Tag Archives: caribbean

Cuba, DR, Jamaica on Lufthansa’s New Schedule

2021-02-26 FreeNews

Lufthansa Group has made this announcement:

This summer, the airlines of the Lufthansa Group are offering the most extensive range of vacation destinations in years, thus further demonstrating the company’s knowledge of the leisure travel market. Over the course of the summer Lufthansa plans to add around 20 new vacation destinations to its flight program from Frankfurt and 13 new holiday destinations from Munich. Special focus: the Caribbean, the Canary Islands and Greece.

Effective vaccines, comprehensive testing services and strict hygiene concepts of airports and airlines are good prerequisites for the resumption, this summer, of long-awaited vacations. The airlines of the Lufthansa Group are already preparing for the resumption of travel and have an attractive, as well varied, flight program ready.

“Our leisure travel program for summer 2021 is stronger than ever. We expect many countries to relax travel restrictions towards the summer as more and more people have been vaccinated. We know that demand will increase sharply as soon as travel restrictions are removed – and we are well equipped to meet this with our excellent range of products and offers. There is a great yearning for travel and we believe that the summer months will reflect this,” says Harry Hohmeister, Member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

Classic city and vacation destinations will continue to be offered, while the focus in Europe will be on the service to the Canary Islands and Greece. From Frankfurt and Munich, it will be even easier to reach your choice of Greek and Spanish holiday islands. Other attractive destinations in the flight program from Frankfurt are Cyprus (Paphos), Croatia (Rijeka), Italy (Lamezia Terme), Tunisia (Djerba), Ponta Delgada (Azores/Portugal) and Bulgaria (Varna). From Munich, new flights go to Jerez (Spain) and to the Greek destinations of Chania, Mykonos, Kos, Kavalla, Zakynthos and Preveza. Another new summer destination is Hurghada in Egypt.

Eurowings Discover, the Lufthansa Group’s new leisure travel-focused airline, will offer numerous long-haul destinations from Frankfurt. For the first time, there will be three weekly flights from Frankfurt to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and two weekly flights to Mombasa (Kenya) with onward flights to the dream island of Zanzibar (Tanzania). Beginning in June, there will be another first: a direct flight will take off three times a week to Anchorage in Alaska (USA).

In addition, the enchanting vacation destination of Mauritius will not only be offered in winter, but will also be on the summer flight schedule twice a week from 2021. The same applies to Lufthansa’s destination Malé in the Maldives, which will be on the flight schedule from Frankfurt up to three times a week in the summer and thus become a year-round destination.

And those who are already thinking about their next winter vacation far away from ice and snow can now plan a holiday with Eurowings Discover. For the first time, there will be three weekly flights from Frankfurt to Montego Bay in Jamaica from November 1 and three weekly flights from Rhein-Main Airport to Varadero in Cuba commencing from November 2. Existing long-haul operations from Frankfurt to leisure destinations are set to be expanded.

It pays to book flights quickly. The 2021 summer flights purchased by May 31, 2021, can be rebooked as often as desired and free of charge until that date. After that, one more rebooking free of charge is possible. Additional costs may arise if, for example, the original booking class is no longer available when rebooking for a different date or to a different destination.

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Comment: Normalizing US-Cuba Relations Would Benefit Caribbean

2021-02-26 FreeNews

By Sir Ronald Sanders

If US President, Joe Biden, eases the trade embargo against Cuba, one benefit to developing countries, including the Caribbean, could be greater access to coronavirus vaccines at an affordable price.

Cuban scientists have been working on four vaccine candidates to counter the virus. They believe that their most successful candidate, Sovereign 2, will enter a final phase of testing next month.

Vincent Verez, one of the leading scientists on the Cuban team, says that clinical tests, in two trial phases so far, have revealed that Sovereign 2 is “very safe with very few adverse effects”.

The scientific team claims that producing the coronavirus vaccine was made more difficult by the sanctions on Cuba. They were not able to buy all the equipment and raw materials they needed, including spectrometers used for quality control. Nonetheless, their work is continuing. They have used a 20-year-old spectrometer that is still powerful enough to analyse the vaccine.

Cuba’s biotech sector is well developed, making eight vaccines (for other diseases) administered to children in the country and exported to more than 30 countries. A successful coronavirus vaccine from Cuba would help to break the global control of the market by the big pharmaceutical companies in the US and Europe.

Cuba’s geographical location in the Caribbean and its willingness to share a successful vaccine with the developing world, would ease the pressure on Caricom countries which face a twin problem in relation to inoculating their people. The first is to access vaccines being produced by the large pharmaceutical companies particularly, Pfizer and Moderna, and the second is getting better prices.

