Tag Archives: caribbean

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SKN First in Eastern Caribbean to Exceed Covid-19 Vaccination Target

Economic Times– The Federation of St Kitts and Nevis is the first in the region to reach a vital vaccination milestone. As of now, over 72 percent of the adult population and over eight percent of the target population of children between 12 to 17 years are fully vaccinated. This exceeds the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s benchmark of ensuring 40 percent of a country’s population is vaccinated.

The high vaccination rate is an essential milestone for the Federation as the virus continues to wreak havoc in the health and economic sectors around the world, said the country’s medical official Dr Cameron Wilkinson.

“Earlier this year, [St Kitts and Nevis was] recognised as the nation with the lowest risk of COVID-19 in this part of the hemisphere, and we can earn that recognition again once we continue to increase vaccination coverage and use non-pharmaceutical products to protect us,” he added.

To strengthen the country’s health sector and fight the pandemic, the government has spent over EC$18 million (US$6.7 million), said Prime Minister Timothy Harris last month.

He also said that the country would spend an additional EC$5 million (US$1.85 million) on such health initiatives by the end of the year, bringing the government’s total COVID-related expenditure to more than EC$23 million (US$8.5 million).

As a small island nation, a large part of St Kitts and Nevis’ economy relies on tourism revenue. When COVID-19 spurred international border closures and lockdowns, bringing tourism to a halt, important initiatives like Poverty Alleviation Programme.

“St Kitts and Nevis entered the Covid-19 pandemic from a position of fiscal strength following nearly a decade of budget surpluses. A significant part of the large CBI revenues was prudently saved, reducing public debt below the regional debt target of 60 percent of GDP and supporting accumulation of large government deposits,” a recent IMF report stated.

 

 

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Analysis: Big U.S., Brazil Harvests, Slow China Demand, Ease Crop Shortage Fears

By and
Spring wheat is inspected in central North Dakota, U.S., July 25, 2018. REUTERS/Julie Ingwersen/File Photo
Western Canadian canola fields are seen in full bloom before harvest in rural Alberta, Canada July 23, 2019. REUTERS/Todd Korol/File Photo

CHICAGO/NEW YORK, Nov 8 (Reuters) – Big U.S. harvests, near-perfect weather for planting in Brazil and signs of slowing purchases by top buyer China are bolstering supplies of two of the top globally traded commodities: soy and corn.

The rising stocks indicate that prices for those key crops, as well as for other staples such as sugar and coffee, may have peaked after the surge sparked by the onset of the pandemic, farmers, brokers and analysts said.

Lower crop prices would be good news for consumers after global food prices soared to the highest level in a decade, according to the United Nations food agency. read more

Dwindling supplies and strong global demand for crops over the past 18 months drove food inflation and spurred fears of shortages.

Cheaper soy and corn would lower the cost of feeding livestock used to produce meat, which has been out of reach for many people during the COVID-19 pandemic. But falling prices could threaten farmers’ profits, especially after seed and fertilizer companies raised prices on crop inputs.

Since topping out at near-decade highs in May, Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures have fallen 27% while corn futures fell 24% as near-perfect growing conditions across broad swaths of the United States led to a bountiful harvest.

But with the northwestern United States and Canada still reeling from a historic drought and dry weather potentially continuing there due to the La Niña climate phenomenon, prices of oats, wheat and canola are poised to remain high, meaning food inflation is far from over. Wheat futures recently surged to a nine-year top.

The market for soybeans is under the most pressure, as rising supplies and concerns about a cooling of Chinese demand are pushing prices lower.

After finishing the 2021 harvest of what he called a bigger-than-average soybean crop on the 3,600-acre farm he operates in Woodhull, Illinois, Drew DeSutter booked some sales on soybeans he will deliver to grain dealers in 2022 in case the market declines by the time that crop, which he has not even planted yet, matures.

“I do not think it is a bad idea for farmers to set some prices on next year’s crop,” DeSutter said.

The U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) raised its outlook for world supplies of soybeans every month since it gave initial projections for the current marketing year in May. If the current forecast of 104.57 million tonnes is realized, that would be the second-biggest world soybean stocks record.

China, the top global buyer of soybeans, has slowed purchases in recent months due to poor margins crushing soy into meal and oil to feed livestock. Analysts say shipments to China in 2021 might be less than 100 million tonnes due to a collapse in hog sector profitability and a sharp rise in the use of wheat for animal feed. read more

Even prices of vegetable oils including palm oil, which surged due in part to a labor shortage in Malaysia, have begun to show weakness, with palm oil posting losses in three of the last four weeks. But soy and canola oil have been in high demand for biodiesel, as companies transition to greener fuel. read more

While poor weather, has cast doubt on the state of China’s corn crop, the USDA and private analysts expect China to import less of the grain than it did last year. Global corn supplies were seen rising 4.1% in the 2021/22 crop year, according to USDA data.

