Forecasters are keeping a close watch on Hurricane Genevieve in the Pacific, which generated rough seas and where authorities said two people drowned.The U.S. National Hurricane Center said a hurricane warning is in effect for parts of the Mexican peninsula, including the resorts of Los Cabos and the town of Todos Santos.Civil protection officials in Los Cabos are urging people to remain at home.The hurricane center said the center of Genevieve is expected to move into the vicinity of the Baja, California, peninsula Thursday.A tropical storm warning is in effect for the west coast of the Baja, California, peninsula from north of Todos Santos to Cabo San Lazaro.U.S. forecasters warn heavy rainfall from Genevieve could produce life threatening conditions, including flooding, mudslides, and rip currents in the southern end of Baja, California Sur.Genevieve formed into a tropical storm Sunday night and quickly grew into a Category 4 hurricane before losing some intensity.     
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Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley is beginning his second term as the island’s leader Thursday, a day after he and his revamped Cabinet were sworn in.The ceremony at President’s House in St. Ann’s was delayed because of requests for recounts of the ballots from the August 10 general election.The fifth and final recount was completed on Monday night and Prime Minister Rowley’s ruling People’s National Movement party won 22 seats, while the opposition United National Congress gained 19 seats.Aside from bridging the divisions, which grew out of the contentious general election, Rowley’s immediate challenges continues to be curtailing the spread of the coronavirus.Trinidad and Tobago has confirmed more than 680 coronavirus cases and at least 12 deaths.
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Firefighters in Brazil say strong winds and hot dry weather are making it difficult to battle thousands of blazes burning in the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland. Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said it spotted more than 3,100 fires in the first two weeks of August — five times as many as the same period last year. “We saw hundreds of fires along the journey throughout the day,” Brazilian Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said Tuesday. “Places where the planes and firemen have fought the fires directly without stopping, but still the fires are causing great damage to fauna, flora and to the Pantanal region.”  The Pantanal is 10 times the size of Florida’s Everglades. The World Wildlife Fund says it is home to more than 4,700 plant and animal species, including some threatened animals. Experts blame the fires, in part, to higher than average temperatures and below average rainfall since mid-July.  
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Panama is resuming the gradual reopening of businesses and places of worship after five months of lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. An elderly parishioner at the Iglesia del Carmen, in Panama City told the French News Press that she was overjoyed to have mass in person for the first time in five months. On Monday, churches, hair salons, retail shops and car lots also reopened.  The hair salons and barbershops will operate with appointments only and at 50% of their capacity, as the country tries to reenergize the sluggish economy.  The government has also allowed public and private construction projects to resume and reopened non-governmental organizations to resume operations.  Panama has confirmed more than 82,000 coronavirus cases and more than 1,700 deaths. 
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Haiti school children are returning to class for the first time in five months after the government closed schools because of the coronavirus outbreak. One parent told the Associated Press, Monday’s reopening of school was good for the future of children, citing education as the basis of development for all countries. President Jovenel Moise ordered schools, airports, factories and seaports closed in late March after two people tested positive for the coronavirus.Principal Jean Marc Charles delivers face masks to pupils, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease, before attending to the first day of school after holidays, at Lycee National de Petion Ville, in Port au Prince, Aug. 10, 2020.The United Nations says the limited availability of clean water makes it difficult for people to follow recommendations of health experts to frequently wash their hands to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.  So far, Haiti has confirmed more than 7,800 coronavirus cases and more than 190 deaths.  
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Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau on Monday announced his resignation from the government amid mounting tensions with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over spending against the pandemic. “While we are entering a new phase in the fight against the pandemic (…), it is time for a new Minister of Finance to be able to carry out this project,” Morneau said during a press conference.  “This is why I am resigning from my functions as minister of finance and member of Parliament,” he added after a meeting with Trudeau.  Morneau, who had held this post since 2015, announced that he intended to run for the post of Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). For the past week, several Canadian media have reported deep differences between Morneau and the prime minister on how to revive the Canadian economy, weakened by the coronavirus pandemic, without jeopardizing public finances while the expected deficit has reached more than 340 billion dollars (216 billion euros). The minister of finance is also the target of an investigation by the Canadian Ethics Commissioner into his links with a charity that employed his daughter, and to which the government had awarded a major contract without a call for other bids. This investigation also targets Trudeau, several of his family members have also been paid by this association. Morneau revealed last month that he had reimbursed more than $41,000 in travel expenses covered by the We Charity association (United in French), shortly before being heard on the matter by a committee of the House of Communes. The Federal Ethics Commissioner has opened an investigation into Trudeau and Morneau after the government awarded a major contract to the association to manage a nearly $1 billion student scholarship program, despite ties between the families of the two leaders and the association.  This program has since been withdrawn, without ending the controversy. United had admitted having paid nearly $300,000 (189,000 euros) to Trudeau’s mother and brother for speeches in recent years. Trudeau’s wife reportedly received $1,500 (around $1,000) for an event in 2012, before Trudeau became leader of the Liberal Party.  Morneau for his part acknowledged that two of his daughters collaborate with the association, one of whom is as an employee. He apologized for participating in the discussions on the award of the government contract to the association. 
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The only Black designer belonging to Italy’s influential fashion council is demanding a “long overdue cultural reform” from her colleagues under the slogan: Do Black Lives Matter in Italy?
The conversation has gotten off to a rocky start.
