Tag Archives: caribbean

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African Swine Fever Detected in Domincan Republic

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On July 28, 2021, the USDA’s foreign animal disease diagnostic laboratory confirmed a wild type African Swine Fever (ASF) in eight samples collected from hogs in the Dominican Republic.

From there, the entire organization moved in full swing, immediately notifying the Chief Veterinary Officer in the Dominican Republic, who notified the World Health Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and started the process of looking more closely into what we could do to protect both Dominican pork, but also prevent spread to the U.S.

Considering this is the first outbreak of ASF in the Americas in 40 years, USDA and other government agencies are taking this threat very seriously and working swiftly to mitigate any potential risks.

Here are some of the steps they’re taking, according to Dr. Rosemary Sifford, Associate Administrator with USDA’s Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

Overview of the ASF situation in the Dominican Republic.

Since 2019, the USDA has engaged in cooperative surveillance with the Dominican Republic to ensure the safety of pork and pork producers coming into the U.S. Currently, the USDA collects samples from 19 of the 32 provinces in the Dominican Republic.

About a month ago, these regular quarterly testing efforts revealed ASF-positive samples from two separate provinces — Monte Christi and Sanchez — which are 100 miles apart. The samples were drawn from a priority set, meaning the animals were showing clinical signs of ASF.

Because ASF can be easily transmitted via fomites, or materials that can carry the infection from host to host, USDA has ramped up their vigilance about how to keep the virus out of the U.S. The biggest risk comes because the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, are just over 200 miles apart — a relatively short distance in global terms.

Although the Dominican Republic is leading their response, the U.S. is providing key testing support, as well as personal protective equipment (PPE) for their staff.

Coordination with other U.S. government entities.

USDA continues to consult with other U.S. and world government officials about how best to support these response and mitigation measures. These include the Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, the U.S Coast Guard, and the Puerto Rican government, as well as the government of nearby island Haiti and the United Nations.

The top priority is quickly containing and controlling the outbreak within the Dominican Republic, both to protect the Dominican pork herd as well as to stop spread to the U.S. Specifically, CBP is working to step up their surveillance efforts to keep any and all prohibited products from entering the country.

For example, a major threat comes in the form of garbage disposal from other countries. Many ships and airplanes have foreign garbage and food waste that could carry the virus, so there’s an effort to ensure proper disposal systems are in place.

USDA is also working with other federal agencies to share information and see if there are other support mechanisms at their disposal, as well as partnering with state governments to get the message out as much as possible.

In addition, on August 6th there was a federal order establishing additional requirements for importing dogs from countries where ASF exists. Dogs, their bedding, and other materials present a risk pathway. Dogs must now be bathed and the bedding properly disposed of, and the crates properly cleaned before they move any further within the U.S.

Additionally, wildlife services are working to conduct feral swine control. There has been a plan to eradicate feral swine over a six year period, but in the wake of this outbreak, more resources are now being put into that plan, with the goal of cutting the population in half over the next 15-18 months.

However, there is good news. Because classical swine fever has existed in the Caribbean for quite a while, many of these mitigations are already in place. USDA’s goal is to build on current infrastructure to enhance their effectiveness.

Outreach & education efforts.

Risk mitigation can’t happen without public engagement. USDA is leveraging social media campaigns to share information materials in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Hmong, and traditional Chinese to educate all populations about the risks and how to avoid them.

Most of these educational efforts focus on the producer, and increasing their awareness of the clinical signs of ASF in pigs. These include death, high fever, loss of appetite, depression, red skin, vomiting, diarrhea, respiratory distress, and abortions.

USDA is asking if any producers see these signs, that they report them immediately to a veterinarian or state animal health official to give them the opportunity to find evidence of the disease as early as possible.

There are also additional biosecurity practices that USDA is educating producers on. This includes properly cooking any garbage before feeding, limiting interfaces with feral swine, truck washing, and being careful during personnel entry and exit.

The big question: What if there’s a positive ASF case in the U.S.?

If USDA was to detect an ASF-positive case in the U.S., it would trigger federal, state, tribal, and local emergency response plans. These highly detailed plans contain a number of strategies to respond to emergencies like disease outbreak.

