Carib Scope

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  • Iran vuurt raketten af op Israël na aanval op Beiroet

    Iran vuurt raketten af op Israël na aanval op Beiroet

    On the evening of June 8, 2026 local time, Iran launched a wave of rocket attacks targeting Israel, a direct retaliation for Israeli airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut that came despite a recently brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. According to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the assault was issued as a formal warning to Israel over its ongoing military blockade and operations in Lebanon.

    The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that multiple projectiles were fired into Israeli territory starting at approximately 10:00 PM local time, triggering air raid sirens across multiple regions of the country. Israeli military command stated that all incoming Iranian rockets had been intercepted successfully as of the latest updates. Roughly an hour after the initial alert, Israeli civil defense authorities issued an all-clear notice, allowing residents to exit bomb shelters.

    The IRGC confirmed that one of its primary targets was Ramat David Airbase, located in northern Israel. The group justified the operation as retribution for “widespread killing and forced displacement of oppressed populations in the Tyre and Nabatiyeh regions of southern Lebanon.” In an official statement, the IRGC emphasized: “This operation is a warning. If Israeli aggression continues, our response will be expanded to include all American and Zionist targets across the region.”

    Mohsen Rezaee, a senior military advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader, reiterated the country’s stance via social media platform X, stressing that Iran will not tolerate any violations of the Lebanese ceasefire, and the rocket strike was a clear caution to Israeli leadership. “Any new hostile action will be met with a far heavier and more devastating response,” Rezaee added.

    The strike comes in the wake of Israeli airstrikes carried out against Dahiyeh, the densely populated southern suburb of Beirut, earlier the same day. Those airstrikes left at least two people dead and 11 others injured in a residential neighborhood. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed the attack targeted a command center operated by Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group backed by Iran.

    The IRGC described the Israeli strikes on Dahiyeh as a crossing of “all red lines” that could not go unanswered. Iranian Parliament Speaker and lead nuclear negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf issued a further warning, stating that Iran will not only suspend ongoing negotiations with international parties but also enter into direct confrontation with Israel if it continues to violate the Lebanese ceasefire.

    U.S. President Donald Trump has publicly come out against any Israeli retaliatory strike against Iran. He confirmed he will call Prime Minister Netanyahu to urge him against launching a counterattack, in a bid to prevent further regional escalation. Trump noted that a new agreement with Iran is close to being finalized, and further open conflict would put this progress at serious risk. However, anonymous sources familiar with the matter note it remains unclear whether the U.S. government would fully back Israel if it chooses to proceed with an attack on Iran.

    Israeli officials had earlier stated on Sunday that the country was considering a “powerful response” to the Iranian rocket barrage. Tensions have been mounting for weeks as Iran issued repeated warnings demanding Israel end its military operations in southern Lebanon. Since March 2 of this year, more than 3,500 people have been killed in Israeli strikes across Lebanon, pushing the region’s fragile ceasefire and broader stability to the breaking point.

  • Antigua and Barbuda Youth Leaders Represent Nation at Global Environmental Meetings

    Antigua and Barbuda Youth Leaders Represent Nation at Global Environmental Meetings

    A small non-profit from Antigua and Barbuda is making big waves on the international environmental stage, as two of its representatives have carried the island nation’s climate and sustainability priorities to back-to-back major global gatherings in Europe and Central Asia. Good Humans 268 Inc., a community-focused organization dedicated to local climate action and inclusive development, deployed two delegates to separate high-profile events this spring, putting the unique environmental challenges and progress of small island developing states in the global spotlight.

    Kelisha Pigott, the group’s logistics coordinator, joined the closing ceremony of a landmark youth environmental collaboration between UNESCO and global food corporation Nestlé in Paris. Titled “UNESCO x Nestlé Youth Impact: Because You Matter – For Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action”, the initiative spotlights the next generation’s role in environmental action, providing financial grants, targeted mentorship, and skills-building support to 100 youth-led sustainability projects spanning every inhabited continent. Pigott’s participation in the Paris event gave her the chance to connect with young changemakers from across the globe and highlight the youth-driven work Good Humans 268 is advancing back home.

