Tag Archives: caribbean

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Soaring Number of Nicaraguans Seek Refuge in Costa Rica Amid Domestic Crackdown

San Jose, Aug 10 (Reuters) – Costa Rica received the highest number of refugee applications from Nicaraguans in July since the 2018 protests in Nicaragua, according to Costa Rican government data, following a wave of arrests against opponents of President Daniel Ortega in June.

There were 5,379 refugee requests by Nicaraguans submitted in July, Costa Rica’s migration agency told Reuters, triple the May figure.

The spike came as the Nicaraguan government arrested some 30 activists and political opponents, including potential candidates in the November presidential election.

The July figures also top the requests made in the same month of 2018, when thousands of Nicaraguans fled to the neighboring Central American nation amid a crackdown on protests that began in April of that year and left more than 300 dead.

“We are amazed at the number of people who have arrived, most of them activists or people from civil society organizations,” said Claudia Vargas, coordinator of the Nicaraguan community for the Arias Foundation in San Jose and herself a refugee.

Vargas said most of her compatriots entered Costa Rica through informal points along 300 kilometers of the shared border, avoiding official crossing points for fear of being detained by the Nicaraguan military.

Since 2018, some 80,000 Nicaraguans have fled to Costa Rica.

Ortega, who has been in power for the second time since 2007 and is seeking re-election in November, has been facing increasing international pressure for the crackdown on political opponents and allegations of human rights violations.

He accuses his critics of conspiring to intervene in his country’s affairs.

Reporting by Alvaro Murillo in San Jose; writing by Laura Gottesdiener; Editing by Leslie Adler

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The Myth of Delta Herd Immunity: UK Scientist

Head of Oxford Vaccine Group rules out overall immunity, but also questions need for booster jabs

 

Commuters on London Bridge. Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said: ‘The Delta variant will still infect people who have been vaccinated.’
Commuters on London Bridge. Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said: ‘The Delta variant will still infect people who have been vaccinated.’ Photograph: Guy Bell/REX/Shutterstock
Science correspondent
Guardian

Reaching herd immunity is “not a possibility” with the current Delta variant, the head of the Oxford Vaccine Group has said.

Giving evidence to MPs on Tuesday, Prof Sir Andrew Pollard said the fact that vaccines did not stop the spread of Covid meant reaching the threshold for overall immunity in the population was “mythical”.

“The problem with this virus is [it is] not measles. If 95% of people were vaccinated against measles, the virus cannot transmit in the population,” he told the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on coronavirus.

“The Delta variant will still infect people who have been vaccinated. And that does mean that anyone who’s still unvaccinated at some point will meet the virus … and we don’t have anything that will [completely] stop that transmission.”

Although the existing vaccines are very effective at preventing serious Covid illness and death, they do not stop a fully vaccinated person from being infected by the virus that causes Covid-19.

The concept of herd or population immunity relies on a large majority of a population gaining immunity – either through vaccination or previous infection – which, in turn, provides indirect protection from an infectious disease for the unvaccinated and those who have never been previously infected.

Data from a recent React study conducted by Imperial College London suggests that fully vaccinated people aged 18 to 64 have about a 49% lower risk of being infected compared with unvaccinated people. The findings also indicated that fully vaccinated people were about three times less likely to test positive after coming into contact with someone who had Covid (3.84%, down from 7.23%).

About 75% of all UK adults have now received both their jabs.

The health secretary, Sajid Javid, said on Tuesday that plans were in place to start offering Covid booster jabs to the most vulnerable groups in the UK from next month. He said that the flu jab would be offered at the same time.

But Pollard – who chairs Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) but is not specifically a member of the Covid JCVI committee – questioned whether boosters would be needed.

Think it’s all over? Why the Covid experts are not so sure about that

 

“The time we would need to boost is if we see evidence that there was an increase in hospitalisation – or the next stage after that, which would be people dying – amongst those who are vaccinated. And that is not something we are seeing at the moment,” he said.

