjamin said residents fled their homes, seeking open ground, and saw the volcano spewing mud several feet in the air.
She said no one had reported any structural damage to their homes and there were no reports of further cracking of the earth around the volcano.
In a 47-second clip posted to social media, residents are heard exclaiming over the sound the volcano made while erupting. In the video, gas can be seen shooting up.
Source:  Newsday, Aug 2018

Trinidad and Tobago experienced a 5.9 aftershock Wednesday morning, just 24 hours after a 7.3 earthquake rocked the area, the University of the West Indies (UWI) Seismic Research Centre confirmed.
The UWI Seismic Research Centre confirmed on Wednesday that the aftershock occurred at 9:27 a.m. local time at a depth of 80 kilometers (49 miles). The quake was felt in areas like Carúpano, Venezuela; Maturín, Venezuela and Porlamar, Venezuela, according to the center. Areas in Trinidad also felt the aftershock.
There is no tsunami watch in effect following the aftershock. The center is asking anyone who felt the shock to report it to the research center.
The Trinidad Express reported on Wednesday that electricity, water and communication systems were all working following the aftershock.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed on Tuesday that a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck near Venezuela. The quake hit around 5:31 EDT and was 30 miles away from Guiria, Sucre, Venezuela. There were reports of people feeling the quake in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Grenada, according to the USGS.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) announced there was no tsunami threat from the earthquake at 6 p.m. The center had sent out a preliminary report following the quake that “hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 300 km of the earthquake epicenter.”
“Minor sea level fluctuations up to 30 cm above and below the normal tide may occur in coastal areas near the earthquake over the next few hours and continuing for up to several hours,” the PTWC said.
Buildings in Caracas were evacuated during the quake, the Associated Press reported. The Trinidad Express reported on Tuesday that people had left their homes while buildings shook. The last strongest earthquake to hit the country was in 1968, according to the research center.
The interior minister of Venezuela, Nestor Luis Reverol, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday authorities were ready to help in case of an emergency. 
"We call all the people of #Venezuela to remain calm," Reverol wrote. 
Source: MSN Aug 2018

Naomi Chin Wing from the twin island of Trinidad and Tobago has taken the modeling world by storm. Her debut fashion show was Yves St Laurent, which created a domino effect opening doors to the catwalks of some of the most prestigious shows in the fashion industry where she walked in shows that featured Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner.
Born in Trinidad, Naomi hails from Malick. Life at high school was a challenge, as she was bullied because she was tall and towered over her fellow students. That said, close friends and family turned the situation around by seeing her height as a positive and told her that she was the right height and build for modeling and she should consider it. Thus the seed was planted and she envisioned a career in modeling.
In 2015, in pursuit of that career at just fifteen years old she at attended a fashion workshop in Port of Spain. It was here that she was discovered by the host – Christopher Nathan the CEO of by Coco Velvet International’s (CVI). As soon as he saw her he knew her height, build and ethnicity were perfect for a career in modeling. She was 5ft 11, with a diverse mixture of African, Chinese and East Indian heritage.
Two years later Naomi at the age of 17 years old she was fashion show ready. Many of us think that two years sounds like a long time to become a model, but modeling consists of so many factors. It takes a lot of character building, especially learning things from within like self-confidence and strength. Confidence is key to modeling; something Naomi initially lacked being a shy individual. She also had to learn how to command a presence while exuding style, elegance and grace with a perfect posture.
She signed a global modeling contract with IMG Models which is a widely recognized agency with offices in London, Los Angeles, Milan, New York, Paris and Sydney. Once signed, IMG Models manages and maximizes Naomi’s career.
Life in Trinidad came to a close and together with her mother, they moved from the community of Malick to the big city of London in the United Kingdom. Then in September 2017, at the age of just 17 years old, Naomi made her runway debut for Yves Saint Laurent during the Paris Fashion Week. In fact, she was hand-picked by Anthony Vaccarello the creative director for Yves Saint Laurent’s spring/ summer 2018 show in Paris with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop!
