NAIROBI, Kenya – Amid an ongoing, deadly outbreak of the rare but lethal Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa’s top public health agency has laid out a clear timeline to deliver the first targeted vaccine and treatment for the virus by the end of 2026. Jean Kaseya, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), confirmed the aggressive development timeline during a Thursday online press briefing with reporters, noting that multiple promising vaccine candidates are already in the pipeline for evaluation. The Bundibugyo Ebola strain, which triggered the current large-scale outbreak in the DRC starting this spring, currently has no globally approved preventative vaccines or specific antiviral treatments, leaving frontline healthcare workers with limited tools to slow transmission or reduce mortality. Kaseya emphasized that both political leadership and technical teams are fully committed to accelerating development, stating that investment is already flowing into both strategic and technical stages of the project to ensure the goal is met. “What we can tell you for sure, by the end of this year, 2026, Africa CDC will make sure that we have a vaccine and medicine against Bundibugyo,” Kaseya told reporters. “Our leaders are ready to invest. We are investing at technical level, at a strategic level, to make sure that (the vaccine) will happen.” The development update comes as Kaseya also confirmed he received recent correspondence from Russia’s Ministry of Health claiming that Russian researchers have already completed development of a vaccine targeting the Bundibugyo strain. A senior Africa CDC team member later clarified that the Russian vaccine candidate is currently designed to target the more common Zaire strain of Ebola, and upcoming technical discussions with Moscow’s Gamaleya National Research Centre will explore the underlying science supporting the candidate’s claimed cross-protection against the Bundibugyo variant. As of the latest briefing, Kaseya reported at least 1,077 suspected cases of Ebola tied to the outbreak, which was formally declared on May 15. That total includes 246 recorded deaths from the virus. Kaseya’s figures are slightly higher than the most recent official count released by the World Health Organization, which has reported 10 confirmed Ebola deaths and 223 suspected fatalities linked to the ongoing outbreak. Public health experts have warned that unregulated cross-border movement in the Great Lakes region and weak healthcare infrastructure in eastern DRC increase the risk of the outbreak spreading beyond national borders, making rapid development of targeted medical countermeasures a top regional priority.
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El Niño, warm seas to shape quiet but erratic hurricane season
When regional climate experts gathered in Nassau, The Bahamas for the 2026 Wet/Hurricane Season Caribbean Climate Outlook Forum (CariCOF), one leading climatologist delivered a stark message: a quieter hurricane season does not equal a low-risk year for Caribbean nations. Leading Caribbean climatologist Dr. Cedric Van Meerbeeck told attendees that current climate projections point to a below-average 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, but the underlying weather patterns driving this trend also create a suite of other dangerous climate hazards that communities must prepare for immediately.
Dr. Van Meerbeeck’s forecast is rooted in the projected return of a strong El Niño climate pattern across the tropical Pacific, a well-documented phenomenon that alters global atmospheric circulation to suppress the formation of Atlantic hurricanes. Current projections call for approximately five hurricanes to form across the Atlantic basin in 2026, with just two reaching Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale — numbers that fall below the long-term seasonal average for the region. But El Niño’s impacts stretch far beyond reducing hurricane numbers, and the climatologist emphasized that the pattern amplifies a range of other extreme weather threats that are often overlooked in seasonal outlooks.
One of the most significant underdiscussed risks this year will be unstable, erratic weather patterns across the Caribbean, Dr. Van Meerbeeck explained. Even with fewer named storms overall, the region faces an elevated chance of intense, short-duration rainfall events that can trigger catastrophic flash flooding, paired with prolonged, record-breaking heat waves that strain public health systems and infrastructure.
Compounding these risks is the fact that sea surface temperatures across the northern Caribbean — encompassing island nations including The Bahamas, Cuba, and Jamaica — are already running well above long-term averages. These warm waters can act as a fuel source for any storm that does form, amplifying its intensity and rainfall output even if the overall number of storms is lower than usual.
