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Alpha get first word on Day 1

Jonteau Coppin
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Alpha get first word on Day 1

Alpha Sharks Swim Club (ASSC) made the strongest statement on the opening day of the 34th annual Sonia O’Neal Memorial Aquatics Centre Invitational, finishing Thursday’s session atop the standings with 204 points at the Barbados Aquatic Centre.

Defending champions Pirates Swim Club Barbados (PSCB), chasing a seventh consecutive title, closed the day in second on 133 points, while Hightide Stingrays (HTSR) sat third with 94 points.

Record-breaking performances headlined the opening night, led by 2025 CARIFTA gold medallist Kaija Eastmond of Pirates. The 13-year-old lowered the Girls’ 13-14 50-metre butterfly meet record to 29.11 seconds to secure gold, erasing the mark of 29.63 set by clubmate Jaiya Simmons in 2024.

Dominant double

Eastmond later completed a dominant double by capturing the Girls’ 13-14 100m freestyle in 1:01.61. Alpha’s Jada Pounder claimed silver in 1:03.20, while Pirates’ Zavia Branch rounded out the podium in 1:05.83.

Simmons ensured Pirates finished the night with a second record when she stopped the clock at 28.66 seconds in the Girls’ 15-and-Over 50m butterfly, eclipsing the long-standing meet record of 28.85 set by Paige Miller in 2010.

In the boys’ division, Alpha’s Mihael Sobers emerged as one of the meet’s standout performers. The CARIFTA representative opened his campaign with victory in the Boys’ 13-14 1 500 freestyle in 18:28.33, before returning to win the 100 freestyle in 55.67. Sobers also contributed to Alpha’s triumph in the mixed 13-14 relay and added a fourth-place finish in the 50m butterfly in 29.52.

His clubmate Christian Vanderpool, the Boys’ 11-12 champion at this year’s CARIFTA Championships, also delivered a strong all-round performance. He captured the 1500m freestyle title in 18:51.60, earned silver in the 100m freestyle in 59.83, and placed fourth in the 50m butterfly in 30.27.

Alpha added another individual title through Keniel Ledgister, who won the Boys’ 11-12 50m butterfly in 29.52, holding off Joshua Parris (NWSS) in 29.85, while Christopher Walter (WAR) finished third in 30.18. The trio, however, had no answer for Pirates’ Zachary Ladipo, who stormed to victory in the Boys’ 11-12 100m freestyle in 59.29.

Black Sands Swim Club’s Kione Deshong showcased great consistency by collecting silver in the Boys’ 13-14 50m butterfly (28.13), 100m freestyle (56.56) and 200m breaststroke (2:43.11).

Alpha’s Joshua Ross also impressed in the senior ranks, winning the Boys’ 15 and Over 100m freestyle in 53.85, the 200m breaststroke in 2:30.71, and helping his club to second place in the mixed 15 and Over relay.

Among the youngest competitors, eight-year-old Sheaylah Burgess of Dolphins Swim Club continued her excellent regional form following her sevenmedal haul at the Rodney Heights Aquatic Club Invitational in St Lucia. She claimed gold in the Girls’ 8-and-Under 50m butterfly in 41.67 and silver in the 100m freestyle in 1:27.68. (JC)

Franklyn slams NISSS portability plan

Maria Bradshaw
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Franklyn slams NISSS portability plan

General secretary of Unity Workers Union (UWU) Caswell Franklyn is charging that the portability of national insurance benefits which Member of Parliament Toni Moore has introduced in the House of Assembly in a Private Member’s Resolution, is simply warmed over soup.

Speaking at a press conference at his union’s Belleville, St Michael headquarters on Thursday, he accused Moore, who is also general secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union, of reinventing the wheel of legislation that has been in place for the past 60 years.

“What they are proposing to do is something [Prime Minister] Errol Barrow did in 1966. This is already the law; it has been the law of Barbados since 1966,” Franklyn stated. “If you work for an employer in Barbados, no matter how many employers you have, as long as they pay you more than $21 a week, that employer must pay a national insurance contribution.”

