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  • Shermel Timothy makes history as Dominica’s first woman candidate chess master

    Shermel Timothy makes history as Dominica’s first woman candidate chess master

    The small Caribbean nation of Dominica has etched a new milestone into its emerging athletic history, after homegrown chess player Shermel Timothy claimed the coveted Woman Candidate Master (WCM) title at the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. This groundbreaking win marks the first time any Dominican player has earned this international title, cementing Timothy’s place as a trailblazer for the country’s growing chess community.

    To secure the accolade, Timothy delivered a standout performance across 10 rounds of competitive play at the prestigious global tournament, finishing with a strong total score of 5.5 points, enough to meet the qualification requirements for the FIDE WCM title.

    Officials from the Dominica Chess Federation have publicly celebrated Timothy’s historic achievement, praising the years of relentless dedication, consistent hard work and unwavering persistence that allowed her to reach this international standard. In a statement following the announcement of her title, the federation emphasized that Timothy’s success is a direct reflection of the benefits that come with sustained commitment to elite chess competition.

    Beyond marking a personal victory for Timothy, the milestone is widely viewed as a turning point for the development of chess across Dominica. Federation leaders expect her breakthrough on the global stage will encourage a new generation of young Dominican chess enthusiasts to pursue the sport, hone their skills, and aim for competitive success at the highest international levels.

  • Two Antigua and Barbuda Players Sent Off for Pulling Anguilla Player’s Dreadlocks

    Two Antigua and Barbuda Players Sent Off for Pulling Anguilla Player’s Dreadlocks

    A Concacaf Nations League fixture hosted at Antigua and Barbuda’s Sir Vivian Richards Stadium took an unexpected turn on Wednesday, when two home team players were ejected from the match for aggressive fouls targeting the extraordinarily long dreadlocks of Anguilla substitute forward Aedan Scipio.

    Ranked 210th in the latest FIFA global rankings — a slot that places them only above San Marino in the global pecking order — Anguilla entered the second half of the contest already trailing 5-0 against the hosts. To inject fresh energy into his side’s attack, head coach Daryl Phillips brought 36-year-old Scipio off the bench in the 69th minute to change the game’s dynamic.

    What followed was a pair of bizarre, unsportsmanlike incidents that have drawn widespread attention across international football circles. Just three minutes after Scipio entered the pitch, Antigua and Barbuda defender Keon Greene received an immediate straight red card for intentionally grabbing Scipio’s signature locks, which extend all the way down to the player’s ankles. To accommodate their extreme length during play, Scipio typically secures the dreadlocks wrapped against his torso with a elastic band, but that did not stop the foul.

    The sequence of hair-pulling did not end with Greene’s dismissal. In the final minutes of stoppage time added on to the second half, a second Antigua and Barbuda player, Shalon Knight, repeated the same aggressive act: grabbing Scipio’s dreadlocks from behind and yanking him hard enough to pull the Anguilla substitute to the turf. Referee Benjamin Whitty had no hesitation in showing Knight a straight red as well, leaving the host side down to just nine players for the final minutes of the match.

    The unusual nature of the dismissals has sparked discussion online about unsportsmanlike conduct and the unique challenges athletes with distinct physical features face in competitive football, with many fans and pundits condemning the two fouls as unnecessary and unsporting. As of the latest update, Concacaf has not announced any additional disciplinary action against the two players beyond their match-day dismissals.

  • Four probationary police officers dismissed from police force

    Four probationary police officers dismissed from police force

    At an official press conference hosted by the Ministry of National Security and Legal Affairs, Dominica’s top law enforcement leader has confirmed that four probationary members of the national police force have been terminated from their positions amid an ongoing internal investigation.

    Police Chief Lincoln Corbette, the head of the island nation’s police service, outlined key details of the dismissals while withholding sensitive information that has not been made public. Among the four fired officers, one has not faced any formal criminal charges, Corbette explained. Even so, the officer’s on-the-job behavior and inappropriate language triggered substantial concerns among department leadership that rose to a level severe enough to justify removal while the individual was still serving in their probationary status. Chief Corbette declined to disclose the officer’s name, nor did he release a full accounting of the specific allegations leveled against the terminated employee.

