(CNN) Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim will pay for all the costs needed to rebuild Mexico City’s subway overpass-stretch, which left 26 dead after it collapsed last month, according to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Lopez Obrador said during his daily press briefing on Wednesday that he met with Slim, and that the billionaire assured the President that his construction firm “will pay for everything” needed for the reconstruction of Mexico City’s Subway Line 12 overpass.

“He will take care of the reconstruction of the entire [subway line] stretch, making sure that it gets done with all the necessary safety [measures] at no cost to the [Mexican] people and without asking [the government] for a budget,” Lopez Obrador said.

Slim “will not wait for the judicial [final investigation findings],” and will begin coordinating with Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum “so that in a year” the line will be open and operational once again, Lopez Obrador added.

The Carlos Slim Foundation declined to comment on Lopez Obrador’s statement when reached by CNN, as did Mexico City authorities.

Dozens of people lost their lives when an elevated portion of Line 12 known as the “Golden Line” collapsed in Mexico City on May 3.

The subway line had been touted as one of the most expensive and ambitious public works projects in Mexican history when it was inaugurated in October 2012.

The highly publicized ribbon-cutting was attended by the who’s-who of Mexican politics and power at the time, including then-president Felipe Calderón and Marcelo Ebrard, who was then in his last days as Mexico City’s mayor and is now foreign minister.

Carlos Slim, the owner of one of the construction companies involved, was also there.

Now, an independent investigation by the Norwegian firm DNV and a separate investigation by the local attorney’s office are looking into the causes of the deadly collapse, as well as those involved in the construction project, including Slim himself.

According to the investigation’s preliminary findings, deficient welding of metal studs, which apparently were not well connected to steel beams supporting a concrete slab and the elevated train rails, was among a number of issues that contributed to the May 4 incident.

The report said missing metal studs in some sections of the structure, different kinds of concrete used for the slab and unfinished or badly welded joints were some of the other factors that caused the raised railway to buckle, sending two subway carriages plummeting to the streets below.

Reporting contributed by CNN’s Natalie Gallon and Karol Suarez in Mexico City.

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Children caught at the southern border since April 2000

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, June 30, 2021 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Attorney General and Chair of the Disaster Mitigation Council, the Honourable Vincent Byron, has publicly defended the integrity of the National COVID-19 Task Force and all officials working to protect the nation from the deadly disease against the baseless claims of incompetence peddled by members of the Opposition.

The Attorney General lauded the efforts of local health officials who began putting the necessary measures in place in St. Kitts and Nevis months before the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 situation a pandemic in March of 2020.

As a result, the twin island Federation staved off the worst effects of the pandemic for more than a year where the country recorded just 45 cases of the virus.

At Monday’s (June 28) Emergency Sitting of the National Assembly where a Resolution was passed to extend the State of Emergency for a period of six months, Opposition MPs sought to question the national response to the pandemic. This was quickly refuted by the learned Attorney General.

“I take umbrage Mr. Speaker of the work of the National Task Force in this country because they have done an excellent job in the management of the COVID response and everybody in this country knows,” Minister Byron said.

Attorney General Byron said his Government and the Task Force were always mindful that despite their best efforts, there was always the chance that the virus would make its way into the communities of St. Kitts and Nevis, as has been the case over the last five weeks where more than 300 hundred positive cases have been reported.

Notwithstanding the limited capabilities of a small island state, Minister Byron said local health and security officials have again responded exceptionally well in the testing and contact tracing exercises.

“The contact tracing is better than anywhere else in the region…that is why we believe that we can contain this because the contacts will be ring-fenced, they will be tested, they will be quarantined, if it is that they have tested positive they will be isolated [and in doing so] we will reduce the number of people who are positive. When that happens, we can then reopen the country because we have always had, from the very beginning, a very clear and focused plan on how we would deal with this matter,” the minister said.

On Monday June 28, 2021, there were 10 reported positive cases and 127 recovered cases followed by four positive cases and 177 recoveries on Tuesday June 29.