Even if vaccine-induced antibody levels waned, our immune systems would probably remember the vaccination for decades and offer a degree of protection if exposed to the virus, he said. “So, there isn’t any reason at this moment to panic. We’re not seeing a problem with breakthrough severe disease.”

The question of whether or not to vaccinate under-16s, as countries including the US, Ireland and Israel have done, has also provoked scientific debate in the UK.

The JCVI has recommended only vulnerable children aged 12 to 15 be vaccinated, and those who live with at-risk adults. Some critics have said that rich countries with high adult vaccine coverage, such as the UK, should not be hoarding doses for children but should donate those doses to poor countries, many of which have barely vaccinated any of their most at-risk populations.

But Prof Devi Sridhar, the chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, pointed out that the only vaccine authorised for use in children aged 12 to 15 in the UK was the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

“I think actually the real issue is not about vaccinating kids versus the world – it’s what do we do about boosters that is being discussed in rich countries, because those are the doses that could be going abroad,” she said.

“Luckily … we have a very effective vaccine in AstraZeneca that can be used for the world, but it’s not going to solve our children issue here.”

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Bedlam on US Airlines, More Vaccine, Mask Mandates- World Stats

Unlocking the World

Maureen O’Hare, CNN • Published 7th August 2021
07 unlocking the world travel_Pisa RESTRICTED

  • 09 unlocking the world travel_Hamilton Broadway RESTRICTEDUK: The UK has opened up quarantine-free travel for vaccinated travelers from the United States and the European Union. Pictured: Pickmere Lake in Knutsford, England  Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

(CNN) — There have been cancellations and chaos on US airlines, Canada and Japan have been cracking down on Covid rule-breakers, but the UK is opening up to more and more vaccinated visitors.
Here’s what we learned in pandemic travel this week.

1. The US ‘do not travel’ list has got even bigger

ATHENS, GREECE - AUGUST 04: Parthenon temple on Acropolis hill is seen through smoke from a wildfire north of the Greek capital,on August 4, 2021 in Athens, Greece. People were evacuated from their homes after a wildfire reached residential areas of northern Athens as fires broke out at the foot of Mount Parnes. Athens recored temperatures of 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 Fahrenheit). (Photo by Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)

Greece, including Athens, pictured, has been hit by a extreme heatwave and wildfires have broke out across the country.
Milos Bicanski/Getty Images
US citizens have already been advised against travel to countries with more than 500 Covid cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days, which includes popular tourist spots such as the UK, Spain and Maldives.
Now the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has given 16 new destinations its top risk designation of “Level 4: Covid-19 Very High.”
They are (deep breath): Andorra, Curaçao, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Iran, Ireland, Isle of Man, Kazakhstan, Lesotho, Libya, Malta, Martinique, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin and the US Virgin Islands.
That means US citizens should avoid travel to these places and, if they really must travel, they should be fully vaccinated. Check out the CDC’s full recommendations list here.

2. The UK is opening up inbound and outbound travel

  • Beautiful England 18 London, England

  • Beautiful England 17 Band performing during The Changing of the Guard ceremony taking place in the courtyard of Buckingham Palace, Westminster

The UK has seen a staycation explosion during Covid-19, leaving some areas overwhelmed. There are still plenty of options though. Here are some of England’s most beautiful locations:
courtesy Visit Britain
UK case numbers have fallen tremendously since England dropped nearly all Covid restrictions on July 19, but there were still close to 183,000 new cases in the past week.
However, the country has had a very successful vaccine rollout, with more than 58% of the population now fully vaccinated.
Wales is set to drop most restrictions on August 7 while Scotland will do the same on August 9. Northern Ireland — across the Irish Sea — has its own region-specific measures.
Fully jabbed travelers from the United States and EU are now allowed to travel into the UK quarantine-free — although of course the CDC warns US citizens against doing just this.
In terms of outbound travel, the UK updated its “green list” on Thursday, adding Austria, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia to the list for quarantine-free travel. You can read more about that here.

