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  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Ebola risk upgraded to ‘very high’ in DR Congo — WHO chief

    Ebola risk upgraded to ‘very high’ in DR Congo — WHO chief

    GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — In an updated official briefing held Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a critical escalation of its public health risk assessment for the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), raising the national-level threat from high to very high.

    Speaking to reporters at the organization’s Geneva headquarters, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus outlined the tiered risk breakdown: while the national threat now stands at very high, the risk of regional cross-border spread remains categorized as high, and the global risk level stays at low.

    As of the latest update, outbreak data reveals a stark gap between confirmed and suspected infections that points to significant underreporting. So far, 82 cases have been laboratory-confirmed, with seven recorded deaths among confirmed patients. However, Tedros emphasized that the true scale of the epidemic is far larger, with nearly 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected fatalities across affected areas of the country.

    “The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is spreading rapidly,” Tedros told the assembled press, confirming the urgent need for expanded response efforts.

    Neighboring Uganda has so far seen a contained impact, with only two confirmed cases traced back to cross-border travel from the DRC, one of which resulted in death. The situation in Uganda remains currently stable, per WHO’s assessment.

    A major complicating factor slowing the global public health response, Tedros noted, is persistent violence and widespread insecurity in affected regions of the DRC. Unrest has blocked aid workers from accessing hard-hit communities, delayed diagnostic testing, and hindered the implementation of life-saving containment measures that could slow the outbreak’s advance.

  • Kintyre posts $531m profit on paper gains as cash from operations falls short

    Kintyre posts $531m profit on paper gains as cash from operations falls short

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — A Jamaican conglomerate has posted one of the sharpest quarterly profit spikes in recent regional corporate history, but the spectacular result masks underlying cash flow challenges that are already drawing scrutiny from market observers. Kintyre Holdings has announced that its net profit reached $531.3 million for the first three months of the year, ending March 31, a staggering jump from just $8.4 million recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2025. Total top-line income also surged from $34.1 million a year earlier to $565.7 million in the latest reporting period.

    Virtually all of this extraordinary growth traces back to a single accounting adjustment: a $510 million upward revaluation of investment properties controlled by the firm’s real estate subsidiary, Parallel Real Estate Ventures. This non-cash gain alone accounted for approximately 90% of the group’s total reported income for the quarter.

    Under established International Financial Reporting Standards, property-holding firms are mandated to conduct regular open-market reassessments of their investment real estate portfolios. When valuations rise, the full amount of the increase must be recorded as income on financial statements, even though no property has been sold and no actual cash has changed hands. By the end of March, Kintyre’s total investment property valuation hit $767 million, up from $234 million just three months prior — a $533 million gain that exists almost entirely on paper.

    This technical accounting distinction carries critical weight for investors, because reported profit and operational cash flow are far from interchangeable metrics. A company can post headline-grabbing profits driven by asset appreciation while still struggling to generate the liquid capital required to cover supplier payments, debt obligations and daily operating expenses. This exact dynamic played out in Kintyre’s latest quarterly results.

    When the non-cash property revaluation is excluded from calculations, the firm recorded a $1.4 million net cash outflow from core operating activities during the quarter. That marks a major reversal from the same period last year, when Kintyre generated a positive $25.3 million in operating cash flow. Company leadership attributes this weakening to the rollout of multiple new business divisions, most of which are still in early developmental stages and not yet generating revenue.

    At the end of the quarter, Kintyre held just $2.2 million in cash reserves against a $3.4 million bank overdraft, leaving the firm with a negative net cash position of $1.2 million. While this represents an improvement from the negative $3.6 million net cash position recorded in the first quarter of 2025, the company still remains in a cash deficit.

    For most market analysts and investors, consistent positive operating cash flow is viewed as a far more dependable indicator of long-term corporate financial health than paper gains from asset revaluations. Even so, the upward property adjustment has dramatically strengthened Kintyre’s reported balance sheet. Total company assets climbed from $1.12 billion at the end of December 2025 to $1.68 billion by the end of March, while shareholders’ equity jumped 76% to $1.23 billion.

