Rotaract Club of Providenciales Holds National Youth Tribunal
The Rotaract Club of Providenciales gave 15 young voices a platform to express themselves on a national issue... "Should the Turks and Caicos Islands
Prioritize Controlling the Cost of Living over
Rapid Economic Growth?"
Our Danae Dennie files this report.
"Kona Low" Storms in Hawaii Devastates Farmers
Recent catastrophic flooding, the worst event of its kind in Hawaii in over 20 years, which the governor has labeled the most severe flooding event since 2004 has caused between $31 million dollars in damages to local farms.
Back-to-back "Kona Low" storms, typically low pressure systems that usually flips the usual wind pattern and brings wet unstable weather, in March of 2026 dumped over 50 inches of rainfall in some areas of Hawaii, wiping out crops, livestock, and critical infrastructure across nearly 4,000 acres.
More than 600 of Hawaii's 6,500 farms have reported significant damage, though some estimates suggest nearly 2,000 farms may be affected.
Oahu's North Shore and West Side were hit particularly hard, with some entire farms completely submerged or washed away.
Farmers reported the loss of staple crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, lemongrass, and leafy greens. Even water-thriving crops like taro were lost due to contamination from floodwaters.
Flooding destroyed irrigation systems, machinery, greenhouses, fencing, and personal vehicles covered in thick sludge.
Many affected are small, diversified farms that do not qualify for traditional crop insurance, leaving them without a financial buffer.
Market output has plummeted; some farmers report selling only a quarter of their usual volume, leading to fewer vegetables available at local swap meets and Honolulu's Chinatown.
In April 2026, a Major Disaster Declaration was approved to unlock federal assistance. Available support includes:
* Federal disaster relief, state long-term loans, and one-time $1,500 emergency grants.
* A charitable fund raised approximately $850,000, and many individual farmers have turned to online fundraising pages.
* The Hawaii Department of Agriculture is conducting soil safety tests and providing seeds and plant starts to help farmers restart.
RJR/Gleaner Communications Group Sells Historic Property
RJR/Gleaner Communications Group has signed a binding agreement to sell its historic property at 7 North Street in Kingston, Jamaica as part of a broader restructuring effort aimed at improving operational efficiency and enhancing long-term shareholder value.
In a statement issued, the media company said the agreement with LP Azar Limited includes the North Street building, adjoining lots and parking areas.
The company explained that this forms part of a strategic initiative to streamline operations and further consolidate activities at its Lyndhurst Road campus. According to RJR/Gleaner, the move will allow the organisation to place greater focus on its core print, digital and broadcast operations.
The transaction is expected to be completed within 45 days, pending the fulfilment of standard closing conditions.
RJR/Gleaner also confirmed that employees currently based at the North Street location will be relocated to the company’s facilities on Lyndhurst Road.
Ingham Awarded 2026 Commonwealth Youth Impact Award
Turks and Caicos Islands’ youth leader, Zaria Ingham, has recently been recognised on the international stage... receiving the ‘Youth Impact Award’ at the 2026 Commonwealth Youth Development Summit, held from April 9-11, under the theme “From Commitment to Impact: Working for a Resilient Commonwealth.”
The three-day summit brought together over 150 delegates from more than 50 countries, providing a platform for young leaders, policymakers, and development partners to actively engage in critical dialogue on advancing youth development across the Commonwealth of Nations.
Key discussions focused on strengthening advocacy efforts and delivering actionable policy recommendations in crucial areas impacting young people, including the economy, the environment, and democratic resilience, ahead of the 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda.
Ingham’s award recognises her outstanding contributions to advancing youth development at both national and international levels.
Her work spans a wide range of advocacy initiatives, including engagement with organisations such as UNICEF, the Commonwealth Youth Parliament, the CARICOM Youth Ambassador Programme, as well as collaboration with global non-governmental organisations. Her decade-long advocacy has spanned a variety of key issues impacting young people, including climate change, mental health, education, women’s empowerment, and civic engagement.
