The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear two cases involving Trump administration policies at the U.S.-Mexico border: one about a policy that makes asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for U.S. court hearings and a second about the administration’s use of money to fund the border wall. The justices’ decision to hear the cases continues its practice of reviewing lower court rulings that have found President Donald Trump’s immigration policies illegal over the past four years. Most notably, the high court reviewed and upheld Trump’s travel ban on visitors from some largely Muslim countries. In June, the court kept in place legal protections for immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. The justices will not hear either new case until 2021, and the outcome of the presidential election could make the cases go away, or at least reduce their significance. If Democrat Joe Biden wins the White House, he has pledged to end “Migrant Protection Protocols,” which Trump considers a cornerstone policy on immigration. In the border wall case, much of the money has already been spent and wall constructed. It is unclear what could be done about that wall that has already been built if the administration loses, but it could conceivably be torn down. Biden has said he would cease wall construction if elected but would not tear down what was built under Trump’s watch. The court has allowed both policies to continue even after they were held illegal by lower courts, a sign the challengers could face long odds when the justices ultimately decide the cases. Remain in Mexico The Trump administration policy known informally as “Remain in Mexico” began in January 2019. It became a key pillar of the administration’s response to an unprecedented surge of asylum-seeking families from Central American countries at the border, drawing criticism for having people wait in highly dangerous Mexican cities. Lower courts found that the policy is probably illegal. But earlier this year the Supreme Court stepped in to allow the policy to remain in effect while a lawsuit challenging it played out in the courts. More than 60,000 asylum-seekers were returned to Mexico under the policy. The Justice Department estimated in late February that there were 25,000 people still waiting in Mexico for hearings in U.S. court. Those hearings were suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement after the high court agreed to take the case, Department of Justice spokeswoman Alexa Vance said the administration is pleased the court agreed to hear the case, calling the program “a critical component of our efforts to manage the immigration crisis on our Southern Border.” Judy Rabinovitz, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which is challenging the policy, called the policy “illegal and depraved.” “The courts have repeatedly ruled against it, and the Supreme Court should as well,” she said in a statement. Border wall The high court also agreed to hear the Trump administration’s appeal of a lower court ruling that it improperly diverted money to build portions of the border wall with Mexico. The high court has previously allowed construction to continue, even after a federal appeals court ruled in June that the administration had illegally sidestepped Congress in transferring $2.5 billion in Defense Department funds. The case has its origins in the 35-day partial government shutdown that started in December 2018. Trump ended the shutdown after Congress gave him about $1.4 billion in border wall funding, but that was far less than the $5.7 billion he was seeking. Trump then declared a national emergency to take cash from other government accounts to use to construct sections of the wall. At the time, the money Trump identified included $2.5 billion in Defense Department money, $3.6 billion from military construction funds and $600 million from the Treasury Department’s asset forfeiture fund. The case before the Supreme Court involves just the $2.5 billion in Defense Department funds. The administration has already built 115 of the 129 miles of border wall that is funded by that money. That includes sections in California, Arizona, New Mexico and west Texas. 
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Bolivia’s socialist candidate Luis Arce appears to have won the presidential election in the first round of voting. Bolivian TV channel Unitel released the initial count from authoritative pollster Ciesmori at around midnight on Sunday, showing Arce, with 52.4% of the vote. “Very grateful for the support and trust of the Bolivian people,” Arce tweeted Monday. “We have recovered democracy and we will regain stability and social peace. United, with dignity and sovereignty,” he said. Interim president Jeanine Anez, who was not running, congratulated Arce and his running mate David Choquehuanca for the likely victory. Arce’s centrist rival Carlos Mesa, 67, came in second with 31.5%, according to the same pollster. If the results hold, the leftwing party of former president Evo Morales, the Movement for Socialism (MAS), will return to power. Although the electoral authority is in the early stage of counting, Morales said on Sunday from Buenos Aires, where he has taken refuge, that Arce had won the presidential election. “Undoubtedly today is an historic day. Once again, the Bolivian people have delivered a lesson in democracy and perseverance. The people have resisted a coup, a de facto government, two massacres, a pandemic management marked by inefficiency and corruption, several delays on the elections and the worst economic crisis in our history,” Morales said.Sunday’s election, which was postponed twice because of the COVID-19 pandemic, was the first in 20 years not to have Morales, the country’s first ever indigenous leader, on the ballot. After allegations of voting irregularities last year Morales resigned in November 2019, after 14 years in power. 
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Bolivians vote Sunday in a high-stakes presidential election redo that could determine its democratic future and bring a return of socialism to the country as it struggles with a raging pandemic and protests over last year’s annulled ballot.   Bolivia, once one of the most politically volatile countries in Latin America, experienced a rare period of stability under former President Evo Morales, the country’s first Indigenous president who resigned and fled the country late last year after his claimed election win was annulled amid allegations of fraud. His ouster set off a period of unrest that caused at least 36 deaths. Morales called his ouster a coup.   Sunday’s vote is a rerun of last year’s election and an attempt to reset Bolivia’s democracy.   “Bolivia’s new executive and legislative leaders will face daunting challenges in a polarized country, ravaged by COVID-19, and hampered by endemically weak institutions,” said WOLA, a Washington-based human rights advocacy organization.   U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has urged Bolivians to respect the electoral process, and in particular the final result.   Ballots, ballot boxes and other materials were delivered to polling stations Saturday by police and military units without incident, officials said. Police and soldiers took to the streets hours later seeking to ensure calm.   The country’s Supreme Electoral Court announced late Saturday that it had decided unanimously against reporting running preliminary vote totals as ballots are counted. It said it wanted to avoid the uncertainty that arose when there was a long halt in reporting preliminary results during last year’s election.   