International

Chinese Government Offers Scholarships For 2025

The Government of China is providing full scholarships to Barbadian students to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in that country, for the academic year commencing September 2025.

To be eligible for a scholarship, applicants must be citizens of Barbados in good health; high school graduates under the age of 45 when applying for general programmes; be 25 years old if pursuing undergraduate studies, and under 35 years old if pursuing a master’s degree – applicants must already possess a bachelor’s degree and graduated with at least Lower Second Class Honours.

Applicants must also be under age 40 if pursuing a doctoral degree and must have a master’s degree, or hold a master’s degree or that of an Associate Professor (or above) and be under age 50 when applying for senior scholarship programmes. Applications, procedures, and the relevant rules are available from www.campuschina.org or www.csc.edu.cn/studyinchina.

For more information on the scholarships for 2025, interested persons should contact the Tertiary Section of the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training at 535-0863, or visit www.mes.gov.bb. The deadline for the submission of applications is Friday, January 17, 2025. (PR/GIS)

International

CARNEY’S LIBERAL PARTY VICTORIOUS

Mark Carney’s Liberal Party is projected to win enough seats to form a government in the Canadian elections which were held yesterday, April 28th

The party is still short of the majority but Carney is set to remain Prime Minister of Canada, a post he held for only two months following Justin Trudeau’s resignation.

Media reports state that the spectacular electoral comeback was fuelled in part by US President Donald Trump’s language, the trade war and economic threats.

Meanwhile the conservative leader and Carney’s main rival Pierre Poilievre has been projected to lose his seat.

Results at this time are:

Liberal – 168

Conservative- 144

Bloc Quebecois – 23

International

UK Trade Relationship With EU ‘More Important’ than with US

The UK chancellor has told the BBC that the UK’s trade relationship with the European Union, EU, is arguably “more important” than the one it has with the United States.

Rachel Reeves suggested that moving closer to the EU on trade was a bigger priority, despite her current focus on talks with the US.

After her meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last Friday, Reeves tweeted that both the UK and US want a deal that is “in both our national interests”.

Earlier this week, she signalled the UK could lower tariffs on US car imports from their current 10 per cent to 2.5 per cent as part of a wider deal.

The UK is preparing for a summit with the EU in May in an attempt to “reset” the relationship between the two.

International

CANADIANS GO TO THE POLLS TODAY

Canadians are casting their ballots today Monday April 28th, in a pivotal election that has been completely transformed by US President Donald Trump.

The Conservatives appeared certain to win any contest by a landslide at the start of the year, until Trump’s tariffs and barbs about making Canada the “51st state” upended the country’s politics and injected fresh life into Mark Carney’s Liberal Party.

The final polls suggest the Liberals are slightly ahead, although the race has tightened in the past week and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre says his party can win.

The 36-day campaign ended on a sombre note as party leaders responded to the Saturday evening car ramming that killed 11 people in Vancouver.

Carney, the incumbent prime minister, cancelled a stop in Hamilton on Sunday morning to address the nation following the attack, which saw an SUV ram into a crowd gathered for a local Filipino festival.