Caricom countries have not been able to vaccinate more than one per cent of their people despite herculean efforts by governments to secure vaccines. The COVAX facility, established by the World Health Organization, to negotiate both supply and price with the major vaccine suppliers, has encountered major obstacles and is yet to deliver any of the vaccines for which Caribbean countries have already paid. A rollout is scheduled to start soon, but it will be less than 10 per cent of the quantities that were ordered.

The generosity of the Indian government in donating 570,000 does of the AstraZeneca vaccines to Caricom countries has helped them to get the inoculation programme started. But to get to the point of vaccinating 80 per cent of their populations so as to achieve herd immunity, requires access to more vaccines at prices less than the suppliers are offering.

Given that the world’s richest countries have pre-ordered and pre-paid for supplies, the big pharmaceutical companies are under no pressure to reduce prices, or ramp up production, even as global demand is increasing rapidly. Pfizer expects about $15 billion in revenue this year from its Covid-19 vaccine developed with BioNTech.

Further, the governments of countries, in which the large producers of vaccines are located, have implemented measures, restricting exports of Covid-19 vaccines, citing intellectual property rights. Pfizer and Moderna claim the rights to vast amounts of intellectual property that will be useful, if not necessary, for others to develop vaccines in the future.

Sadly, the governments of the countries in which Pfizer and Moderna are located have also spurned urgings to facilitate such exports. Human rights, including the right to life and health, have been disregarded.

For these reasons, it would be beneficial to the Caribbean if the most promising of the four vaccines that Cuba is developing could secure World Health Organization (WHO) authorisation after successful testing.

While he was campaigning for the US presidency, Joe Biden pledged to reverse sanctions placed on Cuba by former President Donald Trump in his efforts to win Florida where a large number of Cuban exiles reside.

One of the most unfounded measures against Cuba is its listing, in the last days of Trump’s administration, as a sponsor of terrorism. The critics of this listing have rightly pointed out that it is unjustified and serves no purpose other than to further cripple the Cuban economy. More particularly, it will hamper deals between Cuba and other countries. Governments of Cuba’s closest neighbours, including Caricom, have called for its reversal.

About 20 churches and religious organisations in the US also sent a letter on 17 February, to President Biden asking that the decision to include Cuba on the list of states sponsoring terrorism to be revoked.

At the same time, others, including the new Chair of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez, continue to demand harder and tougher measures against Cuba. The latter represents the opposition, most of whom want nothing less than the immediate collapse of the Cuban government.

President Biden’s instincts on normalisation of US relations with Cuba are grounded in the successful efforts of the Barack Obama administration of which he was Vice President. Nothing good will come from pursuing a decades-old failed policy that no one wants, except disgruntled Cuban-American exiles – a few of whom are in the US Congress.

(The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own)

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Post Pandemic: Caymans May Limit Cruise Ship Traffic

2021-02-26 FreeNews

In addition to cruisers, the Cayman Islands draws resort vacationers who come for such resort properties as the Kimpton Seafire Resort. (Photo by Scott Mayerowitz/The Points Guy)

The Cayman Islands appears to have hit a breaking point when it comes to cruise tourism.

Speaking at a briefing on Tuesday, the premier of the self-governing British Overseas Territory, Alden McLaughlin, said his government was likely to place limits on the number of cruise ships and cruisers that can visit the island destination when cruising resumes — a major policy shift that will have ramifications for more than half a dozen major cruise lines.

McLaughlin suggested that residents of the Cayman Islands, including business leaders, had made it clear they want a more balanced approach to tourism.

For more cruise news, reviews and tips, sign up for TPG’s new cruise newsletter.

“I think we have a very clear signal from just about every source that … we can survive without those large numbers [of cruisers] and … we need more balance. We need to not overwhelm the systems that we have by [the] sheer volume of people.”

Home to just 64,948 people, the Cayman Islands draws more than 1.8 million cruisers a year who arrive on hundreds of cruise vessels. At times, four or even five large cruise ships will visit the destination in a single day, depositing more than 10,000 cruise tourists in the destination’s capital, George Town.

In addition to cruisers, the Cayman Islands draws resort vacationers who come for such resort properties as the Kimpton Seafire Resort. (Photo by Scott Mayerowitz/The Points Guy)

Only two other Caribbean destinations — the U.S. Virgin Islands and Cozumel, Mexico — receive more cruisers in a year.

McLaughlin suggested that the limits on cruisers that his government may impose wouldn’t just be a short-term measure related to ongoing efforts to keep the island safe from COVID-19. It would be a permanent shift in the destination’s tourism focus.

“We are trying to diversify the whole tourism industry,” McLaughlin said. “What I foresee … is less focus on growing cruise tourism.”