Council President Salvador Romero said promised a safe and transparent official count, which could take five days.   To win in the first round, a candidate needs more than 50% of the vote, or 40% with a lead of at least 10 percentage points over the second-place candidate. A runoff vote, if necessary, would be held Nov. 28.   Bolivia’s entire 136-member Legislative Assembly also will be voted in.   The election was postponed twice because of the coronavirus pandemic. On a per capita basis, few countries have been hit harder than impoverished, landlocked Bolivia: Nearly 8,400 of its 11.6 million people have died of COVID-19.   The election will occur with physical distancing required between masked voters — at least officially, if not in practice.   The leading contenders are former Economy Minister Luis Arce, who led an extended boom under Morales, and former President Carlos Mesa. a centrist historian and journalist who was second to Morales in the disputed returns released after last year’s vote. Trailing in all the polls has been Luis Fernando Camacho, a conservative businessman who helped lead last year’s uprising, as well as a Korean-born evangelist.   Overshadowing the vote is the absence of Morales, who led Bolivia from 2006 until 2019 and was a key figure in the bloc of leftist leaders who held power across much of South America.FILE – Bolivia’s former President Evo Morales gestures after a news conference, in Mexico City, Mexico, Nov. 27, 2019.Morales, now exiled in Argentina, was barred from running for the presidency or even the Senate by electoral authorities following his ouster.   He chose Arce as his stand-in for the Movement Toward Socialism party, and a win by the party would be seen as a victory for Latin America’s left.   A boyhood llama herder who became prominent leading a coca grower’s union, Morales had been immensely popular while overseeing an export-led economic surge that reduced poverty during most of his term. But support was eroding due to his reluctance to leave power, increasing authoritarian impulses and a series of corruption scandals.   He shrugged aside a public vote that had set term limits, and competed in the October 2019 presidential vote, which he claimed to have narrowly won outright. But a lengthy pause in reporting results fed suspicions of fraud and nationwide protests broke out.   When police and military leaders suggested he leave, Morales resigned and fled the country.   FILE – This picture released by hte Bolivian goverment shows the interim president of Bolivia, Jeanine Anez, announcing her withdrawal from the presidential race a month before the elections in La Paz, Bolivia, Sept. 17, 2020.Conservative Sen. Jeanne Áñez proclaimed herself president and was accepted by the courts. Her administration, despite lacking a majority in congress, set about trying to prosecute Morales and key aides while undoing his policies, helping prompt more unrest and polarization.   She dropped out at as a candidate for Sunday’s presidential election while trailing badly in polls.   Most polls have shown Arce with a lead, though likely not enough to avoid a runoff.  There is a strong chance the next president will struggle with a divided congress — and perhaps worse, an opposition that refuses to recognize defeat. 
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is calling on Haiti’s government to hold legislative elections “as soon as technically feasible.””Haiti’s legislative elections are now overdue. We continue to call for elections as soon as technically feasible. We understand that the OAS secretary-general has called for those elections to be held by the end of January,” Pompeo said in a video clip posted on Twitter..Haitian Président Jovenel Moïse welcomes new members of electoral council, Sept. 22, 2020. (Yves Manuel/VOA Creole)”Your country is grateful for your courage,” Moise tweeted.Je suis donc heureux aujourd’hui de procéder à l’installation de ce CEP. C’est dans un contexte difficile que vous avez pris la décision de servir la République. En acceptant de devenir membres de ce CEP, vous faites un acte de courage pour lequel le pays vous sera reconnaissant. Pierre François Sildor, president of Haiti’s Senate. (Renan Toussaint/VOA Creole)”What it (the constitution) says is what must be done,” the senator said. “It says there must be a representative from the executive branch – the executive did not name a representative. It says there must be a representative of the Episcopal Conference – the Catholic church and other religious sectors did not name a representative. It requires a representative of the universities – there isn’t one. It requires a union representative – they didn’t name one – these are four huge sectors of society – everyone knows that – and they are not represented.”Residents of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, interviewed by VOA Creole shortly after the CEP swearing-in ceremony in September, opposed the idea of holding elections.”This president thinks he can rule unilaterally, but we’d like to remind him he needs to consult the people (before making these decisions),” a man who declined to give his name said.”We are dealing with insecurity, we have no customers, no cash flowing in – forget about elections, Jovenel Moise needs to understand we need security first,” a female merchant at an open-air market told VOA.”People are dying in the streets, we don’t have food to eat, and you’re talking about elections?” a male customer at an open-air market said. “Jovenel Moise cannot hold elections.”OAS expresses concern about HaitiIn May 2020, the Organization of American States Secretary General Luis Almagro An anti-US protest leader says America has no right to interfere in Haiti’s politics. (Matiado Vilme/VOA Creole)Presidential adviser Patrick Crispin announced on June 23 that legislative elections are planned for December 2020. In the meantime, there have been no parliamentary checks and balances on the president’s decrees.Leadership vacuumFailure to hold elections before Moise’s term ends would leave Haiti in a leadership vacuum. The opposition has floated the idea of a “transitional government” to rule the country in the meantime, but after countless meetings, they have failed to agree on much of anything.”A transitional government should organize elections because we cannot campaign for office, the political climate is not conducive at this time,” an opposition leader told VOA Creole.Anti-US protestOn Sept. 24, the opposition held a small protest in front of the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, during which protesters chanted, “In this climate of insecurity we will not participate in elections!””We … Haitians want Americans to know that although they are threatening sanctions against those of us who stand against this illegitimate (electoral) council, we’re not afraid,” a protest leader told VOA Creole. “There will be no election as long as Jovenel Moise is in power. The United States has no authority to order us around.”The opposition announced nationwide protests on Oct. 17, a national holiday honoring the life of Jean Jacques Dessalines, one of the nation’s founders and a hero of the revolutionary war for independence. They say they will be calling on Moise to resign.In Port-au-Prince, VOA Creole’s Renan Toussaint, Matiado Vilme and Yves Manuel contributed to this report. 
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Former Mexican Defense Secretary Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos was arrested Thursday night on drug and money laundering charges at Los Angeles International Airport.
 
