On the evening of 12 November, a violent armed robbery on Kawfutuboistraat in the Geyersvlijt area turned deadly after one victim was fatally shot by the assailants. According to local law enforcement spokespersons, the incident unfolded at approximately 6:45 PM local time, prompting an immediate multi-agency response to the crime scene. The two or more suspects involved in the heist fled the location immediately after the shooting, escaping in a black Toyota Noah minivan before first responders arrived. As of the latest public update shared at 8:23 PM the same day, official investigators have not released full contextual details surrounding the robbery, including potential motives, the number of victims targeted prior to the shooting, or whether any property was stolen during the attack. All relevant local public safety agencies have been deployed to the Kawfutuboistraat site to process forensic evidence, interview potential witnesses, and track down the fleeing suspects. Law enforcement officials have stated that the active investigation is ongoing, and additional information will be released to the public as soon as verified details become available.
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Exxon Mobil makes FID on approved Longtail natural-gas production project
Published on November 12, 2026, by energy correspondent Denis Chabrol, the latest announcement confirms ExxonMobil has secured formal Guyanese government approval to greenlight the $12.5 billion Longtail natural gas and condensate development, marking a historic turning point for the South American nation’s fast-expanding petroleum sector. The project, set to be Guyana’s first ever Non-Associated Gas (NAG) initiative, will leverage a purpose-built Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel purpose-engineered to process up to 1.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day and a maximum of 250,000 barrels of condensate daily, as outlined in an official statement from Guyana’s Ministry of Natural Resources. Regulators formally signed off on the full Longtail Field Development Plan and issued the corresponding Petroleum Production Licence to clear the path for construction and operation. Over its planned 30-year operational lifespan, the multi-field development spanning nine reservoirs in the resource-rich Stabroek Block is projected to extract a total of 776 million barrels of condensate, a low-viscosity liquid hydrocarbon that separates naturally from high-pressure underground gas reserves. The project will deploy 27 dedicated production wells paired with 18 gas injection wells, with first commercial output targeted before the end of 2030. Operated by ExxonMobil Guyana Limited, the Longtail venture counts Hess Guyana Exploration Limited and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited as joint co-investors, and stands as the eighth major offshore petroleum development launched in Guyana’s territorial waters. Beyond direct hydrocarbon extraction, the Guyanese government has laid out a forward-looking roadmap to channel Longtail’s gas output to drive national industrial expansion: plans include constructing a second offshore Gas-to-Energy pipeline to scale up affordable, reliable domestic power generation, and supply feedstock for new high-growth sectors spanning fertilizer manufacturing, alumina refining, mineral processing, and energy-intensive data centre operations. The project’s design incorporates full gas reinjection functionality alongside built-in onshore gas export infrastructure, with a set of specialized regulatory provisions embedded in its production licence to ensure long-term operational readiness. These mandates require operators to conduct comprehensive ongoing gas utilization and export feasibility studies covering reservoir performance tracking, production forecasting, export timeline mapping, and global market opportunity assessment, alongside mandatory risk and safety management frameworks for cross-border gas shipments, and explicit requirements that all gas export capabilities be integrated into the FPSO’s core base design rather than added as future retrofits. Dan Ammann, President of ExxonMobil Upstream Company, emphasized the project’s dual value for local stakeholders and global energy markets during the FID announcement, noting that Guyana has emerged as one of the world’s highest-potential emerging energy basins, and the Longtail development will unlock shared long-term economic value for the nation while supplying cost-competitive energy to meet rising global demand. ExxonMobil added that full shore-based gas transportation will proceed in line with future follow-up investment decisions, evolving market demand conditions, and the completion of required supporting onshore and offshore infrastructure.