The Private Member’s Resolution: National Portable Benefits Framework, which was debated in the House on Tuesday, calls for a portable benefits framework through the National Insurance and Social Security Service to ensure that social security follows the worker and “not the job”; among other things.

In her contribution, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley said it was seeking to promote the portability of pensions in order to ensure that short-term contract holders, or those with sub-contracting arrangements, or engaging in platform work, freelancing or otherwise casually employed and not making the 21 hours or more with one employer, were eligible to receive benefits.

Legal requirement

However, Franklyn labelled the resolution “nonsense”, contending that the move to allow workers to carry benefits between employers was not a new concept but a long-standing legal requirement that was simply not being enforced.

He argued that rather than proposing new frameworks, the authorities should focus on prosecuting employers who failed to pay these mandatory contributions.

“They cannot now go and pass a law that Errol Barrow passed in 1966 and get credit for it,” he said. “What they should be doing is going after those employers who refuse to pay national insurance contributions. The framework is already there.”

The UWU leader also accused proponents of the resolution of confusing key legal thresholds. He noted that claims regarding a “21-hour work week” threshold for benefits were incorrect and appeared to mix up different pieces of legislation.

“Under the Severance Payments Act, if you work for less than 21 hours a week, you are not entitled to severance pay. They are mixing that up with the $21 a week threshold for National insurance contributions,” Franklyn said.

He emphasised that the monetary threshold for national insurance was so low – $21 per week – that almost all employees in Barbados were legally entitled to coverage. He suggested that Parliament should focus on substantive changes to help workers rather than “reinventing the wheel”.

On the issue of worker classification, Franklyn said only the National Insurance Board had the legal authority to determine whether a worker was an employee or an independent contractor.

“No lawyer, no court, nobody else in Barbados can determine that a person is a private contractor. You have to approach the National Insurance Board for them to make that determination,” he said, citing legal precedent. “So they can’t come and say, ‘Oh, these people are self-employed’. You don’t do it like that. Follow the law.”

He urged the Government and parliamentarians to review existing legislation before attempting to introduce such measures.

“What the Government and people in Parliament should be doing is reading the law first, and then making any determination if they need any fixes or any amendments. Right now, the law is there, the law is clear.”

(MB)

President Trump says Caribbean green card seekers must now return home to apply

Nationnews Desk
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President Trump says Caribbean green card seekers must now return home to apply

In a stunning move on Friday, the Trump administration in the United States announced that Caribbean and other applicants for permanent residency status, or green card, must return to their homeland to apply.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said in a new policy memo that Caribbean and other immigrants seeking adjustment of status must do so through consular processing via the Department of State outside of the country.

“Officers are directed to consider all relevant factors and information on a case-by-case basis when determining whether an alien warrants this extraordinary form of relief,” USCIS said.

USCIS Spokesman Zach Kahler said the administration is “returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly.

“From now on, an alien who is in the US temporarily and wants a green card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances,” he said. “This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivising loopholes.

“When aliens apply from their home country, it reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the US illegally after being denied residency,” he added.

Zahler noted that nonimmigrants, such as students, temporary workers, or individuals on tourist visas, come to the US for a short time and for a specific purpose, and that the system is designed for them to leave when their visit is completed.

“Their visit should not function as the first step in the green card process,” he warned. “Following the law allows the majority of these cases to be handled by the State Department at US consular offices abroad and frees up limited USCIS resources to focus on processing other cases that fall under its purview, including visas for victims of violent crime and human trafficking, naturalisation applications, and other priorities.

“The law was written this way for a reason, and, despite the fact that it has been ignored for years, following it will help make our system fairer and more efficient,” Zahler added.

The new policy directive comes as US President Donald J. Trump, as part of his overall deportation agenda, seeks to strip some Caribbean and other immigrants of their green cards, and, in some cases, US citizenship.

On Thursday, for instance, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that a Cuban national allegedly tied to a top Cuban financial official has been arrested and her lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, or green card, terminated at his direction.

