Tag Archives: caribbean

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Corona Effect: Royal Caribbean Postpones US Sailings

MIAMI (AP) — Royal Caribbean International is postponing for nearly a month one of the highly anticipated first sailings from the US since the pandemic began because eight crew members tested positive for COVID-19, the company’s CEO said.

The brand new Odyssey of the Seas was to set sail from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on July 3 but is now postponed to July 31. Royal Caribbean International’s CEO Michael Bayley said late Tuesday on Facebook that the decision had been made “out of an abundance of caution,” adding that the company is also rescheduling a simulation cruise scheduled for late June.

“While disappointing, this is the right decision for the health and well-being of our crew and guests,” he said.

Bayley said all 1,400 crew members aboard the Odyssey of the Seas were vaccinated on June 4, but two weeks had not passed for their bodies to build protection against the virus. Six of the crew members who tested positive are asymptomatic and two are mildly sick, he said, adding that the company has quarantined all crew members for 14 days and will continue routine testing.

Company spokeswoman Lyan Sierra-Caro said the trial voyage with volunteer passengers that was originally planned for later this month would help the cruise line meet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requirements before resuming trips with paying passengers. The CDC has not yet approved the trial run, Sierra-Caro said.

The debut of the Odyssey of the Seas was highly anticipated as cruise lines attempt a comeback after more than 15 months of not sailing from the US because of the pandemic. Royal Caribbean International has said that passengers are “strongly recommended” to get vaccinated, adding that unvaccinated passengers must be tested for the virus and follow other measures.

Celebrity Edge, also part of the Royal Caribbean Group, is set to become the first post-pandemic ship to sail from the US with ticketed passengers on June 26. A Celebrity Cruises’ spokeswoman told The Associated Press that Celebrity Edge is able to sail without a test run because it is following CDC guidelines allowing ships with 98% vaccinated crew and 95% vaccinated guests to skip that step.

“We are exceeding these guidelines,” said Celebrity Cruises spokeswoman Susan Lomax in an email.

A new Florida law bans businesses from requiring customers to show proof of vaccination. Gov. Ron DeSantis argues the legislation was meant to preserve individual freedom and medical privacy.

Lomax said the state law stipulates that businesses may not require customers to provide any documents, “but we are able to ask guests if they would like to share their vaccination status.”

Written by Adrianna Gomez Licon

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Jamaica Tries to Balance Boosting its Economy and Protecting Environment

By Kate Chappell

KINGSTON, June 14 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – As a child, Sophie Grizzle Roumel remembers swimming in the warm turquoise waters near a beach surrounded by mangroves outside her small village on Jamaica’s west end.

Today, the white sand beach is crowded with heavy trucks and around it the land is denuded of trees as diggers level part of the mangrove forest to make way for a new $550 million resort project.

“It is a beautiful property. It is heartbreaking to see what is being done,” said Grizzle Roumel, a director of the beach resort town of Negril’s Chamber of Commerce.

“I’m devastated at the destruction and the long-term effects it will have.”

Located just past Jamaica’s famed stretch of all-inclusive resorts on the north coast, the project is a stark example of the twin challenges the country faces: how to bring in visitors and boost jobs in the wake of COVID-19 while also keeping its commitment to slowing global warming.

Across the Caribbean, one of the world’s most tourism-dependent regions, states are struggling to balance protecting the environment and stoking their economies, said Mark Bynoe, assistant executive director of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC).

“Governments are often caught in a position of wanting to do what is right, but the rest of the population is agitating to see changes and those are often measured in very discrete terms,” including in jobs and poverty rates, he said.

The new more than 2,000-room resort will be one of the largest in Jamaica, according to Spanish developer Princess Hotels and Resorts, which started preparatory work on the project two years ago.

Rafael Millan, country manager for Princess Hotels and Resorts, said the completed resort could welcome up to 4,070 visitors per day and will create 3,500 jobs.