    While Pigott engaged with youth environmental leaders in France, Joshuanette Francis, president of Good Humans 268 Inc., was in the ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Francis attended the 8th Global Environment Facility (GEF) Assembly and its accompanying meetings as part of the global Chemicals & Waste Youth Platform delegation. The quinquennial GEF Assembly gathers official representatives from all 186 GEF member countries to align global action on interconnected environmental crises, including accelerating biodiversity loss, global climate change, rampant pollution, widespread land degradation, and the critical gap in accessible climate and environmental financing for developing nations.

    For Good Humans 268, participation in the GEF Assembly carries special personal significance. The organization’s flagship Student Community Service Recycling Project, which engages local students in building circular economy practices across Antigua and Barbuda, got its start thanks to seed funding from the GEF Small Grants Programme – an initiative designed to support community-led environmental action in developing countries. That early support allowed the group to grow from a local volunteer effort to an organization with the standing to represent its island nation on the global stage.

    Leaders of Good Humans 268 say that attending these two international events delivered far more than just visibility for Antigua and Barbuda. The delegations returned home with new cross-border partnerships, fresh insights from successful environmental initiatives in other countries, and a clearer roadmap for expanding local work. The organization reaffirmed its long-term commitment to advancing urgent climate action, expanding disability inclusion in all its programming, improving local waste management infrastructure, and advancing equitable sustainable development across Antigua and Barbuda. Most importantly, the group says it will continue ensuring that the voices and priorities of this small island developing state are never overlooked in global environmental negotiations and decision-making.

  • Another shipment of aid donated by Mexico and Belize arrived in Cuba

    Another shipment of aid donated by Mexico and Belize arrived in Cuba

    HAVANA, June 9 – A major new solidarity shipment carrying 1,700 tons of food and essential basic necessities has reached the Port of Havana, arriving from Mexico in a joint aid effort between Mexico and Belize that offers a critical lifeline to Cuba amid escalating U.S. pressure. The cargo vessel, which departed from a Mexican port, was formally welcomed by senior Cuban government officials Sunday, who extended explicit gratitude to the presidents of both Mexico and Belize for their continued support.

    Speaking to reporters following the ship’s arrival, Betsy Díaz Velázquez, Cuba’s Minister of Domestic Trade, highlighted the profound meaning of the donation at a moment of unprecedented uncertainty for the Cuban people. With the United States having ramped up restrictive measures and implemented a second new executive order targeting Cuba, Velázquez noted that the ongoing display of solidarity from other nations sends a powerful message that Cuba does not stand alone in facing external pressure.

    Velázquez also addressed the logistical challenges the country has navigated to distribute incoming aid, noting that the U.S.-imposed energy blockade has slowed many operational processes. To counter these barriers, Cuban authorities have pursued innovative alternative strategies to speed up distribution, including integrating non-state economic actors into the logistics chain. This adaptation is designed to ensure the donated supplies reach Cuban communities and households as quickly as possible to meet critical needs.

    Beyond addressing immediate needs on the ground, the joint aid shipment reinforces longstanding cooperative ties between Cuba, Mexico and Belize, deepening people-to-people and diplomatic bonds across the three nations. The arrival of the donation comes as the Cuban government continues to push back against U.S. sanctions, while building out collaborative partnerships with countries that maintain solidarity with its sovereignty.

  • Grenada community group considers legal action over Woodford’s Rayneau Development

    Grenada community group considers legal action over Woodford’s Rayneau Development

    A local community advocacy group in Grenada has formally notified the national Planning and Development Authority (PDA) of impending judicial review action, contesting the agency’s approval of a large-scale industrial project in the Woodford district of St. John. Founded in 2025 specifically to push back against threats to local environmental and public health, the Woodford Environmental Alliance for Community Transformation (WEACT) represents hundreds of area residents and is being represented in the looming legal battle by international human rights law firm Leigh Day, in partnership with Grenada-based Ciboney Chambers. The disputed development, branded the Rayneau Development, is a sprawling industrial complex combining active quarrying operations, an asphalt manufacturing plant, a concrete batching facility, and a new coastal jetty, all situated in a heavily residential coastal zone.

