Carib Scope

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  • Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Ecuador condemn Iran’s seizure of MSC Francesca

    Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Ecuador condemn Iran’s seizure of MSC Francesca

    In a rare coordinated display of diplomatic pushback, three Latin American nations — the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and Ecuador — have publicly condemned Iran’s seizure of the Panama-flagged commercial vessel MSC Francesca in the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz, issuing a unified call for the immediate release of both the ship and its crew.

    The joint statement released by the three governments outlines key details of the incident: the container ship, which is owned by an Italian shipping firm and registered under Panama’s flag, was intercepted by Iranian authorities while making a routine transit through the busy international waterway. Beyond demanding the vessel’s release, the three nations are calling for an immediate halt to all actions that put unimpeded, free navigation through international waters at risk.

    Senior officials from the three countries argue that the seizure does not merely run counter to established international norms, but constitutes a clear violation of binding international law. They frame the action as a direct challenge to the long-recognized principle of freedom of navigation, a right explicitly enshrined and protected under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The statement also notes that Iran’s actions infringe on the sovereign rights of Panama, the flag state of the seized vessel, and amplify long-simmering security concerns across one of the globe’s most vital trade and energy chokepoints. Roughly 20% of the world’s daily oil supplies pass through the Strait of Hormuz, making consistent, unthreatened access critical to global energy markets and economic stability.

    The joint communique further warns against the escalating trend of coercive actions targeting civilian shipping engaged in legitimate international transit, emphasizing that such moves are fundamentally incompatible with the global legal obligations all signatory nations are bound to uphold. In closing, the three governments called on the broader international community to stand against any behavior that erodes maritime security, reaffirmed their unwavering solidarity with Panama, and reiterated their full commitment to upholding the framework of international maritime law.

  • Haiti mobilizes its international partners

    Haiti mobilizes its international partners

    In a high-profile gathering on the margins of a UN Security Council session focused on the UN Secretary-General’s quarterly report on the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), Haiti’s top diplomatic and governmental leaders have made an urgent appeal for stepped-up global support to address the country’s escalating challenges. Held on Thursday, April 23, 2026, the side event was co-hosted by Haiti and Canada through their permanent missions to the United Nations, drawing an unprecedented cross-section of global stakeholders to coordinate action on Haiti’s crisis.

    More than 60 UN member states took part in the event, with major global and regional powers including the United States, France, Germany, China, Brazil, Kenya, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic sending representatives. Multiple leading international institutions also joined the deliberations, alongside senior officials heading key missions in Haiti. Attendees included Jack Christofides, the designated Special Representative for the Gangs Suppression Force (GSF), UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, and Carlos G. Ruiz Massieu, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Haiti.

    The core mandate of the gathering was to tighten coordination across three critical groups: UN Security Council members, nations contributing personnel and resources to the Gangs Suppression Force (GSF), and all international and regional partners that collaborate directly with Haitian state institutions. With the Caribbean nation grappling with prolonged gang violence, institutional instability, and stalled democratic progress, the event served as a platform for Haiti’s leadership to lay out its most pressing priorities for global support.

    In his keynote address to attendees, Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé pressed the international community to ramp up its collective mobilization to back the Haitian government’s two core priorities: restoring national security and advancing the restart of the country’s electoral process. The Prime Minister underlined the critical urgency of fully deploying the GSF across Haiti to counter rampant gang activity, while also stressing that enhanced international backing is required to advance key institutional reforms. Among the most critical of these reforms, he highlighted strengthening the national justice sector and expanding efforts to combat systemic impunity for violence and corruption.

    The gathering marks a key moment in global diplomatic efforts to align behind Haiti’s recovery, as international stakeholders continue to work through the UN framework to coordinate a coordinated response to the country’s deepening crisis.

  • UN : Haiti between political hope and security emergency (video speech)

    UN : Haiti between political hope and security emergency (video speech)

    In a video address to the international community on April 23, 2026, UN Secretary-General Special Representative Ruiz Massieu outlined the stark dual reality currently defining Haiti: a rare moment of tangible institutional progress paired with an ongoing, devastating security emergency that continues to uproot millions of lives.

    Massieu framed the current moment as a striking Haitian paradox: while the country’s state institutions are slowly rebuilding their administrative function after years of collapse, large swathes of national territory remain deeply scarred by pervasive gang-related violence. He gave credit to the administration led by Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé for successfully maintaining basic state continuity through a period of extreme instability. A key step forward highlighted by the envoy is the National Pact for Stability, signed by a broad cross-section of Haitian civil society, which signals a widespread commitment to forging a homegrown, Haitian-led solution to the years-long national crisis.

