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  • Miss 30+ Jamaica Pageant officially launched

    Miss 30+ Jamaica Pageant officially launched

    Fresh off the triumphant completion of its third annual 30+ Fashion Show and Expo, Jamaican media firm Compass Communication has unveiled an exciting new initiative: the Miss 30+ Jamaica Pageant. Billed as a transformative, inclusive platform, the pageant was created to center and celebrate the beauty, fortitude, self-assurance, and ongoing growth of women over 30 across Jamaica.

    When the 30+ Fashion Show and Expo wrapped its successful run, event organizers heard a resounding call from participating attendees: mature women across the country wanted more space to showcase themselves and their journeys. “After the curtains closed on one unforgettable event, the voices of mature women grew louder with one clear message, ‘We’re not done yet… give us more,’” shared Stephanie Elliott-Gunning, founder and CEO of Compass Communication. “I immediately went into action and started planning the Miss 30+ Jamaica Pageant.”

    The new pageant is a natural expansion of the movement that grew out of the existing 30+ Fashion Show and Expo, which spent three years building momentum around the idea that women deserve to embrace full, purpose-driven lives and remain visible long after turning 30. The upcoming competition will expand on that core mission, while creating tangible opportunities for participants to build empowerment, pursue personal growth, and earn meaningful representation that has long been missing from mainstream beauty and competition spaces.

    Elliott-Gunning emphasized that the pageant’s core message remains rooted in self-acceptance across all life stages: “The message remains the same, we are beautiful at every stage of our lives. But a mature woman who embraces her flaws and ventures out to become all she can be, that is exemplary. It also sends a powerful message to our youth. Unlike many women of our generation who grew up doubting ourselves, we want younger women to know not to wait to believe in themselves.”

    Already, applications are open for the inaugural competition, which is scheduled to take place in August 2026. Organizers report that early public response has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic, with women across the country jumping at the chance to push their own boundaries, build self-confidence, and check lifelong dreams off their bucket lists.

    “Applications are coming in from enthusiastic contestants who believe this platform will help them in various areas of their lives,” Elliott-Gunning noted. “Whether it is to finally live out a dream, overcome shyness or simply embrace a new chapter, these women are excited to begin the journey.”

    One of the early contestants already drawing attention is 37-year-old Shanique Anderson, a Clarendon native who says the opportunity means far more than earning a pageant crown. For Anderson, competing is a chance to reframe harmful narratives about aging and women’s potential.

    “Being a contestant in the Miss 30+ Jamaica Pageant means a lot to me because it gives me the opportunity to inspire other women and show that age is just a number,” Anderson said. “Beauty, confidence and purpose do not fade with time. As women, we can still pursue our dreams, passions and goals no matter the challenges or obstacles we may face in life.”

    Anderson added that the platform fills a critical gap for women who have faced life setbacks or struggled with internalized self-doubt, representing a symbol of empowerment and persistence for a demographic that is often sidelined in popular culture. “This pageant represents strength, resilience and self-belief. It reminds women that even when life knocks us down or makes us feel less than enough, we can always rise again stronger and more determined. I want to be an example that it is never too late to shine, grow and become the woman you were always meant to be.”

    Even before the official competition kicks off, Anderson says the journey has already sparked meaningful personal change for her. “One of the biggest challenges this experience will help me overcome is my fear of being shy and my tendency to procrastinate,” she explained. “It is pushing me outside of my comfort zone, helping me build confidence, discipline and believe in myself more. I see this journey not only as a competition but as a personal transformation.”

    The public will get to play an active role in the competition as well, with open voting for fan-favorite contestants scheduled throughout the pageant’s 2026 season. Women interested in throwing their hat in the ring can access the official application via the pageant’s Instagram and TikTok accounts, which carry the handle @miss30plusjamaica.

    Looking ahead, Elliott-Gunning says she is confident the inaugural staging will be a resounding success, pointing to a cultural shift as mature women increasingly claim their space in public life and refuse to fade into the background. Beyond Jamaica’s borders, the organization has even bigger plans: Elliott-Gunning announced that the team is already seeking franchise partners across the Caribbean to launch a regional Miss 30+ Caribbean Pageant in the future.