Stella Jean, a Haitian-Italian designer born and raised in Rome, launched her appeal this summer. She asked the Italian National Fashion Chamber and the global powerhouses steering it, including Prada, Ferragamo and Zegna, to back their social media pledges supporting the Black Lives Matter movement  with concrete, transparent commitments toward greater racial diversity.
In response, Jean received a letter from the council president saying that addressing racial disparity within Italian fashion was not within the body’s area of responsibility, despite the fact that members had backed a diversity manifesto in December. According to the letter, such initiatives “pertain instead to parliament, the government or any other bodies.”
Exasperated, Jean has decided not to preview a runway collection at Milan Fashion Week until “they demonstrate awareness of the problem.”
”When you talk with them, they have no bad intentions, I know them. But they say something like ‘What are you talking about, Stella? We have never heard about racism in Italy. It is not an Italian story, it is about the U.S., the U.K., other countries. Not Italy,”’ Jean told The Associated Press. “My response is: ‘Why do you see all these people filling squares from the north to the south of this country for Black Lives Matter, this entire generation of invisible new Italians?”
Soccer, another important Italian cultural institution, recognized that Italy has a problem with racism and worked to eliminate it.
Racially charged gaffes by Italian fashion houses have been well-documented, from Gucci’s Blackface sweater to Prada’s Little Black Sambo bag charm to Dolce&Gabbana videos that were seen by many as mocking Asians. This summer, Marni, another major fashion house, apologized after being called out for its images of a Black man with chains around his ankles.
Jean and the co-author of her appeal, Milan-based U.S. designer Edward Buchanan, said in interviews that the issue is deeper than just culturally insensitive designs. But they say those gaffes highlight the lack of diversity in Italian fashion houses and the “pervasive racism and prejudice” in the industry despite ”significant funds allocated to provide sensitive training.”
“These ‘mistakes’ can be better recognized, labeled and addressed as ‘decisions,'” Jean asserts.
Their push is to open doors to Black Italians who would like to work in fashion but don’t see themselves represented and don’t see a way in. They also are demanding data on Black personnel employed in decision-making roles in fashion houses — not models or marketing staff who they say “are sadly more often than not displayed for show.”
”We want to send a resume to a headhunter and not have it shut down because you are a Black designer,” Buchanan said.
In their appeal, they spoke for dozens more whose names did not appear but include Italian and Italy-based Black creators like Michelle Ngonmo, who launched an AFRO Fashion Week Milano on her own after failing to get the backing of the fashion industry, and Louis Pisano, a writer and influencer who has worked in Italian fashion for a decade. Pisano cites incidents like having his fashion show invitations scrutinized while white influencers are waved into events.
Many more “are hesitant to speak out for fear of a professional lynching,” Jean said.
A frequent refrain from Black creatives in Italian fashion is that they are often the only person of color in the workplace. They also see their opportunities and access limited by their skin color.
Buchanan, the designer of his own luxury knitwear label, Sansovino 6, started out in Italy more than 25 years ago launching ready-to-wear at Bottega Veneta, and has worked with Calvin Klein and Donna Karan. Now when he is called for consulting jobs, it is exclusively for streetwear or urban brands, despite his luxury credentials. Meanwhile, white colleagues with similar resumes now hold creative director positions at major brands.
”I am absolutely happy with the scale of my career. But I can say honestly that opportunity has not come to me because of the color of my skin,” Buchanan said.
Stella chafes at the Africa Hub, which promoted five brands during Milan Fashion Week in February. She says it gave a market space but no runway visibility to brands including Ghana-based Studio 189, co-founded by Rosario Dawson and Abrima Erwiah, which has previously shown at New York Fashion Week.
“Why do we need a special area like you are visiting a safari?” Jean asked.
The president of Italy’s fashion council, Carlo Capasa, defended the Africa Hub, saying it was set up alongside a section to support China, which was mostly missing from Milan Fashion Week due to the coronavirus pandemic, and some young Italian brands. The only Black designer to present a runway show at Milan that round, which Jean skipped, was the British brand A-COLD-WALL.
Capasa told AP that the council would produce data on diversity inside fashion houses, and that a progress report on the diversity manifesto would be made in December. He said the global Black Lives Matter protests had created a sense of urgency behind diversity pledges but added that “making deep cultural changes requires time,” citing the need for multi-year programs “to include all minorities.”
“What happens inside a fashion house mirrors the social construction of the country. Italy is different from the United States,” Capasa said. “In every country, inclusion and diversity assumes a slightly different meaning.”
Jean emphasized that she is trying to prompt change from within as the only Black designer to belong to the council since its formation in 1958. Her eponymous brand, rooted in multiculturalism, has grown steadily since her Milan runway debut seven years ago.
While she won’t show in September, she has asked Capasa to host a Black Lives Matter event to kick off “the immediate launch of a long-overdue fashion cultural reform.”
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Feminist activists took to the streets of Mexico City Sunday to protest gender violence and inequality. Miguel Barrera, founder of the human rights group Marabunta Brigade that organized the march said the demonstration was to highlight the killing of women in general and recent cases of violence against women. “This mobilization concentrates several specific complaints, which are the point of it. Meaning that it does have to do with femicide, but these are cases (of violence against women) that have been around for one or two weeks making a lot of noise (meaning getting a lot of attention) in Mexico City,” Barrera said.A demonstrator holds a flare during a protest against the violence against the women in Mexico City, Aug. 16, 2020.Protesters were holding banners reading: “Do not touch me”. “Why is violence not in quarantine?” “Femicide Mexico” and chanting slogans against sexual assaults against women.  A strong female police force that almost quadrupled that of protesters were present as the demonstrators marched through the streets of the city. Although the march was generally peaceful, a clash between some demonstrators and police erupted and at least one demonstrator was injured. According to official data, 3,825 women died because of violence in 2019, averaging more than 10 per day, an increase of 7% compared to 2018.   A significant majority of all crimes in Mexico are not unpunished. 
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Major tourist sites in Rio de Janeiro, including the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking the Brazilian city, reopened to the public on Saturday after being closed for five months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
 
