Tag Archives: caribbean

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Haiti’s PM Condemns Gangs & Kidnappings in Televised Address

In a prerecorded address, Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry has condemned the recent uptick in gang violence and kidnappings in the country, reassuring Haitians that the nation is not running out of fuel, despite severe shortages.

Henry’s speech, aired on Friday, was the first time the prime minister acknowledged these issues in public since the kidnapping of 17 members of a United States-based missionary group on October 16. The 16 Americans, one Canadian and their Haitian driver were abducted amid a spike in gang-related kidnappings.

Haitian gang demands $1m each for kidnapped US missionaries

“If they do not stop their wrongdoing, the law will apply to them,” Henry said in his message. “The only option for bandits and all their sponsors is imprisonment or death if they do not want to change professions.”

The speech comes at a particularly tumultuous time for the small Caribbean island. Henry became prime minister about three months ago, after the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moise. A few weeks later, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, devastating the south of the country.

The leader of the 400 Mawozo gang that kidnapped the missionaries, including five children, has said he would kill them if his demands are not met. Haitian officials have said the gang is seeking $1m per person, but that it was not clear if that included the children, the youngest of whom is eight months old.

Christian Aid Ministries, which had organised a trip to Haiti for the group of missionaries, in a statement published on Thursday said they hoped the hostages would be released soon, despite the worsening political situation in the country.

“Haiti is in a state of anarchy with no active government,” according to the statement. “Gangs are in charge of many areas and [are] controlling the fuel and goods at the seaports.”

Henry’s speech also came days after a widespread strike led schools, businesses and public transport to shut down in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and beyond to protest against the lack of fuel and the country’s worsening economic and security situation. Gangs have been blamed for blocking gas distribution terminals, with at least one gang leader saying he would lift the blockade if Henry stepped down.

The prime minister said ships are waiting to unload fuel and that the country, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, would not run out of gas.

He added that he has created a crisis unit with top officials from the finance, justice, police, public works, trade and other departments to find a “quick solution” to the fuel distribution problem.

The shortages have affected hospitals, ambulances, schools, public transport and many other parts of daily life.

“This is really catastrophic,” said Solon Cledion, director of a private school in Port-au-Prince, told The Associated Press news agency. “The day-to-day is difficult … We wonder how long this is going to last.”

Henry acknowledged the dire situation, noting that patients with COVID-19 who depend on respirators are among those who are at risk of dying if fuel is not available. In his speech, he congratulated one man who he said drove through dangerous communities to transport fuel and oxygen to a hospital and saved the lives of 60 patients.

Barbecue, the leader of the G9 and Family gang, says his group is protesting against poverty and for justice in the slaying of President Jovenel Moise [Joseph Odelyn/AP Photo]

The prime minister said he is aware of people’s anger and that his administration is addressing the country’s multiple problems.

“To all those who have legitimate demands, who have declared they are fed up with inflation, poverty and insecurity, I guarantee that their voice is heard by the government,” he said. “Gangs are our enemies. No real solution to the country’s problems will emerge if we do not arm ourselves with the courage to fight and eliminate this scourge.”

Henry added that when he came into office three months ago, he found a country that is “torn, divided, with a state in tatters whose democratic institutions are dysfunctional”.

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Battle of former champion teams: Lodge upstages Unity in # 7 Domino League

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, October 29, 2021 (MMS-SKN) — When two former champion teams of Constituency Number Seven Dr the Hon Timothy Harris Domino League met Thursday evening October 28 at the new Lodge-Ottley’s Community Centre in the tenth segment of play in the 26th edition of the league, the presumed underdog carried the day.

Unity Domino Club and Lodge Domino Club are arguably the most experienced teams, each having been the Constituency Number Seven Domino League champion team at different times in recent years. When they met on Thursday, Unity came with an added advantage over Lodge as it is the runaway points standing leader.

Lodge showed scant respect for their perennial adversaries by opening the game on a high note, at one time leading 6-2. Unity players rallied up and in the process reduced the deficit to a level where Lodge led 12-10. Noting wanting to lose a game that was theirs for the taking, the pair of O’Niel Thomas and Edison Parris slammed the brakes on their opponents and handed them a100-0 points whitewash in the final game, a feat that earned them a bonus game for a 14-10 overall win.

