The bill specified the circumstances under which different kind of weapons – handheld, shipborne or airborne – can be used.

The bill allowed coast guard personnel to demolish other countries’ structures built on Chinese-claimed reefs and to board and inspect foreign vessels in waters claimed by China.

The bill also empowered the coastguard to create temporary exclusion zones “as needed” to stop other vessels and personnel from entering.

Chinese coast guard ships and barges spotted in 2016 at the Scarborough Shoal, which is also claimed by the Philippines [Philippine Government via AP]

Responding to concerns, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday the law is in line with international practices.

The first article of the bill explained the law is needed to safeguard China’s sovereignty, security and maritime rights.

Complicate US relations

This law comes seven years after China merged several civilian maritime law-enforcement agencies to form a coast guard bureau.

After the bureau came under the command of the People’s Armed Police in 2018, it became a proper branch of the military forces.

The latest move by China could also further complicate its relations with the United States, which maintains strategic alliances with several Asia-Pacific countries, including Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia, which have competing maritime claims with Beijing.

In a social media post, Christian Le Miere, a maritime diplomacy analyst and founder of the London and The Hague-based group Arcipel, said the new law “strikes at the heart” of the US policy of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

“China’s coast guard is already doing most of the heavy lifting in maritime coercion in the near seas, so it’s worth examining the new legislation just passed on this issue.”

The International Court in The Hague has nullified China’s nine-dash line claim, which asserts control of most of the South China Sea.

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Baseball legend and longtime home run king Hank Aaron passed away Friday at the age of 86. The cause of death was not revealed, though a family representative said Aaron died peacefully in his sleep at home.

Nicknamed “Hammerin’ Hank,” Aaron smashed a number of league records during his 23 seasons with the Milwaukee (and then Atlanta) Braves, and remains the leader in runs batted in (2,297), total bases (6,856), and extra-base hits (1,477). He is perhaps best known for breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record in 1974, a mark that seemed insurmountable and represented a milestone for Black athletes at the time. Watch the video of Aaron’s record-breaking 715th home run here.

The post Baseball Legend Hank Aaron Dies at 86 appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

New York, Jan. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The economic growth outlook for Central America and the Caribbean is restrained by multiple interrelated factors, mostly due to dependence on the external economic environment.As global growth is poised to contract in 2020, regional growth stands to severely contract as well.

Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report “COVID-19 Alters Near-term Growth Trajectory of Central America and the Caribbean” – https://www.reportlinker.com/p06010562/?utm_source=GNW

In this research, the analyst examines the macroeconomic outlook for Puerto Rico, Panama, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guam, El Salvador, and Honduras through the year 2027.

What factors will drive the region’s growth for the next 6 years? What stands to stymie growth prospects during this time? The study provides insights into the regional growth drivers and restraints from 2020 to 2027.

This is a forward-looking macroeconomic assessment of elements such as GDP growth, inflation, monetary policy, and unemployment covering the 2016 to 2027 period.

Are corruption and drug-related violence still a major deterrent to investments in the region? Will fund misappropriation limit the region’s ability to respond to the ongoing health crisis? The study puts in perspective the political backdrop against which economic elements operate. Likewise, the study isolates the key macroeconomic implication of the COVID-19 pandemic for each country.

Major global trends such as the decline in tourism-related activities and the rise in global unemployment, especially in North America, severely limit the region’s outlook for the near-term. The study offers an in-depth exploration of the push for diversification across the region and among industries that will consequently see an increase in investment incentives.

Based on a detailed assessment of the macroeconomic situation, the analyst determines growth opportunities for businesses in this region that could be leveraged. The study highlights the key strategic imperatives that will ensure growth in Central America and the Caribbean.
Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06010562/?utm_source=GNW

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(Miami Herald) Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi declared a state of emergency Sunday over a tide of violence against women, a measure local activists have demanded for years to address a scourge that continues to go largely unpunished.

The emergency declaration calls for a series of wide-ranging policies to combat femicides and other forms of violence. The executive order was hailed by advocates as an important step in addressing a long-existing issue that jumped back into the spotlight after a recent murder.

