Trinidad and Tobago: Antigua The Antigua and Barbuda government has called on the union representing teachers to provide proof regarding the prevalence of marijuana use in schools. Comment

Jamaica: The Jamaica Governor-General’s Diaspora Achievement Awards honored four nationals living in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States for their excellence in academia and service, at an Awards and Pinning ceremony as part of the June 17-20 8th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference, at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston, Jamaica. The ceremony was held on June 17. Comment

Haiti: PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Attacks on journalists in Haiti are escalating, and the slaying of a radio reporter prompted media organizations on Tuesday to renew demands that police protect them and give them space to work. Comment

Viewpoints: ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida, Jun 17 2019 (IPS) - We humans are at the absurd stage in our technological evolution when we seem to have abandoned our common sense. Billions are spent by governments, corporations and investors in training computer-based algorithms (i.e. computer programs) in today’s mindless rush to create so-called “artificial” intelligence, widely advertised as AI. Comment

Trinidad and Tobago: In its continuing tribute to prominent Caribbean nationals during Caribbean American Heritage Month in June, the Washington, D.C-based Institute for Caribbean Studies (ICS) has inducted four-time Trinidadian Olympic medal winner Ato Boldon into its “Wall of Fame.” Comment

Guyana: History was made on Saturday, May 25, when 169thStreet and Hillside Avenue, became, Ramesh D. Kalicharran “Kali” Way, co-named for late Guyanese-born, philanthropist, community leader, and the first street naming for an Indo-Guyanese Caribbean national. Comment

Caribbean: Caribbean Community governments said this week that new research has shown that several European nations like Sweden, Switzerland and Russia which were not previously associated with the TransAtlantic slave trade were in fact participants and will be included in any lawsuits or demands for reparatory payments going forward. Comment

Brooklyn Senator Zellnor Y. Myrie, along with the Senate Democratic Majority, on June 11 passed groundbreaking legislation to change the lives in the LGBTQ communities of New York State. Comment

Jamaica: Associate editor of Caribbean Life, Kevin Williams was awarded Best Feature by a Diasporan Journalist in US or Caribbean Media in the Me Too! I Rediscovered Home! category during the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s (CTO) Caribbean Tourism Industry 2019 Awards Dinner held at the Wyndham New Yorker Hotel on June 6. Comment

Food: A year after the highly successful launch of “The Taste,” a rising Vincentian chef in Brooklyn has impressed patrons again with her second offering. Comment

Antigua: Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, who attended the Investment Migration Council (IMC) Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday, June 5 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the organization. Comment

Grenada: Brooklyn Councilman Dr. Mathieu Eugene says he’s hosting the co-naming of a street in Brooklyn in honor the late Grenada Ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Lamuel Stanislaus. Comment

Viewpoints: New York granted driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants up until the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Then-Governor George Pataki, in the wake of the disaster, instituted new rules that mandated that drivers have a Social Security number to request or maintain their licenses. Comment

Africa: Public Advocate for the City of New York, Jumaane Williams, proclaimed June 8, 2019, Tribute To Our Ancestors of the Middle Passage day, in honor of the 30th Annual celebration, last Saturday, at Ancestor’s Circle, Coney Island Boardwalk, at 17th Street, Brooklyn. Comment

Viewpoints: The New York Police Department suffered two shocking suicides in as many days last week in Brooklyn and Queens. Assistant Chief Steven Silks, a 38-year member of the NYPD, took his own life on a Forest Hills street on June 5; he was mere days from a mandatory retirement from the force. Comment

Six Caribbean beauties will on Saturday evening, June 15, contest the Miss New York Continental 2019 Pageant at the Wingate Campus Auditorium in Brooklyn. Comment

Jamaica: Reggae Girlz, the first female Caribbean team to play in a FIFA World Cup, came away with their pride intact after an opening encounter loss in the 2019 competition in France. Comment

West Indies Women were outplayed by England as they lost the second One-Day International (ODI) by 121 runs under the Duckworth Lewis system at Worcester, England on Sunday. Comment