China was set to import 20 million tonnes of corn in the 2021/22 year, down from 29 million tonnes in 2020/21, an analyst from a Chinese government institute said in late September.

“Given the current balance of supply and demand, I believe that the higher prices are behind us,” said Camilo Motter, a grain broker in Brazil, the top global producer of soybeans, sugar and coffee.

IDEAL PLANTING WEATHER

Argentina, projected to be the world’s third-largest corn supplier and fourth-largest supplier of soy this year, is expected to produce a record corn crop and a larger soybean crop than last year, according to the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange.

After a rough growing season, Brazil has had ideal weather for planting its next crop – long stretches of dry days for field work followed by ample rains that helped shepherd crops through the early stages of development.

In Brazil’s coffee belt, the largest amount of rain for the month of October since 1983 fell, after farmers struggled with the worst drought in nearly a century earlier in 2021. Although some damage was already done to plants by frosts and drought, market players believe the ample moisture could give next year’s crop a large boost.

Montesanto Tavares Group, a large coffee producer and processor in Brazil, expects a near-record crop in 2022.

“The abundant rains from the last 20 days brought breath to farmers,” Montesanto Tavares Group said.

Benchmark sugar prices on the ICE exchange touched a 4-1/2-year peak on Oct. 11 amid signs of renewed demand from China in a period when Brazil production data confirmed a dismal crop in the world’s top grower after a harsh drought.

But the long-term supply outlook seemed to improve since, analysts say, due to the weather in Brazil and good prospects for the upcoming harvest in India and Thailand, the other two large global players. Market speculators have begun to slash their long sugar position, an indication that their year-long bets on rising prices might be ending.

“With the market range-bound and upside potential deemed to be limited, speculators have probably decided to take their profits and deploy their funds elsewhere,” a European sugar trader said.

WHEAT, CANOLA REMAIN TIGHT

In the northern U.S. Plains, farmer Doyle Lentz managed to squeak through this year’s drought with a surprisingly big soybean crop but faced shortfalls in canola and spring wheat production due to the dry soils. For next year, he has booked some sales of soybeans but was holding off on canola and wheat contracts due to uncertainties about prices of fertilizer and other inputs.

Lentz said he would not be able to turn a profit on canola at current prices and would need a further rally before he committed any acres to that crop.

“We are going to have to spend a lot more time with the calculators and when we get to some point where we can make a profit we will have to lock that in,” said Lentz, who has a 6,000 acre farm in Rolla, North Dakota.

In the Canadian Prairies, the severe drought that shrank production of grains and canola is likely to extend into 2022, said Colin Laroque, professor of soil science at University of Saskatchewan.

The La Niña weather phenomenon usually means cold, dry weather for the Prairies, at least into February, he said. It would take a deluge of rain in spring to counter the drought and restore soil moisture, but a soaking on that scale would make it difficult to plant crops, he added.

“Generally, multi-year drought means a multi-year recharge,” Laroque said. “A quick solution is never a good solution.”

Reporting by Mark Weinraub in Chicago and Marcelo Teixeira in New York Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore, Hallie Gu in Beijing, Ana Mano in Sao Paulo, Rod Nickel in Winnipeg and Maximilian Heath in Buenos Aires Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Matthew Lewis

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WORLD VIEW: US Opens Border, Nicaragua Election, Israel Wall, German COVID Deaths, More

Nov. 8, 2021

Alternate text
  • The U.S. lifted restrictions Monday on travel from a long list of countries including Mexico, Canada and most of Europe, allowing tourists to make long-delayed trips and family members to reconnect with loved ones after more than a year and a half apart because of the pandemic.
  • Fresh from his victory in winning the passage of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, President Joe Biden must now see that the funds are spent so that Americans can feel a real impact.
  • In Nicaragua, provisional vote totals are expected in elections where President Daniel Ortega is seeking a fourth consecutive term in polls the United States has called a “pantomime” following the jailing of his top rivals.
  • And in the Middle East, nearly two decades after Israel sparked controversy by building a barrier on the border with Palestine, it has become a seemingly permanent feature of the landscape — even as Israel encourages its citizens to settle on both sides.
  • The magic 1.5: What’s behind climate talks’ key elusive goal.
  • German COVID infection rate at new high as vaccinations slow.
  • Tight harmonies credited for making Carpenters’ songs worldwide hits.