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Authorities in St. Kitts and Nevis are monitoring two weather systems in the Atlantic one of which had influenced the weather patterns across St. Kitts and Nevis early Wednesday.

Chief Met Officer Elmo Burke noted that most persons might have been awakened to moderate to heavy showers and thunderstorm activity Wednesday morning and indicated it was associated with an active tropical wave being experienced.

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 Mr. Antonio “Abonaty” Liburd, Director of the Nevis Culturama Secretariat said the decision to cut the show from the roster of proposed events was a difficult one, however it was taken in light of the COVID-19 outbreak and resulting restrictions imposed in St. Kitts and Nevis.

 “Both events would have been held on Sunday, August 01 [2021], and so we are announcing the Miss Culture Swimwear and Mr. Kool Contest would be scrapped from the calendar of activities for Culturama 47,” he said.

 “I wish to clarify that the calendar of activities would be revised and very shortly we will be putting out the revised schedule of activities, so Culturama itself is not canceled…the other activities that were planned as part of the Culturama 47 celebrations will continue as planned, however the dates for the events will be revised and very shortly said calendar of activities would be made public,” he said.

  In April 2021 the Committee had revealed plans to host a semi-virtual festival from July 27 to August 03. The popular pageant was one of a few main events on the activities roster along with the Soca Monarch Competition, the Senior Kaiso Competition, and Emancipation Celebration.

 No street activities are scheduled for the summer festival however a virtual “Jam where you are Emancipation J’ouvert” event forms part of the activities calendar.

 So far some of the pre-activities such as Kaiso tents which were to be held in June, had to be shelved following the imposition of a daily curfew.

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NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (June 30, 2021) — The following is a media release issued by the Ministry of Health in the Nevis Island Administration.

 On June 29, 2021, Nevis recorded an additional case of COVID-19. This brings the total number of cases recorded on Nevis to 16, since the start of the pandemic. Fifteen (15) of these cases have recovered. The
newly diagnosed case is stable and in isolation. This recent case has no history of travel. The contact tracing process has started and will determine the source of infection.

Persons not yet vaccinated are urged to get vaccinated. Getting vaccinated considerably reduces your risk of becoming infected, being hospitalized and dying from severe COVID-19 infection, if exposed to
someone with COVID-19 infection.

As of yesterday, June 29, on Nevis, 50 per cent of the target population is fully vaccinated. This means another 50 per cent of the target population or approximately 4,323 more adults need to make the critical decision to get fully vaccinated so that our island can achieve herd immunity. Those persons making the choice to protect themselves, their families and their communities must be highly commended.

Today June 30, presents the last chance to receive your first, and for some persons the second dose, from the current batch of vaccines. All health centres on the island will be administering the vaccine throughout the day.

Citizens, residents and visitors are urged to continue to adhere to the non-pharmaceutical prevention and control protocols of properly wearing a mask covering your nose and mouth at all times when in public spaces, washing and/or sanitizing your hands frequently throughout the day, keeping a distance of six feet or more between yourself and other persons, staying away from crowds, keeping your hands out of your face, nose, mouth and eyes, sanitizing frequently touched surfaces throughout the day and sanitizing your hands after you have sanitized these surfaces.

ersons who may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 or experiencing symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 infection are asked to immediately self-quarantine and call 311, 661-5051, 665-5473, your
nearest health centre or your health care provider. If you need to see a health care provider, call ahead and explain your symptoms before visiting.

Symptoms of COVID-19 include nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, severe headache, body aches, dizziness, fever, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing. Persons exhibiting any of these

symptoms are asked to call the numbers provided above for specific guidance.

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By Monique Washington

Hours after positive COVID 19 case15 in Nevis had fully recovered the island recorded its 16th positive case of COVID-19.

According a to a press release from the Ministry of Health on Wednesday on June 29, Nevis recorded an additional case with no travel history was diagnosed.
“The newly diagnosed case is stable and in isolation. The contact tracing process has started and will determine the source of infection.”

More to this story as it becomes available

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