Tag Archives: caribbean

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WORLD VIEW: Astroworld Disaster, 6 Trump Aids Subpoened, APEC Post Pandemic Talks, More

Nov 09, 2021

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The Associated Press

The Rundown

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HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston police and fire departments were deeply involved in safety measures for the music festival where a surging crowd killed eight people, playing key roles in crowd control measures, on-site security staffing and the emergency…Read More

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Further expanding its probe, the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has issued subpoenas to six additional associates of former President Donald Trump who were closely involved in his efforts to over…Read More

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will have a rare virtual encounter this week as they gather online with other Pacific Rim leaders to chart a path to recovery out of the crisis brought on…Read More

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GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — At 19, Glasgow college student Ross Hamilton doesn’t think highly of world leaders — “they chat a lot of” nonsense — or expect them to accomplish anything on a problem he cares deeply about, climate change. …Read More

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KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — The protester and volunteer medic who survived after Kyle Rittenhouse shot him on the streets of Kenosha testified that he pointed his own gun at Rittenhouse but didn’t mean to and had no intention of firing it. …Read More

OTHER TOP STORIES

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian island north of Japan has become a testing ground for Moscow’s efforts to reconcile its prized fossil fuel industry with the need to do something ab…Read More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts in orbit since spring headed back to Earth on Monday, aiming for a late night splashdown off the Florida coast. The undocking of…Read More

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. humanitarian chief urged Myanmar’s military leaders on Monday to provide unimpeded access to the more than 3 million people in need of life-s…Read More

MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — Santa may have fewer eyes in homes this Christmas season after a Georgia judge — jokingly — banned the Elf on the Shelf. Cobb County Superior Court Chi…Read More

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Report: A Billion People Will Suffer Extreme Heat at Just 2C Increase

Climate crisis is driving up deadly combination of temperature and humidity, says study released at Cop26

 
Environment editor
Guardian

A billion people will be affected by extreme heat stress if the climate crisis raises the global temperature by just 2C, according to research released by the UK Met Office at the Cop26 climate summit. The scientists said that would be a 15-fold increase on the numbers exposed today.

The key goal of Cop26 is to keep the chance of limiting global heating to 1.5C alive but delegates said there is much work to do to achieve this in the summit’s final week.

The Met Office assessed wet-bulb temperature, which combines both heat and humidity. Once this measure reaches 35C, the human body cannot cool itself by sweating and even healthy people sitting in the shade will die within six hours. The Met Office analysis used a wet-bulb temperature limit of 32C, at which workers must rest regularly to avoid heat exhaustion, for at least 10 days a year.

If efforts to end the climate emergency fail and temperatures rise by 4C, half of the world’s population will suffer from this extreme heat stress.

Heat is the most obvious impact of global heating and extreme heat in cities across the world has tripled in recent decades, according to a recent study. In the summer of 2020, more than a quarter of the US population suffered from the effects of extreme heat, with symptoms including nausea and cramps.

At least 166,000 people died due to heatwaves around the globe in the two decades to 2017, according to the World Health Organization. The UK government has been repeatedly warned by its official climate advisers that the country is “woefully unprepared” for increased heat, particularly in vulnerable locations such as hospitals and schools.

People with hoses attempting to extinguish forest fires approaching the village of Pefki, on Evia island, Greece, in August.
Europe’s record summer ‘impossible’ without global heating

The Met Office analysis is derived from research from the EU-funded Helix project, which also maps the rising risks of river flooding, wildfires, drought and food insecurity. Virtually the entire inhabited world is affected by at least one impact.

Andy Wiltshire, at the Met Office, said: “Any one of the climate impacts presents a scary vision of the future. But, of course, severe climate change will drive many impacts, and our maps show that some regions will be affected by multiple factors.”

Tropical countries including Brazil, Ethiopia and India are hardest hit by extreme heat stress, with some parts being pushed towards the limit of human liveability. But Prof Albert Klein Tank, director of the Met Office Hadley Centre, said: “These maps reveal areas of the world where the gravest impacts are projected to occur. However, all regions of the world – including the UK and Europe – are expected to suffer continued impacts from climate change.”

