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Gandhi Warns India’s ‘Explosive’ COVID Wave Threatens the World- World Stats

India’s main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi warned on Friday that unless the deadly second COVID-19 wave sweeping the country was brought under control it would decimate India as well as threaten the rest of the world.

People receive oxygen support for free at a Gurudwara (Sikh temple), amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Ghaziabad, India, May 6, 2021. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

In a letter, Gandhi implored Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prepare for another national lockdown, accelerate a country-wide vaccination programme and scientifically track the virus and its mutations.

Gandhi said the world’s second-most populous nation had a responsibility in “a globalised and interconnected world” to stop the “explosive” growth of COVID-19 within its borders.

“India is home to one out of every six human beings on the planet. The pandemic has demonstrated that our size, genetic diversity and complexity make India fertile ground for the virus to rapidly mutate, transforming itself into a more contagious and more dangerous form,” wrote Gandhi.

“Allowing the uncontrollable spread of the virus in our country will be devastating not only for our people but also for the rest of the world.”

India’s highly infectious COVID-19 variant B.1.617 has already spread to other countries such as Britain, forcing nations to cut or restrict movements from India.

In the past week, India has reported an extra 1.5 million new infections and record daily death tolls as its hospitals run out of beds and medical oxygen. Since the start of the pandemic, it has reported 21.49 million cases and 234,083 deaths. It currently has 3.6 million active cases.

Modi has been widely criticised for not acting sooner to suppress the second wave, after religious festivals and political rallies drew tens of thousands of people in recent weeks and became “super spreader” events.

His government has also been criticised for lifting social restrictions too soon following the first wave and for delays in the country’s vaccination programme, which medical experts say is India’s only hope of controlling the second COVID-19 wave.

While India is the world’s biggest vaccine maker, it is struggling to produce and distribute enough doses to stem the wave of COVID-19.

Modi has stressed that Indian states must keep up vaccination rates. Although the country has administered at least 157 million vaccine doses, its rate of inoculation has fallen sharply in recent days.

“After having achieved a rate of around 4 million a day, we are now down to 2.5 million per day due to vaccine shortages,” Amartya Lahiri, an economics professor at University of British Columbia was quoted as saying in the Mint newspaper.

“The 5 million a day target is the lower bound of what we have to aim for, since even at that rate, it will take a year for us to get everyone two doses. The situation unfortunately is very grim.”

RECORD INFECTIONS

India reported another record daily rise in coronavirus cases, 414,188, on Friday, bringing total new cases for the week to 1.57 million. Deaths from COVID-19 rose by 3,915 to 234,083.

Medical experts say the real extent of COVID-19 in India is five to 10 times the official tallies.

India’s healthcare system is crumbling under the weight of patients, with hospitals running out of beds and medical oxygen. Morgues and crematoriums can not handle the number of dead and makeshift funeral pyres burn in parks and carparks.

Prominent U.S. disease modeller Chris Murray, from the University of Washington, said the sheer magnitude of infections in India in a short period of time suggests an “escape variant” may be overpowering any prior immunity from natural infections.

Infections are now spreading from overcrowded cities to remote rural villages that are home to nearly 70% of the 1.3 billion population.

Although northern and western India bear the brunt of the disease, southern India now seems to be turning into the new epicentre. The share of the five southern states in the country’s daily surge in infections rose from 28% to 33% in the first seven days of May, data shows.

In the southern city of Chennai, only one in a hundred oxygen supported beds and two in a hundred beds in intensive care units (ICUs) were vacant on Thursday, from a vacancy rate of over 20% each two weeks ago, government data showed.

In India’s tech capital Bengaluru, also in the south, only 23 of the 590 beds in ICUs were vacant, and only 1 in 50 beds with a ventilator were vacant, a situation officials say points to an impending crisis.

The test-positivity rate — the percentage of people tested who are found to have the disease — in the city of 12.5 million has tripled to almost 39% as of Wednesday, from about 13% two weeks ago, data showed.

Bengaluru has 325,000 active COVID-19 cases, with demand for ICU and high-dependency unit (HDU) beds up more than 20 fold, said H. M. Prasanna, president of the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association in Karnataka state, which includes Bengaluru.

