Tag Archives: caribbean

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Migrants in Caravan Protest for Better Treatment in Mexico

Migrants take part in a protest in favor of migration, under the slogan "Migration is not a crime," in Mexico City, Mexico December 16, 2021. REUTERS/Toya Sarno Jordan
Migrants hold a protest in favor of migration, under the slogan "Migration is not a crime," in Mexico City, Mexico December 16, 2021. REUTERS/Toya Sarno Jordan

A man holds a child during a protest in favor of migration, under the slogan “Migration is not a crime,” in Mexico City, Mexico December 16, 2021. REUTERS/Toya Sarno Jordan

MEXICO CITY, Dec 16 (Reuters) – Migrants traveling by caravan through Mexico in hopes of reaching the United States held a rally in Mexico City on Thursday, demanding that the Mexican government do more to help them.

Led by protesters carrying a banner reading, “To migrate is not a crime, the criminal is a government that represses migrants,” the migrants, some with very young children, marched through Mexico City to the government palace and demanded that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s government change its policies.

“(We demand) dialogue and solutions, to have legal certainty for every one of the migrants who left Tapachula on October 23 and on November 18,” caravan organizer Luis Villagran said, referring to the city near the Guatemalan border that is a waystation for many migrants.

“We want to have legal certainty for every one of them. For them to have residence, permanent residence in Mexico, that’s what we propose.”

Some migrants spoke of their desire to reach the United States.

“The idea is to reach the north. To go all the way up there because we’ll be better over there (in the United States),” said Josue Arias, a migrant from Cuba.

“Here (in Mexico) certain places are good, but I think it’s more dangerous with all the cartels. It makes me a little afraid. So the idea is to go north,” Arias said.

Another Cuban migrant, Lesbia Galana, said, “We came to ask the president for humane treatment for migrants, to allow us to reach the (U.S.) border. If he is able to provide buses to reach the border, that would be great and provide papers for those wishing to stay in Mexico, so that they are able to work and have access to medical and public services.”

The migrants later met with officials at the Interior Ministry.

A U.S. appeals court this week rejected a renewed attempt by the administration of President Joe Biden to end a policy put in place by former President Donald Trump that forces migrants to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their U.S. asylum cases.

Reporting by Josue Gonzalez, Rodolfo Pena Roja and Nina Lopez in Mexico City Writing by Leslie Adler Editing by Rosalba O’Brien

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Study: Brazil Wildfires Killed an Estimated 17 Million Forest Animals

By Victoria Gill
Science correspondent, BBC News

Researcher sampling an area of the Pantanal just after a wildfire
Scientists visited an area of the Pantanal within 48 hours of a fire

Amid the bleakness of 2020, scientists in Brazil concluded a particularly grim conservation study – attempting to count the animals killed by huge wildfires in the Pantanal wetlands.

They estimate that as many as 17 million vertebrates – including reptiles, birds and primates – died.

Wildfires burned between January and November, destroying 30% of the world’s largest tropical wetland.

This estimate of the loss is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The Pantanal is the largest wetland on the planet located in Brazil, Bolivia and ParaguayThe Pantanal is the largest wetland on the planet located in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay

Dr Mariana Napolitano Ferreira, head of science at WWF-Brazil explained that there were 22,000 separate fires recorded during that year.

This new research highlights, the researchers say, the importance of preventing such disasters in the future.

Body count

The Pantanal does burn naturally, but the 2020 wildfires were “apocalyptic”, according to Dr Alex Lees, an ecologist from Manchester Metropolitan University who has worked extensively in Central Brazil, including in the Pantanal.

They were “very different” to those the region normally experiences and the typical cycle of burning and recovery, Dr Lees explained.

“These fires were unusual because of their scale and were clearly linked to the mega-drought that [the area] was experiencing at that time.

“The Pantanal can’t keep burning to this huge extent year-after-year- biodiversity can’t recover from that.”

Marsh deer that survived the wildfires
Marsh deer that survived the wildfires

The study itself was based on a body-counting exercise.

Scientists managed to reach areas of the wetland within 48 hours of a fire. They walked along tracts at set intervals and examined every dead animal they found.

The team was able to identify the species of 300 animals they found. They then extrapolated from the area they examined to give an estimate of how many animals were killed in total.

