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  • CDEMA ‘learned’ Hurricane Melissa lessons

    CDEMA ‘learned’ Hurricane Melissa lessons

    Against a backdrop of intensifying climate-fueled natural hazards, shifting global geopolitics, and dwindling international financial support, Caribbean nations are launching a complete overhaul of their 10-year regional disaster management framework. The shift comes after hard lessons learned from the widespread destruction of Hurricane Melissa, pushing regional authorities to abandon the long-held focus on post-disaster recovery and adopt a proactive pre-event planning model.

    Over two days of intensive consultations held at Barbados’ Accra Beach Hotel & Spa, representatives from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency’s (CDEMA) 20 member states gathered to revise the Comprehensive Disaster Management Strategy, a foundational policy first rolled out in 2014. CDEMA Executive Director Elizabeth Riley explained in an interview with Barbados TODAY that the original framework is no longer fit for purpose, as both hazard patterns and global operating conditions have transformed dramatically over the past decade.

    “We recognise that since the start of this iteration of the strategy in 2014, there have been a lot of changes,” Riley noted. “These changes have been related to the hazards themselves, which have become a lot more complex, but also related to the geopolitical environment, which has become a lot more challenging.” Climate change stands as one of the most transformative drivers, Riley confirmed, linking rising global temperatures to a sharp uptick in both the frequency and severity of destructive weather events across the Caribbean. Compounding this growing risk is a steady decline in international funding earmarked for regional disaster management programs, stretching already thin national and regional budgets even further.

    One high-priority emerging issue being integrated into the updated strategy is disaster-induced human displacement, a crisis that has become far more common in recent years. Riley pointed to two recent major events that underscore the urgency of this challenge: Hurricane Melissa, which displaced thousands of residents in Jamaica, and the 2021 eruption of the La Soufrière volcano in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which forced roughly 20,000 people to flee their homes. “This is a feature we’re seeing a lot more frequently, and we’re discussing how do we integrate these types of issues now into our planning,” she said.

    A core focus of the regional workshop was reimagining disaster recovery systems, with Riley emphasizing that the region can no longer afford to develop recovery plans only after a catastrophe hits. Instead, she argued, all member states need to have detailed, actionable recovery frameworks in place well before storms or other disasters make landfall. “We’re discussing modalities by which we can better assist countries to prepare for the recovery processes ahead of time and ensuring that that is treated not after the actual disaster takes place,” Riley explained.

    Hurricane Melissa, which swept through the Caribbean recently, provided a critical real-world test of existing regional coordination and response protocols, Riley said. In March, CDEMA assembled a cross-regional after-action review to assess the performance of the agency’s response mechanism, with a particular focus on strengthening coordination with new international humanitarian partners operating in the region and streamlining emergency logistics support.

    Riley also highlighted the successful first deployment of the CDEMA-World Food Programme logistics hub, which launched in Barbados in 2023, during the Hurricane Melissa response. “We reviewed how the operations of that hub went forward, the timeliness of the support, and the type of logistics support provided,” she said, adding that insights from this first activation will be used to refine the hub’s operations for future emergencies.

    Looking ahead to the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially kicks off on June 1, Riley urged residents across the region to participate in the agency’s annual pre-season press conference, scheduled for 10 a.m. local time on Thursday, May 28. The event will bring together regional officials to share the latest seasonal hurricane forecasts and outline key preparedness steps that households and communities can take to get ready before the first storm of the season forms.

  • Jet free to leave after security scare

    Jet free to leave after security scare

    A tense 24-hour standoff at Trinidad’s Piarco International Airport concluded Sunday with authorities granting departure clearance to an Ukrainian-crewed cargo jet that landed for a refuelling stop carrying undeclared industrial explosives, officials have confirmed. The aircraft, a Soviet-era Antonov An-12BP registered as flight CVK-7078, touched down at the airport just after 6 p.m. local time Thursday, arriving from the Bahamas en route to Cape Verde, with its final destination of Libya.