Scientists have been warning about deadly levels of heat and humidity for some years. A 2015 study showing the Gulf in the Middle East, the heartland of the global oil industry, set to suffer heatwaves beyond the limit of human survival if climate change is unchecked.

The deadliest place on the planet for extreme future heatwaves will be the north China plain, one of the most densely populated regions in the world and the most important food-producing area in the huge nation, according to 2018 research.

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COP26: Focus on Gender as Giant Puppet Takes Center Stage

Here are five things you need to know about the COP26 climate change conference on Tuesday.

The inequalities that make women and girls more vulnerable to the effects of climate change are high on the agenda today. They form a large majority of the world’s poor, often depending on small-scale farming for their livelihoods. The UK government is set to announce £165m to tackle climate change while addressing and empowering women to take climate action. And we can expect an appearance from Little Amal, the giant puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee, meeting activists from the countries through which she has “walked” during a four-month, 8,000km (4,970-mile) journey from the Syrian border.

The Little Amal puppet in Manchester last weekImage source, Reuters
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2. What do climate scientists want from COP26?

With negotiations in Glasgow at a critical phase, we asked more than a dozen climate scientists, negotiators and economists what they wanted to see agreed. Top of their list is a greater commitment to “net zero” emissions targets – in other words not increasing the amount of greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide, produced when we burn coal, oil or gas to generate power) in the atmosphere. As Prof Martin Siegert from Imperial College London puts it: “The longer you leave it, the more difficult it is to deliver net zero by 2050.”

Girl holding a sign saying "If not you, who? If not now, when? COP26 Act Now"Image source, PA Media

3. Catch up on Monday’s events…Obama’s Message

Former US President Barack Obama earned a standing ovation for a speech declaring the world “nowhere near where we need to be” to avoid a climate catastrophe. He took aim at Donald Trump’s “active hostility toward climate science” and chided Russia and China for their absence, calling on young people to “stay angry” while harnessing their frustration to press for political change. However, some activists pointed out the US had failed to honour key pledges made by Mr Obama’s administration.

4. How not to be fooled by ‘greenwashing’

Want to shop sustainably but flummoxed by the language around “eco-friendly” products? Our business reporter Beth Timmins runs through seven ways to spot “greenwashing” – when companies make statements that make them sound more environmentally friendly than they really are.

Protesters in Glasgow with fake cleaning products branded as "greenwashing"
Protesters in Glasgow have taken aim at companies overstating their environmental credentials

5. The Scottish inventor ‘drilling the sky’ for energy

At his home in Shetland, he might be closer to Norway than Glasgow but engineer Rod Read’s big idea is one that would doubtless fly with a lot of the delegates. He’s developed a “turbine kite” technology that he says could be cheaper, more portable and even “cleaner” than static wind turbines.

COP26 PUSH NOTIFICATIONS: If you want to keep up with the latest around the climate summit, tap here to receive alerts on your phone.

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Get a longer daily news briefing from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning, by signing up here.

And there’s more…

You might have heard lots of references to the Paris agreement or accord. This was a legally binding international treaty on climate change, adopted by nearly 200 countries in 2015. Its most important aspect was an agreement between the countries to limit global temperature rises to well below 2C, and pursue efforts to limit them to 1.5C.

Graph showing the world is not on track to limit climate change to 1.5C

You can find further information on our climate page.

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COVID-19: Dr. Fauci Urges Bahamian Parents to Have Their Kids Vaccinated

The Bahamas like many places in the Caribbean is dealing with a high level of coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine hesitancy in the population.

And as young children become eligible to be vaccinated, Dr Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to the President of the United States, has urged Bahamians to allow their children to get vaccinated.

Children between 5 and 11 were recently approved to receive a smaller dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Children will receive two doses of the vaccine three weeks apart to become fully vaccinated.

