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World View: New US Holiday, Pandemic Refugees, Iran Votes, More

June 18, 2021

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Black Americans rejoiced Thursday after President Joe Biden made Juneteenth a federal holiday, but some said that, while they appreciated the recognition at a time of racial reckoning in America, more is needed to change policies…Read More

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GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. refugee agency says war, violence, persecution and human rights violations caused nearly 3 million people to flee their homes last year, even though the COVID-19 crisis restricted movement worldwide as countries shut borders …Read More

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court’s latest rejection of a Republican effort to dismantle “Obamacare” signals anew that the GOP must look beyond repealing the law if it wants to hone the nation’s health care problems into a winning political issue…Read More

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran voted Friday in a presidential election tipped in the favor of a hard-line protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, fueling public apathy and sparking calls for a boycott in the Islamic Republic….Read More

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NEW DELHI (AP) — Starting Monday, every Indian adult can get a COVID-19 vaccine dose for free that was purchased by the federal government….Read More

OTHER TOP STORIES

VATHY, Greece (AP) — Around dawn one recent spring day, an inflatable dinghy carrying nearly three dozen people reached the Greek island of Samos from the nearby Turkish coast…Read More

The coelacanth — a giant weird fish still around from dinosaur times — can live for 100 years, a new study found. These slow-moving, people-sized fish of the deep, nicknamed …Read More

A busy week in the region sees photos from the European soccer championships taking place across the continent, along with the Group of Seven summit meetings in Cornwall, Engl…Read More

GABORONE, Botswana (AP) — A huge diamond weighing more than 1,000 carats, which could be the third-largest mined in history, has been discovered in the southern African countr…Read More

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UN: Pandemic Forces Rising Number of People to Leave Homes

NEW YORK, June 18 (Reuters) – The number of people forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution and human rights abuses has doubled in the past decade to reach 82.4 million at the end of last year, the United Nations said on Friday.

“In the year of COVID, in a year in which movement was practically impossible for most of us… 3 million more people have been forcibly displaced,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told Reuters.

Nearly 70% of those affected are from just five countries – Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Myanmar – according to the annual report on forced displacement by the U.N. Refugee Agency UNHCR.

“Trends have unfortunately continued. So if we had to work to update the figures… for the first six months of 2021, we will probably see a further increase from that 82.4 million,” said Grandi. Around 42% of those displaced were children.

He said the increase in those uprooted from their homes was partly fueled by new flashpoints, including northern Mozambique, West Africa’s Sahel region, and Ethiopia’s Tigray, along with flare-ups in long-running conflicts in Afghanistan and Somalia.

The United Nations is also preparing for a likely further displacement of civilians in Afghanistan after U.S. and international troops leave the country in September, Grandi said earlier this week.

Amid a rise in populism and nationalism in global politics, Grandi called on world leaders to “stop demonizing people” that are forced to move.

“To say that the only way to address this population flow is by building walls or pushing people back at sea is morally despicable or unspeakable. These are human beings,” Grandi said. “Whatever the motive for the flight or for the movement human beings deserve full dignity like everybody else.”

Former U.S. President Donald Trump took a hardline approach on border security and immigration. Grandi, who recently visited Washington, praised new President Joe Biden’s pledge to “restore a U.S. asylum system that is both effective and humane.”

“It’s very important that that pledge is carried out,” he said. “The attitude that I heard in Washington is people that are in need of international protection will be given international protection, but we must make the system more effective otherwise abuses will happen, numbers will skyrocket.”

The UNHCR report found that in 2020 just 34,400 refugees were formally resettled globally – one-third of the previous year. They were resettled in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Reporting by Michelle Nichols, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien

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Mexican Economy Grows nearly 25% in May- Recovery Gathers Steam

MEXICO CITY, June 17 (Reuters) – Mexico’s economy grew 24.8% in May compared with the same month last year, as a recovery from a slump induced by the coronavirus pandemic gathered pace, a preliminary estimate published by national statistics agency INEGI showed on Thursday.

A breakdown of the figures showed that secondary activities, which include manufacturing, were up by 36.4% from May 2020. Meanwhile tertiary activities, which encompass the service sector, expanded by 19.8% over the same period.

If the preliminary estimate is confirmed, May’s activity was only about 0.4% behind the level reached in February 2020, the last full month before pandemic-related restrictions began to hit the economy, according to an index compiled by INEGI.

INEGI noted that April’s data had been revised up to show growth of some 21.6% from the same month in 2020, one percentage point higher than the previous estimate.