    More than just a traditional competition, the Miss 30+ Jamaica Pageant positions itself as a grassroots movement: one that celebrates resilience, reinvention, unapologetic confidence, and the unignorable power of mature women.

  • Dominican Republic’s monetary poverty rate falls to 15.4% in first quarter of 2026

    Dominican Republic’s monetary poverty rate falls to 15.4% in first quarter of 2026

    Santo Domingo – The Dominican Republic has announced a significant improvement in its national poverty landscape, with preliminary official data showing the country’s overall monetary poverty rate declining to 15.4% in the first quarter of 2026. This figure represents a 2.6 percentage-point reduction from the 18.1% rate recorded in the same period one year earlier, marking one of the most substantial quarterly poverty declines in recent years for the Caribbean nation.

    The statistical findings, first released by the Dominican Ministry of Finance and Economy, have received formal validation from two independent national institutions: the National Statistics Office (ONE) and the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic. According to the joint analysis from these bodies, two key factors have driven the downward trend in poverty: broad-based national economic expansion and consistent growth in household labor earnings.

    Over the 12-month period leading up to the first quarter of 2026, the country’s Monthly Indicator of Economic Activity (IMAE) registered a cumulative 4.1% growth, signaling a steadily expanding economy that has created more job opportunities for low- and middle-income households. Beyond overall economic growth, policymakers also point to targeted wage policy adjustments as a core driver of the improvement. Between April 2025 and February 2026, the government implemented increases to both sectoral and non-sectoral minimum wages, a policy change that directly put more disposable income into the pockets of the country’s lowest-income workers. Official calculations show that growth in labor income alone contributed 3.74 percentage points to the overall reduction in poverty, a gain large enough to offset the lingering cost-of-living pressures created by ongoing inflation.

    While the overall progress has been widely welcomed by economic and social policy experts, the official public bulletin also draws attention to a persistent equity gap that remains unaddressed. Data reveals a clear divide between urban and rural regions across the country: monetary poverty in rural areas sits at 18.8%, compared to just 14.8% in urban communities. This leaves a 4 percentage-point gap between the two regions, highlighting that economic gains have not been evenly distributed across all geographic areas of the Dominican Republic.

    For the purposes of this report, monetary poverty is defined as a household economic condition where total household income is not sufficient to cover the cost of a basic regional basket of essential goods and services, including food, housing, healthcare, and basic transportation.

  • Ambassador Leah Campos says U.S. will not comment on individual visa cases

    Ambassador Leah Campos says U.S. will not comment on individual visa cases

    Amid growing public debate in the Dominican Republic over recent U.S. visa decisions involving prominent Dominican public figures, the United States Ambassador to the Caribbean nation, Leah F. Campos, has publicly reaffirmed long-standing Washington policy governing both visa renewals and revocations. In an official statement released to the public, Campos clarified that the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo is prohibited from commenting on individual visa cases, a restriction that aligns with formal regulations set by the U.S. federal government. Beyond outlining standard visa protocol, the ambassador used the opportunity to reinforce the United States’ unwavering commitment to upholding the rule of law and strengthening democratic governance both globally and within the Dominican Republic. A core focus of Campos’ remarks centered on a growing global issue: the misuse of judicial systems to advance political goals. The ambassador criticized these tactics, warning that using courts as a tool for partisan gain inflicts severe damage on foundational democratic institutions and erodes the public’s hard-earned trust in national justice systems. She emphasized that a judiciary that is independent, transparent, and impartial to political pressure is an non-negotiable requirement for protecting core democratic values. To illustrate her point, Campos drew a parallel to high-profile “lawfare” cases brought against former U.S. President Donald Trump in the United States, noting that American voters delivered a clear rejection of these politically driven legal actions during recent electoral contests. Campos’ public intervention comes at a moment of intense public scrutiny surrounding U.S. visa policies and recent visa-related actions in the Dominican Republic, even as U.S. authorities have repeatedly stuck to their long-held rule of declining to comment on specific individual cases.