As the sole delegate representing the Turks and Caicos Islands, Ingham championed and amplified young people's perspectives, ensuring that local priorities and lived experiences were reflected in wider Commonwealth discussions. Her contributions formed part of broader youth-led recommendations aimed at strengthening democratic resilience and inclusion across member states.
Reflecting on both the recognition and a growing global consensus, Ingham emphasised the need to move beyond dialogue to tangible outcomes, noting that while youth voices are increasingly included in global conversations, lasting impact depends on clearly defining the path forward, strengthening intergenerational collaboration, and translating youth perspectives into policy and action across local institutions.
We spoke with Zaria to find out about the award and recognition.
Her participation and recognition at the summit not only highlight individual achievement but also signal the growing presence of Turks and Caicos Islands youth in global policy spaces, reinforcing the importance of continued investment in youth engagement and leadership at the national level.
Congratulations Zaria, continue to succeed!
3 DAY PUBLIC WEATHER FORECAST MON MAY 18TH 2026
Shakira, Madonna and BTS to headline 2026 World Cup Final halftime show
(CNN) Shakira, Madonna and K-pop superstars BTS will headline the first-ever World Cup final halftime show, FIFA announced in an Instagram post on Thursday.
The World Cup Final is set for July 19 at New Jersey’s Metlife Stadium and is expected to draw millions of viewers worldwide on top of its attendees.
World Cup 2026 kicks off June 11 in Mexico City with matches to be played in multiple locations across the US, Canada and Mexico.
The final halftime, curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin, will be produced by the non-profit Global Citizen and benefit the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, FIFA said.
The fund is “a landmark initiative working to raise $100 USD million to expand access to quality education and football for children around the world,” FIFA wrote in the announcement.
“Throughout the tournament, USD 1 from every ticket sold to FIFA World Cup 2026™ matches will be donated to the Fund.”
In an announcement video posted to social media, Martin was joined by characters from Sesame Street and the Muppets, with a cameo from BTS.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino teased the inaugural performance at a World Cup event in March 2025.
“This will be a historic moment for the FIFA World Cup and a show befitting the biggest sporting event in the world,” Infantino said at the time.
The official rules of soccer, outlined by the International Football Association Board, state that halftime breaks should not exceed 15 minutes and it’s unclear whether it will be changed to accommodate the performance, such as with halftime shows at the Super Bowl.
Last week, FIFA said reggaeton superstar J Blavin would headline the World Cup’s opening ceremony in Mexico City. That performance will also feature Alejandro Fernández, Belinda, Danny Ocean, Lila Downs, Los Ángeles Azules, Maná and Tyla.
Jamaica’s police expertise now in demand across Caribbean, says PM
Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands (The Gleaner) — For years, Jamaica’s international reputation was shadowed by gangs, gun violence and murder statistics that placed the island among the world’s most dangerous countries.
Today, Jamaican police officers are being recruited across the Caribbean to help neighbouring territories fight organised crime using strategies developed in some of the island’s toughest communities.
Nowhere is that transformation more visible than in the Turks and Caicos Islands, where a 28-member contingent from the Jamaica Constabulary Force has spent the last year helping local authorities suppress violent crime.
The results have been dramatic.
“In 2024, we had 47 murders. In 2025, we had 27 murders. So far this year, ... we’ve had zero murders,” said Premier Charles Washington Misick during a visit by Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness to the officers’ residence on Saturday.
Acting Deputy Superintendent Nicholas Shorter, commander of the Jamaican contingent, believes the success stems from policing methods forged through Jamaica’s own long battle with organised criminal gangs.
“The crimes of the Third World cannot be tackled by using First World tactics,” Shorter said.
According to him, Jamaica’s policing model has evolved into a more tactical, intelligence-led and standardised system capable of being replicated elsewhere in the region.
“What we have found out since 2023 in Jamaica is that policing is really a science,” he explained. “If we do the very same things correctly as they have been done in Jamaica, then we can achieve results that are quite similar.”
The Jamaican team includes tactical operators, intelligence officers, investigators and drone pilots. Among them are three female officers working in what remains a heavily male-dominated tactical environment.
