Carib Scope

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  • Barcelona win Women’s Champions League, thrashing Lyon 4-0 in final

    Barcelona win Women’s Champions League, thrashing Lyon 4-0 in final

    In a stunning display of attacking dominance at the UEFA Women’s Champions League final held in Oslo, Norway on Saturday, FC Barcelona delivered a crushing 4-0 defeat to eight-time defending champions Lyon, securing the club’s fourth continental title. The star of the match, Polish striker Ewa Pajor, broke the deadlock in the 55th minute after a tightly contested first half where both sides struggled to find clear openings. Pajor doubled her personal tally 14 minutes later, putting Barcelona firmly in the driver’s seat before Spanish talent Salma Paralluelo put the result beyond doubt with a spectacular long-range effort late in regulation. Paralluelo capped off the dominant performance with a fourth goal in stoppage time, leaving the Lyon side stunned and unable to respond to Barcelona’s relentless pressure.

    This latest title extends Barcelona’s extraordinary recent run in the competition: all four of the club’s Women’s Champions League crowns have come in the last six seasons, marking the Catalan side as the preeminent European women’s football powerhouse of the past half-decade. Lyon, who still hold the all-time record for most titles with eight, had been seeking their first championship since lifting the trophy in 2022. Saturday’s lopsided result marks one of the most surprising final scorelines in the competition’s recent history, cementing Barcelona’s status as the dominant force in European women’s football for the 2023-2024 season.

  • Six St Andrew gullies to be repaired as hurricane season approaches

    Six St Andrew gullies to be repaired as hurricane season approaches

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — As the Caribbean region braces for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially kicks off on June 1, Jamaica’s National Works Agency (NWA) has launched a major infrastructure upgrade initiative to strengthen flood management systems across St Andrew parish. The multi-million dollar project targets the rehabilitation of sections of six critical gullies, key water infrastructure that reduces flooding risk during intense tropical storm activity.

    The six gully sections marked for upgrades include two stretches of the Constant Spring Gully along Carawina Avenue, the waterway passing beneath Torrington Bridge, Yoro Crescent Gully, Burgher Gully, and Gem Road Gully. Stephen Shaw, NWA’s Manager of Communication and Customer Services, confirmed that on-site construction has already started at two of the targeted sites: Yoro Crescent Gully and Gem Road Gully.

    At the Gem Road Gully location, crews are focused on reconstructing a segment of the gully’s retaining wall and invert — the channel floor designed to facilitate unobstructed water flow. Shaw noted that this portion of the work is already approaching completion. For Burgher Gully, permanent upgrades are set to begin in the near future, following extensive temporary stabilization work NWA completed ahead of Hurricane Melissa’s landfall in 2025. The separate contract for Burgher Gully is valued at more than $30 million, and will cover repairs to damaged sections of the waterway’s invert and retaining walls.

    According to NWA’s project timeline, construction at all remaining unstarted gully sites is scheduled to break ground before the end of June, putting the infrastructure upgrade on track to be completed ahead of the peak of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, which typically runs from August through October. The initiative forms part of Jamaica’s broader efforts to upgrade critical climate resilience infrastructure across the island, which faces recurrent tropical storm and flooding threats each Atlantic hurricane season.

  • The coded messages of folk and mento music

    The coded messages of folk and mento music

    Against the backdrop of Limon, Costa Rica’s annual Marcus Garvey Symposium, one cultural presentation resonated more deeply than most: a dynamic exploration of the hidden coded messaging woven into traditional Jamaican folk and mento music by the Tallawah Mento Band, a group rooted in South Florida’s vibrant Jamaican diaspora. For 30 engaging minutes, founding band member Colin Smith blended interactive discussion with live performance to pull back the curtain on a little-known layer of Caribbean musical history, revealing how the genres’ upbeat, infectious rhythms long served as a clever shield for sharp critique of the brutal plantation system that shaped Jamaican life.

    Smith emphasized that the lyrics of these songs, written in the Jamaican dialect that many cultural stewards and educators now argue deserves classification as a distinct national language rather than “broken English”, carried unapologetic mockery of white planter elites, hidden in plain sight from the ruling class that controlled every aspect of enslaved and post-emancipation Black life. “These musical artforms simultaneously lightened the unbearable challenges of slavery and harnessed collective resilience,” Smith explained to the audience. “They served as a living storybook of our survival, spreading news of plantation activities and developments that doubled as an entertainment and information network, all while evading detection and comprehension by the planter class.”