Cienfuegos, who led Mexico’s armed forces under then-President Enrique Peña Nieto, was detained at the U.S airport with members of his family, who were released.
 
The former Mexican military leader was reportedly detained on a warrant from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
 
Mexico’s foreign minister confirmed the arrest in a tweet late Thursday.He sido informado por el Embajador Christopher Landau de los Estados Unidos que el ex Secretario de la Defensa Nacional, Gral. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, ha sido detenido en el Aeropuerto de Los Angeles, California.— Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) October 16, 2020The DEA has not spoken publicly about the circumstances surrounding Cienfuegos’ arrest.
 
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China has warned Canada not to grant political asylum to Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters, labeling them violent criminals and saying the action would constitute interference in China’s internal affairs.Chinese Ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu said Thursday that “if the Canadian side really cares about the stability and the prosperity in Hong Kong, and really cares about the good health and safety of those 300,000 Canadian passport-holders in Hong Kong, and the large number of Canadian companies operating in Hong Kong SAR [Special Administrative Region], you should support those efforts to fight violent crimes.”Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne called Cong’s statement “totally unacceptable and disturbing.””I have instructed Global Affairs to call the ambassador in to make clear in no uncertain terms that Canada will always stand up for human rights and the rights of Canadians around the world,” Champagne said in a statement published by Canadian news organizations.Earlier this week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau strongly criticized Beijing for “coercive diplomacy” and for the crackdowns in Hong Kong and on Uighur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang region.At his press briefing Thursday, Cong countered Trudeau’s comments, saying there was no coercive diplomacy on the Chinese side, adding that “the Hong Kong issue and the Xinjiang-related issue are not about the issue of human rights. They are purely about internal affairs of China, which brooks no interference from the outside.”Protests of Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing government and the Chinese government continued in the city for months last year and resulted in a new national security law for Hong Kong that took effect June 30.The law punishes secessionist movements, subversive or terrorist acts, and what it interprets as collusion with foreign forces intervening in the city’s affairs.Western powers, including the United States, Britain and Canada have strongly condemned the law and have accused China of infringing on Hong Kong’s freedoms.
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Peru is now allowing visitors at 17 archaeological and tourist sites after closing them for several months to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.Speaking at the Pachacamac archaeological site in Lima on Thursday, Peru Culture Minister Alejandro Neyra said visitors to the sites will have to follow protocols, including wearing face masks and keeping a safe distance apart.Authorities say nine other sites will open by the end of month, and a gradual reopening of several more will begin in November.It is unclear when Peru’s popular Inca citadel of Machu Picchu will reopen.The reopening of the tourist attractions is expected to give Peru a needed economic boost because the South American country has been hard hit by the pandemic.Peru is among the leaders in COVID-19 cases in Latin American, recording more than 859,000 cases and just over 33,500 deaths.
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The frontrunners in Bolivia’s presidential race held their final campaign rallies this week ahead of Sunday’s election, which is taking place during one of the country’s worst economic periods in decades.Former President Luis Arce, the Movement for Socialism party candidate, addressed supporters in El Alto on Wednesday.Citizen’s Community party candidate Carlos Mesa’s held his final rally in Santa Cruz on Tuesday.Both candidates claim to have the antidote the country needs to address the economic and health challenges fueled by the coronavirus pandemic.Arce is a former economic minister in the administration of ousted president Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president.Morales was forced to resign at the urging of the military after dozens of people died during protests following the contested vote results last year.Mesa is expected to benefit from Morales replacement, interim president Jeanine Anez’s decision to drop out of the race.Neither candidate appears to have a clear-cut path to the presidency, meaning a runoff vote remains a possibility.
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The former owner of a Mexico City private school who was convicted of manslaughter last month in the deaths of 26 people during a 7.1-magnitude earthquake was sentenced to 31 years in prison.During Wednesday’s sentencing, the court ruled Mónica García Villegas, former owner and director of the Enrique Rébsamen School, acted carelessly by building an apartment for herself on the roof of the school building.The court deemed the extra weight was a factor in the building’s collapse during the September 19, 2017, earthquake that killed 19 children and seven adults.In addition to the prison sentence, Villegas was ordered to pay nearly $19,000 to each victim’s family and fined $5,800 for criminal negligence.The Mexico News Daily reports Villegas was arrested in May of last year in Mexico City on a tip from her brother who received a reward of just over $234,000 for leading authorities to her.
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It didn’t go exactly as planned, but for one Japanese tourist, his dream of visiting the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu finally came true. 
 