    As is standard for technical stopovers — brief landings for operational needs such as refuelling, crew changes or maintenance rather than passenger or cargo handling — the eight-person crew submitted general declarations to local ground handling agents. On their cargo documentation, the crew marked the cargo load as “nil”, meaning no cargo was being carried for the duration of the flight segment. This inaccurate reporting raised immediate red flags for on-site immigration officers, who quickly alerted Trinidad and Tobago Customs and Excise Division officials to launch an inspection.

    A detailed search of the aircraft’s cargo hold uncovered 7,656 kilograms of industrial explosives marked as “Oilwell explosives”, classified under the UN dangerous goods code UN0440. Further review of the plane’s documentation confirmed the shipment originated in Houston, Texas, and was bound for Libyan end-users. In line with international aviation security regulations, all hazardous goods must be formally declared to destination and transit authorities to ensure proper handling and mitigate public safety risks.

    Following the discovery, the aircraft was immediately secured and impounded, with the full crew taken into custody for questioning by a multi-agency task force including local and international security partners. The joint investigation team included Trinidad’s Customs and Excise Division, the Airports Authority Police Force, the national Special Branch intelligence unit, the Caribbean-based aviation security coalition AIRCOP, and United States border investigators, among other national security stakeholders.

    During a sitting of Trinidad and Tobago’s Parliament Friday, Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander addressed growing public concerns over the incident, responding to an urgent question from Opposition Member of Parliament Marvin Gonzales. Gonzales asked what immediate security measures had been put in place to protect airport staff and the general public after reports of the explosives-laden plane circulated. Alexander confirmed that the plane carrying several tonnes of undeclared dangerous goods had been impounded shortly after arrival, and that investigations were being carried out in coordination with the national Police Service, intelligence agencies and the Ministry of Defence.

    When asked by Gonzales whether there was any active threat to Trinidad and Tobago citizens, Alexander stressed that the situation remained fully under control and posed no danger to the public. Earlier Friday, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) released a public statement echoing that assurance, noting that ongoing enhanced security protocols under the country’s current State of Emergency allowed routine checks to catch the documentation irregularities before any risk emerged.

    “In keeping with the heightened security posture under the ongoing State of Emergency, routine checks identified irregularities requiring immediate precautionary action. The aircraft was secured, the crew accounted for, and all relevant national security units activated in accordance with established protocols,” the TTPS statement read. The agency added that at no point did the aircraft or its cargo pose a threat to the travelling public, airport operations, or the broader Trinidadian public, noting “the situation remained calm, controlled, and professionally managed.”

    After completing extensive inquiries and threat assessments, the joint investigative team determined that no criminal liability could be assigned to the pilot or the eight-member crew. In an official announcement released shortly before 7 p.m. Friday, the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago confirmed that formal departure clearance had been granted, allowing the plane and crew to continue their planned journey. Officials declined to share further details on the investigation, citing intelligence confidentiality requirements and international security information-sharing agreements.

  • Public Works and the World Bank are discussing road infrastructure in Haiti

    Public Works and the World Bank are discussing road infrastructure in Haiti

    On May 16, 2026, top Haitian infrastructure officials and World Bank leadership gathered in Cap-Haitien for a critical working session to review progress and map the future of one of the country’s largest contemporary road infrastructure programs, the Haiti Resilient Corridors Project (P504115). The meeting, hosted by Haitian Minister of Public Works Engineer Joseph Almathe Pierre Louis, included World Bank Country Manager for Haiti Anne Lucie Lefèvre and her team of technical advisors, coming as part of the Haitian government’s broader national infrastructure modernization push.

    At the core of this public-private partnership is a mission to overhaul Haiti’s transportation network to boost inclusive economic growth and climate resilience. The initiative’s primary goal is to lift the rural accessibility index, a key metric that directly impacts connectivity between agricultural heartlands and major consumer markets. The project follows a two-pronged strategic framework: first, targeted upgrades to rural road networks across Haiti’s southern peninsula to streamline the movement of agricultural and commercial goods; second, large-scale rehabilitation and modernization works on critical national arterial routes, including National Road 2, National Road 6, and Departmental Road 41.

    During the talks, Minister Pierre Louis pushed for an expansion of the program to Haiti’s Northwest department, framing the extension as a key step toward advancing territorial equity across the country. The proposed addition would specifically address the longstanding isolation of Port-de-Paix, constructing climate-resilient road infrastructure to protect the city’s connectivity against extreme weather events that have repeatedly damaged Haitian transport networks in recent years.

