World News

The relationship between Britain and the Caribbean islands is a long and complicated one – with Trinidad and Barbados formally severing ties to become republics and other independent islands such as Jamaica and St. Kitts & Nevis also set to follow suit. Other Commonwealth nations outside of the Caribbean include India, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

On behalf of the American people and the U.S. Embassy community, I express my deepest condolences to the Royal Family on the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.  We grieve with the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.

 
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
 
A PROCLAMATION

  Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was more than a monarch.  She defined an era.

As night fell at Buckingham Palace, the crowds continued to gather to reflect on the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II as young and old tried to make their way to the crowded gates to lay their flowers. With a sea of people taking in the moment, and applause and cheers broke out, it was still clear that the announcement of the death of The Queen, the Commonwealth’s longest serving monarch, was just nigh on impossible to take in.

Jamaica secured several major accolades at this year’s staging of the World Travel Awards Caribbean & The America’s Gala, held at Sandals, Montego Bay.

Jamaica has been named the Caribbean’s Leading Destination 2022, for the 16th straight year. Jamaica also copped the award for Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Destination 2022, Caribbean’s Leading Tourist Board 2022, for the 14th year in a row and Caribbean’s Leading Nature Destination 2022.

This summer, Pakistan has seen some of the heaviest monsoon rains in years, resulting in severe floods in the country's south.  

Around 1,200 people have died so far due to the floods and thousands of homes have been destroyed in mainly south Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and KPK. Record monsoon rains were causing a "catastrophe of epic scale", Pakistan's climate change minister Sherry Rehman said, as she made an international appeal for help in dealing with floods.

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.

Scraping the smelly sargassum seaweed off some beaches on Mexico’s resort-studded Caribbean coast has become not only a nightmare, but possibly a health threat, for the workers doing it — with the quantities washing ashore this year seemingly mountains not mounds.

Decomposing sargassum, which is actually algae, generates hydrogen sulphide gas. In small amounts in open areas, it’s not much more than an annoying odor: sulphurous, like rotting eggs.

The sea of Les Rouge et Bleu was joined by burgundy at Parc des Princes this Sunday as Paris Saint-Germain celebrated its new Official Jersey Partner, Qatar Airways.

The airline, which was named the team’s Official Airline Partner in 2020 and most recently became the Official Jersey Partner in June 2022, hosted multiple celebrations with fans both in-person and virtually to commemorate the partnership. 

Boatyard, the first customer experience platform designed for the marine industry, announced today that Joe Lingerfelt, former product leader for YachtWorld and more recently for the Fortune 500 company Expedia, has joined their team as Principal Product Owner. 

“We are excited that Joe has brought his years of leadership experience at one of the largest tech companies in the world to Boatyard,” said Boatyard founder and president Nathan Heber.

Justine Konde wanted to remove pests from her small farm in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, especially the pesky fall armyworm that damages her crops.

She learned about effective pest control at a farmer field school organised by Feed the Future, a U.S. government programme to combat global poverty and hunger.

Epsy Campbell Barr, the politician and economist who served as the Vice President of Costa Rica from May 8 2018 to May 8 2022, and is now a member of the UN's Permanent Forum Of People Of African Descent, will make a live opening presentation at the African History Reflection Day (IHRD) online event.

One of Pakistan's southern provinces, Sindh, is bracing itself for worse to come as the country deals with catastrophic floods. Deluges from swollen rivers are heading for lower-lying areas, officials say, threatening more misery for millions.

The floods have killed nearly 1,000 people across Pakistan since June, while thousands have been displaced - and millions more affected. In this province - which has a population of almost 50 million - there has been a little reprieve from the rains.

The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in more than 40 years. The East African region stretches from Eritrea in the north, through Ethiopia and Djibouti to the southern tips of Kenya and Somalia.

More than 18 million people face severe hunger in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya, according to the US government's Humanitarian Information Unit (HIU).

Pakistan is facing "a monsoon on steroids", the UN's secretary general has warned, after floods submerged a third of the country.

Antonio Guterres urged the world to come to Pakistan's aid as he launched a $160m appeal to help the tens of millions affected in the disaster.

The presence of Sandals Resorts International in the Caribbean is strong, with five brands and 24 properties in countries and territories including Antigua, The Bahamas, Barbados, Curaçao, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, and Turks & Caicos. The company employs approximately 18,000 team members.