Tag Archives: caribbean

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Migrants Injured in Clashes with Mexican Troops

MEXICO CITY, Nov 4 (Reuters) – Dozens of migrants traveling north to Mexico City clashed with the National Guard in the southern state of Chiapas on Thursday, near to where a Cuban national was killed on Sunday by the militarized police force.

The group of mostly Central American women and children resumed their journey on Monday in the Pijijiapan municipality of Chiapas, after fatigue and illnesses among some members prompted a two day break.

“There are two injured migrants, they were badly beaten. The officers tried to surround them with their shields,” Luis Garcia, who helped organize the migrant caravan, told Reuters over the phone.

“Everything was chaotic. It’s not right that the authorities keep acting this way. Despite all the repression we’re not going to stop,” Garcia said, adding that authorities had escorted away migrants in at least four buses.

The National Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

National Guard troops, who donned helmets and riot shields, confronted migrants, according to images on social media. Other videos shared with Reuters showed several migrants being detained by National Migration Institute agents.

The National Migration Institute also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The clashes occurred near to where a Cuban migrant was shot dead by the National Guard while four others were wounded by National Guard officers early on Sunday in an area where a caravan of migrants was heading towards the U.S. border.

About 3,000 people set off on foot last month from the Mexican city of Tapachula on the Guatemalan border. Many have rejected visas offered by Mexico, saying they distrust the authorities.

Reporting by Jose Torres and Lizbeth Diaz; Writing by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Aurora Ellis

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Non-Communicable Diseases in Caribbean Worsening Covid Impact

Loop- The high prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Caribbean – such as high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer – is exacerbating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is also hindering the subregion’s progress towards achieving sustainable development due to their multiple health, economic and social consequences, according to the authorities, representatives of international organizations and specialists participating Thursday in a virtual event organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

The event was held ahead of the 20th meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC), to be held on Friday.

“Not only does the COVID-19 pandemic continue to rage in the Caribbean,” Executive Secretary of ECLAC Alicia Bárcena affirmed, emphasizing that it is “one of the subregions of the world with the highest prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).”

Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that NCDs are the main cause of death in the subregion’s countries, ranging from 57 per cent in Haiti to 83 per cent in Barbados.

In each Caribbean country, more than half of all deaths annually can be attributed to non-communicable diseases, which also contribute significantly to a disability, Bárcena warned.

The pandemic has aggravated the risks that people with non-communicable diseases face: not only do they continue to be at greater risk of dying or suffering severe illness from COVID-19 infection, they also have been affected by interruptions in health care due to services being overburdened, Bárcena also explained.

In this context, the high-level United Nations representative called for accelerating vaccination efforts. The rate of full vaccination in the Caribbean amounts to 35.2 per cent, with great heterogeneity between countries. This percentage, she indicated, is below the global rate (39 per cent) and that of Latin America (47.5 per cent).

“The entire region of Latin America and the Caribbean should strengthen production, distribution and access to medicines and vaccines. To achieve this, on September 18, ECLAC presented the Plan for self-sufficiency in health matters requested by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). We are moving from design to implementation of the plan, with focal points in all the countries and various meetings planned for the coming months. We hope the Caribbean will join us,” Bárcena stated.

In his remarks, Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Information Technology in St. Vincent and the Grenadines Camillo Gonsalves expressed appreciation for the opportunity to address the problem of non-communicable diseases at a time when all Caribbean countries are fighting the pandemic and many of their ministers and leaders are talking about climate change and the subregion’s future in the framework of the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 26).

“Non-communicable diseases are responsible for 6 of the 10 main causes of death in the subregion” and they entail a heavy economic cost for governments, due to high health expenditures, as well as for people, Minister Gonsalves said.

NCDs have a disproportionate impact on people living in poverty, which means that addressing them constitutes a development challenge for the Caribbean, which is also true for other phenomena such as climate change, he noted.