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants residing in Miami, said in a statement that Adys Lastres Morera is now in the custody of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. She is the sister of Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, who was sanctioned earlier this month by the State Department for her role as the executive president of GAESA (Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A.), the Cuban military-controlled financial conglomerate.

Meantime, Caribbean immigration advocates have condemned a proposal by the Trump administration to force the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to identify the immigration status of taxpayers.

The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella policy and advocacy organisation that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York, said that the proposed changes would directly affect undocumented Caribbean and other immigrants who use an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), a nine-digit number issued to people who are not eligible for a Social Security number but still file and pay taxes in the United States.

“Every New Yorker deserves to feel safe contributing to their economy and trust that paying taxes will not place them or their families at risk,” NYIC President and CEO Murad Awawdeh told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

“The Trump administration’s latest effort to use the IRS to force the disclosure of the immigration status of taxpayers is a dangerous attempt to weaponise the tax system,” he added, stating that the proposed changes would undermine the trust of public institutions and push hundreds of thousands of immigrant taxpayers further into the shadows.

Awawdeh said undocumented Caribbean and other immigrants in New York contribute US$6.7 billion in local, state, and federal taxes annually, while immigrants with status contribute US$74.8 billion.

“Instead of punishing people who fund our schools and comply with our tax laws, the federal government should be working to protect their rights and ensure that all communities can safely participate in our economy,” he said, calling on the Trump administration to stop targeting Caribbean and other immigrant communities.

Awawdeh also urged the US Congress to uphold taxpayer privacy protections for everyone in the United States.

According to reports, the proposed changes would distinguish codes for undocumented Caribbean and other immigrants from others with ITINs, requiring applicants for codes to clearly disclose their immigration status to the IRS.

Last year, an attempt by the Trump administration for the IRS to share the immigration status of taxpayers with the administration, as part of its deportation agenda, was blocked by federal courts.

Several senior IRS officials also resigned over the programme, fearing violation of federal tax privacy law.

In the interim, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to deport even permanent residents through the institution of a new “revetting” unit.

Speaking for USCIS, which falls under the DHS, Kahler said the changes are also in keeping with Trump’s immigration policy.

“USCIS’s first and foremost mission is to safeguard America by rigorously vetting and screening aliens,” he said. “We will continue to implement changes as we identify opportunities to strengthen the US immigration system.”

In addition, USCIS disclosed on Thursday that it has “partnered” with the DOJ in its recent filing of denaturalisation actions in various US district courts against 12 immigrants accused of serious offences—including providing material support to a terrorist group, committing war crimes, and sexually abusing a minor.

“Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalised U.S. citizen’s citizenship may be revoked, and certificate of naturalisation cancelled, if the naturalisation was illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation,” said USCIS in a statement. (CMC)

Hospital boss pushing regional alliance

Colville Mounsey
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Hospital boss pushing regional alliance

Chief executive officer of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Neil Clark, wants to establish a regional network of Caribbean hospital leaders to share ideas, strengthen management and accelerate health care transformation across the region.

He said one of the biggest surprises after his arrival in Barbados in 2024 to take up the role at QEH was discovering how little collaboration existed among hospital management teams across Caribbean territories, despite many institutions facing similar challenges.

Speaking during the Insight Global Collaborative Group Inc.’s Moving Beyond Regional Change Summit at Sandals Royal Barbados yesterday, he said the region’s geography often acted like a barrier to cooperation.

“When I came to the QEH and we were doing our digital transformation, I was asking which hospitals in the area use our systems and I got some blank faces. Nobody knows. I asked if people knew who the IT (information technology) managers were in neighbouring hospitals. Nobody knew,” Clark revealed.

He contrasted the situation with his previous experience overseas, where hospital executives and technical teams routinely visited neighbouring institutions to compare systems and exchange best practices.

“When I was in the UK (United Kingdom) or the Middle East, I could drive 30 minutes and find another hospital, see what they were using, see how it worked and have a chat with them. I much prefer face-to-face interaction than Zoom,” he said.

Clark said Caribbean countries needed to break through the “blue sea wall mentality” which often prevented regional institutions from communicating effectively.

