• Foundation makes MSC donation to support most vulnerable in Jamaica

    JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation made a donation of $750,000 to Mustard Seed Communities (MSC) recently, aimed at furthering the mission of the organisation to care for and give hope to the most vulnerable, and often forgotten, members of society.

  • Founder of Australia’s first indigenous edu-tech firm develops storytelling app to teach young people

    A former park ranger from Australia has developed a storytelling app to teach the younger generation about the country’s indigenous people. Mikaela Jade, founder of Indigital, Australia’s first indigenous edu-tech company, said it is fitting that the technology is presented at Expo 2020 Dubai, with its theme of ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future.’

  • Four million euro agreement signed to improve social housing in Statia

    The stage is set for a major improvement in both the quantity and quality of social housing in St. Eustatius with the signing this week of a €4 million cooperation agreement by the Public Entity St. Eustatius, the Island Council, the Ministry of Public Housing and Spatial Planning, the Statia Housing Foundation and the Dutch Housing Corporation, Bazalt Wonen.

  • Fourteen recipients to be honoured at People Profile Awards

    Fourteen people will be honoured at this year's Florida-based People Profile Awards, whose proceeds will go towards the refurbishing of a primary school in Jamaica – with another eight people set to be awarded for their community service as part of the activities to celebrate Jamaica's 60th anniversary of independence. 

  • France suspends transit ban for UK nationals during Christmas period

    UK nationals will be allowed to travel through France if they are going to their home in an EU country during the festive period.

    France suspended its Covid restriction after UK travellers faced difficulties reaching their country of residence. Eurotunnel, which had earlier issued warnings to customers, said that it was delighted by the move.

  • France to intern French-American inter Josephine Baker in Pantheon Mausoleum

    French-American entertainer and World War II resistance fighter Josephine Baker will be interred in France’s Pantheon Mausoleum after a successful petition. France will bestow one its highest honours on famed Black French-American entertainer, Josephine Baker. 

    A request to have her remains interred in the Pantheon Mausoleum has been approved. An aide to Emmanuel Macron confirmed to AFP that the ceremony would take place on November 30.

  • Fraser-Pryce voted ‘Person of the Year’ at Best of Jamaica 2022

    The 2022 Best of Jamaica survey results were announced at the Best of Jamaica 2022 Results Show aired on the Facebook and YouTube pages of Jamaicans.com. The winners of the Best of Jamaica awards were selected by the readers and staff of Jamaicans.com who were surveyed about their favourites of the year 2022 in the categories of “Jamaican Person,” Jamaican Sports Personality,” “Jamaican Reggae Artist,” “Best TV Personality Host in Jamaica,” “Best Jamaican Radio or Online Personality”, “Best Jamaican Patty”, “Jamaican Restaurant” and more.

  • Free birth certificates issued to Jamaicans in digital ID enrolment drive

    Jamaica has launched its ‘Operation Birthright,’ a campaign intended to issue free birth certificates to as many as 11,000 children and adult citizens who do not have the birth registration document. This will happen before enrolment begins, in a few months, by the National Identification System (NIDS), for the country’s digital ID scheme, reports the Jamaica Gleaner.

  • Free cybersecurity support programme for 200 humanitarian NGOs in The Hague

    A non-profit consortium will offer free cybersecurity support to almost 200 humanitarian NGOs in The Hague in the next 1,5 years.

  • Freshippo accelerates expansion with same-day launch of 12 new stores across 8 cities in mainland China

    Freshippo, Alibaba Group's digital intelligence-powered new retail company, announced the same-day opening of 12 new stores in 8 cities across Mainland China, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

    The seven newly opened Freshippo stores are adopting the latest store image, which will offer a wider variety of products, a broader delivery area, a spacious shopping environment, and an enhanced service experience to better meet customer needs. All new stores will have diverse sales channels and product categories to more effectively cater to each customer's needs regardless of whether they are in commercial or residential areas.

  • From the desk of the Commissioner this Christmas

    Warm blessings of this Season of Joy to all of you from U.S. Virgin Islands Tourism!

    We have much to be thankful for after such a challenging year. As the pandemic continues to evolve, we resolve to maintain our commitment to protecting lives and livelihoods, and we remember and give thanks for lost ones as well as our frontline health care workers.

  • From the heart by Bevan Springer - Happy Diamond Jubilee, Trinidad and Tobago!

    Happy Diamond Jubilee, Trinidad and Tobago! This week I am taking time to shine some light on the achievements of the land of my birth on the occasion of 60 years of independence.

    While I primarily identify as Bajan, I am in fact a proud Trinidad-born West Indian national with Guyanese roots – born in Trinidad and Tobago to Bajan and Guyanese parents, who perhaps would not have been responsible for my arrival had they not met while studying at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica.

  • G20 recognizes importance of Public Development Bank financing to tackle rural poverty and hunger, and leadership of IFAD

    In the first-ever joint declaration by foreign affairs and development ministers, G20 countries today recognised the vital role Public Development Banks (PDBs) can play in filling the financing gap to sustainably tackle rural hunger and poverty, and the leadership of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in bringing them together to strengthen their long-term investments in food and agriculture.

  • Gambian Vice-President dies in India following short illness

    The Gambia's Vice-President Badara Alieu Joof has died in India, President Adama Barrow has announced.

    The vice-president died after a short illness, although Mr Barrow did not mention whether he was receiving treatment in India. Mr Joof was not seen in public for months, it was reported from the capital, Banjul.

  • GBP 1 Million infusion for Prince William’s Earthshot innovators at first Innovation Showcase at Expo 2020 Dubai

    His Royal Highness Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, attended the first Earthshot Prize Innovation Showcase at the DP World Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai – and said this is the decisive decade to change the course of our planet’s future.