    The performance was elevated by a guest appearance from acclaimed dub poet Malachi Smith, who joined the band to guide the transfixed audience through a journey tracing the music’s origins all the way back to the transatlantic slave trade. Choral refrains echoed the wails of endurance and collective resistance that marked the middle passage, before evolving to reflect the dehumanizing reality of forced labor on Caribbean sugarcane plantations and the gradual formation of modern Jamaican cultural identity. The band’s repertoire spanned more than a century of Jamaican musical evolution, moving from traditional folk and mento to early ska and sacred Nyabinghi drumming. Standout pieces included the traditional standards Ribba to De Bank, Dis Long Time Gal, and Rum and Coconut Water, the band’s original composition Sweet Jamaica, and two of Marcus Garvey’s own poems set to music for the first time at the symposium: Keep Cool and Africa for the Africans.

    Beyond their role as vehicles of resistance, the presentation also highlighted the practical cultural functions of folk and mento as call-and-response field worksongs. Many of these tracks were structured to force brief moments of rest during grueling, 12+ hour work days, while others were adapted for communal labor projects — such as the traditional practice of pulling entire wooden houses from one settlement to another, a custom once common in Jamaica’s Westmoreland parish.

    Following the symposium, the band traveled to Wallaba in Puerto Viejo, a coastal community known locally as Old Harbour for its large population of Jamaican diaspora members, for a public concert that proved far more emotionally resonant than anyone expected. “It was incredibly festive,” Smith recalled. “The entire audience got up to dance, and there was this immediate, unbreakable connection across generations. One of our band members even discovered long-lost family members living in the community. It felt exactly like being in Jamaica in the 1920s and 30s — the local cuisine was just what your grandmother would cook, a full traditional spread. It was a classic old-school Jamaican gathering, and you could feel the same longing for connection to ancestral roots that many of us feel when we talk about returning to Africa.”

    Smith also noted that the event held particular weight in Costa Rica, where national hero Marcus Garvey holds a revered place in local labor history. Garvey was a central organizing figure in the movement to unionize Costa Rica’s plantation workers, and was ultimately expelled from the country amid elite pushback against growing labor unrest. The expulsion sparked mass public outcry and a general strike that forced the government to reverse its decision, and a public holiday was declared in Wallaba to mark Garvey’s return. For the band, the entire symposium and tour boiled down to one simple, unifying truth: “The tour, the symposium was simply about us all being home,” Smith said.

  • Family members search for young woman who disappeared 15 days ago between Azua and Barahona

    Family members search for young woman who disappeared 15 days ago between Azua and Barahona

    Fifteen days have passed without any trace of 23-year-old Nicol Pérez, who went missing under unusual circumstances along the route connecting the Dominican provinces of Azua and Barahona. Her anxious family has now turned to the public for urgent assistance in locating the young woman.

    At the time of her disappearance, Pérez was a resident of Azua. Since the day she vanished, her relatives have not succeeded in reestablishing any contact with her, a break from routine that has left the entire family deeply worried. One of the most puzzling details of the case that has compounded the family’s concern is the status of Pérez’s mobile phone: the device remains powered on and accepts incoming calls, yet there has been no response to any text messages, calls, or other attempts to communicate with the missing woman.

    “Nicol always gets back to us right away; this complete silence is completely out of character for her,” family members shared in an interview, explaining that the unresolved uncertainty has caused overwhelming anguish for every member of their close-knit family.

    With official investigations yet to yield solid leads, Pérez’s loved ones have ramped up search efforts by leveraging the power of social media and local press. Family and friends have circulated recent photos of Pérez alongside key personal details across multiple social platforms and reached out to regional media outlets to spread their appeal far and wide, all in the hope that a member of the public will come forward with a critical clue about her current whereabouts.

    The family has issued a formal appeal to anyone who may have spotted Pérez in the Azua-Barahona region in the last two weeks, or who holds any relevant information that could help advance the search, to reach out immediately to either law enforcement authorities or the family directly. To streamline tips, the family has released two dedicated contact numbers: 809-772-3023 and 829-337-1508. They have also asked social media users to share their appeal to expand the search’s reach, bringing the request for information in front of more potential witnesses.

