With his pink button-down shirt and jeans, Johnny’s outfit seems to blend with the rest of the passersby on Washington Avenue in South Beach. But a closer look illustrates the contrast that exists in South Florida’s commercial hubs: Johnny’s clothes are worn out and he carries all of his belongings in an overflowing carriage latched to a bicycle. For the past 20 years, he has lived on the streets where others shop, eat and transit. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, people were told to stay home and to practice personal hygiene. These guides were manageable for those with roofs over their heads, but for Johnny and the almost 4,000 individuals who make up Miami-Dade’s homeless population, protecting themselves from COVID-19 suddenly became another daunting task.

In the midst of a pandemic that is strangling many businesses, Grace Piney has found a way to reinvent herself. “Times of crisis are also good times because they are times of growth,” she said. “These are the times when people have to invent solutions that may not have existed, or have to accommodate solutions according to the new conditions.” For Piney, the innovation came with a bark: Lavakan, an automatic dog spa. It’s like a mini car wash but for pets.

In 2017, the Florida-based company, ExcelCare Products, managed to place its “Mimaditos” baby wipes — a brand that was founded in Venezuela — on the shelves of the largest retailer in the United States. But what is the secret behind that achievement? According to Fabiana Vaamonde, marketing and sales manager at ExcelCare Products, the success is due in large part to the company’s participation in Walmart’s “Open Call” — an annual event through which entrepreneurs and small business owners can present their products to the company’s buyers for the opportunity to launch their merchandise in thousands of stores nationwide.

A Venezuelan attorney decided to flee her country after officials tied to the Nicolás Maduro regime threatened her and her family for refusing to obey orders to perform her work at government agencies “in an incorrect manner.” Lacking a U.S. visa, she decided to risk a trip to Mexico with her husband and son to attempt to cross the border to the United States. In the Mexican city of Nuevo Laredo, they added their names to a list of migrants waiting to apply for U.S. asylum and went into a shelter that had only one bathroom for about 40 people, sleeping on a mattress on the floor.

In Sweden, crayfish parties are held in August to commemorate the end of summer. Among the delectables and drinks, a bizarre incident occurred at the Skansen Aquarium in Stockholm: a crocodile once owned by Fidel Castro attacked a guest.

The all-women group, consisting of five nurses, a secretary, and an administrative assistant who work in the Florida Health Department clinic in Haines City in Polk County, said their jobs were endangered because they communicated in their native language.