ANDREW MELDRUM

Africa News Editor

JOHANNESBURG

The Associated Press

The RundowoI'm an image

The U.S. lifted restrictions Monday on travel from a long list of countries including Mexico, Canada and most of Europe, allowing tourists to make long-delayed trips and family members to reconnect with loved ones after more than a year and a half…Read More

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REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP) — He has been here before. President Joe Biden doesn’t need to look any further back than his time as vice president to grasp the challenges that lie ahead in promoting his new $1 trillion infrastructure deal to the Ameri…Read More

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QAFFIN, West Bank (AP) — Three days a week, Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank village of Qaffin line up at a yellow gate and show military permits to soldiers in order to tend their crops on the other side of Israel’s separation barrie…Read More

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MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega sought a fourth consecutive term in elections the United States has called a “pantomime” following the jailing of his top rivals and the country’s opposition has urged voters to boycott….Read More

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HOUSTON (AP) — Investigators are expected to examine the design of safety barriers and the use of crowd control in determining what led to a crush of spectators at a Houston music festival that left eight people dead and hundreds more injured. …Read More

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BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s coronavirus infection rate climbed to its highest recorded level yet on Monday as what officials have called a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” gat…Read More

Glasgow, Scotland (AP) — One phrase, really just a number, dominates climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland: The magic and elusive 1.5. That stands for the international go…Read More

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Every sha-la-la-la, every wo-o-wo-o still shines,” the Carpenters’ sang in “Yesterday Once More,” their hit 1973 tribute to the songs of the past. It…Read More

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — A fox joined the Trojans and Sun Devils on the field. The Pac-12 game Saturday night between Southern California and Arizona State was briefly delaye…Read More

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Spurred by Reopening, More Migrants Head for U.S.-Mexico Border

TIJUANA, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Emboldened by news that the United States and Mexico will reopen shared land-border crossings, hundreds of migrants have arrived at Mexican border cities like Tijuana, hoping the reset will make it easier to cross and seek U.S. asylum.

Starting on Monday, the nearly 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border will be open again to non-essential travel after a 20-month closure aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. Both countries have succeeded in lowering new infections and vaccinating border communities.

Another drive to enter the United States could increase pressure on Washington to tighten the border after a jump in migrantsthis year from troubled areas of Central America and the Caribbean tested President Joe Biden.

“I’m going to try. We want to get across the border. I can’t be in Mexico anymore. There’s a lot of violence here,” said Andrea Morales, a Guatemalan who has been living in a makeshift camp for a month next to Tijuana’s El Chaparral border crossing.

“Four days ago, the government took away our lights and fenced us in like animals. I put my faith in God so I can cross and give my kids a better life,” Morales said as she stood nursing her baby amid dozens of tents.

Local authorities angered migrants last week when they threw away tents and other belongings that had been left in the camp they have occupied since February.

‘MISINFORMATION’

Migrant advocates say many people have been misled about what the border restart means for their asylum prospects.

“There’s a lot of misinformation. We have explained to them that the reopening of the border is for people who have papers, a visa, to cross and it’s not a reopening for people to cross and ask for asylum and humanitarian aid,” said Jose Garcia, head of migrant shelter Movimiento Juventud 2000 in Tijuana.

“They haven’t listened to us and they don’t want to wait,” he added, saying the number of migrants in the shelter had risen by a third since the reopening was announced on Oct. 15.

Mexicans are also arriving.

Many migrants in Tijuana said they were fleeing violence in Mexican states such as Michoacan and Guerrero, and aimed to cross on Monday to ask for asylum.

In 2020, 9,700 Mexicans were displaced by violence, a jump of over a third from the previous year, according to the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

The pandemic, along with a surge in U.S. asylum requests, has meant thousands of migrants spend months in Mexico waiting for a response to their petitions or just a chance to file them.

“I never left with the intention of staying in Mexico. It’s like Honduras,” said Augusto Martinez, a Honduran who arrived in Tijuana three weeks ago with his wife and five children. “We’re definitely going to try and cross.”

Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Editing by Dave Graham and Peter Cooney

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Brazil: Tribal Chief Warns Welsh Soya Imports Wrecking Indigenous Lifestyle

BBC- A Brazilian tribal chief has warned Welsh soya imports could be responsible for “not only deforestation but indigenous blood”.

Rivelino Verá Gabriel said soy farming was wrecking the lifestyle of the South American nation’s Mbya Guarani people.