He said that he had already begun collecting contact information for hospital executives across the region with the intention of formally launching a Caribbean hospital CEOs network later this year.

(CLM)

Man fined after pleading guilty to assault offences in St James

Nationnews Desk
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Man fined after pleading guilty to assault offences in St James

The Barbados Police Service has arrested and formally charged 27-year-old Justin Jamar Maynard of Block 7C, Haynesville, St James in connection with several offences committed on May 19, 2026.

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Family of nine out in the cold

Carlos Atwell
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Family of nine out in the cold

The feud between Shauntelle Butcher and some members of her family came to a head on Thursday.

Unable to resolve their differences, an eviction order was enforced and the upset woman, along with her five children and three grands, could only watch their home in Kew Road, Redman’s Village, St Thomas, be dismantled.

“This morning I saw the truck and then there were marshals, police and everything. They started taking down the house around 11 a.m.,” she said.

Butcher said they were given a final warning on Tuesday, but still had not managed to find a place to live. The best she did was to get a friend to allow them to put the salvageable pieces of the house on their land.

“I went to Mia’s (the Prime Minister’s) office and I spoke to (Member of Parliament) Neil Rowe last week, and they are supposed to be helping. Our MP (Member of Parliament) Kerrie Symmonds told us he can’t help us anymore because we put it in the Nation. I was looking around for places to rent and waiting for people to call back,” she said.

The distraught mother said that the family was now homeless and while she found some place for the children to sleep that night, she was at a loss about what to do next.

“I don’t even know how to feel. My grandparents left this for me, so I don’t know how I’m going through this now. Now I have to start life over.”

Her brother, who lives next door, declined to comment. He had taken the matter to court on behalf of he and their mother and won the case.

Symmonds, when contacted yesterday, said there was much more to the matter than was being published, but his only official comment was that the National Housing Corporation was seeking to assist.

Rowe said he had wanted to attempt to broker peace between the siblings, but did not manage to discuss the matter fully. He added his next step was to ask the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation whether there was any available land for lease, but he could make no promises.

Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Adrian Forde said he was unaware of the matter but would look into it and send a social worker to investigate. (CA)

Symmonds pushes services-led growth as Barbados eyes digital economy expansion

Ashminnie Moonsammy
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Symmonds pushes services-led growth as Barbados eyes digital economy expansion

Minister of Energy, Business Development and Commerce Kerrie Symmonds says Barbados must move quickly to diversify its economy by expanding non-traditional service industries such as cybersecurity, data protection and digital services.

Symmonds made the remarks while delivering the feature address at the Barbados Coalition of Services Industries’ (BCSI) Council of Leaders meeting at Warrens Suite, Baobab Towers, Warrens, St Michael on Wednesday.

He said the country could no longer rely only on traditional industries and had to “reimagine what the economy of the future must be”.

“All of us have an issue with data security,” he said, pointing to opportunities in data storage, management, analysis and cybersecurity.

Symmonds said Barbadians already working in these fields must be better supported and organised so their work can be scaled into export-ready services.

“There are people in Barbados who are doing that,” he said. “And we must position those people to be at the forefront of our effort… not only to solve and map out solutions for Barbados, but to earn foreign exchange from other parts of this region and across the hemisphere.”

He argued that without coordination and structured support, the country risks leaving untapped value in a growing global market for digital services.

“This is about creating a new engine of economic opportunity, but driven by services,” Symmonds said.

He added that the shift would require Barbados to think beyond traditional business models and actively develop systems that allow local professionals to scale their services internationally.

The minister also called for a stronger and more execution-focused approach from the Barbados Coalition of Services Industries (BCSI), saying it should move beyond its current support role.

“We have to move from business support… to aggressive execution,” he said.

Symmonds further argued that Barbados must strengthen its trade arrangements to better position services exports, particularly with markets such as Canada, as part of a broader diversification strategy.

