ZIZ Midday News - May 29, 2026

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:05][music] >> And the top stories, the tourism sector has recorded significant growth in the first quarter of 2026.

[00:00:24]The United Nations says nearly 1.5 million people have been displaced in Haiti. And the Blue Origin rocket explosion has cast doubt over NASA's moon's plan.

[00:00:35]Hello, and welcome to the ZIZ Midday Major Newscast. Today is Friday, May 29.

[00:00:40]I'm Zai Hendrickson. Locally, tourism minister Marsha Henderson says visitor spending is up. Cruise arrivals are going strong, and work is on the way to address the loss of Caribbean Airlines service to St. Kitts. Henderson provided the update during a press conference on Thursday, where she said the government looks at tourism success, only through arrival, but through numbers, and to the benefits felt across the Federation.

[00:01:07]She said early first quarter figures shows visitor spending increased by 21%.

[00:01:13]>> So, we recorded 41,490 passengers with the spend equaling 62,000, 486,571 dollars.

[00:01:31]This estimated spend reflects a 21% increase over the same period in 2025.

[00:01:40]I would have indicated in the past, and I wish to reiterate it here again today.

[00:01:46]Our focus is not just about increasing the number of visitors, but improving the quality of spend.

[00:01:56]>> Minister Henderson also addressed and announced the end of Caribbean Airlines service to St. Kitts from June 1st, saying discussions are underway to help address any gaps in airlifts.

[00:02:07]>> The conversation around regional connectivity is ongoing.

[00:02:11]And the government of St. Kitts and Nevis remains committed to working with our partners such as LIAT, interCaribbean, Caribbean Airlines, Winair, and any other regional partner on solutions that best work for our federation and our people.

[00:02:30]Rest assured that my team and I are actively discussing discussing the options to fill any shortfalls.

[00:02:39]>> The minister also pointed to what she described as the federation's best post-pandemic cruise season, highlighting a significant increase in cruise and passenger arrivals.

[00:02:49]>> To date, we have welcomed 918 198 cruise passengers.

[00:02:58]And the season, colleagues, is not yet over.

[00:03:07]There are two ships in port today, Star of the Seas and the Celebrity Beyond.

[00:03:14]I wish to add that this is our strongest summer since Carnival Fascination's weekly calls.

[00:03:23]This was before the pandemic. This for us, colleagues, represents the highest post-pandemic cruise arrival performance for our destination and demonstrates the value of sustained relationship building, strategic engagement, and focused planning.

[00:03:43]>> Continuing locally in similar news, Minister of Tourism Marsha Henderson says the recent visit of popular online streamer IShowSpeed, generated significant international attention for St. Kitts and Nevis. In April, the internet personality, whose real name is Darren Watkins Jr., visited the Federation during his Caribbean tour, experiencing local food, culture, as well as community life.

[00:04:09]During a media briefing on Thursday, Minister Henderson said that the visit helped place St. Kitts and Nevis before a global online audience to Speed's massive digital following.

[00:04:20]>> In late April, content creator IShowSpeed visited St. Kitts as a part of his Caribbean tour, bringing global attention to our island.

[00:04:32]During his visits, our organic social content featured our traditional goat water, masquerades, our actors, and our Jouvay, and collectively has achieved over 4.5 million views across our platform.

[00:04:53]>> Still on the local scene, St. Kitts and Nevis's vulnerability and resilience country profile pilot was featured at a high-level United Nations meet in New York, which focused on turning the multi-dimensional vulnerability index into practical development tools for small states. The session included presentations from St. Kitts and Nevis's permanent representative to United Nations, Her Excellency Dr. Ambassador Motrits Williams, and the vulnerability resilience country profile consultant Dr. Justin Ram.

[00:05:25]Discussions examined how the pilot is being used to support evidence-based planning, strengthen resilience, and help guide international and national development decisions.

[00:05:35]Ambassador Williams, attending on behalf of Dr. Terrance Drew, and Financial Secretary Carson Richardson, said small island states must turn vulnerability measures into practical tools that can support better policy and developmental outcomes.

[00:05:50]Participants also looked at implementation of the St. Kitts and Nevis pilot with growing interest reported from other member states and developmental partners. The retreat held at the United Nations headquarters was co-hosted by Antigua and Barbuda, Portugal, and international development partners with Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne delivering the keynote address.