One of the highlights of her career is to have already met her model idol. After a show for the British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, Naomi got the shock of her life when her idol Naomi Campbell came back stage to meet her.  Campbell even offered a few words of advice by telling her to be the good Naomi.
And the good Naomi Chin Wing is, having a good time on the runways for international designers Rochas Paris, Altuzarra, Giambattista Valli, John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Maison Valentino. She has already been a part of the New York Fashion Week 2018, the London Fashion Week for 2018 and the Paris Autumn/Winter 2018 Fashion Week!


While many first time models dream and aspire to make it into top fashion magazines. Naomi has gone on to grace the pages of Elle, Harpers Bazaar India, Germany’s Material Magazine and Britain’s Vogue, POP Magazine, Vogue Spain, Heroine Magazine and Vogue Italia to name but a few.
The future holds a place for her on the runway of Victoria Beckham, Givenchy Haute Couture, Valentino Couture, Carolina Herrera, Givenchy Haute Couture, Calvin Klein and the list goes on.
InStyle, recently recognized her as one of fourteen models who were categorized as ‘a new class of high fashion runway model’ because of their humility and simple beginnings. Instyle noted that Naomi is unlike the handful of models that make it in the industry because of famous parents. They went on to say she is a diverse and empowered woman who is definitely one to watch. Christopher Nathan had this to say, “I am extremely satisfied with her high performance standard, her commitment to give her very best effort at modeling assignments and I look forward to her rising to the top of the modeling industry.”
But for all that she has achieved, in such a short space of time Naomi is the first to admit that she didn’t come from much and wants to make her family’s life better in Trinidad. She also intends to continue her education while pursing modeling. When asked which runway is the one she’d like to grace in the future, she says ‘Victoria’s Secret’ because it reminds her of the flamboyant Trinidad and Tobago Carnival.
In an incredibly fast paced, highly competitive industry, we here at Caribbean POSH wish Naomi all the best, may you be confident and keep up the energy levels, have courage and stamina and impress with your behavior, style, and lifestyle.
Source:  Caribbean Posh, August 2018

​A legal notice has been signed, officially making the Scarlet Ibis an Environmentally Sensitive Species.
The notice was signed on Thursday and will be Gazetted.
The national bird's designation as an ESS, based on scientific research and observation of the species’ population trend was proposed by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) which sought to enhance the Scarlet Ibis’ legal status to ensure their continued protection. 
Despite the Scarlet Ibis’ previous protective legal status and that of its major/only breeding habitat the Caroni Swamp, the species continued to face the threat of poaching and habitat destruction.
However, with the signing of the legal notice, a fine of $100,000 or two years imprisonment can be imposed where a person recklessly endangers or adversely impacts the species. 
The Scarlet Ibis has been designated an ESS according to the standards and guidelines as set out by the ESS rules 2001 because of the following characteristics: 
1. It is indigenous to Trinidad and Tobago
2. To prevent the species from facing extinction.
3. The bird is protected under the Conservation of Wildlife Act and along with the Caroni Swamp, is recognised as having international importance.
4. The Scarlet Ibis appears on the country’s Coat of Arms and the one dollar bill. 
5. The species is found in habitats along the west and south coasts of Trinidad.

Author : Historian ANGELO BISSESSARSINGH.
In the series of articles, " FROM THE PEN OF NAIPAUL" written by Local Historian Angelo Bissessarsingh an attempt is made to put into perspective, the world of Naipaul as he made his homeland famous through his works. This article and the ones to follow are VMOTT's tribute to a famous son of the soil " Sir Vidia Naipaul " .
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Sir Vidia's Naipaul father,Seepersad Naipaul died quite suddenly in 1953. An unobtrusive man with a penchant for written drama he spent years as a correspondent for the Trinidad Guardian Newspaper, after contributing his first article in 1929. His desire to write evocative stories set in the world that he knew saw no fruit until these sketches were published long after his demise.