Sergeant Natricia Davis, one of the female officers deployed to Turks and Caicos, said the assignment has tested the adaptability of Jamaican officers in unfamiliar conditions.
“One of our major issues that we face here as Jamaicans is the language barrier,” Davis said, noting the territory’s large Haitian and Dominican populations. While some residents speak Haitian Creole or French, others primarily speak Spanish.
“Being here for so long, we’ve kind of learned a few of their verbiage,” she said.
Davis, who previously served on Jamaica’s SWAT team and is Level Three tactically trained, said the deployment highlighted the increasingly specialised nature of modern Jamaican policing.
“We trained vigorously,” she said. “It has been a bit difficult, but we are able to overcome it.”
The officers have also had to adapt to challenges unique to the Turks and Caicos, particularly maritime surveillance across scattered islands and irregular migration flows from Haiti.
For Jamaica’s minister of national security and peace, Dr Horace Chang, the regional demand for Jamaican policing expertise reflects years of quiet institutional rebuilding.
Chang said Jamaica had received requests for police training from countries such as Saint Lucia and that Jamaican law-enforcement agencies, including the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency, were increasingly being viewed as regional leaders in cybercrime and organised crime investigations.
He attributed Jamaica’s falling murder rate partly to the modernisation and expansion of the police force, including recruiting university graduates and technically trained specialists into the JCF.
The digitisation of policing operations, Chang said, has also transformed the force into one of the most technologically advanced arms of government.
The regional interest in Jamaica’s security expertise comes as several Caribbean territories confront increasingly sophisticated gang networks, gun trafficking and organised criminal enterprises once thought to be problems largely confined to Jamaica and parts of Latin America.
Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands, Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam said the Jamaican officers had become “an integrated part” of the territory’s police force while simultaneously helping to strengthen local tactical capability and leadership development.
For Shorter, the deployment represents more than a foreign assignment.
It symbolises a remarkable reversal in Jamaica’s regional identity.
“We have managed to assist the police force in tracking down, monitoring, dismantling and degrading organised criminal gangs,” he said.
Pope creates artificial intelligence study group as Vatican prepares to release his first encyclical
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV has created a study group on artificial intelligence, the Vatican said Saturday, as he gears up to release his first encyclical that is expected to emphasize the need for an ethics-based approach to the technology that prioritizes human dignity and peace.
The Vatican said Leo had decided to create the in-house study group because of the acceleration in AI’s use, “its potential effects on human beings and on humanity as a whole (and) the church’s concern for the dignity of every human being.”
The announcement came a day after Leo signed his encyclical, 135 years to the day after his namesake, Pope Leo XIII, dated his most important encyclical, “Rerum Novarum,” or Of New Things. That document addressed workers’ rights, the limits of capitalism, and the obligations that states and employers owed workers as the Industrial Revolution was underway.
It became the foundation of modern Catholic social thought, and the current pope has already cited it in relation to the AI revolution, which he believes poses the same existential questions that the Industrial Revolution posed over a century ago. The new encyclical is expected to place the AI question in the context of the church’s social teaching, which also covers issues such as labor, justice and peace.
“I think that the Catholic Church in many ways is going to be the adult in the room on some of these debates about how we are going to integrate AI into the rest of our society,” said Meghan Sullivan, a philosophy professor at the University of Notre Dame who directs its ethics institute. “For sure, the pope is going to be one of the most forceful advocates for human dignity in these discussions.”
Just days after his 2025 election, Leo told the cardinals who made him pope that the Catholic Church owed it to the world to offer the “treasury of its social teaching” to confront the challenges posed by AI on “human dignity, justice and labor.”
The public release of the encyclical, expected in the coming weeks, will likely become a new flashpoint between the Chicago-born Leo and the Trump administration, which has made the rapid development of AI a matter of vital national economic and security strategy. The United States has strongly rejected international regulatory efforts to rein in AI and the Trump administration has removed bureaucratic roadblocks slowing its development domestically.
The flurry of Vatican activity came as U.S. President Donald Trump wrapped up a visit to China that included AI business. Traveling with Trump on Air Force One were, among others, Elon Musk, whose social media platform X features his AI chatbot Grok, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who recently secured federal approval to sell H200 AI chips to Chinese buyers.