It comes as the effect on deforestation by goods imported to Wales from high risk areas is exposed in a new report.

It has led the Welsh government to promise action on products such as beef, soy and palm oil.

Mr Gabriel lives in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest and is a coordinator of the Guarani Yvyrupa Commission, which brings together members of the Guarani people.

Commenting on the report, he said: “People who buy soya must know where it comes from, that there’s strong traceability.

“They need to know whether this soya they’re buying to feed a chicken from Wales, for instance, is coming from deforested areas in indigenous territories.”

Deforestation meant the ability of his people to survive was becoming increasingly hard, he said.

Rivers became polluted, traditional herbs could not be found, and hunting was made more difficult.

Environment charities calculated an area 40% the size of Wales grew a handful of key commodities for it.

It has led to calls for climate change targets to be amended to take account of goods shipped in from abroad.

deforestation
The effect on deforestation by goods imported to Wales has been exposed in a new report

What does the report say?

Charities WWF Cymru, Size of Wales and RSPB Cymru worked on the study.

They looked at cocoa, palm, beef, leather, natural rubber, soy, timber, pulp and paper imports.

The report showed nearly a third of land used to grow these for Wales are in countries at high risk of deforestation, and exploitation of workers.

Carbon emissions linked to forest clearance to provide soy, cocoa, palm and rubber imports alone were equivalent to nearly a quarter of Wales’ transport emissions every year.

An area five times Newport’s size is used to grow soy for Wales.

The charities said Wales’ people were contributing to deforestation by eating meat fed on such “high-risk soy”.

Meanwhile, each year Wales uses land overseas the size of the Brecon Beacons to satisfy demand for beef.

More than a quarter (26%) is in countries at high risk of deforestation and labour exploitation.

What can Wales do about deforestation?

The report advises the Senedd to encourage farmers to adopt nature and climate-friendly practices which do not rely on imported animal feed.

A strategy that drives and rewards traceable farm-to-fork supply chains is also urged.

The charities want the Welsh and UK governments to ensure post-Brexit trade deals guarantee high environmental and social standards.

Newport
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An area five times Newport’s size is used to grow soy for Wales

Current Welsh targets to cut greenhouse gases and reach net zero only focus on domestic emissions so there is a drive for a report that accounts for those caused by imports.

WWF Cymru’s Shea Buckland-Jones said Wales was having a “catastrophic” effect on the world’s forests.

“We know what needs to be done and this report sets out some of the solutions,” he said.

“Wales must act now by changing how we buy, consume and invest.”

Size of Wales’ deputy director, Barbara Davies Quy, said the COP26 summit was a chance for Wales to show leadership and take bold action.

“The Welsh government must seize this opportunity to drive positive change in our supply chains and commit to including deforestation free targets in all public sector spending,” she said.

In COP26’s first major deal last week, more than 100 leaders promised to end and reverse deforestation by 2030.

The UK was among signatories. The charities say action is needed sooner.

Julie James met with members of Peru's indigenous Wampis people
Welsh government minister Julie James said she was determined to change Welsh government procurement policy

Figures suggest almost 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been lost and, if another 5% goes, a tipping point could be triggered where it will not be able to sustain itself as a tropical rainforest.

Wales’ climate change minister, Julie James, said the report was “shocking”.

“We absolutely have to do something to diminish and hopefully eliminate our footprint abroad as well as at home.”

She was “absolutely determined” to change Welsh government procurement policy.

“We will also need to talk to all of our supermarkets and other purchasers across Wales to get everybody on board,” she said.

Ms James said she had met with members of Peru’s indigenous Wampis people at the conference.

“They were telling me about the destruction of their native lands, the deforestation, completely unintended by people who don’t really understand what they’re buying,” she said.

Changing climate change targets, she said, was something the Welsh government was “determined to do”.

Aled Hill of burger restaurant Ansh
Cook Aled Hill said people should question where produce comes from

 

Cardiff burger restaurant Ansh has started taking action.

The meat for its burgers comes from their farm, where it uses sustainable methods to rear their animals.

“It’s important that people question where produce comes from, where the meat comes from, where the food comes from,” cook Aled Hill said.

“Because you don’t know whether something you buy is causing huge damage overseas.”

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Marília Mendonça: Popular Brazil Singer Dies in Plane Crash at 26

Marília Mendonça, one of Brazil’s most popular contemporary singers, has been killed in a plane crash at the age of 26, officials say.

Four other people – her uncle, her producer and two crew members – also died in the accident in a rural area in south-eastern Minas Gerais state.