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Sugar association to move HQ to Barbados
Nearly 400 years after Barbados launched the English Caribbean’s first thriving commercial sugar export industry, the island nation has been selected as the new permanent headquarters of the nearly century-old Sugar Association of the Caribbean (SAC), marking the trade group’s first relocation since its founding in the 1930s. The move shifts the regional industry body’s base from its long-time home in Trinidad, a decision SAC Chairman Mac McLachlan framed as a pragmatic, forward-looking choice aligned with the current realities of the Caribbean’s sugar production landscape. McLachlan shared details of the transition with local journalists on the sidelines of the SAC’s 178th formal Board of Directors meeting, hosted at Barbados’ Radisson Aquatica Resort. He explained that when the association (then operating under its original name, the West Indies Sugar Association) launched in the 1930s, nearly every Caribbean island maintained active, large-scale sugar production, making Trinidad a logical administrative hub at the time. In the decades since, however, Trinidad and most other regional territories have shuttered their sugar operations, leaving only four committed producing member states: Barbados, Belize, Guyana, and Jamaica. The SAC, which has long coordinated cross-regional sugar export logistics and advocated for Caribbean producers in global trade negotiations, counts the world-renowned West Indies Central Sugarcane Breeding Station as its most valuable core asset — a facility that has been based in Barbados and owned by the association since 1962. Widely recognized as the global leader in sugarcane varietal development, the breeding station traces its origins to pioneering agronomist John Redman Bovell’s 1888 research work in Barbados, before being formally established as a regional public resource in 1932 under the territory’s former Department of Agriculture. It continues to develop climate-resilient, high-yield cane strains tailored to the unique growing conditions of SAC member nations, distributing certified seed stock for local field testing and selection. McLachlan noted that the relocation was also endorsed by Caribbean Community (CARICOM) trade ministers, who have formally recognized the SAC as a critical regional industry stakeholder. The move will allow the association to more closely align its operations with Barbados’ ongoing national efforts to rapidly boost sugar sector efficiency and productivity, while providing dedicated support to all four remaining producing member states to sustain regional sugar supply for local domestic markets.
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Barbados offered technical help for white sugar production
During the 178th board of directors meeting of the Sugar Association of the Caribbean (SAC) hosted at Barbados’ Radisson Aquatica Resort on Thursday, regional sugar sector leaders laid out a transformative new roadmap to unlock billions in untapped economic value across the bloc’s long-standing sugar industries. Top industry officials confirmed that Barbados is uniquely positioned to attract targeted foreign and local investment to build out refined white sugar production capacity, tapping into surging unmet demand across the CARICOM single market that has for decades relied on imported refined supplies after exporting raw brown sugar overseas for third-party processing. Historically renowned for its Demerara-style brown sugar, the Caribbean sugar sector is now pivoting to capture the high-margin added value that was long siphoned off by European and North American refineries that previously processed the region’s raw sugar exports. SAC Chairman Mac McLachlan emphasized that the regional trade framework established under the Treaty of Chaguaramas, paired with the Common External Tariff (CET) that shields local sugar producers from unfairly cheap imports, has created a highly favorable regulatory environment for new refinery investments. Belize has already paved the way for this shift, pouring US$500 million (BDS$1 billion) into its sugar production infrastructure over the past 10 years to launch its own operational refined white sugar facilities, which are already delivering strong, profitable returns for local stakeholders. Dan Gutierrez, a consultant with Belize’s Caribbean Sugar Refineries, confirmed that Belizean industry stakeholders including Belize Sugar Industries and Santander Sugar are extending a full, no-obligation offer of technical cooperation to Barbados, Guyana and Jamaica, covering expertise across every stage of the value chain: from on-farm sugarcane cultivation optimization, to milling efficiency upgrades, to the full operational know-how required to produce food-grade refined white sugar tailored for the regional bakery and beverage sectors. The SAC has already been providing targeted advisory support to Barbados’ state-linked Barbados Energy and Sugar Company (BESCO) to refine its long-term strategic plans, with backing from Barbados’ Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, who have publicly prioritized the revitalization of the domestic sugar sector. Beyond refined sugar itself, McLachlan highlighted that the modernized sugar industry delivers cascading cross-sector benefits: high-grade molasses, a critical feedstock for Barbados’ world-famous rum distilleries, represents a high-value by-product, while sugarcane biomass can be harnessed to generate renewable electricity, cut regional carbon emissions, and advance CARICOM’s collective food and energy security targets. A landmark market shift is set to take effect by the end of 2024, marking the first time in multiple generations that 100% of the Caribbean’s domestic sugar demand will be satisfied by regionally produced supplies, eliminating the decades-long pattern of exporting raw unprocessed sugar to external markets and losing out on associated profits and jobs. SAC is also actively collaborating with the CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) to roll out a unified cross-border sugar flow monitoring system, which will track both imports entering the bloc and domestic production volumes to ensure supply and demand are perfectly aligned, de-risk future refinery investments, and prevent unfair market dumping. The four remaining English-speaking Caribbean sugar producing nations have formally pledged to prioritize boosting productivity and expanding high-value output, framing the ongoing transformation as a lifeline to sustain the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of rural Caribbean households that depend on the sugar sector for income.