Lodge Domino Club’s McAllister Thomas skilfully moves the dominos as he and Javed Thomas opposite him helped take care of Unity Domino Club 14-10.

 

A similar scenario came into play when the only two teams from Constituency Number Six faced each other. Former champion team, Parsons Domino Club came over with a higher seeding as they held the second position on the points standing table, while Saddlers Domino Club was in the eighth position on the same table.

However, Saddlers turned the tables on their sister team from Number Six and handed Parson a narrow 13-11 beating.

Defending champion team, Tabernacle Domino Club which has not being doing very well also caused a mini-upset as they too were expected to succumb at the hands of Christ Church Domino Club which was at that time in fourth position on the points standing table. Tabernacle ended up beating Christ Church 13-10.

Sylvers Domino Club, the only team captained by a female – Octavia Huggins-Sewell – exhibited little or no mercy when they handsomely stopped Unstoppable Domino Club 13-6.

In other games, Phillips Domino Club beat Ottley’s Domino Club 14-8; Mansion Domino Club beat Guinness Domino Club 13-8; and Molineux Domino Club edged out Small Corner Bar Domino Club 13-10.

Despite the loss, at the end of the tenth segment of play in the 26th edition of Constituency Number Seven Dr the Hon Timothy Harris Domino League, former champion team Unity is still firmly at the top on the points standing table with 48 points. It is followed by their Thursday evening’s tormentors Lodge who have 38 points, Parsons 37 Points, Phillips 36 points, and Christ Church 33 points.

Others, in order, are Molineux 31 points, Mansion 31 points, Saddlers 30* points, Sylvers 30 points, Tabernacle 25* points, Guinness 21 points, Small Corner Bar 19 points, Unstoppable 16 points, and Ottley’s 12 points.

Defending champion team Tabernacle Domino Club and Saddlers Domino Club have one outstanding game which ended up in dispute on Tuesday. The league’s Executive Committee will hold an arbitration meeting on Monday November 1, in an attempt to defuse the impasse.

Constituency Number Seven Dr the Hon Timothy Harris Domino League, which is the longest running such league in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, is sponsored by Prime Minister and Area Parliamentary Representative for St. Christopher Seven, Dr the Hon Timothy Harris.

Eleventh segment of play in this only round of play in the 26th edition of the league plays off on Tuesday November 2 at the new Lodge-Ottley’s Community Centre. Defending champion team Tabernacle will meet bottom on the points standing table, Ottley’s, while current leader on the points standing table Unity with face off with Saddlers.

Other games will be Molineux vs. Christ Church; Parsons vs. Sylvers; Phillips vs. Small Corner Bar; Mansion vs. Lodge; and Guinness vs. Unstoppable.

Battle of Constituency Number Six teams: Saddlers Domino Club ended up beating former champion team, Parsons Domino Club 13-11. Denroy Matthew of Saddlers is seen in action.

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Bermuda Premier: ‘Things Will Get Worse Before Getting Better’

Premier David Burt has warned Bermuda of rising prices, global challenges and the increasing toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying: “Things will get worse before they get better.”

Speaking at the opening of the 56th annual Progressive Labour Party (PLP) delegates’ conference on Wednesday night, he said: “Today, we face a new challenge. The United States, our major trading partner, is experiencing rising inflation, which is having a ripple effect right here in Bermuda.

“Global supply chain challenges mean that prices will increase in the supermarkets and in local shops. These rising prices are putting more stress on Bermudian families.”

He added: “In Bermuda, we often hear people say we need to have an honest conversation. Bermuda, let me give you some honesty, our country, like many around the world, coming out of this pandemic is in a very difficult space and there will be demanding times ahead and it is likely that things will get worse before they get better.

“However, the challenges can only defeat us if we choose to face them as individuals rather than as a community and a unified country.”

Burt called on the next generation to “take ownership of the future” by getting involved in the party. He said transformational change could not come from sitting on the sidelines.

“For the change that you want to see happen you must get involved,” he said. “You must get involved in how laws are actually changed in Bermuda. It means that you, like I did, 17 years ago, should get involved in the work by the PLP.