3. US airlines — and their passengers and crew — have had a rough week

At the time of writing on Friday, Florida-based ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines had entered its fifth day of mass cancellations. It’s been canceling hundreds of flights each day since Sunday, which the airline blames on weather challenges, system outages and staffing shortages. American Airlines was also in a cancellation frenzy.
Frontier Airlines now says it “supports” and will pay the crew of flight attendants it had earlier said were suspended after using tape to restrain a passenger charged with groping and punching them.
Denver-based ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier had problems of a different kind.
A passenger on a weekend flight from Philadelphia to Miami was restrained by cabin crew after he allegedly sexually assaulted two staff members and was verbally and physically abusive. The airline was criticized for initially suspending the flight attendants, before later voicing support for the crew.

4. Israelis have been told not to hug

Elderly Israelis wait to receive their third shot of the Pfizer vaccine at a nursing home in Netanya in August. Elderly Israelis wait to receive their third shot of the Pfizer vaccine at a nursing home in Netanya in August.

Oded Balilty/AP
Israel is facing a new wave of infections, with more than 21,000 new cases recorded in the past week. A government statement has told citizens to “stop shaking hands, stop embracing and kissing and avoid any gathering in a closed space that is not necessary.”
Last month, Israel completely prohibited people from coming there from Argentina, Belarus, Brazil, Cyprus, Georgia, Great Britain, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Russia, Spain, South Africa, Turkey and Uzbekistan unless they get special permission from Israeli authorities.

5. Canada fined two travelers nearly $20K over false Covid info

Toronto Pearson International Airport pictured in April 2020. Toronto Pearson International Airport pictured in April 2020.

Cole Burston/Getty Images
Two travelers who arrived into Toronto from the United States in July were fined close to $20,000 each for noncompliance with entry requirements, according to the country’s Public Health Agency.
The visitors provided false information related to proof of vaccination and pre-departure tests and didn’t comply with requirements related to on-arrival testing and staying at government-approved accommodation, the agency said.
From August 9, fully vaccinated Americans will be allowed into the country for nonessential travel — but only if they comply with all government requirements.

6. Japan is naming and shaming rule-breakers

The Japanese government is also getting tough on those who contravene the rules.
On Monday, Japan publicly named three Japanese nationals who broke quarantine rules after returning from overseas, reported Reuters.
Japan requires all travelers from overseas, including Japanese citizens, to self-quarantine for two weeks.

7. A Dallas firefighter ‘faked Covid results then went to a resort’

William Jordan Carter is accused of lying about testing positive for Covid-19 to take time off.

William Jordan Carter is accused of lying about testing positive for Covid-19 to take time off.

Dallas County Sheriff’s Office
William Jordan Carter, a 38-year-old firefighter from Dallas, was charged with theft after allegedly taking paid leave for nearly a month while lying about testing positive for Covid-19.
Bank records show Carter made several purchases during his time off, including nearly $1,400 at Kalahari Resort, a large indoor water park and resort in Round Rock, Texas.

8. A Carnival cruise ship reported Covid cases

After a “small number of positive cases” of Covid-19 were detected aboard a Carnival Cruise Line ship, a new fleetwide mask policy requiring all guests to wear masks in some indoor areas was implemented on Wednesday night, the cruise line said — two days ahead of schedule.
Carnival did not immediately say exactly how many positive cases had been detected aboard Carnival Vista, which departed out of Galveston, Texas.

9. More vaccine mandates have been introduced in the US and beyond

In the coming weeks, New York City will be rolling out a new policy requiring proof of vaccination to enter all restaurants, fitness centers and indoor entertainment venues.
“If you’re unvaccinated, unfortunately, you will not be able to participate in many things,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday.
Countries in Europe have introduced similar measures and incentives to try to get people vaccinated.
United Airlines is mandating Covid-19 vaccines for all employees, while Grant Shapps, the UK’s transport minister, said this week in an interview with the BBC that he thinks “full vaccination is going to be a feature for evermore, and probably all countries will require full vaccination for you to enter.”
Finally, a White House official confirmed to CNN on Wednesday that the Biden Administration is developing a plan to mandate vaccinations for almost all foreign visitors to the US.
Officials are still in the early phases of developing the plan and an announcement is not imminent.
CNN’s Alexis Benveniste, Sarah Dean, Hadas Gold, Marnie Hunter, Tara John, Lauren Kent, Ashley Killough, Virginia Langmaid, Pete Muntean, Dominic Rech, Francesca Street, Amir Vera and Gregory Wallace contributed to this story.
=====================================================

