Tag Archives: caribbean

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US: Grand Jury Indicts 4 Ex-Cops in George Floyd’s Death

By Marty Johnson – 

The Hill- A federal grand jury has indicted all four former Minneapolis police officers involved with the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, including Derek Chauvin, who was convicted on murder and manslaughter charges last month.

The multicount indictment from the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, accuses Chauvin along with Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao of violating Floyd’s constitutional rights.

All of the men were charged with failing to administer first aid to Floyd as Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes.

Additionally, Chauvin, Kueng and Thao are charged with violating Floyd’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure and excessive force.

Chauvin was the first white police officer in Minnesota to be convicted of murdering a Black person, and many in the country saw the high-profile trial as a referendum on policing in the U.S.

Multiple Minneapolis police officers, including the city’s police chief, testified against Chauvin during the trial — a rarity in police misconduct cases and a possible indication that his trial could move the needle on police reform.

Floyd’s death was a catalyst for nationwide Black Lives Matter protests that dominated the country last summer.

The indictment announced Friday states that the offenses violated the U.S. Code known as the “color of law” statute, something that Democrats in Congress have sought to change through the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

The important provision prohibits law enforcement officers willfully depriving “a person of a right or privilege protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.

Under the George Floyd bill, which would implement sweeping national reforms to policing, “willfully” would be changed to “knowingly or recklessly,” and the scope of the statute would also broaden.

The proposed change as well as the legislation’s slashing of qualified immunity are viewed as the largest roadblocks to Republican support for the bill.

Lane, Kueng and Thao are set to stand trial on state criminal charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter in August.

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THE WORLD’S DEEPEST FRESHWATER LAKE

TRAVEL: by Eric Mackenzie Lamb

 
 
 
During the summer of 2001, I was fortunate enough to embark on one of my most memorable trips- to Siberia and Russia’s Far East. Even today, more than twenty years later, this vast area still remains relatively unknown when it comes to international tourism. And I wasn’t alone. My son Antonio, then eight years old and on his summer school break, shared the adventure with me, the first of many.
This sector of our trip started in Beijing, China, where we boarded the legendary Trans Siberian Railway. The Russian section of the railway was completed in 1906 and involved hundreds of thousands of laborers. Ordered by the Tsar, its purpose was to open the vast Siberian territories to trade, exploration, military linkage with Russia’s Far East, and scientific studies. Years later, a branch of the railway line was extended to China. We’d booked our own private compartment, which had a shower, toilet, and two bunk beds-an absolute necessity as we’d be traveling across seven time zones. Altogether, the total distance we’d cover would come to 4,735 miles in six days, not including a three day break in the Russian city of Irkutsk.
Our train departed Beijing at precisely 11 AM, and by one in the morning the next day we had reached the Mongolian border. It was here that Antonio and I, still awake, witnessed some amazing technology. As we learned later,  Chinese railway gauges are different from those in Mongolia and Russia. To solve that problem, the train’s undercarriages are jacked up and their wheels replaced. In less than an hour, we were on our way.
When we woke up the next morning and peered through the window, it was almost as if we’d arrived at another planet. This, we knew, was the legendary Gobi Desert.
Image by the author.
 
From time to time, we could see a yurt in the distance, a typical Mongolian tent made of wood and felt.  The traditional structure, dating back thousands of years, serves as a home which can be moved from one location to another.
Image by the author.
Image by the author.
 
That same evening, we crossed the Russian/Mongolian border. About four hours later, we arrived at Irkutsk, disembarked, and took a taxi to our hotel. Although the hotel itself was of a rather stark Soviet era style, it turned out to be surprisingly comfortable.
Image by the author.
 
The following morning, we began our tour of Lake Baikal.
Image by the author.

 

Here are some facts we learned from Tamur, our highly knowledgeable guide and boat driver.
The world’s deepest freshwater body of water, Lake Baikal-a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996-has a maximum depth of 5,387 feet. It contains an astonishing 23 percent of the Earth’s fresh water. It’s also the world’s oldest lake in geological history, between 25 and 30 million years since its formation, encompassing a length of 395 miles and an average width of 79 miles. The lake is home to at least one thousand species of plants and 2,500 animals, eighty percent of which are endemic and found nowhere else, including the Baikal seal (Pusa sibirica), one of the world’s only freshwater mammals of its kind.
Image by the author.
 
For the area’s commercial fishermen, the most rewarding and sought after catches consist of Omul (Coregonus migratorius) and the Baikal sturgeon, a source of caviar.
When it comes to weather, violent winds are not uncommon during summer months, when waves can reach heights of 15 feet or more. But in winter, usually between January and May, the lake’s surface is frozen solid. You can even legally drive your car  across it, which many locals do for the purpose of ice fishing.
 