“You can get involved at your local branch level supporting local residents in your constituency, you can get involved in the discussions on government policy so that the decisions for your future reflect the views of future generations. I am calling on the next generations of leaders to get involved and get ready to take ownership of the future of this country.”

Ariana Caines, youth speaker for the delegates’ conference, spoke on the meaning of involvement in the context of our society and what it means for the next generation.

Referencing the momentous rise of youth activist groups in recent times, Caines said.

“How do we encourage a continuation and help promote young people to make a lasting impact?

“We have to listen, give them a seat at the table and let them get to work. We must engage in discourse that will move us forward. Over the last decade … I have seen we have a consistently interested youth. Let’s make sure that we capitalise on this.”

The coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed 100 lives on the island, has left the island’s already struggling economy in tatters, with the national debt approaching US$3 billion.

The PLP has been in power for all but five of the past 23 years after toppling the now-defunct United Bermuda Party in 1998.

It lost the 2012 election to the One Bermuda Alliance, but regained power in a landslide in 2017 and increased its majority to 24 in the 36-seat House of Assembly in a snap election last year.

When he led the PLP to victory in 2017 at the age of 38, Burt became Bermuda’s youngest-ever premier.

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PAHO Recommends New Targets to Reduce Salt Consumption in Caribbean

CMC- The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has announced new salt reduction targets for food products to help people in the Americas, including the Caribbean, reduce consumption of sodium.

PAHO said that after adoption by countries, the new targets will require regional manufacturers to reformulate processed and ultra-processed food products, where most of the sodium consumed in diets comes from.

PAHO said its revised 2022-2025 regional salt reduction targets focus on reducing the sodium content of commonly consumed processed foods, such as bread, cereals and grains, processed meats and dairy products.

The new targets are a more detailed update of a first set developed in 2015 and present maximum sodium “thresholds” for 16 categories and 75 subcategories of food products to be reformulated, PAHO said.

“Countries agreed to a global target of reducing salt consumption by 30 per cent by 2025, but the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the situation by creating new challenges for prevention and control of risk factors due to confinements and significant changes in lifestyles, including an increase in consumption of unhealthy products,” said Dr Anselm Hennis, PAHO’s Director of Non-communicable Diseases and Mental Health.

“It is critically important that governments accelerate their efforts to achieve this goal.”

In the region, salt intake ranges from 8.5 to 15 grams per person per day, well over the 5 grams per day upper limit recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), PAHO said.

It said reducing salt consumption can prevent hypertension and cardiovascular disease, the leading causes of death in the region.

PAHO pointed to evidence, which shows that more than half of deaths from cardiovascular disease are attributed to high blood pressure, “something that can be exacerbated by excessive salt consumption.”

“If we are to achieve substantive changes, we need these targets to be adopted with a regulatory rather than voluntary approach,” said Fabio Da Silva Gomes, PAHO’s Regional Advisor on Nutrition and Physical Activity.

“Doing so is the only way countries will be able to reduce average salt intake in the population by 2025, given that sales of processed and ultra-processed products with excessive sodium content continue to grow.”

Da Silva Gomes said the updated targets support regulatory policies already advancing in the region to reduce the supply and demand of products with excess sodium.

Those include front-of-package warning labels that point out when products contain unhealthy quantities of salt, sugar and fat, as well as regulation of marketing of these products.

PAHO said it has developed the new targets in conjunction with the WHO Collaborating Centre on Nutrition Policy for Chronic Disease Prevention at the University of Toronto and the Ontario University of Technology, both in Canada, and the Technical Advisory Group on Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease through Population-wide Dietary Salt Reduction.

