Barbados: Barbados is introducing for all public officers an anti-corruption law aimed at halting the sleaze that apparently existed in the immediate past, and government is offering an amnesty as a chance for some to come clean before the hammer of justice falls. Comment

Brooklyn: The Brooklyn Public Library graduated about 20 adult students in their first graduation ceremony at Central Library on June 28. The library’s inaugural commencement for their High School Equivalency (HSE) program, celebrated the students for completing coursework to take the state’s Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC), which replaced what was commonly known as General Educational Development (GED). Comment

Vincentians attending St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Canarsie, Brooklyn, have described as very successful their annual fundraising barbecue on the church grounds. Comment

Music: “A Taste of Hopetown” soiree marked the celebration of Guyana’s African history at Crystal Manor in Flatbush on July 14. Afro-Guyanese culture was on full display at the ancestral event from music to attire. Hundreds of partygoers attended the event, which was a shining presentation of what the country’s music scene can be and the artists, said the event’s co-organizer. Comment

Arts & Theater: When it comes to presenting free cultural entertainment during the summer, the unrivalled champion city in America is New York. For all its repute for being expensive and unaffordable, city parks throughout the boroughs provide dance, music, spoken word, films and theater free of charge or at a premium low to anyone willing to put a pause on air-conditioners and television sets and stepping out into breezy, tree-lined outdoor spaces. Comment

Fashion: A cutting edge collection of swimwear lit up the runway at the 10th Annual Bikini Under The Bridge fashion event in Dumbo, Brooklyn, and raked in much needed funds for breast cancer awareness programs to benefit survivors, and themed: “To Brooklyn With Love.” Comment

Jamaica: SYDNEY (AP) — Usain Bolt is making a run at professional soccer in Australia. The Olympic sprint great has long expressed his love of the game. Since his retirement from track, he has tested himself with Germany’s Borussia Dortmund and the Norwegian club Stromsgodset. Comment

Brooklyn: And the world’s game came to an end! More than a hundred football fans and enthusiasts turned out for a watch party of the FIFA World Cup final match at Kings Theatre on July 15. The game between France and Croatia entertained dozens of hardcore lovers of the sport, and while France would claim the victory, not too many were pleased with their win, said a deejay at the viewing. Comment

Guyana: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says economic growth in Guyana slowed in 2017, “but became more broad-based.” In concluding Article IV consultation with Guyanese authorities, the Washington, D.C.-based financial institution said on Monday that the country’s economy grew by 2.1 percent, down from 3.4 percent in 2016, “on the account of lower than expected mining output and weak performance in the sugar sector.” Comment

Guyana: The Queens Tribune Press honored Caribbean nationals and an organization, on June 28, for stellar contributions to their community, during the 2nd Annual Caribbean Legacy Awards at Douglaston Manor, in Queens, to celebrate Heritage Month. Comments (1)

Immigration: While the Trump administration in the United States has stepped up detention and deportation of Caribbean and other immigrants, America’s next-door neighbor, Canada, is doing the opposite — welcoming immigrants. Comment

Music: Haitian-American musician Okai Fleurimond will introduce the traditional drum rhythms of Haiti on July 29 at the Pelham Art Center in Pelham, New York. Open to all ages, the free performance starts at 1:30 pm at the center, a mere eight miles north of the Bronx. Comment

Books: “We have to talk.” It’s never good when someone tells you that. Even if it’s said with a smile and a pat on the back, you can feel doom in those words. “We have to talk” never helps anyone except when, as in “What Truth Sounds Like” by Michael Eric Dyson, it does. Comment

Sports: They were champions last year and just to prove that getting to the top was no fluke, Weymouth Wales emerged out of its zone and won the playoff match to become the Barbados Football Association Premier League champions again. Comment

Barbados: Based on an International Monetary Fund’s preliminary assessment, Barbados appears to be moving correctly along the path towards securing refinancing of its debt obligations and for national economic restructuring. Comment

Guyana: The Washington, D.C.-based Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has lauded the implementation of Guyana’s Tobacco Control Act, saying that ensuring the protection of a country’s population from the adverse effects of tobacco is a “marathon process.” Comment

Guyana: The president of the Brooklyn-based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) is urging Guyana’s President David Granger to review the alleged actions of Minister Simona Broomes and “repudiate them if deemed inappropriate.” Comment

Cuba: Caribbean Community leaders were from Wednesday July 4 due to meet in Jamaica for the main of their two annual summits with key issues like problems in the single trading market on the agenda, but a discussion about a harmonized regional approach to marijuana possession and use could well emerge as a main discussion point. Comment