    While portions of the project secured planning approval via a General Development Order in December 2025, the approval came with explicit conditions: developers were required to complete a full independent Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), draft and receive approval for an Environmental and Social Management and Monitoring Plan (ESMMP), and complete all mandatory environmental assessment processes before breaking ground. WEACT alleges that these preconditions were never met, and developers launched site work early despite the outstanding regulatory requirements.

    To date, the group confirms that land clearing, road grading, and large-scale excavation have already been completed, with immediate negative impacts already documented across the local area. Ecological harm already recorded includes the destruction of critical protected habitat for the endangered Grenada dove, a species found almost exclusively on the island. Sediment runoff from the exposed construction site has already contaminated the Douce River, disrupting local water access, while heavy construction activity has damaged local public infrastructure and blocked long-established access routes to small-scale local farms.

    Beyond immediate environmental harm, WEACT warns of significant looming public health risks for the thousands of residents living within close proximity of the site, which is also near multiple local schools and places of worship. The group points to expected chronic air pollution from asphalt and concrete production, as well as constant noise, fine particulate dust, and ground vibration from ongoing quarrying operations that will disrupt daily life and raise long-term respiratory and cardiovascular health risks for local people.

    The development also threatens core community livelihoods that have depended on the Woodford coastal area for generations, WEACT argues, particularly small-scale traditional fishing operations that will be displaced by the jetty and industrial activity. Early archaeological surveys of the area have also identified unexamined cultural and historical heritage sites that could be permanently destroyed by construction, with no mitigation plans in place.

    In the formal pre-action protocol letter delivered to PDA, WEACT outlines multiple counts of unlawful action by the planning authority. These include claims that PDA unlawfully withdrew or abandoned the required full EIA, failed to conduct any meaningful consultation with affected local residents, improperly split the single integrated industrial project into smaller segments to evade stricter planning scrutiny, misused a General Development Order to approve a large specific project that does not qualify for the streamlined process, failed to enforce the binding planning conditions including the requirement for an approved ESMMP, ignored critical environmental, public health, and cultural heritage considerations during approval, failed to implement mandatory safeguards under Grenada’s coastal protection legislation, and acted irrationally and disproportionately in allowing the project to move forward.

    On May 20, 2026, WEACT submitted a formal request for the disclosure of all key internal documents related to the project’s approval, including records of environmental assessment decisions, planning approval meeting minutes, and compliance monitoring reports. The group has given PDA a three-week window to provide full disclosure and address its concerns.

    If the authority fails to deliver a satisfactory response, WEACT will move forward with full judicial review proceedings, asking the court to invalidate the original planning approvals and force the project to comply with all statutory environmental and planning requirements before any further construction can proceed. The legal challenge is supported by the Legal Empowerment Fund managed by the Fund for Global Human Rights, a global non-profit that supports community-led rights advocacy.

    Christelene Henry, a representative of WEACT, emphasized that the community exhausted all other avenues before turning to legal action. “We have watched our community and environment change rapidly without the proper safeguards being followed,” Henry said. “We are already experiencing impacts from dust, noise and disruption, and are deeply concerned about what this development means for our health, livelihoods and natural surroundings. We have tried to raise these concerns but feel we have been left with no option other than to pursue legal action to ensure the law is properly followed and our community is protected.”

    Jacqueline McKenzie, a partner at Leigh Day leading the legal team, noted that the case raises broader questions about regulatory accountability and transparent development decision-making in Grenada. “Our clients have serious concerns this development has been allowed to proceed in breach of Grenada’s planning and environmental laws,” McKenzie said. “The requirement for proper environmental assessment and community consultation is not optional; it is a fundamental safeguard to protect both people and the environment. This case raises important issues about the rule of law, transparency and accountability in decision-making. Our clients hope these matters can be addressed without the need for court proceedings, but they are prepared to pursue further action if necessary.”

  • DNCD seizes over 3,000 suspected Marijuana plants in Ocoa operation

    DNCD seizes over 3,000 suspected Marijuana plants in Ocoa operation

    In a coordinated multi-agency anti-narcotics raid, law enforcement officials have taken down a massive illegal marijuana growing operation tucked away in the rugged remote highlands of the Dominican Republic’s San José de Ocoa province, arresting three people connected to the drug ring, the country’s National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD) announced this week.

