Category Archives: Caribbean

REGIONAL: MIGRANTS & REFUGEES

KEY FIGURES

209.9K MIGRANTS ENCOUNTERED AT MEXICO-US BORDER IN MARCH 2022, HIGHEST MONTHLY TOTAL SINCE 2000

1M MIGRANTS ENCOUNTERED AT MEXICO US-BORDER SINCE OCTOBER 2021

20.4K IRREGULAR MIGRANT ENTRIES INTO HONDURAS SO FAR IN 2022 (AS OF 22 APRIL)

MEXICO-US BORDER

Migrant crossings at the Mexico-United States border have reached their highest monthly level in 22 years ahead of the 23 May 2022 end of the Title 42 policy allowing for summary expulsions over public health concerns. The 209,906 encounters reported in March are the highest since March 2000s tally of 220,063, per US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data, a 33 per cent increase from February 2022. Halfway through the 2022 fiscal year (October 2021-September 2022), the US has already reported more than 1 million encounters. With arrivals expected to rise with the end of Title 42 in late May, the 2022 fiscal year may outpace the record 1.7 million encounters reported during the 2021 fiscal year (October 2020-September 2021).

While the majority of migrants continue to come from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, nearly 40 per cent of March encounters consisted of migrants from other countries. The 32,141 Cuban migrants processed in March double Februarys count and trail only Mexicos 87,388 migrants. The number of Nicaraguan and Colombian migrants (16,000 and 15,144, respectively) in March were records for each country. The number of Ukrainians encountered also rose to 3,274 in March (a 1,103 per cent increase over February) surpassing migrants from Haiti (2,499 in March).

HONDURAS

The ongoing flow of migrants entering Honduras in an irregular manner through the eastern border municipalities of Danl and Trojes continues to strain migration and local authorities response capacities. According to IOM, some 20,400 migrants of varying nationalities are estimated to have entered Honduras in an irregular manner so far in 2022 (as of 22 April 2022). These migrants include people from Cuba, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Venezuela and Vietnam, among others.

Field missions have identified food and water access, sanitation in shelters and psychosocial support as priority needs, as well as information outreach on migration procedures, access to National Migration Institute (INM) offices and routes for reaching the western border with Guatemala.

Partners such as ADRA, the Honduran Red Cross, IOM, UNHCR, World Vision and civil society groups are supporting shelters in both municipalities with food and non-food items and working with authorities to improve temporary shelter conditions.

Original post:

Latin America & The Caribbean Weekly Situation Update (18-24 April 2022) As of 25 April 2022 - World - ReliefWeb

Johnny Depps defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard continues and as part of Johnny Depps testimony, we have learned a little about the actors own thoughts about the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. It seems that, had Disney decided not to move forward without him, we would likely still be seeing the end of Captain Jack Sparrow sooner rather than later.

The Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise is core to the entire defamation case that Johnny Depp filled against Amber Heard. He claims her Washington Post op-ed from 2018 in which she revealed that she had previously suffered from domestic abuse caused Disney to drop Depp from the Pirates movies. While Heard never mentioned her alleged abuser by name, it was widely understood to be Depp she was referring to.

The Jack Sparrow actor says it was after the publication that he was dropped from the franchise, which meant the loss of millions in potential income from the franchise Depp has apparently never seen,. However, the actor recently said in testimony (via Insider) that he was planning to wrap up the franchise at some point, he just wanted to be able to do so on his own terms. Depp explained

A franchise can last only so long. And theres a way to end a franchise like that. And I thought the characters should have a way out, to end the franchise on a very good note. And I planned on continuing until it was time to stop.

While there have been reports that Disney is working on new Pirates of the Caribbean films without the actor, Depp referred to those films as being in dangle mode as there has been little to no forward progress on them that we can see from the outside. Reports are that there are actually multiple projects in the works, one Pirates film that could star Margot Robbie, and another that is seen as a more direct sequel to the existing franchise, though one that would be without Captain Jack Sparrow. Even the possibility of a Johnny Depp cameo in a future Pirates of the Caribbean movie seems out of the cards.

While Depp says he had planned on continuing until it was time to stop that could have meant anything. Certainly, Depp saw at least one more movie in his future playing Jack Sparrow. Of course, with five films already under his belt, we could have seen several more if they continued to make money. The franchises box office receipts had been on a decline domestically but the Pirates of the Caribbean films are still big money makers internationally.