“Every patient coming to the hospital needs a ICU or a HDU bed…that is why patients are running from one hospital to another searching for an ICU bed,” he said.

“There is also short supply of medical oxygen…Most of the small hospitals now who can’t procure oxygen on a daily basis are refusing to admit COVID patients.”

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

WORLD STATS

Coronavirus Cases:

156,784,352

Deaths:

3,272,175

Recovered:

134,181,346
Highlighted in green
= all cases have recovered from the infection
Highlighted in grey
= all cases have had an outcome (there are no active cases)

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Latest News

May 7 (GMT)

Updates

  • 17,076 new cases and 335 new deaths in Iran [source]
  • 22 new cases and 1 new death in Togo [source]
  • 6,047 new cases and 453 new deaths in Poland [source]
  • 8,386 new cases and 376 new deaths in Russia [source]
  • 8,404 new cases and 379 new deaths in Ukraine [so

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A storm brewing over Haiti at the OAS

By Sir Ronald Sanders  

Strong disagreement may be brewing at the Organization of American States (OAS) on how to respond to the ongoing, grave political and constitutional crisis in Haiti.

Since January 2020, the Haitian President,  Jovenel Moïse, has been ruling the country by decree without any legislative oversight.  The mandates of the members of the Haitian Parliament, except for 10 of them, were terminated because elections were not held.

The rising tension in the country, including use of lethal force by the police against protestors, widespread kidnappings and killing, rape of women, and an arbitrary decision by Moïse to hold a controversial referendum on a new constitution, as well as heightened political contention, caused concerned member states at the OAS, including nine CARICOM countries, to sponsor a Resolution at the organization’s Permanent Council to address the situation urgently.

Specifically, the Resolution, adopted on March 17, offered “the good offices of the OAS under the authority of the Permanent Council to facilitate a dialogue that would lead to free and fair elections”.  It requested the Secretary-General, Luis Almagro, “to advise the Government and other major stakeholders in Haiti, of the Permanent Council’s offer to undertake a good offices role and to invite the President of Haiti to consider inviting the Permanent Council to do so”.

Whether or not Almagro wrote to the Haitian President and “other major stakeholders” is unclear.  Certainly, no major political party or human rights group in Haiti has confirmed receipt of any communication from him.  There has also been silence from him to two official requests, asking for details of stakeholders to whom he might have written and when.  There is no need for this – a straight answer is all that is required.

This matter will be mired in controversy, because while uncertainty prevails over whether or not the Secretary-General did write to the President and other major stakeholders in Haiti, a letter dated April 28 was sent to him by Claude Joseph in the latter’s capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs.  The letter is significant.

First, it does not refer to any communication received from Almagro.  Instead, it references the Permanent Council’s Resolution of March 17 as the basis for writing.   Second, it states that “the Government of the Republic of Haiti is willing to receive an OAS mission in support of the ongoing dialogue with all the nation’s stakeholders with a view to concluding a political agreement that will facilitate the organization of the constitutional referendum and elections at all levels during the course of 2021”.

On the second point, the OAS Resolution of 17 March did not offer its good offices “to facilitate the organization of the constitutional referendum”.   The proposed referendum is entirely of President Moïse’s making and is mired in claims of unconstitutionality.  The highly respected U.S. Congresswoman, Maxine Waters, describes it as “Moïse’s most audacious and dangerous power grab”.  Legal experts inside and outside Haiti have opined that the existing Constitution specifically prohibits referenda to decide constitutional changes because a former dictator, Jean Claude ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier, had used that artifice to proclaim himself President-for-Life.    Therefore, if the OAS accepts that facilitation of the referendum is a condition of its good offices’ role, its purpose and credibility are undermined even before it starts.  No stakeholder would participate in any dialogue where organisation of a constitutional referendum is a condition.

It is important to recall that, prompted by the rapidly deteriorating democratic and human rights situation in Haiti, the offer of good offices by the Permanent Council resolution was “to facilitate a dialogue that would lead to free and fair elections”.   Nowhere did the Resolution venture to suggest that the OAS’ role would include facilitating the organisation of a referendum to alter the constitution.