An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the crash.

A Latin Grammy winner in 2019, Mendonça became famous for focusing on women’s experiences with failed relationships.

One of the biggest names of Brazilian country music known as sertanejo, Mendonça started her career as a teenager, and became a national star in 2016 with a hit about infidelity. She was known as the country’s “Queen of Suffering”.

Last year, as concerts were cancelled because of the pandemic, she performed in a series of online gigs. One of them set the record of the most-watched live stream in the world, with 3.3 million peak viewers on YouTube.

In 2020, she was the most listened to artist in Brazil on Spotify.

Mendonça, who had a two-year-old son, was set to perform at a concert on Friday evening in the city of Caratinga, 12km (seven miles) from the crash site. Hours before the accident, she posted a video on social media in which she prepared to board the private aircraft.

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Nicaragua: Ortega Tightens Grip on Power in Farcical Election Landslide

A woman walks in front of a billboard with a picture of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega
Daniel Ortega has been president since 1997, and led Nicaragua between 1979 and 1990

Preliminary results from the Nicaraguan general election suggest that incumbent President Daniel Ortega has won by a landslide.

With about half of the ballots counted, Mr Ortega has secured around 75% of the vote. But as the BBC’s Central America Correspondent Will Grant reports, the result hardly comes as a surprise.

As the Nicaraguan president, Daniel Ortega, stepped back from casting his ballot, his supporters lining the polling station broke into supposedly spontaneous applause.

Holding his thumb in the air to show off the voting ink, he and his wife, Vice-President Rosario Murillo, drank in the noise for the state television cameras before being whisked away in a silver Mercedes-Benz.

He might as well have declared himself the victor there and then.

This was an election in which the result was never in question. In fact, the outcome in Nicaragua was decided months before a vote was even cast or counted.

From the moment on 2 June when police appeared at the home of his main rival, Cristiana Chamorro, and placed her under house arrest for alleged money-laundering, it was clear that President Ortega would be re-elected for another five-year term.

In the following days and weeks, there was a slew of further detentions of presidential hopefuls – seven of them in total – including a former Nicaraguan ambassador to the US, Arturo Cruz Jr, and Cristiana Chamorro’s cousin, Juan Sebastián Chamorro. Even her brother, Pedro Joaquín, a journalist in his 70s, was arrested for merely voicing interest in running during an interview.

Three hours after uttering those words, the police arrived at his door too.

Alexa Zamora
Image caption,

Exiled activist Alexa Zamora called on Nicaraguans to boycott the election

The clampdown has shocked Latin America for its speed and ruthlessness. Most of the detained candidates and many other Ortega critics have been charged under a controversial treason law.

Addressing the nation after voting, Mr Ortega again likened the round-up of his opponents to the trials in the United States of those who stormed the Capitol on 6 January.

“They have as much right as we do to open trials against terrorists,” he said, adding that the “immense majority of Nicaraguans voted for peace and not terrorism or war”.

Unsurprisingly, the president’s claims did not wash with the exiled Nicaraguans who turned out to protest in Costa Rica’s capital, San José. Instead they urged their compatriots to boycott the election in an effort to further delegitimise the vote.

“This is a consummate fraud, and all Nicaraguans are aware of it,” said Alexa Zamora of the National Blue-and-White Unity group, an opposition alliance.

“We’re calling on the international community not to recognise this vote and on Nicaraguan citizens still inside the country to stay away from the voting stations,” she yelled above the chanting and bullhorns.

Lionel Hernández
Image caption,

Lionel Hernández is resigned to the outcome of the election, saying “only God can remove a king”

Even before polls had closed, the White House issued the kind of statement the protesters were hoping for, calling the vote “a pantomime election that was neither free nor fair, and most certainly not democratic”.

A vote, then, with no meaningful rivals, no independent election observers or foreign media. At a Costa Rican border crossing of Peñas Blancas, several international journalists, including from the BBC, were denied permission to enter the country to cover the vote.

But while we could not get in, thousands are desperate to leave. Droves of Nicaraguans have fled the Ortega government since the crackdown began, often crossing into Costa Rica via blind spots along the jungled border.

Lionel Hernández charges the migrants a handful of dollars to make the illegal journey across his land. A Nicaraguan, Mr Hernández said he intended to cross back into the country to cast his ballot but was resigned over the outcome.

“Every country in the world has corrupt elections, even the United States. And only God can remove a king,” he shrugs.

For those who no longer want to live as subjects under the reign of Daniel Ortega and his courtiers, their options are limited. Hundreds of Nicaraguans are currently making their way through southern Mexico as part of a migrant caravan slowing heading north.