    The delegation also turned its attention to urgent urban mobility needs in Cap-Haitien, one of Haiti’s most historic population centers. Talks centered on the planned development of the Barrière Bouteille/Morne Rouge corridor, a key gateway to the city. Technical teams confirmed that feasibility and design studies for this high-priority urban project are on track to wrap up within three months, clearing the way for construction that will ease chronic congestion and improve traffic flow at the city’s main northern entrance.

    Anne Lucie Lefèvre commended the Haitian government’s clear, forward-looking vision for infrastructure development, noting that the deepened collaboration between the World Bank and Haitian authorities marks a meaningful turning point for the country’s sustainable development goals. Minister Pierre Louis emphasized that the talks went far beyond routine project checks, advocating for a new wave of more transformative interventions that will reconfigure Haiti’s national connectivity for long-term growth. As technical teams begin work on feasibility assessments for the proposed Northwest extension, the minister reaffirmed the government’s ongoing commitment to partnering with international development bodies to build a more resilient, accessible, and secure national road network that serves communities across every region of Haiti.

  • Overleg tussen presidenten Simons en Ali over economie en wateroverlast

    Overleg tussen presidenten Simons en Ali over economie en wateroverlast

    In a recent virtual high-level meeting held on 15 May, the heads of state of neighboring South American nations Suriname and Guyana convened to address pressing shared challenges and advance bilateral collaboration, bringing renewed momentum to regional integration efforts.

    Suriname President Jennifer Simons and Guyana President Irfaan Ali centered a large portion of their discussion on the growing, interconnected impacts of climate change that have recently disrupted both countries, particularly the severe flooding events that have impacted communities and infrastructure across border regions. Both leaders emphasized that climate-driven hazards do not recognize national boundaries, making coordinated cross-border action a necessity rather than an option. To move this agenda forward, the two presidents agreed that their respective public works ministries will hold follow-up technical-level consultations to coordinate infrastructure adaptations and collective flood mitigation strategies.

    Beyond climate and disaster response, the summit also focused heavily on deepening bilateral socioeconomic cooperation across multiple strategic sectors. Oil and gas, a rapidly growing industry that has transformed Guyana’s economy in recent years and holds significant untapped potential for Suriname, was highlighted as a key area for mutually beneficial partnership that can drive long-term sustainable growth for both nations. The meeting also covered other core cross-border issues, including fisheries management and commercial navigation access along the Corantijn River, which forms the shared border between the two countries. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to advancing constructive, dialogue-driven solutions rooted in mutual respect that prioritize the well-being of all citizens on both sides of the border.

    A major long-term infrastructure priority, the construction of a fixed bridge connecting Suriname and Guyana, also featured prominently on the summit agenda. Leaders from both nations framed the permanent cross-river connection as a transformative project that will unlock new opportunities for expanded bilateral trade, grow cross-border tourism, strengthen regional integration, and accelerate inclusive economic development across the region. President Simons noted that following the completion of internal national consultations, additional talks will be held to advance all agenda items, ensuring that next steps are planned carefully through joint collaboration.

    As a concrete outcome of the productive talks, the two countries agreed to hold the next meeting of the Suriname-Guyana Strategic Dialogue and Cooperation Platform in the near term. They also committed to actively engaging the private sector in all future cooperation processes, recognizing the central role that entrepreneurs and investors play in driving sustained economic development and job creation in both countries.

    According to Suriname’s Communication Service, the entire meeting took place in a warm, constructive atmosphere that reaffirmed the deep historical ties and longstanding positive bilateral relationship between the two neighboring nations.