Particularly significant is that on April 26, two days before Joseph sent his letter to Almagro, 68 members of the U.S. Congress wrote to Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, pointing out that Moïse “lacks the credibility and legitimacy to oversee a constitutional referendum scheduled for June 2021, or to administer elections that are free and fair”.

This position by such a large number of U.S. Congress persons, led by Gregory W. Meeks, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House, is a remarkable development.  It shows that important U.S. lawmakers are deeply concerned about what they describe as, “lack of preparedness of electoral institutions to hold elections, as well as the unconstitutional composition of the prevailing electoral council”.  Contrary to law, Moïse handpicked the members of the Council.

Of especial note is that the 68 U.S. Congresspersons urged Secretary Blinken to use the U.S. vote within the OAS “to ensure U.S. taxpayer dollars are not spent in support of this referendum”.

Last year, the OAS and CARICOM, held all the parties in Guyana to account to deliver a credible result to general elections held on March 2. It took five months of the active attention and diligence of CARICOM, the Commonwealth, the European Union and the OAS to ensure that democracy and the rule of law were upheld in Guyana, and that general and regional elections were not stolen by the incumbent government.

What is happening in Haiti now is no less egregious than what was resisted in Guyana in 2020 and is now being condemned in other member states of the OAS – and even in countries outside of it.

The OAS must act in the interest of  Haiti and the Haitian people to uphold their rights to democratic governance, human rights, and the opportunity for economic development. The governing Charters of the OAS mandate it.

Responses and previous commentaries: www.sirronaldsanders.com  

(The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States.   He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto.  The views expressed are entirely his own)  

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World View: India Lockdown?, Japan Extends Virus Emergency, Sixth Grader Shoots 3 at School, More

March 19, 2021

Alternate text

AP Morning Wire

The Associated Press

 

The Rundown

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NEW DELHI (AP) — With coronavirus cases still surging to record levels, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing growing pressure to impose a harsh nationwide lockdown amid a debate whether restrictions imposed by individual states are enough……Read More

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Kevin McCarthy is leading his party to an inflection point, preparing to dump Rep… …Read More

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WASHINGTON (AP) — With viral cases declining, consumers spending again and more businesses easing restrictions, America’s employers likely delivered another month of robust hiring in April, reinforcing the economy’s steady rebound from the pandemic r…Read More

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TOKYO (AP) — Japan is set to expand and extend a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas through May 31 as the coronavirus continues spreading and uncertainty grows about safely holding the Olympics just 11 weeks away… …Read More

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BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A sixth-grade girl brought a gun to her Idaho middle school, shot and wounded two students and a custodian and then was disarmed by a teacher Thursday, authorities said….Read More

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Conservatives last week gobbled up a false news story claiming President Joe Biden planned to ration red meat. Colorado Rep. Rep. Lauren Boebert sug…Read More

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — On the list of things not to do during a pandemic, holding big international gatherings is close to the top. But European Union leaders and their l…Read More

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Republican lawmakers marched late Thursday toward advancing a sweeping elections bill that would put America’s biggest red state closer to imposi…Read More

Jason Statham says very, very little in his new film. The English actor must have only need to memorize about three pages of dialogue. But, as always, he’s very expressive …Read More

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Big Chinese Rocket to Crash Dive Back to Earth

Debris from a Chinese rocket is expected to fall back to Earth in an uncontrolled re-entry this weekend.

The main segment from the Long March-5b vehicle was used to launch the first module of China’s new space station last month.

At 18 tonnes it is one of the largest items in decades to have an undirected dive into the atmosphere.

The US on Thursday said it was watching the path of the object but currently had no plans to shoot it down.

“We’re hopeful that it will land in a place where it won’t harm anyone,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. “Hopefully in the ocean, or someplace like that.”

Various space debris modelling experts are pointing to the early hours (GMT) of Sunday as the likely moment of re-entry. However, such projections are always highly uncertain.