“The reopening of the Christ (monument) symbolizes the reopening of Brazil to tourism,” Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said at a ceremony at the base of the statue.  
 
Visitors will be required to wear masks and maintain social distancing, and will not be allowed to lie on the ground — as many do in attempting to get the best angle for photos at the feet of the huge Art Deco statue with its arms outstretched.
 
Located atop 710-meter-high (2,300-feet) Corcovado hill in the center of Rio in Tijuca national park, the monument offers a spectacular panoramic view of the city and its environs.   
 
Since social-distancing measures forced its closure in March, Christ the Redeemer has continued to function as a religious sanctuary, offering public masses and holding vigils to honor healthcare workers and victims of the pandemic.
 
Also reopening to the public on Saturday were the Pao de Acucar cable car, which offers its own panoramic view of the city, the AquaRio aquarium and the gigantic Rio Star, Latin America’s largest Ferris wheel, inaugurated only last year in the port area.
 
Brazil’s National Confederation of Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC) estimates that the country’s tourism sector has lost 154 billion reales ($28.4 billion) over the last five months, operating at only 14 percent of its capacity.
 
The state of Rio de Janeiro, with 17 million inhabitants, has registered more than 14,500 deaths and nearly 190,000 cases of the novel coronavirus, according to official statistics.
 
The capital itself, which in June began a gradual economic reopening, has seen 33 deaths and 1,365 new cases in just the last 24 hours.
 