Finally, to conclude this story, Lake Baikal itself isn’t the only amazing thing  we learned about the area. In 1978, a party of government surveyors was making their way over the area’s impenetrable forests by helicopter when they spotted a tiny isolated village, which, as they subsequently learned,  was inhabited by members of a religious sect called True Believers whose ancestors had emigrated from western Russia in the early 1920’s to escape prosecution for their anti-Orthodox beliefs. The village had no cars, no electricity, and no means of communication with the outside world. For all practical purposes, it could have been the far side of the moon.  None of Its few dozen settlers,  was even aware that Russia was no longer ruled by the Tsars, or that Lenin’s Communist revolution had taken place.
Just like Lake Baikal, history itself had been frozen in time.

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“No volcanic threat” at Mount Liamuiga 

There is no need for alarm at Mount Liamuiga, as there are no signs of an impending eruption. 

This is according to the University of the West Indies (UWI) Seismic Research Centre. 

Director of the Centre, Dr. Erouscilla Joseph, said the social media video that made the rounds this week, of a bubbling puddle, was not out of the ordinary.

“What the video did show is people in the crater in the hot spring area and the bubbles. Liamuiga is considered live, and that means it has the potential to erupt again in the future.”

Dr. Joseph said the activity that was seen at Mount Liamuiga is normal, and it is not unusual.

“It does not look any different to what was seen in the past – in terms of how the future looks and the type of activities that are associated with these features that are in the crater.”

She said in the other volcanic areas such as Dominica and St Lucia, one will see more effusive activities associated with their hot springs that could look a lot more active than what was seen in the video.

She explained what caused the activity at the crater 

“There is magma at depth below the volcano. What happens is that it heats the rocks above. It is so hot, the rock is there and then you have water coming in from the rain that filters through the cracks on the volcano, and it percolates down into the earth and is heated by the hot rock, the magma itself also degasses.

“Together with that, hot water that is heated up and boils, that comes up to the surface and is manifested as the hot springs, vents.”

Dr. Joseph said the feature is something that is seen in most volcanic systems, and is not related to an eruption.

“When a volcanic system becomes more active, you tend to see more changes in the activity as well as the appearance of these features, and this is not what is happening at Liamuiga.

“The type of activity seen is a normal hydrothermal activity, it was not unusual and does not indicate there was an increase in the activity of the volcano.”

She said there is no truth in volcanoes being linked, so the eruption in St Vincent will not impact other volcanoes in the region.

“The processes throughout the region that allow for the formation of the volcanoes, that is the same…but in terms of the plumbing systems, each volcano is different and has its own plumbing system, and activity at one does not necessarily allow for another to increase in activity or erupt.”

National Disaster Coordinator, Abdias Samuel, said the volcano is dormant but live. He noted that the last verified eruptions would have occurred 1800 years ago, though some historians have suggested that possible eruptions may have occurred in 1692 and 1843.

Samuel said the continuous hot springs activity and the occasional burst of shallow earthquakes directly beneath the volcano mean that it is still alive. He said people should also be aware of similar activity at Nevis Peak.

“There have been no recent signs of increased volcanic activity in Nevis, however frequent shallow earthquake swarms and the existence of hot spring activity associated with Nevis Peak, indicate that this volcano is live and can erupt in the future.”

As it relates to preparedness, Samuel said scientists provide advice as well as produce maps and other public information material to enable the public and authorities to better prepare for any future volcanic eruption. 

“Being prepared for these events can considerably reduce risks to you and your family. If there is any eruption on Nevis, the entire island would have to be evacuated

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US Organizations Ask Biden to Lift Cuban Blockade

Washington, May 6 (Prensa Latina) Thirty-six organizations of sustainable farmers and environmentalists in the United States on Wednesday sent a letter addressed to President Joe Biden urging him to change its policy towards Cuba and lift the economic blockade.

The letter encouraged the US President to immediately fulfill his campaign promise to reverse Donald Trump´s policies, as well as to lift the longest commercial blockade in the history of the United States.

It reminded the Biden administration that it should not brush aside the skyward public opinion current on these issues, which included an unprecedented letter signed by 79 members of Congress in favor of normalizing bilateral relations with Cuba.

Likewise, it pointed out that the more than 200 restrictions implemented by Trump are still in force, of which at least 50 were pronounced during the Covid-19 pandemic and thus worsened difficulties for the Cuban people.

‘June 23 is drawing near. It´s the date on which the UN will consider the annual resolution on Cuba, condemning the US blockade,’ the letter reads and questions whether Washington is going to listen to the majority of US citizens and to the countries that vote against blockade each year.

Plus, the letter suggested promoting measures to restore trade and travel to Cuba and ceasing food, medicine and humanitarian assistance restrictions, as well as international cooperation including financial transactions.

In addition, it proposes to restore the full functioning of the embassy and consular services of the United States in Havana, and to relaunch the bilateral working groups, especially those that address environmental issues, civil society and scientific cooperation.

The letter recalls that whether human rights are a pivotal pillar of US policy towards Cuba, it cannot be forgotten that food, agriculture and climate crisis are issues of this nature.

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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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