    The operation, which brought together DNCD enforcement agents, public prosecutors, air support from the Dominican Air Force, and tactical intelligence from national intelligence agencies, targeted an active agricultural plot located in El Pinar, a semi-rural municipal district in the province. When agents moved in on the target property, they uncovered more than 3,000 mature cannabis plants already in cultivation, alongside five pre-packaged containers of processed marijuana, batches of young germinating seedlings, and a full suite of gear purpose-built for every stage of the drug’s production chain.

    Investigators detailed that the remote property included a permanent residential structure that the operation’s leaders had repurposed into a dedicated storage and processing hub. Confiscated assets found on site range from off-grid power infrastructure (solar panels to support the operation in its isolated location) to specialized cultivation and processing equipment: fans for ventilation, a functional water pump for crop irrigation, commercial drying racks and tools, vacuum-seal packaging supplies for distribution, encrypted communication devices, a personal cellphone, and a motorcycle used for navigating the area’s rough terrain.

    Three individuals suspected of involvement in the ring were taken into custody at the scene, with two of the detainees confirmed to be Haitian nationals. All three suspects have already been transferred to the Dominican Public Ministry to face formal criminal prosecution. DNCD officials confirmed that the investigation is far from over, with active work ongoing to track down and apprehend additional co-conspirators who may be tied to the large-scale growing operation.

    Due to the extremely challenging, mountainous terrain where the plantation was hidden, DNCD teams reported that removing the thousands of seized plants and transporting all evidence back for processing took more than 12 full hours of work. Mules and horses had to be used to move the large volume of contraband out of the remote site, as standard motorized vehicles could not access the location. All seized cannabis plants have been shipped to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF), where forensic analysts will conduct official testing to confirm the exact total weight and count of the contraband.

  • Dominican Republic strengthens climate leadership by assuming presidency of SBSTA 64

    Dominican Republic strengthens climate leadership by assuming presidency of SBSTA 64

    In a landmark moment for Caribbean and small island state engagement in global climate governance, the Dominican Republic has secured the chairmanship of the 64th session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 64), a core subsidiary body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This appointment marks an unprecedented milestone in the country’s decades-long participation in international climate diplomacy.

    The critical leadership role will be filled by Dr. Carol Franco, a seasoned technical advisor to the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. A leading specialist in ecosystem services, climate adaptation and nature-based solutions, Dr. Franco will steer all technical discussions and multilateral negotiations for the UNFCCC body during the upcoming session to be held in Bonn, Germany.

    International climate policy observers and Dominican officials alike frame the appointment as a formal international recognition of the Dominican Republic’s expanding leadership and growing technical proficiency in global climate negotiations. As one of the UNFCCC’s two primary permanent subsidiary bodies, SBSTA carries a foundational responsibility: it provides evidence-based scientific, technical and methodological guidance on a full spectrum of core climate issues, ranging from adaptation and greenhouse gas mitigation to technology development, climate action transparency, and global climate research collaboration.

    Dominican Environment Minister Paíno Henríquez emphasized that the designation underscores the country’s long-standing commitment to centering science-driven solutions in climate action, while also amplifying the nation’s voice in shaping the future of international climate governance. Henríquez added that the appointment also serves as a global acknowledgment of the Dominican Republic’s skilled technical workforce and the meaningful contributions national experts have already made to global efforts to counter the accelerating climate crisis.

    As the official national focal point for UNFCCC engagement, the Dominican Ministry of Environment will lead the country’s delegation to not just SBSTA 64, but also the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31), scheduled to take place this November in Antalya, Türkiye. Throughout both events, the Dominican delegation will prioritize advancing action on a set of core priorities aligned with the needs of climate-vulnerable small island developing states: scaled-up climate adaptation, sufficient and accessible climate finance, robust action transparency frameworks, equitable technology transfer to developing nations, targeted capacity building support, and full implementation of national Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.

    Senior Dominican officials note that holding the SBSTA 64 presidency further solidifies the country’s active presence in global climate governance forums and reinforces its ongoing commitment to advancing collaborative, inclusive international solutions to the shared challenge of climate change.