McLaughlin also announced that his government had decided not to proceed with the development of a cruise ship dock for Grand Cayman Island, something that has been controversial in the Caymans. The announcement marks a sharp about-face for McLaughlin and his government, which had supported the dock development until now.

The experience of living without cruise ships for the past year, McLaughlin suggested, has shown Cayman Islands residents and its leaders that they could survive without mass cruise tourism.

All cruise ship sailings to the Cayman Islands stopped in February 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and have yet to resume.

“I think there is a silver lining always somewhere if you look hard enough for it,” McLaughlin said, referencing the coronavirus pandemic. “Having had to do without cruise tourism for a year, I think, has told us what the consequences of that [are].”

The islands will need to find new work for residents involved in cruise tourism whose jobs might be affected by a decline in ship visits, he added.

“Obviously, we still have significant numbers of our people who are unemployed or underemployed [due to the lack of cruise ship arrivals], because that was what their focus was, and we have to continue to find ways to give them the opportunities that they had or better for making a living,” he said. “But I think it is the clear signal that we have from the business community [and] from local people that we don’t want to go back to the large number of [cruise] visits.”

McLaughlin’s government faces an election in April. If it loses the election, decisions on future cruise tourism would fall to a different administration. But even if that happens, McLaughlin said a tourism strategy focused on fewer cruisers was likely to happen anyway.

“It is probably the only logical position that any government can come to,” he said.

He did add that cruise tourism wouldn’t be going away. It would just be capped.

“I’m not suggesting for a moment that we do away with cruise tourism, but that we cap the numbers so that our current system can accommodate [cruisers] in a better way, and the experience for those who do visit can be better.”

Major cruise lines that regularly send ships to the Cayman Islands include Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, MSC Cr uises and Holland America.

A spokesperson for the main trade group for the cruise industry, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Planning a cruise? Start with these stories:

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Newspaper Cover for 26th February, 2021

2021-02-26 FreeNews

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Biden, Saudi King Speak Before Release of Khashoggi Killing Report

2021-02-26 FreeNews

President Biden spoke with Saudi King Salman on Thursday ahead of the anticipated release of a U.S. intelligence report on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi that is expected to implicate the king’s son, the Saudi crown prince.

The White House readout of the call made no mention of Khashoggi, but said the two leaders “affirmed the importance the United States places on universal human rights and the rule of law.”

“The President told King Salman he would work to make the bilateral relationship as strong and transparent as possible,” the readout stated. “The two leaders affirmed the historic nature of the relationship and agreed to work together on mutual issues of concern and interest.”

The waiting game: The United States is expected as early as Thursday night to release an unclassified report outlining the circumstances of Khashoggi’s death. Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and Saudi dissident who lived in Virginia, was lured to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018 where he was attacked, killed and dismembered.

The expected declassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) concludes Prince Mohammed approved and likely ordered Khashoggi murdered, according to a Reuters report.

The U.S. was reportedly waiting to release the report until after Biden had a chance to speak with the Saudi king.

An ODNI spokesperson responded to a request for comment from The Hill on Thursday saying “we have no update to offer on timing, content, or process matters related to the release.”

Next steps: The release of the report could just be the first step to hold the Saudis accountable for Khashoggi’s death.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a Thursday press briefing that there are “a range of actions that are on the table” to hold the Saudis accountable, but that Biden would first have to speak to King Salman.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a briefing with reporters that the department is likely to “speak to steps to promote accountability going forward for this horrific crime” following the release of the report.

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Report: More than 6,500 Migrants Die Building Qatar’s World Cup Venue

2021-02-26 FreeNews

On average 12 workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have died each week since December 2010 when preparations started
The 6,500 deaths does not take in the huge Kenyan and Filipino workforce
Most fatalities are categorised as ‘natural’ without going into underlying causes

By Ross Ibbetson For Mailonline

More than 6,500 migrant workers have died during Qatar’s football World Cup preparations over the last decade, according to a report.

On average 12 migrants from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have died each week since December 2010 when Qatar was awarded the 22nd FIFA tournament.

The findings were compiled from government sources by The Guardian but the true migrant death toll is believed to be far higher because they do not include figures from countries that send huge numbers of workers to Qatar, including the Philippines and Kenya.

Over the last decade, the Middle Eastern country of just 2.8 million people has speedily constructed seven new stadiums, built a new subway, airport, motorways and even a new city, to transform into a footballing paradise for summer 2022.

But behind the stunning façades of the beautiful game, lies a grim reality of migrant workers packed into horrific dormitory accommodation by night as they spend their days toiling in deadly heat.

