Category: CANA News

The Fifth Annual AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF2026), which was originally scheduled to take place here later this month, has been postponed due to the Ebola outbreak in Africa.

The event was due to take place from July 29-31 and was being organised by the Egypt-based African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the St. Kitts and Nevis government. The event was intended to serve as the regional economic anchor and deep-water trade logistics hub connecting Africa and the Caribbean.

The multi-million-dollar initiative included several specific intended projects, namely the US$40 million deep-water port and 10-square-kilometre Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for Basseterre. According to an official statement here, the decision to postpone the event was taken following the latest updates from regional, continental and international public health authorities regarding the evolving public health situation in some parts of Africa. No date has been given for when it could possible be held.

‘Out of caution, and with the health, safety and well-being of delegates, speakers, partners, sponsors and other participants in mind, Afreximbank and the government of St. Kitts and Nevis have agreed that the deferral of the Forum is the most responsible course of action at this time,’ the statement said.

To date, the Ebola disease outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been confirmed in Ituri, Nord-Kivu, and Sud-Kivu provinces. Cases related to the DRC outbreak also have been reported in Uganda’s capital of Kampala.

There have been 1,354 cases and 401 deaths. Several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries have mplemented enhanced health screenings and potential quarantines for visitors who have been in the DRC, Uganda, or South Sudan within 30 days of arrival.

The statement here said that both parties ‘recognise and appreciate the significant interest, support and commitment demonstrated by delegates, sponsors, partners and stakeholders in preparation for ACTIF2026.

‘The decision to defer the Forum was not taken lightly, and Afreximbank and the government of St. Kitts and Nevis sincerely regret any inconvenience this may cause,’ the statement said, adding hat further updates will be communicated in due course through the official channels of Afreximbank and the government of St. Kitts and Nevis.

Saint Lucia on Wednesday officially assumed the Chairmanship of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), with Prime Minister Hon. Philip J. Pierre beginning a six-month tenure that will focus on delivering meaningful results for the people of the Caribbean.

Under CARICOM’s system of rotating leadership, Saint Lucia will serve as Chair of the Community from July 1 to December 31, 2026. During this period, Prime Minister Pierre will preside over meetings of the Conference of Heads of Government and help shape the regional response to issues affecting the Community.

Five priorities will guide Saint Lucia’s tenure: strengthening regional unity, advancing climate justice, championing reparatory justice, promoting economic renewal and ensuring that regional development creates opportunities for everyone.

‘The success of CARICOM must ultimately be measured by whether the people of this region feel the benefits of our integration in their daily lives,’ he said. ‘Integration that our people cannot feel will not last.’

A three-month immigration amnesty programme aimed at allowing eligible long-term residents to regularise their immigration status went into effect on Wednesday.

The initiative, established under the Immigration and Passport (Amendment) Act, 2026, runs from July 1 to September 30 and is being administered by the Department of Immigration under the responsibility of Immigration Minister E.P. Chet Greene.

According to the government, the programme is open to people who have lived in Antigua and Barbuda for four years or more and who have experienced gaps or irregularities in their immigration status during that period.

Applicants are required to submit a passport-sized photograph, a completed amnesty application form, police certificates from every country or territory where they have resided during the past four years, a processing fee of EC$500 (US$185) and a change of status fee of EC$150 (US$55).

The Department of Immigration said applications will be accepted at Immigration Headquarters from Monday to Friday between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm and will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis using a numbered queue system.

Officials said incomplete applications could delay processing or be rejected until all required documentation has been submitted.

The department also stressed that eligibility to apply under the amnesty does not automatically guarantee approval.

It said every application will be assessed on its individual merits in accordance with the provisions of the Immigration and Passport (Amendment) Act, 2026, as well as other applicable immigration laws and policies.

The government has encouraged all eligible persons to take advantage of the amnesty before it ends on September 30.

For general enquiries outside application hours, members of the public may visit the Amnesty Information Desk at Immigration Headquarters or contact the Department of Immigration during normal business hours.

Jamaica says it will formally petition Charles III on September 6 to refer key legal questions on slavery reparations to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as the Caribbean country advances its campaign for reparatory justice.

Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Minister Olivia Grange told Parliament during her contribution to the 2026/27 Sectoral Debate on Tuesday that the petition marks another phase in Jamaica’s pursuit of reparations for the enslavement of Africans.