Seepersad Naipaul might have spent his life in relative obscurity but for one posthumous event. In 1961, his son, then a moderately successful novelist, Oxford-educated and living in England penned one of the great works of modern literature. A House for Mr Biswas stands immortally from the genius of Seepersad’s son, Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul as one of the outstanding literary works of our time.
Based largely upon his father’s biography, Sir Vidia took the seemingly hapless, tragic hero, Mohun Biswas and created a new Odysseus. Long considered by critics to be the finest living writer of the English sentence, Sir Vidia to those of us who have been exceedingly fortunate to have met him is interchangeably supercilious, disdainful, engaging, acerbic or simply nonchalant.
He distances himself from his Trinidadian roots and has long been loath to reconnect to the landscapes of his early novels which show that in spite of his denial, Sir Vidia is indelibly a son of our soil.
From 1957 until 1961 and then again in 1967 with A Flag on the Island, he has shown us how deeply he grasped the nuances of being born and raised in the society that at once clung to its somewhat prejudiced identities while attempting to forge ahead in a changing environment that would trade the long-cherished mores of colonialism for something of a different stripe.
The books which earned Sir Vidia's his fame are familiar to many schoolchildren today—The Mystic Masseur, The Suffrage of Elvira, the ever-delightful Miguel Street and A House for Mr Biswas—are all stories which have overlapping elements. The NGO founded by Prof Kenneth Ramchand, Friends of Mr Biswas is the custodian of all things Naipaul, situated as it is in the home Seepersad bought in St James and here is where the spiritual nexus can be felt most intensely.
It was a time of war and Trinidad was being turned upside down by the arrival of thousands of American soldiers who brought chaos in their wake. These books show a life before, during and after the Yankees came. Who could forget Edward, Hat’s brother of Miguel Street, who was the archetypal Trini young-blood of the period falling under the American spell:
“Edward surrendered completely to the Americans. He began wearing clothes in the American style, he began chewing gum, and he tried to talk with an American accent. We didn’t see much of him except on Sundays, and then he made us feel small and inferior. He grew fussy about his dress, and he began wearing a gold chain around his neck. He began wearing straps around his wrists, after the fashion of tennis-players. These straps were just becoming fashionable among smart young men in Port of Spain.”
In continuing the theme of constant paradigm change, The Suffrage of Elvira comically assesses the ground level impact of electoral politics during its infancy in postwar Trinidad. This book was serialized some years ago by the Trinidad Guardian and was a hit, introducing a new generation of readers to a scenario that at once had shades of déjà vu—“Elvira, you is a bitch!”.
The rich descriptiveness of Trinidad enshrined in "A House for Mr Biswas" and "The Mystic Masseur" provides at once a kaleidoscope into the period as well as the sundry historical characters made memorable by the master writer himself. Sir Vidia’s eyes for detail opens a spectrum to us which only our senior citizens can remember with any clarity.
Scanning some old newspapers a couple of years ago, I became indelibly aware of just how connected the Nobel Laureate Naipaul had been to Trinidad and in spite of his rejection of the place of his birth, he exhibits a keen understanding of the place and its people. Thus, over the next weeks, we will learn that ‘Red Rose Tea is Good Tea’, be dosed on Sanatogen and live in the Trinidad of Naipaul.

Veteran broadcaster June Gonsalves has passed away at the age of 91.
She died at her Anderson Terrace, Maraval home on Friday evening.
Gonsalves, the widow of the late national goalkeeper Joey Gonzales, leaves to mourn her two children, Teresa and Gerard. 
She suffered from Alzheimer's disease for the last seven years.
Gonsalves joined Radio Trinidad in 1956 and has the distinction of being the first female programme director of a Trinidadian radio station, a post she took up in 1964.
She resigned in 1970 and served as secretary to the late Archbishop Anthony Pantin until his death in 2000. That same year, she became the first Trinbagonian woman to be named a Dame Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great.