Re-entry zone

Originally injected into an elliptical orbit approximately 160km by 375km above Earth’s surface on 29 April, the Long March-5b core stage has been losing height ever since.

Just how quickly the core’s orbit will continue to decay will depend on the density of air it encounters at altitude and the amount of drag this produces. These details are poorly known.

Most of the vehicle should burn up when it makes its final plunge through the atmosphere, although there is always the possibility that metals with high melting points, and other resistant materials, could survive to the surface.

When a similar core stage returned to Earth a year ago, piping assumed to be from the rocket was identified on the ground in Ivory Coast, Africa.

The chances of anyone actually being hit by a piece of space junk are very small, not least because so much of the Earth’s surface is covered by ocean, and because that part which is land includes huge areas that are uninhabited.

The zone of potential fall in this case is restricted still further by the trajectory of the rocket stage. It’s moving on an inclination to the equator of about 41.5 degrees. This means it’s possible already to exclude that any debris could fall further north than approximately 41.5 degrees North latitude and further south than 41.5 degrees South latitude.

Long March 5b rocket

China has bridled at the suggestion that it has been negligent in allowing the uncontrolled return of so large an object. Commentary in the country’s media has described Western reports about the potential hazards involved as “hype” and predicted the debris will likely fall somewhere in international waters.

The Global Times quoted aerospace expert Song Zhongping who added that China’s space monitoring network would keep a close watch and take necessary measures should damage occur.

But the respected cataloguer of space activity, Jonathan McDowell from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, US, said the situation did reflect poorly on China.

“It is indeed seen as negligence,” he told BBC News.

“This is the second launch of this rocket; the debris in Ivory Coast last year was from the previous launch, i.e. a basically identical rocket.

“These two incidents [the one now and the Ivory Coast one] are the two largest objects deliberately left to re-enter uncontrolled since Skylab in 1979.”

Fragments of the US space station Skylab scattered across Western Australian in 1979, attracting worldwide attention.

Hugh Lewis, who models space debris at Southampton University, UK, noted that more than 60 years of spaceflight had left a large legacy of junk in orbit. The responsibility for this litter rests on several countries, but principally Russia and the US.

“It’s worth remembering that there are approximately 900 orbital rocket stages in low-Earth orbit, left behind by nearly every launch-capable nation and with a combined mass orders or magnitude greater than the one expected to re-enter the atmosphere this [weekend],” Dr Lewis posted on Twitter.

Graphic showing key elements of China's space station
image captionLong March-5B rocket launched the Tianhe module on 29 April

Modern practice now calls for rocket stages to be de-orbited as soon as possible after their mission. In the case of large core segments, these would normally come straight back, within one orbit, falling into the ocean or on land (the US company SpaceX now propulsively lands its core stages so they can be used again).

For upper-stages that go into an orbit and may travel around the globe several times as they precisely position a payload, the preference is to include a re-ignitable engine that can steer the stage into a return at the earliest opportunity.

Usually, this would be over an ocean – potentially in the furthest place from land in the South Pacific, between Australia, New Zealand and South America.

Over an area of approximately 1,500 sq km (580 sq miles) this region is a popular graveyard of rocket elements and defunct satellites, where the remains of around 260 missions are thought to be scattered on the ocean floor.

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U.S. Expands Effort for Vulnerable Migrants at Mexico Border

Reuters- The United States has begun rolling out a new system to identify and admit the most vulnerable migrants at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to three people briefed on the matter.

The new system, which started at the port of entry in El Paso, Texas, this week, creates a more formal process that allows pre-screened asylum seekers to enter the United States on humanitarian grounds, despite a broad policy of expulsions at the border.

The expulsion policy was put in place under former Republican President Donald Trump in March 2020 citing public health concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic. President Joe Biden has not revoked it.

By next week, the effort to streamline exemptions is expected to expand to other Texas ports in Brownsville, Laredo and Hidalgo, as well as in Nogales, Arizona, U.S. officials said on a call with advocates on Wednesday, according to two people familiar with the discussion.