    The most significant milestone on the political path to normalcy, Massieu noted, is the successful completion of national political party registration — a process that has not been fully carried out since 2016. This foundational achievement paves the way for what the international community universally recognizes as the only legitimate end to the crisis: the holding of free, credible national elections that will restore full constitutional order to Haiti. Beyond this regulatory progress, the resumption of weekly Cabinet meetings inside Haiti’s National Palace, a practice that had been suspended for three years due to instability, marks a symbolic and practical step toward the state reclaiming control of central public spaces in the heart of Port-au-Prince.

    Coordination between Haitian national authorities and international support partners has also reached an unprecedented level of alignment, according to the UN envoy. The recent appointment of all key leadership positions at the United Nations Office for Security and Justice in Haiti, paired with strengthened operational coordination with Haiti’s national Gang Repression Force (FRG), has created a more unified front against armed groups.

    Even with these notable political gains, Massieu stressed that the overall security landscape remains deeply alarming. Recent targeted massacres in the Jean-Denis region and ongoing coordinated attacks across Haiti’s Southeast department prove that armed gangs retain both the capability and mobility to wreak widespread harm on civilian populations. As of the latest UN projections, the ongoing violence has displaced more than 1.45 million Haitians, who now live in overcrowded displacement camps or rely on host families for shelter. By the end of 2026, UN humanitarian estimates project that 6.4 million Haitians — more than half the country’s population — will require life-saving humanitarian assistance.

    To build lasting, sustainable peace in Haiti, Massieu argued that the international response cannot focus solely on security crackdowns. Reviving the country’s National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration is a critical priority, he said, as it creates a safe, viable path out of armed groups for young people who were forcibly recruited by gangs. Complementing this effort, the planned creation of specialized judicial units focused on prosecuting mass atrocities and transnational financial crime is designed to finally break the cycle of impunity that has enabled systemic violence in Haiti for decades.

    Massieu emphasized that Haiti currently stands at a critical window of opportunity that cannot be wasted. Drawing on a traditional Haitian proverb that notes shared burdens are lighter to carry, he called for sustained, unified international support to help Haitian institutions carry forward the progress they have made. The year 2026, he urged, must become the turning point where hard-won political progress finally translates to tangible, everyday security and improved living conditions for all Haitian citizens.

  • Climate experts say hotter, drier days ahead

    Climate experts say hotter, drier days ahead

    Leading regional climate research institutions have issued an urgent warning that the Caribbean region is likely to face two consecutive years of unusually high temperatures and prolonged dry conditions, driven by a strengthening El Niño event that raises the likelihood of widespread drought, public health risks, and far-reaching economic fallout. The joint alert comes from two leading regional bodies: the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) and the Climate Studies Group Mona at the University of the West Indies. Both organizations are calling on every sector of society, from national governments and private businesses to small-scale farmers and individual households, to launch immediate preparedness measures to mitigate potential damage.

    Climatologist Cedric Van Meerbeeck explained that current long-range forecasts point to extended periods of below-average rainfall paired with sustained spikes in temperature and humidity across much of the region. This combination of conditions does not only put severe pressure on already strained freshwater supplies; it also threatens to undermine agricultural output and create measurable risks to public human health.

    Looking at historical climate patterns, major El Niño events have repeatedly triggered extreme, long-lasting drought across the Caribbean. Notable examples include the severe dry spells recorded in 2009–2010 and again in 2014–2016. Experts emphasize that Eastern Caribbean nations, which are already struggling with ongoing dry conditions, face a particularly challenging outlook: water reserves may recover far more slowly than usual even once the annual wet season gets underway.

    Beyond the immediate threat of drought, the region is bracing for a cascade of overlapping climate hazards. Extreme heat events will increase the risk of uncontrolled wildfires across dry landscapes, while marine heatwaves threaten to trigger widespread coral bleaching that can permanently damage fragile Caribbean marine ecosystems that underpin tourism and fishing industries.

    University of the West Indies professor Michael Taylor, a leading climate researcher in the region, warned that current forecasts point to the emergence of what he termed a “multi-hazard regime”. In this scenario, heat, drought, and marine climate impacts do not occur in isolation; they overlap and amplify each other, creating more severe risks than any single hazard would pose alone. Taylor stressed that these compound extreme events pose an existential threat to the livelihoods of millions of Caribbean residents, and require coordinated, cross-border collective action to address effectively.