  • «If I’m not Dominican, neither is Abinader»: Haitians protest for their rights

    «If I’m not Dominican, neither is Abinader»: Haitians protest for their rights

    SANTO DOMINGO – On Friday, dozens of people of Haitian descent born and raised in the Dominican Republic gathered in peaceful demonstration outside the Dominican National Palace, carrying clear, impassioned slogans to demand long-overdue action from the national government. Chants of “We are Dominicans”, “If I am not Dominican, neither is Abinader”, and “Being Dominican is our right, not a favor” echoed through the public square as organizers called attention to the unfulfilled promises of a decade-old nationality law.

    The demonstration, organized by the grassroots Recognized Movement, marks the 12th anniversary of the passage of Law 169-14, legislation drafted to address the citizenship crisis triggered by the Dominican Constitutional Court’s 2013 ruling 168-13. That ruling stripped nationality from thousands of people born in the Dominican Republic to undocumented Haitian migrant parents, creating a large population of stateless people who were denied access to basic identity documentation. Law 169-14 was intended to resolve this crisis by formalizing pathways to citizenship for two distinct affected groups, labeled Group A and Group B. But protesters say that after 12 years, the government has never fully enacted the regulation.

    One spokesperson for the group emphasized that demonstrators are not asking for special treatment – they are demanding their constitutionally guaranteed birthright. “We are here to claim our Dominican nationality. We are not foreigners or immigrants; we were born on this soil, and we will not leave,” they said. The representative added that even after 12 years, less than half of the people classified in Group A have successfully received their citizenship, while all members of Group B remain waiting for permanent, official resolution of their status.

    Movement coordinator Franklyn Minor detailed the ongoing harms of the government’s delayed implementation. He explained that many people who had held valid Dominican identity cards, birth certificates, and passports for decades have suddenly had these official documents suspended, leaving them legally adrift. Protesters added that stateless and undocumented residents of Haitian descent continue to face routine systemic discrimination: they face arbitrary arrests, unfair deportations, and persistent bureaucratic roadblocks that block them from obtaining even the most basic official paperwork. This lack of documentation in turn cuts off access to fundamental rights including public education and healthcare, turning long-overdue citizenship into a matter of daily survival for thousands of families.

    Protesters anchored their demand in the text of the Dominican Constitution that was in force at the time of their birth, which grants automatic Dominican nationality to anyone born on national territory, with only narrow exceptions for children of foreign diplomats and individuals in legal transit. To move the process forward, Minor called on Dominican President Luis Abinader to directly intervene in the crisis, to enforce the existing Law 169-14, and to clear the backlog of thousands of pending citizenship applications. Rejecting the erasure of their community, one spokesperson summed up the demonstration’s core message: “We are not invisible.”

  • French mum accused of blindfolding, abandoning sons in Portugal remanded

    French mum accused of blindfolding, abandoning sons in Portugal remanded

    On Saturday, a judicial court in Portugal’s southern port city of Setubal ordered a French woman and her male partner to be held in pretrial detention, following a two-day court hearing over allegations that the pair abandoned her two young sons, aged 4 and 5, on a remote roadside in the country’s south. Beyond charges of child abandonment and endangerment that apply to both suspects, the 55-year-old male partner also faces an additional aggravated assault charge relating to one of the two children, court officials confirmed following closed questioning of the pair. After the hearing concluded, the couple was transported from the courthouse via an unmarked police van, which exited directly through the building’s private garage to avoid public attention.

    The high-profile case has sparked intense public scrutiny in both Portugal and France, ever since the two young boys were discovered crying on the side of a road near the town of Alcacer do Sal, roughly 60 miles south of the Portuguese capital Lisbon, on Tuesday evening. According to local Portuguese media reports, the pair left the children with small backpacks stocked with basic food and water, but no form of identification that could connect the boys to any guardian or family.

