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Update: Police investigate homicide at senior citizens homePolice probe unnatural death in Christ ChurchWoman’s body found in St LucyUPP not daunted by defectorsSt Nicholas Abbey Heritage Railway tours off to smooth start

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The lowdown on medical marijuana

The term medical marijuana refers to using the whole, unprocessed marijuana plant or its basic extracts to treat symptoms of illness and other conditions. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not recognized or approved the marijuana plant as medicine. However, scientific study of the chemicals in marijuana, called cannabinoids, has led to two FDA-approved medications that contain cannabinoid chemicals…
Addressing all the region’s “R. Kellys”

I completed the Surviving R. Kelly documentary this week. I ran the gamut of emotion when I was watching the various testimonies included in the documentary. However, one of the emotions on the gamut was never surprise or disbelief. There are some modern day R. Kellies that live right here among us in Barbados. We play the roles of enablers just as Mr. Kelly…
Oistins - More than a Friday night meal

For many years a “View from London” has wondered about and looked at the events surrounding the cultural leanings on a Friday night in Oistins, Christ Church. What is its magic, what is it that merges into a harmony that results from a mixing of a cosmopolitan group of people from all parts of the globe? It would be difficult…
Judgement Day

Today's weekly article is in response to recent questions about my motives for founding Solutions Barbados. I believe that everyone's actions attract consequences. This belief is based on Jesus' promise that He will reward us for the beneficial consequences of our responsible actions, and judge us for the harmful consequences of our irresponsible actions. Part of this judgement follows. “Then He…
Ross, Coverley and “Cadavers”

A warm welcome to the Ross University School of Medicine, staff, students, faculty and all those associated with the institution. Over the last two weeks, I have had the opportunity to interact with several of the students and I am happy to see the diversity of the persons studying, working and associated with this University. I had heard the name…
Realpolitik, tolerance, mutual respect and freedom of expression

As we welcome 2019, we must confront the wide-scale trend of economic migration and the spectacle of hundreds of thousands of refugees clamouring for space. We must deal with and manage what appears to be increasing extremism and xenophobia. Unsurprisingly in that quagmire, hate-speech is becoming more and more common. Many may not question the assertion that this is rooted…
Please let reason prevail

I thought we had left national stand-offs and stalemates behind us in 2018 with the embarrassing and unnecessarily long Grantley Adam's canteen affair (by the way, what was ever the outcome of that?). For the second time in as many days, the Public Service vehicle (PSV) operators downed their tools in frustration at not being heard. The operators have a…
Barbadian in major energy project in the UK

The Barbados diaspora in the UK has been there for more than 60 years. During this time there have been many successes which have gone either unnoticed or unrecorded in Barbados and the Barbadian communities across the UK. We should be proud of the things achieved in our name and by our fellow countrymen. Barbados TODAY recently unearthed a golden…
73, 60 and 42

Cultural icon Richard Stoute, known for hits such as Bajan Girl, Any Day Now and Vehicle from the 1970s, celebrated his 73rd birthday on January 8. When contacted by Bajan Vibes, Stoute was in high spirits describing this year’s birthday celebrations as his best one yet. The crooner who came to the limelight back in the 1970s, stole the hearts…
Ross University - Hip Hip Hooray!

Barbados is fortunate to have Ross University relocating here. Their presence is a win for everyone: the University, which would have a wonderful location in the true land-of-the-free; the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre (LESC), which would be able to pay its bills; but most importantly, ordinary households. The severe austerity is impacting those with home mortgages, and to have the…

Lifestyle

Tourism boost

Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Tourism Product Authority William Billie Griffith says the local sector is capable of handling the influx of tourists coming for the West Indies versus England tour which begins on January 23 at Kensington Oval. “The upcoming England Test series with the Test Match from January 23-27 and the one-day matches which are set to begin…
A job well done

Technical and vocational education (Tech-Voc) will be the future driving force of the labour market in Barbados. This is the view of Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education Science Technology and Vocational Training Rommel Springer who was giving impromptu congratulatory remarks to the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology (SJPI) in celebration of their 50th anniversary as an educational beacon in…
Taste test