She also hosted a number of programmes, including a Catholic religious programme, “The Catholic Forum of the Air.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has extended condolences to the family of novelist and Nobel Laureate, Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, who died Saturday at his home in Britain, six days shy of his 86th birthday.
“This proud son of T&T established himself as an icon in the literary arts on the global stage and his world-renowned achievements caused his birthplace to shine in a positive light,” he said in a statement issued shortly after news of Naipaul’s death.
Rowley said the Nobel Laureate was “unwavering in his resolve to tell his stories as he saw fit. Moreover, his strength of character was responsible in no small part for his renowned success.
“His literary works will always remain a testimony of his strength and amazing talent as well as ensure that he will never be forgotten. May he rest in peace,” Rowley said.
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar described Sir Vidia’s works as inspiring and uplifting.
“For people of my generation, the children of the post-Colonial society that was Trinidad and Tobago, a society and people struggling to find and assume our identity after centuries of being ruled as marginal addendums to a social, economic and political framework that previously treated us as merely tolerated outcasts, Sir Vidia’s work was inspiring and uplifting.
“Like so many of my local and regional contemporaries, I would have been raised on books from Europe and England which described and deified people, cultures and civilisations that essentially reflected all that I could never be, until, as teenager and young adult I read Miguel Street, The Mystic Masseur and A House for Mr Biswas.
“And it was in these works, still so dear and personal to me, as they also are undoubtedly to many other of my countrymen and women, that Sir Vidia’s greatest contribution to my country and the world became not only clear, but inspiring in the greatest possible way,” Persad-Bissessar said.
His widow, Lady Naipaul who described Sir Vidia as “a giant in all that he achieved” said he died “surrounded by those he loved having lived a life which was full of wonderful creativity and endeavour.”
Locally, people took to social media to post their tributes to Sir Vidia.
Columnist Ira Mathur shared a photo of her son at an event with the Nobel Laureate during his 2008 visit to T&T and wrote on Twitter: “I heard of his death in the middle of a family celebration. Something shattered in me. The greatest writer in the English Language dead at 85. #Walcott, now him. #CaribbeanLiterature. Thank you for the words #SirVidia.”
On Facebook, Nigel A Campbell recalled his encounter with the renown writer:
“The UWI SPEC hall was ram, and all I thinking was, ‘if I don’t get up early to join that line, he might only sign a few books and leave.’ So you could imagine the scramble when his readings were over, and the announcement was made to form a line for signings. So here I was in the line with my ratty copy of the first American edition of his first novel, The Mystic Masseur. (US$5 on eBay in 2001. Some people don’t value “old books”) I nearly left the book in my car thinking that he wouldn’t want to sign an old book.
(My pal Afra and his mother said, ‘nah bring it.’)
“So you could imagine my horror when Vidia wife, Nadira, grab the microphone and said, ‘Sir Vidia won’t be signing old books, only new books purchased at the event.
“At this point, I was three from the front of the line. Someone earlier handed him random pieces of paper to sign so they could have his signature. He get vex or she get vex, I ain’t know who to blame now.
“I turned to my right, and his agent Gillon Aitken standing next to me, watched me dead in my eye and said, ‘don’t worry, he will sign that.’
“Aitken shepherded my book to the author. I smile inside.
“We reach the man, he flip it, he turn it back to front. He said, ‘I haven’t seen this in a long time.’ He glanced at me. He was not impressed, I guess, as he said nothing to me.
“He signed it quickly and pushed it aside and looked to the next person in line. I was still rambling to him, “thanks for your presence, for your writing,” but he moved on.
“Now that he is gone, my $5 investment has taken on a new significance. An encounter that lasted all of 30 seconds maximum is now an heirloom. (My daughter likes to write.) Thank you, Sir Vidia. RIP.”
Sir Vidia, who was born in Chaguanas on August 17, 1932, wrote more than 30 books, won the Booker Prize in 1971 and the Nobel Prize in literature in 2001, following the late St Lucian Derek Walcott who won the award in 1992.