Brazil, with 106,500 deaths and 3.2 million cases to date, is the second hardest-hit country in the world, after the US.
 
With no certainty about when a vaccine might be available, Rio authorities have announced a new format for the year-end celebrations that traditionally bring millions of people to Copacabana beach for a huge fireworks display.
 
This year, the authorities are working to organize a series of smaller celebrations around the city and are urging people to watch the events online.
 
Rio’s world-famous carnival, with its huge street parties, also risks being canceled by the pandemic.   
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Jean Arnault, the U.N. secretary-general’s personal envoy to Bolivia, said in a statement Friday he “welcomes the agreement” the Andean nation’s legislature reached Thursday to hold the country’s general election October 18.Arnault said the “consensus is a fundamental achievement that provides guarantees regarding the date of the elections” and “helps to overcome political divisions and the uncertainty that worried many sectors of Bolivian society.”The election had been scheduled for September 6 but was pushed back as the country dealt with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.Many Bolivians were anxious about the delayed elections, following the election last year that prompted protests around the country and the resignation of leftist President Evo Morales, the country’s first indigenous leader. Right-wing lawmaker Jeanine Anez was sworn in as Bolivia’s interim president.  She will be on the October ballot.Luis Arce will be the candidate for Morales’ Movement for Socialism party.Arnault said with this week’s legislative agreement, “the path towards a reliable electoral process whose results are respected by all actors is effectively consolidated.” 
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Bahamian Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis and Deputy Prime Minister K. Peter Turnquest are self-quarantining as a precaution after their offices were exposed to the coronavirus.The Cecil Wallace-Whitefield Centre, which houses the Office of the Prime Minister and multiple agencies, is closed for cleaning and sanitizing.The Ministry of Health’s surveillance unit is conducting contact tracing to determine the level of exposure to employees and visitors to the multi-office building.It could not be immediately determined if the minsters were directly exposed to the coronavirus.The Bahamas has recorded more than 1,000 cases of the virus and 15 deaths.
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Health care workers in Peru held a demonstration Thursday demanding better pay and working conditions as more of their colleagues become infected with the coronavirus.Members of medical workers’ unions appealed for government help during a rally outside the Health Ministry.The workers’ plea for aid came on the same day President Martin Vizcarra unveiled an obelisk at the Medical College of Peru in honor of 125 doctors who have died from the coronavirus.The observance occurred on the same day Peru marked a milestone, surpassing 500,000 coronavirus cases, with Latin America’s highest fatality rate.  
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The U.S. Department of Transportation barred private charter flights to Cuba on Thursday in a move designed to put more economic pressure on the Cuban government.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted the decision.“Today, I asked the Department of Transportation to suspend private charter flights between the U.S. and Cuba. The Castro regime uses tourism and travel funds to finance its abuses and interference in Venezuela. Dictators cannot be allowed to benefit from U.S. travel.”The order was issued on the birthday of the late Cuban Communist leader Fidel Castro, who was the country’s prime minister and president. He died in 2016.The ban will go into effect for most flights on Oct. 13.The U.S. has taken similar actions against Cuba in the past year. The Transportation Department in May limited the number of charter flights to Cuba at 3,600. Last October, the U.S. also suspended regularly scheduled flights to Cuba, other than those to the capital, Havana.President Donald Trump has been increasing economic pressure on Cuba throughout his presidency.  
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Peru is reimposing Sunday curfews and banning family gatherings in response to a new surge in coronavirus infections.In announcing the return of a curfew first introduced in April, President Martin Vizcarra blamed the spike in COVID-19 cases on large social gatherings.The curfew prohibits people from leaving home on Sundays unless they have special passes given to essential professionals such as medical workers.The president said his administration believes it is better to go back one step so that citizens are all responsible again for “recovering the conditions that we would all like to have.”Vizcarra also said a COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be available in the first months of next year.Peru, which trails only Brazil and Mexico in coronavirus cases in Latin America, has confirmed more than 590,000 cases and more than 21,700 deaths.
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Police have detained former Ecuadorian President Abdala Bucaram for the second time in two months, this time in an organized crime probe.Ecuadorian Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo told a local radio station that Bucaram was arrested at his home in the port city of Guayaquil on Wednesday as part of investigation into whether he is linked to the murder of an Israeli man jailed in a possible COVID-19 medical supply scandal.So far, Bucaram has not been charged in connection to the inmate’s death at the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil on Saturday.In June, Bucaram was detained for a time following a raid on his home in an investigation into the sale of COVID-19 medical supplies to hospitals.Authorities seized thousands of face masks and coronavirus antibody rapid test kits.A gun and artwork were also seized, and Bucaram was charged with illegal possession of a firearm and state-owned sculptures.Bucaram’s three adult sons are being sought in connection with the inquiry into sale of overpriced medical supplies to hospitals.
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Two U.S men charged with selling a bleach-like chemical concoction billed as a cure for COVID-19 and other diseases are under arrest in Colombia.The Associated Press quoted authorities as saying Mark and Joseph Grennon were arrested Tuesday in the beach town of Santa Marta, where the father-and-son team shipped their “Miracle Mineral Solution” to the United States, Colombia and Africa.Prosecutors say seven Americans died from using their product.Mark Grenon, the archbishop of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing in Bradenton, Florida, promoted the substance as a sort of sacrament with healing powers.Grenon ignored a Miami federal judge’s order in April to stop selling the substance, which has been legalized in Bolivia despite opposition from medical experts.Grenon and his three adult sons, including Joseph, are charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to violate the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act and criminal contempt.  
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Mexico’s president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said Wednesday he supports a corruption probe into former presidents and other administration officials, saying they should testify about what they know.Former chief of state oil firm Pemex, Emilio Lozoya, filed a complaint Tuesday alleging that former president Enrique Pena Nieto and his ex-finance minister, Luis Videgaray, instructed Lozoya to orchestrate payments to Pena Nieto’s 2012 presidential campaign, and buy votes from members of parliament. The attorney general’s office announced that it has opened an investigation based on Lozoya’s complaint. It will also explore allegations that Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, which has admitted to involvement in widespread corruption in Latin America, partially funded the bribing scheme. The total sum amounts to an excess of $4 million, said Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero in a video statement. Pena Nieto and Videgaray are also accused of bribing officials to pass an energy reform bill. Lozoya was extradited from Spain last month after evading custody for several months. He was a top administrator on Pena Nieto’s campaign team and ran Pemex from 2012 to 2106. Neither Pena Nieto nor Videgaray have commented on the matter. President Lopez Obrador campaigned on fighting corruption, but has hesitated until now in pursuing former presidents, saying that he does not seek revenge. 
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Venezuelans are steadily losing access to cheap basic services from water to cooking gas that have helped them survive economic crisis, forcing many to find creative solutions and adding pressure during the coronavirus quarantine.  
 