As of Wednesday, roughly two dozen migrants had been admitted through the program, the two sources said, and the number of people allowed to enter going forward will depend on capacity to safely process them at the ports. The numbers will likely be limited, however, because of the non-profit groups’ capacity to screen migrants who might be eligible.

The move illustrates the struggle Biden is facing – while his administration is declaring the southern border closed to hopeful migrants, the number of apprehensions has reached a 20-year high. Border patrol picked up nearly 170,000 migrants between ports of entry in March and made a similar number of arrests in April, according to two people briefed on preliminary figures.

Migrant advocates have pressured Biden to do more to allow in asylum seekers to submit asylum claims.

The new process tasks a handful of non-profits working in Mexico with identifying and referring the neediest asylum seekers to U.S. officials, including those with medical issues, the people briefed on the matter said.

Migrants who have experienced long periods of displacement, sexual minorities and victims of crime, trafficking and sexual violence will also be among those considered for the program.

Those approved through the process will be given COVID-19 tests and a date and time to go to a port of entry. They will be released into the United States and given a notice to appear in immigration court to present their asylum claims.

A State Department spokesperson said on Wednesday that the “border remains closed” but that the government was working to streamline the system to identify and lawfully process “particularly vulnerable individuals who warrant humanitarian exception under the order.”

A spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the United States requested the agency channel U.S. funds to the non-profit groups involved.

EXPULSIONS CONTINUE

Biden early on in his presidency exempted unaccompanied children from the Trump-era expulsions order, issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and known as Title 42. But his administration has continued to expel tens of thousands of single adults and some families.

The expulsions have left many migrants stranded in dangerous border cities in Mexico. Since Biden took office, the non-profit group Human Rights First has documented at least 492 violent attacks, including rapes and kidnappings of migrants blocked from entry under the policy.

The new system builds on admissions that have been happening in recent weeks through the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), one of several organizations that sued the U.S. government to end the expulsions policy.

Since late March, the ACLU has been able to get up to 35 families per day admitted at ports of entry along the border and expects to continue its process in parallel with efforts from other non-profit groups.

Advocates, however, say they are dismayed that Biden has left the border expulsion policy in place, even with exceptions, arguing that it cuts off access to the U.S. asylum process.

“It’s just a continuation of a process that’s illegal at the end of the day,” said Eleanor Acer, senior director of refugee protection with Human Rights First.

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U.S. Bound-Immigrants Vaccinated for COVID-19 in Mexican Border City

More than a thousand migrants who hope to reach the United States were vaccinated against COVID-19 on Thursday through a first-time effort made possible by a private donation of shots from a U.S. company, a shelter director said.

About 1,200 migrants, mainly from Central America, received the Pfizer-BioNTech (PFE.N) vaccine in the border city of Tijuana, said Gustavo Banda, director of the Ambassadors of Jesus shelter. He declined to give the name of the donor.

“This is positive, it is the first time it has been done,” Banda said. “It was extremely important to vaccinate migrants because we’re a long-stay shelter where they can spend many months, even a year.”

Reuters consulted several migrant shelters and did not find any other cases of migrants receiving vaccines.

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is dealing with a growing humanitarian crisis as more people reach the U.S. border. Authorities in Mexico, the United States and Central America have tightened border restrictions in recent months.

Mexico’s government, which has already received doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine from the United States to supplement its vaccine campaign, has said it may ask for U.S. help in vaccinating people along their shared border. read more

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris are due to explore ways of tackling undocumented immigration in talks on Friday. read more

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Windrush Victim Wins Court Battle Over Immigration Fees

Relatives of a woman caught up in the Windrush scandal can apply for permission to live in Britain without paying thousands of pounds in fees, the High Court has ruled.

Charging the family of Lynda Mahabir would be a “colossal interference” in her human rights, the court said.

The fees would cost more than £20,000.

Mrs Mahabir, 52, was unable to live in the UK until 2018 and says the government didn’t correctly record her immigration status in the 1970s.

Her case was similar to thousands of other Windrush victims.

When she was finally able to come to the UK, she risked being separated from her relatives in Trinidad because the family could not afford to pay application fees of nearly £23,000, required for permission to join her.