The company is focused on minimizing the project’s environmental damage, he added. “Every single action that we take has compensation measures,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview.

That includes replanting any mangroves, seagrass and coral that are removed during construction.

“We know that preserving the mangroves is a sign of the identity of our resort,” Millan said. “There is a way to keep sustainable tourism within an existing natural area which is subject to tourism activity.”

PROTECTED AREAS CONSTRUCTION

An assessment published by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) in January 2020 noted that the Princess resort is being built in an area that includes four environmentally protected areas, including a fish sanctuary.

Once finished, the 84-acre (34-hectare) development will have removed more than 10 acres of mangroves and 10,000 square metres (107,600 square feet) of seagrass, as well as hard coral, according to estimations in the report.

Scientists say mangrove forests are invaluable to fighting both the causes and effects of climate change.

They absorb planet-heating carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and protect coastlines against storms, flooding and erosion.

The trees also provide habitat for wildlife, including the fish and crabs that locals harvest to earn a living.

As part of the permit-granting process, Princess Hotels agreed to rigorous adaptation and compensation measures, but Diana McCaulay, founder of the Jamaica Environment Trust, a non-profit, said they are not enough.

“You still lose the ecosystem functions of the mangroves in the area from which you are taking them. Even if you manage to restore them or create them in (another) part of the coast, you still leave an impact on this part of the coast,” she said.

“Even if they survive in the new area, you still have to wait 20 or 30 years for them to grow. And it may fail.”

The NEPA and Jamaica’s environment ministry did not reply to requests for comment.

POST-PANDEMIC RECOVERY

Jamaica has been lauded by the international community for its commitments to addressing the climate crisis.

By 2030, the country has promised to plant three million trees, restore its mangrove forests, reduce carbon emissions by at least 25% from business as usual levels, and shift to cleaner energy sources like wind and solar power.

According to estimates in a 2019 government report, Jamaica has lost more than 770 hectares of mangroves over the past two decades for a variety of reasons, mainly coastal development.

Carlos Fuller, Belize’s ambassador to the United Nations and a former officer with the CCCCC, said balancing economic development with protecting the environment is possible but not easy.

“It is a challenge. (Belize) also really depends on establishing (economic) resources. But with hotels, we have gone much more toward small scale as opposed to the mega resorts,” Fuller said over the phone.

“At the end of the day, you may want to rush to get a quick return. But in five years, you will degrade the environment and you will lose your market.”

Figures from the Tourism Ministry show that before the pandemic, tourism accounted for nearly 10% of Jamaica’s gross domestic product.

But last year, border closures and cruise cancellations due to the pandemic caused visitor arrivals to the country to fall by nearly three-quarters.

The economy is expected to contract between 10% and 12% in the fiscal year 2020/21, according to the Bank of Jamaica.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett told Parliament in April that Jamaica is relying on tourism to jump-start its post-COVID-19 recovery, with 7,000 hotel rooms due to be built over the next two years, including the Princess Hotels development.

Bartlett told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that protecting the local environment, particularly coastal areas, is the government’s primary concern.

But Sophia Frazer-Binns, a critic from the People’s National Party, the country’s main political opposition party, said the development represents a failure of the government to match words with actions.

Instead, she said, authorities should focus on smaller-scale community tourism.

“It is just one of the instances where we are seeing the government has not really shown a real commitment to environmental protection,” she said.

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Shipping Registry: St Kitts & Nevis Elevated to Paris MOU Grey List

 

Paris MOU has confirmed that the St Kitts & Nevis International Ship Registry (SKANREG) has been elevated to the Grey List of the Paris Memorandum on Port State Control (Paris Memorandum of Understanding)).

Confirming the news, Liam Ryan, International Registrar and CEO of SKANREG, said: “This is a major development for SKANREG and vindicates our declared policy of bringing the Registry into the main stream.

“Our vision was to shine a light on questionable operations of some of our vessels and weed out those who failed to comply with our pragmatic approach to ship operations.