Researcher collecting a dead animal. CreditImage source, CENAP-ICMBio

Dr Walfrido Moraes Tomas, an ecologist from the research institute Embrapa Pantanal in Brasilia, led the study. He told the BBC that he and his team were “not surprised by the numbers”, given the vast geographical scale of the disaster.

What did surprise him, he said, was how certain groups of species were more impacted than others.

“The extremely high number of snakes that were killed makes us wonder about the cascade effects,” he explained. “Snakes are usually predators on small mammals, frogs. This impact may result in an unimaginable unbalance in the ecosystem.”

The world's largest rodent, the capybara, is native to the Pantanal
The world’s largest rodent, the capybara, is native to the Pantanal

The wetlands are located across Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia and are one of the most biodiverse areas in the world. Thousands of species including jaguars, anteaters and migratory birds live in the 140,000-160,000 sq km area.

WWF Brazil’s Dr Ferreira explained that field research was still ongoing. “The immediate impact was very shocking,” she told BBC News. “But we also need to understand how the ecosystem recovers weeks, months and years after the fires.”

A consequence of climate change

The researchers pointed out that more frequent wildfires are “among the most visible consequences of human‐induced climate change”.

Overview of the Pantanal wetland after the wildfire. Notice the smoke covering the entering region
Aerial view shows a section of the Pantanal wetland after the wildfire

But however bleak the conclusion of this study may be, putting a robust number on the scale of this disaster, according to Dr Tomas, could bolster efforts to develop “proper fire management strategies and policies” in the region.

Other scientists have raised concerns about the accuracy of the estimate in this study. There is a large margin for error in extrapolating from the few hundred bodies the team counted to the total number of animals lost.

“They’re extrapolating across a huge area of the world’s largest wetland, so [the calculation] is a bit crude,” explained Dr Lees.

“But it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s a ball park estimate – it could be more. There will be hundreds of millions of critters living there.”

Dr Ferreira described the disaster in the Pantanal as “a message” to humanity.

“It shows us that nature is suffering, but we’re also suffering – from lack of clean water and lack of food,” she said. “We need to change the way that we interact with nature if we want future generations to live in this world.”

Giant anteater are one of the thousands of species in the Pantanal
Giant anteater are one of the thousands of species in the Pantanal

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Mexican Actress Tania Mendoza Murdered While Waiting for Her Son

A Mexican actress and singer was shot dead while she waited to pick up her 11-year-old son from a football academy in the state of Morelos, reports say.

Tania Mendoza was outside the sporting complex in the city of Cuernavaca with other parents when two armed men arrived on a motorbike on Tuesday.

One of them shot her multiple times before escaping with his accomplice.

At least 10 women were murdered in the country every day last year, according to official data.

Human rights group Amnesty International said around a third of victims – 940 – were cases of femicide, or the intentional murder of women because of their gender, calling it a “shocking epidemic”.

Mendoza, who was 42, rose to fame in 2005 after a lead role in the film La Mera Reyna del Sur. She had also appeared in a number of soap operas but in recent years was dedicated to her career as a singer, and recorded five albums.

In 2010, she was kidnapped with her husband and son, who was six months old, from the couple’s car wash business. Since then, she had reported to the Morelos State Attorney General’s Office several death threats.

It is not yet clear who was behind Mendoza’s murder, or any possible motive. After the shooting, police carried out an operation in search for the suspects, but no-one was arrested.

The Attorney General’s Office told Efe news agency the case would be investigated as femicide, although no details were given.

Mexico has long suffered with high levels of crime, with much of the violence linked to drug cartels. Femicide is increasingly a cause for concern but despite a growing movement to raise awareness of the issue, authorities have been unable to stop a rise in the killings.

According to Amnesty, cases are rarely investigated, and most perpetrators remain unpunished.

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Omicron to Dominate US, Deadly Winter for Unvaxed, World Stats, More

Fauci: Omicron likely dominant in US soon

Top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci pushes back on statements by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., as he testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on Tuesday, July 20, 2021.
 

© AP/Pool

It’s going to be a bleak winter ahead, particularly for the unvaccinated, Anthony Fauci warned on Thursday.

He said the omicron variant will likely be dominant in the U.S. in “a few weeks” and warned of the possibility of hospitals being overwhelmed this winter.