One of the biggest concerns is that OIE doesn’t differentiate between a country and their territories. So if the virus jumped from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico, the entire U.S. would be considered “affected,” significantly disrupting U.S. trade patterns.

In that case, USDA would work with trading partners to regionalize the U.S. mainland by demonstrating that there are mitigations in place that protect the mainland from trade with Puerto Rico.

There would also be a mandatory 72-hour movement standstill implemented, that would require all live swine and semen movements to stop during that time, giving USDA the opportunity to evaluate where exactly there’s an issue and what the extent of the issue is, and hopefully get some control measures back in place. USDA would also hope that there are plans to get things restarted as quickly as possible in the event of a national standstill.

Since there’s currently no treatment and no vaccine for ASF, quarantine and movement controls are the only tools we have to treat the virus. This is why early response and risk mitigation is so critical, and why USDA is taking bold steps now to keep our herds and food supply safe.

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A Record: At Least 55 Millionaires Standing for Seats in Bahamas Parliament

Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis (Left) and Opposition Leader, Phillip Davis (File Photo)

More than 55 millionaires are seeking a seat in the Bahamas parliament in the September 16 general election, according to the full list of 2021 financial declarations published in the media here on Monday.

According to the list published in the Tribune newspaper, the list makes the Bahamas, the only Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country where so many millionaires are seeking to enter parliament in a general election.

In the last general election, the Free National Movement won 35 of the 39 seats with the others going to the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).

According to the published declarations based on the financial disclosures submitted to the Parliamentary Registration Department, Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar tops the list of millionaire candidates with a total net worth of US$37.9 million.

D’Aguilar, who lists himself as a business executive, has total assets of US$36.8 million, an annual income of US$1.4 million and liabilities of US$345,013. He lists among his assets more than US$32 million in securities and investments and an estimated three million dollars in real estate.

The second highest millionaire candidate is Chester Cooper of the PLP, who is estimated to be worth US$14.8 million with an income of US$370,000. The bulk of his assets is investments and in real estate, worth US$11 million and three million dollars respectively.

Both leaders of the two main political parties are millionaires.

According to the declared financial declarations, Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis, who is seeking a second consecutive term in power, is worth US$14.04 million. In 2017, Minnis, a prominent medical practitioner was worth US$12. 6 million.

The PLP leader, Philip “Brave” Davis, has listed his assets at US$4.1 million down from the US$4.3 million, the Queen Counsel had filed in 2017.

The leader of the small opposition, Democratic National Alliance (DNA), Arinthia Komolafe, has assets worth more than one million US dollars while her net worth falls short of the millionaires club at US$640,900.

Kevin King of the newly formed Kingdom Government Movement (KGM) lists his net worth as US$53.1 million, making him the wealthiest person on the list.. The physician and political newcomer said his assets include US$35 million in securities and eight million US dollars in real estate. However, his total income is listed as US$38,500.

Another KGM candidate, Rollington Cooper, Jr, lists himself as a multimillionaire with a net worth of $13.4 million with the bulk of these assets, estimated at US$13.9 million being in real estate. He said his total income is only US$500 however with US$588,000 in liabilities.

Among the others listed on the millionaire’s club are former health minister, Dr Duane Sands, Stephen Greenslade Michael Foulkes, Adrian Gibson, Minister of Environment Romi Ferreira, the Minister of Agriculture Michael Pintard, the Minister of National Security Marvin Dames and Minister of Education Jeff Lloyd.

The Tribune newspaper reported that officials from the Parliamentary Registration Department and Public Disclosure Commission said they were not responsible for verifying the data put forward by candidates, insisting that responsibility lies with other government agencies.

CMC/

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US: Latest Surge Adds to Nationwide Frustration, Tracking Lambda Variant, World Stats

COVID-19 frustrations rise alongside delta surge, school reopenings

By Niall Stanage

The Hill

A nation exhausted by 18 months of the pandemic is trying to figure out what lies ahead. Frustratingly, there may not be a nationwide answer.