Jesse Takayama arrived in Peru nearly seven months ago with the sole purpose of visiting iconic Andean landmark. Because of the coronavirus lockdown, the 500-year-old site was closed, and he ended up trapped in a small, nearby town of Aguas Calientes. Originally, he’d only planned to stay in Peru a few days. 
 
As the months passed, Takayama began to run out of money, and it looked as if his dream of visiting the UNESCO site would never happen. 
 
“I go to run every morning and I could see Machu Picchu afar in distance,” Katayama told CNN. “I thought I would never make it to Machu Picchu as I was expecting it won’t open within this year, but I was OK with it because I had a great time here.” 
 
But finally, thanks to an intervention by the Peruvian government, he was allowed to enter Machu Picchu, the first person to visit for nearly seven months. 
 
“He had come to Peru with the dream of being able to enter,” said Peru’s Minister of Culture Alejandro Neyra in a virtual press conference. “The Japanese citizen has entered together with our head of the park so that he can do this before returning to his country.” 
 
Takayama, was grateful for the long-delayed opportunity. 
 
“I thought I never make it [to Machu Picchu], but everyone asked the government and the town, and they gave me super special permission,” the Osaka native wrote in an Instagram post. “Peruvians are soooo kind. Thank you soooo much!” 
 
According to CNN, Takayama will head back to Japan on Oct. 16. 
 
“I will definitely cry,” he says about his farewell to Aguas Calientes. “These seven months have been very special to me. I have discovered a new part of me.” 
 
Neyra said Machu Picchu would re-open to tourists in November, but only at 30% of the normal capacity of 675 visitors per day. 
 