“There’s really no reason why we should not be seeking to expand it further afield,” he added. (AM)

Traffic upgrades rolled out at Highway 7/Rendezvous junction

Nationnews Desk
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Traffic upgrades rolled out at Highway 7/Rendezvous junction

Motorists using the junction of Highway 7 and Rendezvous Road are expected to experience improved traffic flow following recent upgrades to the signal system designed to reduce delays and improve safety.

The changes were outlined by Deputy Chief Technical Officer (Operations) in the Ministry of Transport and Works Ministry of Transport and Works Jason Bowen, who said the adjustments were made in response to long-standing public concerns about congestion at the busy intersection.

He explained that the upgrades include a flashing left amber arrow for southbound motorists travelling along Rendezvous Road, allowing controlled left turns under specific conditions.

“Motorists can now make the left turn, but they must give way to east-bound motorists travelling along Highway 7,” Bowen said.

He cautioned that road users must remain alert, noting that pedestrian phases remain in effect.

“There is still a pedestrian phase where the red indication will activate and you must stop,” he said, urging drivers to observe all signal changes carefully.

Bowen said the decision followed repeated complaints about delays at the junction and formed part of broader efforts to improve traffic efficiency along key corridors.

“After numerous complaints by the public of the delays motorists faced at the junction, changes to the infrastructure along with signal times and phases were necessary in order to improve traffic flows,” he said.

He added that while the junction has not seen a high number of accidents, the intention is to improve both safety and movement for all road users.

“It is our intention to see the flow of traffic moving along more smoothly and road users making better decisions out there,” he said.

Motorists and pedestrians are being urged to proceed with caution and comply with all traffic signals at all times.
(MTW/PR)

Quinn moulding young artistes

Nationnews Desk
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Quinn moulding young artistes

Quinn Prescott loves working with upcoming junior calypsonians and soca artistse. As the youth director of House of Soca Juniors, she has a hand in shaping, guiding and helping them improve.

In an interview with Weekend Buzz, the 2013 Scotiabank Junior Monarch who won with the calypso Living With HIV said her decision to lead the developmental programme which is in its second year, stemmed from wanting to do more personally.

She last time competed in the 2024 Pic O De Crop competition and opted not to sing “until I can write my own song”.

Still wanting to be part of the tent and Crop Over, Quinn said she offered to sing backing vocals but manager Sharon Carew-White, said “no” and redirected her.

“She said, ‘I saw how you worked with Sabiah (Gaskin, junior monarch contestant) and I like the progress that she made. How about you take on your own group? How about you form a group of children, and guide them the way that you would have been guided through [junior monarch?] I told her it was a good idea.

“We were missing that element in junior monarch we had before, where we had our workshops. Within our camps every Saturday or Sunday leading up until competition, we met with our writers, we had boot camps, etc. They were more hands on. I find now that the writers are just writing the songs and giving them to the children. Nobody’s working with them. …I love working with children, and I love calypso, and if I don’t have to sing, but I can help children develop and experience what I did before, I am all for it’,” she recounted.

She is heartened by her charges progress. She loves their enthusiasm and watching their confidence in their ability to perform and sing, grow.

“Everybody started at different levels. Right now, I can say confidently, from last year into this year, the development, and their enthusiasm has increased. They’re very happy, very excited every time to come and learn. I think them wanting to learn helps me. It fuels me to teach. It fuels me to help guide them and shape them,” she noted.

Follow her instincts

She stated that Carew-White “plays a major role” in keeping her level and up to the task, offering her advice, helping and giving input only when necessary. She said she is urged to follow her instincts and to trust herself to make the right decisions which she is given her the room to do.

“She’s helping me find myself, and in that way, I’m helping the juniors find themselves,” she added.

Fourteen of the 17 participating junior artists have registered for Junior Monarch. A few of them who entered the competition before, are taking a break.

Quinn explained that during the eight-week programme, Mondays were “learning days” and Thursdays were for practising. The intention was to provide the necessary training in varied aspects of the craft inclusive of voice training and breathing techniques, building an image and “finding themselves on and off stage”, and media interviews.

Take them through the journey

“We structured the sessions in a way that we covered every area of performance, every single possible thing that they would need to take them through the journey. We tried to cover everything, and I think we did all,” she stated.