People pictured walking though a forest in Mexico
Image caption,

Hundreds of Nicaraguan migrants are making their way through Mexico

Among them is Carla – not her real name – who used to work for the Sandinista government. When she became disillusioned and tried to leave the party, she was intimidated by armed pro-Ortega radicals who turned up at her house.

“It’s getting worse and worse,” she said under a thatched roof of a temporary shelter.

“Murders are going up, there are paramilitary groups who kill people. You can hardly go out, you can’t express yourself. If you do, you’ll be killed. Everyone knows these groups are controlled by the government.”

Daniel Ortega is perhaps the last Cold War warrior. As Washington’s nemesis during the Reagan Administration, he was second only to the late Cuban leader, Fidel Castro.

Following Mr Ortega’s return to power in 2007, he has thrown off all the vestiges of his leftist guerrilla past. Behind a façade of pseudo-evangelical language, particularly from Rosario Murillo, there is an iron ruthlessness to the couple’s will to remain in power until the bitter end.

Their supporters will claim another five-year term is somehow the will of the majority of Nicaraguan people. In reality, President Ortega’s rule is increasingly repressive, autocratic and dynastic – and this controversial vote only further consolidates his control over his fiefdom.

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New Caribbean Airline to Serve Guyana, Barbados

A new passenger airline, interCaribbean Airways, has entered the local airspace and will be offering 12 round trips between Guyana and Barbados starting December 17.

InterCaribbean Airways is a regional airline that offers flights to some 27 destinations within the Caribbean. Currently, a base in Barbados serves as a hub to other Eastern Caribbean destinations and now, Guyana.

The airline was launched by Guyana’s Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill on Friday where he explained that with ties between Guyana and Barbados becoming stronger, the direct route was discussed in great detail with the airline.

Importantly, Edghill noted that Guyanese can have as many as three different times they can fly to Barbados on specific days.

“You can go to Barbados in the morning and come back in the evening,” Edghill declared.

The minister also alluded to the addition of other travel routes eventually. But, he charged the airline to provide world-class service to the people of Guyana who are expecting long-lasting, quality services.

“We want you to stay in the market, we want you to grow even if there are other competitors,” Edghill stated, noting that there is a growing need for aviation services in Guyana.

Meanwhile, the Minister within the Ministry of Public Works Deodat Indar noted that two of the airways’ planes will be stationed in Guyana and interCaribbean is expected to create about 20 jobs. Importantly, too, the airline will be working alongside locally-owned Roraima Airways.

Indar also highlighted the growing aviation sector and the need for additional carriers to facilitate the travel of tourists, business people and workers.

The airline’s Chairman Lyndon Gardiner said that interCaribbean aims to provide easier intra-regional travel, recognising that there is a dearth of such services. Importantly, he said that he planned to establish this airline in each major Caribbean city with an airport by 2025 before the COVID-19 pandemic slowed those plans.

Still, he said that expansion was a crucial consideration and Guyana’s attractiveness as a business destination was all the more inviting for the company.

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US: Pandemic End in Sight, States Vaccine Rebellion, Summary, World Stats

END IN SIGHT? GOTTLIEB SAYS PANDEMIC COULD BE OVER IN US BY JANUARY

Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Friday that he thinks the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States could be over by January, transitioning to a lower-level “endemic” presence.

“I think the bottom line though is that these mandates that are going to be put in place by Jan. 4 really are coming on the tail end of this pandemic,” Gottlieb said on CNBC, referring to President Biden’s deadline for a vaccine or test mandate for businesses with at least 100 employees. “By Jan. 4 this pandemic may well be over at least as it relates to the United States after we get through this delta wave of infection. And we’ll be in more of an endemic phase of this virus.”

It’s not totally going away: The coronavirus is not expected to disappear entirely, but it could settle into a lower-level, constant presence that does not cause the disruption and harm of the past year and a half.

New treatments: In addition to vaccines, Gottlieb, who is on the board of Pfizer, also pointed to results from new treatments, including a pill from Pfizer that the company said Friday was found to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death from COVID-19 by 89 percent.

“Once we get through this delta wave of infection over the course of the next two months, I think that this therapeutic and the other innovations that we’ve seen coming to market really mark the end of the pandemic in the United States,” Gottlieb said. “We need to think about how we put that victory sign on the side of the White House.”

26 states push back on Biden vaccine rules
© Associated Press/Susan Walsh

More than two dozen states are balking against the Biden administration’s coronavirus vaccine-or-test mandate for businesses that have at least 100 employees, setting up the latest legal challenge between Republicans and the White House.