“Gender violence is a social evil, based on ignorance and attitudes that cannot have space or tolerance in the Puerto Rico that we aspire to,” Pierluisi said in a press release. “It is my duty and my commitment as governor to establish a STOP to gender violence and for these purposes I have declared a state of emergency.”

As part of the order, a mobile app will be created to help victims request assistance and report aggressors to emergency services. Authorities will create a program to check in with women who have filed restraining orders. And the government will launch media campaigns to educate the public about gender violence.

A compliance officer will be charged with ensuring the order is followed, while a committee including local rights groups will simultaneously recommend public policy, monitor implementation, and publish progress reports.

“To eradicate gender violence we have to make concerted efforts between the state and society in which, in addition to a comprehensive plan, there is an educational approach to teach our children that every human being has to be respected, as well as empower to our next generations to eradicate this evil,” the governor said.

The move comes days after Angie Noemi González, a nurse from the mountain town of Barranquitas, was found dead in a ravine in a crime that outraged many on the island. According to police, her partner of 16 years, Roberto Rodríguez, admitted to killing the mother of three.

The woman’s uncle, Alex Santos, told el Nuevo Herald she had been working at a nursing home throughout the pandemic and had survived cancer. He said she had expressed fear for her life but thought that filing a restraining order would be pointless.

“It’s a piece of paper that won’t protect me at all,” he said she told him.

The order is the latest measure to bring attention to violence against women in Latin America and the Caribbean, considered one of the most dangerous regions in the world to be female. A recent study by the Organization for Economic Cooperative and Development notes the region has the world’s highest rates of femicide, with over a quarter of women experiencing violence from an intimate partner at least once in their lifetime. Advocates fear those trends have gotten worse during the pandemic, with lockdowns putting vulnerable women at further risk.

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Jamaica minister of tourism, Edmund Bartlett, has revealed that the country has bolstered its Covid-19 testing infrastructure to meet the growing demand for such tests.

The increase in demand has been driven by new travel requirements in major tourism source markets.

“Jamaica is now very ready,” said the minister.

“We have developed the infrastructure to secure the quantities of testing agents and/or to enable the viral testing methods that are approved by the relevant authorities.

“So, all visitors who come to Jamaica will be able to access approved testing arrangements to enable them to fulfil the requirements of their respective countries for re-entry,” added Bartlett.

This follows the recent order by the United States Centres for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), which requires evidence of a negative Covid-19 test result for airline passengers travelling into the United States.

Similar requirements were previously introduced by the governments of Canada and the UK, which require all persons flying to those countries to present negative test results to facilitate entry or to avoid self-quarantine.

The minister underscored that the improvements to the testing framework was being driven by the special task force he recently developed to spearhead efforts to boost Jamaica’s Covid-19 testing capacity.

The group has also created a system which will make the process easier for visitors.

“The task force has done quite a lot of work. Which includes taking steps to assess and determine the capacity to respond to the need for testing of all visitors going back to their country and I am pleased to say that that work is completed.

“We are able to report positively that the labs are all accredited and resourced,” the minister added.

“We have also established two redundancy arrangements.

“They are located at sites close to both international airports in Montego Bay and Kingston.”

Testing facilities are also in place at all of the country’s major hotels and transportation arrangements are in place to facilitate the movement of visitors to the closest testing centre, if one is not available on property.

Visitors will also have the option to pay for the tests prior to their arrival at the facilities.

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They said it was still uncertain how much mobility Felix Gretarsson, 48, will recover following the operation earlier this month in the southeastern French city of Lyon.

But “giving a little to somebody who was missing so much, that’s already a lot” Aram Gazarian, the lead surgeon in the operation, told a news conference on Friday

“If he can recover the possibility to actively bend his elbow, that would be a life-changer,” he said.

He sustained multiple fractures and internal injuries, and went into a three-month coma during which surgeons amputated both arms.

He underwent several more operations, including a liver transplant.