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Three 2026 calypso finalists withdraw from 2027 competition
Roseau, Dominica – In an official public statement released this week, the Dominica Calypso Association (DCA) has unveiled a last-minute lineup reshuffle for the highly anticipated 2027 national calypso quarterfinals, confirming that three top-tier finalists from the 2026 competition cycle will not be taking the stage in the upcoming round. The three returning fan-favorite performers sidelined from this year’s quarterfinal slate are Joy, Jaydee, and Sandy, all of whom earned widespread acclaim and dedicated local followings for their sharp, socially conscious lyrical performances during the 2026 contest. To fill the three newly vacated spots in the quarterfinal roster, the DCA formally activated its pre-approved reserve contestant list, advancing three qualifying alternate artists in sequential ranking: Al Mario Casimir, who performs under the stage name Ace; Danyan Joseph, known professionally as Danyan; and Augustine St. Louis, who goes by the stage moniker Liberator. The governing body for Dominica’s iconic calypso performance scene extended warm well wishes to Joy, Jaydee, and Sandy in its official notice, expressing hope for their swift return to future competition cycles, while also offering formal congratulations to the three promoted reserves for earning their spot in the 2027 contest after months of dedicated preparation. The 2027 Calypso Quarterfinals are slated to kick off on Saturday, January 2, 2027, with all performances hosted at the popular local event venue The Factory, where hundreds of calypso enthusiasts are expected to gather to cheer on the competing artists.
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$200K in Savings: Is the Allowance Cut Enough?
On November 12, 2026, out of Belize District, new fiscal policy details have emerged following a cabinet decision to slash ministerial allowances by 50%, a reform projected to generate roughly $200,000 in annual cost savings for the national government. While the fiscal trim has been framed by the administration as a tangible step to reduce public expenditure amid widespread household financial strain, Dangriga Area Representative Dr. Louis Zabaneh has pushed back on framing the policy as a substantive solution to the country’s ongoing cost-of-living crisis, describing the allowance reduction as largely a symbolic gesture. In an exclusive interview with local outlet News 5, Zabaneh acknowledged that the projected $200,000 in annual savings is a welcome contribution to public coffers, but emphasized that far more impactful interventions are required to support low- and middle-income households grappling with steeply rising daily expenses. He specifically highlighted two underfunded programs: expanded direct housing assistance and subsidized grocery support, both of which he argued deliver far more immediate, life-changing relief to vulnerable families than the relatively modest savings generated by the ministerial pay cut. Drawing on on-the-ground data from his Dangriga constituency, Zabaneh noted that his office fields urgent, weekly requests from local residents living in dilapidated housing, many of whom report leaking roofs and structurally unsound homes that pose safety risks for children and elderly family members. He argued that directing additional public funds to targeted housing support would directly resolve these unmet, critical community needs. The push to channel greater public resources through elected area representatives has, however, sparked widespread public debate over risks of political favouritism, misuse of public funds, and weak accountability mechanisms that could allow resources to be distributed along partisan lines rather than based on genuine community need. Zabaneh addressed those concerns directly, outlining that the Ministry of Finance has established strict oversight protocols that require all area representatives to submit full, verifiable documentation proving every dollar of allocated public funds was spent on approved, community-focused projects before any subsequent disbursements are approved. Even with those safeguards in place, Zabaneh stressed that the system ultimately relies on the personal integrity of each elected official to ensure resources reach the most vulnerable constituents, and that the overarching goal of all public assistance programs should be to meet immediate, urgent needs without creating cycles of long-term dependency on political handouts. To that end, Zabaneh also laid out a longer-term strategy to reduce community reliance on short-term aid, urging young residents across his constituency to enroll in vocational training programs offered by the Institute for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (ITVET), or re-engage in part-time night classes to build marketable skills that will expand their long-term employment and earning prospects, creating sustainable financial stability independent of periodic government support.
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LVV investeert ruim SRD 82 miljoen in laboratorium voor plantgezondheid
On the afternoon of Wednesday, November 12, Suriname’s Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Mike Noersalim formally signed a landmark construction agreement for a new national plant health laboratory, a project valued at approximately SRD 82 million (equivalent to USD 2.1 million).
Funded entirely by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the agreement was co-signed by Michael Dalton, the country representative for the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA, acting on behalf of IDB), and Patrick Dundas, director of the awarded contractor Dundas Bouwbedrijf N.V., which will oversee full design and construction of the core laboratory facility and all supporting auxiliary infrastructure.