Whatever Johnny Depp thought he was doing with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is now gone. Now the big question remaining is whether or not we will actually see more from this popular series without Captain Jack Sparrow.

Originally posted here:

Johnny Depp Had His Own Ideas For Ending The Pirates Of The Caribbean Franchise, Until Disney Put The Film In 'Dangle Mode' - CinemaBlend

Ahoy, mateys. Did you get a sudden urgenot at all related to anything going on in the newsto watch all of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies in order? Avast, we cant blame ye, those movies are too much fun.

Originally based on the Disney World theme park ride, the first 2003 Pirates movie proved that, sometimes, movies based on amusement park rides can be good. Directed by Gore Verbinski, with a screenplay from Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, that first iconic film introduced the world to the humble blacksmith Will Turner (played by Orlando Bloom), the beautiful and fiery socialite, Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), and of course, the worst pirate youve ever heard ofbut you have heard of himCaptain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp).

From the day he was born, Captain Jack Sparrow yearned for adventure. Hes the pauper of the surf, and the jester of Tortuga but in Davy Jones locker, what lies in store? The entire series is a swashbuckling good time, and its never the wrong time to relive those adventures.

Luckily for you, Micky Mouse owns Captain Jack Sparrow, which means you can watch all of the Pirates of the Caribbean streaming on Disney+. That said, there are a lot of themperhaps more than you even realizeso Decider is here to help you on your journey through these fantastical waters. Heres how to watch the Pirates of the Caribbean movies in order.

1

Its the curse that started it all, and its easily the best film in the POTC series. When Elizabeth Swann is kidnapped by pirates, its up to Will Turner to save her. Thankfully, the young blacksmith has an ally in Captain Jack Sparrow. You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Swannyoure in one!

Where to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

2

AKA, the one with the dude with the octopus face. While Pirates of the Caribbean 2 was not as well-received by critics as the first film in the series, it nonetheless made a huge splash at the box office in the summer of 06.

Where to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

3

The third movie in the Pirates franchise, which was partially filmed at the same time as the second movie, came out the very next year, in the summer of 2007. It brought back Geoffrey Rush as Hector Barbossa, arguably the best Pirates villain.

Where to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

4

The fourth installment in the Pirates franchise, which served as a standalone sequel to the third movie, was the first film in the series not to feature Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. Instead, Jack Sparrow had his own adventure with a mysterious, beautiful woman named Angelica (played by the great Penlope Cruz).

Where to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

5

The last film in the Pirates of the Caribbean universefor nowwas part sequel, part reboot. Its once again mostly about Jack Sparrow, though Will does show up at the end, and Elizabeth does show up in a post-credit scene. And thats not the end of the story. A sixth Pirates of the Caribbean film, as well as a spin-off, are currently in development. However, Depp recently said in an interview that he will not be returning for future films.

Where to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Follow this link:

How to Watch Pirates of the Caribbean Movies in Order - Decider

Zombies have long been represented in Hollywood films as the depleted husks of people who have had their souls removed, but that is not necessarily how they function in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.

The term zombie, or zonbi in Haitian Creole, derives from the Central African Kikongo word for spirit, and Haitian talk about zonbis is more centrally concerned with the work done with the disembodied souls rather than the soulless bodies themselves.

Find out more

For example, it is believed that zonbis can be harnessed by individuals and sent as supernatural assistants to obtain a favourable outcome in a legal case, or perhaps enact vengeance against a spousal betrayal. They can, it is said, also affect a person who incites accusations of jealousy; Haitian research assistant Georges Rene even claims that an errant zonbi once affixed itself to his leg, causing so much pain and swelling in the limb that he had to see a specialist to have the zonbi removed.

It is believed that zonbis can be harnessed by individuals and sent as supernatural assistants to obtain a favourable outcome

However, one thing that the Haitian and Dominican zonbi does have in common with Hollywood depictions is its use as a horror emblem. On Hispaniola, the largely negative feelings towards these spirit demons stems from the trauma of colonial conquest, and its enduring effects. The fact that the spirit demon known locally as the baka (part of the same group of shapeshifting spirits as the zonbi) only appears in the form of a dog, horse, cow or pig is significant, since these were the invasive species brought to the island by Christopher Columbus in 1492, which enabled the conquest of the indigenous population. Conquistadores slaughtered people en masse atop their steeds, while dogs were used to hunt down escaped Amerindian rebels. Meanwhile, feral pigs ate peoples staple tuber crops and cattle ravaged their maize, contributing to famine and the eventual collapse of the indigenous Taino population within two decades.