When hand transplant pioneer Jean-Michel Dubernard, based in Lyon, visited Reykjavik for a conference, Gretarsson asked him whether it would be possible to replace the lost limbs.

The operation was “his biggest dream”, Gretarsson’s wife Sylwia told Friday’s news conference, adding that she herself never felt that the operation was truly necessary as he “wasn’t missing anything”.

It took years to find suitable donors, during which some 50 medical staff in total became involved in the preparations for the operation.

Four surgical teams were involved to minimise the transition time between donor and recipient.

Doctors said the outlook for the right arm to become functional was better than for the left, which had also required a complete rebuild of the shoulder. No serious complications had been detected nine days after the operation, they said.

The patient was a long way from being able to move his arms, but seemed visibly pleased with the outcome in a short video shot at his hospital bed and shown at the news conference.

“With this level of amputation, we can’t promise anything,” said Lionel Badet, the surgeon who launched the medical protocol for the operation in 2010. Gretarsson has years of re-education ahead of him, he said, “but we will support him all his life”.

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The Senate will start President Trump‘s second impeachment trial during the week of Feb. 8, Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) announced on Friday.

“Both the House managers and the defense will have a period of time to draft their legal briefs just as they did in previous trials. … Once the briefs are drafted, the presentation by the parties will commence the week of Feb. 8,” Schumer said from the Senate floor.

Schumer’s announcement comes after he disclosed earlier Friday that the House article of impeachment will be delivered to the Senate on Monday.

Under the agreement between Schumer and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), the article will be read at 7 p.m. on Monday. Senators will be sworn in Tuesday and a summons will be issued to Trump.

Trump’s response to the article and House’s pre-trial brief will be due by Feb. 2, and Trump’s pre-trial brief will be due six days later.

The earliest the trial could start is Feb. 9, when the House’s pre-trial rebuttal is also due.

A spokesman for McConnell argued that the timeline is a win for the GOP leader, who had wanted to delay the trial until mid-February.

“Leader McConnell is glad that Leader Schumer agreed to Republicans’ request for additional time during the pre-trial phase. Especially given the fast and minimal process in the House, Republicans set out to ensure the Senate’s next steps will respect former President Trump’s rights and due process, the institution of the Senate, and the office of the presidency,” said Doug Andres, a spokesman for McConnell.

Under McConnell’s proposed timeline, outlined to the GOP conference on a call Thursday, the trial would have started as soon as Feb. 13. 

Neither McConnell nor Schumer provided any details about how long they thought the trial should last. Trump’s first impeachment trial in early 2020 lasted 21 days, though most senators do not expect the second trial to last as long. 

Democrats are expected to use the delayed start for the second trial to confirm more of President Biden’s Cabinet picks. As of Friday Biden has only gotten two Cabinet picks confirmed: Lloyd Austin to be the Pentagon chief and Avril Haines to be the director of national intelligence. 

Democrats had hoped to confirm both Janet Yellen, Biden’s pick to lead the Treasury Department, and Tony Blinken, his pick to be secretary of State, this week, but left town on Friday without taking up either nomination. 

“The Senate will continue to do other business for the American people, such as Cabinet nominations and the COVID relief bill,” Schumer said.

“The more time we have to get up and running and meet these crises, the better,” Biden said at the White House on Friday.

The impeachment trial comes after the House made history when it voted to impeach Trump for a second time, making him the first U.S. president to ever be impeached more than once. The House article, which got the support of 10 Republicans, accuses Trump of high crimes and misdemeanors for “willfully inciting violence against the Government of the United States” after his supporters attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6. 

Trump addressed the crowd on Jan. 6, repeating his disputed claims of widespread voter fraud and warning them that if “you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.” 

Trump then encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol, where then-Vice President Pence and lawmakers were counting the Electoral College vote. Though Trump vowed that he was going to go to the Capitol with them, he instead went back to the White House. 

It will take a two-thirds vote in the Senate to convict Trump at the end of the trial. Though he’s the third president to be impeached, none have ever been successfully convicted in a trial. 