Speaking today on Guardian Radio 96.9 FM, Fauci noted that the US has recorded over 2 million COVID-19 cases in children from the age group of which 83,000 required some form of hospitalisation.

According to Fauci, several thousand of those children developed the rare multisystem inflammatory syndrome and about 100 did not leave the hospital alive.

“Even though it is very clear that children do not generally get a serious case of COVID-19 as adults do but that doesn’t mean they are exempt from getting serious disease,” he said while noting that many children are asymptomatic and have spread the virus to people who are at risk of becoming extremely sick.

Fauci said the benefits of taking the vaccine far outweigh any of the perceived risks since vaccinated persons have a better chance of fighting the virus.

As of November 6, 136,328 eligible Bahamians are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

This figure represents over 33 per cent of the population.

The Bahamas inoculated its residents with the Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson, Sinopharm and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines.

Fauci added that people who are angry with him and other public health officials should “try to just drop back a few yards and think about what’s going on.”

“You have around you an outbreak. The people who are talking about getting vaccinated, the people who are developing the vaccines, are doing it to save lives and to prevent suffering; not to encroach on your civil liberties to decide what you want to do.”

“We are already right now in the middle of a historic, catastrophic outbreak that at least in a country like the United States has killed 750,000 people. That’s unheard of. That is the kind of thing they should focus on. The enemy is the virus.”

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Customs & Excise Dept. on Nevis to Hold Public Auction

The general public is hereby notified that in accordance with the Customs Act, No. 19 of 2014 sections 195 and 196; the St. Kitts and Nevis Customs and Excise Department (Nevis Division) would be having a Public Auction Sale on items that were imported on or before the 31st December, 2020.

This sale is slated for Thursday 11th November, 2021, at 1 p.m. at the Long Point Port. Terms of sale are strictly cash on the fall of the hammer.

The list of the items for auction are as follows:

Clothing, reading books, camera, auto parts, float, printer, watches, empty suit case, empty cooler, food warmer, cosmetics, amplifier, party supplies,  electronic supplies, phone supplies, books, motor oil, masks, bed pads, surgical blades, dish washer, Pampers, wipes, electronic box/breakers, basket, hair glue, glue stick, perfume, hair products, weed eater parts, televisions (damages), drums (musical), towels, step flashing kit for sky light, sheets, paint, window handles, CPU, A/C control, toy car (power wheel), tester, fencing fitting, A/C pump, lights (bathroom), vase, plastic cups, lawn chair, electrical panel, baking pan, truck filter, shocks, PVC fittings, kettle, drafting paper, face basin, radiator (auto), bug spray, pressure washer, wheel, sofa, box of glass bottles, washer, lighting fixtures, fiberglass tape, air filters, mat, range hood, sink, tarpaulin, paper bags, pipe fittings, Toyota Passo, and a fiberglass fishing vessel (damaged)

 

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St. Kitts and Nevis Feature in National Geographic Traveler UK Edition in December

St.Kitts and Nevis continue to attract strong international media coverage in key source markets to ensure that the Islands remain on the radar when people are planning their long-haul vacations.

In the most recent article, the Federation features among 14 other destinations in the National Geographic Traveller UK Edition in December 2021. The article is entitled “The Caribbean – Discover Cultures, Creatures & Cuisines on 14 of the Region’s Most Memorable Islands,” is penned by award-winning travel writer and photographer Nigel Tisdall who is based in London

Click to read the article

 

Attachments area

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US: Poll Shows Widespread COVID-19 Misinformation, US Opens Borders to Vaccinated, Corona World Summary

Almost 8 in 10 U.S. adults believe or are unsure of at least one false statement about COVID-19, according to polling data published Monday.

The poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) found that 78 percent of U.S. adults surveyed said they believe or were unsure of at least one of eight false COVID-19 statements that the organization tested.

That includes 38 percent who believe the government is exaggerating the number of COVID-19 deaths, 17 percent who believe pregnant women should not get the vaccine and 18 percent who believe deaths caused by the vaccine are being hidden by the government.