The new specialized facility is purpose-built to drastically upgrade Suriname’s national capacity to rapidly identify, diagnose, and monitor invasive crop diseases and pest infestations, addressing longstanding gaps in the country’s agricultural biosecurity framework. It will deliver far higher standards of accuracy, reliability, and quality for all plant health diagnostic services administered by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (LVV).
Minister Noersalim framed the initiative as a major milestone for Suriname’s agricultural sector, noting it runs parallel to the nearly completed pesticide residue testing laboratory that is scheduled to launch operations in the near future. The two facilities serve distinct, complementary functions: the upcoming residue lab will focus on detecting traces of pesticides and chemical contaminants in harvested crops, while the new plant health lab will specialize in early detection and in-depth analysis of pathogens and pest species that damage growing crops.
“Healthy crops directly drive higher yields. If we can quickly identify exactly what disease or pest is threatening our fields, we can roll out targeted, responsible mitigation strategies that protect harvests,” Noersalim explained. “This not only ensures we have a steady supply of affordable, nutritious food for our entire domestic population, but also creates new economic opportunities for local agricultural producers looking to enter international export markets.”
The new lab directly addresses a longstanding barrier for Suriname’s agricultural exports: in previous years, multiple shipments of Surinamese crops were rejected at foreign border checkpoints after inspectors detected non-native insect species, triggering phytosanitary bans. Trading partners enforce these strict rules to prevent foreign pests and pathogens from invading and destroying their own domestic agricultural ecosystems. Noersalim emphasized that the new diagnostic capacity will eliminate these avoidable rejections, by giving Suriname full ability to verify that all exported crops meet global phytosanitary standards before they leave the country. “A certified, pest-free product gives us guaranteed, long-term access to overseas markets, which brings critical extra revenue to our farming communities and national economy,” he added. -
Prime Minister Browne calls for climate justice and increased financing at COP31
Addressing delegates gathered at the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) hosted in Antalya, Türkiye on November 12, Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, issued a sweeping, urgent call to the global community to step up climate ambition, deliver equitable, large-scale financial support, and move beyond decades of incremental negotiation to concrete action that shields Small Island Developing States (SIDS) from cascading, life-threatening climate harms.
Framing the crisis as an existential threat that puts the very sovereignty of small island nations at risk, Browne laid out a stark evidence base for his demands, citing the latest UN Emissions Gap Report projections that show the planet is on track to hit 2.6 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the century even if all current national climate pledges are fully fulfilled. He emphasized that every 0.1 degree of avoided warming directly prevents irreversible loss for vulnerable island populations, and pressed high-emitting wealthy nations to drastically accelerate domestic emissions cuts to keep the critical 1.5-degree Celsius global warming threshold within reach.
A core pillar of Browne’s address centered on longstanding gaps in climate finance that have left SIDS trapped between mounting climate damage and unsustainable debt burdens. He laid out a clear, actionable roadmap for scaled support, calling for a credible, time-bound framework to triple global adaptation finance by 2035, unlock a minimum of $300 billion in annual dedicated climate support for vulnerable nations, and scale total global climate financing to $1.3 trillion per year. Crucially, he specified that this support must be structured as largely grant-based, predictable, and low-cost, rejecting any new loans that would deepen the debt crisis for nations that contributed less than 1% of historical global emissions but bear 75% of the cost of climate impacts.
Browne also pushed for targeted institutional reforms to streamline access to critical climate funds, including an ambitious third replenishment of the Green Climate Fund, simplified application processes that cut through bureaucratic red tape for small island governments, and full, adequate capitalization of the landmark Loss and Damage Fund established to compensate nations for irreversible climate harms. “We are not here begging for charity,” Browne told the assembly. “We are demanding basic fairness, long-overdue climate justice, and the resources we need to safeguard the lives, lands and futures of our people.”
