Jevon Shaquan Tyrese Archer, who was the subject of a wanted bulletin issued on April 23, in connection with serious criminal matters, is now in police custody.
Police said Archer presented himself to the Oistins Police Station on Tuesday, accompanied by an attorney-at-law. He is currently assisting investigators.
The Barbados Police Service thanked the public and the media for their assistance in the matter.
Acclaimed Barbadian biologist, Professor Juliet Daniel, one of Canada’s top innovators in research and medicine and whose discovery and naming of the “kaiso” gene boosted global understanding of cancer, especially breast cancer, has passed away.
She died today in hospital in Canada around 1:30 p.m. after being flown there from Barbados recently to undergo further medical treatment.
Daniel revealed in a February 2019 Sunday Sun interview that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer ten years earlier, and had lost her mum to the disease.
The former student of Queen’s College who hailed from Culloden Road, St Michael, later rose to academic and scientific heights as an influential cancer biologist, researcher and professor at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. She established her own independent research laboratory in the Department of Biology there where she discovered the new gene which become a major scientific element in genetics. (BW)
The Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination (BSSEE) will be written on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, at 21 secondary schools across the island.
The Ministry of Education Transformation, in a statement, said approximately 2,767 candidates are registered to sit the examination this year. This represents a decline compared to 2,981 candidates in 2025 and 3,011 in 2024.
Officials also confirmed that 25 candidates have requested permission to write the examination at age 10, while 90 candidates have applied for deferrals.
The ministry reported an increase in requests for special consideration, with 246 applications submitted this year compared to 183 in 2025 and 180 in 2024.
These requests include provisions such as scribes, large print papers, readers, extra time and exemptions for candidates requiring additional support.
Poor mental health among workers is creating growing safety concerns in workplaces across Barbados.
That warning came from Chair of the National Mental Health Commission in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Dr Maisha Emmanuel, on the global commemoration of World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2026 on April 28.
She said stress, anxiety and depression were affecting how employees functioned on the job.
“Stress, anxiety and depression reduce concentration, slow reaction times, impaired judgement and decreased situational awareness, all factors which can lead to workplace accidents and injuries. “
Emmanuel added that workers facing mental health challenges were “at a greater risk of making errors, having accidents and being unable to respond effectively to emergencies”.
“Too many Barbarian workers are struggling with excessive workloads, long hours, workplace bullying, lack of support and job insecurity. These psychosocial hazards are as real and dangerous as any physical hazard and they must be addressed with the same seriousness and urgency.”
The mental health official said employers needed to take more deliberate action to address these risks, including assessing workplace conditions and implementing systems to support staff.
She also encouraged workers to take responsibility for their own wellbeing, urging them to “speak up about workplace stresses, set healthy boundaries, take regular breaks” and seek help early, where necessary.
Emmanuel maintained that addressing mental health was critical to overall workplace safety, adding that “a safe workplace protects both physical and mental health”.
Three St George men who admitted stealing a toolbox and then putting its contents for sale online will have to keep the peace for the next 12 months, or face a fine or jail time.
Rene Ramon Selman, 26 and unemployed, and Torian Ashebe Moore, 31, a bartender, both of Lower Estate, along with 34-year-old baggage handler Jhaved Denison Williams, of Salters, appeared in the District “A” Magistrates’ Court No. 2 yesterday where they confessed to stealing a heavy-duty tool box and its contents worth $3 000, which belonged to Spencer Mayers, on April 18.
Magistrate Manila Renee placed them on a bond to keep the peace for the next 12 months. If they breach it, they will have to fork out $1 000 in a week or spend one month in prison.
Prosecutor Sergeant Kenmore Phillips said that around 11:15 p.m., the complainant went to St Lawrence Gap, Christ Church, with some friends and had the toolbox in the tray of his vehicle. He returned about 45 minutes later and it was missing.
He reported the matter to the Hastings/Worthing Police Station and when lawmen investigated, they found the same tools being advertised for sale on Facebook. CCTV footage showed the culprits removing the tools from Mayers’ vehicle.
Defence attorney Shadia Simpson said Selman had thrown himself at the mercy of the court and pleaded guilty at the earliest convenience.