    Portuguese law enforcement tracked down and arrested the couple on Thursday at an open-air cafe in Fatima, a central Portuguese pilgrimage town, and they were first brought before an investigating judge at the Setubal court the following day. Speaking to local Portuguese broadcaster SIC, Carlos Canatario, a spokesperson for Portugal’s national GNR police force, described the pair’s demeanor after arrest as deeply disturbing to officers. “After something as shocking as abandoning two small children, finding this couple sitting relaxed at an outdoor cafe for hours was quite shocking,” Canatario said. He added that the couple displayed a striking emotional detachment from the situation: “They did not respond much. They appeared very withdrawn and therefore did not react.”

    During the initial questioning session at the court Friday, the pair was interviewed for multiple hours. As they arrived at the courthouse, the male suspect, identified by authorities only as Marc B. to comply with privacy rules, twice shouted “I love you” in French to onlookers, while the children’s mother, identified as Marine R., hummed a quiet melody. Shortly after midnight on Friday, as Marc B. was being led to a police transport van, he shouted “Portugal Armageddon” toward the crowd of journalists gathered outside the courthouse building. To prevent further public disruption, when transporting the pair back to the courthouse for the second day of the hearing Saturday, law enforcement kept the suspects inside the vehicle until it had fully entered the closed garage and all external doors were secured.

    In the aftermath of the discovery, the two young boys have been placed in the care of a French foster family based in Lisbon, as authorities coordinate arrangements to return the children to their native France. Official records show the brothers had been living with their mother in Colmar, a city in eastern France, while the children’s biological father was granted only limited, supervised visitation rights under a French court order. French law enforcement had been searching for the mother and the two boys since May 11, when the father filed a missing person report for the group, prompting French authorities to issue a cross-border European arrest warrant shortly after.

    New details from the motorist who first encountered the boys have also shed light on the children’s experience. Eugenia Quintas, whose son discovered the abandoned children, told AFP that one of the boys told rescuers the pair had been blindfolded by their mother and told they were searching for a hidden toy. When the children removed their blindfolds, both their mother and her vehicle were already gone. Quintas added that despite the traumatic abandonment, “On them they had an orange, a pear and a bottle of water each. We didn’t see any signs of mistreatment.”

    Investigators have noted that the couple appears to have no prior personal or professional ties to Portugal, which has deepened public curiosity around the motivation for the abandonment. Further reporting on the suspects’ backgrounds has amplified public interest in the case. Marine R. describes herself on public social media profiles as a sexologist specializing in somatic body practices, developmental therapy and trauma care. Marc B., meanwhile, is a former officer with the French national gendarmerie who left the force in 2010; French media reports confirm he has repeatedly shared conspiracy theory and antisemitic content on his public social media accounts.

    This case marks the second high-profile incident involving French citizens in Portugal within the span of a few months. Earlier this year, Portuguese authorities charged French national Cedric Prizzon with murdering his current and former romantic partners in northern Portugal, before fleeing the area with the young children he had with the two women. Portuguese courts have rejected France’s extradition request for Prizzon, ruling that the alleged crimes were committed on Portuguese territory and fall under Portuguese national jurisdiction.

  • Motorcyclists involved in violent incidents in Santo Domingo

    Motorcyclists involved in violent incidents in Santo Domingo

    SANTO DOMINGO — In a single day of widespread unrest, two separate violent incidents involving motorcycle taxi drivers have left one man dead and a school bus driver injured in the Greater Santo Domingo metropolitan area, unfolding against a backdrop of already simmering friction between local authorities and the region’s motorcycling community over widespread reckless operation and links to criminal activity.

    The first and most deadly of the two incidents took the life of 38-year-old Osvaldo Silverio, a seasoned motorcycle taxi driver based out of the La Barquita sector of Sabana Perdida. According to preliminary law enforcement accounts, Silverio was gunned down in cold blood by Ramón Elías Ureña Hernández — a fellow motorcyclist widely known by his alias “Mon Elías” — following a lingering dispute that erupted between the two men days earlier.

    Graphic security camera footage of the attack, which has circulated widely across local social media platforms, captures Silverio walking along a public street in Santo Domingo Norte, wearing his riding helmet, when Ureña Hernández intercepted him from his own motorcycle. After less than a minute of heated verbal exchange, Ureña Hernández drew a firearm and fired two shots directly at Silverio before immediately fleeing the scene on his motorcycle. Investigators later confirmed the root of the conflict was a disagreement over a competing passenger at the shared bus stop where both men worked to pick up fares.