WORLD STATS

Coronavirus Cases:

204,860,392

Deaths:

4,328,344

Recovered:

183,982,2888
Highlighted in green
= all cases have recovered from the infection
Highlighted in grey
= all cases have had an outcome (there are no active cases)

[back to top ↑]

Latest News

August 11 (GMT)

Updates

  • 10,579 new cases and 14 new deaths in Japan [source]
  • 21,571 new cases and 799 new deaths in Russia [source]

 

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NY Governor Resigns After Investigation Finds He Harassed Multiple Women

By Tal Axelrod

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has resigned from office after a bombshell report released by state Attorney General Letitia James (D) found he sexually harassed 11 women, including some who worked in his office, and violated state and federal laws.

Cuomo had been inundated with calls for his resignation and faced an impeachment hearing in the state Assembly that appeared all but guaranteed to spark a trial in the state Senate. Should he have survived potential impeachment proceedings, he also faced daunting reelection prospects in 2022.

But he appeared defiant to the end.

His resignation followed a 45-minute news conference from Rita Glavin, his attorney, during which she rebutted the allegations in the report and attacked the credibility of the investigators and women who came forward with accusations, as well as the media that covered them.

But Cuomo, in his own press conference immediately after, announced he would be stepping down in 14 days.

“This is one of the most challenging times for government in a generation. Government really needs to function today. Government needs to perform. It is a matter of life and death, government operations. And wasting energy on distractions is the last thing that state government should be doing. And I cannot be the cause of that,” Cuomo said.

“I think given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to governing. And therefore that’s what I’ll do,” he said.

His resignation also follows widespread questions about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, particularly in the state’s nursing homes.

James’s office launched the independent investigation in March after several women publicly accused Cuomo of sexual misconduct. Investigators found Cuomo engaged in inappropriate conduct with current and former staffers and at least one state trooper who was assigned to his protective detail.

The report was finalized after attorneys interviewed 179 individuals and reviewed 74,000 pieces of evidence.

“These interviews and pieces of evidence reveal a deeply disturbing, yet clear picture: Gov. Cuomo sexually harassed current and former state employees in violation of both federal and state laws. The independent investigation found that Gov. Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, many of whom were young women, by engaging in unwanted groping, kisses, hugging and by making inappropriate comments,” James said last week.

The blockbuster findings reignited calls from his resignation from both Democrats and Republicans who said his actions were beyond the pale.

“This report highlights unacceptable behavior by Governor Cuomo and his administration. As I said when these disturbing allegations first came to light, the Governor must resign for the good of the state,” state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D) said in a statement shortly after the report’s release. “Now that the investigation is complete and the allegations have been substantiated, it should be clear to everyone that he can no longer serve as Governor.”

Prior to Cuomo’s resignation, the number of Democrats who called for his departure had snowballed to most Democrats in the state legislature, the head of the state party, even to the pinnacles of Washington.

The sexual harassment scandal compounded the criticism Cuomo faced after it was revealed his office intentionally undercounted the number of coronavirus-related deaths in nursing homes by several thousand and sought to hide the true tally, in part over fears that a higher count would be wielded as a political cudgel by former President Trump.

Cuomo had apologized for both scandals but denied wrongdoing toward any woman he’s interacted with, maintaining his conduct should not be considered sexual harassment.

Even as the calls for his resignation piled up, he remained defiant and insisted he would not leave office.

“The facts are much different than what has been portrayed,” he said after James released the damning report.

That defiance continued even in Cuomo’s remarks Tuesday, during which he said there were “flaws” in James’s report.