Grange said the petition would ask the King, in his capacity as Jamaica’s head of state, to refer three legal questions to the Privy Council, Jamaica’s final appellate court.

The questions seek legal clarification on whether the forced transportation of Africans from their homelands to Jamaica and their subsequent enslavement were lawful under common law; whether the transatlantic trafficking and enslavement of Africans up to 1838 constituted crimes against humanity under international law for which the United Kingdom bears responsibility; and whether Britain is under an obligation to provide a remedy to the Jamaican people for the unlawful transportation and enslavement of Africans and the continuing consequences of those actions.

Grange said the petition would be presented on September 6, the date marking the departure in 1781 of the slave ship Zong on a voyage to Jamaica during which more than 140 enslaved Africans were killed after being thrown overboard.

She told legislators that Jamaica has the full support of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in pursuing the legal initiative.

The move forms part of Jamaica’s broader campaign for reparatory justice, which has also included political advocacy through CARICOM’s reparations agenda. Grange has previously said the legal approach complements, rather than replaces, the political process.

Guyana is developing a package of legislative reforms aimed at addressing noise nuisance, indecent and vulgar music, littering and other public order concerns, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall has announced.

Speaking on his weekly podcast, ‘Issues in the News’, Nandlall said the measures are being developed as part of a broader legislative agenda intended to modernise the country’s legal framework and address several longstanding public concerns. ‘We are coming out with a large menu of legislative amendments to deal with noise nuisance, indecent and vulgar music, as well as littering and the deposit of large volumes of garbage. It is going to be a comprehensive set of measures that will treat with all of these matters,’ Nandlall said.

The attorney general also announced that the government is undertaking a review of Guyana’s occupational health and safety legislation, which he described as outdated and unable to adequately address the realities of the country’s rapidly changing economy.

He said the existing regulations, which date back several decades, have not kept pace with developments in sectors such as construction and oil and gas.

Nandlall said the scale and complexity of modern infrastructure projects, including the construction of the new Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge, along with the expansion of the oil and gas industry, have transformed workplace environments and created a need for stronger and more contemporary legislation.

He said updated legislation would strengthen protections for employers, employees, contractors and members of the public while ensuring workplace safety standards reflect current economic realities.

Nandlall said Labour and Manpower Planning Minister Keoma Griffith will lead the initiative, with the Attorney General’s Chambers and the Parliamentary Drafting Division providing legal and technical support in developing the new statutory framework.

When completed, the legislation is expected to strengthen occupational health and safety standards and ensure Guyana’s laws better reflect the needs of an expanding economy and evolving workplace environment.

West Indies’ wicketkeeper/batsman Shai Hope has fully recovered from the injury that ruled him out of last week’s opening Test match against Sri Lanka.

Hope missed the opener at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium after suffering a left shoulder strain during a practice session last Tuesday. However, Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced on Wednesday that he had made a full recovery and was now available for selection for the second Test which bowls off on Friday.

‘Shai Hope has recovered from the left shoulder strain that ruled him out of the first Test and is now available for selection.

‘Hope participated in the team’s final training session this afternoon ahead of the second Test, which gets underway on Friday at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium,’ CWI said in a press release.

West Indies won the first Test by an innings and 217 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

Jamaica is developing a mobile application designed to help people experiencing domestic violence discreetly access support and emergency assistance.

Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Minister Olivia Grange said the app will integrate with the National 24-hour Domestic Violence Hotline and provide a discreet, secure and accessible platform to respond to and support people who need help while contributing to efforts to prevent gender-based violence.

Making her contribution to the 2026/27 Sectoral Debate in Parliament on Tuesday, Grange said the initiative forms part of efforts to strengthen the country’s response to gender-based violence.

‘The app will enable us to offer Next Level services as part of our Continuum of Care for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence. The app is coming, but the hotline is open,’ she said.

Grange encouraged people in need of assistance to continue using the National 24-hour Domestic Violence Hotline while the application is being developed.

‘We will help you,’ she said.

Haitian legislators and immigration advocates in the United States on Tuesday celebrated the US Supreme Court’s ruling rejecting President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship for Caribbean and other immigrants.

Brooklyn, New York Democratic Party Chair, Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, said that ‘children born in America should not have to prove they belong here because of where their parents came from, what language their family speaks, or the colour of their skin’.