  • Canadian poison seller pleads guilty to aiding suicides

    Canadian poison seller pleads guilty to aiding suicides

    In a court proceeding that has reignited global debate over unregulated online harm and assisted suicide, 60-year-old former Canadian chef Kenneth Law entered guilty pleas on Friday to 14 counts of aiding suicide, escaping more severe murder charges that prosecutors have abandoned after concluding a conviction would be unobtainable.

    The case, which first drew international outrage after Law’s arrest in 2023, exposed a sprawling cross-border criminal operation that saw the defendant sell lethal packages of poison to vulnerable, suicidal people across 41 nations. Among the countries impacted were Australia, China, France and Brazil, with the United Kingdom recording the highest volume of sales at 330 packages shipped to British customers.

    Originally, Canadian prosecutors had brought dual charges against Law: 14 counts of first-degree murder and an equal 14 counts of aiding suicide. But during the hearing held at a Newmarket, Ontario court, located just north of Toronto, prosecution representatives confirmed they would not move forward with the murder charges, stating they had no viable path to secure a murder conviction before the Canadian court system.

    When the charges were read, Law stood in the secured defendant’s enclosure flanked by three defense attorneys, and clearly stated “I plead guilty” to the charge of assisting the suicides of 14 Canadian residents. A separate sentencing hearing scheduled for September will allow the court to hear victim impact statements from grieving families before a final sentence is handed down. Legal analysts note that as a serious criminal offense in Canada, aiding suicide carries a potential penalty of between 10 and 20 years behind bars.

    Following the guilty pleas, prosecutors began presenting a 60-page agreed statement of facts that laid bare the systematic, predatory nature of Law’s online business. The document outlines that Law did not wait for vulnerable people to find him—he actively sought out potential customers on public suicide discussion forums, operating under the pseudonym “Greenberg.” When forum participants mentioned sodium nitrite, a common meat preservative that can be lethal in high doses, as a potential method of ending their lives, Law would redirect them to his own commercial websites, where he sold the powder in concentrated, fatal doses for approximately $80 per package.

    To illustrate Law’s awareness of his illegal activity, prosecutors played a recorded phone call between Law and a journalist from The Times of London who had posed as a potential customer. When the reporter asked if Law’s business was legal, Law pre-planned a cover story he told the journalist to repeat to authorities if questioned: that the sodium nitrite was sold to improve swimmers’ lung capacity. Prosecutors also detailed that in dozens of cases, deceased victims were found by their family members with an open package of Law’s sodium nitrite next to their bodies.

    The decision to drop murder charges has left grieving families across the world disappointed and angry. David Parfett, whose 22-year-old son Thomas died by suicide in 2021 using poison purchased from Law, has become a prominent advocate for stricter regulations targeting online spaces that promote self-harm. Parfett told reporters that Canadian authorities missed a critical opportunity to codify the severity of Law’s actions. “If (Law) hadn’t been offering detailed instructions about how to take your own life, then the chances are my son would still be here. So again, for me, it’s murder,” he said.

    Official records tie Law’s products to 79 deaths in the United Kingdom alone. UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) confirmed that Law will not face additional prosecution in the UK, but all evidence related to British deaths will be presented during his Canadian sentencing hearing. In a joint statement, the NCA and British prosecution service noted that they had already explained their decision not to prosecute to victims’ families in full.

    Parfett summed up the sentiment of many affected families, saying, “I am angry, but I am not surprised.” He also reiterated that families’ calls for a public inquiry in the UK have been rejected, saying, “If our own country will not put anyone on trial for these deaths, the very least it can do is hold a proper inquiry into how they were allowed to happen.”