Workers toil in sweltering conditions inside the Lusail stadium in Doha in December 2019

Migrant workers at the Lusail stadium. Most of Qatar’s workforce for the tournament is from Africa, the Indian subcontinent and the Far East

An Amnesty International handout photo dated October 2012 shows a bunk bed in a dormitory for migrant workers in Qatar

A migrant worker in one of the tightly packed dormitories in Qatar

While the deaths are not categorised by occupation, it is likely that workers from these countries died while working on projects related to the World Cup, says Nick McGeehan, a director at FairSquare Projects, which specialises in labour rights in the Gulf.

He told The Guardian: ‘A very significant proportion of the migrant workers who have died since 2011 were only in the country because Qatar won the right to host the World Cup.’

Officially there have been 37 deaths among workers on World Cup stadiums, with 34 of these defined as ‘non-work related.’

The terminology raises questions because it has been used in cases where workers have collapsed on construction sites.

Qatar has a migrant workforce of some 2 million, mainly young men from Africa, the Indian subcontinent and the Far East.

Based on the data obtained by The Guardian, the majority of workers’ deaths were put down to natural causes.

More than two thirds of Indian, Nepali and Bangladeshi workers’ deaths were ‘natural,’ while among Indians the figure was 80 per cent.

Often these categorisations were made without autopsy and, therefore, failed to understand the underlying causes for the so-called natural deaths, the report said.

It’s believed that many may have died as a result of Qatar’s oppressive heat, working 10-hour shifts in temperatures of up to 113 Fahrenheit (45C).

Janoub Stadium, formerly known as Al Wakrah Stadium, is a football stadium in Al-Wakrah. Qatar has constructed seven state-of-the-art venues for the tournament

The Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, one of seven structures built to host the football tournament in summer 2022

Qatari officials have previously claimed they are keeping workers safe by banning manual labour in unshaded outdoor areas between 11.30am and 3pm from mid-June to August.

But analysis shows that even outside those hours, temperatures reach levels that can cause heat stress.

The United Nations said in a report last year that migrant labourers in Qatar faced ‘high’ or ‘extreme’ risk of succumbing to heat stress during half of their working day.

Working in hot weather puts strain on the cardiovascular system and can lead to heart attacks and other complications.

Critics of the working conditions say that this is the reason why such a large proportion of migrant workers’ deaths are categorised as natural, despite a clear correlation to the occupational hazards they face.

‘The mortality rate among these communities is within the expected range for the size and demographics of the population. However, every lost life is a tragedy, and no effort is spared in trying to prevent every death in our country,’ a Qatari government said in a statement.

He added that all foreign nationals had access to free healthcare and that reforms in recent years had reduced fatalities among ‘guest workers.’

Migrant workers on a construction site in the Qatari capital of Doha in March 2013

Other significant causes of deaths among Indians, Nepalis and Bangladeshis were road accidents (12 per cent), workplace accidents (7 per cent) and suicides (seven per cent).

Covid deaths do not feature disproportionately as infection rates have remained low in Qatar, with just 250 deaths among all nationalities since the pandemic started.

In a statement, FIFA said: ‘With the very stringent health and safety measures on site … the frequency of accidents on Fifa World Cup construction sites has been low when compared to other major construction projects around the world.’

They did not cite any evidence for this.

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Haiti Jail Break: 8 Dead, Including Prison Director

2021-02-26 FreeNews

CROIX-DES-BOUQUETS, Haiti (AP) — A prison director was among at least eight people killed Thursday after several inmates tried to escape from a prison in Haiti’s capital, a police officer and witnesses said.

The incident occurred in northeast Port-au-Prince at the Croix-des-Bouquets Civil Prison, which was built by Canada in 2012 and is known for a 2014 breakout in which more than 300 inmates escaped.

Residents in the area who declined to be identified out of concern for their safety told The Associated Press that they observed a group of heavily armed men start shooting at prison guards before the inmates began to flee.

Gunshots could still be heard from within the prison several hours after the shooting began.

The police officer who confirmed the killing of the prison director to the AP, and declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said authorities were preparing to raid the prison and described the inmates as armed and dangerous.

At the time of the 2014 breakout, the prison held 899 inmates, some 130 over its capacity.

During Thursday’s incident, one escapee, 37-year-old Jhon Hippolyte, was shot in the back. He told the AP that he was serving a sentence for murder and was in the infirmary when he noticed everybody running and decided to join them.

AP journalists saw the bodies of at least seven men along streets near the prison. They had been shot. Their identities were not immediately available, and it wasn’t clear if they were inmates or who had killed them.

Video captured by residents shows one police officer leading a group of men tied together with a rope. It wasn’t immediately clear if they were inmates.