He added, though, that people who are vaccinated, and especially those who have their booster shots, will be “relatively well protected, at least against severe disease,” saying he is most worried about the unvaccinated.

The omicron variant “will assume a dominant role very soon, I would imagine within a period of a few weeks to as we go into January,” Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said during an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

He noted that even before omicron is widespread in the U.S., the delta variant is already causing about 120,000 cases and about 1,000 deaths per day, making added pressure from omicron even worse.

“Besides the toll of suffering and death which will inevitably go up if in fact we have that convergence in the winter months of flu and omicron and delta, we could get our hospital systems overwhelmed,” Fauci said, noting that health workers are already exhausted after almost two years of fighting the pandemic.

The better news: There has been some reassuring news, though, that people who get their booster shots get restored protection against omicron, and that people with two shots still could have protection at least against severe disease.

That means the risk is widely variable depending on someone’s vaccination status.

“With omicron breathing down our back, things could get really bad, particularly for the unvaccinated,” Fauci said. “The vaccinated and those who are boosted I believe will be relatively well protected, at least against severe disease.”

The Biden administration has emphasized that boosters are the best response to the new variant, and has dismissed the idea of further business closures.

BIDEN: WINTER OF ‘SEVERE ILLNESS AND DEATH’ FOR UNVACCINATED

President Biden on Thursday warned of a winter of “severe illness and death” for unvaccinated Americans as coronavirus cases spike across the country.

Biden, in a meeting with medical advisers and Vice President Harris to discuss the pandemic, said the country was in a better position to deal with the omicron variant of COVID-19 because of steps taken to limit travel and increase access to boosters.

“But it’s here now and it’s spreading, and it’s gonna increase,” Biden said of the omicron variant, which experts think is more contagious than previous strains.

“For unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death… for themselves, their families and the hospitals they’ll soon overwhelm,” Biden continued. “But there’s good news. If you’re vaccinated, and you have your booster shot, you’re protected from severe illness and death, period.”

Biden stressed the effectiveness of booster shots in guarding against severe illness. He noted nearly 57 million Americans have gotten boosted, which experts have said is one way to guard against severe illness regardless of the variants.

Boosters would help keep the economy and schools open, Biden said

REGENERON SAYS ANTIBODY THERAPY LOSES POTENCY AGAINST OMICRON

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said on Thursday that an antibody therapy frequently used in unvaccinated COVID-19 patients has “diminished” potency against the omicron variant.

“While Regeneron’s currently authorized REGEN-COV antibodies have diminished potency against Omicron, they are active against Delta, which currently is the most prevalent variant in the U.S.,” Regeneron said in an announcement.

The biotechnology company, however, said that its monoclonal antibodies were still active in patients who had either the omicron or delta variant.

“Regeneron has confirmed that multiple ‘next generation’ monoclonal antibodies from its large collection of fully human monoclonal antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2 are active against the Omicron (B.1.1.529) and Delta (B.1.617.2) variants, as well as against the other variants of concern,” Regeneron said. “Pending regulatory discussions, we anticipate entering the clinic in the first quarter of 2022.”

============================================

WORLD STATS

Coronavirus Cases:

273,328,942

Deaths:

5,355,743

Recovered:

245,500,76
Highlighted in green
= all cases have recovered from the infection
Highlighted in grey
= all cases have had an outcome (there are no active cases)

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Latest News

December 17 (GMT)

Updates

  • 20,027 new cases and 566 new deaths in Poland [source]
  • 559 new cases and 6 new deaths in Libya [source]
  • 27,743 new cases and 1,080 new deaths in Russia [source]
  • 193 new cases and 2 new deaths in Japan [source]
  • 2,627 new cases and 169 new dea

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Haiti: Gang Frees Remaining US, Canadian Missionaries

Dec. 16 (UPI) — The remaining U.S. hostages who were abducted by a gang in Haiti two months ago were released on Thursday, according to the Ohio-based Christian group for which they worked.

The missionaries were part of the Christian Aid Ministries, which does charity work in Haiti, when they were abducted by 400 Mawozo — The 400 Mawozo gang, which controls territory to the east of the capital Port-au-Prince, had said it was seeking a ransom of $1 million for each of the missionaries.

The gang’s leader, who goes by the nickname Lanmo Sanjou and has appeared in internet videos wearing a Spider-Man mask, had said he was willing to kill the hostages.