Water security is another critical concern for the coming year, the climatologist noted. While the upcoming wet season is expected to bring enough rainfall to ease long-standing drought conditions in some parts of the region, that temporary relief will likely not be enough to reverse chronic water deficits that could lead to shortages later in 2026. To address this gap, Dr. Van Meerbeeck issued a clear call to action for Caribbean governments: invest in expanding water storage infrastructure and update drought preparedness plans now, while rainy conditions are providing an opportunity to build up reserves.
Public health risks linked to extreme heat will also be amplified by El Niño, particularly for the region’s most vulnerable populations. Prolonged high temperatures, paired with unseasonably warm overnight temperatures that prevent the body from cooling down after hot days, pose a severe threat to elderly residents, young children, and people with pre-existing health conditions.
In closing, Dr. Van Meerbeeck stressed that communities across the region must abandon the misconception that a below-average hurricane season means widespread safety. Even one major hurricane hitting a Caribbean island or coastal community is enough to wipe out crops, destroy critical infrastructure including roads and water systems, disrupt livelihoods, and cause billions of dollars in damage that can set back national economies for years. As the season approaches, proactive preparation across all hazard types, not just hurricane preparedness, will be critical to reducing harm and protecting communities.
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US allocates extra US$80 million to tackle Ebola
In a press announcement from Washington D.C. this Thursday, the United States has committed an additional $80 million in emergency funding to ramp up the global response to the spiraling Ebola outbreak spreading across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighboring Uganda.
This new injection of resources brings the total American financial contribution to containment efforts to $112 million since the outbreak was first formally declared in mid-May, according to official statements from the US State Department. The allocated funding is earmarked for critical on-the-ground needs: it will cover the cost of personal protective equipment for frontline healthcare workers operating in high-risk zones, expanded border screening protocols across regional transit points, the distribution of rapid diagnostic test kits, and other urgent response requirements.
“The United States Government continues to carry out a comprehensive, coordinated strategy to contain this Ebola outbreak at its source, both to protect American citizens at home and stop further cross-border spread across the globe,” the State Department’s release noted. This pledge follows a commitment from Secretary of State Marco Rubio a day prior, who stated that the administration’s top priority is blocking the importation of Ebola into US territory.
The outbreak has already taken a severe toll on local communities: the World Health Organization (WHO) has documented 10 confirmed deaths and 223 suspected fatalities across the DRC, out of more than 1,000 combined confirmed and suspected cases recorded since May 15. Public health experts widely warn that the actual scope of the outbreak is far larger than official numbers reflect, due to limited surveillance and access to affected remote areas.
The Trump administration’s handling of the crisis has drawn sharp pushback in recent weeks from congressional Democrats and global public health non-governmental organizations. Critics point to the administration’s earlier decision to withdraw the US from the WHO and restructure and downsize key programs within the US Agency for International Development (USAID) as actions that have weakened global capacity to respond rapidly to emerging infectious disease threats, leaving the current response under-resourced in its critical early stages.
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Trump’s face could appear on US$250 bill
A provocative new push from within the Trump administration has sparked fierce debate across Washington, as senior political figures and regulators clash over a proposal to add former President Donald Trump’s portrait to a newly created $250 United States banknote, a plan that would break 150 years of established American currency tradition.
Details of the initiative were first reported by *The Washington Post* on Thursday, which obtained internal design mockups for the proposed bill. The draft concept frames the new banknote as a tribute to America’s 250th anniversary of independence, marked in 2026, with the wording “America 250 anniversary” printed alongside Trump’s image. According to the publication, two senior Trump appointees at the US Treasury Department began lobbying leadership at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to develop working prototypes of the bill as early as last year.
If the plan moves forward, it would mark the first time in 150 years that a living American has been featured on official US currency, breaking a long-standing norm and explicit federal regulation that prohibits depictions of sitting presidents on circulating or commemorative money. Bureau employees, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to avoid professional retaliation, confirmed that bureau leadership immediately flagged significant legal and procedural barriers to senior Treasury officials, including US Treasurer Brandon Beach.