Peru locked down early in the pandemic but has suffered one of the worst fatality rates in the world. It has 851,171 cases and more than 33,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. 
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Peru’s social insurance system announced the rate of weekly coronavirus infections nationwide dropped between 50 to 70 percent in several regions during a recent two week period. The EsSalud Heat Map report revealed coronavirus cases decreased more than 50 percent in 17 provinces.   Four regions, including Puno, Madre de Dios, Amazonas, and Moquegua experienced the greatest decline, with cases dropping more than 70 percent.  EsSalud’s Intelligence and Data Analysis Unit Chief Dante Cersso appealed to Peruvians to remain vigilant in their safety practices. The reduction in new cases in the capital, Lima fell as much as 36 percent. According to Cersso, the latest figures mirror the tally for cases recorded in late April. The reductions in new infections are noteworthy because Peru has been among the leaders in COVID-19 infections in Latin America. So far, Peru has reported more than 851,000 infections and 33,357 deaths. 
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Cuba is easing coronavirus restrictions in an effort to jumpstart the economy by reopening retail businesses, government offices and resuming airports operations across the island except in the capital, Havana, where an outbreak occurred in August. The popular beach resort town of Varadero will begin welcoming international visitors Thursday. All tourists arriving in Cuba are required to undergo mandatory testing and their hygiene practices will be monitored during their visit. Everyone in Cuba is required to wear face masks and maintain a safe distance from one another.  The pandemic has reportedly choked the lifeblood of Cuba, the island’s $3 billion tourism industry, which has suffered since March when the first coronavirus cases were reported.  The Associated Press reports the pandemic has mostly been controlled across Cuba,  with President Miguel Díaz-Canel saying some communities have not logged any new cases in several months.  The island nation has reported 6,000 COVID-19 cases and 123 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.   
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International flights are arriving and departing Panama’s Tocumen airport again after nearly seven months of restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. Monday’s restart of flight operations is part of a gradual nationwide reopening of businesses and industry which began in June. Initially, seven international airlines are expected to operate, with four others set to resume operations later this week. According to Raffoul Arab, Tocumen International Airport manager, the reactivation of commercial aviation will happen gradually as the different countries complete the opening of their borders. The frequency of flights will increase, especially when people recover their confidence in flying. International travelers must submit a negative COVID-19 test before boarding flights to the Central American country.  Panama has confirmed more than 120,000 coronavirus cases of coronavirus and at least 2,491 deaths. 
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Haitian President Jovenel Moise is calling on the country’s justice and police departments to bring to light the circumstances surrounding the death earlier this month of a university student, allegedly at the hands of police.  Moise also appealed to student protesters to remain calm as the nation awaits the findings of investigators in the case of 29-year-old Gregory Saint-Hilaire. “All those involved must do their jobs – which means the justice department, including the police, DCPG (the director general of the national police force) – everyone in general. We must find the truth surrounding the death of the student,” Moise said in a video posted on his official Facebook page.  University students in the capital, Port-au-Prince, organized five days of protests last week, at times becoming violent, to demand justice and revenge in the death of Saint-Hilaire.  He was killed on university grounds while demanding the teaching job he was promised after graduating. The national ministry of education signed an agreement with the Ecole Normale Superieure (the state university Saint-Hilaire attended) offering internships and teaching jobs to graduates. That didn’t happen, angering students, who accused officials of playing politics.  FILE – Haitian President Jovenel Moise speaks about  coronavirus measures during a news conference at the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 2, 2020.”We are out in the streets to ask for our right to life to be respected. This is a fight against impunity, this is a fight against injustice,” a student protester told VOA Creole, adding that the government does not seem prepared to respond to their calls for justice.  Student Jean Ronald Olicier, an eyewitness who was with Saint-Hilaire at the time of his death, told VOA Creole the student was shot in the back by the USGPN [Unite de Securite Generale du Palais National] – the specialized police unit that protects the president and is under his command. Olicier said police fired tear gas at them, then live rounds as they were attempting to leave the university complex where they had been discussing job placement with university officials.   Saint-Hilaire lay bleeding inside the university complex for three hours, Olicier said, before students were able to get him to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.  Saint-Hilaire, described by fellow students as an honest man who was fighting for a just cause, lived in the Village de Dieu (Village of God) slum of the Haitian capital, notorious for gang violence. He graduated in 2018 from the Ecole Normale Superieure, which is is near the national palace. He majored in social sciences and then went on to study law at the school.   In his videotaped message, Moise offered condolences to Saint-Hilaire’s family, friends and fellow students, saying he remembered what it was like to be a university student. “I hope the circumstances of his death will be brought to light so we may all know what happened,” he said. “All those who were involved in the murder of the student should pay.”  The president said he wants students to know he has heard their cries and understands their frustration but called on them to remain calm. “Let’s take advantage of this opportunity to embrace the calm because I have to tell you – [repeating] the same actions will produce the same results,” he said.  Haiti’s national police force has been dogged for years by accusations of corruption and human rights violations. The national police (PNH) inspector general has vowed to investigate the crime and bring those responsible for the student’s death to justice. But many Haitians express a lack of confidence that the investigation will lead to an arrest.  
