Antigua and Barbuda is a sovereign island country in the Caribbean. It lies at the conjuncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles.
Sir Vere Cornwall Bird, KNH was the first Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. His son, Lester Bryant Bird, succeeded him as Prime Minister. In 1994, he was declared a "National Hero".
LIAT (1974) Ltd, also known as Leeward Islands Air Transport Services and operating as LIAT, was a regional airline headquartered in Antigua and Barbuda that operated high-frequency inter-island scheduled services to 15 destinations in the Caribbean. The airline's main base was V.C. Bird International Airport, Antigua and Barbuda, with a secondary base at Grantley Adams International Airport, Barbados.
The Antigua and Barbuda national football team is the national team of Antigua and Barbuda.
Antigua, also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Barbuda became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations on 1 November 1981.
The monarchy of Antigua and Barbuda is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Antigua and Barbuda. The current Antiguan and Barbudan monarch and head of state, since 8 September 2022, is King Charles III. As sovereign, he is the personal embodiment of the Crown of Antigua and Barbuda. Although the person of the sovereign is equally shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result, the current monarch is officially titled King of Antigua and Barbuda and, in this capacity, he and other members of the Royal Family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of Antigua and Barbuda. However, the King is the only member of the Royal Family with any constitutional role.
The Antiguan Carnival is a celebration of emancipation from slavery, held annually on the island of Antigua. It is a thirteen-day festival of colorful costumes, beauty pageants, talent shows, and music. The festival begins in late July and ends the first Tuesday in August, known as Carnival Tuesday. Both Carnival Monday and Carnival Tuesday are public holidays on the island. Antiguan Carnival replaced the Old Time Christmas Festival in 1957, with hopes of inspiring tourism in Antigua and Barbuda. Some elements of the Old Time Christmas Festival remain in the modern Carnival celebrations.
Vere Bird Jr. was an Antiguan lawyer and politician who served as chairman of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) and a government minister. He was the son of Vere Bird, the former Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, and brother of Lester Bird, who later held the same position.
The Outlet was a radical newspaper published in Saint John's, Antigua and Barbuda. The Outlet was founded in 1968. The newspaper was edited by Tim Hector and James Knight. It functioned as a weekly organ of the Antigua Caribbean Liberation Movement (ACLM). For the ACLM the newspaper played a very important role. In its heyday Outlet claimed a circulation of around 5,000 copies, thus being the most widely read newspaper on Antigua. As of the early 1970s, Outlet and Standard were the sole opposition newspapers in the country.
Gaston Alfonso Browne is an Antiguan politician serving as the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda and leader of the Labour Party since 2014. Before entering politics, he was a banker and businessman.
Tevaughn Harriette is an Antigua and Barbuda international footballer who plays as a striker.
Mehul Chinubhai Choksi is an Indian-born businessman living in Antigua and Barbuda, who is wanted by the Indian judicial authorities for criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating and dishonesty including delivery of property, corruption and money laundering. In an interview, Choksi claimed that he is innocent and all allegations against him are false, baseless and motivated by political expediency. Choksi has held Antiguan citizenship since 2017. He is the owner of Gitanjali Group, a retail jewellery company with 4,000 stores in India. An arrest warrant for Choksi has been issued in connection with the alleged Punjab National Bank fraud case. He was allegedly involved in stock market manipulation in 2013. In late May 2021, he went missing from Antigua and Barbuda. Choksi claims that he was kidnapped from Antigua by agents of the Indian state, while others stated that he fled the country. After being found and arrested in Dominica under charges of illegal entry he was then returned to Antigua and Barbuda on interim bail for medical treatment. In May 2022 the charge of illegal entry was dropped by the Dominican Government. Investigations into his disappearance are ongoing.
Prostitution in Antigua and Barbuda is legal and common. Related activities such as brothel keeping and solicitation are prohibited. UNAIDS estimate there to be 755 prostitutes on the islands, the majority are migrants from other Caribbean countries. They tend to move around the Caribbean, never staying in one territory for long. In 2011, prostitution was on the rise due to poor economic conditions.
Sir George Ryan KGCN GCM is a Montserrat-born Antiguan contractor, businessman and philanthropist based in Antigua and Barbuda.
Winston Derrick was an Antiguan journalist, media personality, and chairman and managing director of Antigua's Observer Group of Companies which he founded in 1993 with his brother Fergie Derrick. Derrick was the host of the popular "The Voice of the People" daily call-in news show on the media group's radio station Observer Radio 911 FM.
Maria Vanessa Bird-Browne is a politician in Antigua and Barbuda. She was elected as a member of the House of Representatives for St. John's Rural East in the Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda in 2018, becoming the youngest lawmaker in the country. She is the country's minister for housing, lands, and urban renewal.
Squatting in the island country of Antigua and Barbuda in the West Indies is the occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without the permission of the owner. Historically, native Barbudans were seen as squatters and after Hurricane Irma in 2017, Prime Minister Gaston Browne offered people he termed squatters the chance to buy their land.
Sir John Eugene St. Luce, KGCN,, is an Antiguan politician from the Antigua Labour Party (ALP). He attended the University of London and majored in economics and social sciences. In 1971, he was appointed to the Senate. In 1976, he was elected to the House of Representatives. He was subsequently re-elected until his retirement from active politics in 2004. He held several portfolios in the Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda: Minister of Agriculture, Home Affairs, Health, Public Works, Public Utilities and Communications and Finance. He lost to Lester Bird when there was a vote for successor of Vere Bird as the chairman of the ALP.
Gail Christian is an Antiguan and Barbudan politician and senator. She is a senator of the Upper House of Parliament in Antigua and Barbuda. She was appointed senator by Prime Minister Gaston Browne.
Republicanism in Antigua and Barbuda is a movement for the replacement of the constitutional monarchy of Antigua and Barbuda with a republican form of government.
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