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(CNN) Kamala Harris will try to deepen the United States’ “strategic partnership and bilateral relationship” with Guatemala and Mexico on her first foreign trip as vice president, according to her senior staff members.

Harris will visit the region next week as part of her role leading diplomatic efforts to stem the flow of migration from Central America, and she will focus on economic development, climate and food insecurity, and women and young people, according to her staff.

The trip underscores the administration’s heightened focus on Central America and migration from the region, especially as record numbers of unaccompanied minors cross the US-Mexico border and officials roll back some Trump-era immigration restrictions.

“The goal of the vice president’s trip is to deepen our strategic partnership and bilateral relationship with both the Guatemalan and Mexican governments to advance a comprehensive strategy to tackle the causes of migration,” said Symone Sanders, Harris’ chief spokesperson and senior adviser, in a call with reporters Tuesday night.

“We will also engage community leaders, workers, young innovators and entrepreneurs, and others about ways to provide economic security, address the core factors of migration, and to give people the hope for a better life at home,” Sanders added.

Biden administration formally ends ‘remain in Mexico’ policy after suspending it earlier this year

President Joe Biden had tasked Harris with the politically fraught assignment in March, and one official said she is “really picking up” from where Biden left off, after he was tasked by then-President Barack Obama to lead diplomatic efforts in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador in his last term after a surge of unaccompanied minors from those countries began arriving in the US.

As CNN has previously reported, Republican critics and the media have portrayed Harris’ new immigration role as a border assignment, potentially opening her up to criticism for the handling of the seemingly intractable problem. Her performance is critical to her future political career, which could well include a run for president, as well as of special concern right now as she prepares to depart for the foreign trip — her first official foray into in-person, in-country talks about the troubles that push Central American migrants toward the US.

The vice president and her staff have made it clear that they want to focus narrowly on diplomatic efforts in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, where they believe they are more likely to achieve tangible results in addressing the root causes of migration, like economic despair, according to two White House officials familiar with the dynamic.

The vice president will land in Guatemala on Sunday and has a day full of events in the country the next day, including an in-person bilateral meeting with President Alejandro Giammattei. Harris will then fly to Mexico that night.

She will have a bilateral meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in addition to other events on Tuesday before returning to the US the same day.

The vice president will meet with Guatemalan community leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs as well as greet and thank US embassy staff, per Mazin Alfaqih, special adviser to the vice president for the Northern Triangle.

In Mexico, Harris will participate in a conversation with female entrepreneurs, hold a roundtable with labor workers and greet US mission Mexico staff, according to Hillary Quam, special adviser to the vice president for the Western Hemisphere.

While it will be her first in-country and in-person meetings with leaders from both countries, Harris held virtual bilateral meetings with both leaders earlier this year. They came in a steady stream of highly produced events that showcased Harris meeting with government officials and private-sector companies and seeking input from experts and civil society leaders on how to best help the region.

Vice President Harris’ team tries to distance her from fraught situation at the border

“The vice president’s strategy is built around catalyzing efforts across the United States government, regional governments,” Sanders said, “as well as private sectors and philanthropic sectors and international partners.”

Last month, Harris announced she had secured commitments from 12 private companies and organizations to invest in the Northern Triangle, looking to bolster her work.

In next week’s bilateral meeting, Harris will discuss with Giammattei “ways to increase economic opportunities in Guatemala, strengthen rule of law and deepen bilateral law enforcement cooperation,” Alfaqih told reporters.

Already in their virtual bilateral, the two sides agreed to increase the number of border security personnel, among other agreements. The US will also increase the number of its own security forces on the ground to provide training, Alfaqih said.

Asked whether Harris will address the asylum capacity in the region, White House officials said they expect the first migrant resource center, the creation of which was agreed on in the virtual bilateral meeting, to be open by next week’s trip.

In the vice president’s meeting with Mexico’s President, Harris will look to build on the two countries’ previous agreements to secure the US-Mexico border and work to bolster economic opportunities in the region while establishing “further areas of collaboration,” the officials said.

Sanders wouldn’t say whether Covid-19 vaccines would be a topic of discussion in both countries during the visit, just that they would discuss “Covid cooperation.”