    In the wake of the killing, the Dominican National Police has opened a full criminal investigation into the incident and launched a manhunt to locate and arrest the fugitive shooter, who remains at large as of press time.

    Hours after the fatal shooting, a second violent incident unfolded in the El Café sector of Herrera, Santo Domingo Oeste, where a mob of local motorcycle taxi drivers viciously attacked Henry González, a driver for the National Student Transportation System (TRAE). The attack was triggered by a minor fender bender between González’s school bus and a motorcycle operated by Gregory González, widely known as “Negro Malo,” who was traveling the wrong way down a one-way lane with two young female passengers.

    At the time of the collision, González was in the process of transporting a group of students to the local Rafaela Santaella School. After the crash, dozens of area motorcycle taxi drivers swarmed the bus, pulled González from the vehicle, and beat him, leaving him with visible facial lacerations that required emergency medical treatment. Terrified students trapped inside the bus during the assault screamed for help, with witnesses later confirming that multiple bystanders warned the mob that minors were inside the vehicle — a warning the attackers completely ignored.

    Speaking to medical personnel after the attack, the TRAE driver stated he had been unable to avoid the collision, saying: “I had my seatbelt fastened and I never even saw them coming until it was too late.”

    In a swift law enforcement response to the attack on the school bus driver, National Police officers moved in to detain all motorcycle taxi drivers who participated in the mob assault. Shortly after the incident, Gregory González, the motorcyclist who caused the initial collision that sparked the violence, turned himself in to authorities voluntarily.

    In comments made to reporters alongside National Police spokesperson Diego Pesqueira, Gregory González attempted to justify his actions, claiming the conflict was entirely the bus driver’s fault. “There never should have been a conflict. I did swerve over into his lane, yes, because I was with two kids. He’s the older, more experienced driver, and he never stopped to think that I’m younger and he should have waited for me to pass,” González said. He added that the driver’s facial injuries were a result of González acting in self-defense after the driver failed to brake to avoid hitting him.

    Officials from the Santo Domingo West Prosecutor’s Office have announced they will move forward quickly with formal charges against all suspects connected to the attack, and will file a request for pretrial preventive detention for all of those involved in the coming hours. In a statement, prosecutors emphasized that this kind of unprovoked mob violence, particularly against a school transportation driver who was carrying minor students, will not be tolerated. “This type of dangerous, irresponsible behavior cannot be overlooked. We will seek the strictest appropriate measures available under law to hold these attackers accountable,” the statement read.

  • Rajindra Campbell breaks national record, Jackson wins 200m at Diamond League

    Rajindra Campbell breaks national record, Jackson wins 200m at Diamond League

    The second stop of the 2025 Diamond League track and field circuit, held Saturday in Xiamen, China, delivered a night of record-breaking performances highlighted by standout efforts from Jamaican athletes and a historic run from American hurdler Masai Russell.

    One of the biggest stories of the competition came from shot putter Rajindra Campbell, the Olympic bronze medalist who made global headlines recently when World Athletics denied his and three other Jamaican athletes’ requests to switch national allegiance to Turkey. Undeterred by the off-track controversy, Campbell launched a 22.34-meter throw that shaved three centimeters off his own 2024 Jamaican national record, set earlier that year in Croatia. The mark pushed Campbell to second place in the global shot put rankings, outperforming a pair of top American competitors: Jordan Geist, who took silver with a 21.52-meter throw, and Olympic star Ryan Crouser, who notched a season’s best 21.41 meters to round out the top three.

    In the women’s 200-meter sprint, Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson continued her fine form this season, clocking a new season’s best time that improved on the mark she set just one week prior. Jackson surged ahead of the pack coming off the final turn, pulling away from the field with a smooth, controlled stride to cross the line well clear of her competitors. Her time also broke the existing Xiamen meet record of 22.41 seconds set by American sprinter Anavia Battle in 2024. In a repeat of the previous weekend’s podium, Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas took second place with a 22.04-second run, while Battle earned third with 22.29 seconds.