    Corbette went on to clarify the standard operating procedures for newly recruited law enforcement officers in Dominica. All new hires are required to complete a two-year probationary term before gaining permanent status, and this trial period can be extended at the department’s discretion if needed. Throughout this probationary window, any officer found to be lacking in personal character or unfit for the demands of police service can be dismissed through the department’s formal disciplinary process. Before a final termination decision is made, the officer must receive formal notice of the concerns raised about their conduct and be given a fair opportunity to respond to those claims.

    In this specific case, the police chief confirmed that all four affected officers were given adequate time to prepare and submit their responses to the allegations. For one of the four officers, leadership granted an extended deadline to allow more time for their response.

    A fifth officer connected to the underlying investigation has already completed their probationary period, and is currently going through a separate review process, according to Corbette. Any criminal proceedings involving this officer will take priority over internal disciplinary action, but administrative disciplinary measures can still be pursued in line with established institutional protocols once the criminal process moves forward.

    Chief Corbette did not share a full public breakdown of the investigation that led to the dismissals, and he declined to name which of the officers involved are currently facing criminal charges. His remarks, however, made a clear distinction between two separate processes: termination from the police force and criminal prosecution, emphasizing that these outcomes are decided independently of one another.

  • BAS rejects claims Paul was fired or barred from meeting

    BAS rejects claims Paul was fired or barred from meeting

    Rumors of a sudden, forced departure for former Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) chief executive James Paul have been emphatically rejected by top leaders of the 181-year-old organization, who have clarified that Paul’s exit aligns with long-planned leadership transition and organizational restructuring efforts.

    Amid growing public speculation about the circumstances of Paul’s exit, BAS President Henderson Williams and board member McDonald Stevenson have pushed back against claims that the 70-something former CEO was fired abruptly or intentionally barred from a recent sectoral membership meeting. Speaking on behalf of the society’s 12-member governing board, Stevenson confirmed that the leadership transition process had been in development for an extended period, noting that Paul had reached standard retirement age and the board was implementing structural adjustments to strengthen the institution for the future.

    “This was never a case of dismissing Mr. Paul – it was simply a matter of him reaching the pre-established retirement age for the role,” Stevenson explained. He added that board leaders held multiple discussions with Paul throughout the year, giving him months of advance notice of his planned exit and even offering him a consultancy position to support a smooth handover of responsibilities during the transition. According to Stevenson, Paul never raised objections to the plan during these negotiations and was fully aware of his official retirement date long before it took effect.

    Williams reinforced the board’s position, emphasizing that the transition was a collective, board-level decision – not a unilateral personal move – designed to secure the long-term viability of Barbados’ oldest non-governmental organization. “The organization cannot stagnate while the board stands by and does nothing to revitalize it,” Williams said. “I have no issue with senior leaders in their 70s continuing to work, but at the end of the day, we have a responsibility to ensure this institution remains fit to serve its purpose for the farming community.”

    Williams also addressed the most high-profile rumor fueling public speculation: claims that Paul was deliberately locked out of a recent pig farmers association meeting held under the BAS umbrella. The BAS president clarified that attendance at the meeting was strictly limited to registered commodity group members, a standard rule that applied to all non-members, including Paul. As a non-registered pig farmer, Paul was not eligible to attend, Williams explained, adding that it is longstanding protocol for the BAS chief executive to maintain independence from individual commodity groups to ensure they remain impartial to all sectors of the farming community.

    Williams added that the strict attendance rule was also implemented in response to unusual circumstances surrounding the meeting: organizers received multiple warnings of a coordinated effort to oust the current pig farmers association president, with unusually high registrations from external stakeholders. “We got repeated calls about a large-scale canvassing effort underway, involving people who should have remained independent,” Williams said. “Amid all that uncertainty, we decided the best way to protect the integrity of the meeting and the participants was to bar non-member attendance.”

    Stevenson urged the public and Barbados’ farming community to remember that the BAS is governed by a collective board of management, not controlled by any single individual.