Kamala Harris to lead Biden administration’s efforts on voting rights

In May, Harris met with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to brief members on the administration’s plans. CNN previously reported that Democratic Rep. Norma Torres of California said Harris had confirmed to the group that the Northern Triangle will be a part of the 80 million vaccine doses shared by the administration.

Sanders would not say Tuesday if there will be conversations in Mexico about Title 42, the public health authority put in place under the Trump administration in early 2020 that allows border officials to expel migrants encountered at the US-Mexico border due to the pandemic, lifting restrictions on nonessential travel, or the Temporary Protected Status for Guatemalans.

The vice president has yet to call the leaders of El Salvador and Honduras, as both have underlying issues that have dogged US efforts in the region for years and her staff is finding the best way to engage. Those delayed talks show just one aspect of the challenges in this task.

“We have to give people some sense of hope that if they stay, that help is on the way,” Harris told CNN’s Dana Bash in April. “It’s not going to be solved overnight; it’s a complex issue. If this were easy, it would’ve been handled years ago.”

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Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s drive to strengthen state control of natural resources faces a key test on Sunday at mid-term elections that will determine control of Congress for the rest of his administration.

The leftist Lopez Obrador has upset many of Mexico’s main trade partners and leading business groups by pushing through legislation to reverse the previous government’s opening of the energy market to more private capital.

Though that has sapped investment, his argument that he is fighting for Mexico’s poor against unscrupulous elites still resonates with voters, making his National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) heavily favored to retain the lower house of Congress.

“Mexico’s a rich country, but we’ve allowed other people to come and take our riches from us,” said Cesar Lopez, a 42-year-old MORENA supporter in the northern city of Hermosillo who is firmly behind the president’s energy agenda.

Though voters tend to criticize this government’s record on job creation and fighting crime, they are more skeptical of Mexico’s former rulers, now in opposition. Lopez Obrador has also benefited from the vaccine rollout against COVID-19.

Opinion polls suggest MORENA may lose a few seats in the lower house, which controls the budget. But it should comfortably reach a majority with the help of political allies.

If it beats expectations, the alliance could even get a two-thirds majority allowing Lopez Obrador to pursue constitutional changes to back his statist vision in the second half of his six-year term. That prospect worries some investors.

He is barred from seeking re-election by law.

The president has put taking control of energy policy at the center of his economic agenda, arguing that past governments prioritized private interests at the public’s expense.

That ambition has been cramped by a 2013-14 constitutional energy reform by his predecessor Enrique Pena Nieto, and many of MORENA’s legislative changes have been frozen by lower courts.

His answer has been: see you at the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court rulings are still pending on Lopez Obrador’s moves to give precedence over private interests to national power utility the Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) and its oil and gas counterpart, Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex).

Pressuring the court to side with him, he has threatened to change the constitution if it does not.

Such a step could exacerbate disputes with allies by breaching Mexico’s commitments under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement trade deal, business groups say.

Lopez Obrador’s taste for using referendums to cancel infrastructure projects he opposes has further unsettled investors.

He has also sparred with mining companies, criticizing how many concessions were granted them by past governments.

Still, Lopez Obrador on Wednesday hinted he did not envisage many major legal changes in what remained of his term, saying the “constitutional reforms are pretty much done.” Only very few remained, he added, without going into detail.

SELF-INTEREST

Lopez Obrador took office in December 2018 pledging to improve growth and reduce violent crime. Instead, the economy has shrunk for the past two years – contracting 8.5% in 2020 – and homicides have reached unprecedented levels.

Neil Herrington, senior vice president for the Americas at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said it was in Mexico’s interest to create certainty for business and lift the economy.

An important signal towards restoring confidence would be for Mexico to walk back energy policies designed to tilt the playing field in favor of state-run firms, Herrington noted.

“U.S. investors across all industries are watching Mexico’s actions on energy closely because they’re convinced the outcome of the sector’s current challenges will have a major impact on the country’s broader economy and investment climate,” he said.

Lopez Obrador argues that billions of dollars in power industry contracts awarded by predecessors ripped off taxpayers, and he wants companies to agree new terms more favorable to the state.[

A few companies are believed to be pursuing international arbitration. But unless firms sell up, analysts expect most to reach some sort of deal with Lopez Obrador – just as natural gas pipeline operators did in 2019 during a similar renegotiation.