    One balance sheet detail that is expected to attract investor attention is the large volume of transactions between Kintyre and its related parties. As of March 31, related entities and individuals connected to Kintyre through shared ownership or management owed the group $197.3 million — a sum that makes up more than half of Kintyre’s total current assets. On the liability side, Kintyre itself owed $130.4 million to these same related parties. While such interconnected transactions are common for small, expanding conglomerates in early growth phases, they do mean a large share of the firm’s liquid assets and outstanding obligations exist outside of fully independent, arm’s-length commercial agreements.

    Administrative and acquisition costs rose 137.7% year-over-year to $22.2 million this quarter, a jump driven by startup expenses connected to the launch of the company’s new Spirits Division and the deployment of water bottling production infrastructure.

    Kintyre’s aggressive expansion across multiple sectors continued moving forward during the quarter. In January, the firm finalized its acquisition of Kulcha Rum, marking its official entry into the spirits market, and has already begun a full rebranding process for the acquired product line. Its water bottling subsidiary BOLD has invested $525,000 in automated production technology and has started fulfilling commercial customer orders through distribution partner Miracle Corporation. The new bottling plant boasts a monthly production capacity equivalent to $75 million in finished bottled water products.

    On the real estate front, the Chalet at Bengal Beach, a 26-unit beachfront residential development planned for Discovery Bay, St Ann, secured all required regulatory and environmental approvals during the quarter, clearing the way for construction to begin. Company management is currently evaluating two options: moving forward with development in-house, or selling the fully approved site to an outside developer. Work is also progressing on subdividing the company’s large Stony Hill land holding into individual residential lots.

    Beyond these core projects, Kintyre is advancing planning work on a 170-acre quarry development in Clarendon, and continues to move forward with its proposed acquisition of outdoor advertising firm OOH Media Services. If completed, the purchase would expand the group’s media portfolio beyond its existing Visual Vibe operations.

    Today, Kintyre is building a diversified operating portfolio spanning real estate, spirits production, bottled water, media and industrial quarrying. For investors, the central question going into future quarters will be whether this fast-expanding portfolio can ultimately generate enough consistent cash earnings to match the surge in the company’s asset base.

  • Zimi joins historic dancehall moment with official Sumfest after-party

    Zimi joins historic dancehall moment with official Sumfest after-party

    Jamaican entertainment is gearing up for one of the most highly anticipated cultural moments in modern dancehall history, and local entertainment brand Zimi Entertainment has locked in a central role in shaping the landmark occasion.

    Zimi has entered an official partnership with Reggae Sumfest to produce the exclusive after-party for A Taste of Sumfest, the opening showcase headlined by two of dancehall’s most iconic and influential artists, Vybz Kartel and Mavado. Dubbed the Zimi Seh Brunch, this premium experiential event is scheduled to run from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday, July 19, in St Ann, serving as the grand closing celebration for a weekend that fans across the globe have already crowned as a historic moment for Jamaican music.

    Frenzy around this year’s Reggae Sumfest has reached a fever pitch almost entirely because of the unprecedented joint appearance from Kartel and Mavado. The two genre-defining stars have not shared a stage together for more than 15 years, marking their upcoming performance as a long-awaited reunion that has sparked mass excitement among domestic fans and the far-flung Caribbean diaspora alike.

    Reggae Sumfest leadership says the collaboration with Zimi Entertainment is an intuitive, natural alignment for the festival. “Zimi throws first-class events and consistently draws a young, energetic crowd. It’s critical to lift up creators who are moving Jamaican entertainment forward,” explained Joe Bogdanovich, CEO of DownSound Records Ltd. and a Reggae Sumfest director.

    Since its launch, Zimi Seh Brunch has cemented itself as a staple on Jamaica’s annual entertainment roster, building a strong reputation for blending live music, authentic local cuisine, cutting-edge fashion, and core Caribbean culture into one elevated, premium lifestyle experience. The recurring event consistently draws a high-profile crowd, including social media influencers, local creatives, entertainment industry personalities, business executives, and international tourists visiting the island.

