Prince Philip, the longest-serving royal consort in British history and the oldest serving partner of a reigning monarch, has died, aged 99. Here we look back at his life in pictures.
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Corona Effect: T20 Cricket Moved from Canada to Malaysia
The Global T20 League, which has featured the likes of West Indies stars Kieron Pollard, Chris Gayle and Andre Russell, will be moved to Malaysia for this year’s third edition due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions in Canada.
The governing body, Cricket Canada, said the decision was made following discussions with the Malaysian Cricket Association and tournament’s owners, Bombay Sports.
Canada’s most populous region, Ontario, which plays hosts to the tournament, entered a new round of lockdowns this week following a surge in COVID-19 cases.
“Cricketers and fans of cricket within Canada will naturally be disappointed that this year’s third edition of our world-class GT20 tournament cannot be held in Canada due to the ongoing COVID pandemic and the Canadian health guidelines,” said Cricket Canada president, Rashpal Bajwa.
“Cricket Canada, however, understands and fully supports our health authorities. We are also very positive in looking forward to hosting the tournament in Canada, once the pandemic is sufficiently ended and the safety of all concerned can be assure
“In the interim, we are now very excited to share with all Canadians and cricket lovers across the world that our good friends at the Malaysian Cricket Association have stepped up to help us host this year’s GT20 Season 3 in Malaysia with the necessary local health approvals.
“We are looking forward to a very exciting third edition of GT20 Canada in Malaysia.”
The tournament is set to bowl off between June and July and will feature six teams clashing across 22 games over 18 days at the Kinrara Oval in the capital Kuala Lumpur.
Each team will comprise ten international cricketers and two marquee players of world-class status, along with three Canadian players and local emerging players.
Malaysia reported 1,139 new infections on Wednesday, leaving the number of active cases at 14 097.
The tournament was staged for the first time in 2018 at Maple Leaf Cricket Club in Ontario when Vancouver Knights, featuring Russell and West Indies left-arm pacer Sheldon Cottrell, beat West Indies B in the final.
In 2019, the tournament was played at the CAA Centre also in Ontario, when Winnipeg Hawks defeated Knights in a super-over.
There was no tournament hosted last year.
Cricket Canada said the fourth edition of the tournament would return here next year.
CM
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Newspaper Cover for 9th April, 2021
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Florida Governor Sues US to Allow Cruise Ship Operations
DeSantis said the no-sail order is outdated and hurts the state as the industry generates billions for the economy and employs tens of thousands of Floridians.
“We don’t believe the federal government has the right to mothball a major industry for over a year based on very little evidence and very little data,” the Republican governor said at a news conference at the Port of Miami.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines last week for companies on how to respond in the event of COVID-19 cases but has so far not lifted its no-sail order.
The lawsuit says the new guidance doesn’t take into consideration another CDC statement made that fully vaccinated people can now travel at low risk to themselves. It also says the new rules increase the frequency of reports of COVID-19-like illnesses and require agreements be made between cruise companies and all U.S. ports and local health authorities where ships have to dock.
The CDC shut down sailing last March when several coronavirus outbreaks were tied to ships worldwide, prompting ports to reject docking plans and leaving some passengers and crew members to navigate for an extended time.
Florida is the nation’s cruise capital with three of the world’s busiest ports: Miami, Port Canaveral near Kennedy Space Center, and Port Everglades near Fort Lauderdale. The lawsuit says industry generates billions for the state’s economy as millions of people typically cruise from one of Florida’s ports each year.
DeSantis has maintained the ban disproportionally impacts Florida and has said that cruising has resumed in much of the world, forcing Americans to fly to other ports in the nearby Bahamas. Industry leaders say there have been no new outbreaks tied to their ships.
“People are going to cruise one way or another. The question is are we going to do it out of Florida, which is the number one place to do it in the world, or are they going to be doing it out of the Bahamas or other locations?” DeSantis said.
During Thursday’s press briefing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she did not have a direct response to the lawsuit, but denied accusations the CDC uses flawed data to ban sailing.
“I will just reiterate that the CDC guidance is based on data and health and medical guidelines, hence that’s why they put it out and why they are regularly updated,” she said.