“That should concern all New Yorkers, because when there is a bias or lack of fairness in the justice system, it is a concern for everyone, not just those immediately affected,” he said.

The Tuesday press conference from Glavin offered a point-by-point rebuttal of the report.

“Because of what has happened since Aug. 3, with the press conference and a report, that there’s no question in my mind was designed and meant to devastate Gov. Cuomo and his chamber,” Glavin said, referencing the date James released her report. “And for the last eight days it has been a pile on with people judging facts when they didn’t have all the facts.”

Glavin contended that the two main investigators, Anne Clark and Joon Kim, “brought their biases” and a “predisposition” when investigating the allegations against the governor.

Even just before announcing he would depart, Cuomo said it was his instinct to “fight through this controversy,” maintaining there were political machinations behind the report and an unfair narrative being spread in the press and social media.

“If I could communicate the facts through the frenzy, New Yorkers would understand,” he said. “I believe that.”

Prior to the announcement, press reports circulated detailing Cuomo’s intention to work through the scandal and try to beat an effort to oust him. But toward the end of his remarks Tuesday, Cuomo seemed to recognize the whirlwind surrounding the allegations and spoke directly to his daughters.

“I want them to know, from the bottom of my heart, that I never did, and I never would intentionally disrespect a woman or treat any woman differently than I would want them treated,” he said. “Your dad made mistakes and he apologized and he learned from it. And that is what life is all about.”

Cuomo’s resignation marks an ignominious end to a political career that spanned decades. He served as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Clinton administration before becoming the New York attorney general and later governor. His popularity soared during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic with his daily, televised press conferences only to see his approval rating crater in light of the sexual harassment and nursing home scandals.

His resignation will elevate Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to the governorship, making her the first female executive of the Empire State.

Hochul will take power in two weeks at a crucial time for New York, which like much of the nation is grappling with a rise in coronavirus cases fueled by the delta variant. But Cuomo said Hochul would use the next 14 days to get up to speed and would be ready to take over the governorship when his resignation takes effect.

“Kathy Hochul, my lieutenant governor, is smart and competent,” Cuomo said. “This transition must be seamless.”

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Prince Andrew Sued by a Jeffrey Epstein Accuser

One of Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime accusers sued Prince Andrew on Monday, saying he sexually assaulted her when she was 17.

Lawyers for Virginia Giuffre filed the lawsuit in Manhattan federal court.

In a statement, Giuffre said the lawsuit was brought under the Child Victims Act to allege she was trafficked to him and sexually abused by him.

“I am holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me,” she said. “The powerful and rich are not exempt from being held responsible for their actions. I hope that other victims will see that it is possible not to live in silence and fear, but to reclaim one’s life by speaking out and demanding justice.

“I did not come to this decision lightly,” she added. “As a mother and a wife, my family comes first — and I know that this action will subject me to further attacks by Prince Andrew and his surrogates — but I knew if I did not pursue this action, I would be letting them and victims everywhere down.”

In late 2019, Prince Andrew told BBC Newsnight that he never had sex with Giuffre, saying, “It didn’t happen.”

He said he has “no recollection” of ever meeting her and told an interviewer there are “a number of things that are wrong” about Giuffre’s account, which alleges the encounter occurred in 2001.

“I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened,” Andrew said.

According to the lawsuit, which sought unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, the prince abused Giuffre on multiple occasions when she was under the age of 18.

It said that on one occasion, the prince sexually abused her in London at the home of Ghislaine Maxwell when Epstein, Maxwell and Prince Andrew forced her to have sexual intercourse with the prince against her will.

On another occasion, Prince Andrew sexually abused Plaintiff in Epstein’s New York mansion when Maxwell forced Giuffre and another victim to sit on Andrew’s lap as he touched her, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also alleged that Andrew sexually abused Giuffre on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands.

During each of the alleged acts, Giuffre was given “express or implied threats” by Epstein, Maxwell, and/or Andrew to engage in sexual acts with the prince, the lawsuit said.