  • ILO News: Haiti and ILO sign two-year country programme to advance decent work and social dialogue

    ILO News: Haiti and ILO sign two-year country programme to advance decent work and social dialogue

    In a landmark collaborative step aimed at addressing deep-seated labor and socioeconomic challenges in Haiti, government, employer, and worker representatives formalized a two-year national decent work program with the International Labour Organization (ILO) during a signing ceremony held May 14, 2026 at the ILO Caribbean Office in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

    The agreement was signed by a cross-section of key stakeholders: Haiti’s Minister of Social Affairs and Labour Marc Elie Nelson represented the Haitian government; Association of Industries of Haiti (ADIH) president Maulik Radia stood in for national employer groups; Yvel Admettre, Secretary General of the Confederation of Public and Private Sector Workers, and Louis Fignole St Cyr, General Secretary of the Autonomous Central of Haitian Workers, signed on behalf of Haitian workers; and Joni Musabayana, Director of the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, completed the signing for the ILO. Additional Haitian stakeholders joined the working sessions that preceded the signing remotely from Port-au-Prince, where the full delegation and ILO technical teams spent a full day refining program details, aligning priorities, and building consensus on how to structure existing and new development interventions to meet national goals. The finalized framework has already secured formal approval from Haiti’s Office of the Prime Minister, creating a shared roadmap for ILO technical cooperation across 2026 and 2027. This program marks the first national initiative developed under the ILO Caribbean Office’s recently expanded mandate, which added Haiti to its portfolio in a January 2026 restructuring designed to boost regional alignment and responsive support for the country.

    The program is built around four core priorities, all identified through inclusive tripartite consultation between Haiti’s three key labor sector groups. First, the initiative will work to revitalize national social dialogue, including reactivating dormant national tripartite coordination mechanisms and strengthening protections for core fundamental principles and rights at work. Second, it will support improvements to national labor governance, through upgrades to labor administration and inspection systems, expanded access to fair labor dispute resolution, and tripartite-led reform of Haiti’s national Labor Code. Third, the program will expand access to viable employment and livelihood opportunities, with targeted support for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), expanded national skills development programs, and intentional inclusion of marginalized groups including youth, women, internally displaced persons, and workers employed in the informal economy. Fourth, the framework will strengthen national social protection systems, supporting institutional reforms for key social security bodies and working toward the gradual expansion of coverage to informal sector workers who currently lack protection. Cross-cutting priorities including gender equality, youth inclusion, conflict sensitivity, and climate-responsive employment and enterprise development are integrated across all four program pillars.

    Speaking at the signing ceremony, Minister Nelson confirmed the Haitian government’s full political backing for the program and announced that implementation would begin without delay. “The government, through the Prime Minister, has approved the proposal submitted, thereby marking an important milestone in this preparatory process,” Nelson said, praising the collaborative spirit that shaped the weeks of discussion leading up to the signing. He thanked Musabayana and all participating stakeholders for their commitment and high-quality input, adding that his technical team would immediately begin work on initial program documentation to keep the initiative on track for upcoming international labor governance processes.

    Musabayana emphasized that the program’s tripartite foundation is its greatest strength, noting that Haitian stakeholders led the process of defining their own priorities. “Haiti’s tripartite constituents have shown real leadership in defining what support they need and on what terms. This programme of work is built on that ownership. Our role as the Caribbean Office is to turn these commitments into results that Haitian workers and enterprises can feel – more productive dialogue, stronger institutions, and more decent jobs,” he said.

    ADIH President Radia framed the agreement as a rare show of cross-sector unity amid Haiti’s ongoing political and socioeconomic crisis. “Haiti, as everybody knows, is going through a major crisis. And in a crisis, when we come together as a unity, it is very positive. This brings all sectors of the country together and will allow us to work in a very formal but cooperative way,” he added.

    Worker representatives highlighted the historic nature of the new framework. Louis Fignole St Cyr noted, “It is extraordinary and it is historic. The social dialogue championed by the ILO has become a backbone for us, a foundation for the labour movement in Haiti and for trade union organizations to function within tripartism.” Yvel Admettre called for sustained momentum to embed collaborative dialogue as a core part of Haitian labor governance: “We must build a culture of dialogue. Without that culture, you will not always feel the need to come together to talk. With dialogue, we know we can find solutions even in the most difficult situations. I hope this will be a beginning, not an end.”