The latest figures show a flattening of new COVID-19 cases in some of the states that have been worst hit by the delta variant. But other states are suffering explosive rises.

The average number of new cases has rocketed in West Virginia, for example, where average daily infections were up 252 percent in the 14 days to Sunday, according to New York Times data.

The daily average for infections has shot up 77 percent in Ohio, 72 percent in Indiana and 67 percent in Kentucky, the home state of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R).

McConnell, a polio survivor, has been more vigorous than many others in his party in urging vaccinations.

At the same time, new cases have fallen by 27 percent in Louisiana and 7 percent in Mississippi, two of the states that had been worst affected by the recent spike.

Three other states that had been hard-hit are seeing increases, but at a slower rate than before. Daily cases in Florida and Texas have each increased by 5 percent over the last 14 days, and by 3 percent in Alabama.

“That rise and fall will happen at different times and in different places” over the coming months, said Neil Sehgal, an assistant professor of health policy and management at the University of Maryland School of Public Health.

“It’s a relief anytime we see cases decline somewhere that has really been ravaged by COVID. At the same time, positive news in one part of the county doesn’t necessarily translate nationally.”

The question of what comes next is particularly pertinent right now.

Schools across the nation are returning to in-person learning for the first time since the pandemic began. In the process, they are lifting an emotional and logistical burden from parents and facilitating a return to the full-time workforce for many.

But a continued rise in COVID-19 cases could endanger that process.

New figures show COVID-19-related hospitalizations of people under 18 at their highest since the pandemic began, though such cases remain very rare overall.

The more widespread danger could be school years marked by frequent and unpredictable disruptions. On Monday, for example, a school district near Houston announced a COVID-19-related weeklong shutdown just two weeks into the academic year.

Kavita Patel, a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution and a practicing physician, said “how schools factor into this” is one of the crucial unknowns. One possibility, she suggested, was that “we could see an incredible uptick in cases but no increase in hospitalizations.”

Other public health experts sound an even more ominous tone, given that children under 12 remain ineligible for vaccination.

“No one would consider it appropriate to put 20 or 30 unvaccinated adults in a room all day, with poor ventilation and have them sit there for hours at a time in the middle of the delta surge. Why do we think we should do this with children?” said Leana Wen, a practicing physician and a former Baltimore health commissioner. “It is something I really worry about.”

Overall, the U.S. has seen a 20 percent rise in new cases of COVID-19 over the last two weeks, according to the New York Times data.

Average daily hospitalizations are more than 100,000, their highest level in eight months. Around 1,300 Americans are dying every day from COVID-19. The virus has now claimed around 637,000 lives in the U.S., and an estimated 4.5 million around the world.

The trajectory of what comes next will decide the fate of many Americans’ lives. It will also have a central bearing on how President Biden and a number of other prominent politicians are viewed by the public.

Biden, having received high marks from voters for his handling of the pandemic in his early months in office, has seen his ratings slide into more ambivalent territory. An NBC News poll earlier this month showed 53 percent approval for Biden’s approach to COVID-19 — a sharp decline from 69 percent in April.

Some conservative governors, notably Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), have become leading foils of Biden, each issuing anti-mask mandate executive orders.

DeSantis and Abbott are considered potential candidates for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. They also face gubernatorial reelection battles next year.

The political battle took a new turn Monday, when the Department of Education opened civil rights investigations into five states that have imposed restrictions on mask mandates in schools.

The investigation is premised on the possibility that those states could have infringed upon the rights of students who are at higher risk because of underlying conditions.

A few days earlier, a Florida judge ruled that the state could not levy penalties against school districts that introduced mask mandates.

But as those battles play out, one truth remains: The future path of the virus is almost impossible to chart with confidence.

“Another thing we have learned in the pandemic is that prognostication is difficult and we almost certainly are going to be wrong,” said Wen.

“If we are able to get vaccinations up and there are mitigation measures put in place, including in schools, we could get past the surge. But what if there is a new variant that develops that is even more contagious and even more deadly?”