  • Major quake off Philippines kills at least 35, dozen still missing

    Major quake off Philippines kills at least 35, dozen still missing

    A massive 7.8-magnitude offshore earthquake that struck the southern Philippines on Monday has killed at least 35 people, injured 134 more, and left a dozen others missing, local and national disaster officials confirmed. The quake, which hit south of General Santos – a coastal city home to roughly 720,000 residents – triggered immediate tsunami warnings across the wider Southeast Asia-Pacific region and reduced multiple buildings to rubble.

    Within just two hours of the initial shock, the United States Geological Survey recorded a string of powerful aftershocks across the affected area, with the strongest registering a magnitude of 6.5, prolonging danger for local communities. In General Santos, the local command center has recorded 12 fatalities so far, with rescue efforts stretched thin across the disaster zone.

    As darkness fell on the city, Agence France-Presse reporters on the ground witnessed rescue workers digging through the collapsed concrete of a well-known local grocery chain with their bare hands, locked in a desperate race to reach two employees trapped under the debris. For 35-year-old security guard Morphy Angcad, the waiting has been agonizing: his sister is one of the two missing workers. Refusing an offered hotel room to stay at the site, he told reporters, “I don’t want to leave this site until I see the body of my sister… (but) I’m hoping against hope that she is still alive.”

    Dioslinda Deluvio, mother of the second missing employee Joey, shared her grief with AFP. Weeks before the disaster, her son had visited her and asked, “Ma, what is your plan for your life? Are you OK?” Now, she said, “All I can do is cry now, imagining the good things he did in the world.”

    A few kilometers from the collapsed grocery store, hundreds of residents who fled their damaged structures prepared to spend the night out in the open, terrified of further aftershocks that could topple unstable buildings. “I’ll be sleeping here outside even if it’s uncomfortable, because I’m scared there will be an aftershock,” 34-year-old sales clerk Johnson Alerta told AFP. “I feel safer here.”

    In Sarangani province, one of the hardest-hit local government areas, disaster chief Rene Punzalan reported that 14 people alone died in the coastal municipality of Glan, where a landslide triggered by the quake buried homes at the base of a mountain. “The landslide happened immediately after the earthquake, so many lives were lost,” Punzalan explained, adding that many remote communities have not yet been able to report casualty numbers. Outages have disrupted communication across large parts of the affected region, slowing the flow of information and complicating rescue coordination. “The greatest challenge is communication. The power was cut, so it’s hard to get updates,” he said.

    Social media videos verified by AFP have captured the full scale of the destruction: a busy General Santos shopping center housing a popular Jollibee fast food outlet completely flattened, an empty school building crumpled into a heap of concrete, and young schoolchildren screaming as they clung to their teachers while the ground violently swayed during the quake.

    After the quake struck, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued an advisory warning that hazardous tsunami waves could reach coastlines across the Philippines, Indonesia, Palau, Taiwan, and Papua New Guinea. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. immediately ordered an evacuation of all at-risk coastal communities, suspended classes across Mindanao – which was supposed to mark the first day of the school year Monday – and urged residents to prioritize safety over property. “Move to higher ground now. Do not wait,” he said. “Your life is more important than anything left behind.”

    By mid-afternoon Monday, all tsunami warnings had been canceled across the region. More than 2,000 people who evacuated their coastal homes following the advisory remain in evacuation centers, awaiting official clearance to return to their properties as authorities continue to assess structural and geological safety risks.

    The Philippines experiences near-daily seismic activity due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a seismically active arc that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia across the entire Pacific basin. This latest major quake follows a string of deadly seismic events in recent years: in October 2023, two back-to-back quakes of 7.4 and 6.7 magnitude hit eastern Mindanao, killing at least eight people, just days after a 6.9-magnitude quake in central Philippines’ Cebu province claimed 76 lives.

  • UN secretary-general to visit Haiti

    UN secretary-general to visit Haiti

    UNITED NATIONS – In an official announcement made Monday by United Nations Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq, UN Secretary-General António Guterres will embark on a high-stakes solidarity visit to Haiti starting next Tuesday, a trip designed to bring global attention to the Caribbean nation’s spiraling security and humanitarian emergency.