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The world marks the International Day of the Girl Child on Sunday, during a year in which a global pandemic and subsequent economic downturn has created further challenges for girls.The United Nations, which created the day in 2011 to promote girls’ rights, says difficulties already faced by girls have been exacerbated by the coronavirus health crisis, including in the areas of education, child marriage, domestic violence and economic opportunity.A U.N. website for the observance says by next year, an estimated 435 million women and girls will be living on less than $1.90 a day – including 47 million “pushed into poverty as a result of COVID-19.”It notes that the loss of economic prosperity and education for girls fueled by the crisis is also linked to increased levels of violence.The U.N. says even before the pandemic, one in three women worldwide had experienced physical or sexual violence. “Emerging data shows that since the outbreak of COVID-19, violence against women and girls and particularly domestic violence, has intensified.”Child marriageDuring humanitarian crises, “time and again, we see other things getting prioritized” – including food and shelter, said Lyric Thompson, a policy expert for the Washington-based International Center for Research on Women.Thompson, who also co-chairs with Aria Grabowski, Girls Not Brides USA, part of the global coalition trying to halt child marriage, said during such times of crisis, the planning to counter “gendered forms of violence, including child marriage, falls by the wayside.”Child marriages have been on the rise during the pandemic as COVID-related lockdowns have kept youngsters out of school and, in some cases, confined them in close quarters with sexual predators. The pandemic has also led to families trying to place daughters in more economically stable households to ease their own financial burdens.An estimated 500,000 more girls around the world are at risk of being forced into child marriage in 2020 as a result of the effects of COVID-19, according to an October report by Save the Children.The surge in child marriages frustrates but does not surprise Grabowski, who recommended dedicating funding and programing early on in the pandemic to combat child marriage and gender-based violence.“So much of the health response is focused on infection prevention and control,” she said.Few optionsRohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh are one place where child marriages have risen since the onset of the pandemic.A refugee camp resident told VOA Bangladesh on condition of anonymity, “In some cases, families must live together in overcrowded tents in the camp. To make room, their daughters were married off before they reached adulthood.””No parent wants to give their daughter into the hands of others, but they have to marry because of circumstances,” he added.Wai Wai Nu, co-founder and director of the Women’s Peace Network, told VOA that the increase of child marriages in the camps is alarming.She said parents allow their child daughters to get married not because they are poor or uneducated, but because they believe that marriage can bring security for their daughters’ lives.“Parents believe that if their daughters are married off, their husbands can protect them better than the parents could,” she said.Domestic and sexual violenceOther forms of violence against girls are also on the rise during the pandemic, including in online spaces where more people are communicating as a result of increased social distancing.A recent survey by Plan International found 32% of Indonesian girls have experienced violence on social media, while 56% have witnessed violence on social media. The organization surveyed 500 Indonesian girls between the ages of 15 and 20.“Here (in Indonesia), girls do not only experience one type of gender-based online violence. Out of 500 girls, 395 said they experienced multiple instances (of violence), said Nazla Marisa, influencing director of Plan International Indonesia.No country is immune to the abuse. In the United States, minors accounted for half the calls made in March to the National Sexual Assault Hotline operated by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). Of those claiming coronavirus concerns, “67% identified their perpetrator as a family member,” according to Harvard Medical School’s Center for Primary Care.U.N. Women has described the gender-based violence during the global coronavirus outbreak as a “shadow pandemic.” It says since the outbreak of COVID-19, all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, have intensified.EducationEducation is another area in which girls are suffering because of the coronavirus health crisis. Research by the Malala Fund estimates that 20 million secondary school-aged girls may never return to the classroom after the crisis is over.The Malala fund was started by activist Malala Yousafzai, who survived a shot in the head after being targeted for campaigning for girls’ education in Pakistan.Malala, who won the Noble Peace Prize for her efforts in 2014, spoke about the pandemic’s effect on girls education with Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, in a video set to be released Sunday to mark the International Day of the Girl Child.The schooling of girls is critical to advancing gender equality, according to a new, related UNESCO report. The report said that despite an increase across all levels of education, girls are still more likely to suffer exclusion than boys, an outcome it said is exacerbated by the current pandemic.Around the world, 132 million girls are out of school, according to U.N. figures, with 1 in 3 adolescent girls from the poorest households having never been to school.Sasmito Madrim of the Indonesian Service, Ingyin Naing of the Burmese Service, Carol Guensburg of the Africa Division, and the Bangla Service contributed to this report.  
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Chileans took to the streets of the capital, Santiago, for a third consecutive Friday, demonstrating against the government, inequality and police brutality as a postponed referendum on constitutional changes nears.Protesters threw rocks at police, who responded with water cannons and tear gas.A few hundred people gathered in the city’s iconic Plaza Italia, a considerably smaller crowd than those at last year’s gatherings and those earlier this year before the coronavirus pandemic.The protests started last October because of increased transport costs.The protesters’ main demand is the change of the constitution. Chileans will be voting Oct. 25 on whether they want a new constitution and whether it should be drafted by the current Congress or a new constituent assembly.
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Haitian University students protested Friday in the streets of Port-au-Prince, expressing rage over the killing of fellow student Gregory Saint-Hillaire, 29, who was allegedly killed Oct. 2 by police on university grounds while demanding the teaching job he was promised after graduating.The protesters said they wanted revenge and justice, as they chanted a song harkening back to the time of the slave revolution to gain independence from France. “We’re not protesting because we believe we will get justice,” Oldenson Saint Pierre, a medical student at the State University, told VOA Creole. “We’re out here because we know this government only responds to violence. They only understand burning tires, damage to cars, so if that is what they understand, we are ready to use those means to make sure our message is heard.” Saint Pierre described victim Saint-Hilaire as an honest man who was fighting for a just cause. He said they were simply asking the National Police director general to identify the officer who allegedly shot Saint-Hilaire, arrest him and bring him to justice. Friday was the fifth day of student protests this month, during which they have set fire to cars, vandalized buildings and blocked roads. Their tactics are similar to those successfully used in September by the rebel national police protesters, who call themselves Fantom 509, to force officials to grant their demands to release fellow officers who were “unjustly imprisoned” in their view.  