“Non-communicable diseases are within our control, they are preventable,” Minister Gonsalves acknowledged, affirming that current policies are not effective because they are not sufficiently focused on prevention, nor do they include cross-sector and coordinated approaches.

The specialists on the panel of Thursday’s event called on governments to invest in a comprehensive approach to NCDs, with a focus on strengthening primary care and preventing risk factors such as an unsuitable diet, physical inactivity and tobacco and alcohol abuse. They also urged for taking growing mental health problems into consideration.

Bárcena contended that it is critical to achieving greater equity in access to essential medicines, reduced waiting times and reduced out-of-pocket payment burdens for people, while also expanding partnerships with academic institutions in the Caribbean and reinforcing inter-agency collaboration. The idea of using taxes on unhealthy products is also generating interest and should be carefully weighed using sound socio-economic analysis, she added.

The ECLAC top official also stressed that to procure a resilient post-pandemic recovery, Caribbean countries need a healthy and productive. The GDP of the Caribbean dropped by 7.7 per cent in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, compounding the high rates of indebtedness faced by the subregion’s countries. ECLAC estimates that in 2021, the Caribbean’s GDP will only grow by 4.1 per cent.

“By taking an economic approach to the analysis of the NCD problem, we hope that policies aimed at promoting health and preventing disease will not only be cost-effective but that they may also be cost-saving, thereby making government health expenditures more effective,” Bárcena emphasized, adding that this is a problem for society as a whole, which must be addressed beyond the health field.

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WORLD VIEW: Repubs. on Race & Diversity, Afghan Activist Women, Mexico Mangroves, More

Nov 05, 2021

Alternate text

The Associated Press

The Rundown

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans plan to forcefully oppose race and diversity curricula — tapping into a surge of parental frustration about public schools — as a core piece of their strategy in the 2022 midterm elections, a coordinated effort to…Read More

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of intelligence officers could soon face dismissal for failing to comply with the U.S. government’s vaccine mandate, leading some Republican lawmakers to raise concerns about removing employees from agencies critica…Read More

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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Two women from different walks of life — one a rebel, the other a bureaucrat — face an unknown future in Afghanistan. One decided to work with the Taliban, the other is determined to fight them. …Read More

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BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Three white men are to stand trial Friday for chasing and killing Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man whose death was largely ignored until a leaked cellphone video stirred outrage over the shooting and deepened the na…Read More

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PROGRESO, Mexico (AP) — When a rotten egg smell rises from the mangrove swamps of southeast Mexico, something is going well. It means that this key coastal habitat for blunting hurricane impacts has recovered and is capturing carbon dioxide — …Read More

OTHER TOP STORIES

NEW YORK (AP) — When New Yorkers this week chose Eric Adams as their next mayor and Alvin Bragg as the next Manhattan district attorney, they elevated two more Black men int…Read More

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Biden administration on Thursday sued Texas over new voting laws that outlasted a summer of dramatic protests by Democrats, who face fading hopes of…Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Russian analyst who helped provide information for a dossier of research used during the Trump-Russia investigation has been arrested as part of an ongoi…Read More

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A commando of drug gang gunmen on Thursday stormed ashore at a beach on Mexico’s resort-studded Caribbean coast in front of luxury hotels and executed two…Read More

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Mexico: Tourists Flee Deadly Gun Battle on Cancun Beach

A shootout involving rival gangs on a beach near the Mexican resort of Cancún has left two suspected drug dealers dead, prosecutors say.

The shooting happened on a beach in Bahia Petempich, Puerto Morelos, the Quintana Roo state attorney general’s office tweeted.

“Two of them lost their lives,” it said.

People posted on Twitter that guests were told by staff to hide inside a hotel because of an active shooter.

There were chaotic scenes as guests took cover in the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun Resort.

“Guests are telling me they were playing volleyball on the beach, gunman approached firing gun. Everyone ran from beach and swimming pools. Staff hustled us into hidden rooms behind the kitchens,” tweeted former NBC executive Mike Sington, who is staying at the resort.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter
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There have been no reports of any other serious injuries.