After Bureau of Engraving and Printing director Patricia Solimene pushed back against the initiative to defend existing federal law, she was abruptly reassigned to a new, lower-profile role within the agency, multiple sources confirmed to the Post.
The proposal to add Trump to the $250 bill is far from an isolated move: over the past several months, the Trump administration has moved aggressively to embed the president’s name and likeness across a wide range of national cultural and government institutions, a pattern that has drawn repeated accusations of cultivating a cult of personality around the 79-year-old commander-in-chief.
Earlier this year, the US Commission of Fine Arts, whose entire voting panel is made up of Trump appointees, unanimously approved the production of a 24-carat gold commemorative Semiquincentennial coin that includes Trump’s imagery. In recent months, two major national institutions — the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the US Institute of Peace — have been officially rebranded to add Trump’s name to their titles. Large banners bearing the president’s portrait already hang in the lobbies of the US Department of Justice and Department of Agriculture, and the State Department has confirmed that Trump’s likeness will soon be added to the inside pages of new US passports.
Formal legislation to authorize the $250 bill and change existing federal law to allow a living president’s depiction was introduced to Congress last year, but the bill has not advanced to a floor vote or committee markup and remains stalled in legislative limbo. A spokesperson for the Treasury Department offered a measured response to questions about the internal proposal, telling the Post that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is “conducting appropriate planning and due diligence” in response to the pending congressional legislation.
Democratic lawmakers have uniformly condemned the initiative, with Senate Banking Committee member Senator Mark Warner arguing that the unprecedented plan amounts to a naked power play designed only to inflate the president’s personal standing. “This is the White House blatantly stoking the president’s ego at the expense of long-held American institutional norms,” Warner said of the proposal.
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Dominican Navy concludes joint military training with U.S. forces
LAS CALDERAS NAVAL BASE, PERAVIA – The Dominican Republic Navy has officially wrapped up three interconnected military training initiatives, including the annual Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET), Basic Diving Courses 011-012, and the Naval Special Forces Qualification Course (CCUFEN), during a formal closing ceremony hosted at its primary southern coastal installation.
The high-profile ceremony was presided over by Dominican Republic Defense Minister Lieutenant General Carlos Antonio Fernández Onofre, with senior leadership in attendance that included Vice Admiral Juan Bienvenido Crisóstomo Martínez, General Commander of the Dominican Navy, and Leah Francis Campos, the United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Senior military stakeholders from across the Dominican Armed Forces General Staff and top-ranking Navy command staff also took part in the event, which centered on the tangible progress made in upgrading the Dominican Navy’s tactical and operational capacity.
In his keynote address to participating service members and assembled officials, Vice Admiral Crisóstomo Martínez underscored the outsized role that these structured multinational training programs play in boosting three critical pillars of naval readiness: cross-force interoperability, global defense cooperation, and the operational preparedness of Dominican naval special operations units to counter evolving maritime security and defense threats. He specifically highlighted the value of the longstanding defense partnership with the United States, noting that collaborative training frameworks create structured pathways to exchange frontline operational insights, updated military doctrine, and decades of tactical expertise between the two nations’ forces.
Following official remarks, the ceremony featured a live operational demonstration that put on display the specialized skills all participants mastered over the course of the training cycle. Trainees from the Dominican Navy joined operators from Alpha ODA 735, a team from the U.S. Army Green Berets, to execute tactical drills, showcasing the high level of coordinated readiness the joint program was designed to build.