Jean Ronald Olicier (in black t-shirt) is a friend of Gregory Saint-Hillaire and witnessed the events that led to his death. (Photo: Matiado Vilme / VOA)Eyewitness account of Gregory Saint-Hilaire’s killing  Gregory Saint-Hillaire lived in the Village de Dieu (Village of God) slum of the Haitian capital, notorious for gang violence. He graduated in 2018 from the Ecole Normale Superieure, a state university a stone’s throw from the national palace, where he majored in social sciences, and then went on to study law at the state university.  According to eyewitness Jean Ronald Olicier, who was with Saint-Hilaire at the time of his death, they were at the school on the afternoon of Oct. 2, discussing job placement with university officials. The national ministry of education signed an agreement with the Ecole Normale Superieure offering internships and teaching jobs to graduates. That didn’t happen, angering students, who accused them of playing politics. Saint-Hilaire should have gotten a job last year, Olicier said.”So it’s during our fight [with school officials] to get him a job that the USPGN [Unite de Securite Generale du Palais National] police arrived and fired tear gas at us,” Olicier said.The specialized police unit protects the president and is under his command.”Another group of agents were waiting for us at the gate,” he told VOA. “While we were exiting, they shot Gregory in the back. After the bullet hit his spine, they kept shooting and firing tear gas, preventing us from taking him to the hospital.”  The eyewitness told VOA the injured and bleeding Saint-Hilaire spent nearly three hours inside the school without receiving medical care. Finally, they decided to put him on a table and took him to the general hospital. “When we got there, we couldn’t find a doctor, but luckily a journalist from Radio Quisqueya offered to put Gregory in his car and took us to the Bernard Mevs hospital. When we got to Bernard Mevs, he died,” Olicier said.  Gregory Saint-Hilaire’s father says his son’s body was treated like a ‘John Doe’. (Photo: Matiado Vilme / VOA)Saint-Hilaire’s parents were inconsolable after learning of their son’s death. His mother told VOA she’d made sacrifices and struggled to make sure her son had a good life and promising future. She made him lunch every day and took it to the school.  “I have not heard from any law enforcement officials. They have treated my son like a John Doe,” his father told VOA, alleging “this was a planned attack. We want reparations, justice.”  President Jovenel Moise commented on the student’s death in a tweet on Oct. 4. La mort de l’étudiant Grégory Saint-Hilaire soulève l’indignation de tous. Je réaffirme ma foi au principe du droit à la vie pour chaque citoyen. Mes sympathies à la famille du très regretté. Une enquête est en cours pour faire la lumière sur ce décès qui en est un de trop.— Président Jovenel Moïse (@moisejovenel) This Med student told VOA he was shot by police in the elbow while on his way home from class as they tried to disperse the protest. (Photo: Matiado Vilme / VOA)”The students are fighting for a just cause and look at what happened. I was not part of the protest, but I’m a victim anyway,” he said. “They are not just fighting for themselves, they are fighting for all of us.”  Some protesters, angered by police aggression, retaliated by setting fire to a nearby courthouse, according to two witnesses. This Port-au-Prince courthouse was set on fire by angry protesters demanding justice for their friend allegedly killed by police. (Photo: Matiado Vilme / VOA)”All of a sudden, rocks started landing inside the courthouse,” Frankel, a lawyer who was participating in a trial, told VOA. “When we looked outside, we saw a group of young men, with face masks on so we could not identify them, throwing rocks at us.” The trial continued, the lawyer said, until the building was set on fire and everyone ran out, including the person on trial. “We were unable to save any documents,” he said, adding that security guards were on duty.  Lawyer Frankel was in court when protesters set fire to the courthouse. (Photo: Matiado Vilme / VOA) “We shouldn’t have to pay for things we are not responsible for,” he said, pointing to the endangerment of innocent bystanders’ lives. “What outraged people inside the courthouse even more is that the police didn’t even respond to calls for help.” Lawyer James Turaine, who also witnessed the courthouse attack, said he understood what motivated the protesters.  “We can understand these frustrations, and it’s not just the students, the entire country is sick and tired of this situation,” he said. “As a lawyer I believe the government has an obligation to make things better on all levels.”   Professor and activist Josue Merilien says the student protest is historic. (Photo: Matiado Vilme / VOA )University professor and activist Josue Merilien, who joined the protesters, noted the importance of the event. “I think this is a legitimate movement. This movement is important to the entire nation. This has never happened in history. This is the first time a student has been killed by law enforcement inside a school. This is what angers us,” he told VOA.
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is a step closer to wielding new authority that will enable him to circumvent U.S. sanctions.The pro-government National Constituent Assembly approved an anti-blockade bill Thursday allowing Maduro to sign new oil deals with private firms and foreign nations without disclosing them publicly.Maduro created the assembly, a parallel legislative branch, to circumvent the opposition-controlled congress.The Council of State is now expected to request a ruling from the Supreme Court of Justice on the constitutionality of the Anti-Blockade Law. If cleared, it then would allow changes to the ownership of joint ventures between state oil company PDVSA and private companies.With his government facing severe financial straits because of dearth of oil production and restrictions on crude oil exports under the sanctions, Maduro has long sought control over oil operations.
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One of the most popular holiday beach resorts in Argentina is the site of a poignant memorial to the people who have died from the novel coronavirus.People in Mar del Plata planted 504 small Argentine flags on Bristol Beach, as the pandemic continues to spread through the interior of the country.Residents said they chose the popular beach ahead of the start of the summer season to draw attention to the rising toll of people contracting coronavirus and dying from COVID-19.One of the Mar del Plata residents placing the flags on the beach said her sympathy for COVID-19 victims extends beyond her hometown.COVID-19 infections reportedly are down in Buenos Aires and its metropolitan area, but nationwide, Argentina still has one of the highest coronavirus tallies in Latin America and the world.Argentina has reported more than 840,000 cases of the new coronavirus and 22,710 deaths.
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Millions of Peruvians affected by the coronavirus pandemic will begin receiving their second Universal Family Bonus worth $223 starting Saturday.The Andina Peru News Agency reports that President Martin Vizcarra appealed to beneficiaries Wednesday to help his administration by not gathering outside the banks, saying they do not need to visit the banks to make an inquiry.Vizcarra said a call center is set up to answer more than 1,000 calls at a time about the process.He also said the government is launching a media campaign Thursday to teach citizens how to use a weblink to check their eligibility.Vizcarra assured recipients of the first $223 grant in June that they would receive a second Universal Family Bonus.Peru has been hard hit by the coronavirus. So far, more than 835,000 people have become infected with the disease and more than 33,000 deaths have been recorded.
