Carib Scope

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  • ABLP Applauds Government’s Advancement of UWI Five Islands Campus Expansion Project

    ABLP Applauds Government’s Advancement of UWI Five Islands Campus Expansion Project

    The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) has publicly expressed approval for the government’s recent confirmation that it will continue moving forward with the first phase of the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus Expansion Project, a landmark initiative designed to drive national growth and systemic educational transformation across the twin-island nation.

    This large-scale public investment in tertiary education marks a deliberate, forward-thinking strategic move to establish Antigua and Barbuda as a leading regional center for advanced academic study, innovative research, and youth capacity-building. Upon completion, the expanded campus will bring cutting-edge, globally competitive infrastructure to the country, including new purpose-built academic facilities, expanded on-campus student housing, and a modern indoor athletic complex. All new construction is paired with foundational civil infrastructure upgrades that will support both the first phase of development and future expansion efforts down the line.

    To advance the project into active implementation, Antigua and Barbuda’s Ministry of Works has officially published a tender invitation seeking bids from qualified construction firms to carry out the work. This call for proposals marks a key milestone, shifting the initiative from the preliminary planning stage to on-the-ground execution. It also underscores the governing administration’s stated priorities of tangible results, transparent accountability, and on-schedule project delivery.

    Daryll Matthew, the country’s Minister of Education, Sports and the Creative Industries and Parliamentary Representative for St. John’s Rural South, emphasized that the project extends far beyond new construction. “This expansion is more than a construction project; it is a nation-building initiative that will empower generations of Antiguans and Barbudans with access to high-quality education right here at home,” Matthew said.

    The ABLP concluded its statement by commending the government for its sustained commitment to ensuring that improved access to opportunity, upward social mobility, and broad-based national progress reach every household across Antigua and Barbuda.

  • Six Charged in Crack Cocaine Busts

    Six Charged in Crack Cocaine Busts

    In a coordinated series of anti-narcotics operations conducted across Belize over the seven-day period ending April 26, 2026, law enforcement officials have taken six suspects into custody and filed formal drug trafficking charges against all six, senior police representative Assistant Superintendent Stacy Smith has confirmed. All defendants are facing allegations of possession of controlled substances with the intent to distribute, a serious criminal offense under the country’s drug enforcement laws. The busts targeted multiple scattered locations across the nation, uncovering quantities of cocaine and crack cocaine linked to each accused individual. The largest seizure by far was connected to Burton Godoy, a resident of Belize City, who faces two separate counts of possession with intent to supply. According to police reports, officers recovered 28 grams of powdered cocaine and more than 90 grams of crack cocaine during searches tied to Godoy. Gilriam Mejia is another defendant facing dual charges, with police linking two separate caches of 1.25 grams and 5.5 grams of crack cocaine to him. Eddy Hernandez, the first named defendant, was found in possession of 4.6 grams of cocaine when arrested, while Joshua Burns, a resident of Cotton Tree Village, faces charges connected to a 2.8 gram seizure of cocaine. Two more suspects, Stephan Hyde and Giany Wade, were arrested in San Pedro, and each faces charges after police allegedly found 2.8 grams of cocaine in their possession individually. These coordinated operations are part of ongoing law enforcement efforts to disrupt local drug distribution networks and curb the flow of illicit controlled substances across the country, officials noted.

  • Vijf Surinamers geselecteerd voor prestigieus Amerikaans leiderschapsprogramma

    Vijf Surinamers geselecteerd voor prestigieus Amerikaans leiderschapsprogramma

    Five emerging young entrepreneurs and professionals from Suriname have earned a coveted spot in the 2026 Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Fellowship Program, an initiative run by the U.S. Department of State. The official announcement was made public by the U.S. Embassy based in Paramaribo, Suriname’s capital.

    Widely regarded as a flagship cross-border exchange initiative, YLAI is designed to fuel inclusive entrepreneurship and drive sustainable economic growth across the entire Western Hemisphere. For the 2026 cohort, program organizers selected 250 emerging leaders from across North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean, cutting down from a pool of more than 1,200 submitted applications. Five of these selected fellows hail from Suriname, marking a notable representation for the small South American nation.