By the 18th century, bull mastiffs had also become a major export from Cuba, used by the Europeans for hunting fugitive slaves. In addition to the new smells of gunshot, the sounds of these enormous beasts snorting, barking, snarling, braying and stampeding must have been frightening given the silence of the previous landscape; even the dogs that had existed on the island before the invasion (raised by the Taino as a food source), were a barkless breed.

Its small wonder, then, that such animals have played a continued role in alleged cases of spirit activity. When a man named Javier Cedano took his own life in 2010 in a small border town in the Dominican Republic, stories emerged that he had been killed by sorcery under the instructions of his cousin and political rival, Roberto, who owned a clandestine herd of black cattle in Haiti (indeed, the term baka likely comes from the Spanish word vaca, meaning cattle).

But where does the idea that zonbis can be harnessed come from in the first place? Zonbi practice has its roots in indigenous Taino beliefs, such as the idea that spirits could be conveyed into stones or sculptural objects known as zemis, as well as those of West African secret societies like the Leopard Men of Nigeria, who claimed to be able to shapeshift into animals at night. Not everyone is believed to possess the requisite skillset to command these spirits, though it takes a powerful Haitian boko (sorcerer) or a member of Haitis own secret societies to work with the dead in this way.

For example, in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, there is a man named Hans who serves as an oungan, or vodun priest. As a member of the Sampwel secret society, Hans commands a spectral battalion of mo or spirits through the skull of another oungan who once served as his mentor in the sorcery arts. Hans also carries out his work using a collection of red and black cloth figurines, representing spirits that can be sent on zonbi expeditions, while another group of mercenaries is represented by a cluster of wooden chairs, which are bound together with twisted ropes and hung upside down from the ceiling of his atelier (workshop).

Ritual specialists like Hans play a key role in directing disembodied spirits, which, on their own, are thought to wreak tremendous havoc; after the 2010 Haitian earthquake, it was said that thousands of unburied dead became loup garou spirit demons that caused furniture to fly out of second-storey windows. The zonbi is thus said to be a spirit of the dead that is trapped and conveyed by the invisible hand of a mystical agent.

Stories such as these are not unique. Popular narratives about zonbis and bakas often take the form of devil pact tales, which link exorbitant profit with death. During the US Marine occupation of Haiti in the 1920s, for example, there were rumours that the American-owned sugar company HASCO had an army of phantom zonbis working clandestinely something that was thought could explain the companys extraordinary profits.

Similarly, suspicions also arise when foreign technology is implemented in rural areas, where it stands out against the landscape. At the Manicera peanut oil factory in Banica a cattle-ranching town in the Dominican Republic rumours once spread during that the site was plagued by an army of invisible bakas which had been sent by workers engaging in theft. Meanwhile, in the 1980s, another baka was also alleged to have seen inside a Dominican garment assembly plant, punching the time clock and making blood appear in the toilets. The employees became so alarmed by the activities that they refused to work altogether, causing the plant to shut down for a short time. When a worker died in an accident on the shop floor, they blamed the spirit demon.

However, the loathsome baka is not just a figure of diabolical nature. It is also a figure of race, since Haitians are said to be the only ones with magical powers sufficiently strong enough to carry out this mystical work. This corresponds with the fact that Haiti had a slave majority during its 18th-century sugar boom, and African-derived religious practices were long maligned as black magic by the colonial leadership.

When a worker died in an accident on the shop floor, they blamed the spirit demon

Specifically, using baka spirits to change into animal form was most notorious as a reputed technique of slave camouflage during the Haitian Revolution (17911804), with the Maroon leader Francois Makandal said to have hidden from the authorities by turning himself into a pig. Even recent political figures have been alleged to possess shapeshifting abilities, such as Clement Barbot, the imprisoned chief aide to former Haitian dictator Francois Duvalier, who is said to have escaped from jail by turning into a black dog. Duvalier is thought to have been so livid at Barbots jailbreak that he called for all the dogs of Port-au-Prince to be slaughtered on sight.