Authorities could not be immediately reached for comment.

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Brazil: Virus Deaths Top 250,000, Pandemic Out of Control

2021-02-26 FreeNews

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s COVID-19 death toll, which surpassed 250,000 on Thursday, is the world’s second-highest for the same reason its second wave has yet to fade: Prevention was never made a priority, experts say.

Since the pandemic’s start, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro scoffed at the “little flu” and lambasted local leaders for imposing restrictions on activity; he said the economy must keep humming along to prevent worse hardship.

Even when he approved pandemic welfare payments for the poor, they weren’t announced as a means to keep people home. And Brazilians remain out and about as vaccination has started up — but rollout has proven far slower than was anticipated.

“Brazil simply didn’t have a response plan. We’ve been through this for the last year and still we don’t have a clear plan, a national plan,” Miguel Lago, executive director of Brazil’s Institute for Health Policy Studies, which advises public health officials, told the Associated Press. “There’s no plan, at all. And the same applies to vaccination.”

Whereas other countries’ daily cases and deaths have fallen, Latin America’s largest nation is parked on an elevated plateau — a grim repeat of mid-2020. In each of the last five weeks, Brazil has averaged more than 1,000 daily deaths. Official data showed a confirmed death toll total of 251,498 on Thursday.

At least 12 Brazilian states are in the midst of a second wave even worse than the one faced in 2020, said Domingos Alves, an epidemiologist who has been tracking COVID-19 data.

“This scenario is going to get worse,” Alves told the AP, adding that the virus was spreading faster among the population. In Amazonas state, where the capital, Manaus, saw hospitals run out of oxygen last month, there have been more than 5,000 deaths in the first two months of the year, about as many as in all of 2020.

“It is the most difficult moment that we have had since the confirmation of the first case,” Carlos Lula, chair of the National Council of Health Secretaries, was quoted as saying Thursday by O Globo newspaper. ”We have never had so many states with so much difficulty at the same time.”

Alves and other public health experts said the spread is exacerbated by authorities’ reluctance to follow recommendations from international health organizations to implement stricter restrictions.

It is up to governors and mayors to impose lockdowns or other restrictions to contain the virus. The states of Sao Paulo and Bahia recently introduced nighttime curfews, but experts say the moves are too late and insufficient.

“They are not containment measures; they are palliative measures, always taken after the fact,” said Alves, who is also an adjunct professor of social medicine at the University of Sao Paulo. “‘Lockdown’ has become a curse word in Brazil.”

Miguel Nicolelis, a prominent Brazilian neuroscientist, warned in January that Brazil had to either enter lockdown or “we won’t be able to bury our dead in 2021.” He had been advising northeastern states on how to combat COVID-19, but recently left his position, dissatisfied with their refusal to go into lockdown, the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper reported.

“Right now, Brazil is the largest open-air laboratory, where it is possible to observe the natural dynamics of the coronavirus without any effective containment measure,” he wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “Everyone will witness the epic devastation.”

There are some exceptions, but they remain marginal and have failed to inspire a broader movement.

Sao Luis, capital of northeastern Maranhao state, was the first Brazilian city to go into full lockdown last May. It was successful, notwithstanding Bolsonaro’s efforts to undermine the restrictions and sow doubt about their efficacy, according to the state’s governor, Flávio Dino.

“It has been very difficult to manage distance and prevention measures,” Dino said, adding that the first obstacle was an economic and social one, especially after the federal government’s emergency pandemic aid program ended last year.

Lago noted that Bolsonaro rarely even comments on the pandemic anymore, and has effectively moved on to other priorities, including securing support in Congress for loosening gun control laws and passing economic reforms. His administration is seeking to reinstate some COVID-19 welfare payments, but for a smaller group of needy Brazilians.

The only preventative measure Bolsonaro consistently supported was the use of treatments like hydroxychloroquine, which showed no benefit in rigorous studies.

Bolsonaro’s administration has also adopted a hands-off approach regarding the vaccination campaign. It relied mostly on a deal to purchase a single vaccine, AstraZeneca, which has been slow in coming. The national immunization effort to date has relied mostly on Chinese-made CoronaVac shots secured by Sao Paulo state, though the federal government is now trying to buy others.

Brazil’s decades of experience with successful vaccination programs and its large nationwide public health care network led many experts to believe that immunization — even if it were to start with a delay — would be a relatively speedy affair. In previous campaigns, the nation of 210 million was able to vaccinate as many as 10 million people in a single day, health experts noted.

Five weeks after the first shot, Brazil has vaccinated only 3.6% of its population. That is more than double Argentina and Mexico, but less than one-fourth that of Chile, according to Our World in Data, an online research site that compares official government statistics.