The sessions were facilitated by cultural icon Jennifer Sealy, noted poet/writer university lecturer Dr. Yvonne Weekes, musician, calypsonian, songwriter/arranger Billboard Murrell, veteran broadcaster, producer, radio and TV host Teisha Hinds, former junior monarch, entrepreneur, singer/ song writer Teri-Williams-Niles.

Soca artiste and parent of junior monarch contestant Lelani, Rhea SugarRhe Ellis, spoke to parents about preparing for their young artistes, budgeting and “everything that the parents needed to know”. Vocal coach and singer/songwriter Kellie Cadogan, who covered voice training, also conducted a parents’ workshop, teaching them how to breathe so that they can help their children breathe.

Trinidadian singer/songwriter and ex-tempo champion Brian London covered songwriting.

“I’m trying to get most of them to write their own songs. Songs are very expensive, even for juniors so if they can develop that talent of writing for themselves and we just have to depend on arrangers, hopefully next year, we could help them with learning how to put together their music too. That would be very important,” she stated.

So, what is Quinn looking forward to? “I am looking forward to it all. Last year I was excited for every single event with them, and at every single event I cried. I don’t think I have any tears this year, because it was such a surreal feeling last year, seeing where everybody came from. Now they’re progressing, and I see that it’s working.

“I am mostly excited for preliminaries, the semifinals, and the tents too, but mainly the competition aspect of it, because I know when they get in front of the judges, it’s completely different. I hope that I take a good set of them throughout the competition this year.”

While she is pleased with the evolution of the junior monarch competition, she would like to see “two separate competitions” and the previous age categories.

“Things change and we must adapt but I would much prefer to have two categories, because in all fairness, … I feel like everybody should have a fair chance at competing. Even the little ones in this tent, when they see the older ones say, ‘Auntie, I don’t think I could get in. Then we have to tell them, ‘Anything is possible. You just have to apply yourself. Yes, it is possible’”, she told Buzz. (GBM)

Guardiola says Man City ‘need new energy’ as exit confirmed

Nationnews Desk
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Guardiola says Man City ‘need new energy’ as exit confirmed

Pep Guardiola says Manchester City need “new energy” as he brought an end to his 10-year reign as manager.

The club confirmed the 55-year-old’s final game in charge will be against Aston Villa on Sunday at Etihad Stadium.

Guardiola has led City to 17 major trophies, including six Premier League titles and a Champions League victory, since he arrived a decade ago.

In honour of his impact, City’s newly developed north stand will be named after him and fully open for the first time in the club’s final game of the season against Europa League winners Villa.

A statue will also be built for Guardiola and positioned on the approach to the stand.

BBC Sport reported on Monday how City were preparing for Guardiola’s departure a year before the end of his contract.

“Ten years is a lot of time and I think the club needs a new manager, new energy, these incredible players we have right now and start to write another chapter,” he said on Friday during his final pre-match press conference.

“I feel I would not have the energy [in the future] required to daily, every three days, to fight for the title, being in front of the players.

“After 10 years, it is good to shake, to move, different faces – it’s really good for everyone.

“If I did not believe that, if they don’t sack me, I would stay here. But I think it is the perfect moment, perfect time.”

Guardiola shared his decision with his squad on Friday morning, but added his speech “was a disaster”.

“I was so nervous, more than ever,” he admitted.

During the video announcement of his departure published earlier on Friday, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss said: “Nothing is eternal, if it was, I would be here. Eternal will be the feeling, the people, the memories, the love I have for my Manchester City.”

Former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, who worked under Guardiola at City, is the frontrunner to replace him.

The confirmation of Guardiola’s exit comes three days after the club were beaten to the 2025-26 Premier League title by Arsenal.

A 1-1 draw at Bournemouth on Tuesday meant the Gunners were crowned champions for the first time since 2004.

Guardiola will leave having led City to the FA Cup and League Cup in his final campaign.

He confirmed he will take a break from coaching, but that he will begin a global ambassadorial role with the City Football Group (CFG) and offer technical advice to its member clubs.

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