The Vatican wants its voice and values in the AI debate
Since the AI boom kicked off with ChatGPT’s debut, the technology’s breathtaking capabilities have amazed the world. Tech companies have raced to develop better AI systems even as experts warn of its risks, from existential but far-off threats like rogue AIs running amok to everyday problems like bias in algorithmic hiring systems.
The United Nations last year adopted a new governance architecture to rein in AI after previous multilateral efforts, including AI summits organized by Britain, South Korea and France resulted only in nonbinding pledges. In 2024, the EU adopted its own Artificial Intelligence Act, applying a risk-based approach to its AI rules.
The Vatican has sought to add its voice to the debate, offering ethical guidelines for the application of AI in sectors from warfare to education and healthcare. The underlying call has been that the technology must be used as a tool to complement, and not replace, human intelligence.
The Vatican has also warned of the environmental impact of the AI race, noting the “vast amounts of energy and water” required by AI data centers and computational power.
“There are almost a billion and a half Catholics in the world, so that alone is reason to pay attention,” said Thomas Harmon, theology professor at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. “But beyond the numbers, the Catholic Church has a deep and sophisticated tradition of thinking through what it means to be human.”
In 2020, the Vatican enlisted tech companies to sign on to an AI pledge, known as the Rome Call for AI Ethics, which, among other things, outlined core principles for AI regulation, including inclusiveness, accountability, impartiality, and privacy. Microsoft, IBM and Cisco were among the private sector companies that signed on.
In his final years, Pope Francis called for an international treaty to regulate AI, saying the risks of technology lacking human values of compassion, mercy, morality and forgiveness were too great to merely trust in the morality of AI researchers and developers.
He also brought his authority to bear on the Group of Seven, addressing a special session on the perils and promises of AI in 2024. There, Francis said politicians must take the lead in making sure AI remains human-centric, so that decisions about when to use weapons or even less-lethal tools always remain made by humans. He called ultimately for a ban on the use of lethal autonomous weapons, colloquially known as “killer robots.”
AI-savvy Leo is concerned with peace, truth and human relations
In-house, Leo has warned priests against using AI to write their homilies. But the math major pope, who does spend free time scrolling on his phone, has also raised his voice on the broader implications of AI on world peace, labor and the very meaning of reality.
For the Augustinian pope, generative AI’s ability to misinform and deceive through deepfake imagery is particularly worrisome, given that the search for truth is a fundamental element of his religious order’s spirituality.
In a June 2025 speech to an AI conference, Leo acknowledged generative AI’s contributions to healthcare and scientific discovery. But he questioned “its possible repercussions on humanity’s openness to truth and beauty, on our distinctive ability to grasp reality.”
Leo, who has emphasized a constant appeal for peace, has also called for monitoring how AI is being used and developed in warfare in the Middle East and Ukraine, where automated weapons systems are using everything from aerial drones and maritime and ground platforms.
“What is happening in Ukraine, in Gaza and the Palestinian territories, in Lebanon and in Iran illustrates the inhuman evolution of the relationship between war and new technologies in a spiral of annihilation,” he said this past week at La Sapienza, Europe’s largest university.
From Cisco to Block, more companies are pointing to AI when unveiling job cuts
NEW YORK (AP) — Layoffs have been piling up recently, especially in the tech world. And the words “artificial intelligence” are accompanying more and more notices about the cuts.
That’s unnerving workers across sectors, with many fearing what the rapid adoption of AI will mean for their job prospects. Even if AI isn’t replacing people directly, some businesses have announced reductions as they redirect money to the technology or tout new ways to streamline operations — raising alarm about what might be left over for payrolls and future openings.
But corporate explanations are often very vague. AI is rarely the sole reason companies cite when taking layoffs, with most still pointing to wider corporate restructuring or macroeconomic headwinds. Some executives have also suggested that, while they’re making cuts to move around resources now, AI and its demand could open up new roles down the road. Still, it’s hard to know if that’s the real driver or just the message a business wants to tell Wall Street.