    Founded by an Act of Parliament in 1845 – just seven years after the abolition of slavery in Barbados, as thousands of newly emancipated people joined the island’s society and economy as wage laborers and smallholder farmers – the BAS has evolved dramatically over its nearly two centuries of operation. Originally created to represent the interests of white planter former enslavers, the organization has transformed into an umbrella non-governmental body supporting all Barbadian farmers, commodity groups and rural producers. Its core mandates include advancing agricultural diversification beyond the historic sugar industry, supporting farmers with marketing access, strengthening national food security, and organizing the annual flagship Agrofest agricultural exhibition. Much of the organization’s modern transformation starting in the late 1970s has been attributed to former long-time general manager Haynesley Benn and his successor James Paul.

  • Ghanaian nurses to enjoy enhanced salaries, insurance, rent allowance under new Ghana–Saint Kitts agreement

    Ghanaian nurses to enjoy enhanced salaries, insurance, rent allowance under new Ghana–Saint Kitts agreement

    A landmark bilateral labour agreement between Ghana and the Caribbean nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis has secured a robust package of improved employment benefits and legal protections for Ghanaian nursing professionals who relocate to work in the Caribbean country.

    The historic deal was signed during the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, with Dr Geoffrey Hanley, Deputy Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, putting pen to paper on the agreement.

    Under the terms of the new deal, every Ghanaian nurse accepting employment in Saint Kitts and Nevis will be legally entitled to boosted, competitive salaries, comprehensive health insurance coverage, dedicated rent allowance to offset living costs, and full end-of-service benefits, alongside all core fundamental labour rights. This agreement formalizes a structured labor mobility pathway that had already been activated in prior months, when Ghana opened official overseas recruitment for nurses seeking positions in Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the first cohort of 47 nurses already departed for the Caribbean to take up their roles.

    Speaking after the signing ceremony, Ablakwa praised Ghanaian healthcare professionals for their consistent global recognition, noting that nations across the world increasingly seek out Ghanaian nurses for their exceptional skills, expertise, and professional dedication. He added that these global demand for Ghanaian medical professionals has brought significant pride to the West African nation on the international stage.

    The agreement also underscores Ghana’s ongoing foreign policy priority of advancing people-centered, result-driven diplomacy that delivers tangible, positive outcomes for Ghanaian citizens, whether they work within the country or pursue opportunities across the globe.

  • St. Kitts and Nevis: Minister mourns death of cultural icon Larry Lucien “Alamoulou” Armony – WIC News

    St. Kitts and Nevis: Minister mourns death of cultural icon Larry Lucien “Alamoulou” Armony – WIC News

    The small Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis is united in grief this week following the death of one of its most influential cultural stewards, Larry Lucien “Alamoulou” Armony, who passed away on September 22, 2026, at the age of 80. Samal Duggins, the country’s Minister of Agriculture and the official responsible for cultural policy, has released a formal statement honoring Armony’s decades of transformative contributions to the nation’s artistic and heritage landscape, extending deep condolences to the icon’s family, friends, and the broader Caribbean creative community.

    In his tribute, Duggins emphasized that Armony’s life’s work extended far beyond the realm of performance, framing his legacy as one of deliberate dedication to protecting, codifying, and amplifying the unique national identity of St. Kitts and Nevis. A multi-hyphenate creative and thinker, Armony built a career spanning six core roles: educator, historian, cultural advocate, poet, songwriter, musician, and celebrated calypsonian – a tradition of folk musical commentary central to Caribbean culture. Unlike many who reduce culture to mere leisure entertainment, Duggins noted, Armony always understood its foundational power to shape collective identity and bind communities across generations.

    Through every project he undertook, Armony held up a mirror to St. Kitts and Nevis society, centered untold local stories, and championed the folk traditions, shared heritage, and original creative expressions that define the nation’s people, Duggins added. As a calypsonian, Armony’s singular voice produced enduring works that remain staples of local cultural life, most notably the beloved pieces *Together* and *In Everything*. His advocacy reached far beyond calypso, however, encompassing nearly every corner of St. Kitts and Nevis’ cultural ecosystem: he worked to protect national folklore, preserve historic local architecture, advance environmental conservation tied to cultural heritage, and lift up both performing and visual arts across the islands.