“He has enjoyed an unblemished [record] up until this point,” she said, adding that it was an offence which was “opportunistic”.
Selman regretted his actions, had learnt from being in custody from Wednesday until yesterday, and the items had been recovered, counsel submitted. She therefore asked the magistrate to impose a bond for the first-time offender.
Williams’ attorney Shamar Bovell also asked for a bond. He argued that his client had no previous convictions, no pending matters and had never “darkened the halls of any court”. He said Williams pleaded guilty immediately and, unfortunately, had missed his son’s birthday celebrations as a result of being in custody.
The lawyer urged the court to also bear in mind that no violence was used and asked that a custodial sentence not be imposed, although Williams “must be made to understand that what he did was wrong”.
Moore, who was unrepresented, said he had “made a mistake” but was gainfully employed.
Magistrate Renee acknowledged that though he had a few previous convictions, they were old and would not be considered during sentencing. (SD)
Barbados has fallen below the vaccination level needed to keep dangerous diseases at bay, prompting a warning from Minister of Health and Wellness Senator Lisa Cummins that the island was leaving itself vulnerable to illnesses “one single flight away”.
She said while Barbados had made gains in restoring childhood immunisation coverage after the COVID-19 years, it remained short of the critical 95 per cent threshold required for herd immunity – the collective protection that shields entire communities, especially the most vulnerable.
Speaking during a special open day for Vaccination Week in the Americas at the Edgar Cochrane Polyclinic in Wildey, St Michael, yesterday, she urged parents not to delay, dismiss or ignore scheduled vaccines, as complacency could reverse decades of public health progress. “These vaccines are protecting us from diseases that are one single flight away from our shores,” Cummins said. “If we don’t reach the 95 per cent threshold and we don’t have the herd immunity, then our communities are at risk.”
She disclosed that health authorities recently monitored a visitor for a possible vaccine-preventable illness, forcing officials to consider surveillance systems, exposure risks and the prospect of isolation measures before the person was cleared.
“In those few moments between a suspected case and a time where that patient is cleared, you begin thinking about our surveillance protocols. You begin thinking about how many persons this individual, if they’re confirmed, would have been exposed to and how many persons have to go into isolation.”
For a country that once prided itself on strong immunisation coverage, the minister said, the current shortfall should be taken seriously.
She reminded the audience that Barbados had built an enviable vaccination system since 1969 under the Health Services Act and Expanded Programme On Immunisation, protecting generations of Barbadians and helping to eliminate or suppress illnesses such as polio, measles, diphtheria and rubella.
Anti-polio campaigns
Many older Barbadians, she noted, would remember receiving the sugar cube used during anti-polio campaigns.
“That little thing, that one intervention, was significant in eradicating polio here in Barbados.”
Cummins said there were encouraging signs in 2025, with first-dose coverage for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine increasing
to 89 per cent, while second-dose coverage jumped from 76 to 86 per cent.
She pointed to what she said was a flood of misinformation during and after the COVID-19 pandemic as one reason confidence had been shaken.
“A person just needed to have a cell phone or a computer and Dr Google and they became the medical health experts.
“It has created any number of challenges in our communities because persons, rather than taking the expert guidance of medical health-trained professionals, they have taken the advice oftentimes of social media experts. It has put our communities at risk.”
At the same time, she acknowledged that vaccine hesitancy was not always rooted in fear or disbelief. A ministry study in 2024 found most parents still valued immunisation, but the pressures of modern life often got in the way. “Life happens and . . . people get busy. Some parents sometimes forget appointments. Others are not always aware of when a dose is due,” she said.
Cummins sought to reassure parents that vaccines used in Barbados met the highest safety standards and were constantly monitored.
Urging Barbadians to use the services available at clinics island-wide, she said missed doses could be corrected and advice was always available through public health nurses.
“Vaccination is more than a personal choice. It is a shared collective responsibility. Your decision protects not just your child and those in your family and those in your community, but it helps to protect your neighbour and our country.”
(CLM)
Barbados moved yesterday to deepen trade, tourism and energy ties with Venezuela, as Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley declared that Bajans must no longer allow “history or language” to block closer cooperation with one of the Caribbean’s nearest neighbours.