“There is no way to be fast with a shortage of vaccines; that is the crucial point,” said Carla Domingues, who for eight years coordinated Brazil’s national vaccination program, until leaving her position in 2019. “Until there is greater supply, the speed will be slower, as you have to keep selecting who can be vaccinated.”

Meantime, the virus continues to run rampant across Brazil, and take its toll.

In the Sao Paulo state city of Araraquara there have been more deaths so far this year than all of last year and intensive-care unit occupancy surpassed full capacity, with people on waiting lists to enter ICUs and get treatment. Local authorities responded Sunday by announcing a full lockdown — making Araraquara only the second city to impose such a restriction.

“We never imagined we would reach this point,” said Fabiana Araújo, a nurse and a coordinator of the city’s committee to fight COVID-19. “It was the only option.”

—— AP writers David Biller contributed from Rio and Mauricio Savarese from Sao Paulo.

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Mexico: Monarch Butterfly Population Down 26%

2021-02-26 FreeNews

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The number of monarch butterflies that showed up at their winter resting grounds in central Mexico decreased by about 26% this year, and four times as many trees were lost to illegal logging, drought and other causes, making 2020 a bad year for the butterflies.

The government commission for natural protected areas said the butterflies’ population covered only 2.1 hectares (5.2 acres) in 2020, compared to 2.8 hectares (6.9 acres) the previous year and about one-third of the 6.05 hectares (14.95 acres) detected in 2018.

Because the monarchs cluster so densely in pine and fir trees, it is easier to count them by area rather than by individuals.

Gloria Tavera, the regional director of Mexico’s Commission for National Protected Areas, blamed the drop on “extreme climate conditions,” the loss of milkweed habitat in the United States and Canada on which butterflies depend, and deforestation in the butterflies’ wintering grounds in Mexico.

Illegal logging in the monarchs wintering rounds rose to almost 13.4 hectares (33 acres), a huge increase from the 0.43 hectare (1 acre) lost to logging last year.

Jorge Rickards of the WWF environmental group acknowledged the lost trees were a blow, but said “the logging is very localized” in three or four of the mountain communities that make up the butterfly reserve.

In addition, wind storms, drought and the felling of trees that had fallen victim to pine beetles or disease, caused the loss of another 6.9 hectares (17 acres) in the reserve, bringing the total forest loss in 2020 to 20.65 hectares (51 acres). That compares to an overall loss of about 5 hectares (12.3 acres) from all causes the previous year.

Tavera said the drought was affecting the butterflies themselves, as well as the pine and fir trees where the clump together for warmth.

Associated Press World View:US Bombs Syria, Vaccine Passports,Volcano Erupts

2021-02-26 FreeNews

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Feb 26, 2021

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AP MORNING WIRE

US bombs facilities in Syria used by Iran-backed militia.
Vaccination ‘passports’ may open society, but global inequity looms.
Exclusive: Some local GOP leaders fire up base with conspiracies, lies.
Italy’s Mount Etna puts on its latest spectacular volcanic show.

Today is my last edition of the Morning Wire. Look out for news Monday about an engaging new format in which various colleagues in different parts of the world will take the helm. After a year of unparalleled modern-day global tumult in a pandemic, we thank you for reading. Be well and stay safe.

TAMER FAKAHANY
DEPUTY DIRECTOR – GLOBAL NEWS COORDINATION, LONDON

The Rundown

AP PHOTO/ALEX BRANDON

US bombs facilities in Syria used by Iran-backed militia groups in response to rocket attacks in Iraq; US ties with Saudis at stake as US releases findings on Khashoggi killing

The Biden administration has carried out its first military action with airstrikes in Syria, targeting facilities near the Iraqi border used by Iranian-backed militia groups.

The Pentagon said the strikes were retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this month that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a U.S. service member and other coalition troops.

Every American president from Ronald Reagan onward has ordered bombardment of countries in the Middle East; Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen have taken the brunt.

The airstrike in Syria targeted facilities belonging to a powerful Iranian-backed Iraqi armed group, killing one of their militiamen and wounding a number of others, an Iraqi militia official told the AP today.

The official said that the strikes against the Kataeb Hezbollah militia, or Hezbollah Brigades, hit an area along the border between the Syrian site of Boukamal facing Qaim on the Iraqi side. Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad and Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns in Washington have the latest developments.

The new administration, in its first weeks, has emphasized its intent to put more focus on the challenges posed by China, even as volatility and threats to U.S. military presence and interests persist in the Arab World.

But Biden’s decision to attack in Syria does not appear to signal an intention to widen U.S. military involvement in the region but rather to demonstrate a will to defend U.S. troops in Iraq.