Services have long been near-free due to heavy subsidies by the ruling Socialist Party, which has overseen a six-year economic collapse despite Venezuela’s oil wealth.  
 
But as the decay of state-run utilities has led to constant shortages, Venezuelans now have to pay the equivalent of several months’ salary for a few days of water, gas or telephone because private alternatives are priced in dollars.  
 
For those without the money, workaround solutions abound: from wood-burning stoves and long walks to find cellular coverage to improvised pipes for siphoning water off a mountain.  
 Others simply do without.  
 
“Every week, we adjust to what happens,” said Geraldine Escalante, a cook in a coastal area of Vargas state.  
 
She went for a month-and-a-half without water until April, when she paid $20 for a cistern with 2,000 liters (529 gallons) which lasted a week. At other times, she and other residents link hoses between different communities to share water or carry bottles back-and-forth for several kilometers.  
 
Access to running water is particularly crucial to curb the COVID-19 disease, which is running rampant around South America.  
 
The generous oil-financed subsidies begun under late socialist leader Hugo Chavez have gradually disappeared under his successor President Nicolas Maduro. He has eliminated years of price and currency controls amid U.S. sanctions that have further weakened an already foundering economy.  
 
The Information Ministry and state service companies did not reply to requests for comment.  
 ‘Felt like crying’  
 
Yusbel Castro, a community leader in Caracas’ poor west end, was driving around the city trying to find subsidized gas to fill a 20 kg propane tank for less than $1 to fuel stoves at a communal soup kitchen she runs.  
 
But during one recent search in June, she only found black market resellers charging $7, equivalent to more than two months of minimum wage salary.  
 
Unable to afford it, Castro could not cook lunch for the 110 children who rely on the soup kitchen. It frequently serves beans or soups, which cook for longer than other foods and therefore require more gas.  
 