Overall, the spirit demons of Hispaniola might conjure dread for most people on the island, but they are also valued, since they are thought to help solve everyday problems, such as obtaining travel visas to the US or providing protection against bullets during skirmishes. Haitians and Dominicans may often be on the receiving end of baka depredations, but they both need this form of sorcery, since it enables them to bolster their reputations through storytelling, as they boast about either becoming an animal or bravely fending off these spirit demons.

Lauren Derby is a professor of history at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is currently completing a book entitled Werewolves and Other Betes Noirs: Sorcery as History in the Haitian-Dominican Borderlands

This article was first published in the April 2022 issue of BBC History Revealed

Read this article:

Real Zombies: Your Guide To The Zonbi Spirits Of The Caribbean | History Extra - BBC History Magazine

By Tolulope AjayiFor The Diamondback

The University of Marylands Latin American and Caribbean Studies Center hosted its inaugural Caribbean Week celebration from April 18 to April 22 to bring recognition to the Caribbean community on campus through a series of panels and events.

Events were hosted through in-person and virtual formats and centered on the research of Caribbean art, history, politics and culture. Multiple panels partnered with guest speakers from other universities and groups on and off campus.

The week-long celebration was a way for the center to raise awareness and foster inclusivity for the intersectional identities within the Latin American population.

The Latin American and Caribbean Studies Center, formerly known as the Latin American Studies Center, changed its name in the summer of 2021 to be more inclusive of Caribbean students.

Eric Tomal, the centers assistant director, said the change is part of an effort to accurately represent the communities they support.

The Caribbean, its very diverse, Tomal said. Some communities dont feel that they should be called Latin American.

[Narrow-minded society: Afro-Latinx students at UMD share struggles with stereotypes]

The department hopes the week will show the university and surrounding community that there are many resources the center provides for the Latin American and Caribbean communities.

We are very interdisciplinary our small but very active department brings outstanding scholars that do outstanding research, Tomal said. It also provides space for communities, particularly students of color, who dont necessarily have an opportunity to visit campus to learn about the services and what the University of Maryland can offer to them.

The week kicked off with a virtual panel moderated by Danielle LaPlace, an intern for the center and graduate student in the women, gender, and sexuality studies department.

The panel addressed healthcare in the Caribbean, specifically surrounding HIV and AIDS. It highlighted the research of Dr. Thurka Sangaramoorthy, an associate professor of anthropology at this university, and Dr. Jallicia Jolly, an assistant professor in American studies and Black studies at Amherst College.

A music showcase took place after the panel and spotlighted the Cultural Academy for Excellence, a youth-based program which uses the visual and performing arts as the catalyst to develop passion and discipline for learning, leadership, and academic achievement, according to the Caribbean Week website. The students played steelpan drums and told the audience about the instruments history and cultural origin.

[Hornblake Plaza fills with interactive booths for UMD Earth Fest]

For LaPlace, a native of the Caribbean country St. Kitts and Nevis, Caribbean Week was something she had a personal connection to. With the COVID-19 pandemic interrupting the beginning of her time in the graduate program, she felt that this week enabled her to foster stronger relationships within the Caribbean community at this university.

Its just really exciting to see the different kinds of work that people are doing on the Caribbean, and the different kinds of community connections, LaPlace said.

Dr. Danielle Clealand, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin, led a panel on Friday that addressed the nature of Black politics in Latin America.

Clealand explained that the Latin American community has a history of not identifying as Black as a racial category, despite the presence of Black and Afro-Latino people, but often identifies with the Black community politically.

Racial categories and skin tone need to be looked at together to really kind of understand, Clealand said. A lot of times when people identify as Black, its in a more political sense because if we understand race in Latin America, we know that theres often a distancing from the traditional category of Black.

The week culminated in a closing ceremony at the H.J. Patterson building on Friday afternoon. Students and faculty gathered to reflect on the week, honor student accomplishments and award the first Merle Collins scholarship, named after the previous Latin American and Caribbean Studies Center director who retired last year.

Isabella Alcaiz, current director of the center and an associate professor in the government and politics department, said she hopes Caribbean Week will be recognized every spring and will continue to grow and establish the centers community presence on campus.