More than 300,000 people have lost their lives in cartel-related killings in Mexico since the government deployed the military to combat drug-related crime in 2006.

Riviera Maya, home to popular resorts like Cancún and Tulum, has seen an increase in violence in recent years.

Last month Mexican security forces were sent to Tulum after two foreign tourists were killed and others injured during a shootout between suspected gang members.

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Country’s Oldest: Vito Perillo, 97-Year-Old WW2 Vet, Re-Elected Mayor of US Town

The town of Tinton Falls, N.J., has reelected 97-year-old Vito Perillo to his second, four-year term as its mayor.

“Thank you to my fellow residents for trusting me to lead Tinton Falls forward for the next four years. You may know that I am not a politician, but today I stopped to think about why people might vote for me.

“Maybe it’s because I’m a WWII veteran, or an ‘old guy’ (hopefully not), or maybe it’s because you read my flyer highlighting our accomplishments over the last 4 years,” Perillo wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday.

“My hope, however, is that it’s because you see that I care about our town and the people who live in it above anything else. I promise to do my best everyday to ensure every member of our community can be proud to live in Tinton Falls!,” Perillo continued.

Perillo, a World War II veteran and an electrical engineer for the Department of Defense, beat out three contenders in the nonpartisan election on Tuesday, according to The Washington Post.

According to the unofficial results from the Monmouth County Board of Elections, Perillo earned 2,209 votes from Tinton Falls residents. Retired schoolteacher Ellen Goldberg trailed with 1,898 votes.

Perillo used his reelection campaign to tout the positive changes he made during his first term, including an investment in the town’s infrastructure and equipment, paving more than 10.6 miles of roads and sidewalks, and the acquisition of a new town park, the Post reported.

With no political background, Perillo first ran for mayor in 2018 after sharing concerns about his property tax bill, Tinton Falls’s administration spending practices and numerous scandals facing the town’s police department.

Perillo then defeated a two-term incumbent who had 20 years of experience in local politics in the town’s mayoral race, the Post reported.

Perillo’s daughter Anna Mae Perillo told the Post that she is inspired by her father’s continued work as mayor, calling him her “hero.”

“He doesn’t want to be known as the oldest mayor, he just wants to be known as a good mayor,” Perrillo said.

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Nevis Department of Agriculture Upping Quality of Small Farm Production

NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS — Small farm production is another area on which the Department of Agriculture is focusing, in keeping with its thrust to ensure food security on Nevis.

Mr. Rohan Claxton, Livestock Extension Officer with responsibility for Production on the Maddens Stock Farm, said the new programme will provide livestock farmers with an opportunity to upgrade the quality of their animals.

“We are starting the programme to provide kids sometime next year to offer for sale at a minimum cost, and we offer breeding bull service for the goats. So if you are interested you can bring your does and we [will] allow the goat boer to serve them, and then we will start a programme.

“To build a nucleus stock we are going to ask farmers to donate back the females that you get back to the stock farms so we could increase the breeding nucleus for the goats,” he said.

The Livestock Extension Officer explained that the department’s recent return to a goat breeding programme replaces the once thriving sheep breeding programme at the farm.

“We just started recently getting back into goats. Some time ago we used to deal with sheep and at that time we used to use the Black Belly sheep, which was a tropical breed that originated in Barbados, and as a result the Black Belly has been spread throughout the Caribbean. Now Barbados is trying to make sure that that gene stays in their country. So we do have a lot of Black Belly sheep around on the island…

“At this point in time we have gotten some F1 does or females and then we brought in a donation from Ross University to start the programme, a purebred ram, Boer Ram,” he said.