    HRH Prince William was joined by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group Chairman of the Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee; and His Excellency Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World, with the Duke of Cambridge applauding DP World’s announcement of the GBP 1 million investment to two Earthshot Prize finalists.

  • Geetanjali Shree becomes the first Indian to win the International Booker Prize

    Geetanjali Shree has become the first Indian writer to win the International Booker Prize.

    Her novel Tomb of Sand, a family saga set in the shadow of the partition of India, follows an 80-year-old woman after the death of her husband. It was the first Hindi-language book to be shortlisted for the £50,000 prize.

  • George Floyd family urge protesters to 'be his legacy' during March on Washington

    The sister of George Floyd, whose death in police custody sparked months of racial turmoil across the US, has urged civil rights protesters to "be his legacy" as thousands gathered for a rally in Washington DC.

    "My brother cannot be a voice today," said Bridgett Floyd. "We have to be that voice, we have to be the change".

    Ms Floyd was one of several relatives of Black Americans harmed or killed by police to address the event commemorating a historic 1963 civil rights march.

    Speakers demanded racial justice and urged people to vote. Jacob Blake Sr, whose son was shot in Wisconsin, told the rally they were holding court on racism in America - and the verdict was "guilty, guilty, guilty!"

    Thousands of people gathered in Washington DC for the event that commemorated the 1963 civil rights March on Washington and in protest at police violence.

    Called the ‘Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks’ - a reference to the murder of George Floyd, who died in May after a policeman knelt on his neck for several minutes - it follows renewed protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

    The event brought together generations of activists to call for police reform and to urge Americans to vote in November's general election. It was organised by civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III - the eldest son of Mr King Jr.

    The families of Black Americans shot or killed by police spoke at the same site where Martin Luther King Jr delivered his I Have a Dream speech. The 1963 March on Washington was a seismic event in US history, credited with spurring the passage of the Civil Rights Act outlawing segregation the following year.

    Some 250,000 supporters packed the 1.9 miles (3 km) strip from Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument, making it one of the largest political gatherings the country had ever seen.

    Rev Sharpton announced the 2020 march - which falls on the 57th anniversary of the 1963 event - at Mr Floyd's memorial service in June. His organisation, the National Action Network, worked with Mr King III to convene the rally.

    "The nation has never seen such a mighty movement, a modern day incarnation of what my father called the coalition of conscience," said Mr King III.

    "And if we move forward with purpose and passion, we will complete the work so boldly began in the 1960s."

    The event comes in the wake of at times violent protests over Mr Blake's shooting that have left two dead in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Mr Blake was shot and injured by police.
    Since Mr Floyd's death in May, marches in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and against racism and police brutality have swept the US and the globe.

    Speakers during the morning's programming included congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, who paid tribute to the activism of Black Americans of the past whose "sacrifice and self-determination shaped history and brought us to this moment".

    "We are Black with a capital B," she said. "We are the manifestation of the movement. We are a symbol of social, political and cultural progress."

    Other presenters included a young activist who called for an end to the gun violence that plagues Black communities, and representatives from unions, gay rights groups and Hispanic activism groups, who expressed solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

    Democratic vice-presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris addressed the rally virtually.
    Harris, who grew up in an activist household, paid tribute to civil rights leaders of the past.

    "Let's march on for our ancestors and let's march on for our children and grandchildren," she said.

    Among the initiatives on the agenda were slavery reparations, defunding police departments and investment in healthcare, housing and social services in Black communities, organisers said. It was drafted by hundreds of delegates from across the country.

  • George Floyd murderer, Chauvin, sentenced to over 22 years

    The US white ex-police officer convicted of murdering African-American man George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020 has been sentenced to 22 years and six months in jail.

  • German students arrive in Antigua and Barbuda for Practice in Paradise programme

    Antigua and Barbuda has welcomed German tourism and hospitality students to the destination for a two month 'Practice in Paradise' internship programme.

  • Germany to return priceless artefacts that they looted from Nigeria

    Germany has agreed to return priceless artefacts to Nigeria that were stolen during the colonisation of Africa. British troops looted thousands of artworks known as the Benin Bronzes from the Kingdom of Benin, in present-day Nigeria, in 1897.

    Following auctions, some of the bronzes ended up in museums and private collections across Europe. They hold deep cultural significance, and there is growing international pressure to give them back.

    Berlin's Ethnologisches Museum holds more than 500 artefacts from the Kingdom of Benin, most of them bronzes. "We want to contribute to understanding and reconciliation with the descendants of those whose cultural treasures were stolen during colonisation," German Culture Minister Monika Gruetters said, adding that the first returns were expected to take place in 2022.

    Scotland's University of Aberdeen said last month it would repatriate a Benin bronze whose acquisition in 1957 at an auction it called extremely immoral. Last year, France approved the restitution of its collection of pillaged Benin Bronzes.

    Hundreds of pieces are still held in the British Museum and several museums in the United States. There are plans to house the returned artefacts in the forthcoming Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA).

    The project is a joint effort between the Nigeria-based Legacy Restoration Trust, the British Museum and architecture firm Adjaye Associates. The Benin Bronzes - thousands of brass, bronze and ivory sculptures and carvings - have become highly charged symbols of colonialism and .

    More than 900 of these artefacts are housed in the British Museum, which has come under increasing pressure to return them in the wake of last year's Black Lives Matter protests. The British Museum has said that it is committed to facilitating a permanent display of Benin material in Edo, but has not specified how many items would be returned, adding that the selection of objects will be determined through discussion with our Nigerian colleagues.

    Historians say Benin City, formerly known as Edo, boasted earthen walls longer than the Great Wall of China. It was also said to be one of the first cities with a form of street lighting.

    British troops razed the whole city to the ground in 1897 to avenge the killing of an earlier force.