    For Nicholas “Zimi Nick” Mahfood, founder and CEO of Zimi Entertainment, this partnership with Reggae Sumfest represents another major career milestone for his growing brand. “For years, we’ve intentionally built Zimi Entertainment to be a platform that encapsulates the raw energy of our culture, our music, our people, and one-of-a-kind experiences that stick with guests forever,” Mahfood shared. “To be tapped by Reggae Sumfest to curate the official after-party for this once-in-a-generation moment in dancehall is an enormous honor. Kartel and Mavado sharing a stage again isn’t just a music moment—it’s a cultural milestone for our entire community. We’re incredibly proud that Zimi Seh Brunch gets to be part of this story.”

    Zimi’s leadership emphasizes that delivering high-end, thoughtful guest experiences remains at the core of the brand’s mission, especially for an event tied to such a culturally significant occasion. “Execution has always been what sets Zimi apart from other event producers. Guests don’t just show up to our events—they immerse themselves in them,” noted Pierre Beckford, Zimi’s sponsorship and execution manager. “For this Zimi Seh Brunch, we’re scaling everything up and bringing the intentional planning that a historic moment like this Sumfest reunion deserves.”

    Momentum for the 2025 festival has been building steadily across international markets as well. On May 20, Reggae Sumfest held its official global launch party at Komodo in Miami, which drew hundreds of attendees from the Caribbean diaspora, international entertainment media, social media influencers, and top industry executives. The guest list included Vybz Kartel himself, alongside producer Gary Matalon, artist Ricky Platinum, and key stakeholders from both Reggae Sumfest and Zimi Entertainment.

    Organizers confirmed that additional details about the Zimi Seh Brunch, including the exact venue location, new brand partnerships, and special planned experiences for guests, will be unveiled to the public in the coming weeks.

  • Jamaica Post to resume shipping parcels and packages to US on June 1

    Jamaica Post to resume shipping parcels and packages to US on June 1

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — Months after suspending parcel deliveries to the United States in response to a changed US trade policy, Jamaica Post is set to restart its commercial shipping service to the US market on June 1, 2026. The resumption comes after the national postal service rolled out a new pre-calculated, pre-paid duty system designed to comply with updated US border regulations.

    The suspension was implemented earlier this year after US Executive Order 14324 eliminated the longstanding de minimis exemption that allowed low-value goods valued under $800 to enter the United States duty-free. Without this exemption, all incoming shipments required full duty processing before entry, creating unplanned delays, unexpected fees for recipients, and frequent shipment rejections that disrupted Jamaica Post’s delivery operations.

    The official announcement of the service resumption was made by Ambassador Audrey Marks, Minister without Portfolio in Jamaica’s Office of the Prime Minister, who oversees national efficiency, innovation, and digital transformation. Marks shared the update during her 2026/2027 Sectoral Debate address to Jamaica’s House of Representatives on Wednesday, May 20.

    Marks confirmed that Jamaica Post has finalized deployment of a new delivery duty paid (DDP) technological solution that will restore full cross-border parcel and small package services to the United States. Under the new framework, all applicable duties and processing fees are calculated and paid by shippers before parcels ever leave Jamaica, eliminating uncertainty for both senders and recipients once shipments reach US customs.

    “This system guarantees that when packages arrive in the United States, there are no surprises, no unnecessary delays, and no rejected shipments,” Marks explained in her address. The new system addresses all the regulatory challenges that forced the initial suspension, clearing the way for Jamaica Post to fully reopen its US shipping corridor.

    The resumption of service carries particularly high stakes for Jamaica’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), independent online entrepreneurs, and local creators who sell their goods to international customers via global e-commerce platforms. For these small operators, access to reliable cross-border shipping was the lifeline that connected them to the large US consumer market.

    Marks emphasized that the restored service does more than just bring back a convenient logistics option. “It reopens a critical trade channel, supports business growth, and strengthens Jamaica’s participation in the global digital economy,” she said. “For many small business owners, access to shipping and logistics is not just a convenience — it means access to customers and opportunities for sustainable growth.”

  • Richie Malvo carries family legacy with new single ‘Remember Mama’

    Richie Malvo carries family legacy with new single ‘Remember Mama’

    For offspring of industry veterans, stepping into the family trade can feel like an inevitable path — and for emerging reggae artist Richie Malvo, that narrative holds true, though the journey to embracing his musical legacy was gradual. After years of weighing the decision, the second-generation performer finally made the leap into professional recording, and he is now building momentum with his second official single, timed to honor one of life’s most foundational relationships.