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Covid Related Gene Identified, Europe’s High Infection Rate, World Stats, More

Gene that doubles risk of respiratory failure from Covid identified
Researchers have identified the gene responsible for doubling the risk of respiratory failure from coronavirus.
About 60% of people with south Asian ancestry carry the high-risk genetic signal, a new study found.
Scientists say this partly explains the excess deaths experienced in some UK communities, and the impact of Covid-19 in the Indian subcontinent, but stress that they are not suggesting that socioeconomic factors are not important for Covid risk and outcome.
The gene is also common in the European population, occurring in about 15%.
Study co-lead Prof James Davies, who worked as an NHS consultant in intensive care medicine during the pandemic and is an associate professor of genomics at Oxford University’s Radcliffe Department of Medicine, said:
If you have the high-risk genotype and you get very unwell with Covid, there’s a 50% chance that that wouldn’t have happened to you had you had the lower-risk genotype.
The study, published in Nature Genetics, also found that the gene does not alter immune cell function.
Because the effect is in the biology of the lungs, people with the higher-risk version of the genes should respond fully to vaccination, the scientists say.
Previous research had identified a stretch of DNA on chromosome three that doubled the risk of adults under the age of 65 from Covid. But it was not known how this genetic signal worked to increase the risk, nor the exact genetic change that was responsible.
Study co-lead Prof Jim Hughes, professor of gene regulation at the University of Oxford, said:
The reason this has proved so difficult to work out, is that the previously identified genetic signal affects the ‘dark matter’ of the genome. We found that the increased risk is not because of a difference in gene coding for a protein, but because of a difference in the DNA that makes a switch to turn a gene on. It’s much harder to detect the gene which is affected by this kind of indirect switch effect.
The gene was identified using a combination of artificial intelligence and cutting-edge molecular technology, which visualises the structure of DNA inside cells in unprecedented detail.
Dr Damien Downes, who led the laboratory work from the Prof Hughes research group, said:
Surprisingly, as several other genes were suspected, the data showed that a relatively unstudied gene called LZTFL1 causes the effect.
The researchers found that the higher-risk version of the gene probably prevents the cells lining airways and the lungs from responding to the virus properly.
They hope drugs and other therapies could target the pathway preventing the lung lining from transforming to less specialised cells, raising the possibility of new treatments customised for those most likely to develop severe symptoms.
Davies said:
The genetic factor we have found explains why some people get very seriously ill after coronavirus infection. It shows that the way in which the lung responds to the infection is critical. This is important because most treatments have focused on changing the way in which the immune system reacts to the virus.
The study also found that 2% of people with African-Caribbean ancestry carried the higher-risk genotype, meaning this genetic factor does not completely explain the higher death rates reported for black and minority ethnic communities.
Davies added:
Although we cannot change our genetics, our results show that the people with the higher risk gene are likely to particularly benefit from vaccination. Since the genetic signal affects the lung rather than the immune system it means that the increased risk should be cancelled out by the vaccine.
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UK records 214 deaths and 37,269 new infections

A further 214 deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test have been recorded in the past 24 hours in the UK, and another 37,269 new cases reported, according to the latest figures from the government dashboard.

This compares with 41,299 cases and 217 deaths reported the day before.

Cases Soar in Europe

Europe registered a 55% rise in Covid cases in the last four weeks, despite the availability of vaccines, which should serve as a “warning shot” to other regions, World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Thursday.
WHO emergency director Mike Ryan said that some European countries had “suboptimal vaccination coverage” despite availability.
“It’s a warning shot for the world to see what is happening in Europe despite availability of vaccination,” Ryan told a news conference.
WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said that Indian drugmaker Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin showed about 70% efficacy against the Delta variant. The WHO said on Wednesday that it has granted approval for its emergency use listing.
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WORLD STATS

Coronavirus Cases:

249,449,874

Deaths:

5,047,574

Recovered:

225,906,684
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

November 5 (GMT)

Updates
  • 40,735 new cases and 1,192 new deaths in Russia [source]
  • 158 new cases and 6 new deaths in Japan [source]

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Dominica Celebrates 43 Years of Independence

Dominica is celebrating its 43rd anniversary of political independence from Britain on Wednesday with the activities to mark the occasion severely curtailed as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

The independence anniversary is being observed under the theme “United in Purpose, Our Health, Our Heritage, Our Future,” and Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit will address the nation at 3:00 pm (local time) during the National Day Observance Ceremony at the State House Conference Center.