Speaking at a joint press conference at Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre following her meeting with Acting President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, Mottley said the two countries had agreed to pursue practical measures to lower food costs, improve shipping and air links, expand tourism and explore new energy partnerships.
“You took one hour to travel from Caracas to Bridgetown. There are many of us who spend more than one hour on the road in our respective countries travelling and therefore this is to show you how close we are to each other,” she added.
The Prime Minister said Government wanted Venezuelan produce to help ease food prices locally, while creating export opportunities for Barbadian farmers and manufacturers.
Broader range of products
She noted that shipments of pineapples had already arrived from Venezuela over the last year and a half, but far greater opportunities existed.
“We therefore want to be able to engage on a broader range of products for the benefit of Barbadian people and Bajans to be able to access food at cheaper prices, particularly nutritional food.”
Mottley said Barbados also wanted planes and ships arriving here not to return empty.
“We are committed to ensuring that the planes and ships that come here do not go back with their holds empty, but in fact can go back with produce that can benefit our farmers and our manufacturers,” Rodríguez described yesterday as a turning point in relations.
“I have also told the Prime Minister that today, April 27, is the birth of the cooperation in economy and trade between Venezuela and Barbados.”
Tourism also featured prominently in the talks, with both leaders signalling plans to increase airlift through Venezuelan carrier Conviasa and to develop twin-destination packages.
Rodríguez said discussions included increasing flights between the two countries and adding nearby destinations, while offering travel packages to Venezuelans and Barbadians.
Mottley said Barbados could benefit from its close proximity to Venezuela’s varied geography.
“As I indicated before, Venezuela is a vast country with every climate known to mankind . . . to have a different experience from what Barbados can offer and still be back in Barbados for dinner at night,” she said.
Educational travel
She also highlighted student exchanges, saying educational travel could become another important pillar of cooperation.
On language, the Prime Minister renewed her call for Spanish to become Barbados’ second language, as the country had to equip its people for hemispheric trade and movement.
“Given all that is happening globally, it is critical that Barbados establishes Spanish as our second language and allow our people to benefit from movement within this hemisphere,” she said.
Rodríguez pointed out that Venezuela had agreed to expand the capacity of its cultural institute in Barbados and use technology to allow Venezuelan teachers to deliver more Spanish training to Barbadians.
Energy cooperation was another major plank of the discussions.
The acting president said Barbados had been invited to invest in Venezuelan oil and gas fields, while the two sides were also examining collaboration in renewable energy, including the possible manufacture of solar panels.
Mottley made reference to past regional arrangements such as the San José Agreement and PetroCaribe as examples of how Caribbean countries had weathered oil shocks with outside support.
“We welcome the opportunity for this cooperation to see how best we can invest to the benefit of both countries at this very, very difficult time of energy insecurity,” she said.
Both leaders indicated that investment treaties and double taxation arrangements would also be reviewed as they seek to modernise the bilateral relationship. (CLM)
Tony Wilson, the bassist, songwriter and co-founder of the soul band Hot Chocolate, has died at the age of 89.
Along with frontman Errol Brown, Wilson co-wrote hits such as You Sexy Thing and Emma, which took the band to the top of the charts in the 1970s, before leaving to start a solo career.
The group were also the first predominantly black British group to achieve major chart success in America.
Wilson died on Friday at his home in Trinidad, his family confirmed on social media.
“Dad left us today,” his daughter wrote on Facebook. “He left a lot of music behind… forever and ever.”
“I am thankful that on Friday 17th during our conscious talk time he was led to the Lord with understanding.
“Some mornings later he asked for prayers. He said that he was leaving.
“The peace that I have is knowing that his soul escaped. He is in and at peace.”
Wilson’s son Danny added: “It’s been an emotional weekend. On Friday, my dad, the one and only Tony Wilson passed away, aged 89, at his home in Trinidad.”
“Words don’t do justice to the admiration I have for him as a human being or for his dedication to make his dream of getting the songs he wrote be heard.
“It wasn’t until my mum dug out some old diaries of his from 1970 and ’71 that I realised just how hard he had to work to achieve this dream.”
“Trust me, it is truly staggering. The knock backs, the interviews, the touring, the radio shows, the meticulous documenting of record sales.