Michael Winkleman, a maritime lawyer, said that he does not expect such a lawsuit to succeed in court. But DeSantis’ advocating for the cruise industry in a public way could change the public perception on the matter, and pressure the federal government to resume traveling, Winkleman says.
“The reason why this would be a futile is CDC officials have wide discretion in how they do their federally mandated job,” he said. “From a big-picture perspective, I don’t think there is any reason why cruises cannot sail safely.”
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Volcano: EC Nations, CARICOM, Offer Assistance to St. Vincent
As the volcanic activity on St. Vincent becomes more pronounced, regional governments are offering assistance if needed.
Nevis Premier Mark Brantley was among the first to offer words of support to St Vincent following Prime Minister Gonsalves’ announcement of the evacuation order on Thursday.
He said, “The situation in St Vincent and the Grenadines is worrying to us all. We are one Caribbean family and whenever a crisis hits any of us it affects all of us. The government and people of that great nation are in our prayers. We stand firmly with this in this time of difficulty.”
Anguilla’s Tourism Minister Haydn Hughes said, “What’s happening in St Vincent right now is a tragedy. It really brings up memories of what happened in 1995 in Montserrat,” he said.
“In 1995 the volcano in Montserrat erupted and the then Chief Minister of Anguilla, Hubert Hughes sent out a call to all Montserratians that they could relocate to Anguilla free of any immigration control and regulation. A number of Montserratians took up that call and are now resident in Anguilla and have been for the last 20-plus years.
“Now that this volcano is erupting in St Vincent, as a member of the Cabinet of the Government of Anguilla, we too are making that call to the Government of St Vincent. We stand ready and willing to assist them and their citizens in any way possible, even as it relates to the possible relocation of their citizens to Anguilla.”
Minister Charles Fernandes said the Government of Antigua and Barbuda is willing to accommodate 200 to 250 evacuees as soon as possible.
“The cabinet met with the various agencies to put something in place to ensure we will be able to do this,” Fernandes said.
Much like Anguilla, Fernandes said Antigua and Barbuda has had experience with situations like this before.
“In 1995 the Government of Antigua and Barbuda has basically most of Montserrat positioned in Antigua and Barbuda and as recent as 2017 the Government of Antigua had to bring the entire population of Barbuda, which I think was just about 2000, to Antigua because of the devastation of the hurricane there at the time.”
While they’ve done this before, Fernandes noted that this time around they will be faced with a unique set of challenges because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I can say though, that the government of Antigua and Barbuda responded very quickly and came to a decision where we have to help. Everything is being put in place to ensure that it is done in a proper manner,” he said.
He said the number of displaced people from St Vincent they can accommodate will depend on the availability of rooms in Antigua and Barbuda.
He added: “That is where we are now, we met with the National Office of Disaster Services, we met with Immigration and we met with the Health Authority to ensure we put everything in place to accommodate them because of course, it is even more challenging now because of the pandemic.
“The plan is that we are going to house them and feed them. There is a hotel property that is not being fully utilised now, actually part of it is being used to quarantine returning Antiguan nationals.”
The government of Dominica has identified the Moroccan Hotel and several apartment complexes to house Vincentians who have been displaced following the evacuation of areas close to the La Soufriere hotel.
This was announced by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit who said last week that while he hoped the situation wouldn’t deteriorate to its current state, he has been in contact with Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and is ready to assist.
He said Dominica would underwrite the cost to accommodate some of those forced to flee the home because of the imminent eruption of the volcano.
“We have identified the Moroccan hotel where we can house them as well as other facilities and a number of apartment buildings that we have at Picard as a possible accommodation that the treasury of Dominica would underwrite the cost associated with hosting anyone from Saint Vincent who has to be evacuated from that particular locality,” he explained.
PM Skerrit joins a growing list of countries that have voiced their willingness to host some of the displaced citizens.
Others include St Lucia, The British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda.
Prime Minister Skerrit said St Vincent is a “long-standing friend of Dominica” and both islands have shared strong bilateral relations for many years.
“So we stand in absolute and total solidarity with the government and people of Saint Vincent during this difficult time,” he said.
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CARICOM Offers Support to SVG
Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley said Thursday that the regional grouping had mobilized to support St Vincent and the Grenadines as it faces the possibility of an imminent eruption of the La Soufriere volcano.
Following an evacuation order of the immediate area around the volcano by Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, CARICOM member states offered support to house evacuees from the affected area.