    The five Surinamese participants bring diverse leadership experience across multiple sectors. They include Jo-Ann Monsels, founder of Kinderuniversiteit Suriname; Mitchel Monsels, general manager of Anjuli Nature Resort; Nuravni Sukarni Sallons, founder and managing director of InSeasons; Rosito Pansa, founder and leader of Youth Association Suriname; and Ziwinji van de Veer, Chief Operating Officer of Paisr Technologies.

    The fellowship will kick off in April 2026 with an opening orientation program hosted in Houston, Texas. Following the orientation, fellows will disperse across 18 different U.S. cities to complete a four-week professional placement at leading American companies and non-profit organizations. Over the course of the fellowship, participants will collaborate to solve real-world business challenges, attend targeted skills-building training sessions, engage in cross-cultural exchange activities, and expand their professional networks across the Americas. The program will conclude with a closing policy and leadership forum held in Washington D.C. in May 2026.

    Once the fellowship concludes, the Surinamese participants will return to their home country equipped with new industry knowledge, hands-on professional experience, a broad network of cross-border business connections, and ongoing support from their U.S. partner organizations. Program organizers anticipate that the exchange will strengthen long-term economic collaboration between Suriname, the United States and the broader Western Hemisphere region.

    First launched in 2015, the YLAI Fellowship Program has supported more than 2,000 emerging leaders from across the Western Hemisphere to date, building a lasting transnational network of young change-makers committed to inclusive economic development.

  • Call for intervention after 11 plus mock exams reveals learning gaps

    Call for intervention after 11 plus mock exams reveals learning gaps

    A newly released diagnostic assessment of 150 Barbadian primary school students has uncovered stark learning disparities in core academic subjects, pushing a local education charity to call for immediate, targeted support across all regional primary institutions to help at-risk students prepare for their high-stakes 11+ entrance examinations.

    The assessment was carried out by Trident Charity, an education-focused nonprofit founded and led by Quincy Jones, a former first-time candidate for the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) in February’s general election. Jones shared the preliminary findings during on-site visits to two participating schools: Milton Lynch Primary School and Christ Church Girls’ School, both located in the Christ Church East Central electoral constituency where Jones ran for office.

    In total, 12 primary schools across the parishes of Christ Church and St Michael took part in the initiative, which was designed to act as a formative diagnostic tool. The goal of the project was not just to test students, but to generate actionable data that could help parents and educators tailor support to students as they approached the final stretch of preparation for the 11+ exam, a key milestone that determines secondary school placement. The mock examination assessed student proficiency across three core domains: written composition, mathematics, and English reading comprehension.

    Overall, the results painted a picture of deep stratification within the student cohort, with a clear gap emerging between high-performing students and those in need of urgent academic support. Just 8% of participating students earned the top A (Excellence) grade, and another 22% scored a B (Good), combining to make up less than a third of all test-takers. The largest share of students, 45%, reached a C (Satisfactory) grade, but the charity flagged the remaining 25% of results as a major cause for concern: 15% scored a D (Developing), and 10% scored an E, a rating that signals a need for significant, immediate improvement to reach grade-level standards.

    Jones framed these findings as a call to action rather than a cause for despair, emphasizing that early intervention can close gaps before they become insurmountable. “These results tell us two important things,” Jones shared in remarks following data analysis. “First, there is a solid academic foundation among many students, and second, there is an urgent need to support those who are falling behind. This is not a crisis; it is an opportunity to intervene early, close the learning gaps, and give every child a fair chance at success in the 11+ examination.”

    When broken down by subject, the data identified written composition as the area of greatest weakness. Only 18% of test-takers earned top marks in writing, while 40% performed below the expected grade-level standard. Jones noted that students struggled most with foundational writing mechanics: grammar rules, sentence structure, logical organization of ideas, spelling, and subject-verb agreement were all common pain points for low-performing students. In contrast, English reading comprehension showed far stronger results, with roughly 60% of students scoring above 70% on that section of the exam. Even so, Jones pointed to a “noticeable gap” between a student’s ability to understand a written text and their ability to clearly communicate their analysis and ideas in writing.