“It would be $14 every six days, and I get paid in bolivars,” she said. “I felt like crying.”  
 
Just 3 in 10 Venezuelans in May could obtain gas at regulated prices while only 1 in 10 received running water, according to data from the non-profit watchdog Venezuelan Observatory of Public Services (OVSP).  
 
While water costs less than a dollar per month at subsidized rates, cisterns can cost $100.  
 
Service interruptions now affect both wealthy neighborhoods and the slums. “The crisis in public services has put the poor and rich on equal footing” in that respect, said economist Luis Pedro Espana during a presentation of a demographic study last month that showed poverty reached 65% of households.  
 
“That is the paradox of the Venezuelan state: it remains powerful in social control but is fading away as a provider of public goods and services,” added Asdrubal Oliveros, head of the local Ecoanalitica consultancy, to Reuters.  
 ‘Finding Solutions’  
 
A group of Caracas residents in June built a system to use water accumulated at a stalled tunnel construction project near the El Avila mountain bordering Caracas.  
 
They used 1,300 meters of hoses for the network and the residents contributed 10 dollars each to buy parts.  
 
“We can’t spend our whole lives complaining,” said Wilfredo Moscoso, one of the project’s leaders. “We are finding solutions.”  
 
In some places, Venezuelans have to walk for kilometers to find a cellular signal.  
 
“The only one way I manage to get even a bit of coverage is when I get up on the roof of the house,” said Jose Atacho, a pharmacy manager in the western city of Punto Fijo, who has lines with three different operators to improve the odds.  
 
Working and studying from home during coronavirus quarantine while struggling with faulty connections has led families to rely on pricey mobile phone data services.  
 
In some cases, residents pay up to $30 per month for additional services, compared with the notoriously faulty state-provided internet that costs $2 per month.  
 