Viewpoints: SYDNEY & KUALA LUMPUR, July 16, 2018 (IPS) — The United States has had the world’s largest trade deficit for almost half a century. In 2017, the US trade deficit in goods and services was $566 billion; without services, the merchandise account deficit was $810 billion. Comment

St Lucia: CASTRIES, St. Lucia, July 9, 2018 (IPS) - Wildlife conservationists consider it to be one of the most striking parrots of its kind. Saint Lucia’s best-known species, the endangered Amazon parrot, is recognised by its bright green plumage, purple forehead and dusty red-tipped feathers. But a major conservation organisation is warning that climate change and a lack of care for the environment could have devastating consequences for Saint Lucia’s healthy ecosystems and rich biodiversity, including the parrot. Comment

Books: In celebration of Bahamas’ 45th year of independence, a Bahamian-American publishing house has released three books celebrating the nation’s culture and history. Brooklyn-born Bahamian author Wendy Coakley-Thompson, is on a mission to revive and restore her country’s literary scene. She founded the publishing company Duho Books, to introduce texts that highlight not only the beauty of Bahamas, but its people and their experiences and traditions — because many stories were not being told. Comment

People: Another Black giant fell on July 10 when Dr. Carlos Russell succumbed at Maimonides Hospital. The visionary author, playwright, educator, ambassador, and historian, acclaimed for establishing a Black Solidarity Day in 1969, died in his sleep at age 84. He was born in the Republic of Panama on Aug. 6, 1934. Comment

Movies: Damascus Cover (R for profanity and violence) Espionage thriller, based on Howard Kaplan’s best seller of the same name, about an Israeli spy (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) sent on a dangerous mission to smuggle a chemical weapons scientist and his family out of Syria. With Olivia Thirlby, Jurgen Prochnow and the late John Hurt. Comment

Jamaica: Jamaica’s top cop is coming to Brooklyn to speak at a public forum about the nation’s crime at Marriott Hotel in Brooklyn Heights on July 19. Comment

Guyana: Four Guyanese transgender women have asked the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to strike down an 1893 post-slavery vagrancy provision which led to their convictions in 2009. Comment

Jamaica: West Indies batting superstar Chris Gayle is set to play in the inaugural Abu Dhabi T20 Trophy to be staged in October. Comment

Sports: This year’s Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will have playoff matches to be held in Guyana for the first time. Comment

St Lucia: Barbados Public servants in Barbados will receive a five percent salary next month. Comment

Bahamas: Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis said that The Bahamas will not be part of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). He made his country’s position clear when he spoke to journalist after his arrival from the recent CARICOM Heads of Government 39th Annual Conference in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Comment

Guyana: With the country racing towards becoming an oil producer by 2020, the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) is moving to setup a branch here to cater for a growing number of United States companies investing in oil and gas, related and other services in the largest of the Caribbean Community group of nations. Comment

Grenada: Brooklyn Councilman Jumaane Williams, who is running for New York Lieutenant Governor, joined dozens of advocates outside State Board of Elections offices in Albany last Thursday to announce that his campaign has collected more than 68,000 petition signatures backing his effort to secure ballot access for his candidacy. Comment

Guyana: I read recently about the interest showed in becoming Guyana’s president among many young, insurgent candidates, and the recent resounding success of many candidates in the USA. My heart goes out to them, and I salute them. They should have the right to compete Comment

Caribbean: Timothy Antoine, Eastern Caribbean Central Bank governor this month took over leadership of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility amidst a challenge to widen disaster insurance for a natural calamity-prone zone. Comment

Arts & Theater: Opera education in primary schools? Seems like a very far-out concept — but not for Trinidad-born Odelphia Pierre, Principal of PS 129 in Harlem, who appreciates the arts. Comment

St Vincent: The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee of FIFA, the world governing football (soccer) authority, has banned Venold Coombs, the president of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF). Comments (1)

Music: Tourism officials in St. Kitts have described as “a rousing success” the 22nd Annual St. Kitts Music Festival. The festival, which took place from Jun. 27 – Jul. 1, drew “record numbers of attendees and an amazing response to all the performers. Comment

Jamaica: Regional leaders must put measures in place to fast-track the full implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). Comment

Arts & Theater: Her show is back, and she’s taking it on the road! Comment

Members of an organization dubbed Empowering Future Minds (EFM) exemplified a mission to help young women in Jamaica by hosting a fund-raiser at Markie B’s Jamaican Cuisine in Jamaica, Queens recently. Comment