Per Dominican Navy leadership, collaborative joint exercises like JCET are an indispensable component of the country’s efforts to reinforce national response capacity against a broad spectrum of transnational security challenges, ranging from maritime organized crime to large-scale search and rescue operations, as well as critical infrastructure protection. Each of the three training initiatives was tailored to target distinct, high-priority capability gaps: the Basic Diving Course focused on building foundational proficiencies in underwater operations, technical rescue procedures, maritime hazard mitigation, and specialized underwater naval missions, while the CCUFEN qualification program was structured to develop advanced special operations skill sets, including large-scale amphibious operations and direct-action special combat tactics.
Navy officials confirmed that these ongoing training programs are a core element of the service’s long-term institutional modernization and force strengthening strategy. The overarching goal of the initiative is to maintain a consistently high-readiness, fully trained maritime defense force capable of upholding Dominican national sovereignty and safeguarding the country’s extensive territorial maritime boundaries.
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Kenya rights group files petition to halt US Ebola quarantine centre plan
In the wake of an expanding Ebola outbreak centered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a controversial plan by the United States to construct a dedicated quarantine facility for its citizens in Kenya has sparked legal action, public health concerns, and constitutional debate across the East African nation.
On Thursday, the Nairobi-based Kenyan human rights organization Katiba Institute confirmed it had submitted a formal court petition to block the project entirely. The petition demands not only that the facility be prevented from commencing operations but also that authorities ban any entry of individuals potentially exposed to the Ebola virus through this program, according to statements from the group.
The rights organization has leveled sharp criticism at the opaque process behind the facility’s development, saying the project was advanced unilaterally and without public transparency. This lack of consultation, Katiba Institute argues, violates core tenets of Kenya’s constitution and creates unacceptable risks for the country’s population.
A senior U.S. administration official has previously framed the project as a public health safety measure, describing the planned site as a modern, “state-of-the-art” facility intended to house U.S. citizens for quarantine after they exit the DRC, which has been grappling with the ongoing outbreak since it was declared in mid-May.
The plan has also drawn concern from top African public health leadership. Jean Kaseya, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), warned during a recent press briefing that the facility could place unplanned, additional strain on Kenya’s already stretched national health system. “Adding an international quarantine responsibility for foreign nationals could stretch their national capacities… If it’s not well supported by additional resources,” Kaseya explained, highlighting the risk of overburdening local infrastructure without sufficient backing.
Nora Mbagathi, executive director of Katiba Institute, emphasized the core motivations behind the legal challenge, saying, “The case is about preserving constitutional accountability, protecting public health and ensuring that no government may place expediency above the lives and safety of the people of Kenya.”
To date, Kenya has implemented mandatory Ebola testing for all incoming travelers from affected regions, and has not recorded any confirmed cases linked to the current outbreak within its borders. Uganda, which shares borders with both the DRC and Kenya, has already documented at least seven cases of the virus.
Kenya’s Ministry of Health has not issued a formal direct response to questions about the proposed facility, only stating broadly that the country is open to collaboration with international partners, including the United States.
Current data from the World Health Organization puts the outbreak’s toll at more than 1,000 combined confirmed and suspected cases, with 10 confirmed deaths and 223 suspected fatalities. Complicating response efforts, the outbreak is driven by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which no licensed vaccine or targeted treatment currently exists.
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Mosquitoes can learn to love common repellent, scientists find
A groundbreaking new experimental study published Thursday in the *Journal of Experimental Biology* has upended long-held assumptions about how the world’s most widely used insect repellent, DEET, works against disease-carrying mosquitoes. The research, led by an international team of scientists, demonstrates that mosquitoes can be conditioned to associate the scent of DEET with the promise of a food source — even learning to prioritize biting human skin that has been treated with the repellent.
Lead researcher Claudio Lazzari, an emeritus professor at the University of Tours’ Insect Biology Research Institute in France, was quick to clarify that these surprising lab results, collected under highly controlled experimental conditions, do not undermine DEET’s proven track record as the global gold standard for mosquito bite prevention. Developed in the 1940s in the United States, DEET has been credited with saving millions of lives by reducing transmission of life-threatening mosquito-borne illnesses, and it remains the go-to repellent recommended by the World Health Organization for disease control.