“With Paris MOU’s publication of the three Lists it is clear our hard work and diligence has paid off. Not only have we moved to the Grey List but we now rank half way up the listing. This demonstrates our policy is working as it should.”

Far from resting on its laurels, St Kitts & Nevis has its sights set on moving further up the Grey List rankings and eventual listing as a White List Registry of quality with no hiding place for vessels that fail to comply with the Registry’s reasonable operational demands.

The Paris MOU Committee’s revised lists take effect from 1st July 2021.

Placing SKANREG at No 52 in the overall rankings and roughly halfway up the Grey List, conforms to the Paris MOU view that such positioning incentivises a Registry to continue with performance improvement and minimal detentions thereby increasing the chances of higher ranking and eventual transfer to the White List.

Mr Ryan commented: “You could say this is Stage Two of our journey up the rankings and our overall plan continues to be elevation to the White List within the next four years.”

SKANREG has always taken a pragmatic approach to what it terms its partnership with flagged vessels under its control.

Compliance is a key factor for a vessel seeking listing and on-going membership of the Registry of St Kitts & Nevis and is set out in detail when a ship flags in.

Mr Ryan concluded: “Compliance not complacency is our watchword and we thank all of the stakeholders involved with the Registry who have contributed to our vast improvements made in recent times.”

The MOU has three ranking sections, black, grey and white.

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World View: Biden & Allies, Pandemic Olympics, Iran, More

June 17, 2021

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AP Morning Wire

The Associated Press

The Rundown

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden spent his first trip overseas highlighting a sharp break from his disruptive predecessor, selling that the United States was once more a reliable ally with a steady hand at the wheel….Read More

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TOKYO (AP) — Public sentiment in Japan has been generally opposed to holding the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, partly based on fears the coronavirus will spike as almost 100,000 people — athletes and others — enter for …Read More

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers hangs in the balance as the country prepares to vote on Friday for a new president and diplomats press on with efforts to get both the U.S….Read More

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — Every Sunday at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, the Rev. Joseph Jackson Jr. praises the Lord before his congregation. But since last fall he’s been praising something else his Black community needs:…Read More

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NEW YORK (AP) — They arrive every year in their snazzy black and white tuxedos, causing traffic jams and clamoring for quality real estate. Endangered African penguins have long been a source of delight to visitors of th…Read More

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HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police used a sweeping national security law against a pro-democracy newspaper for the first time Thursday, arresting five editors and executives …Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-led House, with the backing of President Joe Biden, is expected to approve legislation to repeal the 2002 authorization for use of military f…Read More

MUMBAI, India (AP) — Dr. Kedar Toraskar hasn’t been able to sleep much over the last few months. His mind would constantly turn to the young COVID-19 patients fighting for th…Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States will soon have a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery. The House voted 415-14 Wednesday to make Juneteenth, or June 19th, …Read More

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Peru: Election Winner Castillo Says ‘He’s Not a Communist’

LIMA, June 16 (Reuters) – Pedro Castillo, a former teacher and political outsider on the verge of being named president of Peru, has looked to temper fears in the divided Andean nation after a slow vote count showed him winning the June 6 ballot.

Socialist Castillo on Tuesday claimed victory in the election, though his right-wing rival Keiko Fujimori has not conceded, alleging fraud with little evidence and seeking to get votes annulled. The electoral body has yet to confirm the result.

“The Peruvian people have raised their heads to say democratically we are going to save this country,” Castillo told cheering supporters from a balcony late on Tuesday.

The abrupt rise of 51-year-old Castillo has rattled Peru’s political establishment and could have a major impact on the vital mining industry in the world’s No.2 copper producer, with Castillo planning sharp tax hikes on the sector.

In the capital Lima, fears have spread among the city’s small but powerful urban elite about the policies of the little-known leftist, whose Free Peru party espouses Marxist ideas but who himself has looked to moderate his rhetoric.