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Cleveland Clinic, Florida officials tracking Lambda variant of COVID-19

48 2 minute read

 

Nassau Guardian– Medical experts at Cleveland Clinic Florida are tracking a new highly contagious variant of the COVID-19 SARS virus, the Lambda variant, but warning it is too early to predict its impact.

“While worldwide attention has been focused on the Delta variant, the emergence of yet another variant in a continuing evolution of this virus is further evidence of the need to continue exercising every precaution and doing all we can to expedite and encourage vaccination for as many people as possible,” said Dr. Lyssette Cardona, infectious disease specialist. “The earliest documented samples of the Lambda variant were recorded in Peru in December 2020; and in June, the World Health Organization officially noted that the Lambda variant was on its radar.”

So far, the Lambda variant has been identified in 29 countries.

The Lambda variant is highly infectious and may be even more vaccine-resistant than previous incarnations of the virus that has caused more than 4.4 million deaths worldwide, including over 340 in The Bahamas where both the public and private healthcare facilities are straining at the seams.

“In the end,” said Cardona, “the shape-shifting nature of the coronavirus, like all viruses, causes doctors and experts around the world to keep a close eye on, though at this time, we do not believe the Lambda variant will change the way we have to deal with and confront this virus. It is part of the fast-paced evolution of the virus and that is ultimately what we must maintain our level of vigilance to observe, track and treat, but most importantly encourage everyone to do what they can individually to prevent being impacted themselves or spreading the disease to others in their family or community.”

Experts stress that while the vaccine may not prevent someone from getting the diseases, it greatly improves their chances of survival with the latest figures making the unvaccinated 29 times more likely to die from COVID than those who contract it even though they are fully vaccinated.

The Bahamas’ National COVID-19 Vaccine Consultative Committee’s latest vaccine tracker chart shows only 14 percent of the population is fully vaccinated (56,000 out of a population of 400,000), well below the target of 70-85 percent needed for herd immunity.

“These new waves of infections show that the pandemic is not close to being over yet,” said Cardona. “At this time, vaccination has proven to be our most effective tool, and vaccines are readily available for many children and adults. Vaccinations are our best defense against these emerging mutations.”

According to Dr. Merceline Dahl-Regis, chairperson of Bahamas National COVID-19 Vaccine Consultative Committee, the vaccine committee hopes to vaccinate over 60,000 residents within the next six weeks. There are also 19,240 AstraZeneca vaccine doses available for distribution.

“The best way for everyone in The Bahamas to protect themselves and prevent more surges from happening in the future is to get vaccinated and follow established protocols,” said Dahl-Regis.

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WORLD STATS

Coronavirus Cases:

218,568,144

Deaths:

4,534,152

Recovered:

195,403,022
Highlighted in green
= all cases have recovered from the infection
Highlighted in grey
= all cases have had an outcome (there are no active cases)

[back to top ↑]

Latest News

September 1 (GMT)

Updates

  • 412 new cases and 23

 

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Police Investigating Circumstances Surrounding Man’S Death

The Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of 39-year-old Wilson Dore of Bath Village. Dore’s body was found partially clothed in Bath Village at about 7:30 p.m. on August 29, 2021. The District Medical Officer arrived at the scene and pronounced him dead. An autopsy has been scheduled to determine the exact cause of death.

Persons with information about this incident are urged to contact the Charlestown Police Station by dialling 469-5391, the nearest Police Station or the Crime Hotline at 707. Investigations into the matter are ongoing.

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Depressed Econmies: T&T, Barbados Given IMF Cash Lifelines

The Trinidad and Tobago government will hold a three day retreat in Tobago this week, amid concerns that there is need for a serious re-examination of the existing socio economic policies occasioned by the coronavirus (COVID019) pandemic.

Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, speaking on a television program on Tuesday, said also that the recent decision by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to allocate an estimated US $644 million to Trinidad and Tobago from the largest allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) in its history, will also be an agenda item at the retreat.

Minister “This pandemic has affected us three times as bad …and it is so widespread and all pervasive in that the global financial crisis basically was dealing with people who had money and was losing money and those who did not have, have nothing to lose,” he told the “Brighter Morning with Bhoe” program hosted by former government minister Dr. Bhoe Tewarie.