The agency also said the preliminary figures pointed to month-on-month economic growth of 0.5% between April and May.

The coronavirus pandemic hit the Mexican economy hard last year, reducing gross domestic product by some 8.5%. In 2021, the finance ministry says the economy could grow by 6.5%, recouping much of the ground lost.

Robust export activity has helped to drive the recovery, which has benefited from massive economic stimulus spending in the United States, Mexico’s top trade partner.

Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Alex Richardson

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Brazil Violence: Huge Manhunt for Killer After Family of 4 Slain

Police operation in search for the man suspected of killing a family of fourimage copyright Mathias Folha
More than 200 police officers are involved in the manhunt

Hundreds of officers are involved in the search for a man accused of killing a family of four in Brazil, police say.

A helicopter has been deployed in the manhunt for the 33-year-old suspect who is believed to be hiding in a rural area in central Goiás state.

Police say he killed a man and his two sons, aged 15 and 21, in their house in an attempted robbery last week.

He is also accused of kidnapping and then killing the man’s wife, whose body was found three days later.

After that, the suspect, who has been identified as Lázaro Barbosa, took another family hostage, police said. They were released unharmed. He also allegedly set a car ablaze.

More than 200 police officers are involved in the manhunt in rural areas located about 100km (62 miles) from the capital, Brasília.

On Tuesday, the man was involved in a shootout with the police but managed to escape, police said. One officer was grazed in the head.

Federal District Governor Ibaneis Rocha told O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper: “It’s the first time I see something like this. It’s an impressive manhunt, and the police officers… still haven’t managed to find him.”

Mathias Folha, a resident in Cocalzinho de Goiás, which is located in the search area, told BBC News Brasil: “It’s been hard to sleep at night. The whole town’s life is around this. I even had to leave my house.”

The suspect was previously accused of crimes including homicide and armed robbery. He was arrested in 2007, but escaped from prison 10 days later.

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Slavery: US Federal Government to Observe Juneteenth Holiday Friday

By Morgan Chalfant

The federal government will give employees the day off on Friday after President Biden signs a bill making Juneteenth, which marks the end of slavery in America, a federal holiday.

“Today @POTUS will sign the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, establishing June 19th as a federal holiday. As the 19th falls on a Saturday, most federal employees will observe the holiday tomorrow, June 18th,” the Office of Personnel Management tweeted on Thursday.

Biden is scheduled to sign legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday on Thursday afternoon during an event with Vice President Harris in the East Room, during which they both will give remarks.

The House voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to pass the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act in a vote of 415-14. Those who voted against the legislation were all Republicans. The legislation passed the Senate by unanimous consent earlier this week.

Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19, the day in 1865 when the remaining enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, were informed of their freedom by the Emancipation Proclamation.

The vote to make Juneteenth a federal holiday — on par with Memorial Day, Veterans Day and other national holidays — punctuated a broader push for racial justice and equity in the United States following the police murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, in Minneapolis in May 2020.

“What I see here today is racial divide crumbling, being crushed this day under a momentous vote that brings together people who understand the value of freedom,” Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), the sponsor of the bill, said at a press conference on Wednesday before the vote in the House.

Democrats and Republicans have disagreed over how to address racism in policing and other institutions. However, the push to make Juneteenth a federal holiday was bipartisan, with several Republicans in both the House and Senate cosponsoring the legislation. Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) was the lead Republican sponsor of the bill in the Senate.

“The freedom of all Americans that Texas celebrates every Juneteenth should be celebrated all across the nation,” Cornyn said in a statement on Tuesday. “The passage of this bill represents a big step in our nation’s journey toward equality.  I thank my colleagues in the Senate for their support, and my fellow Texans who have been celebrating this important holiday for more than a century.”

Some Republicans who objected to the bill said they were concerned that calling the holiday “Juneteenth National Independence Day” would cause it to be confused with Independence Day on July 4.

Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) criticized the bill as an “effort by the left to create a day out of whole cloth to celebrate identity politics as part of its larger efforts to make ‘critical race theory’ the reigning ideology of our country.”

Juneteenth will be the first federal holiday established by Congress since 1983 — nearly four decades ago — when lawmakers established Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to recognize the civil rights giant.

Most U.S. states already recognized Juneteenth before Wednesday’s vote. Hawaii became the 49th state to officially recognize it this week, leaving South Dakota as the only state that does not observe the day.

