World
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign amid low-scale civil war, bowing to international pressure
Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced Tuesday that he will resign, bowing to international pressure to do so amid turmoil that has overwhelmed the country.
In a statement released early Tuesday morning, Henry agreed to leave office once a transitional presidential council is created and an interim PM is named. The announcement came hours after officials, including Caribbean leaders and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, met in Jamaica to discuss Haiti’s spiraling crisis worsened by violent gangs burning police stations, attacking the main airport and raiding two of the country’s biggest prisons.
Some experts have described the current crisis as a low-scale civil war.
“The government that I’m running cannot remain insensitive in this situation. There is no sacrifice that is too big for our country,” Henry said in a recorded statement. “The government I’m running will remove itself immediately after the installation of the council.”
BLINKEN TO MEET WITH CARIBBEAN LEADERS AS HAITI’S VIOLENT CRISIS GROWS
Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced early Tuesday that he would be resigning from office hours after an emergency meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
It is not immediately clear who will lead Haiti out of the crisis.
Scores of people have been killed amid the violence, and more than 15,000 residents are homeless after fleeing neighborhoods that were raided by gangs. The raids resulted in the release of more than 4,000 inmates.
Food and water are also dwindling as stands and stores selling to impoverished Haitians have run out of goods.
An armed member of the G9 and Family gang patrols a roadblock in the Delmas 6 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Monday, March 11. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
The main port in Port-au-Prince remains closed, preventing containers with critical supplies from reaching those in need. Heavily armed gangs control about 80% of Port-au-Prince.
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Earlier on Monday, Blinken announced an additional $100 million to finance the deployment of a multinational force to Haiti and another $33 million in humanitarian aid.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Jamaica on Monday for emergency talks with Caribbean leaders on Haiti’s crisis. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds, Pool via AP)
During the private leadership meeting, Jimmy Chérizier, who is considered Haiti’s most powerful gang leader, said the international community would “plunge Haiti into further chaos” should it continue down its current road.
“We Haitians have to decide who is going to be the head of the country and what model of government we want,” said Chérizier, who leads the gang federation G9 Family and Allies. “We are also going to figure out how to get Haiti out of the misery it’s in now.”
Caricom, a regional trade bloc, organized the urgent meeting in Jamaica as it has pressed for months for a transitional government in Haiti.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right) is greeted by U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica, N. Nick Perry (left) at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica on Monday. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)
Guyana President Irfaan Ali said the transitional council would have seven voting members and two non-voting ones.
Henry has served the longest single-term as prime minister since Haiti’s constitution was approved in 1987.
He was sworn in as prime minister following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Iranians mourning the country’s supreme leader condemned U.S. strikes that Washington called retaliation for Iran’s attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. At a tightly controlled state funeral in Mashhad — one of Iran’s most conservative cities, where opponents of the government were unlikely to be found in the crowd — mourners voiced defiance and called for revenge.
World
Beloved musicians among victims in deadly Bahamas plane crash; aviation authority grounds flights
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A devastating double-aviation crisis in the Bahamas, including a deadly North Andros plane crash and a separate aircraft fire on Friday, prompted the government to suspend flight operations for a local airline and launch a federal safety probe.
Shortly after 1 p.m. local time Friday, a Cessna 402 aircraft with Bahamian registration departed Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau bound for San Andros Airport.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) said the plane “encountered difficulties” and crashed into bushes prior to landing.
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Authorities said 10 people were killed in a Bahamas plane crash on Friday. (Our News Bahamas via AP)
First responders, including the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Airport Authority and emergency medical personnel, rushed to the dense brush where the aircraft went down.
The Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union confirmed in a statement Saturday that 10 people died in the crash, including prominent members of the “The Pond Band” and a local DJ, whose artistry the union said “touched so many lives and helped to enrich the cultural fabric of The Bahamas.”
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis said a sole survivor was pulled from the wreckage.
“Ann and I are praying for the families who are now facing unbearable grief,” Davis wrote in a statement on X. “We are also praying for the survivor, whose recovery and care will remain in our thoughts.”
EIGHT BELIEVED DEAD AFTER B-52 CRASHES SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF FROM EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE
The identities of those killed in the crash have not yet been released.
While the AAIA’s preliminary reports initially indicated seven people were on board, officials are still establishing the facts of the flight manifest.
Just hours before the fatal crash in North Andros, a Flamingo Air flight en route to Mayaguana was forced to turn back to Nassau after the pilot reported a concern, according to the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Aviation (MoET).
After the aircraft landed and passengers safely deplaned, the plane caught fire on the runway.
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FILE – The Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate following two aircraft incidents Friday. (iStock)
Following the two back-to-back safety incidents, the Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas (CAAB) temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate, according to MoET officials.
“The suspension is a precautionary safety measure and should not be treated as an adverse compliance action against Flamingo Air,” the agency wrote in a statement.
FILE – The plane crashed in North Andros on Friday after taking off from Lynden Pindling International Airport. (Melissa Alcena/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Investigators from the AAIA and inspectors from the CAAB remain at the scene in North Andros as they work to determine what caused the Cessna 402 tragedy.
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Flamingo Air did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Published on •Updated
Moldova’s pro-European President Maia Sandu nominated businessman Vasile Tofan on Saturday as the country’s next prime minister to replace Alexandru Munteanu, who resigned earlier this month over differences with the ruling majority.
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In a video posted to social media, Sandu said Tofan’s primary responsibility, after his candidacy is approved by the country’s parliament, would be to move the country further towards its path of “integration” into the European Union.
He should also “strengthen the resilience of state institutions and society”, and “revive the economy”, added Sandu.
The Moldovan businessman now has two weeks to secure parliamentary backing, a prospect he hopes to achieve after submitting his government programme and his ministerial cabinet nominations.
Tofan had been mentioned as a possible prime minister last year even before the appointment of Munteanu.
Igor Grosu, who heads Sandu’s Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) which won the last parliamentary elections in September, announced on Friday that he had selected him as his candidate to replace the outgoing premier.
He said Tofan shared “the same objectives” as him and PAS, specifying that “EU accession in the years to come, institutional reform and economic growth”, were among the biggest points of agreement.
The nominee for prime minister, who graduated Harvard Business School and turns 44 on Sunday, has a degree in public management from the Netherlands and is a managing partner at Horizon Capital, a private equity firm with assets primarily in Ukraine and Moldova.
He has also chaired the board of directors of Moldova’s Purcari winery, considered the crown jewel of the country’s winemaking sector.
Munteanu, another businessman who like Sandu previously worked at the World Bank, had been chosen to boost the economy and bring it closer to the EU, but turbulence with PAS saw him vacate his post less than a year into holding office.
He resigned on 3 July after less than eight months, stating that he could no longer carry out his mandate “according to (his) principles and (his) convictions”.
The EU last month officially launched a first round of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. Both countries became official EU candidate countries on 23 June 2022.
Additional sources • AFP
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