    Mathematics results presented what Jones described as a “mixed picture.” While 35% of students earned strong scores, an equal 35% scored below the 50% pass threshold. The assessment uncovered major gaps in basic numeracy skills and strategic problem-solving, particularly in the exam’s extended response section. Jones added that many students lost unnecessary points to careless calculation errors and a lack of practice showing their step-by-step working, a habit that not only costs points but also makes it harder for teachers to identify where students are going wrong in their reasoning. Key foundational topics including decimals, percentages, angles, and fractions were consistent areas of weakness, with Jones estimating that between 10% and 15% of participating students need immediate one-on-one or small-group intervention to get on track for the official 11+ exam.

    In the immediate aftermath of the assessment, every participating student and their family has received an individual performance report breaking down their strengths and weaknesses, paired with practical study and test-taking tips. Looking ahead to the 2026–2027 academic year, Trident Charity has committed to moving beyond data collection to build out a sustained support system for struggling students. Planned programs include small-group tutoring for all students scoring below 50% on the diagnostic, a structured sequential writing program to build composition skills from the ground up, and targeted mathematics support that prioritizes explicit instruction in step-by-step problem-solving. The charity also plans to roll out monthly mock exams to track student progress over time, and introduce family engagement initiatives to help parents support their children’s learning at home.

    Jones emphasized that the vast majority of students who are currently behind can make significant gains with the right targeted support, reaffirming the charity’s core mission to ensure no child is left behind due to unaddressed learning gaps. “Our findings indicate that over 60% of these students can significantly improve with the right support,” Jones said. “Trident Charity is committed to implementing targeted programmes and differentiating learning approaches to ensure no child is left behind. We are focusing on early intervention to ensure that every student has the tools they need to excel.”

  • A Declaration of War on Fossil Fuels

    A Declaration of War on Fossil Fuels

    On a sunbaked dock at Colombia’s bustling Santa Marta coal export terminal, a diverse gathering of activists, Indigenous leaders, Afro-Colombian community representatives, labor organizers, and youth climate advocates from every corner of the globe made history on Sunday, April 26, 2026. Standing in the immediate shadow of idling cargo ships loaded with the fossil fuels they seek to phase out globally, the coalition launched one of the most uncompromising climate action blueprints in modern history, setting a confrontational tone ahead of the official First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands.

    More than 50 national delegations are set to convene this week for the intergovernmental summit, but grassroots and civil society groups refused to wait for diplomatic negotiations to wrap before staking out their demands. The coalition released *People’s Declaration for a Rapid, Equitable, and Just Transition for a Fossil-Free Future*, a hard-hitting 15-principle document that rejects incremental policy change and calls for immediate systemic transformation to end the fossil fuel era. The opening line of the declaration leaves no room for ambiguity: the era of incremental negotiation is over, and the era of full implementation of climate action has begun.

    Unlike many mainstream climate statements that frame the climate crisis as an unintended side effect of industrial development, this declaration pulls no punches. It identifies the climate emergency as a direct product of centuries of capitalism, colonial extraction, and global militarism, arguing that the fossil fuel industry is structurally tied to armed conflict and geopolitical tension. It demands that wealthy Global North nations pay climate reparations, not as concessional aid or interest-bearing loans, but as a binding legal and moral obligation to redress centuries of emissions and extraction that have disproportionately harmed low-income Global South communities. The declaration also explicitly rules out so-called “false solutions” including carbon capture and storage, unregulated carbon markets, nuclear energy, and hydrogen co-firing, dismissing these approaches as corporate-backed delaying tactics that preserve the influence of the fossil fuel industry rather than solving the climate crisis. At its core, the document calls for full systemic change, not incremental tweaks to the existing global economic system to make it “greener.”