Regardless, here are some companies that have announced layoffs recently while at least nodding to the role of AI along the way.
Cisco
On Wednesday, Cisco Systems announced plans to cut under 4,000 jobs, or about 5% of its workforce. The announcement arrived the same day the tech giant unveiled record revenue for its third fiscal quarter, amid soaring demand for its AI tools and infrastructure.
CEO Chunk Robbins told employees in a memo that “the companies that will win in the AI era will be those with focus, urgency, and the discipline to continuously shift investment” — and that meant “making hard decisions.” But he said Cisco would also help employees impacted by the cuts find new opportunities, “whether internal or external.”
Block
Financial services provider Block in February moved to lay off more than 4,000 of its 10,000 plus employees. And the parent of payment platforms like Square and Cash App was vocal about reconfiguring to capitalize on AI.
“The core thesis is simple. Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company,” CEO Jack Dorsey said in a letter to shareholders at the time. “A significantly smaller team, using the tools we’re building, can do more and do it better.”
Dow
Not only tech companies have pointed to AI when initiating layoffs. In January, chemicals maker Dow, Inc. announced plans to cut about 4,500 jobs — as part of broader push to “streamline” operations. That included putting more emphasis on AI and automation.
Also in January, Pinterest said it would lay off under 15% of its workforce as the company pivots more of its money to AI. The image-sharing platform said the cuts were part of broader “transformation initiatives” — which included reallocating the company’s resources to AI-focused roles and prioritizing AI-powered products.
Lufthansa Group
Last fall, Lufthansa Group said it would shed 4,000 jobs by 2030 — pointing to the adoption of AI, digitalization and consolidating work among member airlines.
Cuts at Meta and other big names arrive amid broader AI ramp-up
While perhaps not explicitly mentioning or tying the technology to recent layoff announcements, a host of other big names — including Meta, Microsoft and Amazon — are also cutting thousands of jobs while investing billions of dollars toward AI.
Meta, for example, plans to lay off about 8,000 workers, or about 10% of its workforce, starting next week. When announcing the cuts last month, the Facebook owner more broadly cited the need to offset certain investments and broader efficiency.
Still, the move arrives as Meta continues to ramp up spending on AI infrastructure and highly-paid AI expert hires. And earlier this year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said 2026 will be when, “AI starts to dramatically change the way that we work.”
Meta launches WhatsApp ‘incognito’ mode to address privacy concerns for AI chats
LONDON (AP) — Meta Platforms said Wednesday it’s rolling out an “incognito” mode for WhatsApp users to have private conversations with its AI chatbot, a move intended to ease privacy concerns about sensitive information that users share in chats.
The social media company said in a blog post that incognito chat mode provides a way to have private, temporary conversations with Meta AI, its artificial intelligence assistant that’s been available on WhatsApp for a few years.
Messages will be processed in a “secure environment” that even Meta can’t access, won’t be saved by default and will disappear when exiting a session, Meta said.
Generative AI systems have been dogged by privacy concerns because the large language models that underpin these systems are trained on vast troves of data, sometimes including personal information provided by users themselves in their conversations with AI chatbots.
Rival chatbot makers already have some privacy features. Google’s Gemini chatbot has the option to disable chat history and opt out of allowing one’s data to be used in training its AI models. ChatGPT has similar controls.
Meta says it’s rolling out incognito chats because users often ask chatbots sensitive questions or include private financial, personal, health or work data in their questions.
“We’re starting ask a lot of meaningful questions about our lives with AI systems, and it doesn’t always feel like you should have to share the information behind those questions with the companies that run those AI systems,” Will Cathcart, Meta’s head of WhatsApp, told reporters.
Incognito chat mode has safety features to prevent the chatbot from answering questions about harmful topics, Cathcart said.
It will “steer the user towards helpful information if it can and then refuse (to answer) and eventually even just stop interacting with the user completely,” Cathcart said.
Users will only be able to type in questions and get text responses; they won’t be able to upload or generate images. They’ll also have to confirm their age because Meta doesn’t allow users under 13 on its platforms.