To institutionalize it and make sure that once Im no longer here that this continues to happen, thats a key goal, Alcaiz said.

Read more:

UMD's first Caribbean Week highlights art, culture, history and politics - The Diamondback

Andrea Zelinski

MIAMI -- Royal Caribbean Group's Jay Schneider had me at "microbubbles."

After arriving in town for this year's Seatrade Cruise Global conference, I stopped for a visit at Royal Caribbean Group's headquarters. That's where I found Schneider, the company's chief product innovation officer, laboring over a memo.

I wondered aloud what it means to be a chief product innovation officer. Before long, he abandoned his laptop, pulled out a key card and walked with me to show me The Cave and the warehouse.

"We like when we come up with a crazy idea," he said.

His job means developing innovations around hardware and destinations for Royal Caribbean, and group-wide digital innovations like apps and facial recognition tools to speed up embarkation.

He leads a "team of nerds," he said, himself included, who get comfortable trying something different. The idea behind his job, he said, is to tap his "brand nerdiness" and experiment to ensure that each new ship is the best one yet.

That's when he introduced me to microbubbles. These cold beads of bubbles, produced by compressors and pushed out under the hull, can reduce friction between the ship's hull and the surrounding water, boosting energy efficiency. If the bubbles are too warm, they dissipate with heat, but the ship can sail more efficiently on over cold microbubbles.

When Royal Caribbean introduced microbubbles on the Harmony of the Seas, they found the ship was 20% more efficient than its sister ship, the Allure of the Seas. Now the bubbles are deployed on the Wonder, Symphony Harmony, Odyssey, Spectrum and Ovation of the Seas.

Driven by the question of how cruises can better compete with land-based vacations, he said it was that kind of ingenuity that led to the creation of Royal Caribbean's private islands, like Perfect Day at Coco Cay in the Bahamas; it was in an attempt to build the "perfect day for a family," he said. At least one more island is in the works, he said.

We arrived at the door of The Cave. Through that door is a room where nearly every surface is a screen: three walls, the ceiling and the floor, he said. This is where the team explores onboard concepts as if they are guests walking through a ship's neighborhoods. They can look up, down and to the sides: are there any unintended consequences to putting those staterooms overlooking this corridor? How does it look and feel? What did they never notice when they were designing this space?

Schneider, who worked for The Walt Disney Company until he moved to Royal Caribbean Group in 2016, said The Cave was the kind of tool he used there, and where he first roamed worlds build for Star Wars attractions.

Then he showed me the warehouse where his team builds out replicas of their ideas, like entire stateroom mock-ups; a new idea for a bar; or interior cabin windows with more lifelike imitation views of the sea.

Not all of their ideas pan out, he said, alluding to the interior windows with imitation sea views or a new bar concept.

But having the space to build mockups and explore in The Cave helps the line continue to innovate during the pandemic, when they couldn't evaluate designs in person in shipyards halfway across the globe.

"In the pandemic, it was the only way to pull that off," he said.

While some ideas didn't pan out, others did. Upon hearing that teens and pre-teens wanted their own space to make friends, the team wondered whether there could be a secret door to get into such a space. So, they considered an arcade, where one video game would unlock to open a door to the next room when someone wins the game. They built a replica, tested it out and created three ways to trigger the door.

That secret door now exists on the Oasis of the Seas, although the original sits in the warehouse, like an exhibit in a museum of "crazy ideas."

More:

Dreaming up life-sized innovations in Royal Caribbean's headquarters - Travel Weekly

The cruise industry is poised for a major comeback, and Royal Caribbean sees better things to come over the next year and a half.

Speaking at Seatrade Cruise Global conference in Miami on Tuesday, Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty shared his thoughts on the prospects for emerging from the depths of the pandemic.

"We expect the back half of this year to normalize and 2023 to look and behave like the pre-Covid period," Mr. Liberty shared when asked about his thoughts of the future.

Mr. Liberty expects this to be a transitional year, with 2023 performing better than pre-pandemic, "That means all ships back up and running and full capacity."

A strong 2023 has largely been Royal Caribbean Group's plan since talking to Wall Street in February.

During the company's earnings call with investors in February, executives said they expected aa return to profitability in the second half of 2022.

Part of getting customers back is establishing confidence in the experience, "By doing our jobs and building that confidence, the desire to cruise is back to where it was before Covid."