    The new program opens a fresh chapter in ILO’s cooperation with Haiti, which comes on the heels of the January 2026 decision to reassign Haiti to the Port of Spain-based ILO Caribbean Office, a shift designed to strengthen regional alignment and responsiveness to Haitian needs. As a founding member of the ILO since the organization’s creation in 1919, Haiti has ratified 25 ILO conventions, including eight of the organization’s 10 core Fundamental Conventions. This new national program builds on longstanding normative commitments to turn those standards into tangible, on-the-ground results for Haitian workers and employers over the next two years.

    In advance of the signing, the week-long working visit also included peer learning exchanges for the Haitian delegation with Trinidad and Tobago’s labor market institutions, including the Ministry of Labour, Small and Micro Enterprise Development, the National Trade Union Centre, and the Employers Consultative Association. The exchanges allowed Haitian stakeholders to study good practices and lessons learned from Trinidad and Tobago’s experience in advancing social dialogue and national labor governance.

    Implementation of the program is set to begin immediately. The ILO Caribbean Office will deploy technical expertise through its existing Decent Work Team and ongoing projects in Haiti, working in close coordination with United Nations agency partners, bilateral donor governments, and Haitian national institutions. A tripartite national steering committee will oversee ongoing progress, and annual strategic reviews will be conducted to track outcomes and adjust priorities as needed. The full program is aligned with the 2025 Punta Cana Declaration for democracy, peace, decent work and social dialogue, ILO Recommendation No. 205 on Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Haiti covering 2023 to 2028.

  • BRICS-top eindigt zonder gezamenlijke verklaring door verdeeldheid over oorlog in Iran

    BRICS-top eindigt zonder gezamenlijke verklaring door verdeeldheid over oorlog in Iran

    A high-stokes 2026 BRICS gathering hosted by New Delhi has wrapped up its two-day deliberations without the bloc’s traditional joint closing statement, laid bare by deep internal divisions over the ongoing conflict involving Iran that have pitted new bloc members against one another.

    The 9-nation bloc, which expanded in 2024 to include both Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), could not overcome irreconcilable disagreements over how to frame the regional war that has spilled into cross-border attacks. Iran pushed the bloc to formally condemn military operations conducted by the United States and Israel against the country, and publicly accused the UAE — a key U.S. regional ally — of direct involvement in offensive military actions against Tehran. Since the conflict erupted in late February, Iran has launched repeated drone and missile strikes targeting UAE territory, a response that has ratcheted up tensions across the Persian Gulf.

    Speaking after the talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi confirmed that a single BRICS member state had blocked the finalization of a shared statement, stopping short of explicitly naming the UAE. He clarified that Iran’s strikes on UAE soil have exclusively targeted U.S. military assets positioned in the country, adding that he holds out hope for greater consensus on the need for regional peaceful coexistence when the bloc holds its next full summit later this year.

    As the 2026 chair of BRICS, India released a chair’s summary to wrap up the meeting, a document that openly acknowledged the divergent stances held by member states on the escalating Middle East crisis. Despite the core rift, all members reaffirmed shared commitments to open dialogue, respect for national sovereignty, adherence to international law, unimpeded access for global shipping through key international waterways, and the protection of civilian infrastructure and civilian lives.

    In a notable point of near-consensus, the bloc collectively reaffirmed the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Even this position, however, faced pushback, with one member state objecting to specific clauses of the summary related to the ongoing crisis in Gaza.

    Beyond the regional conflict, the meeting reaffirmed the bloc’s collective commitment to maintaining unity among emerging market and developing economies to address shared global challenges. These challenges include rising geopolitical tensions, global economic slowdown, rapid technological transformation, rising trade protectionism, and growing global migration pressure.

    For host nation India, the conflict carries immediate tangible economic and human costs. As the world’s third-largest importer of crude oil, India is heavily exposed to disruptions in Persian Gulf energy supplies. Iran’s effective de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — the global chokepoint through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies pass — has directly impacted India’s energy security. This week alone, Iranian strikes have left at least three Indian seafarers dead and sank one Indian-flagged commercial vessel in the region.

    During a recent brief stopover in the UAE, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly condemned Iranian strikes on Gulf nations, and praised the UAE for its restraint and courage amid the ongoing period of heightened regional tension.

  • Moderate downpours are expected today.

    Moderate downpours are expected today.