It said that she “feared death or physical injury to herself or another and other repercussions for disobeying” the trio because of their “powerful connections, wealth, and authority,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit added that Andrew knew her age at the time based on communications with Epstein and Maxwell. It said he went ahead anyway “for the purpose of gratifying his sexual desires.”

Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges in Manhattan federal court, where she faces trial in November.

Epstein, 66, took his own life in a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019, a month after he was arrested on sex trafficking charges.

As part of its continuing probe into Epstein and his encounters with women and teenage girls, Manhattan federal prosecutors formally requested to speak with Andrew.

The request, similar to issuing a subpoena, was made under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, an agreement between the two countries to share evidence and information in criminal cases.

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

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Haiti Chooses Judge to Probe President Jovenel Moise’s Killing

A judge has been named to lead the probe into the assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise, a senior magistrate has announced. The dean of the Court of First Instance in Port-au-Prince, Bernard Saint-Vil, said that Judge Mathieu Chanlatte had been chosen for the job.

Chanlatte “will not be intimidated,” said Jean Wilner Morin, president of the National Association of Haitian Magistrates.

“It is an investigation that will take time. We also hope that the authorities will put all the necessary resources at the disposal of magistrate Chanlatte and will also ensure his safety,” Morin said.

A hit team burst into the presidential residence on July 7 and shot Moise dead. His wife Martine was wounded but survived.

Human rights defender Pierre Esperance said he hoped Chanlatte would treat the case “with the law as a compass, without falling into political persecution.”

Minister of Justice and Public Security Rockefeller Vincent said his ministry would take all measures necessary to guarantee the safety of judges as well as courtroom evidence.

Police say they have arrested 44 people in connection with the killing, including 12 Haitian police officers, 18 Colombians who were allegedly part of the commando team, and two Americans of Haitian descent.

The head of Moise’s security detail is among those detained in connection with the plot allegedly organised by a group of Haitians with foreign ties.

Moise had been ruling the impoverished and disaster-plagued nation by decree as gang violence spiked and coronavirus spread.

Police have issued wanted-persons notices for several other people, including a judge from Haiti’s highest court, a former senator and a businessman

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Dominica Gov’t Announces Extension of Curfew Due to COVID-19

The Dominica government has extended a curfew to August 17 as the island recorded more cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the last few days.

“The existing order comes to an end on Tuesday, the 10th, we are extending the emergency period from Tuesday the 10th to the 17th of August, so there will be a one-week extension,” Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said on the state-owned DBS Radio.

“Remember when I addressed the nation I said we would be looking at seven days in the first instance and if we find the situation concerning we will extend it, the situation is concerning and therefore we are extending it to the 17th,” Skerrit added.

He said that only certain categories of workers will be exempted from the curfew hours, including essential workers.

Health Minister Dr. Irvine McIntyre said the total number of active COVID-19 cases here is 179 and that contact tracing is continuing with health authorities boosting the testing capabilities “in order to contain the spread of the virus.

“The strategy of increased Antigen testing islandwide has resulted in us identifying the possible cases. This way we can remove these individuals from the community, preventing interaction and further transmission of the virus”.

Dominica had registered several clusters of the virus following two activities held on the outskirts of the capital late last month.

Dr. McIntye confirmed that five staff members at the Dominica China Friendship Hospital had tested positive for the Antigen tests and that one of them further tested PCR positive and is symptomatic and has been placed in the isolation unit.

The other four are in government quarantine facilities.

He said 245 members of the hospital staff had been tested over the weekend and all were found to be negative.

“This represents close to 50 percent of the total hospital staff. We are assured that the situation at the hospital is under control and will be monitored closely,” the Health Minister said, reminding the public that the hospital is out of bounds to the public for visiting during the new health regulations.

CMC

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Martinique: Tough Lockdown, Tourists Told to Leave

France’s overseas territory of Martinique will enter a tougher lockdown for three weeks starting Tuesday to tackle a Covid-19 outbreak on the West Indian island, a local government official said on Twitter.

Martinique had already imposed an evening curfew, but the tougher Covid-19 lockdown, set to start from 7pm, will shutter non-essential shops, close beaches and clamp down on people’s movements.