Despite DEET’s success, Lazzari noted that the scientific community has long lacked a full understanding of why the compound deters mosquitoes in the first place. Researchers have debated for decades whether DEET is toxic to the blood-feeding insects, blocks their ability to track human scent, or simply produces an odor that mosquitoes find naturally unpleasant. To answer this question, the team turned to a classic conditioning experiment modeled after Ivan Pavlov’s famous dog studies, which first demonstrated how animals can learn to link unrelated stimuli to rewards.
For their tests, the researchers focused on *Aedes aegypti* mosquitoes — the species responsible for spreading dangerous pathogens including dengue fever, Zika, yellow fever, and chikungunya. In initial trials, mosquitoes were placed in mesh enclosures and presented with warm sheep’s blood, which the insects immediately fed on, as expected. When DEET scent was introduced alone, mosquitoes predictably moved away from the food source, consistent with DEET’s repellent properties.
The conditioning phase followed: over three repeated trials, scientists gave mosquitoes access to warm blood for 20 seconds, releasing DEET scent during the final 10 seconds of feeding. After this training, mosquitoes were re-exposed to DEET scent with no blood present. Astonishingly, more than 60% of the trained mosquitoes still attempted to bite the test fabric, conditioned to link the DEET scent with food. To confirm the result, a researcher offered the trained mosquitoes a choice between two bare hands: one untreated, and one covered in DEET. The insects overwhelmingly chose the DEET-coated hand. The team repeated the experiment using sugar instead of blood (to reflect mosquitoes’ natural diet of plant nectar in the wild) and observed the same outcome.
Co-author Clement Vinauger, a researcher at Virginia Tech in the United States, explained that the study challenges the long-standing paradigm that DEET repels mosquitoes purely through its inherent chemical properties. “What we are showing is that the mosquito’s brain can rewrite that response based on experience,” Vinauger said. “What the insect has learned matters just as much as what the chemical does. That, I think, is a paradigm shift.” Lazzari added that the repellent effect does not stem from DEET being toxic to mosquitoes; instead, mosquitoes’ innate avoidance of the compound is a learned response to how their brains interpret the chemical scent, which can be reshaped by experience.
Lazzari emphasized that this learned preference for DEET is extremely unlikely to occur in natural settings, as the specific controlled conditions of the lab experiment are not easily replicated in the wild. He reiterated that the public should continue to follow product instructions for DEET-based repellents, which remain a critical tool for preventing mosquito-borne disease. The findings, however, point to an urgent need for continued research into new repellents that are more effective, more eco-friendly, and less likely to trigger allergic reactions in human users, building on this new understanding of mosquito behavior.
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Jean Suriel warns of massive Saharan dust cloud affecting Dominican Republic
Residents of the Dominican Republic are now facing the arrival of the second Saharan dust outbreak of 2024, with this event marking the largest dust intrusion of the year so far according to leading regional meteorological analyst Jean Suriel. Stretching an extraordinary 6,890 kilometers across the Atlantic basin, this massive aerosol mass is nearly 100 times the total land area of the Dominican Republic itself, forming an unbroken atmospheric bridge that connects the arid regions of North Africa all the way to the coastlines of Central America. In a public update shared to his popular Instagram channel, Suriel noted that while a low-pressure trough moving through the region could trigger scattered moderate rainfall over the next 24 hours, the thick blanket of Saharan dust will act as a natural barrier, suppressing the development of the heavy, sustained downpours that the region would otherwise see under similar conditions. The most impactful phase of this weather event is still on the horizon: Suriel projects that the densest core of the dust cloud will pass over most of the Caribbean between Friday afternoon and Saturday, bringing a cocktail of uncomfortable and potentially dangerous conditions including elevated regional temperatures, persistent hazy skies that reduce visibility, and sticky, increased humidity across the affected area. Unlike short-lived atmospheric events, this Saharan dust outbreak is expected to linger over the region for as long as 12 days, creating an extended period of elevated public health risk. The fine particulate matter carried in the dust cloud is projected to worsen a range of adverse health outcomes, from common seasonal allergic reactions to chronic respiratory, ocular, and skin conditions that already impact millions of regional residents. Compounding this public health concern, Suriel’s forecast also indicates that a second, even denser Saharan dust mass is on track to reach the Caribbean as early as next Tuesday. In his public advisory, the meteorologist has urged all residents to take basic preventive precautions, with a specific call for heightened vigilance to protect vulnerable groups including young children and elderly residents who face the highest risk of dust-related health complications.