The survey results highlight the problem of misinformation in the battle against COVID-19, which has been a leading concern in efforts to get more people vaccinated. KFF states in an analysis of the data that it shows “belief in pandemic-related misinformation is widespread.”

“Belief in COVID-19 misinformation is correlated with both vaccination status and partisanship, with unvaccinated adults and Republicans much more likely to believe or be unsure about false statements compared to vaccinated adults and Democrats,” the analysis adds.

Among unvaccinated people, 64 percent believed or were unsure about four or more of the false statements. That was significantly lower among vaccinated people, at 19 percent.

Among Republicans, 46 percent believed or were unsure about four or more false statements, compared to 14 percent among Democrats.

There was also a split based on which news sources people trusted.

Less than 20 percent of people who trusted local TV news, NPR, MSNBC, network news, or CNN believed or were unsure of four or more false statements.

Among those who trusted Fox News, that was higher, at 36 percent, and among those who trusted Newsmax it was 46 percent.

KFF notes, though, that its study does not indicate whether those news outlets caused the false beliefs or whether people who already had the false beliefs tend to trust those news outlets.

The poll was conducted Oct. 14-24 among 1,519 adults and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

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US reopens doors to international travelers

© Associated Press/Seth Wenig

The U.S. opened its doors to international travelers on Monday after more than 18 months of COVID-19 restrictions, and some airports across the world celebrated the milestone with pomp and circumstance.

Starting Monday, fully vaccinated international travelers will be permitted to enter the U.S. as long as they show proof of inoculation and present a negative COVID-19 test that was taken within three days of travel. The new policy, which was first announced last month, applies to both land borders and air travel.

Celebrations: Travelers celebrated the new travel guidelines throughout the world on Monday.

At Heathrow Airport in London, employees welcomed passengers into the facility by waving American flags, according to The New York Times. Passengers at the airport who were boarding Virgin Atlantic flights were also greeted by performers dressed in red, white and blue garb.

Also at Heathrow, rival airlines British Airways and Virgin Atlantic commemorated the milestone day by synchronizing the departure times of both their flights to New York. The two aircraft took off at the same time on parallel runways.

At airports across Europe, excited groups of passengers lined up to board planes headed for the U.S., Agence France-Presse reported.

In Mexico and Canada, masked pedestrians, cars and motor homes were reportedly crowding along the countries’ borders with the U.S. as travelers prepared to enter the U.S.

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Venezuela begins vaccinating 2-year-old children with Cuban Vaccine

Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez addresses the media at the Miraflores Palace, in Caracas, Venezuela September 22, 2021. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria

Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez addresses the media at the Miraflores Palace, in Caracas, Venezuela September 22, 2021. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria

CARACAS, Nov 8 (Reuters) – Venezuela has begun vaccinating children aged 2 to 11 against COVID-19 with the Cuban Soberana 2 vaccine, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said on Monday.

Cuba, a close ally of President Nicolas Maduro’s government, says its Abdala, Soberana 2 and Soberana Plus vaccines have an efficacy greater than 90%.

While Cuban officials say initial results are similar to those of other vaccines that significantly reduce transmission, severe disease and death, critics have complained that those results have not yet been peer-reviewed.

“In Venezuela, the use of the Soberana 2 vaccine, a Cuban vaccine, has already been authorized to vaccinate children between 2 and 11 years old,” Rodriguez said live on state television.

From a school in western Caracas, Rodriguez added that medical workers had started vaccinating children whose immune systems were compromised.

There are approximately 3.5 million children between 2 and 11 years old in Venezuela, according to Health Minister Carlos Alvarado, who accompanied Rodriguez on the live broadcast.

Venezuelan medical and scientific academies, as well as pediatric unions, have expressed concern about the use of Cuban vaccines, saying that information on their safety and efficacy has not been published in scientific journals and their quality has not been verified in independent clinical trials or approved by the World Health Organization.