“All the pressures of what was a cut throat music industry in the 70s. It’s all in those diaries.”
Wilson stopped releasing new music in the late 1980s, but his children continued posting updates about him on social media in recent years, including a post celebrating his 88th birthday in 2024.
A bass guitar Wilson owned was also restored in an episode of the BBC programme The Reapair Shop in 2022.
Wilson was born in Trinidad and played in bands including The Flames, The Souvenirs, and The Corduroys before forming Hot Chocolate with his friend Errol Brown in the late 1960s.
They got their break in 1969, after sending a reggae version of John Lennon’s Give Peace a Chance to its writer.
“Amazingly, a week later I got a call to say John Lennon approved it and wanted to sign the band to the Apple record label,” Brown told BBC Breakfast in 2009. “And that’s how we began.”
The band forged a relationship with hit record producer Mickie Most, and wrote material for other acts, including Mary Hopkin, Julie Felix and Herman’s Hermits.
But it was on their own that they excelled – with a multidimensional sound that incorporated strains of soul, rock, reggae and disco.
Their debut single, Love is Life, went to number six in 1970, and they had at least one hit song every year until 1984, making Hot Chocolate the first group in the UK to have a hit for 15 consecutive years.
Emma became their first American smash in 1975 – a year after it charted in the UK. Later that year, You Sexy Thing marked their career peak.
The track went platinum at home, and spent several weeks in the US top 10. In 1997, it charted again after being featured in the film The Full Monty.
Wilson left the band soon afterwards to resume a solo career that had started with a handful of singles for Decca Records in the 1960s.
However, neither of the two albums he released – I Like Your Style (1976) and Catch One (1979) – made much of an impact on the charts.
In 1983, he released a visionary track called Hangin’ Out In Space – which presaged the electro-soul movement; but after the 1988 compilation Sweet ‘N’ Soulful – The Tony Wilson Story, he stopped releasing new music.
Brown, meanwhile, continued to achieve success with Hot Chocolate, scoring hits like Every 1’s A Winner and So You Win Again.
In 1998, the singer told the Independent that he had “lost touch” with his former bandmate.
“However, I will always be grateful to him for planting the seed and helping me find myself,” he added.
When Brown died in 2015, Wilson paid tribute on his Facebook page, writing: “Rest in peace Errol Brown. Heartfelt condolences to your family, friends, and all fans.”
The same Facebook page was flooded with tributes for Wilson, after his family announced his death at the weekend.
No cause of death has yet been given. (BBC News)
A senior government minister has criticised Venezuela’s Acting President, Delcy Rodriquez, for wearing a brooch showing her country’s map that includes Guyana’s Essequibo Region as she held talks with two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders this month.
Rodriquez held talks with Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell in St. George’s on April 9 and on Monday this week met with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley. She said then that her visit was aimed at strengthening relations between the South American country and the region.
But Education Minister, Priya Devi Manikchand, in a statement posted on her Facebook page, wrote “CARICOM leaders claiming to be our friends AND benefitting from that friendship even as they entertain their other friends who are completely disrespecting Guyana by openly claiming 2/3 of my country and sporting that on a visible piece of jewellery even as that matter is being adjudicated in the ICJ (International Court of Justice), has me questioning our friendships and the principles of these CARICOM leaders”.
She was critical of those CARICOM countries for violating the principle of Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, adding “Principle is principle. It shouldn’t be cowardly. And it shouldn’t be convenient”.
The ICJ is set to begin oral hearings on May 4, with Guyana’s Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, saying that hearings are scheduled for May 4-8, and may extend into the following week.
Guyana brought the case before the ICJ in 2018, seeking affirmation that the 1899 Arbitral Award, establishing the boundary between the two countries, is legally valid. The award had been accepted for over 60 years before Venezuela declared it null in 1962 and revived its claim to the territory.
The matter is being addressed under the 1966 Geneva Agreement, which outlines mechanisms for a peaceful settlement. After bilateral efforts failed, the dispute was referred to the ICJ by the United Nations Secretary-General.
The court has already ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear the case, paving the way for hearings on the merits, during which both sides will present full legal arguments.