    While El Niño is historically linked to a less active Atlantic hurricane season, climate specialists are quick to note that hurricane risk has not been eliminated entirely. Even a single intense storm or a short period of extreme rainfall can cause catastrophic damage to Caribbean communities, as demonstrated by past destructive events including Hurricane Andrew and Tropical Storm Erika.

    The potential impacts of this El Niño event extend far beyond immediate weather-related disruption. Reduced rainfall and higher average temperatures will place additional strain on already vulnerable water and energy infrastructure, cut into expected agricultural yields, and exacerbate public health risks — ranging from a rise in heat-related illnesses to growing challenges maintaining safe drinking water quality across the region.

    Wider economic ripple effects are also already on the horizon. Climate-driven disruptions are already altering key global trade routes that the Caribbean depends on, most notably the Panama Canal, where ongoing drought conditions have forced restrictions on shipping traffic. These disruptions are expected to trickle down to Caribbean supply chains, driving up the cost of imported goods for local consumers.

    Climate specialists say that ongoing monitoring of evolving conditions remains critical, noting that the accuracy of El Niño projections typically improves significantly starting in May. Updated, detailed guidance will be presented at the upcoming Caribbean Climate Outlook Forum, where regional climate specialists will share refined projections ahead of the annual wet and hurricane seasons.

    Regional officials reiterated that early public awareness and proactive preparedness will be the most critical factors in reducing the potential damage that this developing climate pattern could inflict on communities across the Caribbean.

  • St. Vincent and the Grenadines pledges $100,000 US aid package to support the Cuban people

    St. Vincent and the Grenadines pledges $100,000 US aid package to support the Cuban people

    In a public address to the nation’s Parliament this week, St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Minister of Foreign Affairs Fitzgerald Bramble announced a landmark $100,000 U.S. humanitarian aid commitment to the people of Cuba, reaffirming the Caribbean nation’s long-standing solidarity with the island amid its ongoing economic and social challenges.

    The decision to approve the aid package came directly out of collaborative discussions held during the recent CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting hosted by St. Kitts and Nevis, where regional leaders convened to coordinate collective responses to shared issues impacting small island developing states across the Caribbean. Minister Bramble emphasized that the pledge underscores St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ unwavering support for the Cuban people, aligning with consistent regional efforts to stand in solidarity with neighboring nations facing external pressures.

    Beyond the financial commitment, Bramble commended the work of Cuba’s newly installed Head of Mission in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, noting the diplomatic mission has delivered outstanding service to the Caribbean nation’s community living and studying in Cuba. The mission maintains regular, open communication with Vincentian students pursuing education in Cuba, and provides consistent updates to the students’ families back home. Bramble gave public assurance that the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines will continue to leverage all available resources to support these students and their families as they navigate ongoing uncertain conditions.

    The announcement comes at a time of renewed focus on regional cooperation within the Caribbean Community, with member states increasingly aligning on shared priorities to support collective resilience and mutual assistance across the bloc.

  • Trump Orders “Shoot to Kill” in Hormuz; Pope: ‘Not in Favour of War’

    Trump Orders “Shoot to Kill” in Hormuz; Pope: ‘Not in Favour of War’

    Tensions in the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz have reached a dangerous new boiling point, after former US President Donald Trump issued a sweeping “shoot to kill” directive targeting Iranian vessels suspected of laying mines in the key global waterway. The aggressive order has sent shockwaves through global energy markets and stoked widespread fears that a localized maritime dispute could spiral into a full-scale regional conflict.

    The escalation comes amid growing international pushback against the rising hostilities, led by Pope Leo XIV, who has reaffirmed his firm opposition to the deepening US-Iran confrontation. In a pointed public address, the head of the Catholic Church emphasized that any path to lasting resolution must grow out of a commitment to peace, not violent confrontation. “As a pastor I cannot be in favour of war,” Pope Leo XIV stated. “I would like to encourage all to make efforts to look for answers that come from a culture of peace and not from a place of hate and division.”

    The pontiff went further, highlighting the far-reaching human and economic costs of the escalating standoff. He warned that the mounting conflict has already created a chaotic situation for the global economy, pushing up energy costs and deepening hardship for ordinary people around the world. He also issued a separate condemnation of the Iranian government’s crackdown on domestic protests, stressing that all human life deserves inherent respect regardless of context.