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WORLD VIEW: Biden Meets Pope, G-20-Climate Change Vs. Fuels, Myanmar Torture, More

 

Oct 29, 2021

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The Associated Press

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ROME (AP) — Just hours after he arrives in Rome, President Joe Biden will meet with Pope Francis on Friday at the Vatican, where the world’s two most notable Roman Catholics plan to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and poverty….Read More

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ROME (AP) — Leaders of the Group of 20 countries gathering for their first in-person summit since the pandemic took hold will confront a global recovery hampered by a series of stumbling blocks: an energy crunch spurring higher fuel and ut…Read More

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Medicaid issues are turning up as winners in President Joe Biden’s social agenda framework even as divisions force Democrats to hit pause on far-reaching improvements to Medicare. …Read More

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NEW YORK (AP) — The fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin on a movie set has put a microscope on an often-unseen corner of the film industry where critics say the pursuit of profit can lead to unsafe working conditions. …Read More

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SYDNEY (AP) — The U.S. State Department expressed outrage and demanded an investigation on Friday after The Associated Press reported that Myanmar’s military has been torturing detainees in a systemic way across the country . …Read More

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SALAR, Afghanistan (AP) — Mina Ahmed smears a cement mixture to strengthen the walls of her war-ravaged home in rural Afghanistan. Her hands, worn by the labor, are bandaged…Read More

More than one world leader says humanity’s future, even survival, hangs in the balance when international officials meet in Scotland to try to accelerate efforts to curb cli…Read More

ROME (AP) — One of President Joe Biden’s toughest meetings at the G-20 summit may be with the leader of America’s oldest ally: France. Biden and French President Emmanuel Ma…Read More

The term “metaverse” is the latest buzzword to capture the tech industry’s imagination — so much so that one of the best-known internet platforms is rebranding to signal its…Read More

 

 

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Vincentian Akley Olton a Winner in PlayGo Emerge Film Competition

Melissa Wong
Loop

Akley Olton, a filmmaker from St Vincent and the Grenadines has emerged as one of the winners in the recently concluded PlayGo Emerge film competition.

The competition was held under the theme “Celebrate the National Pride of Your Country” with creators encouraged to celebrate their unique cultures using short original videos no longer than 15 minutes which they were required to submit via the PlayGo app.

Olton captured a prize with his documentary “Hairouna, Land of the Blessed” in the Professional category.

Olton is a visual artist and filmmaker with over 10 years of experience. He makes his living as a cinematographer and recently started to develop a small audiovisual and multimedia production business in St Vincent and the Grenadines called Island Rebel Media.

Speaking with Loop News, Olton says “Hairouna, Land of the Blessed” is a feature-length documentary project about a young guy from the Caribbean nation of St Vincent and the Grenadines who goes on a journey into his ancestry.

The trailer for “Hairouna, Land of the Blessed”

Olton says the submission made to the competition was the beginning of the film, like a prequel. Now they intend to take the resources from this competition and invest it into developing the next stage of the project.

“Ultimately, we want to film in Central America because that is where the surviving descendants of the indigenous Garifuna people that were exiled from St Vincent to create St Vincent… their descendants live in Central America so we want to continue that journey and bring some of that culture back home to St Vincent as a bigger celebration of our true identity, not just the colonial one.”

Olton decided to enter the PlayGo Emerge film competition after someone sent an invitation for him to apply. He says because in St Vincent and the Grenadines there is not much of a film community, he had to look outside and connect with other filmmakers in T&T, Barbados and Jamaica.

He says the competition is a big deal for him within the Caribbean and St Vincent and the Grenadines and thanked Digicel for the opportunity and giving filmmakers across the region a beacon.

So how did his filmmaking journey begin? Olton says he started initially as a camera operator but before that was a camera enthusiast.

“Really after I went to some of my studies I figured out how powerful this medium is not to just showcase if something looks beautiful but to go beyond that and include a meaning and a message.

I developed a sense of why it is important to preserve some of these things that we call authentically Caribbean. I discovered that was important and I figured with film I could do that.”

Now he wants to be a part of it at the highest level possible and figure out the global industry.

Olton tells Loop News that he saw there was an increase in content from around the world and saw there wasn’t much coming from the Caribbean.

“I too was tired of looking on Netflix and not seeing stories like ours. I felt like there were interesting things in our reality that deserved this attention and I wanted to do it at the highest level possible to figure out how to be a part of this global film industry and how to bring it to the Caribbean or interact with it.

I mean St Vincent and the Grenadines is where they filmed one of the first Pirates of the Caribbean so it’s not as far-fetched.”