In a statement issued as residents were moving to safe zones or to board cruise ships that had arrived to transport evacuees to neighbouring islands, Rowley said the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) had activated its regional support operation, including the deployment of a specialist to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. CDEMA is providing technical assistance to NEMO with Evacuation and Logistics Planning.
“The Community stands with the Government and People of St Vincent and the Grenadines in this perilous situation,” said the CARICOM chairman who is in isolation and under medical supervision in Tobago after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this week.
Earlier, the Trinidad and Tobago government had issued a separate statement promising its support.
It said Minister of National Security Stuart Young had instructed the Acting Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier General Dexter Francis, to have members of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force on standby to provide any assistance that may be necessary.
Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali also assured Prime Minister Gonsalves of his government’s “full support in dealing with this looming crisis”.
“The Prime Minister and I discussed immediate support, which will be required in the response. The Prime Minister indicated that apart from the need to evacuate citizens, there were other emergency material needs. I committed to him that Guyana, upon receiving the full list of their needs, would immediately put together a national response to supply the items and arrange for them to be shipped to St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” he said.
“At this time, we would like to assure the citizens of St. Vincent and the Grenadines of Guyana’s unwavering support and solidarity,” Ali added.
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World View: Record Covid Cases, Nun Deaths, Floyd, N. Ireland, More
*****@April 9, 2021
AP Morning Wire
Nations around the world are setting new records for COVID-19 deaths and new confirmed cases, including places that had kept the coronavirus in check.
It’s been over a year since a choir practice in Washington state sickened 53 people and killed two, becoming one of the first known COVID-19 superspreader events in the United States.
From that situation emerged one of the most pivotal transmission episodes in understanding the virus.
Elsewhere in the U.S., experts testified that a lack of oxygen killed George Floyd, not drugs.
Also this morning:
- Communities of Catholic nuns are absorbing devastating losses from coronavirus outbreaks
- Violence flares again in Northern Ireland
- Monkeys enjoy day of freedom after breaking out of German zoo
VANESSA GERA
The Associated Press
Warsaw, Poland
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The Rundown
Nations around the world set new records Thursday for COVID-19 deaths and new coronavirus infections, and the disease surged even in some countries that have kept the virus in check. In the United……Read More
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats in Congress are trying to pass the first major gun control legislation in more than two decades with the support of President Joe Biden, who said Thursday that it is… …Read More
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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — George Floyd died of a lack of oxygen from being pinned to the pavement with a knee on his neck, medical experts testified at former Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial,… …Read More
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GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) — The nuns’ daily email update was overtaken by news of infections. Ambulances blared into the driveways of their convents. Prayers for the sick went unanswered, prayers for… …Read More
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SEDRO-WOOLLEY, Wash. (AP) — With dish soap, brushes and plastic water jugs in hand, Carole Rae Woodmansee’s four children cleaned the gravestone their mother shares with their father, Jim. Each… …Read More
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OTHER TOP STORIES
There will be no reckoning at the Republican National Committee. Three months after former President Donald Trump helped incite a violent attack against Congress, the GOP is b…Read More
BELFAST (AP) — Gangs of youths threw stones and fireworks at police in Belfast who hit back with water cannons as violence flared again on the streets of Northern Ireland. Unr…Read More
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Avengers, reassemble! Disneyland said Thursday that its new Avengers Campus will debut on June 4, nearly a year after originally planned. The new sect…Read More
BERLIN (AP) — About two dozen monkeys broke out of a southwestern German zoo and spent the day lolling in the sun near a forest before being recaptured, authorities said Thurs…Read More
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South Australian council backflips on magazine ban
An Adelaide council has backflipped on its controversial move to ban three popular women's titles from its library, after ratepayers accused them of censorship.
Wiped off shelves, the reading material was deemed "toxic" by the Burnside Council and banned for more than a month from its public library.
"We had a feeling that they weren't providing a positive narrative," City of Burnside CEO Chris Cowley said.
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"We had a feeling that they weren't providing a positive narrative," City of Burnside CEO Chris Cowley said.
Mr Cowley approved the decision to scrap Woman's Day, New Idea and WHO magazines.
He said the move was sparked by conversations on International Women's Day.
"This was solely about what we could do to empower the lives of all of our community, but particularly women," Mr Cowley said.