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Peru: Castillo Wins, But Not Declared Winner-Yet

BBC- Voters in Peru were asked to choose between two radically different candidates in the second round of the presidential election held on 6 June.

Left-wing former school teacher Pedro Castillo faced his right-wing rival Keiko Fujimori in the most polarised poll in Peru’s recent history.

It took more than a week for the vote count to be completed but neither candidate has been declared a winner yet.

What do the figures say?

With all of the votes tallied, Pedro Castillo had 50.125% of the votes and Keiko Fujimori had 49.875%.

Those figures give Mr Castillo a lead of 0.25 percentage points over Ms Fujimori, which amounts to 44,058 votes.

The count was carried out by the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), the official body in charge of organising elections in Peru.

The ONPE declared its count completed on 15 June.

If the counting has finished why is there no official winner?

Followers of Pedro Castillo celebrate in Lima, Peru, 15 June 2021image copyrightEPA
Supporters of Pedro Castillo have been celebrating but no winner has been declared yet

The independent body in charge of declaring a winner is the National Elections Jury (JNE), not the ONPE.

The JNE has said that it will not declare a winner until it has reviewed all the voting records that have been contested and ruled on requests to have votes annulled.

Its president, Jorge Luis Salas Arena, said the JNE was proceeding “impartially and transparently” and urged Peruvians to wait calmly.

The JNE hearings in which appeals by the two parties are being reviewed and ruled on are being broadcast live on TV and Facebook to ensure transparency.

Why are ballots being reviewed?

Both parties had asked for a number of voting records to be reviewed claiming irregularities, but the majority of appeals have come from Keiko Fujimori’s Popular Force party.

Ms Fujimori alleges that there has been large-scale election fraud, and last week asked election authorities to annul about 200,000 votes. However, she provided little detailed evidence of systematic fraud, which would be required for the votes to be scrapped.

She is also contesting a number of voting records – the sheets on which the ballot tally is recorded at the polling stations – questioning in particular those from some rural areas which had her receiving no votes whatsoever.

Peru's presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori (C) looks at supporters while leading a demonstration in Lima, Peru June 12, 2021image copyrightReuters
Keiko Fujimori alleges there was large-scale election fraud

She claims this would be a highly unlikely outcome and has accused Mr Castillo’s Free Peru party of “stealing votes”, which it denied. Supporters of Mr Castillo have pointed out that his support is particularly strong in rural areas, meaning such an outcome was not suspicious.

The Organization of American States (OAS), which had sent monitors to the election, said it had found no evidence of serious irregularities.

What happens next?

After the vote count reached 100% and had him in the lead, Pedro Castillo changed the description on his Twitter profile to “president-elect”.

He wrote: “A new time has begun. Millions of Peruvians have stood up in the defence of their dignity and justice.”

Supporters of Pedro Castillo celebrate in Lima, Peru, 15 June 2021 (issued 16 June 2021).image copyrightEPA
It could still be days or even weeks until a winner is declared

But Ms Fujimori has not conceded and told her supporters that she would “defend Peru’s democracy”.

The JNE said it would review all the cases which were referred up to it from the lower Special Electoral Juries (JEE). The JNE hearings have started and are expected to take days, or possibly even weeks.

Why does it matter?

With the two candidates representing very different visions for Peru, the winner could define which path the country takes for the next five years.

Mr Castillo is a political newcomer, a left-wing primary school teacher from rural Peru who was little known before the first round of the election.

Some investors have expressed concern about his campaign promise to introduce higher taxes on mining firms in the copper-producing nation. Peru’s currency has been falling and is nearing an all-time low and there are fears that if he is declared the winner, the economy could be destabilised further.

Mr Castillo tried to allay some of those fears on 16 June when he said that he “would guarantee a stable economy, respecting private property and respecting private investment”.

Critics of Ms Fujimori fear that if she were to govern, it would result in a return to power for Peru’s “old guard”.

She has said that she would pardon her father, former President Alberto Fujimori, who is in jail serving a 25-year sentence for crimes including corruption and human rights abuses.

The final outcome of the election will also change Ms Fujimori’s immediate future. She is facing allegations of money laundering and if elected, the proceedings against her would be suspended for the duration of her time in office.

However, analysts say that whoever is declared winner will have to contend with a highly fragmented Congress which is likely to make it hard to pass radical changes.

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SKN records first COVID death

According to Minister of Health Akilah Byron-Nisbett at about 12:14 they received word that the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis has recorded its first death as a result of COVID-19.

