Home Office lifts deportation order for man, 62, who has lived in UK for 50 years

Department drops efforts to return Tony Hall to Barbados, a country he left at 12 and where he has no living relatives

The Home Office has lifted a deportation order handed to a 62-year-old man who has lived in Britain for 50 years after criticism of the department’s attempts to remove him to Barbados, a country he left as a child.

The Home Office wrote to Tony Hall on Tuesday to inform him that his deportation order had been revoked. His case had been highlighted in the Guardian a day earlier.

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Plaque telling story of African-Caribbean prisoners in Britain stolen within days

Descendants say theft from Portchester Castle reflects racism that has haunted ‘generation after generation’

The theft of a plaque in Hampshire that told the little-known story of African-Caribbean prisoners in 18th-century Britain reflects the enduring racism that has fuelled centuries of atrocities against Black and Indigenous Caribbean people, their descendants say.

Ronald Raymond McDonald, a professional drummer, was part of a delegation that travelled from Belize and elsewhere to Portchester Castle near Portsmouth last week to honour their ancestors: 2,500 men, women and children transported to Britain as prisoners of war in 1796.

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‘Opening the lid of a horrible secret’: Jamaicans confront enslavement with taboo-busting stories on screen

As violent spirits are unleashed in Sky’s Possession, observers see confident creatives reclaiming the island’s narratives in a form of ‘cultural reparation’

A woman opens a 300‑year‑old box, unleashing a violent spirit – it is the spirit of colonialism and oppression roaring back to life. It is a pivotal scene in Sky’s supernatural series Possession and symbolises a wider shift in Jamaica’s film industry, where directors are increasingly using the landscape to tell Jamaican stories – including those that confront enslavement, trauma and historical memory.

The series is about a biracial British lawyer who travels to Jamaica to investigate a multimillion-pound inheritance dispute, only to uncover a dark, vengeful spirit tied to the plantation’s brutal colonial past.

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‘Like a drill going into my eye’: why the mystery over Havana syndrome refuses to die

Dozens of CIA officers have been afflicted by debilitating symptoms over the past decade. Are they the result of ‘mass hysteria’? Or are they from attacks with an energy weapon and, if so, who is responsible? And has there been a cover-up?

Shortly after 1am one night in April 2019, a CIA officer on a work trip to London was jolted awake in his hotel room by the most intense head pain he had ever experienced. His body was soaked with sweat and he felt like his eyes were spinning in their sockets. He manoeuvred his way out of bed, hoping to make it to the bathroom to vomit, but found his sense of balance had deserted him. Eventually, he fell back into a fitful, shallow sleep.

The next day, arriving at the work meeting he had travelled for, the officer found he could not remember the names of colleagues in the room, people he knew well. As the meeting got under way, he could barely follow the discussion. Initially, he chalked it up to a terrible – if rather odd – case of food poisoning. But over subsequent weeks, worrying symptoms persisted: brain fog, loss of balance and increasingly harsh tinnitus.

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Outcry in Trinidad and Tobago after passing of police bill that could threaten press freedom

Journalists call for urgent amendment to special operations bill, which increases police search and seizure powers

Journalists in Trinidad and Tobago have called for an urgent amendment to a sweeping new bill that increases police powers of search and seizure, which they argue threatens the country’s much-vaunted freedom of the press.

The government says the special operations bill 2026, passed on 24 September, is designed to tackle alarmingly high crime and murder rates in the Caribbean nation.

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Outcry in Trinidad and Tobago after passing of police bill that could threaten press freedom

Journalists call for urgent amendment to special operations bill, which increases police search and seizure powers

Journalists in Trinidad and Tobago have called for an urgent amendment to a sweeping new bill that increases police powers of search and seizure, which they argue threatens the country’s much-vaunted freedom of the press.

The government says the special operations bill 2026, passed on 24 September, is designed to tackle alarmingly high crime and murder rates in the Caribbean nation.

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King Charles III to acknowledge ‘darkest days’ of Britain’s colonial rule during Caribbean tour

Buckingham Palace say the king will not ‘shy away’ from Britain’s role in slavery when he visits Commonwealth nations later this month

King Charles III will acknowledge the “darkest days” of colonial rule and slavery while touring Caribbean countries on a visit beginning this month, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said on Friday.

The king will first visit the Bahamas and Guyana alone, followed by a trip with Queen Camilla to Antigua and Barbuda, where Charles will give a speech at a meeting of Commonwealth heads of government, the palace said.

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US Coast Guard says it intercepted ship carrying fuel to Cuba

US says ship thought to be using common ‘dark fleet’ tactics was boarded and taken to Mexico as embargo continues

The US Coast ⁠Guard has announced that it intercepted a large cargo ship carrying fuel bound for Cuba, as the ⁠Trump administration’s crippling ⁠oil embargo against ​the island nation continued.

The vessel named Grace was stopped on 5 September in the Caribbean Sea between Cuba ⁠and Mexico while using tactics to evade authorities, the Coast Guard said. The New York Times reported that the ship ⁠was 91 metres (300ft) long.

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Mighty Sparrow, the Trinidad and Tobago singer known as the ‘calypso king of the world’, dies aged 91

Slinger Francisco, who performed as the Mighty Sparrow, died on Sunday surrounded by family in New York

Slinger Francisco, known on stage as the Mighty Sparrow and dubbed the “calypso king of the world”, has died aged 91.