The council's decision quickly proving controversial many ratepayers angered by the change.
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The ban led to claims the council tried to censor reading material, which the CEO firmly shut down today.
"This was never about censorship, and it was never my intention to take it there," Mr Cowley said.
The community backlash prompted the council to backflip on its plans to rid its library of celebrity gossip.
The magazines have now returned to shelves with all copies available to take home online.
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But labelling the top-selling tabloids "toxic" is now a regret.
"That was the language we used. On reflection, I might have chosen different language. But I still stand by my team," Mr Cowley said.
"I apologise for any offence that I may have caused people."
While the CEO says the gossip magazines will now stay for good, the council wants to add more inclusive publications to its shelves.
Corona Effect: What’s Gone Wrong in Brazil?
Brazil has recorded more than 330,000 deaths from Covid, second only to the United States, and experts are warning the current surge in cases may not peak for several weeks.
The rapid spread of a coronavirus variant first discovered in Brazil has been a major cause for concern around the world.
President Jair Bolsonaro has consistently played down the severity of the virus, but he is now turning his focus to the nationwide vaccination drive which his critics say has come far too late.
What has Bolsonaro said about Covid?
The president has been highly sceptical about the need to take decisive action to tackle the pandemic:
- he has called Covid “just a little flu”
- rejected a nationwide lockdown, saying such measures only made the poor poorer
- called state governors and mayors who imposed lockdown “tyrants”
- cast doubts on the efficacy and safety of jabs and said he wouldn’t get vaccinated
- joked the Pfizer jab may “turn people into crocodiles”
- dismissed opportunities to purchase millions of vaccine doses
- told people to “stop whining” about the situation
He continues to oppose lockdowns, but his government has now stepped up its drive to vaccinate the country’s population of more than 200 million people.
So how does Brazil’s record compare with the rest of Latin America and the world?
One in four global deaths
Brazil has by far the highest overall death toll in Latin America.
In recent weeks, it has accounted for around one in four of reported Covid deaths worldwide.
It remains behind Peru and Mexico as a proportion of overall population, but daily deaths are rising rapidly in Brazil.
Twice the number of people died in March than in any other month of the pandemic, and the upward trend has continued, as a more transmissible variant drives infections.
A recent estimate from the University of Washington predicted that Brazil could see a total of more than 500,000 deaths by July.
Regional leaders say mixed messaging and a resistance to lockdowns at the national level has made local restrictions harder to enforce.
Hospital intensive care beds in many states across the country are full or close to capacity.
Dr Miguel Nicolelis, a Brazilian professor of neuroscience at Duke University, told the BBC: “The country is in a nationwide hospital collapse right now – it’s the first time in history the public health system has collapsed.
“If we can acquire the vaccine in large quantities we could at least mitigate the situation.”
Vaccine shortages
Brazil has had a strong record in conducting vaccination campaigns and compared with many other countries in Latin America, it has a well-established healthcare infrastructure.
But its coronavirus vaccination efforts have lagged behind those of Chile and Uruguay who top the table in the region.
Public confidence in the vaccines in Brazil is among the highest in the world, but supply has been slow.
Brazilian microbiologist Natalia Pasternak says: “We have a great immunisation programme, one of the best in the world. If we have enough doses, we know what to do, we have the expertise and the structure. We just need vaccines.”
Only around half the target of 46 million vaccine doses were delivered by the end of March.
Brazil has now ordered enough doses to vaccinate its entire population – but critics say these agreements have come far too late, as other large countries with similar purchasing power are now ahead in the queue.
In August, Brazil’s government turned down an offer from Pfizer to purchase up to 70 million doses of its vaccine.
It has recently ordered 100 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine, but the bulk of these will not arrive until the second half of the year.
The government has also ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine produced by Chinese firm Sinovac, despite President Bolsonaro criticising it in the past.
In November, he said the halting of trials of the vaccine in Brazil was a “another victory for Jair Bolsonaro”.
Brazil has in-country production of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which the government says will eventually provide millions of jabs – but a lack of the active ingredients needed to make the vaccine means that initial production in Brazilian labs has been limited.
The dangers posed by Brazilian variants
Brazilian public health institute Fiocruz says it has detected 92 variants of coronavirus in the country.