    Legal experts offer context for the prosecution’s decision. Dalhousie University law professor Robert Currie explained that Canadian prosecutors had been waiting for a separate case before the Supreme Court of Canada to clarify the legal definition of aiding suicide versus murder in this context. When the Supreme Court declined to address the key legal question, prosecutors lost confidence in their ability to convince a jury to convict Law on murder charges, leading to the decision to abandon the more severe counts.

  • IMF, World Bank, IEA chiefs warn of summer fuel scarcity if Hormuz strait remains closed

    IMF, World Bank, IEA chiefs warn of summer fuel scarcity if Hormuz strait remains closed

    Three of the world’s most influential multilateral institutions — the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and International Energy Agency (IEA) — have issued an urgent joint alert: unless oil shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz resumes normal operations, the Northern Hemisphere’s peak summer driving season will face escalating threats to global fuel security.

    In their statement released Friday from Washington, the agency chiefs laid out the unfolding crisis: global oil stockpiles are already being drained at an unprecedented rate to offset the massive supply cut triggered by the conflict-driven blockage of the strait, a chokepoint that normally carries 20% of the world’s total energy trade. The disruption stems from the ongoing US-Israel military campaign against Iran, which has plunged the broader Middle East into open conflict. In response to the attacks, Tehran has taken retaliatory measures against US regional allies and effectively halted traffic through the key waterway.

    The institutions warned that if normal shipping flows are not restored in the coming weeks, the continued rapid drawdown of inventories ahead of the summer peak demand period will amplify risks not just for fuel access, but for global market stability and the overall economic resilience of nations worldwide.

    This is not the first coordinated response from the three bodies. Back in April, they announced the formation of a dedicated working group to align their institutional responses to the crisis, with a specific focus on supporting vulnerable developing economies that are most exposed to energy and commodity market shocks. In Friday’s statement, the leaders re-emphasized a critical inequity of the conflict: the sharp spike in energy and fertilizer prices triggered by the disruption is hitting low-income nations far harder than wealthy economies.

    “Higher fertilizer prices are of particular concern as many countries enter the planting season,” the statement noted, linking energy market disruption directly to growing global food security risks. Fertilizer production relies heavily on natural gas and energy inputs, so supply blockages in the Gulf have sent fertilizer costs soaring, leaving import-dependent nations facing major gaps in agricultural inputs ahead of key growing cycles.

    The macroeconomic fallout of the conflict has already forced global growth projections lower. During this year’s IMF Spring Meetings, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva confirmed that the organization had cut its global growth forecast in response to the conflict’s spillover effects. She also projected that vulnerable economies would require between $20 billion and $50 billion in targeted financial support to offset the economic damage from the crisis.

    This week, that need for support became tangible: the IMF announced that Bangladesh, a South Asian nation heavily dependent on Gulf energy imports, has formally requested a financial assistance package, and teams from the Fund are currently in active negotiations to design a tailored support program for the country.

    The ripple effects of the Strait of Hormuz disruption extend far beyond the Middle East, hitting nations across South and Southeast Asia in particular — most of which rely almost entirely on imported oil and gas from Gulf producers. Beyond energy, fertilizer supply chains have been shattered, leaving import-dependent countries facing acute food security challenges that threaten to deepen poverty and instability in already vulnerable regions.

  • Barcelona sign winger Gordon from Newcastle

    Barcelona sign winger Gordon from Newcastle

    In a high-profile transfer move that shakes up European football, Spanish La Liga champions Barcelona announced Friday they have secured the signing of English winger Anthony Gordon from Premier League side Newcastle United, in a deal that could climb to a total of 80 million euros (equivalent to US$93 million).

    In an official statement confirming the transfer, Barcelona revealed that the 25-year-old attacker has put pen to paper on a five-year contract that will keep him at the Catalan club through June 30, 2031.

    Gordon enjoyed a breakout 2024-25 season with Newcastle, finishing as the club’s top goalscorer with 17 goals across all competitions – 10 of which came during Newcastle’s impressive Champions League run. A member of England’s recent World Cup squad, the left-footed winger arrives at Camp Nou at the peak of his powers, ready to step into a revamped Barcelona attack.