    Long jump delivered its own share of standout results, led by Greek Olympic and world champion Miltiadis Tentoglou, who claimed gold with a season’s best 8.46-meter jump. The mark matched the 2025 global leading distance and broke the previous meet record of 8.18 meters set by China’s Zhang Mingkun last year. Jamaican Olympic and world medalist Tajay Gayle notched a massive personal improvement from his 7.93-meter result at the previous week’s Shanghai-Keqiao meet, leaping to a season’s best 8.32 meters to take second place. Fellow Jamaican Wayne Pinnock finished sixth with a 7.93-meter jump, matching his own season’s best.

    In the men’s 110-meter hurdles final, American Jamal Britt took gold with a 13.07-second run that equaled his personal best. Japan’s Rachid Muratake claimed silver with 13.13 seconds, while Jamaica’s Orlando Bennett rounded out the podium with 13.20 seconds, matching his 2025 season’s best.

    Jamaica’s Lamara Distin took third place in the women’s high jump, clearing 1.94 meters behind a pair of Ukrainian competitors: gold medalist Yulia Levchenko, who cleared 1.99 meters, and silver medalist Iryna Gerashchenko, who hit 1.97 meters.

    The most historic performance of the day came in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, where American Masai Russell delivered one of the fastest times in the history of the sport. Russell crossed the line in 12.14 seconds, beating her own existing American record of 12.17 seconds. The run also shattered both the Xiamen meet record of 12.45 seconds set by Jasmine Camacho-Quinn in 2024 and the overall Diamond League record for the event. Nigerian world record holder Tobi Amusan took silver with a season’s best 12.28 seconds, while Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas broke her own national record for the second consecutive week, clocking 12.37 seconds to take third. Jamaica’s Ackera Nugent finished sixth in the race with 12.64 seconds, and fellow Jamaican Danielle Williams placed seventh with 12.90 seconds, capping a day of strong results for Caribbean track and field in Xiamen.

  • Haitian group calls for reparations, TPS

    Haitian group calls for reparations, TPS

    On the commemoration of one of Haiti’s most foundational historic milestones, the California-based Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) has spotlighted the enduring revolutionary legacy of the world’s first independent Black republic, while issuing urgent calls for reparative justice from France, a long-term extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian residents in the United States, and equitable systemic change for Haitian people at home and abroad.

    Haiti’s path to independence, cemented in 1804 after the only successful large-scale enslaved people’s revolt in modern history, redefined global conversations about liberation and self-governance. Ahead of the annual observance of the 1803 adoption of the Haitian flag during the Arcahaie Congress, HBA Executive Director Guerline Jozef spoke with the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) in San Diego, framing the commemoration as both a celebration of resistance and a call to address unresolved historical and contemporary crises.

    “Haiti remains a global beacon of Black liberation, resistance, and self-determination,” Jozef said. “As we honor this landmark moment, we are demanding reparative justice from France and an immediate extension of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals living in the United States.”

    This year’s observance unfolds against a backdrop of deepening humanitarian catastrophe across Haiti. Jozef highlighted that latest data from the United Nations and leading humanitarian agencies confirms roughly 1.4 million Haitians have been displaced by widespread violence and political instability, while millions more grapple with acute food insecurity and severely limited access to clean water, healthcare, and other basic necessities. More than 2.6 million Haitian children currently require life-saving humanitarian assistance, she added.

    Despite the cascading crises facing their home country, Jozef emphasized that Haitian communities in the U.S. — including current TPS holders — make substantial, underrecognized contributions to the American economy and workforce. TPS alone, the temporary protection that prevents deportation and allows work authorization for Haitians unable to return to their unstable home country, has allowed hundreds of thousands of Haitians to fill critical gaps across key U.S. sectors. Jozef noted that Haitian TPS holders contribute an estimated $5.9 billion annually to U.S. gross domestic product, pay roughly $1.5 billion each year in combined federal, state, and local taxes, and around 200,000 Haitian TPS holders are active in the U.S. workforce, holding essential positions in healthcare, elder and childcare, agriculture, transportation, and service industries.

    Beyond contributions within U.S. borders, the Haitian diaspora serves as a critical economic lifeline for the country itself. Jozef reported that in 2024, remittances from Haitians living abroad to family in Haiti totaled roughly $4.5 billion, a sum that makes up a large share of Haiti’s overall national economy and sustains millions of households.