President Charles A. Savarin will present Meritorious Awards to individuals and groups with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) receiving the island’s highest award, the Dominica Award of Honour.

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Diplomat Loreen Bannis Roberts, businessman Paul Ainsley Green and the Maria Holder Memorial Trust will receive the Sisserou Award of Honour while the COVID-19 Response Team, including the Health Team, the Dominica Police Force, Fire and Ambulance Services, the Dominica Air & Seaport Authority (DASPA) and the Customs and Excise Division, will receive the Meritorious Service Award.

In a congratulatory message, the Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Dr. Carla Barnett said the theme of the celebrations “is a clear rallying cry for Dominicans in this challenging period to continue in their collective actions to combat their challenges and maintain their unique identity.”

She said that Prime Minister Skerrit’s portfolio within the CARICOM Quasi-Cabinet as lead Head of Government for Labour, including the intra-community movement of skills, “is a significant responsibility in our integration movement.

“CARICOM looks forward to Dominica’s continued and active engagement in advancing the Community’s integration process,” she added.

CMC

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NIA Announces OAS-UAGM Scholarships 2021 for Undergraduate, Graduate Studies

NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (November 04, 2021) — The Ministry of Human Resources in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) is pleased to inform of the following scholarship opportunities offered by the Organization of American States (OAS) in collaboration with the University Ana G. Mendez University (UAGM):

  • Master of Education with a specialty in Teaching English as a Second Language
  • Master of Business Administration with a specialty in Management
  • Master of Business Administration with a specialty in Finance
  • Master of Arts with a specialty in Forensic Science
  • Master of Science in Nursing with a specialty in Advanced Family Practice
  • Master of Public Affairs with specialty in Criminal Justice

For information on the above and other programmes offered, application and scholarship process, course duration, eligibility, scholarship selection criteria and process, and more please visit www.oas.org/scholarships.

Applicants are required to register online via https://anagmendez.net/international-scholarships/index_es.html  (Ensure to click the English tab)

Kindly note that applications are to be sent to the Ministry of Human Resources by Wednesday November 22nd, 2021 for onward processing.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please email sc**********@*as.org.

For further information, please feel free to call 469-5521 ext. 5163/6

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PM Harris Urges Gov’t Employees to Get Vaccinated

Loop- Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris has renewed calls for members of the public service who aren’t yet vaccinated, to get the jab as soon as possible.

Speaking during Tuesday’s edition of Leadership Matters, he said: “We urge every employee of the government, especially our crossing guards, police officers, defence force officers, teachers, nurses and doctors to get vaccinated. The security and safety of our country depend on you being vaccinated.”

PM Harris was full of praise for the 26, 000 adults who have already gotten their first dose of the vaccine, but also urged parents to have their children vaccinated before the end of the school term.

St Kitts and Nevis’ vaccination roll-out has been amended to target children. Officials say this is one step being taken to prevent the possible disruption of learning due to the pandemic.

“Each of us should encourage everyone 12 years and older to get vaccinated for their own protection and for the protection of all in the country,” the Prime Minister said.

“We are in this together. None of us is safe until all of us are safe. I invite every teacher, teaching assistant, everyone in our school compounds to get vaccinated. We should avoid the spread of COVID-19 in our schools and the disruption of teaching and learning in our educational institutions. The best way to do this is by vaccination.”

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 to include children five through 11 years old.

The authorization was based on the FDA’s thorough and transparent evaluation of the data that included input from independent advisory committee experts who overwhelmingly voted in favor of making the vaccine available to children in this age group.

According to a report issued by the Ministry of Health on Wednesday, 10 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the Federation in the last 24 hours.

That brings the total number of confirmed cases to 2696, 120 of which are still active.

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