    Speaking to reporters after the transfer confirmation, Gordon opened up about the magnitude of the move for him personally. “As a kid, to play for Barcelona is the biggest dream possible, it’s the biggest club on the planet,” he said. Acknowledging the weight of expectation that comes with wearing the iconic Blaugrana shirt, he added, “I know it comes with a lot of responsibility, but like I said, I’m ready for this kind of challenge, ready for that responsibility. I know everybody, the players in the past who’ve worn the shirt, it holds a lot of weight, but I’m ready. I’m excited for the challenge.”

    The addition of Gordon comes as Barcelona prepares for key departures in its forward line. Veteran Polish striker Robert Lewandowski is set to leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the current campaign, and the future of loanee Marcus Rashford – who joined on a temporary deal from Manchester United – remains uncertain.

    Barcelona’s management has signaled it is not done reshaping its squad ahead of the new season. The club has been linked with a move for Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez, and has not publicly ruled out pushing to make Rashford’s loan move permanent, if conditions allow.

    This transfer marks a turning point for Barcelona financially, after three years of strict cost-cutting measures to comply with La Liga’s strict financial fair play regulations. With the partially renovated Camp Nou stadium now reopened to full crowds, the club has significantly more financial flexibility than it has in recent seasons. The upcoming departures of Lewandowski, Rashford, and other fringe players – including young winger Roony Bardghji, winger Ansu Fati, and even veteran goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen – has created the salary cap space needed to complete Gordon’s signing.

    For Newcastle, Gordon’s transfer is the second-largest sale in the club’s history. The record still stands at the £125 million ($168 million) fee Liverpool paid for striker Alexander Isak in the summer of 2024. Following Gordon’s departure, local reports indicate Newcastle is already targeting a replacement, with Real Betis winger Ez Abde emerging as a top target for the Premier League side.

    Gordon originally joined Newcastle from Everton in 2023 for a fee of £45 million. As part of the original transfer agreement between the two clubs, Everton will receive a 15 percent cut of any profit Newcastle makes from Gordon’s subsequent sale, netting the Merseyside club a significant unexpected windfall from the deal.

  • Iberostar Hotels & Resorts and UNDP launch alliance for a more resilient tourism sector

    Iberostar Hotels & Resorts and UNDP launch alliance for a more resilient tourism sector

    The global hospitality firm Iberostar Hotels & Resorts has partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to roll out a landmark strategic initiative aimed at revolutionizing the tourism sector in the Dominican Republic. The collaboration centers on building tourism value chains that are not only more environmentally sustainable, but also socially inclusive and economically resilient, with three core focus areas: advancing environmental accountability, boosting climate preparedness, and expanding opportunities for local suppliers and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) embedded in the country’s tourism economy.

    The formal agreement was signed by Alejandro Francisco Ferrer Alcalde, representing Iberostar, and Ana María Díaz, UNDP’s lead representative in the region. Under the terms of the partnership, the two organizations will roll out a suite of targeted projects addressing key gaps in the Dominican tourism sector. These include efforts to cut carbon emissions across the entire tourism supply chain, upskill local suppliers to meet global sustainability standards, promote responsible production and consumption habits among both businesses and travelers, and upgrade systems for climate risk assessment and operational resilience across tourist destinations.

    A key innovation of the alliance is its commitment to breaking down silos between key stakeholders, creating structured platforms for dialogue and joint action across the private sector, academic institutions, national and local financial bodies, and government agencies. This multi-stakeholder approach is designed to align efforts around shared sustainability priorities, which range from large-scale greenhouse gas emissions reductions and expanding access to sustainable finance for small businesses, to updating national environmental and social governance standards for tourism and delivering hands-on training programs for local entrepreneurs.