    During his time on the ground, Guterres will engage directly with Haitian men, women, and children whose daily lives have been upended by rampant gang violence. The visit will give the UN chief a first-hand look at the overlapping humanitarian and security challenges that have brought the country to its knees, as well as an opportunity to evaluate ongoing work by Haiti’s national government and the broader international community to reestablish stability and deliver critical aid to vulnerable populations.

    A core part of Guterres’ itinerary will be a comprehensive assessment of UN support to Haiti as it confronts its deepening multidimensional crisis. This includes the organization’s logistical and operational backing for the new Gang Suppression Force (GSF), deployed under the parameters of UN Security Council Resolution 2793.

    Haiti’s security situation has deteriorated dramatically in recent months, with well-armed criminal gangs now exercising control over as much as 85% of the capital Port-au-Prince. The gang occupation has crippled access to food, clean water, medicine and other basic necessities for the capital’s population, while fighters have carried out a wave of brutal violence that includes a sharp recent rise in gender-based violence and sexual assault.

    To address the crisis, the UN Security Council recently approved a restructured international security mission, transforming the previous Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission into the expanded Gang Suppression Force. The new force, which can deploy up to 5,500 uniformed personnel, is mandated to disarm and neutralize gang factions, and secure critical public infrastructure including schools, hospitals, and seaports that are essential to the country’s survival.

    The scale of human suffering in Haiti already reaches historic levels: more than 1.45 million people have been internally displaced by violence across the country, and an estimated 6.4 million Haitians – nearly half the total population – require life-saving urgent humanitarian assistance, according to UN data.

    Guterres is also scheduled to hold formal talks with Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, as the country prepares to hold general elections that are widely anticipated to take place before the end of 2025. The visit comes as Haitian authorities work to transition back to stable democratic rule after years of political and institutional collapse.

    According to Haq, Guterres will travel to Haiti from the neighboring Dominican Republic, and will hold pre-visit meetings with Dominican authorities in the capital Santo Domingo before wrapping up his trip and returning to UN Headquarters in New York on June 17.

  • St Vincent PM urges united front on climate threats

    St Vincent PM urges united front on climate threats

    During a diplomatic stop at The Bahamas’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs this Thursday, St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Godwin Friday delivered a pressing call for unified global action on transboundary challenges, emphasizing that geographically small island developing states cannot turn a blind eye to risks that originate far beyond their territorial boundaries. The visit came amid Dr. Friday’s attendance at regional discussions hosted by the Caribbean Development Bank in the country, putting critical regional priorities on the international agenda.

    Addressing assembled foreign affairs officials, Dr. Friday centered his remarks on two interconnected pillars: the growing urgency of deepened international collaboration and accelerated climate action. In an era of unprecedented global interconnectedness, he argued, every nation—no matter its population size or total land area—has a stake in developments unfolding across the world. For small open economies like his own, this reality is not an abstract political talking point, but a daily lived experience.

    “Our status as small, open, disproportionately vulnerable economies is exactly why we must raise our voices louder than most,” Dr. Friday stated. He pointed to the stark injustice of climate change’s impacts on Caribbean island states: while the region contributes a negligible share of global carbon emissions, it bears the brunt of climate-fueled extreme weather, with communities forced to allocate scarce resources to annual hurricane preparedness that could otherwise fund social and economic development.

    For years, Caribbean regional leaders have advocated for the creation of structured rapid-response frameworks within the global multilateral system. These mechanisms would allow climate-vulnerable states to access critical emergency aid and recovery resources immediately in the aftermath of climate-linked disasters, cutting through bureaucratic delays that often exacerbate damage and human suffering. Dr. Friday acknowledged that the push for these frameworks has faced significant headwinds over decades of international negotiations, but he struck a cautious note of progress, reporting that the campaign has steadily won growing backing from the broader international community.

    Beyond policy discussions, the visit also carried personal and professional significance for the prime minister. Reflecting on his long-standing ties to The Bahamas, Dr. Friday recalled his first trip to the country in the early 1980s, when he traveled as a senior undergraduate student to conduct on-the-ground field research for his final degree project. Ministry officials also highlighted that his graduate academic work centered on Bahamian external policy: his master’s thesis focused specifically on analyzing the foreign affairs priorities and strategies of the Bahamian government.