Barbados has been chosen as the ideal destination by five-generation cognac brand Camus Cognacs to commence a groundbreaking experiment. For 45 days, from November 23 to January 11, ten sealed barrels of CAMUS Cognac journeyed the Trans-Atlantic route from La Rochelle, France to Bridgetown, Barbados on the ship De Gallant for an unprecedented project. The CAMUS Caribbean expedition seeks to explore…
St Lawrence Gap being resuscitated

by Kareem Smith It appears the once struggling entertainment hub of St Lawrence Gap is showing signs of life due to significant investment from the private sector. Now businesses are appealing for the support of the government on what they believe will be a long, challenging road to recovery. Some business owners and managers said over the past four to…
Errol Barrow - Architect of a collective CARICOM Foreign Policy

by David Comissiong This coming Monday, the 21st of January 2019, is the 99th anniversary of the birth of Barbadian national hero Right Excellent Errol Walton Barrow, and will be celebrated in Barbados as Errol Barrow Day - a national public holiday. In light of the recent happenings in the Organization of American States (OAS) when, on having to deal with…
National bank alive and well in Barbados

Amidst many Barbadians' public wishful craving for the return of an organisation similar to the Barbados National Bank, another institution has been quietly and successfully performing the same development functions, and unlike BNB, holds a promising future. This bank began with seed financing of $5 million and 21 years later it boasts to have distributed $214 million in loans to…
Screen babies for sickle cell anemia

President of the Hope Foundation Shelly Weir is noting that the time has come to screen babies for the trait of sickle cell anemia. Speaking to Barbados TODAY, Weir said that the organization has been petitioning for early screening for babies since 2002 as a routine to detect babies who have the chronic condition. “There certainly is no harm in ensuring that…
Get checked!

by Clifton Henry One hundred and eleven men died last year in Barbados from prostate cancer alone and president of the Barbados Cancer Society Dr. Dorothy Cooke-Johnson is stressing to men the importance of early testing and diagnosis. Speaking to Barbados TODAY at Holders Hill Polo Grounds after the Cancer Society Charity Day polo presentation ceremony on Sunday, Dr. Cooke-Johnson…
“Social disruption”

While societies would always have members who find themselves in need of special assistance, Barbados, for a number of reasons, has found itself at a juncture where persons at the two extremes of life are being neglected. That's the view of Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Jerome Walcott who over the weekend noted the increasing proportion within the population of elderly…
Best practice

A case of “one bad apple spoils the bunch” applies to the coconut vendors along the Warrens, St Michael stretch of the ABC Highway. Vendors have been served with notices by environmental officers informing them to removing their coconut shells after making each day's sale. Coconut vendor Andy Andrews informed Barbados TODAY that the reputation of “a few bad apples” was…

World

Skywatchers await 'super blood wolf moon'

Skywatchers are gearing up for a lunar eclipse, which some are referring to as a "super blood wolf moon". During the spectacular event, the Earth's natural satellite turns a striking shade of red. The entire eclipse will be visible from North and South America, as well as parts of western Europe (including the UK) and north Africa. What is a…
Trump offers 'compromise' to end government shutdown

BBC - US President Donald Trump has set out new plans on his Mexican wall project to try to end a partial government shutdown lasting more than four weeks. One of his "compromises" was on so-called Dreamers - who entered the US illegally when young. He still wants $5.7bn (£4.5bn) to fund the wall. Democrats have refused to fund it…
British PM May wins confidence vote

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May won a confidence vote in the British parliament on Wednesday before proposing immediate talks with other party leaders in an attempt to break the deadlock on a Brexit divorce agreement. Lawmakers voted 325 to 306 that they had confidence in May’s government, just 24 hours after handing her Brexit deal a crushing defeat…
Paris 'gas explosion' kills three in city centre

BBC - Two firefighters and a Spanish woman have been killed after a huge blast at a bakery in France's capital, Paris. The emergency services were responding to a gas leak when "a dramatic explosion" occurred, said Interior Minister Christophe Castaner. Forty-seven people were injured, 10 seriously, in the blast on rue de Trévise at around 09:00 (08:00 GMT). It…
Trump threatens 'national emergency' over wall

BBC - U.S. President Donald Trump has said he could declare a national emergency to build a US-Mexico border wall without the approval of Congress. It came after he met senior Democrats, who refused his requests for funding. The stand-off has seen Trump withhold support for a bill to fully fund the government until he gets money for the border…
German mass data attack 'known for weeks' by cyber officials

BBC - Germany's cybersecurity authorities have been criticised after it emerged they knew about a mass data attack on hundreds of politicians for weeks, but did not tell the police. Journalists, celebrities and politicians, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, are among those whose personal data was published online. The attacks took place throughout December, but did not become public knowledge until…
Bangladesh opposition demand new vote

BBC - Bangladesh's opposition has condemned what it has called a "farcical" election and demanded a new vote. Early results show Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's party in the lead, and she is likely to win a large majority. But there have been claims of vote-rigging, and a BBC correspondent saw filled ballot boxes at a polling centre before polls opened.…