“We are not Chavistas, we are not communists, no one has come to destabilize this country,” he said, a reference to a common refrain from Fujimori’s party and supporters comparing him to Venezuela’s late leftist President Hugo Chavez.

“We are workers, we are entrepreneurs and we will guarantee a stable economy, respecting private property, respecting private investment and above all respecting fundamental rights, such as the right to education and health.”

Castillo, who gained prominence as a teachers’ union leader in the rural north, said his government would serve both the voters in wealthy areas who rallied behind Fujimori and his rural base in Peru’s “furthest corners.”

Fujimori pledged on Tuesday to keep fighting and “defend Peru’s democracy.” She hoped the result would swing her way once ballots that her party is seeking to annul had been checked, although election observers have said that the process appeared clean.

Her supporters are planning a march later on Wednesday.

Peru’s electoral oversight body said it would confirm the result once it had resolved all appeals and requests for annulment. In previous Peruvian elections the announcement took until late June, even with fewer contested ballots.

‘BATTLE BEGINS’

Castillo addressed the uncertainty over those claims and called on Peruvians to “remain vigilant” of attempts to destabilize the country’s democracy. He called on the electoral body to “respect the popular will of this country.”

He said Peru needed to rally together to get beyond what has become the world’s deadliest per capita outbreak of COVID-19 and heal more entrenched rifts of poverty and inequality.

Healing divisions will not prove easy, however. Neither Castillo or Fujimori had been most Peruvians’ first choice candidate. In a fragmented first-round election in April, neither got over 20% of the vote.

Alfredo Rodriguez, a plumber who now knocks on doors in the working class Lima district of Callao to beg for rice and potatoes, said many people were disillusioned by both candidates. He did not vote for either, he said.

Rosario Llanos, a manager, was waiting at a public health clinic in Lima on Wednesday. She cast her vote for Fujimori although she was not initially her preferred choice and was now concerned about rising tensions.

“We Peruvians have spent so many years working to finally achieve political stability,” Llanos, 44, said. “With the comments both candidates are now making, they’re only creating more instability.”

“You can’t even talk to a friend if you don’t know how he or she voted because it could result in an argument.”

Reporting by Marco Aquino and Stefanie Eschenbacher in Lima; Writing by Adam Jourdan Editing by Alistair Bell

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Brazil’s Indigenous People in Land Rights Protest

BRASILIA, June 16 (Reuters) – Several hundred indigenous Brazilians protested outside the Congress building in Brasilia on Wednesday against a bill backed by the country’s farm sector that would limit recognition of reservation lands.

Protesters wearing feathered headdresses and body paint later tried to invade a downtown building to demand the ouster of the head of the government’s indigenous affairs agency Funai for not defending their interests.

Riot police fired pepper spray to contain the crowd, and some arrows were shot at the glass windows of the building.

“This bill PL 490 is harmful not just to us, but to humanity,” Sonia Guajajara, head of Brazil’s largest indigenous umbrella organization APIB, told Reuters.

The legislation, first tabled in 2007, would fix 1988 as the cut-off date for the demarcation of reservation lands if they were not occupied at that time. The lower house is expected to vote on the bill in committee next week.

Brazil’s Supreme Court must rule on a case that would set jurisprudence in the issue and is expected to uphold indigenous arguments that fixing the 1988 date violates constitutional guarantees to ancestral lands.

“The bill was rejected by the human rights commission in 2009. This is an unacceptable setback for indigenous rights and a constitutional absurdity,” Brazil’s only indigenous lawmaker Joenia Wapichana said in a congressional committee session.

The bill would open up protected indigenous lands to commercial agriculture and mining, and is backed by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro who advocates developing the Amazon region by tapping mineral resources on reservations.

Guajajara said the campaign to stop passage of the bill comes at a time of increased attacks on indigenous communities by wildcat gold miners who have illegally invaded indigenous lands.