    Pope Leo XIV’s remarks come one week after Trump publicly attacked the pontiff for his critical stance on the Middle East crisis, which has re-emerged as one of the world’s most volatile military flashpoints. In recent days, the Trump administration has ramped up US military presence in the region: Washington currently has 19 warships deployed across the Middle East, including two full aircraft carrier strike groups, with additional military assets positioned in the Indian Ocean to support ongoing operations.

    In comments to reporters, Trump confirmed there is no set deadline for ending hostilities or entertaining Iranian peace overtures, and repeated his claim that Iran’s leadership is fractured and indecisive. “Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is!” Trump asserted. The claim was immediately rejected by top Iranian officials, including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who jointly insisted that the country maintains “iron unity” under the leadership of Supreme Leader.

    Global energy markets have already reacted sharply to the rising tensions. The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world’s most critical chokepoints for global oil trade, with roughly a fifth of all globally traded crude passing through the waterway daily. As traders price in the rising risk of disrupted shipping lanes, oil prices have climbed sharply in recent trading sessions, adding new inflationary pressure to already fragile global economies.

  • Belize Pushes Regional Security at ONE Caribbean Dialogue

    Belize Pushes Regional Security at ONE Caribbean Dialogue

    In a high-level gathering focused on advancing collective progress across the Caribbean region, Belize has positioned regional security as a top priority at the ONE Caribbean Ministerial Dialogue, hosted in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in April 2026. The gathering brought together heads of delegations, senior government officials, and key development stakeholders from across the bloc to assess progress made since the initiative’s launch and map out a strategic roadmap extending to 2029.

    Belize’s official delegation to the dialogue featured two prominent figures: Narda Garcia, Chief Executive Officer of the Prime Minister’s Office, and Cinnamon Bottaro, Belize’s sitting representative on the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Board of Directors. As the institutional backbone of the ONE Caribbean program, the IDB launched the flagship regional cooperation initiative in 2024, bringing together eight core member nations including Belize, Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, The Bahamas, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago to tackle shared challenges through coordinated action.

    The initiative is structured around four interconnected priority pillars that address the most pressing concerns facing Caribbean nations: building climate resilience and improving disaster risk management, enhancing cross-border citizen security, driving inclusive private sector growth, and strengthening regional food sovereignty. Throughout the dialogue, Garcia took a leading role in moderating and guiding thematic discussions centered on citizen security, a core priority for Belize. Her work focused on forging consensus around strategies to counter transnational organized crime, expand protections for at-risk vulnerable communities, and upgrade regional cybersecurity infrastructure to counter growing digital threats. She emphasized that shared security challenges can only be effectively resolved through coordinated regional partnership, rather than isolated national action.

    Beyond its leadership on security issues, Belize maintained an active presence across all four of the initiative’s thematic working sessions, reinforcing its longstanding commitment to deepening regional integration. To date, Belize has already realized tangible benefits from its participation in ONE Caribbean, including targeted technical and planning support for critical national infrastructure projects. This support has enabled updates to Belize’s National Transport Master Plan and the development of its first comprehensive Domestic Airports Master Plan, laying the groundwork for more connected, sustainable mobility across the country.

    Dialogue participants also highlighted Belize’s underrecognized strategic role in strengthening regional food security. With its abundant agricultural resources and geographic position, the country holds significant potential to expand intra-Caribbean agricultural trade, helping to reduce regional reliance on extra-hemispheric imports and stabilize food supplies for vulnerable populations across the bloc. As the ONE Caribbean initiative enters its next phase through 2029, Belize’s active engagement and leadership on key priority areas is expected to continue shaping the region’s cooperative agenda for years to come.

  • IACHR raises concern over Jamaica’s continued criminalisation of same-sex relationships

    IACHR raises concern over Jamaica’s continued criminalisation of same-sex relationships

    In its recently released 2025 annual human rights assessment, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an independent oversight body affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS), has outlined a mixed picture of progress and ongoing concerns for human rights protections across Jamaica. The report shines a light on both incremental policy wins and deep-rooted systemic gaps that continue to impact vulnerable communities across the Caribbean nation.

    One of the most high-profile findings centers on LGBTQ+ rights: Jamaica retains its place as one of just five countries in the Americas that still enshrines criminal penalties for consensual same-sex relationships between adults. This legal framework runs counter to global advocacy priorities set by human rights organizations like the Association for the Prevention of Torture, which calls for full legal equality, protection from discrimination, and social inclusion for LGBTQ+ people in employment, healthcare, and all other spheres of public life.