    In remarks following the signing, Ana María Díaz underscored that cross-sector collaboration between private enterprise and multilateral organizations is one of the most powerful drivers of large-scale sustainable transformation. For his part, Alejandro Francisco Ferrer Alcalde confirmed that the new alliance aligns seamlessly with Iberostar’s global flagship responsible tourism strategy, the Wave of Change initiative. He emphasized that Iberostar has maintained deep, longstanding roots in the Dominican Republic, and that the partnership reflects the company’s ongoing commitment to the country’s long-term growth, with a goal of building a more robust, competitive tourism ecosystem that delivers shared benefits to local communities through collaborative, impact-focused action.

    Looking ahead, the alliance has outlined a range of additional activities to embed sustainable practices across the sector. These include hosting multi-stakeholder forums, running public awareness campaigns to highlight the importance of sustainable tourism, and publishing research and guidance focused on sustainability, sector competitiveness, and climate risk management. All of these activities tie back to the partnership’s broader overarching goal: supporting inclusive human and economic development across the Dominican Republic.

  • Westmoreland attorneys demand Gov’t prioritise restoration of parish court

    Westmoreland attorneys demand Gov’t prioritise restoration of parish court

    WESTMORELAND, Jamaica – Jamaica’s legal community in the parish of Westmoreland has raised urgent concerns amid emerging reports that the national government is re-evaluating its commitment to repairing and rehabilitating the damaged Westmoreland Parish Court building. Nearly a year after Hurricane Melissa swept through the region in October last year, the ongoing lack of functional court infrastructure has thrown the local justice system into disarray, prompting a formal appeal from practicing attorneys in the area.

    In an official statement released to the public Friday, the group of local legal professionals outlined the cascading challenges that have plagued court operations since the storm destroyed the original parish court facility. In the aftermath of the hurricane, all Circuit Court proceedings were forced to relocate to the neighboring parish of Hanover, while remaining parish court business is being run out of severely undersized, inadequate temporary accommodations in Whithorn.

    The attorneys emphasized that the current crisis extends far beyond mere inconvenience; it poses a fundamental threat to equal access to justice and public trust in Jamaica’s judicial system. The temporary court spaces suffer from chronic overcrowding, with far too little room to accommodate the growing volume and increasing complexity of legal matters. In many cases, sittings are forced to run well into the night, often extending as late as 9:00 PM or later for court staff and all parties involved.

    Most alarmingly, the group noted, hundreds of local parish court cases have yet to go to trial since the hurricane hit, and the growing backlog shows no signs of easing. The disproportionate burden of this breakdown falls heavily on ordinary litigants, many of whom already face financial hardship.

    “Many have to travel outside the parish at additional expense, lose workdays, arrange childcare and incur costs they cannot afford simply to access the courts,” the statement read. The attorneys stressed that justice cannot be treated as a luxury reserved exclusively for Jamaicans with the means to pay for delayed proceedings. When access to the courts is undermined, it is the most vulnerable members of the community that are pushed to the margins and left without legal recourse.

    Jurors fulfilling their mandatory civic duty also face unfair burdens, the group added. Most are required to travel to out-of-parish court facilities at their own cost just to await selection for trials, creating an unnecessary financial barrier that discourages civic participation. Even practicing legal professionals are not spared from the disruption: attorneys now spend hours each week traveling between courthouses to represent their Westmoreland-based clients, cutting into critical time that should be spent case preparation and client support.

    Closing their appeal, the legal fraternity reaffirmed that all residents of Westmoreland are entitled to a justice system that is accessible, efficient, and consistent with the basic dignity of the judicial process. They are calling on national and local authorities to move the restoration of the Westmoreland Parish Court to the top of their priority list, and to publish a clear, binding timeline for the completion of work and the return of full court operations to the parish.

  • Dominican Police and U.S. Embassy open liaison office to combat organized crime

    Dominican Police and U.S. Embassy open liaison office to combat organized crime

    In a significant step toward strengthening bilateral security cooperation, the Dominican National Police and the Narcotics Affairs and Law Enforcement (INL) division of the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic have opened a dedicated liaison office at the Dominican police headquarters in Santo Domingo. The new facility is designed to accelerate joint efforts to dismantle transnational organized criminal networks and advance the Dominican Republic’s national police modernization agenda.