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Jevaughn Gordon named among Ignite Caribbean’s 30 Under 30 Changemakers
Against a backdrop of systemic disadvantage and personal tragedy, a young Jamaican communications leader and youth advocate has emerged as one of the Caribbean’s most compelling voices for generational change, earning a spot on Ignite Caribbean’s prestigious 30 Under 30 Changemakers list. For Jevaughn Gordon, who grew up in the low-income neighborhood of Princess Field in Linstead, this honor is not just a career milestone—it is a powerful affirmation that young people from marginalized communities can drive lasting, meaningful transformation across the entire Caribbean region.
Gordon’s path to recognition was shaped by steep challenges that many young people in his community face daily. Growing up in an area marked by pervasive gang violence, drug activity, and a stark lack of upward mobility, Gordon says success long felt like an abstract outcome reserved for others, not something he could achieve for himself. Compounding these structural barriers was the early loss of his mother, which left him navigating significant financial instability from a young age. Despite these obstacles, Gordon remained unwavering in his commitment to education, community leadership, and public service—core experiences that continue to define his professional mission and personal worldview today.
Professionally, the 30 Under 30 recognition reinforces Gordon’s long-held commitment to leveraging media, narrative storytelling, and youth engagement as foundational tools for regional development. Over the course of his career, he has built a diverse professional portfolio spanning investigative journalism, content production, digital communications, educational programming, and grassroots community outreach, all anchored to a central focus on measurable social impact.
“My work has always existed at the intersection of storytelling and tangible change,” Gordon explained in an interview following the announcement of the award. “Whether I’m working on a journalism piece, developing youth programming, or rolling out a community initiative, this recognition confirms that blending strategic communication with targeted social action is not just useful—it is necessary for progress across our region.”
While Gordon acknowledges the sense of validation that comes with being honored for work built entirely from the ground up, he emphasizes the award is ultimately more of a motivator than a final endorsement. “Validation is a nice side effect, especially when you’ve had to build every opportunity yourself from nothing,” he said. “But I’ve never been driven by awards or recognition—my work has always been driven by purpose.”
That clear sense of purpose has guided Gordon’s work across multiple major regional media platforms, where he has centered his reporting on amplifying underheard voices of young leaders across Jamaica and the broader Caribbean. His programming, including flagship shows *GENZED*, *All Angles*, and *Beyond the Headlines*, consistently highlights the achievements of young innovators and changemakers who are often overlooked by mainstream regional media.
Gordon firmly believes that intentional storytelling is one of the most undervalued powerful tools for advancing equitable development across the Caribbean. Through a range of impact-driven projects—including *Youth Migration*, *Zoom University*, and *Broken Blue*, a documentary examining plastic pollution and coastal conservation—he has centered critical issues that disproportionately impact young Caribbean people and marginalized local communities. “These challenges do not stop at national borders,” he noted. “What affects a young person in Jamaica affects a young person across the Caribbean—we all share these struggles.”
Beyond his media work, Gordon has a long track record of direct grassroots intervention to address systemic educational inequality and expand access to opportunity for low-income youth. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when widespread school closures exposed deep gaps in digital access across the region, Gordon converted part of his own home into a free, safe learning space for local students who had no way to participate in remote classes. “It was not a large, multi-million dollar intervention,” he reflected. “But it made a real difference for the young people who needed it, and that is what matters.”