Closing his national statement, Browne reaffirmed Antigua and Barbuda’s commitment to partnering with all global stakeholders to advance more robust climate commitments, but cautioned world leaders against repeating the cycle of unfulfilled pledges that has defined past COP gatherings. He called on COP31 to be a historic inflection point for global climate governance: a moment where empty rhetoric gives way to measurable action, unmet promises translate to tangible investment, and abstract commitments finally deliver the climate justice that the world’s most vulnerable populations have been waiting decades to receive. -
GST-Free Weekend Returns, Targets ‘Maaga Season’
In a new policy announcement made public on November 12, 2026, the Government of Belize has confirmed an upcoming goods and services tax (GST)-free shopping weekend scheduled for January 23 and 24, 2027, extending targeted cost relief for local households well beyond the peak 2026 Christmas holiday shopping window. This additional tax break is a core component of the John Briceño administration’s broader strategy to mitigate financial pressure on families during the locally dubbed “maaga season” — the post-holiday period when most residents face severely stretched budgets after depleting savings and discretionary income on Christmas celebrations, gifts, and festive gatherings. The new January GST-free weekend follows two previously announced tax-free shopping periods set to take place in December 2026, creating a consecutive stretch of tax relief spanning the end of the 2026 holiday season and the opening weeks of the new calendar year. Prime Minister Briceño emphasized the rationale behind the extended support in public remarks, noting that the well-known local “maaga” period leaves the vast majority of Belizean residents financially drained immediately after Christmas, prompting policymakers to design an extra targeted measure to deliver modest but meaningful cost savings for everyday shoppers. Alongside the tax-free weekend initiative, the administration has launched a formal review of Belize’s official basic food basket, a curated list of roughly 40 staple products that currently qualify for special tax treatment to support low and middle-income households. Prime Minister Briceño noted that the existing roster of items in the basic food basket includes a number of nutritionally suboptimal products, and the review will prioritize adding healthier, more nutrient-dense staple foods to the list to improve public health outcomes alongside household cost relief. The Ministry of Human Development has been assigned lead responsibility for conducting the full review, consulting with nutrition experts, consumer advocacy groups, and local food suppliers to revise the basic food basket framework in the coming months.
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Antigua and Barbuda Calls for Greater Investment in Early Warning Systems for SIDS
During a high-level global gathering focused on the United Nations’ “Early Warnings for All” initiative, Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne issued a formal, urgent appeal to the international community to ramp up targeted, long-term investment in end-to-end early warning infrastructure, rigorous climate scientific research, and continuous environmental monitoring for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) worldwide.
Browne grounded his call in the searing, lived disaster history of the Caribbean: he recalled the 2017 twin hurricanes Irma and Maria, which reduced nearly 90% of Barbuda’s built environment to rubble and forced the full evacuation of the island’s entire resident population, alongside 2024’s Hurricane Melissa, which inflicted catastrophic damage on Jamaica and surrounding Caribbean nations. These events, he emphasized, are not isolated incidents but a preview of escalating climate risks as shifting El Niño and La Niña weather patterns create increasingly unpredictable storm trajectories, coastal flood events, and sea level fluctuations across tropical island regions.
While Antigua and Barbuda has already aligned its national policy with UN Secretary-General’s 2027 target to deliver universal early warning coverage to all at-risk communities, Browne highlighted that SIDS face systemic, underfunded gaps that block meaningful progress. Unlike basic forecasting tools or public alert communication networks, the foundational data infrastructure for SIDS remains critically underdeveloped: vast swathes of coastal and marine territories lack long-term, consistent datasets tracking storm surges, accelerating sea level rise, and shifting coastal ecosystem conditions. “We cannot design adequate preparedness plans for hazards we do not measure systematically,” Browne noted, stressing that early warning investments cannot stop at hardware, but must prioritize sustained scientific research and ongoing environmental observation.
To close these gaps, Browne called for targeted operational support for specialized regional institutions, including the University of the West Indies Centre of Excellence for Oceanography and the Blue Economy, and the SIDS Centre of Excellence and its associated Global Data Hub, established under the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS. These specialized bodies, he argued, are uniquely positioned to coordinate cross-island data collection and standardize monitoring protocols for the entire SIDS bloc, but currently lack the funding, advanced technology, and sustained operational backing to deliver on their full potential.
The Prime Minister also pushed global development partners to move beyond rhetorical pledges and accelerate the disbursement of accessible, predictable, primarily grant-based climate financing, with resources deployed to vulnerable nations well before disasters strike, rather than being reserved for post-storm recovery. He further emphasized that international support must extend far past the 2027 Early Warnings for All target, to ensure systems are maintained, updated, and accessible to every marginalized coastal community long-term. “The success of this global initiative will never be measured by the number of promises signed in conference rooms,” Browne concluded, “it will be measured by how many timely warnings reach remote island households, how many lives we spare, and how many hard-won community livelihoods we protect from preventable climate destruction.” Antigua and Barbuda formally reaffirmed its commitment to collaborating with all UN agencies, regional bodies, and global funding partners to advance this shared resilience agenda for SIDS.