    The choice of Santa Marta as the launch site was no random decision. As one of Colombia’s largest active coal export hubs, the port puts frontline communities affected by fossil fuel extraction and climate change face-to-face with the industry driving global warming. The timing was also carefully calculated: by releasing the declaration before intergovernmental negotiations began, the coalition aimed to set the terms of debate and hold governments accountable from the opening of the summit. Lidy Nacpil of the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development emphasized the stakes, noting that for frontline communities, a just transition away from fossil fuels is not a policy debate—it is a matter of survival. Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of Climate Action Network International, added that Global South communities uniformly reject non-binding, voluntary climate promises that only reinforce neocolonial economic dependence.

    The declaration distills its demands into four clear, non-negotiable pillars. First, an immediate halt to all new coal, oil, and gas projects, as well as an end to all public and private financing for fossil fuel expansion. The framework sets binding timelines: the Global North must phase out coal by 2030 and end all oil and gas extraction by the early 2030s, while the Global South is granted a slightly extended timeline of 2035 for coal phaseout and 2050 for oil phaseout, aligned with principles of equitable differentiation.

    Second, the declaration demands full payment of climate reparations. It rejects framing climate finance from wealthy nations to low-income nations as charity, arguing that the obligation to pay is rooted in centuries of resource extraction and cumulative emissions that created the climate crisis. The coalition calls for trillions, not billions, in funding, with no attached debt conditions that would force low-income nations to compromise their policy sovereignty.

    Third, the document rules out all policy and technological shortcuts. It rejects carbon capture, carbon offsets, and natural gas as a so-called “transition fuel,” instead demanding a direct shift to community-owned, publicly managed, decentralized renewable energy systems that prioritize frontline community needs over corporate profit.

    Fourth, the declaration explicitly connects fossil fuel dependence to global militarism. It notes that global military spending reached $2.7 trillion in 2024, arguing that the vast majority of these funds should be redirected to renewable energy deployment and climate adaptation in the Global South.

    What sets this declaration apart from the hundreds of climate statements released annually is its willingness to confront the structural roots of the climate crisis, rather than treating fossil fuel dependence as a purely technical energy problem. The document frames the crisis as a question of power: who controls global natural resources, who profits from geopolitical instability, and who bears the cost of climate breakdown. Frontline communities in the Global South—Indigenous territories, Afro-descendant communities, low-income urban and rural populations—contribute the least to global emissions yet face the worst impacts of climate change, from eroding coastlines to failed harvests to skyrocketing energy prices tied to geopolitical fossil fuel disputes.

    This asymmetric burden is the core driver of the declaration’s uncompromising tone, and the coalition anchors its demands in binding international law. It cites the International Court of Justice’s landmark 2025 Advisory Opinion, which affirmed that all nations have legally binding obligations to address climate change, not just voluntary moral commitments.

    As formal intergovernmental negotiations get underway this week, the coalition behind the People’s Declaration has no plans to step back. The group is launching a global campaign called *Fossil Free Rising*, which will coordinate community-led days of action across the world parallel to official conference proceedings. The campaign aims to keep pressure on negotiators to adopt the declaration’s core demands, rather than settling for weak, non-binding commitments that leave the fossil fuel industry intact. The full text of the declaration is available publicly for review and endorsement by groups and individuals worldwide.

  • UDP Senator Says Ramen “Is Sickening Our People”

    UDP Senator Says Ramen “Is Sickening Our People”

    A fiery new debate over food policy, public health and economic strategy has erupted in Belize after United Democratic Party (UDP) Senator Sheena Pitts launched a sharp critique of government plans to prop up domestic processed noodle production, arguing that widely consumed ramen-style noodles are a nutritionally empty product worsening the country’s growing public health crisis.

    Speaking on recent legislative proposals to amend the nation’s Customs and Excise Duties Act, Pitts called into question the wisdom of a government plan that would raise import tariffs on foreign-produced noodles by 20% specifically to benefit local producer Manna Noodles. The policy, framed by the administration as a step to boost domestic food security and local manufacturing, has drawn renewed scrutiny from the senator, who says it prioritizes protectionist economic gains over the long-term health of Belizean people.

    Pitts framed her criticism within the context of a national shift in public attitudes toward economic struggle. “It appears and it has shown itself over time that people have been down so long that they begin to think that down is up. We glorify struggle, oppression, and everything,” she said. While she emphasized she held no personal disrespect toward people who rely on affordable ramen as a staple food, she stressed that the product qualifies as nutritionally empty food, offering minimal nutritional value to consumers who depend on it.

