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A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake shook multiple island nations and territories across the eastern Caribbean region early Saturday, according to regional correspondents. The seismic event sent tremors across a wide swathe of the Caribbean archipelago, touching 16 distinct areas including the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Venezuela, Caribbean Netherlands, Saint Barthélemy, Antigua and Barbuda, and Anguilla.

Geological measurements placed the quake’s epicenter approximately 43.5 miles off the coast of Codrington, a small village located on Barbuda, one half of the dual-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda. The tremor struck at approximately 10:50 a.m. local time, prompting widespread alerts across the region.

In updated official statements following the event, authorities confirmed that no casualties or structural damage have been reported across any of the affected areas. Additionally, regional disaster management agencies have ruled out any risk of a tsunami triggered by the earthquake, easing public concerns over secondary coastal hazards.

BEIRUT, LEBANON – Just one day after Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend a fragile six-week-old ceasefire for another 45 days, the Israeli military launched a sweeping wave of airstrikes across southern Lebanon on Saturday, deepening despair among tens of thousands of already displaced Lebanese residents and casting severe doubt over the future of the truce.

Israeli officials confirmed the strikes were targeting positions held by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Ahead of the bombardment, Israeli authorities issued an evacuation order covering nine southern Lebanese villages, triggering a new wave of civilian flight. Lebanon’s state-owned National News Agency documented strikes hitting more than 24 villages across the region, with one strike landing more than 31 miles from the Israeli-Lebanese border. Local media reported that hundreds of additional residents have fled north, seeking safety in the coastal city of Sidon and the capital Beirut.

The ceasefire, which originally took effect on April 17, has been rattled by near-constant violations from both sides since its implementation. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement Saturday welcoming the truce extension, calling on all involved parties to honor the cessation of hostilities in full. But the agreement has done little to halt active clashes: Israel has maintained consistent strike operations inside Lebanese territory and continues to hold territory along the shared border, while Hezbollah has launched regular retaliatory attacks targeting northern Israel and Israeli military positions inside southern Lebanon – including multiple claimed assaults on Saturday.

According to data from Lebanese authorities, more than 2,900 people have been killed in Lebanon in Israeli attacks since cross-border hostilities erupted in March. More than 400 of those deaths have occurred since the original April ceasefire went into force. For its part, Israel has confirmed 19 of its soldiers have been killed in confrontations with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Saturday’s strikes follow indirect negotiations between Israeli and Lebanese envoys in Washington, the latest round of talks following the first direct discussions between the two nations – which have never maintained formal diplomatic relations – in decades earlier last month. Those talks produced the agreement to extend the ceasefire, but the deal has split Lebanese political and armed factions.

Hezbollah has rejected the US-facilitated negotiations, and issued a statement Saturday condemning the proposed security framework as a new series of unauthorized concessions made by the Lebanese government to Israel. “Many Lebanese see the extension of the ceasefire through this track as an extension of their ongoing killing and a cover for the aggression on them and their homeland,” the group’s statement read. In justifying its Saturday attack on Israeli troops in the southern Lebanese town of Khiam, Hezbollah said the action was a response to repeated Israeli ceasefire violations and attacks on southern Lebanese villages.

For the tens of thousands of Lebanese displaced from the south by months of fighting, the gap between the announced truce extension and ongoing deadly attacks has eroded any remaining faith in the agreement. “This is not a truce as long as Israeli attacks continue against the south and its people, with deaths, injuries and destruction,” said Ali Salameh, 60, a displaced resident sheltering in a Beirut school since the war began. Many other displaced residents echoed this frustration, saying they backed Hezbollah’s continued resistance to Israeli attacks. “What kind of a truce is this when they have just threatened villages and people are being displaced? Where is the state? We stand only with the resistance,” said Nawal Mezhir, another displaced southerner.

Lebanon’s Washington-based negotiating delegation struck a more optimistic tone in its statement Friday, welcoming the truce extension and the new US-facilitated security track. The delegation said the agreement “provides critical breathing space for our citizens, reinforce state institutions and advance a political pathway toward lasting stability.”

The current round of cross-border hostilities began on March 2, when Hezbollah launched a large rocket barrage against Israel in retaliation for the killing of a top Iranian commander. Even before Saturday’s large-scale strikes, violence had continued through the ceasefire period: on Friday, a day before the extension was finalized, Israeli jets struck the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre, near the city’s famous ancient ruins. An AFP correspondent on the ground documented extensive destruction to the targeted neighborhood. Ibrahim Kahwaji, a tailor who suffered a leg wound in the strike, described the campaign as a deliberate effort to force civilians out of southern Lebanon. “They are emptying the south of its population… It’s a real occupation. We want a solution,” Kahwaji said.

To mark the 130th anniversary of the London School of Economics (LSE), the university’s Jamaica Alumni Chapter joined forces with NCB Capital Markets Limited to host a high-stakes leadership dialogue last week at Kingston’s popular Danya’s Coffee Barrel. The gathering brought together two top foreign diplomats stationed in Jamaica, senior financial sector leaders and local LSE graduates for a wide-ranging discussion covering career development, bilateral ties and the island’s post-disaster recovery and long-term growth trajectory.

Both British High Commissioner to Jamaica Alicia Herbert and Canadian High Commissioner to Mark Berman, who are LSE alumni, opened up about how their time at the prestigious London institution shaped their careers in global diplomacy, before exchanging insights with fellow graduates on the decades of strong diplomatic ties their respective countries have maintained with Jamaica, and laying out shared visions for future collaboration.

Berman outlined an optimistic outlook for Jamaica’s progress, pointing to the Jamaican government’s existing strategic plans to modernize the national agricultural sector and shift it toward a more technology-driven model. In the wake of Hurricane Melissa, which hit the island in late October 2025, the newly established National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) is already overseeing recovery and resilience-focused infrastructure investments. Berman noted that this post-disaster context opens a unique window to build back better, with Canada positioned to contribute through both public sector funding and private sector investment.

For Herbert, Hurricane Melissa made landfall just weeks after she officially began her posting as Britain’s top diplomat to Jamaica, which has placed climate resilience and sustainable development at the very top of her policy priorities. These priorities will guide all British development cooperation with Jamaica throughout her tenure. She argued that the widespread devastation caused by the storm has pushed national discussions of resilience into the mainstream, forcing stakeholders across government and the private sector to ask critical questions: What defines truly resilient infrastructure? What structural changes are needed to build a shock-resistant national economy? Far from being just a disaster, Herbert framed Hurricane Melissa as a potential turning point that could shift Jamaica onto a more sustainable long-term development path.

Dr. Leo-Rey Gordon, head of economic and financial research and analysis at Jamaica’s National Commercial Bank, also spoke at the event, extending congratulations to LSE on 130 years of impactful global engagement and its longstanding productive connections with the Caribbean region. He noted that NCB Capital Markets was proud to partner on the anniversary event, highlighting that LSE has built a century-long legacy of nurturing global thinkers and leaders who prioritize building strong, effective institutions that drive inclusive, sustainable growth.

Gordon added that the cross-sector leadership dialogue reinforced a core shared principle: innovation, cross-stakeholder collaboration, and purpose-driven global-local partnerships are all essential drivers of national advancement. This focus aligns directly with NCB Capital Markets’ own core strategic priorities, he said, as the institution works alongside public and private partners to build a stronger, more prosperous Jamaica.

The event closed with attendees reaffirming their commitment to leveraging alumni networks and international partnerships to support Jamaica’s development goals in the wake of climate shocks and ongoing global economic shifts.