"Throughout the pandemic, weve learned a lot about the capabilities of our organizations, especially in terms of health and safety."

Joining Mr. Liberty at the keynote event was Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald and MSC CEOPierfrancesco Vago.

Mr. Donald also thinks things are looking brighter in the near future, "The overall trajectory for the cruise industry is good its resilient and there is a tremendous amount of growth potential. The overall future for cruise is extremely bright."

The same day of the keynote, the cruise industry took a moment to celebrate some important milestones that point to more people wanting to get back on a cruise ship.

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) shared their new findings of how strong demand has been for cruises despite all the challenges.

In a statement, CLIA President and CEO Kelly Craighead talked about the recovery process, "As the industry resumes operations, passenger volume is expected to recover and surpass 2019 levels by the end of 2023, with passenger volumes projected to recover 12% above pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2026.

"Cruising is accessible, responsible, and experiential - making it the best way to see the world for people of all ages and interests. With the support of an incredibly resilient community, the future of the cruise industry is bright."

CLIA's consumer research had some interesting facts:

Read more from the original source:

Royal Caribbean Group CEO: 2023 will be better than pre-pandemic - Royal Caribbean Blog

PANAM CITY, 25 April 2022 In only five years, the complete vaccination schedule for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3) in Latin America and the Caribbean has dropped from 90 percent in 2015 to 76 percent in 2020, according to data from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and UNICEF. This implies that one in four children in the region has not received the full schedule needed to protect them from multiple potentially life-threatening diseases.

While a negative trend in vaccination coverage could already be observed prior to the pandemic, a disruption of essential health services and the fear of catching COVID-19 at a vaccination spot, have left countless children without some of the most basic vaccines.

"The decline in vaccination rates in the region is alarming and puts millions of children and adolescents at risk of dangerous yet preventable diseases," said Jean Gough, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and Caribbean. "The solution to this issue lies within the strengthening of immunization programmes and overall health systems.

The 14 percentage point drop in vaccine coverage leaves nearly 2.5 million children without the complete DTP vaccination schedule. Of them, 1.5 million are zero doses: they have not even received the first dose of that vaccine.

Dangerous setback

The more children are missed out, the easier it becomes for contagious pathogens to spread. Pockets of under and unimmunization communities can then lead to outbreaks. While in 2013 only 5 cases of diphtheria were reported in the Region, this number has jumped to almost 900 cases in 2018, respectively, according to PAHO data. Measles sets higher alarms because it is caused by a highly contagious virus: in 2013 there were almost 500 cases; but in 2019, more than 23,000 people got the disease.

"As countries recover from the pandemic, immediate actions are needed to prevent coverage rates from further dropping, because the re-emergence of disease outbreaks poses a serious risk to all of society," Gough said. This is an opportunity to restructure primary health care and reinforce the comprehensive and community approach that bring vaccines to the most vulnerable populations. We cannot lose the efforts of past decades and let dangerous diseases threaten the lives of children.

UNICEF calls on governments in Latin America and the Caribbean to urgently strengthen or re-establish routine immunization programmes, develop campaigns to increase vaccine confidence and implement plans to reach all children and adolescents and their families with vaccination services; especially to the most vulnerable who do not have access to health services, due to their geographic location, migratory status or ethnic identity.

Media contacts

Laurent DuvillierRegional Chief of CommunicationUNICEF Latin America and the CaribbeanTel: + 507 3017393Tel: + 507 6169 9886Email: lduvillier@unicef.org

Mara Alejandra BerroternCommunication OfficerUNICEF Latin America and the CaribbeanTel: +507 301 7482Tel: +507 6292 2099Email: maberroteran@unicef.org

Continued here:

1 in 4 children in Latin America and the Caribbean is missing out on life-saving vaccines - World - ReliefWeb

With the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise taking up the limelight at the moment, I take a look at how the central character became its biggest problem.

Blessedly, I havent been keeping up with the veritable shit show thats been the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard civil trial going on. Even so, the testimony has brought about some surprising nuggets of information for the entertainment crowd. Namely, weve heard some things about the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise!