Mexico’s economic fortunes in 2021 have been buoyed by U.S. stimulus spending under President Joe Biden, fueling demand for Mexican goods. Some 80% of Mexico’s exports go to the United States, and exports are at record levels. Mexico’s government says the economy could grow 6.5% this year.

Businesses have flagged concerns about Lopez Obrador’s policies to Washington, but the focus of bilateral relations has been keeping a lid on illegal immigration.

U.S. reliance on Mexico to help stem migrant flows gives Lopez Obrador more latitude to pursue an independent economic agenda, Mexican officials say privately.

The president has wrapped his economic vision in a narrative that business, political and media elites connived to hog Mexico’s riches, fueling poverty, inequality and violence.

Lopez Obrador is right to want to solve those problems, but his rhetoric is stoking serious division, argued Andres Rozental, a former Mexican deputy foreign minister.

“This polarization,” he said, “is extremely damaging and worrisome for a country that needs to get its people together to get out of the rut that it’s in.”

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Reuters- Lack of effective political leadership has hampered efforts to stop the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America, where infections are dangerously on the rise again, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday.

While the United States, Canada and Mexico are reporting overall reductions in COVID-19 cases and deaths, new infections are increasing in the rest of the Americas, PAHO Director Carissa Etienne said.

Colombia is reporting the highest rate of infections in South America, where new cases have nearly tripled in some regions, and Brazil is seeing a rise in new infections and hospitalizations, she said.

But without effective leadership, Latin American countries are failing in their response to the illness.

“Sadly, across our region we’ve seen misinformation about COVID-19 sow doubt on proven health measures, often in the context of political disputes,” Etienne said in a briefing.

“By stoking controversy where there is none, our leaders are sending mixed messages to the public and standing in the way of effective measures to control the virus,” she said.

Of greatest concern now is Haiti, where despite sharp increases in cases, hospitalizations and deaths, public health measures required to stop transmission are being largely ignored by the population, Etienne said.

She said it was encouraging that Haiti’s government has accepted the AstraZeneca (AZN.L) vaccine and doses will be arriving soon through the COVAX facility led by the World Health Organization.

Latin America and the Caribbean have the world’s highest death toll from COVID-19 in proportion to its population, with at least 33,289,000 reported infections and 1,043,000 reported deaths, according to a Reuters tally.

Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open https://tmsnrt.rs/2FThSv7 in an external browser.

Brazil leads the region with the most new cases and deaths, and a 7-day average of 1,881 fatalities per day. Argentina and Colombia follow in infections and deaths.

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The 2020 Olympic Games were postponed by one year because of the Covid-19 pandemic

BBC- Tokyo 2020 president Seiko Hashimoto is “100%” certain the Olympics will go ahead, but warned the Games “must be prepared” to proceed without spectators in the event of a coronavirus outbreak.

Japan is dealing with a fourth wave of coronavirus cases, with 10 areas of the country under a state of emergency.

Hashimoto told BBC Sport: “I believe that the possibility of these Games going on is 100% that we will do this.”

Speaking to BBC Sport’s Laura Scott, she added: “The question right now is how are we going to have an even more safe and secure Games.

“The Japanese people are feeling very insecure and at the same time probably feel some frustration at us talking about the Olympics and I think that is giving rise to more voices opposing having the Games in Tokyo.

“The biggest challenge will be how we can control and manage the flow of people. If an outbreak should happen during the Games times that amounts to a crisis or an emergency situation then I believe we must be prepared to have these Games without any spectators.

“We are trying to create as complete a bubble situation as possible so we can create a safe and secure space for people who come in from overseas as well as people who are in Japan, the residents and citizens of Japan.”

• Will the Tokyo 2020 Olympics go ahead?
• Olympics will go ahead even under state of emergency, says IOC

No international fans will be permitted this summer at the Olympics or Paralympics, which begin on 24 August.

A new wave of infections began in April in Japan, where some areas face restrictions until 20 June.

The country began vaccinating its population in February – later than most other developed nations – and so far only about 3% of people have been fully vaccinated.

Hashimoto said it was a “very painful decision” to have no overseas spectators present, but one necessary to ensure “a safe and secure Games”.

“[For many] athletes it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that they can compete in the Games. To not be able to have family members and friends who have supported them all along must be a very painful thing and that has caused me pain too,” she said.

On the possibility of some countries being prevented from travelling, Hashimoto added: “Who can come to Japan is something the Japanese government will decide.