    The son of acclaimed Jamaican singer Anthony Malvo, Richie made his formal entrance onto the music scene last year with his debut track *Yes I Love You*. This May, he followed that debut with *Remember Mama*, a heartfelt release crafted to coincide with Mother’s Day celebrations around the globe. In an interview with Jamaica Observer Online, the rising star opened up about his experience in the industry so far, expressing genuine excitement about his early progress.

    “It’s my second song and it feels great. It feels like I’ve accomplished something great… it was like nothing recording in the studio. I think that’s the easiest part for me,” Richie shared of the recording process.

    The new track is backed by an experienced, award-winning creative force: it is produced by Exco Levi, a Toronto-based Jamaican artist who has claimed multiple JUNO Awards, Canada’s highest honor for musical achievement, over his career.

    Rooted in the tight-knit Kintyre district of St. Andrew, Jamaica, the Malvo family has been a staple of the island’s music scene for decades. Anthony Malvo launched his own career in the 1980s, cutting his teeth performing on local sound systems before breaking through to mainstream success in 1988 with *Come Back to Me*, his hit collaboration with fellow dancehall artist Tiger. Richie’s sister, Tiffanie Malvo, has also carved out a space for herself in the industry, with a growing catalog of released tracks to her name. With both his father and sister already established as working performers, a career in music felt like a natural calling for the young artist.

    Richie points to his father as his biggest musical and personal influence, noting that the elder Malvo was the first singer he ever knew. “My dad is a great influence in my life and my sound, he’s the first singer I’ve known. People have said I sound a bit like him, so there you go,” he said.

  • Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival celebrates 20 years with successful UK launch

    Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival celebrates 20 years with successful UK launch

    To mark two decades of elevating Caribbean cinematic storytelling, the Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival (TTFF) has launched its first UK-based screening initiative, *Crossroads: Where Caribbean Cinema Meets the UK*, with a sold-out opening event in Hertford. The launch centered on the UK premiere of *Queen of Soca*, held in partnership with local arts venue BEAM, and kicked off a multi-venue regional tour running through mid-June.

    Founded in 2005, TTFF has spent 20 years centered on a core mission: amplifying Caribbean filmmakers, centering authentic regional narratives, and building a global audience for work from the Caribbean and its diaspora. This year’s anniversary programming expands that mission beyond the festival’s Trinidad and Tobago base, forging new cross-continental cultural connections between Caribbean creators and UK-based audiences, particularly members of the large Caribbean diaspora across the United Kingdom.

    TTFF Director Mariel Brown framed the sold-out opening as a perfect reflection of the festival’s 20th anniversary vision. “As we mark two decades of TTFF, we are proud to celebrate not only the films and filmmakers that have shaped Caribbean cinema, but also the connections, audiences and cultural spaces that will sustain it into the future,” Brown shared in remarks after the event. “The UK premiere of *Queen of Soca* was everything I hoped *Crossroads* could be, full of heart, Caribbean diaspora spirit and a strong sense of community and connection through film.”

    The opening night gathering drew a diverse crowd spanning Caribbean diaspora community members, independent film lovers, cultural sector leaders, and press, who gathered for a fully immersive cultural experience before the screening. Attendees sampled authentic Caribbean cuisine and craft cocktails, with a lively soca soundtrack setting the tone for the evening, centering the cultural context of the film beyond the screen.

    *Queen of Soca*, a feature documentary that chronicles and celebrates Caribbean musical legacy and cultural identity, earned a standing ovation and enthusiastic feedback from the full house. Brown noted that the warm reception confirms a fast-growing global demand for unfiltered, authentic Caribbean storytelling on international stages. Following the screening, audience members joined a virtual question-and-answer session with the film’s director, Kevin Adams, who pulled back the curtain on the documentary’s production process and the core themes of identity and heritage that anchor the work.

    Leaders at BEAM Hertford, the venue that hosted the opening, emphasized that the partnership aligns with the space’s core commitment to inclusive cultural programming that elevates global voices. “BEAM is more than a venue; it’s a vibrant home for artists, ideas and community, where everyone can belong,” explained Steve Sargeant, BEAM Hertford’s venue director. “We therefore couldn’t be prouder to host the Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival, an extraordinary series of screenings that celebrate bold storytelling, global voices and the joy of shared cultural experience.”