    “As Minister with responsibility for Culture, I am grateful for the contribution he made over decades of service and for his unwavering commitment to ensuring that our heritage was valued and passed on,” Duggins wrote in the statement. The minister closed his tribute by noting that while Armony’s physical voice has been silenced by death, the stories he shared, the music he composed, and the cultural legacy he spent a lifetime safeguarding will continue to resonate with the people of St. Kitts and Nevis for generations to come. He ended with a final wish: “May Larry ‘Alamoulou’ Armony rest in eternal peace.”

  • SVG moves to contain tourism fallout from mass shooting

    SVG moves to contain tourism fallout from mass shooting

    In the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) in more than a year, Caribbean nation’s senior officials have moved quickly to mitigate widespread reputational harm that threatens two of the country’s key economic pillars: tourism and foreign investment.

    A Friday shooting in the Green Hill area left four people dead and four others wounded, marking the worst act of gun violence in SVG since a 2023 Kingstown incident that claimed five lives. The violence drew widespread international coverage from major global outlets including CNN and the BBC, alongside widespread discussion across regional media platforms and social media, that Deputy Prime Minister and National Security Minister St. Clair Leacock describes as deeply damaging to the country’s global image.

    Speaking to local outlet NICE Radio’s *New Times* programme on Monday, Leacock outlined the cross-government response to the crisis, which pairs a firm security crackdown on violence with a coordinated outreach campaign designed to reassure potential visitors and overseas investors that SVG remains open and welcoming. Tourism Minister Kishore Shallow has already assembled a dedicated damage control task force, Leacock confirmed, led by Tourism Authority CEO Shafia London and made up of senior marketing specialists.

    The team’s core mandate is to directly engage with key target audiences to push back against the negative narrative that has emerged from the international coverage. Leacock emphasized that the messaging from the campaign is straightforward: the islands remain a top-tier, welcoming travel destination, and travelers should continue to plan their visits as scheduled.
    “It’s still a wonderful place to be. It still is your choice destination. By all means, come to St. Vincent, the Grenadines,” Leacock said, repeating the core line of the tourism outreach effort.
    Beyond tourism, SVG has activated its global diplomatic and trade networks to protect the country’s investment profile. Invest SVG, foreign service personnel, and trade representatives based at embassies and high commissions across the world have been tasked with continuing to promote the country as an attractive destination for overseas business, and to address any concerns international firms may have following the shooting.
    Leacock acknowledged that the government is navigating a delicate balance in its public response: officials must respond firmly to the violence and reassure locals and the global community that the security situation is being addressed, but avoid overstating the risk in ways that would deepen economic harm. He noted that tourism is particularly vulnerable to collateral damage from negative headlines, with economic ripple effects that extend far beyond the immediate security response to an incident of violence.
    “When you do something to national security, it doesn’t end there,” he explained.
    The whole-of-government response extends far beyond law enforcement action, Leacock added, with the tourism and investment outreach forming a core part of the national effort to limit the long-term consequences of the weekend violence and maintain widespread confidence in the country’s stability and economic prospects.

  • Gonsalves rejects claim ULP operatives fueled int’l coverage of Green Hill killings

    Gonsalves rejects claim ULP operatives fueled int’l coverage of Green Hill killings

    A high-profile political dispute has erupted in St. Vincent and the Grenadines over the widespread international coverage of a deadly mass shooting that left four people dead and four others wounded in Green Hill last Friday. At the center of the controversy is opposition leader Ralph Gonsalves, head of the Unity Labour Party (ULP), who has forcefully rejected claims from ruling New Democratic Party (NDP) activists that ULP operatives deliberately contacted foreign news outlets to secure widespread coverage of the violent incident.

    Gonsalves laid out his full rebuttal during an interview with local outlet Star Radio this Monday, dismissing the accusation as one of the most absurd claims he has ever encountered in his political career. He explained that global news organizations do not need prompting from local political operatives to cover major violent events, noting that the scale of the shooting combined with St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ established international standing naturally drew global media attention.