Mrs Mahabir took the government to court claiming the financial impact of the fees had separated her from her husband, Winston, and five children.

Her lawyers argued this was a breach of her right to family life, and discriminated against her relatives.

The Deputy High Court Judge Tim Smith ruled in favour of the family, and against the home secretary.

Reacting to the ruling, Mrs Mahabir told the BBC: “There are things that are worth fighting for and this was one of them.

“The UK is not really a bad place. It’s got lots of opportunities, not only for me but for my family also and in my mind it was worth fighting for.”

The Home Office says it is currently reviewing its policy for situations where the application fee for relatives can be waived.

Mrs Mahabir told the Home Office in emails that finding the money for her family to apply would be a “daunting task”.

“We have never been separated from each other before,” she said.

“I would like for them to be given the opportunity to join me here where we can continue to make the positive impact on lives that we come into contact with.”

‘Suffering’

Toufique Hossain, from the firm representing the claimants, said: “The pain and misery that has been imposed on the Windrush generation is unimaginable.

“The Home Office on one hand commiserates their suffering and yet continues to develop and then defend policies that keep families apart.

“It should pull down, not put up, barriers to Windrush families staying together.”

In a statement, a Home Office official said: “We remain determined to right the wrongs suffered by the Windrush generation.”

The official said more than12,500 people had been given new citizenship or had their citizenship confirmed for free under the Windrush scheme.

“We are carefully considering the implications of this judgment and will continue our work to ensure members of the Windrush generation receive the documentation they need, free of charge, in order to live, work and access services in the UK,” the official added.

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What is the Windrush scandal?

People arriving in the UK between 1948 and 1971 from Caribbean countries have been labelled the Windrush generation.

It refers to the ship MV Empire Windrush, which docked in Tilbury on 22 June 1948, bringing workers from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and other islands, to help fill post-war UK labour shortages.

It is unclear how many people belong to the Windrush generation, but they are thought to be in their thousands.

The Home Office kept no record of those granted leave to remain and issued no paperwork – making it is difficult for Windrush arrivals to prove their legal status. In 2010, it destroyed landing cards belonging to Windrush migrants.

Because they came from British colonies that were not independent, they believed they were British citizens.

Those who lacked documents were told they needed evidence to continue working, get NHS treatment, or even to remain in the UK.

Read more here

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Brazil: 25 Dead in Cop Shootout with Drug Gang

At least 25 people including a police officer have been killed in a shootout in Rio de Janeiro, according to local media.

The shootout took place during a police operation in a favela in the Jacarezinho area of the city.

Police launched the operation after receiving reports that drug traffickers were recruiting children for their gang.

Two passengers on a metro train were hit by bullets but survived.

Police in the Brazilian city confirmed the death of one of their officers, Inspector Andre Leonardo de Mello Frias. A statement on Facebook said “he honoured the profession he loved and will be missed”.

Police Chief Ronaldo Oliveira told Reuters news agency that Thursday’s raid was “the largest number of deaths in a police operation in Rio”.

According to local news, the gang targeted in this raid engages in drug trafficking, mugging, murders and kidnappings.

Television images showed suspects trying to escape across rooftops as police entered the favela.

Drugs and weapons are presented to the media following the raidimage copyrightReuters
image captionCivil Police showed off weapons and drugs seized during the raid

Meanwhile, residents of Jacarezinho have shared accounts of what they witnessed on social media.

One resident posted a photo of his blood-covered floor and said two people had died in his house as police chased the criminals. The man, who did not want to give his name, said he would try to move out of the area as soon as possible.

“We’re trying to sell the house as fast as possible, we can’t continue to live here,” he said.

Other residents said officers had seized their phones, accusing them of warning gang members of the raid.

Location of the clashes in Jacarezinho, Rio

Sociology professor Ignacio Cano from the Laboratory for the Analysis of Violence at Rio State University dismissed the reasons the police gave for the raid: “To say that drug traffickers recruit children and teenagers to deal drugs is almost laughable because everyone knows that these gangs have minors who work for them.