Gordon’s commitment to youth development also extends through his long-standing work with local and national organizations, including the Princess Field Youth Club and the former Jamaica Millennium Vision for Youth. Through these groups, he has worked as a tutor and mentor for low-income students preparing for their Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), with a particular focus on supporting students in high-demand subjects like Mathematics and English.
Closing access gaps remains the core issue Gordon is most passionate about addressing. He speaks from personal experience: “I know firsthand what it feels like to have the drive and potential to succeed, but not have the resources or pathways to turn that potential into reality. That is why so much of my work is focused on building those pathways for the next generation.”
Gordon is also a leading voice calling for greater cross-regional collaboration between Caribbean nations. He argues that shared, transnational challenges—including persistent youth unemployment, increasing climate vulnerability, and widespread systemic education gaps—cannot be solved by individual small states acting alone. “The Caribbean is made up of small nations with limited individual resources,” he explained. “But when we work together collectively, we have incredible power to create change.”
His participation in youth-focused dialogues hosted by the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and forums organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has only reinforced his view that young Caribbean people share connected realities and common aspirations, regardless of which island they call home.
Even as he celebrates his own recognition, Gordon points out that the region as a whole still fails to lift up the stories of young innovators and changemakers like himself. Mainstream regional narratives still focus disproportionately on negative framing—crime, underdevelopment, and limitation—he says, which erases the work of an entire generation of young leaders driving transformative change across the region. “There are so many young Caribbean people doing incredible, innovative work to improve our communities, and their stories are almost never told,” he noted.
For the changemaker who grew up in Princess Field, the work continues with a single unifying goal: to create new pathways to opportunity, amplify underheard youth voices, and build stronger, more connected communities across the entire Caribbean region.
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Italy declares red heatwave alert for Rome, four other cities
An unseasonal early heatwave pushing across Southern Europe has prompted Italian health authorities to activate the nation’s highest heat warning for five major Italian urban centers, marking the first red-level heat alert of 2025 for the Mediterranean country.
On Thursday, Italy’s Ministry of Health rolled out the red heatwave alert for Rome, Florence, Bologna, Brescia and Turin. The country’s top-tier red warning is specifically designed to flag elevated risks of heat-related health impacts even for otherwise healthy people who regularly engage in outdoor activity, and public health officials are urging all residents and visitors to avoid prolonged exposure to direct sunlight during peak temperature hours.
On the ground in Rome Thursday, crowds of international tourists gathered near the iconic Colosseum reported struggling with oppressive, muggy conditions, even as temperatures hit 32 degrees Celsius – a reading well above the seasonal average for this time of year. Many visitors shared their personal strategies to beat the early-season heat, prioritizing hydration and shade to avoid heat exhaustion.
Spanish visitor Nana Martinez Garcia told reporters her group was drinking large volumes of cool water to regulate body temperature. Her friend, Maria Angeles Mellinas Tello, added that the pair makes a point of staying in shaded areas whenever possible while sightseeing. American tourist Josh Ren explained he had adjusted his entire travel itinerary to avoid the hottest midday window: “We get up early to knock out outdoor attractions before temperatures spike, take frequent rest breaks, and spend peak heat hours in air-conditioned spaces like restaurants and museums,” he said.
So far, Italy has avoided the extreme record-breaking temperatures that have already hit Northern Europe in recent days. The United Kingdom logged its hottest May temperature on record earlier this week, when a reading of 35.1 degrees Celsius was recorded, breaking a decades-long national record for the month. France has also seen unseasonal high temperatures across much of the country, prompting early heat warnings there as well.
Climate scientists have repeatedly emphasized that human-caused climate change is driving the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events across the globe. Early-season unseasonal heatwaves, alongside prolonged droughts, catastrophic flooding, and severe storm systems, are becoming far more common as global average temperatures continue to rise, researchers note.