    The opposition leader pointed to the Caribbean nation’s recent high-profile global roles to back up his argument: St. Vincent and the Grenadines held a seat on the United Nations Security Council in 2020 and 2021, and has also served as head of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). He added that information about the shooting was already publicly available via statements from sitting government ministers, giving global outlets all the material they needed to develop their own reports. International news outlets routinely source stories from local journalists, regional correspondents, and official public statements when deciding what content to publish, Gonsalves argued, rejecting any claim of covert ULP orchestration.

    Gonsalves further pushed back against the NDP’s claims by pointing to a double standard in the ruling party’s narrative. He recalled a 2023 mass shooting in Kingstown that left five people dead — an incident that occurred when he served as both prime minister and national security minister — which received far less global coverage than the recent Green Hill attack. If the ULP were deliberately pushing bad news abroad to damage the country’s reputation, he implied, the 2023 shooting would have generated far more international attention.

    To illustrate the breadth of global coverage the recent shooting has received, Gonsalves named dozens of major international outlets that have run reports on the incident, including Al Jazeera, ABC News, Fox News, Yahoo News, the New York Post, United News of India, the UK’s Daily Express, Daily Star, Daily Mail, Firstpost, the Oskaloosa Herald from Iowa, London-based Brief International, an unnamed Russian outlet, and the BBC. He also confirmed that an Associated Press correspondent based in the Caribbean has covered the story alongside local SVG news organizations.

    In a sharp counteraccusation, Gonsalves argued that the ruling NDP itself is responsible for amplifying negative perceptions of the country abroad. He noted that sitting NDP leadership has repeatedly run public campaigns, including billboard advertisements, labeling St. Vincent and the Grenadines a “failed state” — a framing that encourages global media to focus on negative events like mass shootings.

    “It is not in the ULP DNA to bad-mouth St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” Gonsalves emphasized, adding that the opposition has no incentive to undermine the country’s global reputation. He also noted that St. Vincent and the Grenadines has built significant international visibility as a luxury tourism destination, pointing to widespread global marketing from major resort brands like Sandals. This existing global profile, he said, is the real reason the shooting drew so much international attention, not any covert political plot. Gonsalves closed by acknowledging that high-profile violent incidents like the Green Hill shooting do carry real risks, noting that the event could ultimately damage the island nation’s positive international image as a safe, attractive tourism destination.

  • Contractarbeid en historische gelijkwaardigheid

    Contractarbeid en historische gelijkwaardigheid

    On Monday in The Hague, Rabin Baldewsingh, the head of the Dutch National Coordinator against Discrimination and Racism (NCDR), formally presented a landmark advisory report titled *Contract Labor and Historical Equivalence* to the Dutch government. The report focuses on the underaddressed history of indentured contract labor carried out by Chinese, Hindustani, and Javanese people during the Netherlands’ colonial era.

    This development comes as the Netherlands has made incremental but significant progress in confronting its colonial past in recent years. The most high-profile steps include the Dutch government’s official apology for the country’s history of chattel slavery in December 2022, followed by a similar apology from King Willem-Alexander during the national slavery commemoration held in Amsterdam in July 2023. To back this reckoning, the government has allocated more than €200 million to fund initiatives centered on public awareness, formal recognition, and ongoing reckoning with the slavery legacy, with a portion of the funding earmarked for projects in Suriname, the former Dutch colony at the heart of this history.

    This growing national reckoning with slavery has opened wider space for public dialogue about other understudied chapters of Dutch colonial history. As a sign of this expanding conversation, King Willem-Alexander is set to receive a five-volume set of research findings on the role of the House of Orange-Nassau in Dutch colonial history spanning from 1600 to 2025 this Friday in Leiden. The comprehensive research was conducted by a team of 60 academics led by Professor Gert Oostindie, with former Member of the House of Representatives Kathleen Ferrier serving on the project’s oversight committee.

