Caribzone News Highlight

By Caribzone.com

Belize

Belize will strengthen its response to the socioeconomic hardship caused by COVID-19 with a US$8 million reallocation of funds from the World Bank to support the country's agricultural sector and improve food security in the context of the pandemic. The programme will benefit more than 8,700 agricultural households in the country.

Measures taken to prevent the further outbreak of the pandemic, such as the closing of borders, have caused interruptions in agricultural supply chains and a decline in economic activity.

Many farmers have lost revenue due to the decline in tourism, disruption in export markets, and reduction in domestic spending caused by job losses. The agricultural sector has also experienced drought since last year.

The World Bank said the reallocated funds will provide support for agricultural households severely affected by the pandemic or drought and whose commodities contribute to food security and socioeconomic development.

The support to affected farmers will include funds for the purchase of eligible agricultural inputs, cash transfers to small farmers and women involved in agriculture, provision of small agricultural equipment and protective equipment, as well as technical support.

This programme will benefit agricultural households that are registered in the Belize Agricultural Information Management System (BAIMS) and that are producing selected commodities that are severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic or the 2019 and 2020 droughts. Specific details on eligibility criteria will be published by the Government of Belize prior to roll-out.

These funds were accessed using the Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC) of the Belize Climate Resilient Infrastructure Project.

CERCs allow funds to be reallocated from existing projects to address emergency response needs.

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Jamaica

The US dollar on Thursday, August 27, ended trading at J$150.04 down by 37 cents according to the Bank of Jamaica's daily exchange trading summary.

Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar ended trading at J$114.94 up from J$114.28 while the British pound sterling ended trading at J$199.39 down from J$199.47

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Jamaica 

The United Kingdom last week issued a travel advisory to its citizens against all non-essential travel to Jamaica.

The advisory, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said, is based on the current assessment of COVID-19 risks in the country.

“The FCO is not advising those already travelling in Jamaica to leave at this time. You should follow the advice of the local authorities on how best to protect yourself and others, including any measures that they bring in to control the virus,” the office told its citizens.

It added that citizens returning to the UK from Jamaica on or after August 29, may need to self-isolate on return.

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Sports

Lionel Messi has informed Barcelona he wants to “unilaterally” terminate his contract with the Spanish giants after a calamitous end to the season, a club source confirmed to AFP.

Lawyers for the Argentina star sent Barcelona a fax in which they announced Messi's desire to rescind his contract by triggering a release clause, sending shockwaves throughout the world of football.

Barcelona have yet to officially react but are understood to believe the clause expired in June and that he remains under contract until the end of the 2021 season.

“In principal, this clause expired on June 10, but the unusual nature of this season disrupted by the coronavirus opened the way for Messi to ask to be released from his contract now,” wrote Spanish sports daily Marca.

“It's the first step towards opening negotiations over his departure, on the basis of which his release clause amounts to 700 million euros (US$828 million).”

Messi joined Barcelona's youth academy at the age of 13 and made his debut in 2004 as a 17-year-old.

The six-time Ballon d'Or winner is the club's record scorer with 634 goals and has won the Champions League four times.

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International

The United Nations children’s agency says at least a third of children couldn’t access remote learning when the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools, creating “a global education emergency.”

At the height of lockdowns meant to curb the pandemic, nearly 1.5 billion children were affected by school closures, UNICEF said.

The report released last Wednesday, highlights significant inequality across regions, with school children in sub-Saharan Africa the most affected. The highest number of children affection by region were in South Asia, at least 147 million, according to the report.

UNICEF said the report used a globally representative analysis on the availability of home-based technology and tools needed for remote learning, such as access to television, radio and internet, and the availability of curricula delivered by the platforms.

Children in the poorest households and in rural areas were most affected. The youngest children are also most likely to miss out on remote learning during critical years, the report said, largely due to challenges and limitations to online learning for young children and lack of assets at home.

UNICEF warned that the situation is likely far worse, because even where technology exists at home, children may not be able to learn due to pressures to do chores or work

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 National

A federal judge is giving the Trump administration 10 days to answer questions and turn over evidence about recent controversial policy changes within the US Postal Service. The order is part of a lawsuit brought by a collection of states over mail slowdowns and the impact on the 2020 election. In Iowa, a state judge has sided with the Trump campaign and the Republican Party, which sued this month seeking to discard thousands of absentee ballot request forms in the state. As a result, more than 50,000 applications for absentee ballots now have to be invalidated and re-sent.

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SPORTS

While not surprised at the cancellation of the 2020 schoolboy football season in Jamaica, head coaches Ludlow Bernard (Kingston College) and Christopher Bender (Camperdown High) believe that its absence will cause uncertainty for final-year students who were hoping to be able to showcase their talents for overseas colleges.

The Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) announced on Monday the cancellation of school sports for the upcoming Christmas term. The decision was made because of the delay in the phased reopening of schools following a surge in coronavirus cases in the island.

Bernard, who helped Kingston College capture the 2019 ISSA Champions Cup, said that while the majority of his young squad are already looking forward to next year, the cancellation will affect final-year students who were hoping to use the season to earn college scholarships.