    The official inauguration ceremony was marked by the signing of a formal memorandum of understanding between Andrés Modesto Cruz Cruz, Director General of the Dominican National Police, and Rebeca Márquez, head of the U.S. INL mission in the country. This agreement lays out a framework to expand collaborative strategic projects, deliver targeted technical assistance, and scale up specialized law enforcement and security training programs for Dominican personnel.

    Speaking at the event, Márquez highlighted that the dedicated liaison office will remove long-standing coordination barriers between the two agencies, directly boosting their collective operational capacity to disrupt cross-border criminal activity. She specifically acknowledged the proactive partnership and extensive logistical support provided by senior Dominican police leadership and the country’s Criminal Investigations Directorate (Dicrim) throughout the process of establishing the new office.

    In his remarks, Cruz Cruz extended gratitude to the U.S. government and the INL for their sustained commitment to the Dominican Republic’s ongoing police reform initiative. He underscored that structured international collaboration and access to specialized professional training are irreplaceable tools for strengthening Dominican law enforcement’s institutional capacity. Ultimately, these investments, Cruz Cruz noted, will enable the national police to deliver a more efficient, transparent, and professional public service centered on improving citizen safety across the country.

  • Hinds hails Bunny Shaw’s historic season as a triumph for Jamaican sports

    Hinds hails Bunny Shaw’s historic season as a triumph for Jamaican sports

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — One of Jamaica’s most prominent football exports has cemented her legacy among the global game’s elite after a record-breaking 2025/26 campaign, earning high praise from the island nation’s opposition leadership this week. Wavell Hinds, the opposition’s spokesperson for labour and sports, has extended warm congratulations to Khadija “Bunny” Shaw for a historic season that delivered both team glory and a slew of top individual honors.

    Shaw, the star striker for England’s Manchester City Women, capped off her standout campaign by leading the club to claim the coveted FA Women’s Super League title. Individually, her performance set new benchmarks across English women’s football: she claimed the Football Writers’ Association Women’s Footballer of the Year award for the second time in her career, took home the Women’s Football Awards Player of the Year honor, and won Manchester City’s own Etihad Player of the Season award. Most notably, she secured a historic third consecutive WSL Golden Boot — a feat no other player in the league’s history has achieved.

    In his statement, Hinds emphasized that Shaw’s year-over-year dominance at the highest level of the sport is far more than a personal win: it is a powerful showcase of the grit, talent, and discipline that Jamaican athletes consistently bring to global competitions. “Khadija Shaw has once again made Jamaica proud,” Hinds said. “Her achievements this season are not only a personal triumph but a source of inspiration for young people across our country. To consistently perform at the highest level of world football and to be recognised by journalists, supporters, teammates, and the wider football community speaks volumes about her character and her excellence.”

    Beyond the goals and trophy cases, Hinds argued that Shaw’s impact has reshaped what young athletes across Jamaica — especially young girls — believe is possible. “Bunny Shaw has become a symbol of what is possible through hard work, resilience and belief. She continues to break barriers, elevate the profile of women’s football, and represent Jamaica with distinction wherever she goes. Every young girl who dreams of playing sport can look at her journey and see what can be achieved,” he added.

    The spokesperson also celebrated the recent announcement that Shaw has committed her long-term future to Manchester City via a new contract extension, framing the deal as clear proof of the striker’s immense value to the club and her unrivaled standing in global women’s football. “As a nation, we celebrate her achievements and thank her for the pride she brings to Jamaica. She continues to be an outstanding ambassador for our country and a shining example of Jamaican excellence,” Hinds said.

    In closing, Hinds reaffirmed the opposition party’s commitment to pushing for greater public and private investment in grassroots sports development across Jamaica, with a specific focus on expanding access and opportunities for young women who aspire to compete professionally. “Khadija Shaw’s success reminds us of the immense talent that exists within our people. Our responsibility is to create the conditions that allow that talent to flourish,” he added.