‘Birthright citizenship is a constitutional right and a fundamental human right,’ Bichotte Hermelyn, who represents the 42nd Assembly District in Brooklyn, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC). ‘No president can erase it by executive order.’

‘This fight is deeply personal: immigrants are the backbone of Brooklyn, and their children continue to help build the most diverse city in America,’ she added. However, Bichotte Hermelyn added, ‘One ruling reaffirming our rights does not end this fight. The president is attacking those rights blow by blow, including through efforts this week to revoke TPS (Temporary Protected Status) protections for Haitian and Syrian families.

‘While the Supreme Court was wrong in this week’s TPS ruling, today’s decision is a resounding rebuke. Brooklyn Democrats will keep fighting to ensure immigrant families remain safe, protected, and welcome. The president does not get to decide which children born in America count as citizens; the Constitution does,’ she continued.

The San Diego, California-based Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) described the Supreme Court’s decision as a victory for Haitian families and all immigrant communities.

‘The decision reaffirms the enduring promise of the 14th Amendment, which provides that ‘All persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside’,’ HBA Executive Director Guerline Jozef told CMC. ‘Today’s decision is a victory for the Constitution, the rule of law, and the millions of immigrant families who have long relied on the protections of the 14th Amendment.

‘It is also a victory for TPS recipients and other immigrant parents raising US-born children. No president has the power to erase constitutional rights or decide which children are worthy of American citizenship.

‘We commend the court for upholding one of our nation’s most fundamental constitutional guarantees and reaffirming that the Constitution cannot be rewritten by executive order,’ continued Jozef, stating that HBA ‘remains committed to defending the constitutional rights of all immigrant communities and will continue advocating for permanent legislative protections that keep families together and uphold equal justice under the law.’

During a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, led by New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), Make the Road New York (MRNY) and Hands off NYC, dozens of community leaders, immigration advocates and allies also celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to preserve birthright citizenship for all people born in the US.

Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of NYIC, an umbrella advocacy organisation of over 200 immigrant and refugee groups in the US, said that the court’s ruling comes as a relief for the immigrant community, who have been waiting anxiously over the past year.

‘This is a monumental victory for immigrant families and upholds a constitutional principle that has defined the country for more than a century,’ he said. ‘Today’s Supreme Court decision is a victory for the Constitution, the rule of law, and the generations of families who have built their lives in this country.

‘As our nation marks its 250th birthday, the Supreme Court reaffirmed what has been clear for more than 150 years: the 14th Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship, and no president can rewrite the Constitution with the stroke of a pen,’ he added. ‘Donald Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship was both an unprecedented attempt to advance his anti-immigrant agenda and part of a broader effort to dismantle legal pathways to safety, stability, and belonging.

‘We celebrate today’s reaffirmation of one of our nation’s most enduring Constitutional guarantees, but we must not forget that just last week the court’s decisions on Temporary Protected Status and asylum at the border have left hundreds of thousands of families facing uncertainty and have given the administration an undue authority to dismantle humanitarian protections that allow people fleeing violence, disaster and uncertainty to live and work lawfully in the United States,’ Awawdeh warned.

‘Even as we breathe a sigh of relief, Congress must act to create a pathway to citizenship for all immigrants and strengthen the humanitarian protections that reflect our values,’ he continued.

During the press conference, attorneys provided an overview of the Supreme Court’s decision, and community leaders spoke about the importance of protecting birthright citizenship for every child born in the United States, regardless of where their parents were born.

In 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order attempting to strip children of Caribbean and other countries born in the United States of birthright citizenship.

Following this, advocates filed a legal challenge against the executive order. In April 2026, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for the case.

‘Last year, I was pregnant when President Trump signed an executive order attempting to take away birthright citizenship. Birthright citizenship is a fundamental right of every child born in this country,’ said Aby, a Deferred Action for Early Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, recipient and MRNY member, who prefers that her last name not be used.

‘Every day since that executive order was signed until the day I gave birth, I wondered if my newborn would be considered a US citizen or what would happen to him. What would his birth certificate say? What country would he belong to?’ she asked. ‘My three children, from my oldest to my youngest, are US-born and US citizens. This country is my home and the home of my children.’

New York State Assemblymember Catalina Cruz said that the Supreme Court ‘ruled on something that should have never been in question, rightly upholding the 14th Amendment and confirming that birthright citizenship is, and remains, the law of this land.