    A core demand of the Haitian Bridge Alliance this year is renewed pressure for France to pay reparations for the crippling “independence debt” imposed on Haiti immediately after it won its freedom. This historic financial extraction, which required Haiti to pay reparations to French enslavers for lost property (the enslaved people who won their freedom), is widely documented by economists and historians as a root cause of decades of economic underdevelopment that has burdened generations of Haitians.

    “Haitian Flag Day is a reminder that Haiti altered the trajectory of world history through its unyielding fight for Black freedom,” Jozef said. “Yet more than two centuries later, Haitians continue to live with the aftermath of centuries-old exploitation, ongoing political instability, anti-Black U.S. immigration policies, and widespread family separation. The international community cannot claim to celebrate Haiti’s revolutionary legacy while turning a blind eye to the conditions force Haitians to flee their homes, and the foreign and domestic policies that continue to destabilize Haitian communities.”

    Advocacy led by HBA and its partner organizations has already yielded incremental progress on the TPS extension front. Jozef noted that last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation — spearheaded by Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley — that would extend TPS protections for Haitian nationals for an additional three years. HBA is now actively lobbying the U.S. Senate to move forward with a matching bill to cement the extension into law.

    The organization continues its advocacy across both legislative chambers and the court system, Jozef added, working not only on behalf of Haitian TPS recipients but also supporting all immigrant communities, with a particular focus on those from marginalized, historically excluded backgrounds.

    “On this Haitian Flag Day, the Haitian Bridge Alliance calls for an immediate end to deportations to Haiti, lasting protection for Haitian families in the United States, meaningful international engagement centered on Haitian-led solutions, and serious, good-faith dialogue around reparative justice and long-term stability that allows the Haitian people to thrive and prosper,” Jozef said.

  • Man Utd’s Fernandes named Premier League Player of the Season

    Man Utd’s Fernandes named Premier League Player of the Season

    In a landmark announcement made Saturday night in English football, Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has capped off a standout domestic campaign by claiming the prestigious Premier League Player of the Season award.

    The 31-year-old midfield maestro delivered a career-best performance across the 2024-25 league season, matching a long-standing top-flight record that places him alongside two of the competition’s all-time greats: former Arsenal forward Thierry Henry and current Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne. All three players now share the mark for the most assists registered in a single 38-game Premier League campaign, with Fernandes notching 20 goal-creating passes this term.

    Beyond his playmaking contributions, Fernandes found the back of the net eight times in league play, playing an instrumental role in guiding Manchester United to a third-place finish in the table. The result locked in the club’s automatic qualification for the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League, a much-coveted milestone for the side led by interim manager Michael Carrick this season.

    The honor carries extra historical weight for Fernandes and Manchester United: he is the first Red Devils player to win the league’s top individual award in nearly 14 years, since Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic took home the prize at the end of the 2010-11 campaign.

    Fernandes beat out a stacked field of top contenders to claim the honor, including Arsenal’s defensive star David Raya, center-back Gabriel Magalhaes, and midfield enforcer Declan Rice; Manchester City’s record-breaking striker Erling Haaland; Bristol City loanee Antoine Semenyo; Brentford forward Igor Thiago; and Nottingham Forest playmaker Morgan Gibbs-White. This award adds to Fernandes’ growing collection of 2024-25 honors, following his win of the Football Writers Association Footballer of the Year award earlier this season.

    In the night’s other major award, 21-year-old Nico O’Reilly of treble-chasing Manchester City took home the Premier League Young Player of the Season honor after a breakout campaign that cemented his place as one of English football’s brightest young talents.

    O’Reilly stepped into a regular starting role for City this season, featuring primarily at left-back while also filling in effectively in midfield when called upon. Across all competitions, he notched five goals and three assists, including a iconic two-goal performance that led City to a 2-0 victory over Arsenal in the EFL League Cup final in March. He also started in City’s recent FA Cup final win against Chelsea, proving his ability to deliver on the sport’s biggest stages.

    The young defender beat out a strong group of fellow rising stars to claim the prize, including City teammate Rayan Cherki, West Ham United’s Mateus Fernandes, Newcastle United’s Lewis Hall, Brentford’s Michael Kayode, Manchester United’s breakout star Kobbie Mainoo, and Bournemouth duo Alex Scott and Eli Junior Kroupi.