“To say that you’re going to launch a massive raid because you’ve discovered that traffickers recruit children is a joke,” he told O Dia newspaper.

A Brazilian soldier searches a man during an operation against drug gangs in Jacarezinhoimage copyrightReuters
image captionRio de Janeiro is one of Brazil’s most violent states

Rio de Janeiro is one of Brazil’s most violent states and vast areas are under the control of criminals, many of them linked to powerful drug-trafficking gangs.

Security forces in Brazil have often been accused of excessive use of force against the civilian population during anti-crime operations in major cities.

A court ruling last June restricted police action in poor neighbourhoods of Rio during the pandemic unless it was deemed essential.

Rio de Janeiro is the city with the biggest percentage of people living in shanty towns in Brazil – 22%. It’s a population of 1,3 million, 70% of which are black.

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Worrying resurgence

Analysis by Camilla Motta, BBC Brasil reporter, Sao Paulo

Police operations targeting favelas controlled by drug traffickers are quite common in Rio. This, however, is the deadliest operation since 2016.

Since a court ruling last June restricted police action in poor neighbourhoods in Rio, the number of deaths in shootouts in favelas has fallen.

In the first month alone, deaths plummeted 70% when compared to the average recorded since 2007, according to the research group Grupo de Estudos dos Novos Ilegalismos, from Universidade Federal Fluminense.

The drop was not followed by a rise in crime. In fact, property crimes were down by 40% and homicides by 48%. Researchers argue this shows that police operations are not the best strategy to tackle crime.

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Barbados Govt. to Gift Liat Workers $2,000

Nearly 100 Barbadian LIAT workers can expect at least $2,000 from the Barbados Government to be paid immediately or within a week at the latest.

After a ZOOM Meeting today, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley shared this announcement saying that she wants to help the displaced workers who are in many instances drowning in debt.

Both the President of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), Akanni McDowall and the Acting General Secretary, Wayne Walrond, were present and thanked the Prime Minister for the support being offered to the workers by the Government of Barbados.

The full statement is below:

The Government has offered a helping hand to just under 100 displaced Barbadian workers of LIAT, who will get some relief by early next week.

During an hour-and-a-half-long Zoom meeting with dozens of the former employees who have been waiting for well over a year for entitlements from the regional airline, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley promised that each person would receive a one-off gift of $2,000 by Friday — or early next week, at the latest.

This gift, which will be provided by central Government, will give authorities time to put other measures in place that would offer further relief over a much longer period.

All former Barbadian LIAT employees who were based here, paid contributions into the local National Insurance Scheme, and are therefore entitled to severance will now benefit from expedited hearings by the NIS Tribunal.

It is expected that these hearings will also begin as early as next week, with the hope that they will be wrapped up in time for payments to be made just after the end of the month.

Prime Minister Mottley explained that it had become necessary for the cases of these workers to go before the Tribunal since the Judicial Administrator of LIAT in Antigua, Cleveland Seaforth, had so far failed to sign and deliver to Barbados the paperwork that would have automatically triggered severance payments.
The other significant group of LIAT workers being assisted comprises Barbadians based primarily in Antigua, from whose salaries deductions were made to that country’s Social Security Scheme and who are entitled to severance under that country’s laws.
Arrangements are now being put in place to allow them to receive an advance of $2,000 per month from the Government of Barbados, to be paid back at a future date from any eventual severance settlement.

Prime Minister Mottley explained that this would be provided for up to one year, to be terminated earlier if they are able to find alternative employment before the end of that year.

Mottley stressed that she understood that $2,000 a month would not equate to their salaries or erase the debt and hardships they have accumulated since they stopped working, but she was trying to assist them while balancing it against all the other urgent needs of Barbadians.

In the face of a direct request from the employees who related their encounters with banks and other creditors, the Prime Minister promised to reach out to the sector on their behalf to solicit payment eases.

The workers agreed to the immediate formation of a small working committee to liaise with Government to ensure all information necessary for the fulfilment of the promised assistance is available to the relevant agencies, and the former LIAT workers will meet again with the Prime Minister in 100 days.

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