A total of 17 missionaries, which included some children, were kidnapped. The gang had previously released five of them.

Five of the hostages had already been freed in recent weeks, and the final dozen were found by authorities on a mountain called Morne à Cabrit, said police spokesman Garry Derosier.

“We glorify God for answered prayer — the remaining 12 hostages are free,” the organization said in a message on their website. “Join us in praising God that all 17 of our loved ones are now safe. Thank you for your fervent prayers throughout the past two months. We hope to provide more information as we are able.”

Most of the aid workers were Americans and one was Canadian.

Gary Desrosiers, a spokesman for the Haiti National Police, confirmed that the hostages were free, according to NBC News.

The gang had initially demanded a ransom of $1 million per hostage. It’s not yet clear if any ransom money was paid to the kidnappers.

The group of missionaries were kidnapped as they drove through the Port-au-Prince suburb of Croix des Bouquets after visiting an orphanage.

 

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Bermuda Reports Significant Increase in Omicron Cases

At least 16 of Bermuda’s 35 active coronavirus cases are of the Omicron variant, up from just two last week, health officials have confirmed.

The news came as 20 people tested positive among the latest batch of 6,762 test results announced on Monday night.

The active cases are all being monitored by public health officials and none is in hospital. There were 24 active cases listed in Thursday’s previous update.

Health officials said 11 of the new cases had come in from overseas. Eight of the remaining nine cases were classed as on-island transmissions and one was listed as under investigation.

Of the imported cases, 92 percent were fully vaccinated people.

For on-island cases or those under investigation, 90 percent were found in fully vaccinated people – a reversal of earlier trends where most were found in unvaccinated people.

Variant typing was only available for 28 of the active cases, but Omicron now accounts for the majority of known cases.

A further 12 people have been found to have the Delta variant. There have been nine recoveries since last Thursday.

In all, Bermuda has recorded a total of 5,784 cases of COVID-19 with 106 deaths.

CMC

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St. Kitts’ Lindsay F.P. Grant Named Caribbean Tourism Minister of the Year

BASSETERRE (15th December, 2021): Today we are proud to announce that Minister of Tourism Lindsay F.P. Grant has been named Caribbean Tourism Minister of the Year in the Caribbean Journal annual Caribbean Travel Awards. This award recognizes Minister Grant’s impeccable leadership through a turbulent year of managing and driving the return of tourism to the destination. While working nimbly with the Federation’s health officials to manage and adjust tourism protocols and driving the creation of an industry-leading set of cruise protocols, Minister Grant steered the destination through the most challenging periods of the pandemic while simultaneously positioning the Federation as the premier destination where international air and sea travellers can enjoy a quintessential Caribbean escape.

“I am extremely honoured to receive this exceptional designation from our esteemed colleagues at Caribbean Journal who designated these travel awards,” said Lindsay F.P. Grant, Minister of Tourism, Transport and Ports. “St. Kitts and Nevis have shown how strong and resilient the people of the Caribbean are and continue to be as we navigate these challenging times together. The future is bright in the Federation. We have recently lifted our mandatory arrival testing and Vacation in Place (quarantine) for international air travellers and we have opened Port Zante for free-flow exploration. This week is the busiest we have seen for cruise arrivals since the island reopened its borders to international visitors, with 21 ships in port this week. We also expect to have continued growth in our stay-over international air travellers looking to 2022.” 

 “The past year was defined by abundant tourism success as we saw the vast majority of the Caribbean roaring back this year, with the highest-volume tourism in history for most destinations,” said Alexander Britell, Editor and Publisher, Caribbean Journal. “Minister Grant’s leadership in navigating this tumultuous landscape for St. Kitts and Nevis has been a bold statement to the world that the Caribbean is the most resilient place on earth and cannot be defeated, taking every challenge and using it to power a new future.”

 The Caribbean Travel Awards eighth annual edition celebrates the people, places and properties that exemplify the best of the magnificent region. Each year, the Caribbean Journal editorial staff selects these awards based on the destination and success over the past year.

 

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St Lucia Announces “Vaxxed Mas” Carnival 2022

The government of St Lucia has announced that Carnival 2022 will be hosted, but only vaccinated revelers will be allowed to attend.

Dubbed ‘The Vaxxed Mas’, Carnival 2022 in St Lucia is based on approval from the Ministry of Health according to existing protocols, said the government in a press release.