“But this pandemic affects every body…in the world and it has a much larger damaging impact on the world’s economies and that is why the IMF has come in. I mean why you read, like here in the CARICOM (Caribbean Community) some countries are pointing to a huge percentage of loss in GDP (gross domestic product), here in Trinidad and Tobago we are still trying to assess  the extent of the loss of our GDP simply by being in this pandemic situation.

“If you look at what is happening in the big economies in the world, how much hundreds of billions are loss simply because having to respond to the pandemic, here in Trinidad and Tobago when we stayed home for a month …earning nothing, shutting down everything, you could imagine the effect that is having

Crisis Many Times More Devastating

Rowley told his audience that the Washington-based financial institution has recognized that this is a crisis that is many times more devastating than the global financial crisis that was experienced in 2009.

“We are very happy for their response and our share of that support is going to be utilized much to our benefit,” Rowley said, adding that from time to time when “one speaks of the IMF, they speak of the old guard they know, but on this occasion I hope you understand being a member of the IMF has its great benefit.

IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said that the US$650 billion SDR allocation is a significant shot in the arm for the world and, if used wisely, a unique opportunity to combat this unprecedented crisis.

“SDRs are being distributed to countries in proportion to their quota shares in the IMF. This means about US$275 billion is going to emerging and developing countries, of which low-income countries will receive about US$21 billion, equivalent to as much as six per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in some cases,” she said.

“Countries can use the space provided by the SDR allocation to support their economies and step up their fight against the crisis,” she added.

Funds will strengthen  Trinidad and Tobago Position

Rowley said that Trinidad and Tobago would use its allocation  “mainly to strengthen our position going forward encouraging export marketing, ensuring that we can fund the recovery that has to be done in a variety of ways and it is going to prevent us from having to borrow as much as we would have had to borrow from other sources if we were without this kind of support.

Asked whether the new funding would also be used to assist in both import or export substitution for local businesses, Rowley replied “absolutely.

“What we will be using it for is to ensure that what we wanted to and would have been funded by the scare resources or the expensive we will have to find. We are going to have to support those who are engaged in that activity (export marketing) and it will be whatever that is to help us get into the market place and to earn from that market”.

He said the funds would also help to provide a number of businesses that would have used up their resources to sustain them during the pandemic and allow for their re-entry into the market “strong and productive.

“We have to come up with modules of expenditure, very carefully administered to allow this funding to be had without it being a largess or a gift which does not solve the problem and we already doing that and I could tell you the Cabinet meets in retreat next week in Tobago for three days and this is the kind of thing we will be focusing on.

“There will be certain shifts that we will have to make,” Rowley said, noting that much of government’s revenue is spent on subsidies.

“I know once you mention that people begin to see oh hardship because without these subsidies you are going to have hardship…but if we don’t address these things we end up requiring more and more of that kind of support which is unproductive,” Rowley said, noting that Trinidad and Tobago had spent an estimated TT$30 billion (one TT dollar=US$0.16 cents) on subsidizing fuel in recent years.

“If one is to be honest and ask ourselves look at where we are now. Suppose we had not done that and we had used most of that money either in savings or in doing other productive things, wont we have been better off because we subsidize fuel for everybody in the country.

Subsidies and Disruptions

‘You buy a million dollar car and the state is subsidizing your fuel. Is that a good idea? And we have to address these things frontally and fairly and honestly and this pandemic is pushing us in that direction if we were not going there before because there is no other way out.

“We have to do things differently  and there might be some disruption before, but we hoping as we do them we will minimize those disruptions, the inconvenience and the hurt and build a new platform that gives our children a more confident future,” Rowley told the television program.

CMC

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Barbados Economy “Remains Severely Depressed.”

Bert-Van-Selm

A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Friday ended a visit to the island, indicating that the Barbados economy “remains severely depressed” as a result of the ongoing global coronavirus (COVID019) pandemic.

The IMF delegation, headed by Bert van Selm had conducted a staff visit via videoconferencing between August 24-27 at the invitation of the Barbados government of Prime Minister Mia Motley.