Several Republicans, including McConnell, have accused Trump of provoking the mob that stormed the Capitol, but none have said they will vote to convict him. 

Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) called on him to resign, while Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) has said he’s open to looking at any articles sent over by the House. 

Republicans are casting doubt that any more than a handful of their GOP colleagues will ultimately vote to convict, and they appear increasingly confident that trial will end with Trump’s acquittal.

“We kind of have an inkling of what the outcome is going to be. I mean, Democrats this time didn’t even bother to go through the motions of getting sworn testimony and having hearings in the House. This is not a serious effort,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is close to McConnell. 

In addition to holding an impeachment trial, Democrats are exploring trying to use the 14th Amendment to bar Trump from holding future office. 

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said that he thought the odds of getting 67 votes for impeachment were “low,” but in his view, a resolution enacting the 14th Amendment would only require 60 votes, making it more feasible. 

“It accomplishes the same practical objective, in all likelihood, with a lower vote threshold requirement,” he said. “And I think not only is the threshold lower, I think you’re more likely to get Republican votes on it.” 

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“Currently, the rate of infection is forbiddingly high, and I think we have to be realistic about that,” he said. “I think we will have to live with coronavirus in one way or another for a long while to come. I think it is an open question as to when and in what way we can start to relax any of the measures. Obviously, we want to do everything we can to open up but only safely, only cautiously.”

Johnson hailed the speed of vaccine delivery, with 5.4m doses administered, putting the government on course for the 15 February deadline it set for immunising the first four priority groups. But he urged the public to continue to comply with restrictions.

The government’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, shared early evidence about the UK variant, which first emerged in south-east England in September and has become prevalent across the UK. It was a key factor in the cancellation of most Christmas socialising, and has led to travel bans around the world.

Explaining the scale of the difference, he said for every 1,000 60-year-olds infected with the new strain, perhaps 13 or 14 might be expected to die, compared with 10 in 1,000 for the original strain.

The variant is also believed to be 30%-70% more transmissible. “There is no preferential age, it can affect anybody at any age, similarly to the original variant, the original virus,” Vallance said.

Dr David Strain, a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School, said the possibility that the new UK variant was not only more contagious but also more deadly than previous variants was worrying.

“The key fact here is that all of the good work that’s been done with [the drug] dexamethasone and is being done with better treatment strategies has reduced the mortality in the UK by about a third. [If the new mortality figure is correct that] has now been lost and we are back to square one,” he said.

Gabriel Scally, visiting professor of public health at the University of Bristol, said: “We can’t go on having these variants coming at us like this, so we do need to do something stop them.”

The briefing heard there was good evidence of vaccines continuing to work against the variant.

But there were worrying early findings in relation to other variants identified in South Africa and Brazil. Vallance said they may have certain features making them less susceptible to vaccines, though there was no evidence they were more transmissible.

Earlier, footage emerged showing Matt Hancock, the health secretary, saying there was “evidence in the public domain” that the South African variant reduces vaccine efficacy “by about 50%”.

In a recording of an online webinar with travel agents this week, seen by MailOnline, Hancock said: “There is evidence in the public domain, although we are not sure of this data so I wouldn’t say this in public, but that the South African variant reduces by about 50% the vaccine efficacy.

“We’ve got some of the South African variant in Porton Down, and we’re testing it. We’ve got a clinical trial in South Africa to check that the AstraZeneca vaccine works. Nevertheless, if we vaccinated the population, and then you got in a new variant that evaded the vaccine, then we’d be back to square one.”

The news deepened a mood of pessimism in Downing Street about when lockdown restrictions could be lifted. Official figures released on Friday suggested infection rates were declining – but only very slowly.

The Office for National Statistics survey, based on swabs from randomly selected households, found that between 3 and 16 January, 1.9% of people in the community in England, or one in 55 people, had Covid – down from about one in 50 between 27 December and 2 January.

A further 40,261 people tested positive for the virus on Friday, and 1,401 deaths were reported. The weekly death figure, of 8,686, was up 16.4% on the previous seven days.

Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, said there appeared to have been “a turning of the corner” in terms of infections but that cases were coming down from “an exceptionally high level”

“Overall, the number of infections is broadly going down, but it’s at a very very high level, and it’s extremely precarious,” said Whitty. “A very small change and it could start taking off again from an extremely high base.”

Vallance said: “The death rate’s awful, and it’s going to stay high for a little while before it starts coming down.”

Ministers are steeling themselves to tighten border measures in order to protect the hard-won gains of the vaccine programme, with some in government warning that tough controls could be in place for months.

Asked about tighter curbs, which ministers are expected to discuss on Monday, Johnson said: “We may need to go further to protect our borders.”

The government is preparing to launch a hard-hitting new advertising campaign featuring footage of severely ill Covid patients and exhausted medical staff, exhorting the public to stick to lockdown rules. The ads, which will run across TV, radio and social media, will carry the message: “Can you look them in the eyes and tell them you’re helping by staying at home?”

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GENEVA — COVAX, the global initiative to ensure rapid and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries, regardless of income level, has announced the signing of an advance purchase agreement with Pfizer for up to 40 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine candidate, which has already received World Health Organisation (WHO) emergency use listing. Rollout will commence with the successful negotiation and execution of supply agreements.

In further support of its mission to expedite early availability of vaccines to lower-income countries and help bring a rapid end to the acute stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, COVAX also confirmed that it will exercise an option, via an existing agreement with Serum Institute of India to receive its first 100 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University-developed vaccine manufactured by SII.

Of the first 100 million doses, the majority are earmarked for delivery in the first quarter of the year, pending WHO Emergency Use Listing. The WHO review process, which is currently underway, follows approval for restricted use in emergency situations by the Drugs Controller General of India earlier this month, and is a critical aspect of ensuring that any vaccine procured through COVAX is fully quality assured for international use. According to the latest WHO update, a decision on this vaccine candidate is anticipated by the middle of February.

COVAX also anticipates that, via an existing agreement with AstraZeneca, at least 50 million further doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine will be available for delivery to COVAX participants in Q1 2021, pending emergency use listing by WHO of the COVAX-specific manufacturing network for these doses. A decision on this candidate is also anticipated by the WHO in February.

“Today marks another milestone for COVAX: pending regulatory approval for the AstraZeneca/Oxford candidate,” said Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which leads COVAX procurement and delivery. “Pending the successful conclusion of the supply agreement for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, we anticipate being able to begin deliveries of life-saving COVID-19 vaccines by the end of February.

“This is not just significant for COVAX, it is a major step forward for equitable access to vaccines, and an essential part of the global effort to beat this pandemic,” said Dr. Berkley. “We will only be safe anywhere if we are safe everywhere.”

Preparations, led by WHO, UNICEF and Gavi, are already well under way for COVAX to deliver vaccines to economies eligible for support via the COVAX AMC, with Gavi making US$ 150 million available from its core funding as initial, catalytic support for preparedness and delivery.

“The urgent and equitable rollout of vaccines is not just a moral imperative, it’s also a health security, strategic and economic imperative,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. “This agreement with Pfizer will help to enable COVAX to save lives, stabilize health systems and drive the global economic recovery.”

Building on the work of the past months supporting country readiness efforts, a “Country Readiness Portal” will be launched by the WHO this month, which will allow AMC participants to submit final national deployment and vaccination plans (NDVPs). This is a vital step before allocations can be made, to ensure that delivered doses are able to be effectively deployed and to identify where, if necessary, further support is needed.

“These purchase agreements open the door for these lifesaving vaccines to become available to people in the most vulnerable countries,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. “But at the same time we are securing vaccines we must also ensure that countries are ready to receive them, deploy them, and build trust in them.”

The COVAX Facility intends to provide all 190 participating economies with an indicative allocation of doses by the end of this month. This indicative allocation will provide interim guidance to participants – offering a minimum planning scenario to enable preparations for the final allocation of the number of doses each participant will receive in the first rounds of vaccine distribution.

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