    Drawing on discussions held during a government-hosted Ministry of Health and Agriculture forum on national food health security, Pitts argued that framing food security solely around access to affordable calories is a dangerous mistake for a nation already grappling with skyrocketing rates of lifestyle-related non-communicable diseases. She specifically pointed to the widespread increases in hypertension and diabetes cases across the Caribbean region, noting that encouraging consumption of processed, low-nutrition noodles works against stated public health goals.

    “Here we are, looking at ways to promote a local manufacturer… to produce a food that is sickening our people,” she said.

    Beyond public health, Pitts also pushed back against the government’s unbalanced approach to domestic agricultural support, questioning why the administration’s “strategic trade policy” does not include equivalent protections for Belizean fruit and vegetable producers. Currently, she argued, imported produce undercuts local farmers on price, making it harder for affordable, nutrient-dense local fresh food to compete in domestic markets.

    She called for a more balanced policy framework that prioritizes expanding access to affordable healthy food options for all Belizeans, saying: “Where along with this ‘strategic trade policy’ is there any consideration in providing respite to Belizean farmers against the importation of fruits and vegetables that we grow here? So that at least on a balance we have on the market healthy food choices for Belizean people and, paramount to that, healthy food choices that are affordable.”

    Pitts’ intervention has reshaped the ongoing debate over the tariff amendment, shifting public discussion beyond the familiar arguments over trade protectionism and consumer price increases to a deeper, more fundamental question: what types of food should the Belizean government be actively encouraging its citizens to consume for long-term public health and food sovereignty.

  • All Saints Road Detour in Effect Tonight for Major Works Near Bottom Village

    All Saints Road Detour in Effect Tonight for Major Works Near Bottom Village

    Motorists and local commuters in Antigua and Barbuda are receiving advance official notice of upcoming major infrastructure upgrades that will disrupt travel along a key stretch of All Saints Road next year. The Ministry of Works has announced that large-scale improvement works, a core component of the government’s broader All Saints Road Project, will be carried out between Bottom Village and the Pentecostal Church along the route.

    To accommodate construction activity, a temporary traffic detour will go into effect starting at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, April 27, 2026, and will remain in place until 7:00 a.m. the following morning. The detour plan separates routing for outbound and inbound traffic to minimize confusion during the overnight construction window.

    For drivers traveling out of the main town area who are heading toward All Saints and passing the Midway Service Station en route to destinations beyond the work zone, crews will redirect vehicles onto Freeman’s Village main road to bypass the closed construction site. For those traveling into town, approaching All Saints Service Station on their way to St. John’s and passing beyond the work area, the official detour routes drivers through Jonas Road.

    Crucially, local residents who live in the immediate vicinity of the infrastructure work site will retain full access to their properties throughout the construction period. All businesses located along the affected stretch of road, including both the Midway Service Station and All Saints Service Station referenced in the detour notice, will remain open for normal operations during the work.

    Government officials urge all road users to exercise extra caution when traveling near the work zone, noting that heavy construction equipment will be operating in close proximity to active passageways. As the overnight work is expected to cause minor delays for through traffic, project stakeholders and regular commuters are advised to adjust their travel schedules and route plans ahead of time to account for the disruption.

    Members of the public with questions about the detour or the All Saints Road Project can reach the Project Implementation Management Unit directly by phone at 562-9173 for further information.

  • 29 Countries Meet in Belize to Talk Tourism

    29 Countries Meet in Belize to Talk Tourism

    In the coastal nation of Belize, hundreds of senior tourism stakeholders, policymakers, and industry leaders from 29 countries are convening this week for the 17th annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development, a landmark gathering focused on shaping the future of the region’s most critical economic pillar. Hosted in San Pedro Town and organized jointly by the Belize Tourism Board and the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, the 2026 conference carries the forward-looking theme “Tourism in Full Colour”, a nod to the region’s rich cultural diversity and varied natural landscapes that draw millions of visitors each year.