According to a statement issued here, while tourism is expected to recover gradually in the second half of 2021 and the first half of 2022, risks to the outlook remain.

But the IMF official said that despite this very challenging environment, Barbados continues to make good progress in implementing its ambitious and comprehensive economic reform program, while expanding critical investments in social protection.

It said indicative targets under the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF)-supported program for end-June 2021 were met, and since then international reserves have been further boosted by the recent global  special drawing rights (SDR) allocation.

The head of the IMF delegation said that the tourism activity has picked up in recent months but remains at a fraction of normal levels.

“The economy is estimated to have grown 5.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2021 relative to the second quarter of 2020,” he said, noting that Hurricane Elsa, a category one storm struck Barbados in July and caused significant damage to the island’s housing.

“Economic growth for the second half of 2021 and the first half of 2022 is premised on a gradual recovery of tourism,” the IMF official added.

He said in this very challenging environment, Barbados continues to make good progress in implementing its ambitious and comprehensive economic reform program, while expanding critical investments in social protection.

“Indicative targets for end-June under the EFF were met. The global SDR allocation that became effective on August 23, 2021, including an allocation of about US$129 million to Barbados, has further boosted international reserves, to more than US$1.4 billion.

“”Structural reforms are ongoing, and structural benchmarks under the EFF were met. The government developed plans to recapitalize the Central Bank of Barbados and address medium and long-term challenges for the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) stemming from the debt restructuring and the COVID pandemic, and recapitalization of the NIS has started.”

He said that a medium-term fiscal framework was tabled in Parliament to enhance transparency and accountability in fiscal policy, while retaining sufficient flexibility to respond to the pandemic and other economic shocks.

The IMF official said that the delegation is looking forward to conducting discussions for the sixth review under the EFF in November.

Barbados entered into a four-year US$290 million EFF arrangement with the IMF in October 2018 and following a virtual mission between May 3-7, the Washington-based financial institution said then that the island would receive US$24 million.

CMC/

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Jamaica Resupplied with Oxygen as COVID Cases Surge

CNW- Sick Jamaicans can breathe again. Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton Monday confirmed that a shipment of oxygen has arrived on the island and that distribution has already started.

“Bulk oxygen has arrived with distribution starting this morning at 4.45 am (local time),” Tufton said in a message on his Twitter page.

He said he was thanking the Kingston Wharves for sending a special crew of operators from as early as 1.00 am (local time) to unload the ship, adding “thanks to the public health team, customs and IGL for this collaborative effort”.

On Sunday, the government confirmed reports of a shortage of medical oxygen across the island with the Ministry of Health and Wellness noting in a statement that the authorities were working to ease the crisis.

Jamaica Chris Tufton
Chris Tufton, Minister of Heaare

‘With lives at stake given the high number of hospitalizations associated with COVID-19, the Ministry of Health & Wellness is pursuing all efforts to support public health facilities that are low or otherwise now out of oxygen.”

According to the Ministry, all hospitals were low in supply and those that were out and had to be supplemented. It said that the Ministry is now in dialogue with oxygen suppliers IGL Limited, who are seeking to have stores increased on Monday and into Tuesday.

“All hospitals – through the regional technical directors at the regional health authorities (RHAs) and senior medical officers – have, in the interim, been instructed on oxygen conservation while the island awaits the restoration of supplies.”

In his tweet message on Monday, Tufton urged Jamaicans to get vaccinated as the country continues to struggle with a third wave of COVID-19 infections.

On Sunday, the authorities reported that the island recorded 929 new COVID-19 infections and confirmed 21 deaths.

The new cases moved the total number of infections to 66,663 since the first case was recorded last year while the death toll climbed to 1,504.

