In the past few weeks more than 12,000 Haitians have arrived in Del Rio, Texas, gathering in a huge makeshift camp. Many have to cross the Rio Grande from Del Rio to Ciudad Acuña to seek food and supplies in Mexico to bring back to family members waiting in the US. Others are crossing back into Mexico to avoid deportation flights
Continue reading...Category Archives: Americas
Migrants continue to cross into US as Kamala Harris criticises treatment by border patrol – video
Thousands of Haitians encamped under and near a bridge in the town of Del Rio faced a ramped-up US exclusion effort on Tuesday, with six flights to their homeland. More than 6,000 migrants had been removed by Monday, officials said.
Asked on Tuesday about footage of the incident, Kamala Harris said: 'What I saw depicted, those individuals on horseback treating human beings the way they were, was horrible'
Argentina to lift almost all Covid restrictions as cases and deaths fall
Masks will no longer be required outdoors as government says country could be at ‘end of pandemic’
Masks will no longer be required outdoors in Argentina as the country’s government announced the lifting of almost all Covid restrictions following a dramatic fall in Covid cases and deaths in recent months.
“If the numbers of coronavirus infections continue like this, we could say we are experiencing the end of the pandemic,” said presidential cabinet chief Juan Manzur amid a flurry of measures including the return of football matches with stadiums at 50% capacity starting next month – just in time for the 3 October classic super-match between Argentina’s two longtime rivals Boca and River Plate teams.
“Today for us the Covid pandemic ends to a large extent,” government Covid adviser Luis Camera said in a radio interview. “The pandemic ends but the virus continues,” he said.
The announcements were met with cautious optimism by doctors on the frontline. “We’re at a very good place: at the hospital where I work we have not admitted a single Covid patient to intensive care for three weeks now – but I would not dare say the pandemic is over,” said intensive care doctor Arnaldo Dubin, a researcher and professor at La Plata University.
Related: ‘People die in less than a week’: Covid wave catches Argentina off-guard
Continue reading...Trudeau didn’t win the majority but still has chance to pass sweeping legislation
Canadian prime minister will stay in power but will be forced to navigate a parliament that he needs to woo in order to survive
Justin Trudeau went into Monday’s federal election with one of the world’s highest Covid-19 vaccination rates, billions spent on pandemic aid and the hope that he could convert the earned goodwill into a majority government.
He fell short of that aim: after a 36-day campaign and a C$610m election, the makeup of parliament remained largely unchanged, with the Liberals holding roughly 158 seats – short of the 170 needed for a majority.
Continue reading...Kamala Harris on expulsions at US border: ‘Human beings should never be treated that way’
Vice-president criticizes treatment of Haitians, who are being removed after attempted to flee dire conditions
Kamala Harris and Chuck Schumer, have added their voices to criticism of the treatment of Haitian migrants at the US-Mexico border who were corralled by US border patrol agents riding horses and allegedly wielding reins like whips.
Related: White House criticizes border agents who rounded up migrants on horseback
Continue reading...Justin Trudeau secures a third victory in an election ‘nobody wanted’
Canadian prime minister will stay in power but has not won the majority he hoped for after calling a snap election
Justin Trudeau has secured a third election victory, but his decision to call a snap election was criticised by political opponents – and even allies – after the Canadian prime minister failed once again to win a parliamentary majority.
As of Tuesday morning, the Liberals had won or were leading in 158 seats – short of the 170 needed for a majority. Erin O’Toole’s opposition Conservatives won 119, a result that largely mirrored the outcome of the 2019 election.
Continue reading...White House criticizes border agents who rounded up migrants on horseback
Press secretary voices concern over widely shared images as more than 6,000 migrants removed from Texas encampment
The White House on Monday responded critically to widely shared images of US border patrol agents in Texas rounding up Haitian migrants on horseback.
Related: Haitian migrants intend to remain at Texas border despite plan to expel them
Continue reading...Canada: mountain goat kills attacking grizzly bear with ‘dagger-like’ horns
Forensic necropsy of a female grizzly bear suggests she was killed by a goat, after the horns pierced the bear’s armpits and neck
With their long, sharp claws and frightening speed, few predators in Canada’s wild hinterlands attack as mercilessly as a hungry grizzly bear.
But in a rare turn of events, park officials say a mountain goat not only defended itself from becoming a meal, but was able to kill the attacking bear with its “dagger-like” horns.
Continue reading...Justin Trudeau’s bid for third term in balance as Canada goes to polls
Post-vaccination election gamble may backfire as parties face off in tightly contested vote battle
As Canadians head to the polls on Monday, prime minister Justin Trudeau will be watching nervously to see if his gamble to call an election will win his party more power in parliament – or leave him with even fewer seats and rivals sensing a growing political weakness.
But in a tightly contested election marred by a public health crisis and concerns over delays in ballot counting, it could take days to learn the winner.
Continue reading...Haitian migrants intend to remain at Texas border despite plan to expel them
Thousands seeking to escape poverty and hunger in their own country remain encamped under and near a bridge in Del Rio
Haitian migrants seeking to escape poverty, hunger and hopelessness in their home country said they would not be deterred by US plans to swiftly send them back, as thousands remained encamped on the Texas border.