U.S.-Saudi Relations: President Biden has spoken to Saudi King Salman for the first time since taking office more than a month ago. The conversation between the two strategic partners was overshadowed by the expected release of U.S. intelligence findings on whether the king’s son approved the killing of a U.S.-based Saudi journalist, Ellen Knickmeyer reports.

Jamal Khashoggi was a critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s authoritarian consolidation of power. Saudi security and intelligence agents killed him inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. The Saudi prince denies ordering the killing. The Biden administration has promised “accountability” in the gruesome slaying.


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AP PHOTO/MAYA ALLERUZZO

Vaccination ‘passports’ may open society, but global inequity looms; Brazil passes 250,000 deaths; As US hospital numbers fall, fatigued staff get relief at last

Governments around the world say getting vaccinated and having the proper documentation to prove it will smooth the way to recovery from the pandemic.

Such efforts have gotten a head start in Israel.

But that also raises the prospect of further dividing the world along the lines of wealth and access to vaccines, creating ethical and logistical issues that have alarmed decision-makers globally, Laurie Kellman reports from Tel Aviv.

An expert on global health law says that in many low-income countries, most people won’t be vaccinated for many years. Israel has enough vaccine to inoculate everyone over 16.

But even with that wealth, there’s concern about using the shots as diplomatic currency and power, further exacerbating inequality.

Brazil Death Toll: The country’s death toll has surpassed 250,000. It is the world’s second-highest after the U.S., and the virus continues to run rampant in the country. Health experts say this is because prevention was never made a priority. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has called the virus a “little flu” and lambasted local leaders who imposed restrictions on activities. Experts say that at least a dozen states are in the midst of a second surge even worse than the one faced in 2020. The executive director of Brazil’s Institute for Health Policy Studies said Brazil simply didn’t have a response plan. Diane Jeantet reports from Rio de Janeiro.

U.S. Hospitals: The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the U.S. has plummeted by 80,000 in six weeks, and 17% of the nation’s adult population has gotten at least one dose of vaccine. The improvements offer some relief to front-line workers. One St. Louis respiratory therapist at Mercy Hospital recalled that when virus patients were inundating the region’s hospitals, colleagues arriving for yet another grueling shift with a dwindling supply of ventilators would often glance at their assignments and cry. On his most recent shift there were only about 20 virus patients, down from as many as 100 at the peak of the surge. Heather Hollingsworth and Todd Richmond report.

Variant in NYC: Scientists have identified a mutated version of the virus spreading in New York City. Researchers this week said the new variant first appeared in the metropolitan area in late November and has since cropped up in neighboring states. Public health experts warn it’s not clear yet how problematic the variant may be and how effective vaccines will be. Experts say that public health measures like social distancing and mask-wearing are critical to stop the virus mutating and spreading, Marion Renault reports.

U.S. Economy: Democrats are ready to push a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package through the House today. That win is expected despite a setback that means a minimum wage boost is unlikely to be in the final version that reaches President Biden. A near party-line vote seemed certain on the relief measure in the House. It represents Biden’s first crack at his initial legislative goal of acting decisively against the pandemic. In the year since the virus has taken hold, it has stalled much of the economy, killed half a million Americans and reshaped the daily lives of virtually everyone, Alan Fram reports.

Romania’s Crisis: It reported its first infection a year ago this week. Since then, the country’s underfunded medical system has turned its focus to treating patients with the virus. But that has left many Romanians with other health problems deprived of the critical care they need, including patients who are HIV positive or have cancer. Romania’s government has announced plans to reorganize the country’s hospitals so that more non-COVID-19 patients can get access to health care as a third surge looms. Nicolae Dumitrache and Stephen McGrath report from Bucharest.

Asia Today: South Korea has administered its first available vaccine shots, launching a mass immunization campaign health authorities hope will restore some level of normalcy by the end of the year. Hong Kong, too, began administering its first vaccines to the public, kicking off a program offering free vaccinations to all 7.5 million of the city’s residents. In Japan, officials said enough vaccine shipments will arrive at local government offices by the end of June to inoculate the nation’s 36 million elderly people. The timeline was given after questions were raised about supplies of the imported vaccines.