Depp has confirmed he wont be returning to those films regardless of any money offered to him, though he laments being unable to give the Jack Sparrow character a proper good-bye.For years, Disney has been trying to bring back the franchise with both a sequel and spin-off/reboot of sorts in various states of development. Frankly, knowing Depp wont be coming back is a relief.

Dead Men Tell No Tales failed to revitalize the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as hoped/intended in 2017, but that doesnt mean Disney is giving up.As work on it seems to be moving in a forward direction once more, Ive been thinking about where things went wrong for the films. Dont get me wrong, in a general sense I really love the Pirates films, but theres no denying the decline in quality over the years/iterations.

While there are a few places blame can be laid, one culprit sticks out to me the most: Jack Sparrow. To be clear, Im not talking about Johnny Depp himself (thats a whole thing not worth getting into). No, Im talking about the characterJack Sparrow and how hes been used in these films.

While hes easily the most recognizable aspect to general audiences, the franchises over reliance on the character has become a crutch. A shaky, wobbly crutch thats only holding the films back at this point. Lets talk about why, shall we?

Believe it or not, the Pirates of the Caribbean movies didnt start life as Jack Sparrow movies. In fact, Sparrow was originally conceived as nothing more than a support character, whos actions and influences on the films plot/characters were meant to be more incidental than anything.

Even before Depp was brought on, however, the script made his role a tad more important, but as you watch Curse of the Black Pearl, you can see the evidence plainly. The focus is meant to be on Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightley) and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) as they form the crux of the plot and emotional elements. Theres no denying, however, the instant charisma of Jack Sparrow and how thoroughly he sucks you into the setting and story.

The Curse of the Black Pearl is still a damn good film. While Sparrow is obviously a central figure (going beyond his meager conceptual origins), its much more of an ensemble film where each character manages to pull you along in their own way until the big finale. The films didnt really start having issues until they became almost entirely Jack Sparrow movies

After the first film impressed fans and critics alike, a sequel was inevitable, but even then director Gore Verbinski knew too much Sparrow would be a bad thing. During an interview with IGN in 2007 he stated:

You dont want just the Jack Sparrow movie. Its like having a garlic milkshake. Hes the spice and you need a lot of straight men Lets not give them too much Jack. Its like too much dessert or too much of a good thing.

By and large, I feel Dead Mans Chest succeeded in many ways. Frankly, I think the lackluster finale with Worlds End unfairly drags the second film down along with it. I love Dead Mans Chest and Ive found myself returning to watch it more times than I have Black Pearl. There are so many interesting plot details laid out in the film and it manages to tease a (surprisingly) deep story/lore while still delivering incredibly fun action sequences.

In Dead Mans ChestSparrow takes a bit more of the spotlight, as his personal demons force everyone else into the plot. Even so, the ensemble nature of the first film is still very much in effect. The real shift in the focus doesnt happen until At Worlds End. In the third film, you can see the shift of the story for the franchise move dramatically.

Instead of working to tie up the story threads from the previous film and bring the trilogy to a close, there are a bunch of new elements added. Moreso, theres obvious setup put in place to carry the franchise into the future (which eventually happened). In some regards it feels like there were a few ideas dropped in the third film in order to make it more franchise friendly rather than an outright ending.

For example, despite being a major point between Sparrow and Cutler Beckett, we never learn what mark Sparrow left on the villain. Theres a lot of lore built up thats left on the table, and some seemingly introduced at the last minute without given enough opportunity to shine.

The ultimate problem with Jack Sparrow is that hes seen very little growth over the course of the franchise. The first film established him as a character with obviously problematic elements (he IS a pirate after all), but still retained some sort of moral compass throughout his journey. He was pretty much the embodiment of the concept he conveyed to Will Turner, You can accept that your father was a pirate and a good man or you cant.

You can see the scoundrel in Sparrow, understand his shadiness, but like Han Solo in Star Wars, theres more underneath all that. While many of his actions seem (and sometimes are) entirely self-serving, hes loyal to his friends and frequently sacrificed in order to protect themeventually.

We still see some of this in At Worlds End, but its also where we see the shift. Despite all hes been through (even death!) we end the trilogy with Jack Sparrow in pretty much the same spot as hes always been. The potential for character growth over the past two films didnt go anywhere.