In terms of St Vincent and the Grenadines’ film sector, Olton says it is in a space that is emerging but he believes the island itself lacks the legislative infrastructure to facilitate a film sector. He notes people are trying and in SVG there is the Hairouna Film Festival.

Olton’s advice to other aspiring filmmakers in St Vincent and the Grenadines is to remember it’s not going to be an overnight success, it takes perseverance.

Olton just returned to St Vincent and the Grenadines from the Camden International Film Festival as an IF/Then x Hulu fellow where he presented a work in progress screen of my next short film Mabulu.

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Report: Violence Against Brazil’s Indigenous People Increased in 2020

BRASILIA, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Violence against Brazil’s indigenous people increased last year as land disputes and invasions of their reservations rose and the government failed to provide protection, the Catholic Church’s Indigenous Missionary Council said on Thursday.

Its annual report on violence against the descendents of Brazil’s original inhabitants said there were 182 murders of indigenous people in 2020, compared to 113 murders in 2019, a 61% surge.

There were 263 reported land invasions, an “alarming” increase of 137% over incursions on indigenous territory the previous year.

The report blamed the government for failing to protect indigenous communities, while pushing legislation that would open their reservations to commercial mining, oil and gas exploration and the building of hydroelectric dams.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who once praised U.S. Army cavalry colonel George Armstrong Custer for clearing the prairies of indigenous people, has criticized reservations for occupying valuable land and has said he will not grant another inch of land claimed by indigenous communities. He is backed by powerful farm interests.

Critics say his comments have emboldened illegal miners, squatters, and loggers, whose invasions of reservation territories have exacerbated the spread of the coronavirus. Over 800 indigenous people have died from COVID-19, according to official figures that only count deaths on reservations and not among indigenous people in Brazil’s cities.

Their land claims have been paralyzed. Of the 1,289 reservations in Brazil, 832 are waiting for official recognition.

The second year of Bolsonaro’s government saw “the deepening of an extremely worrying scenario in terms of indigenous rights, territories and lives,” the report said.

The presidency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Brazil has a population of 900,000 indigenous people, of which one third have moved off reservations to urban areas.

Reporting by Anthony Boadle, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien

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Electoral Court Clears Bolsonaro, No Toleration for Fake News in 2022 Poll

SAO PAULO, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Brazil’s authorities will not tolerate the dissemination of fake news in next year’s elections, a Supreme Court justice said on Thursday after an electoral court acquitted far-right President Jair Bolsonaro of such a crime in the 2018 election.

People found to be spreading fake news may face prison and any candidate involved could be banned from running, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said.

Moraes, who will head the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) next year and took part in the Bolsonaro ruling, said “everyone knows” fake news was spread during the 2018 elections, but there was no definitive proof of wrongdoing.

Moraes is also the Supreme Court justice in charge of sensitive investigations involving Bolsonaro and his allies. He said courts are better equipped today to handle cases involving false news dissemination.

“We are not going to allow these digital militias to try again to destabilize the elections, the democratic institutions, backed by spurious and undeclared financing,” Moraes said from the bench.

Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Ana Mano; Editing by Daniel Wallis

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Hundreds of Sea Turtles Wash Up Dead in Mexico

BBC- At least 300 sea turtles have washed up dead on Mexico’s Pacific coast.

Preliminary exams suggests that the olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) drowned, an official with Mexico’s environment ministry said.

The official said they had probably become tangled in illegal fishing nets in the high seas or in abandoned nets known as “ghost nets”.

Olive ridley turtles are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The IUCN says that their population is decreasing and that they are listed as vulnerable because they only nest in a small number of places.

The turtles were found washed up on Morro Ayuta beach in Oaxaca, on Mexico’s western coast. The beach is one of the sites where olive ridley turtles come to lay their eggs.

All of the dead animals were females, turtle expert Ernesto Albavera Padilla told local media.

It is not the first time a large number of olive ridley turtles has been found dead in Oaxaca. In 2018, fishermen found 300 of them entangled in fishing nets.

Mexico banned the capture of sea turtles in 1990 and there are stiff penalties for anyone killing them.

Officials said Mexico’s navy would join environmental authorities in their investigation of the deaths.

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