Reporting by Anthony Boadle, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien

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World Bank Rejects El Salvador Bitcoin Plan

The World Bank has rejected a request from El Salvador to help with the implementation of Bitcoin as legal tender.

The international lender cited concerns over transparency and the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining.

Earlier this month, the Central American country announced plans to become the first nation to formally adopt the digital currency.

It aims to use Bitcoin as a parallel legal tender alongside the US dollar.

The World Bank’s decision could mean the country faces problems in hitting its deadline to ensure that Bitcoin is accepted nationwide in the next three months.

“We are committed to helping El Salvador in numerous ways including for currency transparency and regulatory processes,” a World Bank spokesperson told the Reuters news agency via email.

“While the government did approach us for assistance on Bitcoin, this is not something the World Bank can support given the environmental and transparency shortcomings,” they added.

It comes after El Salvador’s Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya said on Wednesday that the country had asked the World Bank for technical assistance with the implementation of the cryptocurrency as an official method of payment.

Mr Zelaya also said that discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been successful, saying the IMF was “not against” the implementation of Bitcoin.

But the IMF last week said it saw “macroeconomic, financial and legal issues” with El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin.

Last week, El Salvador became the first country in the world to officially classify Bitcoin as a legal currency.

Its Congress approved President Nayib Bukele’s proposal to embrace the cryptocurrency.

President Bukele said the government had made history, and that the move would make it easier for Salvadoreans living abroad to send money home.

Under the legislation Bitcoin will become legal tender, alongside the US dollar within 90 days of the approval by Congress.

The new law means every business must accept Bitcoin as legal tender for goods or services, unless it is unable to provide the technology needed to process the transaction.

El Salvador’s economy relies heavily on remittances, or money sent home from abroad, which make up around 20% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP)

More than two million Salvadoreans live outside the country, but continue to keep close ties with their place of birth, sending back more than $4bn (£2.9bn) each year.

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Construction Flaws at Heart of Mexico City Train Wreck

A preliminary report into the deadly collapse of a metro overpass in Mexico City last month has found that it was caused by flaws in the construction.

Jesús Esteva, head of the city’s public works department, said deficiencies had been found in building materials and structural supports along the line.

More reports will be made in the coming months about the collapse, which happened on 3 May.

The incident killed 26 people and has led to protests in the Mexican capital.

It has also put pressure on allies of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and on Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, Latin America’s richest man, whose construction firm Grupo Carso was involved in building the section of train line that collapsed.

The crash happened at around 22:00 local time near Olivos station on the metro’s Line 12, in the south-east of the city.

In its probe, Norwegian auditor DNV, found six deficiencies in its construction.

Rescuers search for survivors at a crash site in Mexico City, Mexico. Photo: 4 May 2021image copyrightReuters
image captionThe incident happened late at night

These included missing bolts on some girders, and unfinished or poorly executed welding.

Experts also found deformations and fractures in support beams of the section that collapsed.

Two further phases of DNV’s report will be released in July and August.

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said that a special team will be created to repair and reinforce the metro line.

She has faced criticism about the line’s maintenance. A local labour union said its earlier warning about damage had been ignored by city authorities.

Composite picture showing images before and after and after the accidentimage copyrightGetty and Google Maps
image captionImages show the site of the incident now and in 2019

Under the spotlight is also Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who directed the route’s construction in 2012 when he was the city’s mayor.

Both of them are allies of President López Obrador, and are seen as potential contenders for the presidency when his term ends in 2024.

In a statement, Mr Ebrard, defended how his mayoral administration had overseen construction of the line. He added that a broader enquiry should be made into the decision-making processes of its design, supervision and maintenance.

Map of where the incident took place

Line 12, known as the Golden Line, was built at a cost of around $1.2bn (£860m) – about 70% more than was originally planned.

Operations were suspended at a dozen stations along the line in 2014, for over a year, due to deteriorating conditions along the track.

Before the latest report was published, President López Obrador said those responsible for its collapse would be punished.