    Weather forecasting authorities in the Dominican Republic have issued official warnings for multiple northern provinces, as atmospheric conditions are set to bring widespread wet weather across several key geographic regions this week. The Dominican Institute of Meteorology, known locally as Indomet, has forecast that moderate to heavy rainfall will sweep through the northwest provinces, the fertile Cibao valley, the Central Mountain Range, and the country’s northern Atlantic coastline on the day of the alert. Along with the predicted downpours, forecasters warn that scattered thunderstorm activity is likely, with isolated pockets of strong gusty winds also possible across the affected zones.

    Meteorologists have traced the incoming precipitation to two interacting weather systems: a low-pressure upper-level trough moving across the region, combined with warm, moisture-laden winds blowing from the east and southeast. These conditions create the ideal atmospheric instability needed to trigger sustained rainfall and storm activity across the northern half of the country.

    In response to the meteorological prediction, the Dominican Emergency Operations Center (COE) has activated a green-level alert for five at-risk provinces: Dajabón, Montecristi, Santiago Rodríguez, Valverde, and Puerto Plata. A green alert, the lowest tier of emergency warnings in the country’s response framework, indicates that while hazardous conditions are expected, the risk level remains manageable and authorities are closely monitoring the situation to prepare for any potential escalation.

  • Maldives rescue diver dies in search for missing Italians

    Maldives rescue diver dies in search for missing Italians

    The Indian Ocean archipelago of the Maldives, one of the world’s most coveted luxury diving destinations, is reeling from its deadliest recorded diving incident after a rescue diver participating in the search for four missing Italian divers died on Saturday, marking the fifth fatality in the tragedy. The chain of events began on May 14, when a group of five Italian divers set out from a liveaboard dive vessel for an excursion off Vaavu Atoll, and failed to surface as scheduled.

    By the end of that first day, search teams had recovered only one of the divers’ bodies, leaving four still unaccounted for deep in local waters. When rescue operations entered their third consecutive day on Saturday, Staff Sergeant Mohamed Mahudhy, a diver with the Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF), surfaced from his search mission in critical condition. He was rushed immediately to a local medical facility for emergency care, but succumbed to his condition shortly after arrival, the MNDF confirmed in an official public statement.

    The victims of the initial incident have been identified by Italy’s University of Genoa: a senior marine biology professor, her daughter, and two early-career researchers from the institution. Italy’s foreign ministry has already formally confirmed that all five Italian divers involved in the outing are dead. The one recovered body was found trapped in an underwater cave at 60 meters – double the maximum permitted diving depth of 30 meters set by Maldivian safety regulations. Government officials have launched a full formal investigation to determine why the group exceeded this official depth limit, and what broader safety failures contributed to the disaster.

    Hours before the rescue diver’s death was announced, Maldivian tourism authorities took immediate regulatory action: they suspended the operating license of the MV Duke of York, the 36-meter luxury liveaboard that hosted the Italian expedition, indefinitely. The suspension will remain in place until the full investigation into the incident concludes. The vessel, which is designed to host up to 25 passengers on multi-day diving itineraries, is a popular option for divers exploring the Maldives’ remote coral atolls.

    Made up of more than 1,100 low-lying coral islands spread across 800 kilometers of the Indian Ocean along the equator, the Maldives has built its $3 billion tourism industry around its reputation for pristine reefs and world-class diving. While water sports and diving-related fatalities are statistically rare in the South Asian nation, a small number of deadly diving incidents have been recorded over the past five years. This current disaster is the deadliest diving accident in the country’s modern tourism history, and is already prompting scrutiny of safety protocols for liveaboard dive operations across the archipelago.

  • The «El Niño» phenomenon would emerge between May and July 2026 and extend until February 2027

    The «El Niño» phenomenon would emerge between May and July 2026 and extend until February 2027

    Two leading climate forecasting bodies have raised a high-confidence alert that a new El Niño event will develop in the Pacific Ocean by mid-2026, with researchers and United Nations agencies warning that the climate phenomenon could exacerbate existing food insecurity and push millions of already vulnerable people deeper into crisis across the Americas.