Authorities in Martinique have also advised tourists to leave the island.

“We will be entering a second phase of lockdown … Shops will close, except for food shops and pharmacies,” said Stanislas Cazelles, the prefect for Martinique, who encouraged “all vulnerable tourists to leave the territory”.

“Hotels will be closed – except to professionals and residents of the territory; the same goes for seasonal rentals,” the prefect added. “Stores useful for the back-to-school period” will reopen “when the health situation has improved”, he said.

“Firms and civil services are also encouraged to participate in this lockdown, organising their services so that a maximum of employees can work from home,” Cazelles added.

The prefect said culture and leisure facilities would be closed, including beaches, which “will no longer be accessible to the public”.

Residents must also restrict their movements to a maximum one-kilometre radius from their homes.

“These rules are strict. They will be lifted as soon as the health situation allows it,” the official pledged, saying the measures would be re-evaluated “in 15 days”.

Last weekend, French Health Minister Olivier Véran appealed to volunteer doctors and nurses to travel to the overseas territories of Guadeloupe and Martinique as a wave of Covid-19 infections overwhelms hospitals on the two Caribbean islands.

On Tuesday, some 240 healthcare professionals are due to arrive to begin a 15-day mission in support. Véran is slated to travel to Martinique on Thursday.

Martinique has one of France’s highest Covid-19 incidence rates, with nearly 1,200 cases per 100,000 people and hospitals stretched to 227 percent of capacity. The island also has a low rate of vaccination against Covid-19 compared to mainland France; only 22 percent of Martinique’s population has received a first dose of the vaccine.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)

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Storm Warnings As Fred Forms in E. Caribbean

Tropical Storm Fred, the 6th named tropical cyclone of the Atlantic hurricane Season 2021 is next in line to turn towards the Caribbean and potentially also impacting the United States around the next weekend.

Tropical storm warnings have been posted across the eastern Caribbean as a system gathers power and takes shape southeast of Dominica, the National Hurricane Center said.

With winds of 35 miles (56 kilometers) per hour, the system will likely become Tropical Storm Fred late Monday or early Tuesday local time, the center said in advisory at 5 p.m. New York time.

The storm is threatening to hit Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and potentially Cuba later this week, but its exact path remains unclear. The system will likely be south of Florida by this weekend if it survives the trek over the larger Caribbean islands.

“Regardless of the exact track, locally heavy rainfall and gusty winds are expected to spread across portions of the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic over the next day or two,” Daniel Brown and Philippe Papin wrote in forecast analysis.

Five storms have already been named across the Atlantic this year, including three that hit the U.S. They come as extreme heat waves, floods and fires are becoming more common around the globe. The United Nations on Monday released a landmark report Monday concluding that there is “unequivocal” evidence that human activities have warmed the atmosphere.

A record 30 storms formed in 2020, about twice the annual average. They caused $42.3 billion in losses and damage and killed 86 people in the U.S. alone, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. In addition, back-to-back storms caused more than $3 billion to Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua and left much of the region still struggling to recover.

Storms tracking into the Gulf of Mexico are closely watched because they can roil natural gas, oil, and orange juice prices as they tear through the region.

Just a few days after the official release of the recent NOAA seasonal outlook for the ongoing Hurricane Season, the tropical western Atlantic is about to churn a new Tropical Storm. It will be Fred. Typically, the 6th named tropical cyclone forms on August 28th, so the season remains nearly 3 weeks ahead of the schedule.

atlantic-hurricane-season-storm-fred-united-states-seasonal-map

As we are now entering the mid-August period, the activity over the Atlantic Ocean statistically begins increasing. The very warm sea waters are coinciding with a major MJO wave, emerging into the Caribbean region and the tropical Atlantic from the west (Pacific). The combination of both will now boost the ongoing activity further.