In particular, the P.1 variant has become a cause for concern because it is thought to be much more contagious than the original strain and has been spreading across Latin America and the world.
Scientists believe the current vaccines should still work against the Brazilian variant, although perhaps not quite as well, and new variants could emerge in the future that are different again.
Dr Nicolelis says: “Brazil is not only the epicentre of the pandemic worldwide, it’s a threat to the entire effort of the international community to control the pandemic. We are brewing new variants every week.”
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More Congress Members Join Capitol Invasion Lawsuit Against Trump
(CNN) Ten members of Congress who were in the House gallery as rioters breached the Capitol on January 6 are adding their names to the lawsuit first filed in February against former President Donald Trump and his former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.
The lawsuit, first brought by House Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson and the NAACP, accuses Trump and Giuliani of conspiring with extremist groups the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to incite the riot at the Capitol.
The amended lawsuit now details the personal stories of each member, describing how they narrowly escaped the mob, and how some still have nightmares and anxiety months later.
“As I sat in my office on January 6th with rioters roaming the hallways, I feared for my life and thought I was going to die,” Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee said in a statement.
“This invasion was a direct result of Donald Trump’s rhetoric and words. His calls to gather in Washington on January 6th and his message to ‘be strong’ thwarted the functioning of our Constitution.”
Cohen reveals in the lawsuit that he escaped to his office near the Capitol when the mob invaded it on January 6, sitting with the lights turned off and a baseball bat in his hand for protection for two to three hours.
The members joining the lawsuit are Cohen, Reps. Karen Bass of California, Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, Veronica Escobar of Texas, Hank Johnson Jr. of Georgia, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Barbara Lee of California, Jerry Nadler of New York, Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Maxine Waters of California.
Nadler and Waters were especially outspoken and fiery critics of Trump during his presidency. Nadler led the first House impeachment of Trump in late 2019, and, as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, he called for Trump’s impeachment and removal from office the day after the Capitol insurrection. Trump was ultimately acquitted in both Senate impeachment trials.
“Those responsible for placing me and my colleagues in danger must face accountability for their criminality,” Nadler said in a statement. “This violence was anything but spontaneous; it was the direct result of a conspiracy to incite a riot, instigated by President Trump, Rudolph Giuliani, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers.”
Waters spoke out forcefully against Trump before the House impeachment vote in January, calling him “the worst President in the history of the United States.” In the lawsuit, Waters discloses that following the January 6 attack she increased the number of security personnel who travels with her to and from her California home.
The lawsuit was the first civil action filed against the former President related to the attack at the US Capitol, and it cited a scarcely used federal statute passed after the Civil War to combat violence from the Ku Klux Klan. The law allows civil actions to be brought against people who use “force, intimidation, or threat” to prevent anyone from upholding the duties of their office.
The lawsuit is backed by the NAACP, and its president, Derrick Johnson, accused the former President of inciting “a meticulously organized coup … that placed members of Congress and the integrity of our democracy in peril.”
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Mexico: Gulf Drug Cartel Chief Arrested
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican prosecutors say they have detained one of the leaders of the Gulf Cartel, and in a related raid at a different house found a local politician with three guns.
The federal Attorney General’s Office said late Wednesday that the raids took place earlier this week in the town of Salinas Victoria, just outside of Monterrey in the northern border state of Nuevo Leon.
Agents detained Evaristo Cruz, alias “El Vaquero” (The Cowboy), at one house with two other men, guns, cash and radios, prosecutors said. Cruz is reputedly a leader of the “Cyclones” faction of the splintered Gulf Cartel, based in the neighboring state of Tamaulipas.
Working on the same search warrant, agents detained local politician Raúl Cantú at another home, where three guns and possible marijuana were allegedly found. Cantú is running for mayor of the town on the ticket of the small Citizen’s Movement Party.
The party said in a statement that the guns at Cantú’s house were apparently hunting weapons owned by his father. But it also said that if he had committed any crime, the party would cooperate in the investigation.
On Cantu’s Facebook page, a statement posted by his lawyers claimed that agents had made a mistake in raiding his house, saying it was not mentioned in the search warrant. The legal team also said the hunting guns were legally registered to Cantú’s father, who is deceased.
Prosecutors alleged that Cantú attempted to bribe the agents into releasing him.
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