W. Waweru is a Jadetimes News Reporter Covering Entertainment News
Image Source: Katia Temkin
Ariana Grande released the title track, Petal. It is the second single from a follow-up Hate That I Made You Love Me. It featured a music video that was directed by Christian Breslauer. It lasts for seven minutes, during which Grande appears as a rising actress called Pepper.
According to Pitchfork, “after several failed auditions, things take a bloody turn when a shadowy producer accuses Grande’s character of being ‘inauthentic.’ She then gives a performance truly worthy of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.’”
Why Record-Breaking Rainfall Is Becoming a Global Concern
Why does rainfall that once felt unusual now seem to make headlines every few weeks, a month's worth falling in a day, rivers rising overnight, cities turned briefly into lakes? The rain itself hasn't changed its basic nature. What has changed is the atmosphere delivering it.
Warmer air holds more moisture, roughly 7% more for every additional degree Celsius, physics that has been understood for over a century. When that moisture-laden air is wrung out by a storm system, more water falls, faster. The IPCC's sixth assessment found that heavy rainfall has likely intensified across a majority of the world's land regions, though the picture is far from uniform: some regions are getting wetter, others drier, and monsoon patterns are shifting in region-specific ways. Climate change loads the dice; it doesn't determine every roll.
The evidence keeps arriving. Regional studies show the intensity of heavy downpours has climbed roughly 40% since preindustrial times in some areas, with certain locations receiving over a year's typical rainfall in days. Early 2026 brought severe flooding to Mozambique after catastrophic downpours, while back-to-back storms battered Europe from Ireland to the Mediterranean, disrupting travel and triggering top-level danger warnings. In South Asia, extreme rainfall events in India have roughly tripled since 1950, and the region continues to record the world's highest flood tolls.
Climate isn't acting alone. Rapid urbanization paves over absorbent soil with concrete, overwhelming drainage systems built for a gentler era. Deforestation strips hillsides of roots that once held water back, and poor land-use planning pushes housing into floodplains. A storm that might have soaked into farmland decades ago now runs straight into storm drains never designed for it.
Forecasting has improved sharply. Satellites, Doppler radar, and increasingly sophisticated weather models now let meteorological agencies issue warnings hours or days ahead. The WMO reports that the number of countries with multi-hazard early-warning systems has more than doubled since 2015, part of a push toward universal coverage.
Solutions exist and are being tested: permeable pavements, restored wetlands that absorb floodwater naturally, elevated infrastructure, and urban plans that treat roads as emergency drainage channels, approaches already used in Japan and parts of the United States.
Extreme rainfall itself cannot be switched off. But better science, earlier warnings, and more resilient design can determine whether the next record-breaking storm becomes a headline about resilience, or another about tragedy.
How One Football Legend Continues to Redefine Greatness
The chant begins before he even reaches the centre circle. Thousands of voices rise in unison across a packed Al-Awwal Park, and Cristiano Ronaldo raises an arm in acknowledgement, a gesture repeated in stadiums from Manchester to Madrid to Riyadh for over two decades. What has allowed one man to remain at football's summit for so long, long after most of his generation has retired?
The answer begins in Lisbon, where a teenage Ronaldo left Sporting CP for Manchester United in 2003, moulded by Sir Alex Ferguson into a Premier League and Champions League winner. A move to Real Madrid in 2009 produced arguably the most prolific individual spell in the sport's history: four Champions League titles, two La Liga crowns, and a stream of goal-scoring records. Spells at Juventus and the Portugal national team added further silverware, including the nation's first major trophy, UEFA Euro 2016. Across his career he has collected five Ballon d'Or awards and five Champions League titles.
Now 41, Ronaldo plies his trade with Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, and the numbers remain startling. In the 2025/26 season he scored 28 goals in 30 league appearances, helping deliver Al-Nassr's first league title since his arrival and his own first trophy with the club. Along the way he became the only player in history to score 100 goals for four different clubs, reaching that mark for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Super Cup final.
Beyond the pitch, Ronaldo remains one of sport's most commercially powerful figures, with business ventures, a vast social media following, and charitable work that reinforce his global reach. He has spoken of his intention to keep playing at the highest level and representing Portugal, while analysts increasingly discuss a future in mentoring, coaching, or ambassadorial roles once his playing days end.
Age brings undeniable physical challenges, yet Ronaldo's disciplined training, nutrition, and recovery routines have kept decline at bay longer than almost any predecessor. His enduring legacy, ultimately, is not just goals and medals, but a standard of professionalism that continues to shape how football's next generations approach the game.