‘For over 150 years, this country has recognised a simple truth: if you are born in America, you are an American citizen,’ she said. ‘Today’s ruling reflects and protects that truth for the hundreds of thousands of children born every year in our country, regardless of where their parents come from. This was never just a constitutional argument; it was a battle for the basic human rights and decency for those who have no say in how they come into this world.

‘We celebrate this victory, but we know the fight to protect immigrant families is far from over,’ Cruz cautioned.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has strongly defended birthright citizenship, said: ‘Our country was built by immigrants, and we draw our strength from those who come here seeking a better life. Today’s ruling preserves that promise for generations to come.

‘I am relieved for the children who will never know how close the American dream came to being taken from them, and for the families who will never have to explain to a child why the country they were born in refuses to accept them.’

Jamaica’s Minister of Sports Olivia Grange has revealed that the track at the National Stadium has finally been certified by World Athletics, nearly a year after it was resurfaced.

The black, green and gold track was completed in March 2025, but questions lingered as to whether times recorded would be recognised by the world governing body in the absence of certification. However, speaking during her contribution to the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Grange disclosed that World Athletics had given its approval.

‘I now have the duty to quote from a correspondence which we recently received from World Athletics. The message included some technical language, but I will just read the sentence that we are all waiting to hear – ‘all synthetic surface field test measurements comply with World Athletics requirements’,’ Grange said.

‘This means that the National Stadium track, the beautiful and unique black, gold and green track, is certified. The Class One facility certification means that the record setting times that can now be run on our modern track will be fully recognised.’

Trinidad and Tobago has retained two United Kingdom King’s Counsel to represent the State in legal proceedings brought by businessman Dominic Hadeed and his wife, Genevieve, as the couple continues to challenge their detention under the ongoing State of Emergency (SoE).

Legal Notices published in the Gazette on June 30 authorise Sir James Raymond Eadie KC and Robert Stephen Strang KC to be admitted to practise law in Trinidad and Tobago, specifically for the matter Dominic Hadeed and Genevieve Hadeed v The Commissioner of Police and any related proceedings.

Attorney General John Jeremie made the appointments under Section 15A of the Legal Profession Act following consultation with the Chief Justice.

The Office of the Attorney General said the two King’s Counsel had been retained to represent the State in the matter.

Eadie has practised at the Bar of England and Wales since July 1984, while Strang, also of the Middle Temple, has practised there since November 2003.

The appointments come on the heels of Justice Frank Seepersad on Tuesday dismissing the Hadeeds’ application to be released from custody, ruling that the Preventive Detention Orders (PDOs) issued against them under the Emergency Powers Regulations were lawful.

In a 24-page judgment, Seepersad rejected the couple’s habeas corpus application but stressed that the exercise of emergency powers does not place the Executive beyond judicial scrutiny.

The Hadeeds had argued, through their legal team led by Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes and including Gilbert Peterson and Faris Al-Rawi, that their initial arrests were unlawful and that the subsequent Preventive Detention Orders were therefore invalid.

However, the judge found that entries in the police station diary contradicted claims that the couple had not been informed they were being detained under the Emergency Powers Regulations.

According to the judgment, the arresting officer informed Dominic and Genevieve Hadeed that they were suspected of acting, or being about to act, in a manner prejudicial to public safety by conspiring with others to murder Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the Attorney General and other members of the Government.

Seepersad ruled that this information was sufficient to trigger the police officer’s powers under Regulation 13 of the Emergency Powers Regulations and found that the initial 48-hour detention, together with a subsequent seven-day extension authorised by a senior police officer, complied with the law.

The judge also held that the station diary provided ‘adequate evidence’ that the applicants had been informed of the reasons for their arrest and detention.

He further ruled that even if the initial arrests had been unlawful, a finding he did not make, that would not have invalidated the Preventive Detention Orders.

Dominic Hadeed, his wife Genevieve and relative Star Sabga were detained after the State alleged they were involved in a conspiracy to assassinate senior government officials.

According to the Preventive Detention Orders signed by Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander, intelligence linked the trio to an alleged plot to murder government officials and destabilise the country through acts of violence.

Genevieve Hadeed’s detention order also alleges that she made statements calling for the death of Persad-Bissessar.

The Hadeeds were arrested at their Bayshore, Westmoorings home last week and remain in custody at the Golden Grove Prison in Arouca while their legal challenge continues.