The Nobel Prize in literature committee awarded Sir Vidia for “having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories.
“Naipaul is a modern philosopher. In a vigilant style, which has been deservedly admired, he transforms rage into precision and allows events to speak with their own inherent irony,” it added.
Sir Vidia, who as a child was read Shakespeare and Dickens by his father, was raised a Hindu and attended Queen’s Royal College in Trinidad. He moved to Britain and enrolled at Oxford University in 1950 after winning a government scholarship.
His first book, The Mystic Masseur, was published in 1951 and a decade later he published his most celebrated novel, A House for Mr Biswas, which took over three years to write.
The editor of the Mail on Sunday, Geordie Greig, a close friend of Sir Vidia, said his death leaves a “gaping hole in Britain’s literary heritage” but there is “no doubt” that his “books live on”.
His first wife, Patricia Hale, died in 1996 and he went on to marry Pakistani journalist, Nadira. Source: The Guardian

​There will be a national consultation on the decriminalisation of marijuana. 
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley confirmed the consultation which was announced last week by Attorney General Faris Al Rawi as he sought to clarify the government's position on the matter during a media conference at the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard Headquarters at Staubles Bay, Chaguaramas, on Friday.
Rowley had previously said marijuana decriminalisation was not a priority for the government.
However, he told reporters that he did not mean the issue would not be given any attention.
“The priorities that this country has are many.  Because something is not a priority that does not mean that it is not going to be attended to. There are other situations that we have to give priority to, but it did not mean that we are not going to address it,” he said. 
Rowley said the government could not take any decision on the matter based on the opinions of one person or group and the entire population must be engaged.
Last week, marijuana advocate Nazma Muller hand-delivered a petition to Rowley calling for marijuana legalisation. The petition was signed by more than 10,000 people. Muller later met with the AG on the matter. 
“On matters of this nature, we are not going to respond to the decibels of an individual or the self-importance of an individual or a small group and make a decision on that basis," Rowley stated.
"We are going to make a decision on the basis of national consultation. And that decision ought to be a balanced position where all of us in the country will feel that our points of view were taken into account."
The Prime Minister added that he was glad the issue has been raised and he urged the public to participate in the conversation in a civil manner.
“I am happy that there are persons who have raised it and who are prosecuting it in the public domain. We join the conversation and I now invite the national community to join the conversation but as you do so, do it with some civility and common sense and it doesn’t mean that your point of view is the only one that matters or the only one that makes sense.”
Source: The Loop, July 30, 2018.

Full Circle Animation Studios, a Trincity-based design studio, is making waves internationally.
Just recently, the company completed work on Season Three of the popular HBO animated series—Animals—which features guest appearances by celebrity actors and performers RuPaul Charles, Usher, Aziz Ansari, Wanda Sykes and Raven-Symone.
The series is an American animated comedy created by Phil Matarese and Mike Luciano.
The first two episodes were independently produced and presented at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015.In May 2015, HBO picked the series up with a two-season order, which premiered on February 5, 2016.
The series was renewed for a third season on May 19th, 2017.
Full Circle’s managing director Jason Lindsay told Express Business last week that in November last year, the company was contracted by Big Jump Entertainment in Ottawa, Canada to produce the animation for the HBO series, which premieres on August 3 2018.
He described the partnership as a major accomplishment, not only for Full Circle but for the local animation industry.
This is the first time that an animation studio from Trinidad and or the Caribbean has been contracted by an international studio for a full season of a TV show on a major network he noted.
He said the contract with Big Jump will open doors for Full Circle, given that Big Jump is one of the main production studios in Canada.“It’s a company we had always admired and looked forward to working with. I believe that post-airing, we will get a lot of visibility and we will be able to add to our showreel. It will not doubt create other opportunities outside of that relationship.”
(A showreel is a short piece of video or film footage showcasing an actor or presenter’s previous work.
Source:  Full Circle Animation, August 10, 2018