The aim for The Vaxxed Mas is to create a bubble to ensure the safety of everyone involved; the general public and carnival patrons alike. Everyone participating, revelers, patrons, support staff and service providers must be fully vaccinated.

Dr Ernest Hilaire, Minister for Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information says that as a Carnival enthusiast himself, it is important to build on the hard work and dedication that started by the people who brought carnival to where it is now.

“We have to ensure that we preserve the health of St Lucia while creating an economic activity for our people to benefit from,” Dr Hilaire says.

With Carnival being a major part of Tourism in St Lucia, it brings in thousands of visitors to the island. Dr Hilare says that a lot of people use the Carnival season to showcase their talents and it is even more important after the two-year hiatus to encourage them to continue doing so.

Strict protocols and guidelines will be implemented and further plans will be announced at a later date to ensure the safety of everyone for Carnival 2022. Carnival in St Lucia is usually held in the month of July in the capital city of Castries.

No other CARICOM island has officially announced plans for their annual carnival celebrations as yet.

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Govt. of Haiti, Transport Unions Reach Deal Over Price of Fuel

A memorandum of understanding was signed Wednesday between the Government of Haiti and transport unions barely a week after an increase in the price of fuels was decreed by Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

Union spokesperson Anderson Desroches explained the agreement encompassed wages, regularizing motorcycle taxis, and granting driving licenses and registration plates, as the main issues.

The accord also provides for the creation of a regulatory body for the oil market as well as keeping some subsidies regarding public transport. The Government is also due to grant access to vehicles to those whose ageing units are no longer fit for service, it was reported.

The agreement came after protests ensuing the 24% price hike for gasoline and 100% for diesel and kerosene. Transport operators had threatened to paralyze the country until a solution was found.

Union leader Changé Mehu warned that “after this week, if the Government does not do anything about the subsidy, we will set the prices of the trips in the ten departments of the country in accordance with the recent increase in petroleum products.”

Meanwhile, while this crisis was unfolding, news from Cap-Haitien added to the Haitian nightmare as the death toll of the explosion involving a tank lorry had increased to 75 from the 60 reported originally. Local authorities also reported 56 people were still hospitalized in critical condition. Most of the new deaths fatalities were patients hospitalized with severe burns.

A few hours after the accident, 15 people were airlifted to Port-au-Prince and the city of Hinche to receive treatment at hospitals specializing in burn injuries.

The accident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, after a tanker truck overturned around a curve in a street in a central neighborhood of Cap-Haitien, Haiti’s second-largest city. Dozens of people tried to steal the fuel from the truck, for which some hit the tank with hammers.

It is yet unclear what caused the spark that caused the explosion, which also affected about 20 homes located in adjacent streets.

The Haitian government also announced Tuesday that it was building two field hospitals to treat the wounded, as the two main medical centers in Cap-Haitien were already saturated.

Henry decreed three days of official mourning nationwide.

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DR: Private Plane Crash Kills 9, PR Music Producer Flow La Movie

Dec 15 (Reuters) – A private jet crashed minutes after taking off outside Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, killing all nine people on board, including Puerto Rican music producer Flow La Movie, according to the airline and airport operator.

The Gulfstream GIVSP which crashed at Las Americas Airport had left for Miami with two crew members and seven passengers, one of whom was Dominican and the rest of other nationalities, said the airplane’s operator, Helidosa Aviation Group.

“For Helidosa, this accident causes us great pain and sadness,” the company said in a statement, without identifying the cause of the accident.

Among the passengers Helidosa listed were Jose Angel Hernandez and Debbie Von Marie Jimenez.

Hernandez was a music producer popularly known as Flow La Movie, while Jimenez was the producer’s wife, according to Dominican newspaper Listin Diario and music magazine Billboard.

Helidosa also named Jayden Hernandez among the victims, who Listin Diario and Billboard said was Hernandez’ son.

The flight took off at 5:09 p.m. and crashed 16 minutes later, according to a statement from airport operator Aerodom.

The plane crashed just outside the airport’s perimeter and declared an emergency just prior to attempting to land, the statement noted, without providing further details.

The Dominican Republic’s aviation accident commission is leading an investigation into the crash, the statement added.

Reporting by Ezequiel Abiu Lopez; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Stephen Coates

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