    In his opening address to more than 300 registered delegates, Belize’s Tourism Minister Anthony Mahler opened with a celebration of his country’s unique tourism assets, from the world-famous Belize Barrier Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to its sprawling intact tropical forests and the vibrant mosaic of Indigenous, Afro-Caribbean, and Latino cultures that shape the nation’s identity. These assets, Mahler emphasized, form the irreplaceable backbone of Belize’s tourism industry and set the template for sustainable development across the region.

    Mahler went on to underscore the outsized economic importance of tourism to the Caribbean that few other global regions can match. Across the Caribbean bloc, tourism contributes an average of 32% to total gross domestic product, a share that jumps to over 90% for the region’s smallest island developing states. Global data underscores the sector’s rapid recent rebound following the COVID-19 pandemic: in 2025, the international tourism sector welcomed a record-breaking 1.5 billion international tourists worldwide, generating $2.2 trillion in global export revenues. The Caribbean alone captured 70 million of these visitors, cementing its status as one of the world’s most popular leisure travel destinations. “For many of our nations, tourism is not merely a sector of the economy,” Mahler told attendees. “It is the economy.”

    Yet the minister did not shy away from the pressing existential challenges that threaten to undermine decades of tourism-led growth in the region. He highlighted that the global tourism sector accounts for roughly 10% of total global greenhouse gas emissions, and despite widespread net-zero commitments from major cruise line and aviation groups that drive much of the region’s visitor arrival, emissions from the sector continue to climb year over year.

    Worsening this imbalance, Mahler noted, is the profound climate injustice facing small Caribbean nations. While the region contributes less than 1% of global cumulative greenhouse gas emissions, it bears the brunt of climate change impacts that directly erode tourism assets. These impacts include accelerating beach erosion that degrades popular coastal resorts, widespread coral bleaching that damages the reef systems that draw millions of eco-tourists each year, and persistent sargassum blooms that foul popular shorelines across the Caribbean. “Those who continue to create the problems must pay for the solutions,” Mahler asserted, echoing longstanding calls from climate-vulnerable small island developing states for increased climate finance and emission reductions from major global emitters.

    Despite these challenges, Mahler highlighted Belize’s proactive steps to serve as a regional leader in sustainable tourism management. The country has established a connected network of more than 103 protected areas that conserve critical ecosystems while creating opportunities for low-impact eco-tourism. It also secured a landmark Blue Bond debt restructuring deal that freed up public funds for marine conservation, and became one of the first countries in the region to implement binding cruise tourism carrying capacity limits to prevent overcrowding and environmental degradation at popular visitor sites.

    The multi-day conference is scheduled to continue through the end of the week, with delegates set to hold working sessions on sustainable financing, climate adaptation, community-led tourism development, and strategies to cut tourism-related emissions across the Caribbean.

  • Mayers rewrites BKA history books

    Mayers rewrites BKA history books

    The 2026 Sectus Technologies Barbados Karting Association (BKA) Championship held its third competitive round on Sunday, and the event made unforgettable history for the island nation’s karting community. Eleven-year-old Ava Mayers delivered a stunning performance in the Easykart 60cc Cadet class, claiming three race victories and securing the highest overall points total across all classes on raceday – a milestone never before achieved by a female karter in the BKA’s 40 years of organized competition.

    While a small number of female drivers have claimed individual class victory at past BKA racedays – most notably Kayleigh Catwell, who topped her class twice in 2018 before finishing second overall in the 100cc championship behind Calem Maloney – no woman had ever climbed to the very top of the day’s overall standings before Mayers’ historic win.

    Mayers set the tone for her historic day early, posting the fastest qualifying time out of the six competing Cadet drivers. She grabbed the lead early in the opening race and held off all challenges to cross the finish line more than two seconds ahead of championship leader Edward Norris, who put on an impressive comeback drive of his own after a qualifying first-lap breakdown left him starting at the back of the grid. Finn Cox crossed the line in third position to round out the opening race podium.