Sports: Australia recovered from 79 for five to beat West Indies by 15 runs in a match marked by five questionable umpiring, which were mostly overturned leading the Aussies to score 288 all out in 49 overs at Trent Bridge in the ICC 2019 World Cup last week. Comment

Brooklyn: Even as several candidates are vying for support for Kings County Surrogate Court judge and judge of the 6th Judicial District, lawyers Edward “Ed” King and Derafim Bernadette Neckles are in a two-way “dogfight” for Civil Court judge in Kings County (Brooklyn). Comment

Jamaica: A standing room only crowd of bipartisan Jamaicans packed into the Tivoli Gardens Community Center nine nights after the May 28 passing of the island’s fifth Prime Minister Edward Phillip George Seaga who died on his 89th birthday. Comment

Guyana: Twin sisters, Laken and Carlissa King, were inspired by their diverse upbringing in the Brooklyn; so much so, that the young ladies used this distinction, to skillfully craft dolls that spark creativity, and celebrate togetherness. Comment

Brooklyn: Brooklyn Council Member Dr. Mathieu Eugene on Saturday attended the Cortelyou Library Summer Reading kick-off event, where he presented the Friends of Cortelyou Library with a check for $350,000 “to recognize their winning proposal as part of the Participatory Budgeting Project in District 40.” Comment

Movies: There was loud applause, from the packed Rose Cinema in Brooklyn Academy of Music, (BAM), as the credits roll. A clear sign, that no one left the theatre during the only screening of the movie “See You Yesterday,” a thought-provoking, Si-Fi, action adventure, that traces two science geniuses, who set out to work their chemistry magic to reverse a tragedy. Comment

Movies: The Caribbean Film Academy (CaFA) has announced its 5thAnnual Caribbean Cinema Nights lineup that began in May, and will continue through October, with film screenings at Joli Studio, 1131 Nostrand Ave., Brooklyn, from 6:30 pm. Comment

Sports: The Hero Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament will bowl off in Trinidad when the defending champion team, Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) comes up against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots at 6 pm on Sept. 4, 2019. Comment

Barbados: If there was any concern about the level of Barbados’ athletics development, that anxiety should have been put to rest during last week and the weekend when one youngster smashed a national record then broke a new barrier, and another runner came close to eclipsing a milestone. Comment

Sports: Cricket West Indies (CWI) has appointed four non-member (Independent) members to the Board of Directors for the two-year term 2019-2021. Comment

Environment: NAIROBI, June 7, 2019 (IPS) - On the 1st of March 2019, we saw one of the rare moments in history when the entire world comes together and agrees on a joint way forward. The United Nations General Assembly recognized the urgent need to tackle the compounded crisis of climate change and biodiversity loss, and passed a resolution to proclaim 2021-2030 as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. With the aim to restore at least 350 million hectares of degraded landscapes by 2030 — an area the size of India — the UN Decade is a loud and clear call to action for all of us. And it is a great opportunity for the UN-REDD Programme and its partner countries to build on 10 years worth of relevant experience with safeguards, impactful policies and measures, and attracting private and public investments. Comment

Trinidad and Tobago: Antigua Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister, Gaston Browne said that Barbados has agreed to sell almost all of its shares in the cash-strapped regional airline LIAT to Antigua and Barbuda. Comment

Jamaica: Former Jamaica Prime Minister, Percival Noel James Patterson has scolded four colleague leaders of Caribbean nations including the current head of his island for breaking a CARICOM pact of joint foreign policy, and acceding to US President Donald Trump’s wishes. Comment

Grenada: Tapped in the late 1990s by Columbia Records to direct a publicity campaign aimed at marketing Black talent in the music industry, a young Grenadian native transitioned from a path in journalism to factor in steering the music trajectory of newcomer Mariah Carey, Beyonce and others and was recently capped for an honorary doctorate. Comment

Books: Getting together with your family this summer is going to be fun! You’ll see your cousins and grandparents, friends and kin, and your aunts and uncles will be there, too. You’ll eat foods you love, play games to win, and you’ll hear stories that your family likes to tell. But what will you bring to the family picnic? In “Going Down Home with Daddy” by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Daniel Minter, that’s a question one boy struggles with. Comment