“If it should happen that a country cannot come to Japan because they do not meet the minimum requirements that the government set, I think that is something we have to listen to what the IOC and IPC feel about that.”

• US issues Japan travel warning weeks before Olympics
• Athletes’ body demands world-class Covid-19 protections

Appointment had impact on Japanese society

Hashimoto was appointed Games president in February after her predecessor Yoshiro Mori quit over sexist comments he made.

The former Olympics minister is a seven-time Olympian herself, having competed as a cyclist and a speed skater.

“Athletes must be thinking ‘even if it we put so much effort into preparing for the Games, what if those Games don’t happen, what happens to all that effort and all the lifetime experience and all that we’ve put into it?’ said Hashimoto.

“What is important for me is to have my voice directly reach those athletes. One thing the organising committee commits and promises to all the athletes out there is that we will defend and protect their health.”

Former Games president Mori said that if the number of female board members increased, they would have to “make sure their speaking time is restricted somewhat, they have difficulty finishing, which is annoying”.

He later apologised for his “inappropriate” comments.

Following her appointment, Hashimoto said she wanted the legacy of the Tokyo Games to be a society that accepted people regardless of gender, disability, race, or sexual orientation.

“Japanese society still has an unconscious bias. Unconsciously, domestic roles especially are clearly divided by the sexes. It’s deep rooted and it is very tough to change this,” said Hashimoto.

“The former president’s gaffe, the sexist remarks, actually became a trigger, an opportunity, a turning point within the organising committee that made us all aware we have to change this.

“That was a big push to go forward with this. For a woman to assume the top position of such a huge organisation I believe had some impact on society itself.”

• Who is in Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s team?
• Climate change will impair performances in Tokyo, says report

‘We are doing everything we can’

With 50 days to go until the opening ceremony in Tokyo, the first international athletes arrived in Japan this week.

Recent polls in Japan have shown nearly 70% of the population do not want the Olympics to go ahead, while on Wednesday, Japan’s most senior medical adviser said that hosting the Olympics during a pandemic was “not normal”.

But no major countries have spoken out against the Games taking place and Team GB remain “fully committed” to sending a full team.

“At this point, I am very confident we will have these Games,” said Hashimoto. “We are doing everything we can, we are being very thorough about that.

“I know we have very limited time to deal with anything that might come up but we will do everything we can to improve the situation and we will see these things through.

“If the pandemic once again accelerates across the world, and so it should happen that no country can come to Japan, then of course we cannot have those Games.

“But I think we have to be very careful in reviewing the current situation and deciding what to do depending on what we consider to be right.”

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St. Kitts and Nevis will be hosting the World Cup Qualifier match against Guyana at the Warner Park football stadium this Friday at 4pm. All the necessary preparations have and are still being made to accommodate the hosting of this match, which will see the strictest application of COVID-19 measures prior to, during and after the match. Both the St. Kitts Nevis Senior men’s national team and the Guyana National Team, are in a secure bubble at their hotels and during designated times for training leading up to match day. 

Preparations for the sugar boys have gone well so far, according to Coach of the Senior Men’s National Team Leo Neiva. “(Training) is going very well.  I am very satisfied with the commitment (of the players to training),” he said. “It’s a very good chance for us to (advance)…we are capable to win at home against Guyana with a very good performance,” he added.  

Coach Neiva was very positive about his players, especially the local based ones who compete in the SKNFA Premier League. “We keep the balance between the overseas and local based players, just like the last final squad. It’s not easy because some of the players are not active, but we select players with more games and more match fitness,” Coach Neiva said. He added that a quota of under 23 players has also been maintained.  

Coach Neiva is confident that St. Kitts and Nevis will get a positive result from Friday’s match, which would put the Sugar Boys in a strong position to progress to the next round of the World Cup qualifiers. “We need to keep the winning mentality, (we are aiming) to win the two games,” he said, referring to this match and the next encounter against Trinidad and Tobago, which would be played away in the Dominican Republic. 