More from Around the World:

Italy’s northern Lombardy region, where Europe’s virus outbreak erupted last year, has asked the national government for more vaccines to help stem a surge of new cases that are taxing the health system in the province of Brescia.
Ukraine has recorded a 50% increase in the number of daily new infections, a day after authorities launched the country’s vaccination campaign.
Syria’s health minister has said his government procured vaccines from a friendly country which he declined to name, adding that front-line health workers would be the first to be inoculated starting next week.
Bahrain has become the first nation to authorize Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine for emergency use. The announcement comes just a day after U.S regulators concluded the shot offers strong protection against severe COVID-19.
Two U.S. Navy warships operating in the Mideast have been affected by the coronavirus. A dozen troops aboard the USS San Diego tested positive. The commanders says that ship is at port in Bahrain. The USS Philippine Sea also has several suspected cases of the virus.
A resurgence of cases is hitting Somalia hard, straining one of the world’s most fragile health systems.
China has approved two more vaccines for wider use, adding to its growing arsenal of shots.
A state of emergency that was set up to curb the coronavirus in Japan will be lifted in six urban areas this weekend while staying in the Tokyo area for another week.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is encouraging people to be vaccinated, saying the shot is quick, harmless and will help protect others against the disease.
England’s ethnic minority communities have higher levels of infection and lower levels of vaccine acceptance than other groups, according to a new study.
Cyprus will reopen high schools, gyms, pools, dance academies and art galleries on March 1 in a further, incremental easing of the country’s second lockdown.

EXPLAINER: Meet the vaccine appointment bots, and their foes.To cope with trouble booking online, some people in the U.S. have turned to bots that scan websites and send alerts when slots for vaccines open up. Bots provide relief to people struggling to score appointments. But not all public health officials are fans. Some say they give even more of an advantage to tech-savvy people. One Massachusetts clinic canceled appointments after learning that out-of-towners used a bot to scoop them up. Health officials are putting in measures to prevent the use of bots, Matt O’Brien and Candice Choi report.


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AP PHOTO/JOHN MINCHILLO

Exclusive: Some local GOP leaders in US are firing up their base with conspiracies, lies

“Sham-peachment,” they say, and warn that “corporate America helped rig the election.” They call former president Donald Trump a “savior” who was robbed of a second term — despite no evidence — and President Joe Biden, a “thief.” “Patriots want answers,” they declare.

A faction of local, county and state Republican officials across the country is pushing lies, misinformation and conspiracy theories online that echo those that helped inspire the deadly U.S. Capitol insurrection. Garance Burke, Martha Mendoza, Juliet Linderman and Larry Fenn have this exclusive story worthy of your time.

These GOP officials’ posts are being amplified by algorithms that boost extreme content, allowing the officials to grow their bases on social media and exert outsize sway on their communities, city councils, county boards and state assemblies.

The AP reviewed social media accounts of nearly 1,000 federal, state and local elected and appointed Republican officials. The rhetoric exposes the party’s internal struggle over whether it can include traditional conservative politicians, conspiracy theorists and militias.

VIDEO: Conspiracy theories and lies drive rift within GOP.

EXPLAINER: What were the intelligence warnings before the Capitol riot?


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AP PHOTO/SALVATORE ALLEGRA

Italy’s Volcanic Eruptions

Explainer: Mount Etna puts on its latest spectacular show

Mount Etna, the volcano that towers over eastern Sicily in Italy, evokes superlatives.

It is Europe’s most active volcano and also the continent’s largest.

And the fiery, noisy show of power it puts on for days or weeks, even years, every so often, is always nothing short of spectacular.

Fortunately, Etna’s latest eruption captivating the world’s attention has caused neither injuries nor evacuation.

But each time it roars back into dramatic action, it wows onlookers and awes geologists who spend their careers monitoring its every quiver, rumble and belch.

VIDEO: Italy’s Mount Etna keeps belching lava and rocks.

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW

On Feb. 16, Etna erupted, sending up high fountains of lava, which rolled down the mountain’s eastern slope. The activity has been continuing since, in bursts more or less intense. The flaming lava lights up the night sky in shocking hues of orange and red. There’s no telling how long this round of exciting activity will last, say volcanologists.

LIVING UNDER A VOLCANO

With Etna’s lava flows largely contained to its uninhabited slopes, life goes in towns and villages elsewhere on the mountain. Sometimes, like in recent days, lava stones rain down on streets, bounce off cars and rattle roofs.

IT’S BEEN DEADLY IN THE PAST

Inspiring ancient Greek legends, Etna has had scores of known eruptions in its history. An eruption in 396 B.C. has been credited with keeping the army of Carthage at bay.

In 1669, in what has been considered the volcano’s worst known eruption, lava buried a swath of Catania, about 23 kilometers (15 miles) away and devastated dozens of villages.

An eruption in 1928 cut off a rail route circling the mountain’s base. More recently, in 1983, dynamite was used to divert lava threatening inhabited areas.

The Qatari government does not dispute the number of deaths, but argues that they are proportionate to the large number of migrants in the country and also include white-collar workers who have died naturally after living in Qatar for years.