    In the reverse-grid second race, Mayers again seized the advantage immediately after the green flag, with Norris and Cox replicating their opening race results to finish second and third respectively. The third race saw a shift in momentum, as Norris reclaimed his pace at the front of the pack. A first-lap collision between Mayers and Cox dropped Mayers to the back of the starting order, but the young driver fought her way through the field to reclaim a podium position. Cox received a penalty for the incident that pushed him from second place down to fourth, behind Mayers and Shamer Eversley.

    Mayers sealed her perfect day with a third victory in the final race of the class, with Cox and Norris completing the overall podium for the round. Despite his solid second-place finish across the round, Norris retains his lead in both the 60cc class standings and the overall BKA championship.

    The event also saw intense competition in the Easykart 125cc class, where Mayers’ older brother Jacob Mayers also put on a dominant performance to start the round. Jacob claimed pole position in qualifying and posted the first of three fastest laps on his way to a flag-to-flag victory in the opening race. Aaron Blackett finished second in the opening contest, while Aeden Bruce held off a hard challenge from Cody Mark to take third.

    Blackett led every lap of the reverse-grid second race, while Jacob recovered from an early first-lap spin to cross the line third. That result was revised after the race, however, when Bruce received a 10-second penalty for starting outside the designated track lines, moving Jacob up to second.

    Jacob’s luck turned for the worse at the start of the third 125cc race, when his kart’s starter failed, ending his day of competition early. Blackett claimed a narrow victory in the contest, beating Bruce to the line by just nine-tenths of a second after Bruce fought a tense late-race battle with Mark.

    Jacob returned to form in the final 125cc race of the day, claiming a comfortable victory. Bruce put on a late charge to overtake Blackett for second place on the very last lap. Despite the late race loss of position, Blackett still managed to overhaul Jacob’s earlier points lead, taking the top spot in the 125cc class standings by just three points heading into future rounds.

    In the Easykart 100cc class, pole sitter Jaydn Brathwaite turned his qualifying pace into an unprecedented clean sweep for the 2026 season, winning all four races held at the round and posting the fastest lap in every contest. Jordyn Hinkson and Jaylan Priddee matched their podium positions across every race of the round, finishing second and third overall respectively.

  • No Explosive Found After Bomb Threat at Police Headquarters

    No Explosive Found After Bomb Threat at Police Headquarters

    On the morning of Monday, April 27, 2026, a security incident unfolded at the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda’s headquarters in St. John’s that prompted a full-scale emergency response, after officials received an anonymous bomb threat targeting the building.

    According to official statements from the force’s Office of Strategic Communications, the threatening call came in just before 10 a.m., when the unknown caller claimed an explosive device had been hidden inside the police headquarters. Acting rapidly to prioritize the safety of all personnel and visitors on site, police leadership immediately triggered standard evacuation protocols, ordering every person inside the premises to exit in an orderly fashion. The evacuation was completed without any injuries or security complications, moving all occupants to a safe distance away from the building.

    Immediately following the evacuation, the force’s specialized Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team was deployed to sweep the building and its adjacent surrounding areas, with additional support from the police K-9 unit trained in explosive detection. After completing a comprehensive, room-by-room search of the entire facility and surrounding grounds, the EOD team confirmed that no explosive devices or suspicious materials matching the caller’s description were found. With the all-clear officially given, the headquarters was reopened, and all regular police operations resumed as scheduled shortly after the incident.

    Senior leaders with the Royal Police Force have issued a strong condemnation of the deliberate hoax, noting that the false threat created unnecessary public anxiety, disrupted critical law enforcement operations, and wasted valuable emergency response resources that would otherwise be available for legitimate threats to public safety. Officials emphasized that hoax bomb threats are classified as serious criminal offenses under Antigua and Barbuda law, and those responsible will face full legal consequences if apprehended.

    The force’s Criminal Investigations Department has already opened a formal investigation to trace the caller and identify the individual responsible for the incident. Police are now appealing to members of the public who may have any relevant information that could assist with the investigation to come forward. Tips can be submitted directly to the CID hotline at 462-3913, or shared anonymously via the independent Crimestoppers hotline at 800-TIPS (8477). All information provided will be kept strictly confidential, according to police officials.