Things only got worse as the series continued with On Stranger Tides and Dead Men Tell No Tales. The Pirates universe expanded even further, bringing in more supernatural baddies and problems to deal withAnd somehow, Jack was the catalyst for it all. He went from being the spice to the main course. These were very much Jack Sparrow movies in which new characters were forced to deal with the consequences of his actions from the past.

The problem, however, is in delving more into Sparrows past he becomes even less likable. Rather than seeing the dichotomy of the Pirate/Heart of Gold hero, we only saw how despicable he was. Moreso, the newcomers to the films (replacements for Will and Elizabeth) almost never got to experience the good side of Sparrow. Rather, they were caught up in his story/consequences, and dragged along without benefiting from his weird sense of loyalty.

Where Sparrow would once sacrifice his future for previous characters, you never get the sense he cares about the rest beyond what they can do for him. Its clear hed toss them to whatever wolves necessary to save his own ass. Again, I get hes a pirate, but his character arc was never about that in the previous films. Thus, the character devolved into one I struggled to root for. In fact, in Dead Men Tell No Tales, it reached the point where I actively wanted him to face consequences and lose.

Funny enough, I enjoy Tales quite a bit, but the fact that we see Captain Barbossa (the original villain we all hated) become such a sympathetic character is telling. He experienced the growth and character shift I once saw and expected out of Sparrow, while Jack had turned into an increasingly callous and vile pirate Barbossa started out as.

I didnt care if Jack was able to escape his current predicament and I felt bad for the side characters he was screwing over. Because the films had turned completely into Jack Sparrow movies, the overall story and engagement suffered. Tales wasnt necessarily a bad film. It delivered on much of the original films whimsy and charm to the point it became obvious what the liability actually was.

I think theres plenty of opportunity for fun adventure stories from Pirates of the Caribbean. As such Im not all that bummed about the character getting a final farewell. By pulling the focus away from Sparrow and bringing it back to high seas fun, I think Disney might finally be able to bring the series back from the abyss.

While so much of the series is rooted in his character, and many have a hard time imagining another film without him, this could be exactly whats need to finally recapture that old Pirates of the Caribbean magic.

The rest is here:

The Pirates of the Caribbean Franchise's Biggest Hurdle is Jack Sparrow - Cinelinx

Royal Caribbean has rolled back the rule requiring children to wear masks in the supervised programming areas of the cruise ship.

When Royal Caribbean dropped its mask requirement for vaccinated cruisers in late February, the only area of the ship that still required mask wearing as in Adventure Ocean, regardless of vaccination status.

As of this weekend, it appears the mask rule in Adventure Ocean has been changed.

RoyalCaribbeanBlog readerAshleyDillo posted a new posted rule on Oasis of the Seas that says masks are now optional for kids in Adventure Ocean.

"Mask wearing is optional for children participating in Adventure Ocean. However, masks are recommended for unvaccinated children 2 and up."

"Children under 2 do not need to wear a mask at any time."

Adventure Ocean is the kids camp on Royal Caribbean ships, where parents can drop their children off.

The updated mask rules for Adventure Ocean matches the general guideline for masks on ships made last week, in which Royal Caribbean said masks are optional for vaccinated guests and recommended for unvaccinated children onboard.

The change in mask wearing for Adventure Ocean tied in with the cruise line relaxing mask rules in cruise ship terminals.

Over the last couple of months, mask requirements are greatly eroded away to point now they are all but gone from cruise ships.

As cruise ships restarted operations in 2021, masks were a cornerstone of new cruise ship protocols.

It looked as though masks might have gone away as required in summer 2021, but a combination of the Delta and Omicron variants required Royal Caribbean to keep the requirement in place for much longer.

A combination of Covid cases dropping dramatically on land and Royal Caribbean opting into theU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highly vaccinated program has enabled the cruise line to progressively remove mask requirements.

Face masks are among the most visible signs of the pandemic, and the need to wear them has been a major pain point for cruise fans who want to get the cruise experience back to a sense of normalcy.

In late February, Royal Caribbean dropped the requirement to wear masks while indoors.

Just last week, the cruise line announced masks are optional in cruise ship terminals.

Now with masks not needed in Adventure Ocean, the only time you would need to wear a mask potentially on a cruise is due to local regulations, such as in a port of call the ship visits or in some cruise ship terminals as mandated by local requirements.

Read more here:

Masks are not required anymore in Adventure Ocean - Royal Caribbean Blog