Displaying items by tag: North America

Authorities arrested 36-year-old Aditya Singh after he had spent three months living in the secure side of Chicago's O'Hare international airport, relying on the kindness of strangers for food, sleeping in terminals and using the bathroom facilities. He was caught by an airport employee asking for his ID. Singh is one of many individuals residing in terminals for weeks, months or years. Since 2018 there has been a rise in the number of homeless people in large airports. Officials try to provide aid and crisis intervention teams to connect homeless people to housing and other services. But most would prefer a solution where airports no longer operated as homeless shelters.

The Catholic-run welcome centre, the last stop for migrants before crossing the border into the USA, offers meals, clothing, medical and legal assistance. It has become a waiting room. The group running the welcome centre attributes lengthened stays (300+ days) to the pandemic and Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy. Many who get into America are ejected by Border Patrol after a few days - creating a revolving population, returning to the welcome centre on a weekly or daily basis. Women give birth, children miss two years of education, girls can’t have a quinceañera (celebration of a girl's 15th birthday). US authorities found 19,000 children traveling alone across the Mexican border in March. It is a major test for Joe Biden as he reverses many of his predecessor's hard-line immigration tactics.

Curtis Hayes, a community activist running for city council in Charlotte, said, ‘We have some of the most horrific mass murderers of our time in custody without a scratch, but this black man who allegedly uses a counterfeit $20 bill loses his life. They have got to convict the former police officer accused of killing George Floyd by sitting on his neck for over nine minutes. The officer came to a situation which he should have de-escalated and given out a ticket in the worst-case scenario. Are we going to hold him accountable for his actions? This is a chance for America to show exactly what it represents: giving everybody liberty and justice. If you don't convict him, you're simply telling black and minority Americans that we do not care for you: this is a white America and you're going to get down or lay down. Now people are fighting for equality, but they could soon be fighting for revenge.’

Hate crimes involving Asian-American victims soared in New York city last year. Officials are grappling with the problem as new incidents occur. ‘I’ve never cried like that before,’ Maggie Cheng said, after seeing security footage showing her mother being shoved to the ground on a crowded street. ‘To see my mother get thrown like that, she looks like a feather, a rag doll.’ The attack, which gained widespread attention on social media, was one of four attacks in a day against Asian-American women in New York. Concerns intensified after an Asian man was stabbed on Thursday night near Chinatown. Asian-Americans make up 16% of the population of the city: it is feared that the wave of racism and violence against them during the pandemic is surging again. The attacks are random, fast and furious, stoking a lot of fear and paranoia. Many Asians are not leaving their homes.

Conservatives within the United Methodist Church have announced their plans to form a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church, with a doctrine that does not allow for LGBTQ and same-sex marriage. The move is expected to hasten the long-anticipated split of the nation's largest mainline Protestant denomination. The conference at which such a split would be debated has now been postponed to August 2022. ‘The church is basically stalemated right now,’ said Rev Keith Boyette, chair of the Transitional Leadership Council, which is guiding the creation of the Global Methodist Church. Another member of the council said, ‘I am convinced the Global Methodist Church will be a vibrant, vital expression of Methodism in terms of its teachings and ethics’.

With limited space and a lack of options for hydro-electricity and wind power, Singapore faces logistical challenges in the push towards renewable energy. Environmental advocacy groups have long accused the country of failing to do enough to address climate change, even as rising sea levels have become a growing threat. Climate Action Tracker said Singapore’s efforts to combat climate change have been weak. It is now investing in a huge floating solar farm at sea. Oceans are the ‘new frontier’ in electricity production, says Shawn Tan, the firm carrying out the project. The solar farm has 13,000 solar panels laid out at sea between Singapore and Malaysia, capable of producing up to five megawatts of electricity - enough energy to power 1,400 residential flats year-round. Meanwhile, Pentagon scientists are currently testing solar satellites to beam energy to anywhere on Earth.

Former president Donald Trump returned to the spotlight at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. He stated, ‘The Republican Party is going to unite and be stronger than ever before. I am not starting a new party.’ He focused much of his speech on criticising the first few weeks of President Biden's administration, making it clear he wants a leading role in the GOP in future. With the 2022 midterms just around the corner, he wants Democrats defeated, also each GOP lawmaker who voted for his impeachment.

Pfizer and Moderna have promised to boost vaccine production in the coming months, as the country’s death toll from Covid-19 went past 500,000. Pfizer said the company will have 120 million doses of the vaccine available for shipment by the end of March and an additional 80 million doses by the end of May. Pfizer expects that all 300 million contracted doses - enough for up to 150 million Americans - will be available by the end of July. Moderna President Stephen Hoge plans to double vaccine production to over 40 million doses per month: 300 million doses will be ready by the end of July. The main concern is that new variants could become dominant in the US by March. A leading forecasting institute says over 90,000 more Americans are likely to die from Covid, and Americans will still be wearing masks in 2022.

By 18 February millions were still without electricity after a week of snowstorms, with more snow expected to sweep across the South and East in the coming days. An electricity supply crisis is forcing millions to endure days without power and heat. Ambulances in San Antonio were unable to meet the surging demand, and Galveston county called for refrigerated trucks to hold the bodies they expect to find in freezing, powerless houses. 31 bodies have been found so far. Texas has problems getting natural gas and renewable energy generators back online. It is not known when the power will be fully restored. Every source of power has been compromised. Several state agencies are uniting to meet the demands of nursing homes, hospitals and dialysis centers, which have reported a variety of problems including water main breaks and oxygen shortages. Over 300 warming centres provide blankets, cots and water to vulnerable citizens.

February is Black History Month in the USA. Many Black Americans have mixed emotions during this month. Some feel happiness for the great successes Black Americans have made over the years. The other emotion is sadness, because of the movies and documentaries that reveal the horrors of American slavery, discrimination, and their unfair and unjust treatment for 400 years. Pray for this month to begin a powerful season for healing. (Ecclesiastes 3:3b). Pray for the damaged communities to begin to forgive each other and allow God to heal the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual wounds. Pray for deliverance from all the pain that they and their ancestors have suffered over the years. In the UK, 14 February was Racial Justice Sunday, and the Archbishop of Canterbury wrote a prayer referring to ‘the sin of racism’ and how Jesus ‘broke down the walls that divide’. We can pray for all nations to be freed from prejudice, and the violence of racist words and actions.