Prosecutors are investigating the disaster but have yet to publish their findings.

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Youths Spur Delta Variant in UK, Tourists & Quarantine

Busy restaurants in Old Compton Street, Soho over the bank holiday weekend.image copyrightGetty Images

BBC- The Covid-19 epidemic in England is growing, scientists tracking it say – with much of it being driven by younger people who are not yet vaccinated.

The analysis, from the React-1 study, looked at the period 20 May to 7 June.

However, tentative signs in the latest daily data suggest growth may be beginning to slow.

The rollout of vaccinations to younger people is key to reducing further spread, researchers from Imperial College London say.

Since last year, the team has been inviting a representative sample of the population to take Covid swab tests. The researachers found:

  • of the 108,911 people tested, 135 were positive – a rise from 0.1% to 0.15%
  • most cases were among five- to 12-year-olds and 18- to 24-year-olds
  • the reproduction (R) number, of people the average infected person would infect, was an estimated 1.44

The analysis also suggests a strengthening link between cases and hospital admissions, which is also reflected in the government’s daily coronavirus data.

The number of new infections is rising, with a seven-day average of 7,888 cases. The UK recorded 9,055 cases on Wednesday – the highest number since 9,985 were reported on 25 February.

The number of hospitalisations has also increased, with 1,177 patients in hospital as of Monday. However, daily deaths remain low, with a weekly average of nine deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

Prof Paul Elliot, who directs the study, said: “We can take quite a lot of comfort from the fact that when we look in the details, it does appear that there is very, very good protection in the older ages, where there is virtually everyone double vaccinated.

“The government has clearly announced that they want to vaccinate all adults in the period between now and 19 July. That will make a very big difference and increase the total amount of population immunity.”

He told BBC News that the study had found the Delta variant first seen in India had overtaken the Alpha (Kent) variant as the UK’s dominant strain, and was responsible for an estimated 90% of infections.

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Daily data and positive signs?

Analysis box by Nick Triggle, health correspondent

The picture presented by React is one from 10 days ago. But if we look at the daily figures published by the government, there are some encouraging signs, albeit very tentative.

Last week, cases appeared to be doubling every 10 days, but this week that has slowed to something closer to 14 days.

It still means the epidemic is growing – but it is the first sign of a flattening of cases.

This, of course, could be a false dawn. The rise in infections has largely been driven by north-west England- the top 20 local-authority areas with the highest rates are all in that region.

Infections could easily take off in other areas, speeding up the growth of this wave.

But if this slowing of growth holds, it is very positive.

Government scientists had feared rapid growth right up to 19 July.

This would drive up hospital admissions, albeit, because of the vaccines, at a lower rate than in previous waves.

It is still early days, but data is now a little more encouraging than it was.

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson cited the Delta variant’s rapid spread when he announced a four-week delay to the lifting of remaining Covid restrictions in England.

The measures will remain in place until 19 July after MPs backed the government in a Commons vote by 461 to 60.

The government has accelerated its vaccination drive, setting a new target to vaccinate all over-18s with a first dose and two-thirds of adults with a second dose by the same date.

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Double Vax UK Tourists May Avoid Quarantine

 

British travellers who have had two Covid vaccines could be allowed quarantine-free entry into England under plans being considered by ministers, the Guardian understands.

As the government grapples with allowing more trips abroad while trying to prevent the importation of new variants, changes are being considered to the traffic light system under which places are graded according to their Covid case and jab rate, determining whether and how people coming from them must isolate.

Only a handful of countries feature on the isolation-free green list, with 50 territories on the red list – meaning arrivals must stay in a quarantine hotel for 14 days.

The amber list, which features the vast majority of countries and to which Portugal was recently added, has prompted much more confusion. Official government advice urges people not to travel to these places, but there are no laws in place to stop people arriving from them and quarantining at home for up to 10 days, or using the test-to-release system to leave the house from day five.