CMC/

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World View: Last Yanks Leave Afghanistan, Ida’s Aftermath, Venice Film Festival Opens, More

Aug 31, 2021

Alternate text

The Associated Press

The Rundown

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan, ending America’s longest war and closing a chapter in military history likely to be remembered for colossal failures, unfulfilled promises and a frantic final exit…Read More

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana communities battered by Hurricane Ida faced a new danger as they began the massive task of clearing debris and repairing damage from the storm: the possibility of weeks without power in the stifling, late-summer heat….Read More

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WASHINGTON (AP) — With the final stream of U.S. cargo planes soaring over the peaks of the Hindu Kush, President Joe Biden fulfilled a campaign promise to end America’s longest war, one it could not win. …Read More

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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban triumphantly marched into Kabul’s international airport on Tuesday, hours after the final U.S. troop withdrawal that ended America’s longest war. Standing on the tarmac, Taliban leaders pledged to secure the …Read More

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ROME (AP) — Visitors to Venice could be forgiven for not realizing that beyond the majesty of St. Mark’s Square and the romance of gondola rides lies a city that helped provide a baseline of what the world knows today about containing pandemics. …Read More

OTHER TOP STORIES

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — A ferocious wildfire swept toward Lake Tahoe on Tuesday just hours after roads were clogged with fleeing cars when the entire Californ…Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — An 80-pound cougar was removed from a New York City apartment where she was being kept illegally as a pet, animal welfare officials said Monday. The o…Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite a few high-profile conservation success stories – like the dramatic comeback of bald eagle populations in North America – birds of prey are …Read More

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea appears to have restarted the operation of its main nuclear reactor used to produce weapons fuels, the U.N. atomic agency said, …Read More

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Third Quake in August Shakes Trinidad

Shortly after midday on Monday, for the second consecutive week, parts of Trinidad were jolted by a light magnitude 4.6 earthquake west of the country.

The University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre recorded this quake at 86 kilometres depth.

The Centre also notes that this earthquake has been reviewed by an analyst.

This earthquake was reportedly widely felt across Northern and Central Trinidad.

Earthquakes in this area are typical for Trinidad and Tobago. This is the third felt earthquake this month, with the last two occurring on August 23rd at a magnitude 4.0 and the other, a magnitude 4.4, on August 12th.

Generally, across the Eastern Caribbean, a seismically active area, earthquakes of this magnitude, up to M8.0 and greater, are possible. Seismologists have repeated this statement at the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre for decades.

Each year, over 2,200 seismic events are recorded in the Eastern Caribbean. On average, the Eastern Caribbean has seen a pattern of major (M7.0-M7.9) quakes every 20 to 30 years. That pattern has stayed true. The last major earthquake occurred north of Martinique in 2007.

Three years ago, on August 21st and August 22nd, 2018, Trinidad and Tobago was struck by two large earthquakes registering a magnitude 6.9 and 5.9, respectively, the largest quakes to strike near T&T in recent history.

Reporter: Kalain Hosein

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Haiti’s Food Crisis Became Deeper After Devastating Quake

NAN KONSEY, Haiti, Aug 30 (Reuters) – In a tent encampment in the mountains of southern Haiti, where hundreds of villagers sought shelter after a powerful earthquake flattened their homes this month, a single charred cob of corn was the only food in sight.

“I’m hungry and my baby is hungry,” said Sofonie Samedy, gesturing to her pregnant stomach.

Samedy had eaten only intermittently since the 7.2-magnitude earthquake on Aug. 14 destroyed much of Nan Konsey, a remote farming village not far from the epicenter. Across Haiti, the quake killed more than 2,000 people and left tens of thousands homeless.

In Nan Konsey, the earth’s convulsions tore open the village’s cement cisterns used to store drinking water and triggered landslides that interred residents’ modest subsistence farms.

Since then, Samedy and the rest of the community have camped alongside the main highway, about a 40-minute walk from their village, hoping to flag down the rare passing truck to ask for food and water.

“I’m praying I can still give birth to a healthy baby, but of course I’m a little afraid,” she said.

Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has long had one of the world’s highest levels of food insecurity. Last year, Haiti ranked 104 out of the 107 countries on the Global Hunger Index. By September, the United Nations said 4 million Haitians – 42% of the population – faced acute food insecurity.

This month’s earthquake has exacerbated the crisis: destroying crops and livestock, leveling markets, contaminating waterways used as sources of drinking water, and damaging bridges and roads crucial to reaching villages like Nan Konsey.