  • Pope promises abuse victims Church will do more to change

    Pope promises abuse victims Church will do more to change

    MADRID, Spain – On the third day of his seven-day official visit to Spain, Pope Leo XIV held a pivotal hour-long meeting Monday with six survivors of clergy-perpetrated sexual violence, pledging sweeping new institutional changes to address the long-running abuse crisis that has shaken the Catholic Church in the country.

    According to an official statement released by the Vatican, each survivor shared harrowing, deeply personal accounts of their abuse and put forward actionable recommendations to strengthen the Church’s response to these devastating cases. Pope Leo affirmed his unwavering commitment to turning these proposals into concrete action, with the goal of transforming the Church into a truly safe and spiritually healthy space for all.

    Earlier the same day, speaking to a gathering of Spanish bishops, the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics framed clergy sexual abuse as a persistent “scourge” that demands a response rooted in active listening, radical transparency, accountability, meaningful reparations, and a strengthened culture of prevention and care.

    The meeting, held at the Vatican’s embassy in Madrid, was not without controversy: representatives from major victim advocacy groups spoke out ahead of the gathering to decry their exclusion from the talks. “We are disappointed that the pope, instead of listening to a sufficiently large and solid representation of victims, prefers to leave us out,” Juan Cuatrecasas, spokesperson for leading survivor association Infancia Robada (Stolen Childhood), told AFP outside the embassy.

    The scope of the abuse crisis in Spain is staggering: a 2023 report from Spain’s national ombudsman estimated that roughly 200,000 minors have been sexually abused by Catholic clergy in the country since 1940. After decades of institutional silence and opacity from the Spanish Catholic hierarchy, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government reached a landmark compensation agreement with the national Church in March of this year. Pope Leo has already acknowledged the ongoing damage of the scandal, calling it a “still an open wound” for the global Church during remarks Saturday at the start of his visit.

    Monday’s schedule opened with a historic, unprecedented address to the Spanish parliament that earned the pope a lengthy standing ovation from lawmakers. In his remarks, he called for coordinated global action to address what he termed the “tragic drama” of global migration, arguing that migrants deserve “a respectful welcome and real opportunities for integration.”

    The pope’s stance aligns with the relatively liberal immigration policy pursued by Sanchez’s left-wing government, which has faced fierce political pressure on the issue from the main opposition conservative Popular Party and far-right Vox, now the third-largest political force in Spain.

    Later in the trip, Pope Leo will travel to the Canary Islands, a major Atlantic entry point for irregular migrants crossing from Africa to Europe, where he will honor the thousands of migrants who have died during dangerous sea crossings. The closing leg of the visit will include a public appearance alongside Sanchez.

    The U.S.-born pontiff, who has joined Sanchez in facing harsh criticism from former U.S. President Donald Trump over his anti-war positions, also used his parliamentary address to push for diplomatic dialogue over armed conflict and rearmament. Just hours after a cross-border exchange of fire between Israel and Iran threatened to collapse a fragile regional ceasefire, Pope Leo noted: “Weapons may impose a temporary silence but they can never build a genuine and lasting peace.”

    He also closed his parliamentary remarks with a call for lawmakers to defend life “from conception to its natural end” – a rebuke of the Sanchez government’s progressive social policies, which include legalized euthanasia under regulated conditions and a push to enshrine abortion rights in the Spanish constitution.

    To wrap up his full day of engagements Monday, Pope Leo met with Madrid’s diocesan community at Real Madrid’s iconic Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. The 80,000-person crowd packed into the world-famous venue, breaking into football chants and waving flags of Spain, the Vatican, and multiple Latin American nations.

    The pontiff was treated to performances by singing priests and a comedic dance skit mimicking a football match, smiling as the crowd roared after each staged goal. He leaned into the lighthearted moment, joking that the Madrid diocese had “scored a truly spectacular goal” in organizing the mass gathering, drawing raucous applause from the crowd. Many attendees chanted “We are lions! We are lions!” – a playful nod to “Leo,” the Spanish word for lion, matching the pope’s first name.

    On Tuesday, Pope Leo will travel to Barcelona, where he will bless the completed new tower of Antoni Gaudí’s world-famous Sagrada Familia Basilica on Wednesday. The visit will conclude Friday in the Canary Islands.