Barbados Food and Rum Festival was named best culinary festival in the Caribbean, City of Bridgetown as best emerging culinary destination and Jean and Norma Holder Hospitality Institute as best culinary training institute

A major agreement to build a coconut processing plant was signed with India, part of Barbados' plan to industrialize and expand its agro-processing sector; Export Barbados said it will create full value chains for coconut products with Indian technology

A new, fully cashless fare system with real-time bus tracking will be launched in September, in time for the new school year; Barbados will thus become the first Caribbean nation with smart card payment across its public transport network

The launch of a cutting-edge ocean glider marked the start of the Vetlesen Caribbean Hurricane Ocean Glider field experiment, aimed at strengthening real-time ocean observation and improve accuracy in hurricane forecasting in the Caribbean

Three nurses at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital were attacked by a patient wielding a sharp object in the second violent incident targeting the caretakers community in less than a month, prompting renewed calls for urgent action to protect healthcare staff