“We wish to extend condolences to the family and loved ones of the dearly departed. We have repeatedly said that we are not immune to the ravages of COVID19. Including severe disease and death,” the Minister said.
She reminded that the vaccine prevents people from getting seriously ill and dying from COVID-19.
“While we mourn the loss of our first citizen my trust is that it will serve as a wake up call for all.”
Bryon-Nisbett added that in the last 12 hours there have been 28 positive test with 26 in the prison and two in the general population.

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Taylors Village man Missing

THE ROYAL ST. CHRISTOPHER AND NEVIS POLICE FORCE

MISSING PERSON

NAME: ASHTON TREVORN

JAMES
ALIAS: BOBO
ADDRESS: TAYLORS VILLAGE
AGE: 26 YEARS OLD
BIRTHPLACE: ST. KITTS
COMPLEXION: DARK
HAIR: BLACK/MEDIUM CUT
EYES: BROWN
BUILD: VERY SLIM

Ashton Trevorn James was last seen on friday, june 11, 2021, at about 7:54 a.m. at Ponds Pasture. He was wearing a red, short-sleeve shirt and brown pants.

If anyone has any information with regards to the whereabouts of ashton trevorn james please contact the Basseterre Police Station at 465-2241, the nearest police station or call the crime hotline at 707. All information shared will be treated as confidential.

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Bermuda Set to Lift Most COVID-19 Restrictions

Bermuda, which currently has only five active cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) after peaking at 904 in April, is to lift all social distancing restrictions apart from mask-wearing in indoor public places and large groups.

Premier David Burt told a media briefing on Tuesday night that while patience was growing thin with restrictions and lockdowns, many countries still had restrictions because of highly transmissible variants.

Burt said more than 10 people could sit at a table at restaurants, land and sea restrictions would cease and the overnight curfew would end as of Sunday morning.

Outdoor mask-wearing will also be unnecessary, but masks will still be required inside building.

Meanwhile, the Bermuda Hotel Association (BHA) announced that hotel staff not vaccinated against COVID-19 will have to get tested for the coronavirus every seven days from next Tuesday.

The BHA said the policy would apply in all its member hotels.

“The purpose of the policy is to ensure that all non-immunized hotel employees are aware of their health status as a means of protecting themselves, their co-workers, family members, visitors and guests, as well as all members of the wider community,” a BHA spokesperson said.

“The hotel industry as a key employer wishes to ensure that we exercise a heightened level of care for the safety of everyone as we seek to successfully achieve the reopening of our tourism economy.”

The policy is in line with the government’s controversial mandatory quarantine restrictions for non-immunized travelers, which is expected to come into force on June 24, the measure having originally been due to come into place on June 6 but twice put back.

Seven hotel properties — including the Fairmont Southampton which is undergoing renovations and is not open to the public — will be used as quarantine centers.

Travelers must pick one of the locations, cover the cost of the stay themselves and book before arrival in Bermuda.

A fresh batch of 4,680 doses of the Pfizer vaccine sent by the British government is due to arrive on June 24 from London, Government House has announced.

Britain has already sent around 80,000 doses of the vaccine to the island, a British Overseas Territory. In all, Bermuda has carried out almost 300,000 COVID-19 tests, resulting in 2,499 positive cases.

Dr Carika Weldon, head of the diagnostic laboratory, confirmed that there had been no cases of the virulent Indian – or Delta – variant in Bermuda, where 33 people have died, including five in May.

CMC

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More SCASPA employees test Positive for COVID

Management of the St. Christopher Air & Sea Ports Authority, (SCASPA), wishes to advise, that as of today, 17 June, 2021, four (4) employees have tested positive for Coronavirus. These persons are currently in Isolation and SCASPA is assisting the Health Authorities and the COVID 19 Task Force with contact tracing.

As per the Covid-19 protocols, exposed employees were asked to self-quarantine pending contact tracing by the Health Officials. To date, thirty-one (31) employees have been quarantined, seventeen (17) of which have been released.

Additionally, at present, 63.596 of SCASPA staff have been vaccinated with the first dose and we are continuing our efforts to get most of our staff members vaccinated.

We wish to remind you, however, that as stakeholders operating on the Ports, you are susceptible to contracting and spreading the Coronavirus. Given this, you are strongly encouraged to vaccinate, if medically cleared, and to take all required actions that would protect you and limit the spread of COVID-19.

Moreover, we wish to allay any concerns associated with the positive cases and give the assurance that paramount in our efforts will be the health and safety of all employees and users of our air and seaports.
SCASPA Management

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