[00:06:15]Moving on regionally, the United Nations says nearly 1.5 million people in Haiti have been displaced as violence continues to force families from their homes. The UN said about 95,000 people were newly displaced between December last year at May with the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area recording more than 300,000 displaced people for the first time.

[00:06:38]Deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq said clashes in the community of Site in So leil in March and May contributed to the rise while continued fighting the department is also forcing people to flee.

[00:06:52]The International Organization for Migration reported a sharp increase in people returning to their communities with more than 165,000 returning to their areas of origin.

[00:07:03]However, the United Nations said many families still face conditions unsuitable for long-term resettlement with food, shelter, health care, water, sanitation, and live hoods remaining key factors.

[00:07:17]The UN said humanitarian agencies continue to provide assistance despite security challenges and funding shortages, adding that its $880 million response plan for Haiti is less than 23% funded.

[00:07:33]Moving along regionally, Caribbean climatologist Cedric Van Merbek is warning that this year's Atlantic hurricane season may be less active than usual, but could still bring dangerous and unpredictable weather.

[00:07:47]Speaking at the 2026 wet and hurricane climate season outlook forum in the Bahamas, Van Meerbeeck said the struggle of El Niño pattern is expected to influence weather conditions across the region.

[00:07:59]While El Niño typically reduces hurricane activity, it can also bring extreme heat, erratic weather patterns, and periods of heavy rainfall.

[00:08:09]Current forecast suggests about five hurricanes a season, including two major hurricanes, which will place activity below the historical average.

[00:08:17]Despite the lower outlook, warmer than normal sea surface temperatures in part of the northern Caribbean could still help to fuel dangerous weather events.

[00:08:26]Concern was also raised about possible water shortages later this year with rainfall during the wet season not expect dry conditions in some areas.

[00:08:35]Governments and communities are being urged to strengthen water shortage and drop preparedness while rainfall is still available.

[00:08:42]The climatologist also warned that extreme heat linked to El Niño conditions could pose health risk, particularly for older people as well as young children. He stressed that even a single major storm can cause serious damage to infrastructure, agriculture, water systems, and economies across the region.

[00:09:03]Moving on to the international scene, an explosion involving Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket is raising questions about the timeline for the future of NASA moon missions.

[00:09:13]The 98-m tall rocket exploded during a routine engine test Thursday night at Cape Canaveral in Florida, causing damage to Blue Origin launch facility.

[00:09:25]No injuries were reported with company founder Jeff Bezos saying all personnel are safe as well as accounted for. The incident is expected to delay the New Glenn program, which NASA plan to use in future missions which are aimed at returning astronauts to the moon and supporting long-term lunar operations.

[00:09:44]Blue Origin is also developing a lunar lander for NASA as part of those efforts.

[00:09:49]The setback is likely to push back other commercial projects including a scheduled satellite launch mission for Amazon.

[00:09:57]Moving on internationally, US Vice President J.D. Vance says several key issues still need to be resolved before any agreement can be reached between the United States as well as Iran.

[00:10:09]Vance said it is too early to say whether or not the deal could be finalized despite efforts that both sides have agreed to a draft framework.

[00:10:18]US officials told the BBC that the proposal will extend a ceasefire for 60 days and open talks on the future of Iran's nuclear program. However, Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported that no agreement has yet been finalized or approved. Reports suggested that the framework could also include easing restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz and possible sanctions relief to allow Iran to resume oil exports.

[00:10:46]Now for a look at today's weather.

[00:10:48]Today's weather is relatively stable with weather conditions are expected to limit shower activity across St. Kitts and Nevis over the next 24 hours.

[00:10:58]Today's high is expected to reach 32°C or 90°F while it's overnight temperatures could fall to a low of 23°C or 73°F.

[00:11:10]Skies today will be partly sunny with a 40% or moderate chance of brief morning shower and tonight conditions are expected to be fair to partly cloudy and cool. Winds will blow from the east-southeast at 11 to 26 km/h or 7 to 16 mph with lighter spells at times.

[00:11:29]Seas are expected to range between 1 and 1.5 m or 3 to 5 ft. Sunset this evening is at 6:41 p.m. with sunrise tomorrow at 5:36 a.m.

[00:11:41]And that brings us to the end of the midday major newscast. Join us this evening for these stories and more.

[00:11:47]Thank you for tuning in. I'm Zai Hendricks.

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