Currently, travellers leaving the UK are allowed to use the NHS app to prove their vaccine status and cut quarantine in some countries.

But in a move that will be seen as further encouraging people to get both jabs, the Guardian has been told that ministers are contemplating loosening travel restrictions for the amber list to let anyone who has had two Covid vaccines escape quarantine. Those who have not been fully inoculated would still face the same restrictions currently in force for amber list countries.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is said to be open to the idea, according to the Telegraph. It follows an announcement by the government that Covid vaccines will be mandatory for social care workers.

The suggestion that travellers could face more incentive to get jabbed also has prompted speculation about the future of the traffic light system, and, if it does remain in place, how likely it is that travellers will be allowed to visit red list countries – given the barriers to returning from them – for the rest of 2021.

Last week, the former prime minister Theresa May accused ministers of having implemented a chaotic system of international travel restrictions. She complained: “We are falling behind the rest of Europe in our decisions to open up … It’s incomprehensible that one of the most heavily vaccinated countries in the world is one that is most reluctant to give its citizens the freedoms those vaccinations should support.”

Chris Grayling, the Tory ex-former transport secretary, also said the government’s decisions would cost hundreds of thousands of jobs and leave the aviation industry “decimated for the future”.

The former health minister Stephen Hammond accused the government of ignoring the data and making “illogical” choices about the green, amber and red lists.

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Taiwan reports 175 new local cases with 19 new deaths

Helen Davidson

Taiwan has reported 175 new local cases and 19 new deaths. The top three sources continue to be New Taipei (87), Taipei (34) and Miaoli (31). All the cases reported in Miaoli, where authorities have been responding to outbreaks among factory workers, were individuals who had already been quarantined as close contacts of earlier cases.

The central epidemic command centre said 1.13 million of Taiwan’s 23.5 million residents have been vaccinated. More than 170,000 are aged over 75, according to local reporters translating the press conference.

The number of cases related to household transmissions is declining, but there are a growing number of cases in aged care homes – something seen in overseas outbreaks throughout 2020 – as well as hospitals.

Taiwan is currently four weeks into level 3 restrictions, which limit gatherings, discourage travel, and have closed all entertainment, adult, sporting and public venues as well as restricted restaurants to takeaway only.

The CECC won’t be drawn on whether it will be extended again beyond the current scheduled end of 28 June, instead saying they’ll make adjustments as they observe the situation.

The current outbreak in Taiwan is slowly declining, but numbers remain in the hundreds and authorities do not conduct mass testing, instead focusing on contact tracing for targeted tests. Having gone through 2020 largely untouched by the pandemic and drawing praise for its successful response, this is Taiwan’s worst ever Covid-19 outbreak.

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Biden-Putin Meet: What Happened?…Not Much

By Niall Stanage

The Hill

 

The last time President Biden met Russian President Vladimir Putin, he says he told the Russian leader he didn’t believe he had a soul.

That exchange was just one of the reasons the meeting between the two men in Geneva on Wednesday was so highly anticipated.

The summit — the final engagement on Biden’s weeklong trip to Europe — came amid tensions around Ukraine, the treatment of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny, recent cyberattacks and allegations of election meddling

Here are the five main takeaways.

A return to pragmatism

The White House was careful to downplay expectations for the summit, stressing there were no “deliverables” or major breakthroughs expected.

So it proved. Biden instead sought to frame the meeting as an exercise in worldly pragmatism.

In a news conference afterward, he stressed the importance of “strategic stability.”

By that, he seemed to mean that there should be a workable degree of predictability regarding what Washington or Moscow might do in various scenarios — and an awareness of the red lines for each nation.

On , cybersecurity he asserted that any attacks orchestrated by Russia would be met by a meaningful — if vaguely described — response from the United States.

Biden made clear he and Putin weren’t miraculously going to fall into lockstep. Rather, he held out the possibility that the Russian leader could burnish his country’s reputation over time by staying within international norms.