Several coalitions — which include 25 attorneys general and one solicitor general — filed petitions with federal appeals courts asking for the mandate to be blocked.

One group, led by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and including 10 others, filed a lawsuit in the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, claiming that the requirement is “unconstitutional, unlawful, and unwise.”

The lawsuit alleges that the Biden administration did not have the constitutional authority to implement the mandate which “unconstitutionally infringes on the States’ powers.”

“Its unlawful mandate will cause injuries and hardship to working families, inflict economic disruption and staffing shortages on the States and private employers, and impose even greater strains on struggling labor markets and supply chains,” the attorneys general allege in the lawsuit, which requested that the court stay the requirement pending review.

Another challenge: A separate coalition of Republican attorneys general also filed a petition with the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, also arguing that OSHA has neither the constitutional or statutory authority to implement the rule.

“OSHA’s vaccination mandate represents a real threat to individual liberty,” West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said in a statement on Friday. “As we have seen throughout the country, it is also a public policy disaster that displaces vulnerable workers and exacerbates a nationwide shortage of front-line workers, with severe consequences for all Americans.

DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR COMES OUT AGAINST VACCINE MANDATE

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, said she doesn’t think having a coronavirus vaccine mandate is the “correct” or “most effective” move.

Kelly, who is up for reelection next year, said she appreciates “the intention to keep people safe” but doesn’t think the administration’s vaccinate-or-test requirements serve as a “solution for Kansas.”

“It is too late to impose a federal standard now that we have already developed systems and strategies that are tailored for our specific needs,” she said.

Her disapproval of the administration’s move comes as many Republican governors and attorneys general have voiced their opposition to the vaccine-or-test requirements for businesses.

The administration predicts the latest federal mandate will save thousands of lives and prevent more than 250,000 hospitalizations in its first six months. Kansas has seen more than 6,400 COVID-19 deaths and beyond 15,000 hospitalizations throughout the pandemic.

Kansas is ranked in the middle of the pack for its vaccination rate, with the state government reporting 53.7 percent of the total population have gotten at least one dose, while less than half are fully vaccinated.

HHS parts ways with Emergent
 

© Getty

A contract between the Biden administration and Emergent BioSolutions, a vaccine contractor who has struggled with production failures during the pandemic, has been canceled.

Emergent unveiled in its earnings report that the Department of Health and Human Services and the company ended the $650 million contract in a “mutual agreement.”

The company said they had agreed to forego about $180 million of the contract’s $650 million total.

Flashback: The contract was signed at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 under the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed, but the administration stopped payments after the spring of this year when issues at the company’s Maryland plant were disclosed.

This past spring, the plant was forced to destroy the equivalent of tens of millions of doses of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine because of suspected contamination with an ingredient for the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Production was halted by the Food and Drug Administration after the contamination, delaying the rollout of J&J’s vaccine. The plant was eventually allowed to reopen after an inspection in August.

Emergent executive: In an op-ed for The Baltimore Sun, Kramer directed blame for the failures of the contracts toward the government.

“The original intent of this partnership was to create a facility that could produce 50 million dose-equivalents of influenza vaccine drug substance in four months in the event of a pandemic,” Kramer said. “Facility expansion was only a first step. To build and maintain a state of readiness, continued investment is a necessity. The government maintained that they would provide us with the necessary drug development work to build and maintain those capabilities. That didn’t happen.

Nov 8 (Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:

Global COVID-19 cases hit 250 million

Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 250 million on Monday as some countries in eastern Europe report record outbreaks, even as the Delta variant surge eases elsewhere and many countries resume trade and tourism. The daily average number of cases has fallen by 36% over the past three months, according to a Reuters analysis, but the virus is still infecting 50 million people every 90 days due to the highly transmissible Delta variant.

Infections are still rising in 55 out of 240 countries, with Russia, Ukraine and Greece at or near record levels of reported cases since the pandemic started two years ago, according to a Reuters analysis. More than half the world’s population has yet to receive a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to Our World in Data, a figure that drops to less than 5% in low-income countries. read more

Australia begins vaccine booster rollout as more curbs ease

Australia began administering booster shots of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Monday as millions of people in its largest city, Sydney, woke up to more freedom amid an accelerating immunisation drive. There are now no limits on the number of fully vaccinated guests at homes, while restaurants and entertainment venues can allow more patrons. Stadiums can operate at full capacity. read more