Francisco, who got his breakthrough in calypso music with his 1956 hit song Jean and Dinah, died peacefully surrounded by his family in New York on Sunday, his family said in a statement.

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Jamaica hails King’s decision to refer slavery reparations petition to privy council as ‘really big deal’

The move comes after Jamaica’s culture minister Olivia Grange travelled to the UK earlier this month to lodge the historic petition

King Charles has referred a landmark slavery reparations petition from Jamaica to a high-level UK appeals court for legal advice, Jamaica’s culture minister announced in parliament on Tuesday.

Referring to the move as a “really big deal”, Olivia Grange told Jamaica’s MPs the monarch had confirmed that their legal questions have been passed on to the London-based privy council – the final court of appeal for UK overseas territories and some Commonwealth countries.

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US strikes on alleged drug boats may constitute ‘crimes against humanity’, UN expert says

Dozens of US attacks on boats in the Pacific and Caribbean have killed more than 230 people since September 2025

A special rapporteur for the UN human rights council has concluded that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that the United States attacks on boats allegedly carrying drugs in the Pacific and Caribbean “constituted crimes against humanity”.

The boat strikes, carried out since September 2025 on the stated grounds of stopping drugs being trafficked by sea to the US, have killed more than 230 people. The latest, on Saturday, killed four people in the Caribbean.

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More than a dozen arrested in connection with 2021 assassination of Haitian president

Jovenel Moïse, 53, was shot dead in July 2021 in a killing which sparked chaos in Haiti

Eighteen people have been arrested in association with the 2021 assassination of the Haitian president Jovenel Moïse, according to US officials.

Moïse, 53, was shot dead on 7 July 2021 at his private residence by a hired group of about 20 military-trained Colombian mercenaries. His security detail did not intervene to protect him.

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Jamaican delegates arrive in UK to hand slavery reparations petition to King Charles

Slavery’s legacy continues ‘to deprive our country and our people’, says minister, as group prepares to appeal to Jamaica’s head of state

A landmark petition is to be handed to King Charles by Jamaica over slavery reparations, aiming to confront historical crimes that still disadvantage former British colonies, the Caribbean nation’s culture minister has said.

The petition will be lodged with Charles, Jamaica’s head of state, on Monday.

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Tropical Storm Dolly downgraded to ‘open tropical wave’ as it heads to Caribbean

Remnants from tropical storm could cause heavy rainfall on Leeward Islands and affect Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola

Remnants of Tropical Storm Dolly, which has been downgraded to an “open tropical wave”, were moving still across the Atlantic Ocean toward the Leeward Islands, and could bring heavy rainfall to parts of the Caribbean this weekend, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Friday..

Dolly, which formed on Thursday, had maximum sustained winds of near 40mph (65km/h) with higher gusts on Friday morning. Later on Friday, forecasters said that Dolly was no longer a Tropical Storm, and had “become an open tropical wave”.

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At least 47 killed and dozens kidnapped in gang attack near Haiti capital

Gang leader threatens to kill hostages after attack in Kenscoff in which homes were also set alight

At least 47 people were killed and more than 50 others kidnapped when armed men attacked a once peaceful community near Haiti’s capital at the weekend, the UN has said.

A gang leader has threatened to kill the hostages if authorities kill any gang members as they try to secure the community of Kenscoff, nestled in the hills above Port-au-Prince.

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At least 47 killed and dozens kidnapped in gang attack near Haiti capital

Gang leader threatens to kill hostages after attack in Kenscoff in which homes were also set alight

At least 47 people were killed and more than 50 others kidnapped when armed men attacked a once peaceful community near Haiti’s capital at the weekend, the UN has said.

A gang leader has threatened to kill the hostages if authorities kill any gang members as they try to secure the community of Kenscoff, nestled in the hills above Port-au-Prince.

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US strikes a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing 2 people in first attack in months

US Southern Command has struck another vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing two accused of trafficking drugs

The US military has launched a deadly strike on a vessel in the Pacific Ocean, killing two people accused of drug trafficking.

On Monday, US Southern Command (SouthCom) announced it “executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific”.

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US to shut five consulates as critics fear China could fill diplomatic vacuum

State department informs Congress of planned closures in Canada, Grenada, Japan, Indonesia and Cameroon

The US state department is to shut five foreign consulates and missions across Asia, Africa, North America and the Caribbean, drawing criticism that it is leaving a diplomatic vacuum at risk of being filled by China.

The US Congress has been served notice of the impending closures, which are being justified on cost grounds and follow a reassessment of the US’s bilateral relationships with a range of countries since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

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US to shut five consulates as critics fear China could fill diplomatic vacuum

State department informs Congress of planned closures in Canada, Grenada, Japan, Indonesia and Cameroon

The US state department is to shut five foreign consulates and missions across Asia, Africa, North America and the Caribbean, drawing criticism that it is leaving a diplomatic vacuum at risk of being filled by China.

The US Congress has been served notice of the impending closures, which are being justified on cost grounds and follow a reassessment of the US’s bilateral relationships with a range of countries since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

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El Niño could push 50m people into acute hunger before end of next year

UN forecasters warn of worsening conditions in 45 countries currently experiencing severe food insecurity

About 50 million people are likely to be pushed into acute hunger before the end of next year by the rapidly developing El Niño weather system, according to forecasting.

This is in addition to the hundreds of millions of people already facing dangerous levels of hunger, owing to years of drought in parts of Africa and pressure on food prices from the war in Iran.

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