    Patrice Robinson, cinema programmer at BEAM Hertford, added that the opening event achieved far more than just a film screening, creating space for meaningful cross-cultural exchange. “The UK premiere of TTFF Crossroads was a unifying experience, bringing together audiences from Hertford and beyond to enjoy the vibrancy of *Queen of Soca*,” Robinson said. “The standout post-film Q&A with Kevin Adams provided invaluable behind-the-scenes insight, while the launch itself sparked rich conversations celebrating Caribbean culture. Audiences can expect even more cinematic gems from across the region throughout the season.”

    The *Crossroads* series will continue screening across four venues in South East England through June 18. Beyond its UK tour, TTFF’s 20th anniversary programming includes a local monthly screening series called 10 for 20, hosted at Port of Spain’s Little Carib Theatre in Trinidad. The curated retrospective revisits 10 landmark films pulled from TTFF’s 20-year archive, inviting local audiences to reconnect with the works that have defined Caribbean screen culture over the past two decades.

    Through dual initiatives like the international *Crossroads* tour and the local 10 for 20 retrospective, TTFF continues advancing its core goals: growing the global visibility of Caribbean cinema, creating new professional opportunities for regional filmmakers, and building bridges between creators and audiences across borders. The main 20th edition of the Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival is scheduled to open this September across Trinidad and Tobago.

  • SpaceX to retry Starship test launch Friday

    SpaceX to retry Starship test launch Friday

    At its launch facility on South Padre Island in southern Texas, aerospace giant SpaceX is gearing up for a second attempt to launch its next-generation Starship rocket on Friday, just one day after technical issues forced a last-minute cancellation of the initial test flight.

    The company announced the new launch timeline via its official account on X, noting that forecasters give an 85% chance of favorable weather conditions throughout the 90-minute launch window, which opens at 5:30 pm local time (2230 GMT). This highly anticipated test marks the debut of SpaceX’s third-generation Starship design, coming at a pivotal moment for the company as it prepares for what analysts project will be a record-breaking initial public offering as early as June 2025.

    Thursday’s aborted launch featured multiple pauses and restarts of the countdown clock before teams called off the attempt. Shortly after the scrub, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to X to explain the root cause of the delay: a hydraulic pin designed to hold the launch tower’s supporting arm in place failed to retract, a glitch that could not be resolved within the remaining window on Thursday.

    The launch attempt comes on the heels of SpaceX completing its regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its public debut, a move that has already generated massive excitement across global capital markets. When the flight finally proceeds, it will be broadcast live to the public, offering a transparent look at the company’s progress developing the 407-foot (124-meter) reusable rocket – a system central to both SpaceX’s long-term commercial goals and NASA’s Artemis program, the U.S. government’s initiative to return astronauts to the lunar surface.

    This test will be the 12th overall Starship flight, and the first in seven months. The fully stacked third-generation vehicle stands slightly taller than its predecessor, capping out at just over 124 meters. SpaceX has designed Starship to be a fully reusable launch system, a breakthrough that the company says will drastically cut the cost of access to space and enable ambitious missions ranging from large satellite deployments to future crewed flights to Mars. The primary objective of this test is to prove that the rocket’s redesigned systems perform as expected in real flight conditions.

    The stakes for this test could not be higher. NASA has awarded SpaceX a multi-billion dollar contract to develop a human-rated modified version of Starship to serve as the lunar lander for the Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman and person of color on the Moon. As China advances its own independent lunar program, which targets a crewed landing by 2030, officials within the current Trump administration have grown increasingly concerned that schedule delays in the private sector could allow China to beat the U.S. back to the lunar surface.

    While recent Starship test flights have been marked as successful by SpaceX, the program has not been without high-profile setbacks. Previous test articles have ended in dramatic explosions: two mid-flight tests broke up over the Caribbean Sea, one test ended in an explosion shortly after reaching space, and a 2024 ground test of the rocket’s upper stage resulted in a destructive blast. That last incident, which occurred last June, is what pushed this third-generation test back seven months. Now, all eyes are on southern Texas as SpaceX attempts to prove its latest design is ready to move the program forward.