The number of people in urgent need of food assistance in the three departments hardest-hit by the earthquake – Sud, Grand’Anse and Nippes – has increased by one-third since the quake, from 138,000 to 215,000, according to the World Food Programme (WFP).

“The earthquake rattled people who were already struggling to feed their families,” Lola Castro, WFP’s regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, said in a statement.

“The compound effects of multiple crises are devastating communities in the south faced with some of the highest levels of food insecurity in the country.”

‘IN THE HANDS OF GOD’

Just off the highway leading to Nan Konsey, a few dozen men gathered at a goat market, where they sold off their remaining livestock to secure cash to feed their children or to pay for family members’ funerals.

Before the quake, farmer Michel Pierre had tended 15 goats and cultivated yams, potatoes, corn, and banana trees. He arrived at the market with the only two animals that survived the earthquake.

With his crops also buried beneath landslides, he hoped to earn about $100 from the sale to feed himself, his wife and his children.

When that money runs dry, he said, he isn’t sure what he will do. He is still in debt from when Hurricane Matthew ravaged Haiti in 2016.

“Day by day, it’s getting harder to be a farmer,” he said. “I am in the hands of God.”

Haiti was largely food self-sufficient until the 1980s, when at the encouragement of the United States it started loosening restrictions on crop imports and lowered tariffs. A subsequent flood of surplus U.S. crops put droves of Haitian farmers out of business and contributed to investment in the sector tailing off.

In recent years, climate change has made Hispaniola – the island Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic – increasingly vulnerable to extreme droughts and hurricanes. Spiraling food costs, economic decline and political instability have worsened the shortages.

For Gethro Polyte, a teacher and farmer living north of the town of Camp-Perrin, the earthquake decimated his two main sources of income: leveling the school where he taught fourth grade, and submerging his crops and livestock in an avalanche of earth.

Before the disaster, he and his family had been able to pull together two meals a day and draw water from underground springs, he said. But since then, his food supplies have dwindled down to a few yams and bananas, and the water has been contaminated with silt.

Polyte doubted the school would be rebuilt for classes to start in September and for him to receive a paycheck, given the chaos following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July. And with bank loans still to pay off, he doubted he’d be able to secure money to invest in rebuilding his farm.

“We are living now by eating a little something just to kill the hunger,” he said. “And, of course, things will only grow worse in the coming days.”

Reporting by Laura Gottesdiener in Haiti, additional reporting by Ricardo Arduengo and Herbert Villarraga in Haiti Editing by Daniel Flynn and Rosalba O’Brien

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Mexico Condemns Violent Actions by Its Migration Agents Caught on Video

MEXICO CITY, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM) condemned the actions of agents caught on video over the weekend throwing a migrant to the ground and kicking him in the face with the help of National Guard troops.

The government deployed hundreds of security forces to head off a caravan of migrants and asylum seekers who left the southern city of Tapachula on Saturday for Mexico City, where they hoped to seek expedited asylum proceedings.

Videos posted to social media showed confrontations along a highway in the state of Chiapas between members of Mexico’s militarized National Guard and the migrants, many of whom were accompanied by young children or carrying babies.

One of the videos shows an INM agent, with the help of National Guards wearing riot gear, grabbing one of the migrants and knocking him to the ground, as another agent kicks him in the face.

In a statement, INM announced the two agents had been “suspended” due to what it described as their inappropriate conduct on Saturday.

“No conduct outside human rights protocols and policies will be tolerated,” the statement said, adding that additional punishment will be determined by an internal inspector.

Another video showed members of the National Guard using their shields to beat a migrant carrying a minor.

Neither the INM or National Guard made any mention of the videos. It was unclear who had recorded the videos.

Amnesty International’s Mexico office called on Twitter for Mexico “to act with a humanitarian approach in the face of the arrival of Central American and Haitian migrants fleeing the violence and crisis generated by natural disasters.”

The National Guard, responding to Amnesty International, said on Twitter: “We have increased supervisory controls to improve procedures and prevent abuses.”

Reporting by Diego Ore; Additional reporting by David Alire Garcia; Writing by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and Chris Reese

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