International
UN reports 3,960 gang deaths in Haiti by 2023
November 29 |
A report published on Tuesday by the United Nations denounces that the violence unleashed by gangs in Haiti has left more than 3,000 people killed and thousands more injured and victims of kidnapping, and called for an expedited dispatch of a multinational force to the island.
“The situation in Haiti is catastrophic. We continue to receive reports of killings, sexual violence, displacement and other violence, including in hospitals,” said Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The senior diplomat cited the report, which covers the period between the entire period and October 2023, as showing that killings by gang groups have left 3,960 people dead, 1,432 injured and another 2,951 who “have been kidnapped in gang-related violence”.
Last October the UN Security Council approved the use of a multinational force, commanded by Kenya – without the participation of the United Nations – to assist Haitian police forces in dealing with gangs.
Shortly thereafter, the African nation’s parliament froze the mission, demanding that the training and funding conditions established at the time of announcing the dispatch of the troops be met first.
Haitians, on the other hand, are wary of an armed presence with UN consent. The Caribbean country was cholera-free until 2010, when UN peacekeepers dumped infected sewage into a river. More than 9,000 people died from the disease and some 800,000 became ill.
Tuesday’s report focuses particularly on the Bas-Artibonite district, located in the center of the Caribbean nation, about 100 km from Port-au-Prince, the capital.
In Bas-Artibonite, the report says, 1,694 people were killed as of October of this year.
Violence in Haiti has reached alarming levels since gunmen assassinated Haitian President Jovenel Moïse at his own residence in Port-au-Prince in July 2021.
Several suspects, of Colombian citizenship, as well as Haitian-Americans are either under prosecution or have already been convicted in the US in connection with the assassination.
The gangs have used sexual violence as a method of intimidating the population, the report said, something that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres himself had already denounced.
Following the report, the UN Panel of Experts on Haiti requested that the Security Council update the list of persons and entities under UN sanctions” for supporting, preparing, ordering or committing acts “that are contrary to international law.
International
Police investigate deaths of Rob Reiner and wife as apparent homicide
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is investigating the deaths of Hollywood actor and filmmaker Rob Reinerand his wife as an “apparent homicide,” amid a wave of tributes to the director of classics such as When Harry Met Sally.
According to U.S. media reports on Sunday, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were found dead at their Los Angeles mansion with what appeared to be stab wounds.
Several political figures shared messages of condolence following the reported deaths of the director of A Few Good Menand his wife.
While the LAPD did not officially confirm the identities of the victims, it stated that homicide detectives were dispatched to the Reiner residence.
“At this time, no additional details are available and the investigation into an apparent homicide is ongoing,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement posted on social media.
LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told reporters that no arrests have been made and that no individuals are currently being questioned as suspects.
“I’m not going to confirm whether anyone is being questioned at this moment or not. We are going to try to speak with as many family members as we can,” Hamilton said.
CNN reported that a family spokesperson confirmed the deaths of Reiner and his wife.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, former U.S. President Barack Obama, and former Vice President Kamala Harrisissued statements expressing their condolences.
International
U.S. and Mexico Reach Deal to Address Water Deficit Under 1944 Treaty
The United States and Mexico have reached an agreement to comply with current water obligations affecting U.S. farmers and ranchers and for Mexico to cover its water deficit to Texas under the 1944 Water Treaty, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement.
The department уточified that the agreement applies to both the current cycle and the water deficit from the previous cycle.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Mexico of failing to comply with the water-sharing treaty between the two countries, which requires the United States to deliver 1.85 billion cubic meters of water from the Colorado River, while Mexico must supply 432 million cubic meters from the Rio Grande.
Mexico is behind on its commitments. According to Washington, the country has accumulated a deficit of more than one billion cubic meters of water over the past five years.
“This violation is severely harming our beautiful crops and our livestock in Texas,” Trump wrote on Monday.
The Department of Agriculture said on Friday that Mexico had agreed to supply 250 million cubic meters of water starting next week and to work toward closing the shortfall.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, quoted in the statement, said Mexico delivered more water in a single year than it had over the previous four years combined.
Trump has said that if Mexico continues to fall short of its obligations, the United States reserves the right to impose 5% tariffs on imported Mexican products.
Mexico’s Deputy Foreign Minister for North America, Roberto Velasco, said that a severe drought in 2022 and 2023prevented the country from meeting its commitments.
International
Several people shot in attack on Brown University campus
Several people were shot on Saturday in an attack on the campus of Brown University, in the northeastern United States, local police reported.
“Shelter in place and avoid the area until further notice,” the Providence Police Department urged in a post on X. Brown University is located in Providence, the capital of the state of Rhode Island.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that he had been briefed on the situation and that the FBI was on the scene.
At 5:52 p.m. local time (11:52 p.m. GMT), Brown University said the situation was still “ongoing” and instructed students to remain sheltered until further notice.
After initially stating that the suspect had been taken into custody, Trump later posted a second message clarifying that local police had walked back that information. “The suspect has NOT been apprehended,” the U.S. president said.
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