    Turning to disability rights, the IACHR acknowledged that Jamaica has continued rolling out its national Disabilities Act, which legally prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in education, employment, healthcare, and access to public spaces. Even with this legislative advance, the commission stressed that major barriers remain in place. Many disabled people, particularly those residing in rural communities with limited infrastructure and underfunded support systems, still lack consistent access to life-sustaining essential services. The report also flagged the absence of a specialized, appropriate facility to accommodate people with psychosocial disabilities held in state custody, joining broader concerns about poor conditions at Jamaica’s detention facilities, including the overcrowded and harsh conditions widely reported at the St Catherine Adult Correctional Centre.

    On the contentious issue of capital punishment, the commission noted that Jamaica has not moved to strike the death penalty from its national statutes, despite a decades-long de facto moratorium on executions. No executions have been carried out in the country since 1988, and as of the latest official data in May 2023, no prisoners were currently facing a death sentence.

    The IACHR did recognize several key positive steps taken by Jamaican authorities over the past year. Most notably, the report highlighted a dramatic 43% drop in homicides between January 1 and December 20, 2025, compared to the same period in 2024. Official data recorded 649 homicides in the 2025 monitoring period, down from 1,136 the year before, bringing the national homicide rate down to 22.8 per 100,000 residents. The commission also welcomed ongoing work on constitutional reform, the launch of a public legal information portal to expand access to judicial resources, and the opening of Jamaica’s first dedicated shelter for boys who have survived human trafficking. In child welfare, the commission highlighted the opening of the St James Child and Adolescent Wellness Centre, a multi-agency facility offering critical mental health services including psychotherapy, family counseling, social work support, and psychiatric care. The new facility responds to a widespread public health crisis, with recent official data showing 20% of Jamaican children live with a diagnosable mental health disorder ranging from depression and anxiety to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

    Despite these gains, the IACHR raised urgent alarms around several persistent human rights risks, particularly related to citizen security and policing. The commission has continued monitoring Jamaica’s longstanding use of States of Public Emergency (SoEs) as a tool to suppress violent crime, and noted a landmark 2025 ruling from the Jamaican Supreme Court that found 17 SoEs declared between 2018 and 2023 were unconstitutional. The court ruled the measures exceeded legal authority: they were not declared for a constitutionally valid purpose, were disproportionate to the threat faced in a democratic society, and eroded separation of powers by undermining parliamentary oversight of emergency extensions. Even after this ruling, the commission confirmed that Jamaican authorities have continued to declare new SoEs, including new emergency measures for four police divisions in January 2025 following a spike in violent crime, and an additional SoE for the St Catherine North Police Division days later. The country’s parliament also approved a 180-day extension of Zones of Special Operations (ZOSOs), another targeted emergency security measure, across seven Jamaican communities in June 2025.

    Most concerning, a special investigative report published in October 2025 by Jamaica’s Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) documented a staggering 591% increase in police-related fatalities linked to planned police operations between 2021 and 2024. Between January and July 2025 alone, 97 people were killed by police during planned operations. INDECOM’s report mandated that all planned police operations strictly adhere to the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s existing Use of Force and Firearms Policy, with requirements for advanced planning and full documentation of all activities. Local civil society groups have since called for full implementation of INDECOM’s recommendations, alongside an independent audit to confirm that all officers are meeting mandatory human rights and accountability standards.

    In the area of child rights, the IACHR also expressed concern over a controversial amendment to Jamaica’s Child Care and Protection Act passed by the House of Representatives in April 2025. The bill increases mandatory sentencing guidelines for children convicted of homicide, allowing for life sentences or minimum 30-year prison terms for children convicted of capital murder, with parole eligibility only after 15 years of incarceration. For children convicted of non-capital murder, the bill allows for life sentences or other extended prison terms, with judges granted discretion to set parole eligibility windows. The change has drawn criticism from human rights advocates who argue that harsh extended sentences for juvenile offenders contradict international standards for child justice and rehabilitation.