    Against this backdrop, the history of contract labor in Suriname has emerged as a critical next chapter demanding formal public attention. This history shaped the development of both Suriname and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the descendants of Chinese, Hindustani, and Javanese contract workers have integrated this legacy into modern Dutch society. Even so, the history of colonial contract labor has long been overshadowed by the national focus on chattel slavery in Suriname.

    Over the past several months, the NCDR collaborated with academic researchers, subject-matter experts, heritage professionals, and community representatives from the Chinese, Hindustani, and Javanese communities to examine how this history is positioned in the Netherlands’ collective national memory. The final product is the new advisory report, which centers on the core principle of “historical equivalence.” The report outlines six interconnected recommendations structured around three core pillars: recognition, institutional embedding, and public connection. As one key example of the proposals, the NCDR recommends establishing a national Knowledge Institute for Contract Labor to embed this history in public research and education.

    In remarks following the presentation, Baldewsingh emphasized the core message of the report: “The principle of historical equivalence is the most important idea I deliver to the government. It means that all major chapters of the Netherlands’ colonial past must be carefully and sustainably recognized, researched, preserved, taught, and passed to future generations. This does not mean every history must be commemorated in exactly the same way or carry the same character. But a society that claims to be willing to confront its past cannot remain selective about which chapters it chooses to make visible.”

    Barbera Wolfensberger, Director-General for Kingdom Relations at the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, accepted the report on behalf of the Dutch government. In her response, she committed to working to ensure the government will integrate the history of contract labor into all future discussions of the Dutch colonial past, noting that indentured contract labor is inextricably linked to the history of Dutch chattel slavery in Suriname.

  • Tougher measures to protect young people

    Tougher measures to protect young people

    Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is set to introduce landmark legislative reforms to Parliament that will significantly hike minimum legal age limits for access to alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and gambling, in a sweeping bid to shield the nation’s youth from long-term harm caused by substance abuse and risky behavior.

    Under the proposed changes, which fulfil a core campaign pledge made by the ruling United National Congress (UNC) ahead of the 2025 general election, the legal minimum age to buy, possess, or consume alcohol and tobacco will jump from the current threshold of 18 to 21. For cannabis and all forms of regulated gambling, the new minimum age will be raised even further, to 25 years old. The overhaul will require amendments to seven existing national laws, including the Dangerous Drugs Act, Tobacco Control Act, Liquor Licences Act, Cannabis Control Act 2022, and Gambling (Gaming and Betting) Control Act 2021, to bring all regulatory frameworks in line with the new age restrictions.

    In a public announcement shared via social media over the weekend, Persad-Bissessar framed the reforms as a deliberate, evidence-backed step to protect the nation’s young people, who she described as the future custodians of Trinidad and Tobago. “I am resolute in my duty to protect and safeguard the young people of Trinidad and Tobago, the future custodians of our beloved nation, from the pernicious consequences that result from the use and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and other dangerous drugs,” the Prime Minister said.

    She emphasized that the new age thresholds are not arbitrary policy changes, but flow from the government’s unwavering commitment to upholding the health, safety and moral well-being of the country’s youth population. Early, unregulated exposure to these substances and activities, she argued, creates grave, long-lasting harm that extends beyond individual users to damage family units and weaken entire communities. Persad-Bissessar specifically noted that underage gambling poses a unique threat to young people’s long-term financial stability, as well as their moral and social development.

    The government’s core goal with the legislative overhaul is to strengthen the national legal framework designed to protect young people, curb growing rates of youth substance abuse, and mitigate the well-documented harms linked to early exposure to gambling. “By acting decisively, my Government seeks to ensure that the next generation is afforded every opportunity to grow, learn and succeed without being harmed by early exposure to dangerous substances or risky behaviours,” Persad-Bissessar said.

    The Prime Minister reaffirmed her administration’s pledge to both enact and rigorously enforce these new protective measures, framing the reform as a core promise to the nation’s youth. “This is the binding oath of a Prime Minister who is steadfast in my love for our young people,” she added. Ultimately, the reforms are designed to clear the way for young Trinidadians and Tobagonians to thrive and meaningfully contribute to national development, free from the irreversible damage that early substance use and problem gambling can inflict.