Most of the vaccines doled out in the OPEC member nation have been the Russian Sputnik V and the Chinese-made Sinopharm and Sinovac, which arrived through the global COVAX program.

Maduro’s government has said that 70% of Venezuela’s 28 million people have been vaccinated and that it expects to reach 90% by the end of the year.

But the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) says just 32% of the population has been inoculated.

Venezuela has reported 413,135 infections and 4,965 deaths due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Reporting by Vivian Sequera in Caracas Writing by Sarah Kinosian Editing by Matthew Lewis
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Factbox: Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

Syringes with the Pfizer vaccine are prepared for a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine clinic aimed at youths ages 12 or older at La Colaborativa in Chelsea, Massachusetts, U.S., June 11, 2021. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Syringes with the Pfizer vaccine are prepared for a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine clinic aimed at youths ages 12 or older at La Colaborativa in Chelsea, Massachusetts, U.S., June 11, 2021. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Nov 9 (Reuters) – New Zealand beefed up security measures at its parliament, as thousands of people gathered to protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and government lockdowns, while Britain said it would recognise COVID-19 vaccines on the World Health Organization’s Emergency Use Listing later this month. read more

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news

EUROPE

* Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 250 million on Monday as some countries in eastern Europe experience record outbreaks, even as the Delta variant surge eases and many countries resume trade and tourism.

* Germany’s infection rate has risen to its highest level since the start of the pandemic, and doctors warned they will need to postpone scheduled operations in coming weeks to cope.

* Denmark proposed reinstating the use of a digital “corona pass” to be presented when Danes visit indoor bars and restaurants. read more

AMERICAS

* The number of Boeing Co (BA.N) employees seeking a vaccine exemption on religious or medical grounds has reached more than 11,000 – or nearly 9% of its U.S. workforce – a level many times higher than executives initially estimated, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

* The Biden administration told a court on Monday it has clear authority to impose a COVID-19 vaccine rule on employers with at least 100 staff and that a court’s order on Saturday blocking the rule could cost dozens or even hundreds of lives daily. read more

* A U.S. federal judge on Monday ruled United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL.O) can impose a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on its employees that only provides unpaid leave for workers who are exempted for medical or religious reasons.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Unvaccinated people are 16 times more likely to end up in intensive care units or die from COVID-19, Australia’s New South Wales state said in a report, with officials urging people to get inoculated as Australia begins to live with the coronavirus. read more

* India ordered 10 million doses of Zydus Cadila’s (CADI.NS) DNA COVID-19 vaccine, while a toxic smog shrouding New Delhi alongside infection risks persuaded many students to stay home as schools reopened in the country. .

MIDDLE EAST

* Israeli health officials will decide behind closed doors on whether to allow child COVID-19 vaccinations. read more

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Pfizer and BioNTech are expected to seek authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine booster shot for people aged 18 and above as soon as this week, the Washington Post reported. read more

* Regeneron (REGN.O) said one dose of its antibody cocktail reduced the risk of contracting COVID-19 by 81.6% in two to eight months, following a late-stage trial. read more

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Asian shares followed Wall Street higher in early trade on Tuesday as the passage of a U.S. infrastructure bill boosted sentiment while oil prices gained on the outlook for energy demand in an expansive global economy.

* Concerns over higher inflation and tighter monetary policy have taken the mantle as the top concern for market participants, pushing aside the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Federal Reserve said in its latest report on financial stability. read more

* The Philippines’ annual economic growth slowed in the third quarter as renewed COVID-19 restrictions crimped demand, giving the central bank more reason to keep interest rates at a record low for a while. read more

Compiled by Rashmi Aich and Devika Syamnath; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Subhranshu Sahu

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COP26: Who Should Developing Countries Bill for Climate Impacts?

The countries hit hardest by climate change caused by developed nations want loss and damage to be included in climate finance talks. Will rich polluters finally listen?