“This is not a ‘Kumbaya’ moment … but it’s clearly not in anybody’s interest — your country or mine — for us to be in a situation where we’re in a new cold war,” Biden added.

Such statements aren’t exactly exciting. But they show Biden trying to walk a fine line.

He knows his political and media opponents at home are eager to brand him as weak in his dealings with Putin, so some tonal toughness is required. At the same time, if Biden had contrived a dramatic blowup, it would have raised new questions about why the U.S. had issued the invite to the summit in the first place.

In the end, the event met modest expectations.

Putin, for his part, struck a similar tone.

“What’s the point of keeping score?” he said at his own press conference, which preceded Biden’s. “It makes no sense to try to scare one another.”

Capitol riot rears its head

The most contentious subject from the two leaders’ dueling news conferences was an unexpected one — the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Putin raised the issue in response to a question about human rights in Russia. It’s a hot topic in general, particularly amid criticism of the Kremlin’s treatment of Navalny.

Putin reacted in characteristic fashion, drawing attention to U.S. abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the continued existence of the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay.

But he then drew the insurrection into the same broad argument, saying mildly that “people came to the U.S. Capitol with political demands.” The law enforcement response, he suggested, had been too harsh.

This view — which replicates the talking points of the most fervent supporters of former President Trump — irked Biden when it was put to him at his news conference.

The president said any comparison of Jan. 6 with legitimate protest was “ridiculous.”

The Jan. 6 rioters, he added, were “literally criminals” who had broken through a security cordon to assail the Capitol.

Biden praised as ‘not Trump’

Biden had one big advantage going into Wednesday’s summit — the low bar set by his predecessor.

When Trump met Putin in Helsinki in 2018, the U.S. president was widely criticized for a craven performance. Trump infamously appeared to take Putin’s word over the testimony of U.S. intelligence agencies about whether Russia had meddled in the 2016 presidential election.

The late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) branded Trump’s behavior at that meeting “disgraceful.”

Biden has sought to reassure U.S. allies over the past week that “America is back” — a clear allusion to the disruption and frequent chaos of the Trump years.

Much of the commentary that initially followed Wednesday’s summit measured Biden’s performance against that of his predecessor.

For the most part, Biden earned positive reviews simply by staying within the standard parameters. In doing so, he offered a contrast to Trump’s seeming delight in trampling on every line.

Putin relishes occasion

Putin’s desire to flex Russian muscle on the world stage is well known.

The Russian president — a KGB agent at the time the Soviet Union crumbled — is sensitive to any diminution of his country’s importance.

Criticisms of Biden’s decision to propose the summit centered on the idea that the event was sure to elevate Putin.

The Russian president certainly seemed to relish the spotlight. His lengthy press conference was mostly relaxed and even, on occasion, jocular. While he complained about American double-standards on issues like human rights, he was at pains to point out that the atmosphere at his meeting with Biden had been constructive.

“There was no hostility, quite the contrary,” he said. On several occasions, he praised Biden’s experience.

Putin’s clear enjoyment of the event irked some observers. One critic, the former chess champion Garry Kasparov, complained on MSNBC that Putin had “got what he wanted” simply by virtue of the summit taking place.

Questions linger about details

The summit provided some positive mood music for Biden and Putin, but it is unclear whether it presages any real change.

An extension of the New START arms reduction treaty had already been agreed in advance of the summit. Putin said the two nations had agreed that their ambassadors, who had been recalled to their home countries this spring, would return to their posts soon.

Afterward, the White House issued a statement noting that the two nations “will embark together on an integrated bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue in the near future that will be deliberate and robust.”

The proposal is nebulous, and it could be undone at a moment’s notice by anything that raises frictions, such as new cyberattacks.

This, in turn, explains Biden’s positive but cautious tone.

Asked at his news conference whether he trusted Putin, the president pushed back against the terms of the question.

“This is not about trust. This is about self-interest and verification of self-interest,” he said. “Let’s see what happens.”

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