Note, that the eastward-moving MJO wave normally has a major influence on the state of the atmosphere which allows tropical storms or hurricanes to develop. They require a very warm sea temperature (26 °C or above), high moisture, low vertical wind shear, and a surface low-pressure system.

atlantic-hurricane-season-storm-fred-united-states-cyclone-names

Above: Tropical cyclone names for 2021

When such conditions as recently are in place, especially with extremely warm sea waters and great upper-level support by MJO waves and low shear in place, a tropical cyclone could become a hurricane very quickly. Even a violent, major hurricane when conditions are near perfect. According to the recent data, as we see, these will likely strongly influence the peak Atlantic hurricane season this year.

Besides the wind intensity and lowest pressure in the tropical cyclones, we also use a so-called Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE index). A parameter that we use to express the energy that was used during the tropical cyclone’s lifetime. So we can compare every tropical storm or hurricane with the other. There are 4 categories to classify storms by the ACE index, from the extremely active to above, near, and below-average activity.

Already five named tropical storms also mean that we are more than double the long-term average to this date, so a fast start this year. And keep in mind that these numbers normally rapidly increase as the tropical activity ramps up towards the peak of the Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Such water temperatures are a very significant signal for the upcoming tropical cyclones that may move across this part of the tropical region. As it often leads to an explosive development of the tropical systems when convective storms encounter such a warm and moist fuel ingested from the sea surface.

The recent weeks over the tropical Atlantic region had mostly calm weather patterns, allowing the SSTs to become anomalously warm, especially across the known region – the MDR region (Main Development Region) that extends across the Atlantic between Africa and the Caribbean Sea.

Below is a high-resolution animation of the Atlantic Basin oceanic waters temperature anomalies, covering the whole Atlantic Basin as well as the MDR region where the majority of the tropical cyclone formations occur.

Tropical Storm Fred forms in the very warm waters of Atlantic Ocean

Fred is the 6th tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season 2021 – SWE /MA

Having such significant temperature anomalies does hint at the enhanced potential for significant tropical cyclone development in the coming weeks as we are heading towards the most dangerous period around the peak of the Atlantic Hurricane Season, occurring from late August through September and October.

Very high sea temperatures will remain or even improve in the coming weeks ahead. And statistically, these SSTs are quite typical signs during August when an active Atlantic hurricane season follows.

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Mexican Pres. Obrador & U.S. Vice Pres. Harris in Immigration Talks

MEXICO CITY, Aug 9 (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke about migration, the battle against COVID-19, and the need to strengthen Central American economies, the White House said in a statement.

In a brief statement on Twitter, Lopez Obrador said the conversation, which started around 4 p.m. (2100 GMT), had been good and that he would provide more details on Tuesday.

The White House said the two leaders discussed ongoing bilateral cooperation to address “irregular migration” to the shared U.S.-Mexican border, and agreed to focus on bolstering Central American economies through investment in agriculture and climate resilience.

Harris updated Lopez Obrador on U.S. efforts, including the July 29 release of the U.S. strategy for addressing the root causes of migration in Central America.

The U.S. vice president also told Lopez Obrador that Washington was committed to sending additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Mexico, on top of the 4 million doses already delivered, the White House said.

Speaking before the call, a senior U.S. official said the vaccines could come from multiple manufacturers, including Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) and AstraZeneca PLC (AZN.L).

Earlier, Lopez Obrador said he and Harris would discuss reopening the U.S.-Mexico border, immigration and vaccines against COVID-19, new cases of which have jumped in Mexico.

Speaking at a regular morning news conference, the Mexican president said vaccinations along Mexico’s border with the United States had led to fewer hospitalizations and deaths in the face of rising infections on both sides.

“This is what I’m going to suggest today, that we can demonstrate that we’re not putting the population at risk,” Lopez Obrador said in the northern city of Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas.

The United States has already lent a few million vaccine doses to Mexico, and would be sharing more with it than with any other country, reflecting the importance it attached to the bilateral relationship, the U.S. official said.

The countries’ 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border has been closed to non-essential travel since early in the pandemic last year.

Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Raul Cortes in Mexico City and Nandita Bose and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by Dave Graham, Peter Cooney and Karishma Singh

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