A child walking on a small strip of sand surrounded by water A boy walks from school to his house in Aberao village in South Tarawa. Kiribati is one of the countries most affected by sea level rise

As the world struggles to keep the planet from overheating, the issue of who pays for the fallout of climate change is one of the major sticking points in negotiations at the UN climate conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland.

“Those who pollute are not being sanctioned,” Molwyn Joseph, Minister of Health, Wellness and the Environment for the Caribbean nation Antigua and Barbuda, told DW. “Those who pollute do not appear to be empathetic to the disaster that is faced by small island developing states as a result of the pollution.”

The effects of a hotter planet are already being felt today — droughts have wiped out entire harvests, flooding and supercharged hurricanes have destroyed people’s livelihoods and even entire islands have disappeared off the face of the Earth.

And countries most vulnerable to climate change are increasingly calling for funding commitments to address that harm ⁠— referred to in climate negotiations as loss and damage.

Broken promises

Current talks on climate financing, however, have mainly focused on helping countries develop their green economies, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and adapt to a warmer world. What hasn’t been properly addressed so far is the issue of loss and damage. Who picks up the tab when entire coastal communities have to be relocated, for instance?

“Small island developing states need to get a commitment that the issue of loss and damage will be dealt with in an urgent manner by this COP, and the process should start to see how the funding can be put in place,” Environment Minister Joseph said.

“Within the shortest time possible, so countries such as mine do not have to wait four years to recover from a disaster. We had a disaster in Barbuda in 2017. We’re still trying to recover and the government has been plunged into debt.”

Property destroyed by a hurricane When hurricane Irma hit the Caribbean island of Barbuda in 2017, it wiped out 90% of all property

Money, money, money

The issue of loss and damage is by no means new, and has been addressed at previous climate summits. Eight years ago, COP19 in the Polish capital gave rise to what is known as the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damageas a way of helping vulnerable countries deal with the devastating impacts of climate disaster. Although it was reaffirmed in the Paris Agreement, developed countries are reluctant to make solid financial commitments. Article 8 of the mechanism clearly states that it “does not involve or provide a basis for any liability or compensation.”

The issue of loss and damage is controversial because countries fear they could be held liable for every extreme weather event. And that could become very expensive. Studies suggest the economic costs of loss and damage by 2030 could run to between $400 billion (€345 billion) and $580 billion per year in developing countries.

Climate change – What’s at stake?

The island nation of Fiji puts those costs even higher. “We should be looking at the order of $750 billion per year, of which 10% should be earmarked for small island developing states,” Satyendra Prasad, Fiji’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, told DW.

More than 300 civil society organizations such as Climate Action Network, 350.org and Pan African Climate Justice Alliance sent an open letter to COP26 President Alok Sharma and world leaders, urging them to commit to delivering finance on loss and damage “on the basis of equity, historical responsibility and global solidarity, applying the polluter pays principle.”

Those in developing countries want firm agreement on how the financing will be sourced and channeled to countries suffering loss or damage.

“We are all calling for these global leaders not just to pledge, but to put the money on the table,” said Amath Pathe Sene, lead climate and environment specialist for West and Central Africa from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). “I think how the way the world reacted to the global pandemic, and we acted quickly with billions of dollars, we should do the same for climate change.”

Women walking across an arid landscape Farmland has been destroyed by high salt content due to rising sea levels in Senegal

Activists have also warned that most climate finance currently comes in the form of loans.

“What they are often offering is going to create more debt in Global South countries,” Kenyan Fridays for Future activist Eric Damien Njuguna told DW. “It doesn’t recognize the historical role of Global North countries in causing the climate crisis. So, in the end, we are paying back for something we didn’t cause in the first place.”

Breakthrough talks at COP26?

There are many ideas on the table to help finance the sums of money needed to pay for loss and damage. Antigua and Barbuda’s Environment Minister Joseph suggests putting a levy on oil. “We have 90 million barrels of oil traded in the world per day. Even if you put a levy of $1 on a barrel of oil that could raise enough money to at least begin to address the issue of loss and damage,” he said.