Related: How thousands of Haitian migrants ended up at the Texas border
Continue reading...US to fly Haitian migrants back after thousands gather at Texas border
Plan will likely involve five to eight flights a day, with San Antonio potentially among departure cities
The Biden administration on Saturday was working on plans to send many of the thousands of Haitian immigrants who have gathered in a Texas border city back to their homeland, a swift response to the huge influx of people who suddenly crossed from Mexico and congregated under and around a bridge.
Related: ‘A forgotten disaster’: earthquake-hit Haitians left to fend for themselves
Continue reading...‘A feeling of deja vu’: author Sergio Ramírez on ex-comrade Ortega and Nicaraguan history repeating
The country’s greatest living writer feels ‘surprised, bewildered and assaulted’ after the president issued a warrant for his arrest and seized copies of his new novel about the 2018 uprising
Sergio Ramírez, Nicaragua’s best-known living writer, hero of the Sandinista revolution, and former vice-president of the volcanic Central American nation, has lived through both tougher times and duller publicity tours.
Even so, the past few days have been – as he puts it, with a degree of understatement – “an odd experience”.
Continue reading...Texas anti-abortion law shows ‘terrifying’ fragility of women’s rights, say activists
Campaigners fear ban emboldens anti-choice governments as more aggressive opposition, better organised and funded, spreads from US
The new anti-abortion law in Texas is a “terrifying” reminder of the fragility of hard-won rights, pro-choice activists have said, as they warn of a “more aggressive, much better organised [and] better funded” global opposition movement.
Pro-choice campaigners have seen several victories in recent years, including in Ireland, Argentina and, most recently, Mexico, where the supreme court ruled last week that criminalising abortion was unconstitutional. Another is hoped for later this month when the tiny enclave of San Marino, landlocked within Italy, holds a highly charged referendum.
Continue reading...Trudeau lambasted over exclusion from US-led military alliance as election nears
Canada already shares intelligence with Australia, the UK, the US and New Zealand but was not included in Aukus pact
Justin Trudeau is facing harsh criticism from political rivals after Canada was excluded from a new international defence pact, days before the country votes in a federal election.
Australia, the United Kingdom and the United State on Wednesday announced a new intelligence sharing agreement meant to counter Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Continue reading...Peruvians split on how to handle Shining Path leader’s remains
Absence of a firm decision by Peru’s new leftist government has sown doubts about the cabinet’s willingness to act
Nearly a week after the death of Abimael Guzmán, the messianic leader of Peru’s Shining Path insurgency which killed tens of thousands of people in the 1980s and 90s, the country remains gripped by the debate over what to do with his remains.
At least one local media outlet reported that the cabinet voted on Wednesday 13 to 5 to reject a proposal for a supreme decree that would lay the legal framework to cremate the remains of the former guerrilla leader, who died on Saturday in a maximum-security prison aged 86.
Continue reading...‘About damn time’: First Nation gets clean water after 24-year wait
Residents of Shoal Lake 40 can drink from taps thanks to a new water treatment facility but dozens of communities lack access
Residents of a First Nations community in Canada, who were deprived of clean drinking water for nearly a quarter of a century, can now drink from their taps after a water treatment facility became fully operational earlier this week.
Shoal Lake 40, a community on the Manitoba-Ontario border, has been under drinking water advisory since 1997.
Continue reading...Alberta reverses hands-off approach to Covid to tackle ‘crisis of unvaccinated’
Premier Jason Kennedy admits ‘we were wrong –and, for that, I apologize’ as he warns ICU beds may run out in 10 days
Alberta’s premier has announced sweeping new restrictions to combat the spread of the coronavirus, admitting the Canadian province was gripped by a “crisis of the unvaccinated”.
The new measures marked a major reversal from Jason Kenney’s hands-off approach to the pandemic previously, and come amid warnings from frontline medical workers that the province’s healthcare system is on the verge of collapse.
Continue reading...Which countries are enforcing mandatory Covid jabs – and how?
Joe Biden has introduced a vaccine mandate affecting millions, but some countries have gone further
Following the decision by the US president, Joe Biden, to introduce a vaccine mandate for millions of workers, and the UK government’s decision to row back on its push to require vaccine passports for nightclubs and other crowded events, where does the issue of insisting on vaccination stand globally?
Continue reading...Nicki Minaj claim that Covid vaccine can cause impotence dismissed by Trinidad and Tobago
Minister says health officials found no evidence that any patient reported such side effects: ‘We wasted so much time running down this false claim’
Trinidad and Tobago’s health minister has dismissed claims by the rapper Nicki Minaj that a cousin’s friend had become impotent after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine, saying that health officials in the Caribbean country had found no evidence that any patient had reported such side-effects.
“As we stand now, there is absolutely no reported side effect or adverse event of testicular swelling in Trinidad … and none that we know of anywhere in the world,” the minister, Terrence Deyalsingh, said in a press conference on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Canada: Alberta healthcare system on verge of collapse as Covid cases and anti-vax sentiments rise
A province that has long boasted of its loose coronavirus restrictions has also been the site of North America’s highest caseloads
A surge in coronavirus cases has pushed the healthcare system in the Canadian province of Alberta to the verge of collapse, as healthcare workers struggle against mounting exhaustion and a growing anti-vaccine movement in the region.
The province warned this week that its ICU capacity was strained, with more people requiring intensive care than any other point during the pandemic – nearly all of them unvaccinated.
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