In the western city of Maracaibo, Argenis Linares paid for a satellite internet service and charges people several dollars per month for access. “Some neighbors asked me, especially the friends of my kids, to do their homework,” he said. “Two are in a tough situation and they just pay what they can.”
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A surge of coronavirus cases across Cuba prompted authorities to re-impose some restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus, including closing beaches, restaurants, bars and restricting travel across the island and prohibiting international flights.  Cuba confirmed the majority of the 93 new cases are in the capital, Havana.The jump in COVID-19 cases represents the highest daily total since the pandemic was first detected on the island in March. Cuba’s newest restrictions come after the government had begun relaxing restrictions because the cases of the coronavirus had leveled off. Authorities say the latest restrictions will not impact grocery stores or government services. Cuba has confirmed more than 3,000 cases of COVID-19, and at least 88 deaths. 
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Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley announced Monday night his ruling People’s National Movement party won the general elections. Speaking to a gathering of supporters in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Rowley said, the PNM won 22 of the 41 seats at stake in the elections. Rowley said the other major party, the United National Congress (UNC), won the remaining 19 seats. The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) is expected to announce the official results Tuesday.  A victory in the election will extend Rowley’s five-year tenure as prime minister. Voters from the twin-republic said corruption and the coronavirus pandemic were major issues of concern. Politics in Trinidad and Tobago is largely divided along ethnic lines, with supporters of African descent aligned with the PNM. The UNC is a favorite among people of Indian descent. 
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Frontline heatlh workers in Brazil are at serious risk of contracting COVID-19 as they carry out essential work, said the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Monday.“These professionals are not only saving lives, they are also ensuring essential services continue for everyone, whether it be health care, social services or education. They deserve our full support and solidarity,” said Simone Casabianca-Aeschlimann, the ICRC’s head of delegation for Brazil and the Southern Cone countries. The organization announced a campaign Monday to support essential workers in Brazil.At least 232,992 health professionals have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and 196 of those have officially died of it, according to an August 6 bulletin from the Brazilian health ministry.“The minister highlights the commitment, dedication and altruism of health professionals who are at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19,” said the Brazilian health ministry in a press release Saturday.The numbers, however, could be much higher. Brazil’s Federal Council of Nursing recorded 325 COVID-19 deaths within the nursing profession alone.“Each number hides the face of a mother, a father, children, dear friends, colleagues who faced shifts together and fear for their lives and their families,” wrote the council in an August 7 response to the health ministry.Brazil has recorded more than 3 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 100,000 deaths from the disease so far, according to Johns Hopkins University. Brazil has the second-highest number of cases and deaths in the world, behind only the United States. 
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The United Nations warns COVID-19 poses a critical threat to hundreds of millions of indigenous people worldwide.   To mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling on countries to respond to their needs and to respect their cultural, social and political rights.  
Many of the more than 476 million indigenous people around the world now live in remote locations.  Their traditional way of life and distance from heavily populated areas have largely insulated them from many diseases commonly circulating.  However, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres notes that throughout history, indigenous peoples have been decimated by diseases brought from elsewhere, to which they had no immunity.  Unfortunately, the coronavirus is following the same trajectory.   FILE – Indigenous people from Yanomami ethnic group are seen, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease, at the 4th Surucucu Special Frontier Platoon of the Brazilian army in municipality of Alto Alegre, state of Roraima, Brazil, July 1, 2020The U.N. chief says the inequalities, stigmatization and discrimination to which indigenous peoples are subjected are helping to spread the coronavirus through their communities.  He says limited access to healthcare, clean water and sanitation makes it difficult to contain the disease.    “Indigenous peoples work primarily in traditional occupations and subsistence economies or in the informal sector,” he said. “They have all been adversely affected by the pandemic.  Indigenous women, who are often the main providers of food and nutrition for their families, have been particularly hard hit with the closures of markets for handicrafts, produce and other goods.”    The U.N. reports COVID-19 has infected more than 70,000 indigenous people in the Americas, the epicenter of the pandemic.  Among them, it says are nearly 23,000 members of 190 indigenous peoples in the Amazon basin.  More than 1,000 have lost their lives.   The Amazon and other tropical forests that are home to indigenous peoples have suffered environmental damage and economic deprivation.  Guterres says these people are at the forefront in demanding environmental and climate action to protect their precious reserves. FILE – In this file photo United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the African Union headquarters during the 33rd African Union (AU) Summit on Feb. 8, 2020, in Addis Ababa.“Lapsed enforcement of environmental protections during the crisis has brought increasing encroachment on indigenous peoples’ territories by illegal miners and loggers.  Many indigenous people have been victims of threats and violence, and many have lost their lives in the face of such threats,” he said.     The United Nations says indigenous peoples will have a better chance of tackling the coronavirus if they can exercise their rights to self-government and self-determination.   The world body is calling for universal respect and protection of their inalienable rights.      