    El Niño, defined as a sustained abnormal warming of Pacific Ocean surface waters that reshapes global weather patterns, has an 82 percent probability of emerging between May and July 2026, according to an official forecast released Thursday by the U.S. National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center (NWS-CPC). The agency added that there is an even higher 96 percent chance that El Niño will persist through the 2026–2027 winter in the Northern Hemisphere, lasting until at least February 2027.

    Forecasters at NWS-CPC trace the expected development of the event to two key current oceanic and atmospheric conditions: record-warm temperatures in the equatorial Pacific’s subsurface layers, and unusual low-level westerly wind patterns across the western equatorial Pacific that have already spread to the central and east-central Pacific.

    While the high probability of El Niño’s arrival is clear, forecasters have noted that its final intensity remains uncertain. The strongest recorded El Niño events all exhibited robust ocean-atmosphere coupling during the Northern Hemisphere summer, a key precursor that has yet to be confirmed for the 2026 event. Even if a strong event does develop, forecasters emphasize that intensity does not guarantee extreme impacts—it only raises the likelihood of disruptive weather outcomes.

    The alert has already been circulated by national meteorological leaders across the Americas, including Gloria Ceballos, director of the Dominican National Institute of Meteorology (Indomet), who shared the forecast with the public via her official X social media account.

    Beyond climate forecasting, three major United Nations food security agencies have warned that the impending El Niño poses substantial risks to vulnerable populations across the region, at a time when the climate crisis and global price hikes have already stretched livelihoods thin. Ahead of the forecast, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and World Food Programme (WFP) convened discussions on early preparedness, proactive intervention, and long-term resilience building to counter extreme weather shocks.

    Current regional data underscores the depth of pre-existing vulnerability: across the Americas, more than 33 million people already face chronic hunger, 167 million experience moderate to severe food insecurity, and over 181 million cannot afford nutritionally adequate diets. The region also bears 22 percent of global economic losses from agriculture-related disasters, totaling more than $713 billion in cumulative damage.

    In a joint warning, the three agencies stated that El Niño will likely worsen this precarious situation. The phenomenon is expected to worsen drought conditions across Central America’s Dry Corridor, an already poverty-stricken arid region that is extremely susceptible to climate shocks, while also disrupting rainfall and temperature patterns across the entire hemisphere. These disruptions could push tens of thousands more vulnerable families into food insecurity and chronic poverty, the agencies warned, stressing the urgent need for early action to mitigate harm.

  • Over 100 Haitians deported from The Bahamas

    Over 100 Haitians deported from The Bahamas

    NASSAU, Bahamas — The Bahamas’ national immigration agency has carried out a large-scale deportation operation, sending 107 Haitian migrants back to their home country as part of the government’s sustained crackdown on violations of national immigration regulations. In an official public statement released after the operation, the Department of Immigration outlined details of the repatriation, noting that the group deported included 22 adult women and five minor children. Authorities confirmed that the majority of the deported individuals had remained in the Bahamas beyond the timeframe allowed by their entry permits, while others were taken into custody after entering the country without proper authorization.

    The repatriation flight, operated by Bahamas’ national carrier Bahamasair, departed from the Lynden Pindling International Airport in the capital Nassau. Department officials emphasized that all established public health and security protocols were strictly implemented throughout the entire deportation process, prioritizing the safety and health of both immigration officers overseeing the operation and the migrants being deported. Upon landing in Haiti, the 107 migrants will undergo standard entry processing by Haitian immigration officials. The five underage girls in the group will be transferred to Haiti’s national child welfare services for further care and support, per arrangements between the two countries’ authorities.

    This large operation was not the only immigration enforcement action Bahamian authorities took this week. Just days earlier, the department completed a second deportation that involved 15 foreign nationals from a range of countries across the globe. Among that smaller group were three Jamaican citizens, two Colombians, two Mexicans, two Peruvians, two Romanians, one Cuban, one Ecuadorian, one additional Haitian, and one Moldovan national, all of whom had been found to be in violation of Bahamas immigration rules.

    The Department of Immigration reiterated that these ongoing enforcement operations are a core part of the government’s commitment to upholding the country’s immigration laws and maintaining order along its borders. It called on members of the Bahamian public to actively support these efforts by reporting any suspected immigration violations to the relevant authorities, reinforcing the message that compliance with national entry and residency rules is a shared responsibility.