The squad for Friday’s match is: 

GOALKEEPERS* 

 *Julani Archibald (Real de Minas)

 *Zaykesse Smith* (Village Superstars)

 *Clifford Samuel* (Conaree)

 *CENTER BACKS* 

 *Raheem Francis* (Village Superstars)

 *Thrizen Leader* (St Paul’s)

 *Petrez Williams* (St. Paul’s)

 *Lois Maynard* (Stockport)

 *FULL BACKS* 

 *Ordell Flemming* – (Village Superstars)

 *Gerard Williams* – (Cayon)

 *Malique Roberts* (Cayon)  

 *Xavier French* (Saddlers)

 *DEFENSE MIDFIELDERS* 

*Yohannes Mitchum* (Newtown Utd)

*Theo Wharton* (Barry Town)

*Raheem Somersall* (Tormenta FC)

*Andre Burley* (Wycombe)

 *OFFENSIVE* *MIDFIELDERS* 

 *O. Sterling James* (Kidderminster)

 *Vinceroy Nelson* (St. Paul’s)

 *Harry Panayiotou* (Aldershot Town)

 *Tiquanny Williams* (Old Road) 

 *Romaine Sawyers* (West Bromwich)

 *Kalonji Clarke* (St Paul’s)

 *FORWARDS* 

 *Keithroy Freeman* (St. Paul’s)

 *Rowan Liburd* (Welling United)

 *Tahir Hanley* (Real de Minas)

Fans will not be allowed in the stadium, but the SKNFA will be broadcasting the match live on its Facebook page, beginning at 4pm.

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Basseterre, St. Kitts, June 01, 2021 (RSCNPF): The man who entered the Federation on May 11, 2021, at Lime Kiln Bay has been charged by both The Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force and the St. Kitts and Nevis Customs and Excise Department.

David Smith of Buckely’s is 27 years old and was arrested following his release from quarantine last week after testing negative for COVID-19.  The Police charged Smith on May 28, for the offence of Entering a Port that is not Recognized as an Appropriate Port of Entry and on May 31, for the offence of Entering the Federation Without Permission of the Ministry of National Security.

He was charged by the Customs and Excise Department on May 30, for the offences of Failing to File a Declaration With a Proper Officer; Arriving in the Federation in a Vessel at a Place Other than a Notified Place by a Customs Officer; Failure to Report Directly to a Customs or a Police Officer upon Arrival into the Federation; and Failure to Produce a Certificate of Clearance. He has been remanded to Her Majesty’s Prison.

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Haitian-Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka has received an outpouring of support from athletes across the world following her decision to withdraw from the French Open, citing mental health concerns.

The four-time Grand slam champion stunned the tennis world on May 31 when she pulled out of the French Open tournament after being fined $15,000 for skipping an obligatory post-match interview the day before. Osaka said she believed that the post-match interviews adversely affected the mental health of many athletes. After being fined and threatened with expulsion, Osaka announced her withdrawal on Twitter.

“I think now the best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being is that I withdraw so that everyone can go back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris,” she wrote.

“I never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and my message could have been clearer. More importantly, I would never trivialize mental health or use the term lightly.”

In the wake of her announcement, scores of past and present tennis champions showed her their support.

“So proud of you,” multiple Grand Slam winner Venus Williams posted on Twitter. “Take care of yourself and see you back winning soon!”

Another tennis champion, Venus’s sister, Serena Williams also voiced her support for Osaka during a post-match interview.

“Not everyone is the same. I’m thick. Other people are thin. Everyone is different and everyone handles things differently. You just have to let her handle it the way she wants to and the best way she thinks she can. That’s the only thing I can say: I think she is doing the best she can,” Williams said. “I feel like I wish I could give her a hug, because I know what it’s like. Like I said, I’ve been in those positions,” she told the Associated Press.

Billie Jean King, a former Number 1 tennis player, also echoed comments from the Williams sisters.

“It’s incredibly brave that Naomi Osaka has revealed her truth about her struggle with depression,” King wrote on social media. “Right now, the important thing is that we give her the space and time she needs. We wish her well.”

There were also messages of support posted on social media from athletes in other sports, including NFL player Russell Wilson and Jamaican Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt who sent her positive comments on social media.

“You shouldn’t ever have to make a decision like this — but so damn impressive taking the high road when the powers that be don’t protect their own. Major respect” wrote NBA All-Star Steph Curry.

Scores of Osaka’s sponsors including Nike, Nissin Foods, TAG Heuer, and Mastercard have also shown their support for the 23-year-old tennis champion, who said she will be taking some time away from the court.

It is not yet known if she will participate in the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, which start on June 28.

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