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The United States has more coronavirus cases than any other country.  There are more than 5 million infections in the U.S., according to a New York Times database. Brazil and India follow as numbers two and three, respectively, in the number of infections.  Brazil has more than 3 million cases and India has more than 2 million.Brazil on Saturday became the second country in the world to pass 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus, second to the United States, which has more than 162,000 deaths.Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, said last week he had “a clear conscience” despite the toll. Bolsonaro himself survived COVID-19 last month and said he had done “everything possible to save lives.” Because of insufficient tests, experts say, the number of Brazilians with the virus could be six times higher.In the U.S., the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has released a model predicting nearly 300,000 deaths by December 1 if Americans don’t start consistently wearing face masks.IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray said in a statement that if 95 percent of Americans started wearing masks, more than 66,000 lives would be saved.Naga women, wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus, sit by the side of a road selling poultry on the eve of International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, in Kohima, India, Aug. 8, 2020.Mexico’s health ministry reported nearly 6,500 new COVID infections Saturday and almost 700 deaths. Mexico follows only the U.S. and Brazil in the numbers of COVID deaths.  Mexico has more than 46,000 COVID deaths, according to John Hopkins University data.In France, the government ordered face masks must be worn outside in busy areas — except around some tourist sites, including the Eiffel Tower — starting Monday. The government said the French tourism industry has lost at least $35-$47 billion due to the health crisis.”The French are participating massively in the revival of the tourism sector by favoring France,” and 70 percent of those who have gone on vacation have chosen to stay in their country, Secretary of State Tourism Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne said in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche.New mask mandates went into effect Saturday in Britain, where people are now required to wear masks in most indoor settings. In England and Scotland, masks must be worn in places of worship, banks, libraries and in many other indoor places.Masks were already required in shops and on public transit, but more stringent measures were imposed to contain a surge in coronavirus infections in Britain after easing lockdown requirements.Travelers arriving in Germany from most non-European countries and regions within the European Union with high infection rates must now undergo testing for the coronavirus Travelers from high-risk areas were previously required to self-quarantine for 14 days or until they could produce a negative test.Australia recorded 404 new cases Sunday – 10 in New South Wales and 394 in Victoria.  Seventeen deaths were reported in Victoria.New Zealand reports it has experienced 100 days of zero community transmission of the coronavirus.  
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Brazil on Saturday became the second country in the world to pass 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus, second to the United States, which has more than 161,000 deaths and is nearing a different milestone of its own: nearly 5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus. Brazil reported 3 million cases, also on Saturday.Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, said Thursday he had “a clear conscience” despite the toll. Bolsonaro himself survived COVID-19 last month and said he had done “everything possible to save lives.” Because of insufficient tests, experts say, the number of Brazilians with the virus could be six times higher.Brazil has registered more than 1,000 deaths a day for several weeks, something the U.S. has suffered for more than 11 days. Brazil and the U.S. have similar numbers of deaths per 1 million residents, 478 for Brazil, 487 for the U.S. Both are lower than Spain and Italy, which are 609 and 583 respectively.The pandemic has had an uneven effect across Brazil’s 27 states. In Brasilia, the capital, almost 80 percent of the ICU beds are full, but in Rio De Janeiro, the occupation rate is less than 30 percent. In Rio, the stores and restaurants are open and the beaches are in use.”The situation is very comfortable, and we don’t understand why it is happening,” said Graccho Alvim, director of the state’s association of hospitals, according to the Associated Press.In the U.S., the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation released a model Thursday predicting nearly 300,000 deaths by December 1 if Americans don’t start consistently wearing face masks.A man with a long beard wears a vest with the US flag on the back as he walks on Main Street during the 80th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on Aug. 8, 2020 in Sturgis, South Dakota. Masks are not required at the event.”The public’s behavior had a direct correlation to the transmission of the virus and, in turn, the numbers of deaths,” IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray said in a statement. If 95 percent of Americans start wearing masks, more than 66,000 lives would be saved, the statement said. That same day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention forecast 181,000 deaths by the end of August.Part of the problem, Murray said, is that Americans move around a lot and they bring the virus with them.”If you look at the mobility data collected from cellphones in many parts of the country, we’re almost back to pre-COVID levels of mobility, so we’re just not being as cautious as other people are in other countries,” Murray told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Friday.Murray did have some encouraging news: The rate of mask wearing has risen about 5 percent in the last 10 days, especially in hot spot states like California, Texas and Florida.In France, the government ordered face masks be worn outside in busy areas — except around some tourist sites, including the Eiffel Tower — starting Monday. The government said its tourism industry has lost at least 30-40 billion euros in the immediate impact of the health crisis.”The French are participating massively in the revival of the tourism sector by favoring France” and 70 percent of those who have gone on vacation have chosen to stay in their country, said the secretary of State Tourism, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche.A man who was detained for not complying with COVID-19 regulations by breaking curfew and being out on the street drinking is disinfected with an alcohol solution in Caracas, Venezuela, on Aug. 8, 2020.”This saves the essential,” he said. “But let’s be clear: in normal times, France welcomes 17 million foreign tourists every summer when 9 million French people go abroad” and “a part of this international clientele has disappeared,” he added.Beginning Saturday in Britain, people are required to wear masks in most indoor settings. In England and Scotland, masks must be worn in places of worship, banks, libraries and in many other indoor places.Masks were already required in shops and on public transit, but more stringent measures were imposed to contain a surge in coronavirus infections in Britain after easing lockdown requirements.Travelers arriving in Germany from most non-European countries and regions within the European Union with high infection rates must undergo testing for the coronavirus beginning Saturday. Travelers from high-risk areas were previously required to self-quarantine for 14 days or until they can produce a negative test.In Australia on Saturday, Victoria state reported 466 new coronavirus cases and 12 deaths. Victoria is home to more than two-thirds of Australia’s almost 21,000 COVID-19 infections. Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said six of the deaths were linked to outbreaks at senior citizens facilities.India reported 933 new COVID-19 deaths over a 24-hour period as infections surged by more than 61,000 to nearly 2.1 million. India has the world’s third-highest number of infections after the U.S. and Brazil, where the death toll was expected to reach 100,000 on Saturday. 
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