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Authorities in Mexico are trying to trace the origin of a light plane carrying just under 400 kilos of cocaine, which crashed following an air chase.Mexico’s Defense Ministry announced Wednesday that two people on board the plane died.Reuters reports that authorities say Mexican military helicopters chased the plane for hundreds of kilometers over Mexico airspace Monday before it ran out of fuel and crashed in central Mexico.The crash occurred less than two weeks after authorities said a business jet stolen in Mexico crashed in Guatemala, near a jungle airstrip, carrying a stash of drugs and weapons.Authorities say the plane made a stop in Venezuela for an unknown reason before the crash.Prosecutors in Guatemala said at least two bodies were found at the crash site.The Associated Press reports Guatemala confiscated more than 50 aircraft last year on suspicion of transporting drugs.
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center Wednesday said Hurricane Delta has come ashore along the northeastern coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula with maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometers per hour.The storm, which had exploded in strength Tuesday, weakened somewhat over the past 18 hours but remains a powerful and dangerous storm. Forecasters say life-threatening winds and storm surge are hitting the Yucatan peninsula and flash flooding is likely in urban areas and rural areas, where mudslides are possible.Heavy rain from the storm continues to batter Cuba to the east.Forecasters predict Delta will intensify as it moves into the warm, deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico later Wednesday.  They say all computer models indicate Delta will once again become a category 4 storm.A category 4 storm — based on the Sapphire-Simpson scale by which hurricane strength is measured — has maximum sustained winds of between 209 and 251 kph. The hurricane center projects Delta will turn to the northwest towards the central U.S.  gulf coast over the next day. While it could weaken as it approaches the coast by late Thursday, it is expected to become considerably larger and is likely to bring hazardous conditions from western Louisiana to Florida.Forecasters say if Delta maintains hurricane strength through landfall, it will become the fourth to hit the region this year, following Hanna, Laura and Sally. Weaker tropical storms Marco and Beta hit the area this year, as well. Delta is the 25th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. When it officially formed Monday, it marked the earliest a hurricane season has reached 25 named storms since records have been kept. 
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About 25 residents from remote Easter Island who have been stranded far from their loved ones for more than six months because of the coronavirus will finally be able to return home this week on a French military plane.
The group has been stranded on Tahiti in French Polynesia. Many arrived in March planning to stay for just a few weeks, but they got stuck when the virus swept across the globe and their flights back home on LATAM airlines were canceled.
A second group of about 15 Tahitians have also been stranded on Easter Island because of the flight cancelations.
French authorities announced Tuesday they would use an Airbus A400M Atlas turboprop to repatriate both groups in a flight that would take about six hours in each direction.
Also named Rapa Nui, Easter Island is a Chilean territory located midway between Polynesia, in the South Pacific, and South America.
The French state department said it launched the mission following a request from Chilean authorities, and it was being conducted in close coordination with the French embassy in Santiago, Chile. The plane is currently deployed with the French military in Tahiti.
The group of Easter Islanders had been begging authorities for help for months — in Spanish, in French, and in English. They had even written to Chilean President Sebastián Piñera. The Associated Press first wrote about their plight last month.
“I’m so happy!!!” said the group’s unofficial leader, Kissy Baude, in a WhatsApp message to the AP. “We are very happy and relieved to finally be able to return home and to know that the Tahitians stranded in Rapa Nui will also return home in the same mission.”
Baude thanked authorities in France, French Polynesia, Chile and Easter Island for putting the logistics in place, including airport management and a 14-day virus quarantine they will undergo at a health center when they arrive back on Easter Island.
Among those stranded is a 21-year-old mom who gave birth to her second son just a few days ago without her husband by her side, because he was back home. It was unclear whether she and her newborn would be ready to return home on Thursday’s flight.
Home to about 8,000 people, Easter Island is a tiny speck in the vast Pacific Ocean renowned for its imposing moai — giant heads carved from volcanic rock by inhabitants hundreds of years ago. For Easter Islanders, Tahiti has long been a stopping-off point, a connection to the rest of the world.
Until the virus struck, LATAM airlines ran a regular return route from Santiago, Chile, to Easter Island and on to Tahiti. LATAM said it suspended the route in March because of the virus and doesn’t have a timeline for restarting it. No other airlines offer a similar service.
“The resumption of this flight is subject to the development of the pandemic and travel restrictions in place,” the airline said in a statement last month.
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Delta, which first formed as a named tropical storm early Monday, has become a powerful category 4 hurricane with winds in excess of 215 kilometers per hour in just over 27 hours.The hurricane center reports the storm began Tuesday as a category 2 hurricane, based on the scale used to measure storm strength, with winds at about 175 kph. The storm increased in strength to a category 3 storm over several hours, but meteorologists say it took just 20 minutes to reach category 4 strength.Delta is forecast to strike Cancun and the Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday with maximum sustained winds approaching 225 kph.  After crossing the Yucatan,  forecasters say the storm is likely to lose strength, but as it takes a sharp right turn to the north northeast across the warm waters of the southern Gulf of Mexico, it is expected to regain its strength in the next 48 to 72 hours.The hurricane center says cooler water and wind shears could weaken the storm a bit as it moves north, but Delta is expected to remain a dangerous hurricane when it approaches the U.S. Gulf Coast later in the week.Forecasters say if Delta maintains hurricane strength through landfall, it will become the fourth to hit the region this year, following Hanna, Laura and Sally. Weaker tropical storms Marco and Beta hit the area this year, as well.  Delta is the 25th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. When it officially formed Monday, it marked the earliest a hurricane season has reached 25 named storms since records have been kept.
 
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