After more than 18 months of some of the world’s strictest containment policies, border restrictions have started to ease, setting in motion a plan to reopen the country to travellers amid a gaping hole in the market for casual workers. read more

U.S. braces for surge of vaccinated international travelers

The United States is expecting a flood of international visitors crossing its borders by air and by land on Monday after lifting travel restrictions for much of the world’s population first imposed in early 2020 to address the spread of COVID-19. read more

Passengers will need to show an “official source” showing vaccination status, and airlines will need to match the name and date of birth to confirm the passenger is the same person reflected on the proof of vaccination. read more

UK to roll out COVID-19 antiviral drug trial this month

Britain will start to roll out Merck’s molnupiravir COVID-19 antiviral pill through a drug trial later this month, Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Adviser at the UK Health Security Agency said on Sunday. read more

Last week Britain became the first country in the world to approve the potentially game-changing COVID-19 antiviral pill, jointly developed by U.S.-based Merck & Co Inc and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. read more

German coalition parties to table coronavirus draft law on Monday

The three German parties working to agree on a coalition government by early December will present proposals to combat a raging fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country on Monday, daily newspaper Die Welt said.

The plan, which includes the reintroduction of free tests, comes from the SPD, Greens and Free Democrats, which together hold a parliamentary majority, and will be discussed by the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, later this week. It is aimed to come into force before a national state of epidemic emergency expires on Nov. 25. read more

Compiled by Karishma Singh; Editing by Lincoln Feast
==================================================

WORLD  STATS

Coronavirus Cases:

250,717,817

Deaths:

5,066,907

Recovered:

226,940,295
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

November 8 (GMT)

Updates

  • 10 new cases and 1 new death in Oman [source]

 

The post US: Pandemic End in Sight, States Vaccine Rebellion, Summary, World Stats appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

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Nine Young Nevis Residents Receive Honors at Youth Impact 12 Awards Ceremony

NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS — Nine young people n Nevis, three more than in 2020, have been honoured at the Youth Impact 12 Awards Ceremony. The event, hosted by the Department of Youth in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), was held virtually at the Nevis Performing Arts Centre (NEPAC) with the theme “Champions of Youth Work.”

Mervil Jahnel Nisbett was presented an award for Patriotism; Brendon Claxton for Education and Lifelong Learning; Diandra Archibald for Volunteerism; Maliqua Kamau for Volunteerism; Yahsulazie Flanders-Grant for Entrepreneurship; Javani Tyson for Sports Excellence; Jevon Claxton for Information Technology;  Shakir Stapleton for Youth Development; and Davien Griffin for Youth in the Arts.

Mr.  Keith Glasgow, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Development, lauded the awardees, describing them as champions.

“Youth Workers Week is being celebrated this week under the theme “Champions of youth work.” This theme has been borrowed by the Youth Department for this ceremony. I therefore wish to think of our youth awardees as champions in these different areas in which they will be awarded.

“I see you as champions of good character, champions in your chosen careers, champions for positive change, and champions within your communities…I extend congratulations to you awardees, on the work that you’ve done and the excellent work that you continue to do. May your work bring enduring benefits to your communities,” he said.

The permanent secretary noted that the Ministry of Youth and Sports endorsed the event and he commended the efforts of the Department of Youth.

“At this time, I also wish to commend the Director of Youth, the staff, the interviewers, the sponsors and all who have made this award ceremony a reality. You have been doing outstanding work,” he said.

Meantime, Ms. Kerdis Clarke, Director of the Department of Youth congratulated the awardees.

“Nine deserving, hardworking, dedicated and selfless champions will be awarded for their sterling contributions to nation building

“I wish to express heartfelt congratulations to each of you! We salute all of you for your remarkable contributions over the years.  We adore you. We appreciate you,” she said.

Ms. Clarke thanked the Ministry of Social Development for continually supporting the undertakings of the department. She also expressed her profound gratitude to the sponsors of the awards ceremony for exercising their corporate responsibility by giving back to the community even during this challenging and financially strapped period.

The director also expressed gratitude to her staff for a job well done.It would be remiss of me to leave this podium without singling out the staff of the Department of Youth. The sacrifices, dedication, drive and passion for youth work have propelled this department to soar to higher heights

“Thank you, Miss Lanisa Burke, for your immeasurable service to the Department of Youth. We have full confidence that you will continue to brighten the corner wherever you may be. Thank you, Ms.  Cordiesere Walters, Mr. Leandre Dyer and Ms. Kesharna Stapleton. You are appreciated,” she said.

Also present at the ceremony were Hon. Spencer Brand; and Ms. Michelle Liburd, Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Social Development.

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