Small island developing nations are also exploring other avenues, should negotiations fail. Joseph said Antigua and Barbuda has joined with the South Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu to look into the possibility of legal action.

“It is somewhat unfortunate it has to come to that, but you have a situation where enough has not been done. And then the small island developing states now have to look at the options that are available to them,” he said.

“We are being responsible global citizens. We are cleaning up our environment. And at the same time, we have been victims of the polluters.”

COP26 in Glasgow | Satyendra Prasad Dozens of communities had to be relocated because of climate change, says Fiji’s Ambassador Satyendra Prasad

While he says he has seen some positive signs and is cautiously optimistic, climate activists like Eric Damien Njuguna are skeptical. “This is the 26th COP — one too many. And all of them have been a failure. And to be honest, it wouldn’t be a surprise for this COP26 to be a failure, either.”

However, Fiji’s Ambassador to the UN, Prasad, says many countries are very committed to recognizing that the small island developing states are facing extreme climate crisis.

“Many countries have said to us in bilateral discussions and in larger meetings that they want to help us address that,” he said. “So let us see — we have a week to go.”

DW

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A Film Producer in Paradise….MSR Media’s Big Plans for Nevis

MSR’ Media’s Philippe Martinez has extended a deal with St Kitts & Nevis, to shoot multiple feature films there over a three-year period.

Under the deal, struck with the premier of Nevis Mark Brantley, the Nevisian government provides access to locations on the island and accommodation support for cast. In return, MSR is augmenting the film industry on the island, including job creation and roles for local actors.

Christmas In The Caribbean starring Elizabeth Hurley is currently in production under the deal, while previous titles include comedies A Week In Paradise and One Year Off, and thriller Assailant.

MSR also produces from its UK base in York, making festive features such as Father Christmas Is Back, sold to Netflix; and My Dad’s Christmas Date, sold to Amazon Prime Video.

Martinez, talking to Screen Daily, answered a few questions about his operation’s plans for Nevis and the Federation.

How do you select the projects you make at MSR Media?

We have a department that receives scripts from writers. What’s key is to make screenplays that are what the platforms want. For independent producers, the business is coming down to Netflix, Amazon and some smaller platforms. Producers or sales agents don’t like to say this because they are afraid – they like to maintain the illusion that things are going well. The traditional formula of selling country by country just doesn’t work anymore; the distributors that we used to work with are facing an economical challenge, with Covid and the fact that Netflix and Amazon are now the main players.

 

A Week in Paradise First Look Cannes Malin Ackerman Phillip Winchester-3 (1)

Source: MSR Media      ‘A Week In Paradise’

What is the structure at MSR Media?

We have 50 people working permanently in the company – five in our US office on distribution, and 20 to 30 in the UK. The rest are on St Kitts and Nevis, where we’ve established a production company and shoot four movies a year.

Are UK crew moving there permanently?

Some go back to see families or for other reasons; we have very little turnover. When you’re a crew members and you know that you’re going to do four movies a year with a company, it’s safety in these uncertain times. I operate like a theatre company – I like to work with the same actors. It’s a good feeling to work with actors you know you can rely on.

What work are you doing to grow the Nevisian industry?

The island does not have a studio facility yet so we use the beautiful locations. We brought film equipment from the UK, and we opened an acting academy with 20 students, aged from 20 to 60+. To fly one person thousands of miles away for half a day of shooting doesn’t make sense so every time we have small speaking parts in these films, we use them [the local actors].

Are markets still important to the film industry?

It’s a cornerstone in the mentality of sales agents to say, “We have to prepare [for example] AFM.” But as a producer, I’m preparing my sales on a daily basis by talking to the platforms, and to the US distributors about what we want to develop for the next movie. For the past 30 years we used to go to markets and have one-to-one discussions with distributors. Now it’s all about zoom calls. But it’s just not the same. I don’t share the excitement about digital markets. Having a client from Italy on a zoom call? We do that all year long anyway.

Screen Daily

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