While Guyana maintains that the judicial process is the only legitimate avenue for resolving the dispute, Venezuela has historically challenged the court’s authority, though it has participated in filing written submissions.
The 15-member regional integration grouping, CARICOM, of which Guyana is a member, has consistently supported Guyana’s position that Essequibo is part of its territory.
Meanwhile, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) of Guyana is expressing “its strongest condemnation and deep concern at the deliberate and provocative display of imagery by a senior Venezuelan official depicting Guyana’s Essequibo region as part of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
“This act is neither incidental nor benign; it is unacceptable within the framework of international law and responsible diplomacy, and is particularly troubling when it occurs within the territory of Barbados,” the PSC said, adding that it views this latest incident as a form of “symbolic aggression intended to influence perception, shape narratives, and test international resolve, risking the undermining of regional stability, the erosion of trust, and the weakening of the principles of peaceful dispute resolution”
The PSC said that it is calling on the Barbados government “a valued CARICOM partner and long-standing friend of Guyana to stand firmly in defence of Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“Further, we call on CARICOM and all regional and international partners to remain vigilant and unequivocal in their support for the rule of law. Silence or inaction in the face of such deliberate provocation risks emboldening further escalation,” it added.
The Guyana government has not said anything officially about what is now regarded in some quarters here as ‘brooch gate”. (CMC)
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has called on Barbadians to embody the values of the nation’s heroes, urging citizens to “be a hero to somebody” as the country marks National Heroes Day.
In her National Heroes Day message, Mottley reflected on the legacy of those who helped shape Barbados, highlighting the importance of service, discipline and national pride. She also paid tribute to the country’s two living National Heroes, Garfield Sobers and Rihanna, noting their global impact and continued inspiration to younger generations.
Below is the full statement by Prime Minister Mottley:
Fellow Barbadians, wherever you are today, at home or across the diaspora, I wish you a blessed and purposeful National Heroes Day. This day calls us to remember, to give thanks, and to recommit ourselves to the kind of country our heroes helped us build.
On April 28, we honour those Barbadians whose courage, sacrifice, discipline and excellence changed the course of our history and proved that this small nation would never be small in spirit.
Today also carries a special meaning as we remember the birthday of The Right Excellent Sir Grantley Herbert Adams, our first Premier, a National Hero, and one of the great founding figures of the Barbados Labour Party. For those of us who have given our lives to public service, his legacy is a charge. It reminds us that politics must be about lifting people, defending dignity, opening doors, and helping every Barbadian believe that he or she has a rightful place in the future of this country.
We salute all of our National Heroes. We salute, especially, our two living National Heroes, The Right Excellent Sir Garfield Sobers and Her Excellency, The Right Excellent Robyn Rihanna Fenty. Sir Garfield showed the world that Bajan genius could be graceful, disciplined and unmatched. Rihanna continues to show a new generation that creativity, courage, hard work and love of country can carry a Barbadian voice into every corner of the globe.
Their lives remind us that heroism is not only found in fame, ceremony or applause. Heroism is found in the values by which we live, the example we set, the burdens we carry for others, and the hope we leave in people who may never be able to repay us.
So today, my challenge to Barbados in 2026 is simple: be a hero to somebody. Be a hero to a child who is watching how you speak, how you work, how you treat others and how you rise after disappointment.
Be a hero to a young person who needs to see that decency is still strength, honesty still matters, discipline still pays, and kindness is not weakness.
Be a hero to an elderly neighbour who needs a call, a visit, a meal, a hand, or simply the comfort of knowing they have not been forgotten.
A hero is a role model in some way to someone. A hero is a person whose living, values, virtues and choices give others something positive to emulate. A hero makes another person feel that they, too, can stand taller, work harder, live cleaner, dream bigger and love Barbados more deeply.
Our National Anthem calls us to be ‘Firm craftsmen of our fate.’ That is not only a line to sing. It is a duty to live. Let us choose one person whose life we can strengthen, one young person we can encourage, one wrong we can correct, and one act of service that will leave our home, school, workplace, church or community better than we found it.
The heroes we honour today helped to give us Barbados. The question for each of us is what kind of Barbados we will give to those coming after us.
Happy National Heroes Day, Barbados. Let each of us be a hero to someone.