  • Gaza civil defence says Israeli strikes kill 13

    Gaza civil defence says Israeli strikes kill 13

    On a violent Friday across the besieged Gaza Strip, multiple Israeli attacks left at least 13 Palestinians dead, including civilians and police officers, in a sharp escalation of ongoing clashes that have persisted despite a fragile ceasefire brokered in October. Gaza’s civil defence agency, a rescue body operating under Hamas administration, has detailed three separate incidents that spread fear and grief across both the northern and southern regions of the territory.

    The deadliest single attack struck a police vehicle traveling through Al-Mawasi, a district of the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis, killing eight people including one child and leaving multiple others wounded. Gaza’s interior ministry confirmed two of those killed in this strike were active police officers. Further north, near the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia, Israeli artillery hit local residential homes, killing a woman and her two young children. A third attack, carried out by an Israeli aircraft against a police patrol in Gaza City, the territory’s most populous urban hub, left two more police officers dead and two others injured.

    Among the 13 confirmed casualties, 12 have had their names formally released by administrators at Gaza’s Al-Shifa and Nasser hospitals. The 13th victim was identified only as a 12-year-old child, whose full identity could not be immediately confirmed amid the chaos of the violence. Mourners gathered at Al-Shifa hospital, where grief-stricken relatives wept over the bodies of their loved ones as victims were transferred out of the facility’s morgue. In the Khan Yunis tent camp where the vehicle strike occurred, local residents and onlookers crowded around the charred, skeletal remains of the targeted car on an unpaved dirt road, bearing witness to the destruction.

    For many Gaza residents, the strikes confirm that the ceasefire has done little to stop the bloodshed. “The war never stopped… this is not fair,” Mohammed al-Qassas, brother of one of the victims, told AFP from Al-Shifa hospital.

    The Israeli Defense Force initially declined to immediately respond to requests for comment on the strikes, before releasing a short statement confirming one of the day’s operations. “Earlier today (Friday), IDF troops under the Southern Command identified armed Hamas terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip, who operated adjacent to the troops and posed a threat. In order to remove the threat, the terrorists were eliminated in an aerial strike,” the statement read.

    Hamas has issued a fierce condemnation of what it calls “barbaric Zionist attacks that reached all parts of the Gaza Strip since this morning,” hitting out at the international community for what it describes as a failure to uphold its responsibility to end ongoing violence against Palestinian civilians.

    The October ceasefire was intended to bring a halt to the full-scale Gaza war that erupted after Hamas’s cross-border attack on October 7, 2023. But in the weeks since the truce took effect, violence has continued unabated. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose casualty statistics are deemed reliable by the United Nations, reports that at least 792 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began. The Israeli military has also confirmed five of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza during the same period.

    Due to strict media restrictions and limited access for independent journalists operating in Gaza, AFP has not been able to independently verify the casualty counts or report freely on frontline clashes.

  • Antigua and Barbuda Below Regional Average in Organised Crime Exposure, 2025 Index Shows

    Antigua and Barbuda Below Regional Average in Organised Crime Exposure, 2025 Index Shows

    Released by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, the 2025 Global Organised Crime Index has delivered new insights into the distribution of organised criminal activity across the Caribbean, with Antigua and Barbuda emerging as one of the bloc’s lowest-risk jurisdictions. The index ranks nations on a 10-point scale, where lower numerical scores signal weaker infiltration of organised crime networks and illicit activity. Antigua and Barbuda earned a criminality score of 3.03, landing it among the eight CARICOM member states that fall below the Caribbean regional average of 4.27. This performance puts the dual-island nation in a similar risk bracket to regional neighbors Barbados, which scored 2.90, and St. Kitts and Nevis, which notched a 3.10. By contrast, the index marks several Caribbean states as far higher-risk hotspots for organised crime: Jamaica recorded a 5.93, Guyana came in at 5.78, and Haiti topped the bloc with a 6.53, holding the unenviable title of the Caribbean nation with the highest documented criminality level. The 2025 assessment measures the prevalence and societal impact of a range of organised criminal operations, from cross-border drug trafficking to a spectrum of other illicit markets operating across the region. Even with Antigua and Barbuda’s relatively strong standing, the broader Caribbean region continues to face persistent systemic threats tied to global drug smuggling. Geographically positioned along key trafficking routes moving cocaine from producer nations to consumer markets in North America and Europe, the Caribbean ranks as the world’s third-largest transit zone for the illicit drug trade. The index’s final conclusions make clear that while Antigua and Barbuda cannot insulate itself entirely from the organised crime pressures impacting the wider Caribbean, its domestic level of criminal activity remains moderate compared to most of its regional peers.