World
How Dominican women fight child marriage and teen pregnancy while facing total abortion bans
AZUA, Dominican Republic (AP) — It was a busy Saturday morning at Marcia González’s church. A bishop was visiting, and normally she would have been there helping with logistics, but on this day she was teaching sex education at a local school.
“I coordinate activities at the church and my husband is a deacon,” González said. “The bishop comes once a year and children are being confirmed, but I am here because this is important for my community.”
For 40 years, González and her husband have pushed for broader sex education in the Dominican Republican, one of four Latin American nations that criminalizes abortion without exceptions. Women face up to 2 years in prison for having an abortion; penalties for doctors or midwives range from 5 to 20 years.
With a Bible on its flag, the Caribbean country has a powerful lobby of Catholics and evangelicals who are united against decriminalizing abortion.
President Luis Abinader committed to the decriminalization of abortion as a candidate in 2020, but his government hasn’t acted on that pledge. For now, it depends on whether he is re-elected in May.
To help girls prevent unplanned pregnancies in this context, González and other activists have developed “teenage clubs,” where adolescents learn about sexual and reproductive rights, self-esteem, gender violence, finances and other topics. The goal is to empower future generations of Dominican women.
Outside the clubs, sex education is often insufficient, according to activists. Close to 30% of adolescents don’t have access to contraception. High poverty levels increase the risks of facing an unwanted pregnancy.
For the teenagers she mentors, González’s concerns also go beyond the impossibility of terminating a pregnancy.
According to activists, poverty forces some Dominican mothers to marry their 14 or 15-year-old daughters to men up to 50 years older. Nearly 7 out of 10 women suffer from gender violence such as incest, and families often remain silent regarding sexual abuse.
For every 1,000 adolescents between 15 and 19, 42 became mothers in 2023, according to the United Nations Population Fund. And until 2019, when UNICEF published its latest report on child marriage, more than a third of Dominican women married or entered a free union before turning 18.
Dominican laws have prohibited child marriage since 2021, but community leaders say that such unions are still common because the practice has been normalized and few people are aware of the statute.
“In my 14-year-old granddaughter’s class, two of her younger friends are already married,” González said. “Many mothers give the responsibility of their younger children to their older daughters so, instead of taking care of little boys, they run away with a husband.”
Activists hope education can help prevent girls from facing this situation.
“There are myths that people tell you when you have your period,” said Gabriela Díaz, 16, during a recent encounter organized by the Women’s Equality Center. “They say that we are dirty or we have dirty blood, but that is false. We are helping our body to clean itself and improve its functions.”
Díaz calls González “godmother,” a term applied by Plan International to community leaders who implement the programs of this UK-based organization, which promotes children’s rights.
According to its own data, San Cristóbal and Azua, where González lives, are the Dominican cities with the highest rates of teenage pregnancy and child marriage.
To address this, its clubs accept girls between 13 and 17. Each group meets 2 hours per week, welcomes up to 25 participants and is led by volunteers like González.
In San Cristobal, also in southern Dominican Republic, the National Confederation of Rural Women (CONAMUCA) sponsors teenage clubs of its own.
“CONAMUCA was born to fight for land ownership, but the landscape has changed, and we have integrated new issues, such as food sovereignty, agrarian reform, and sexual and reproductive rights,” said Lidia Ferrer, one of its leaders.
Its clubs gather 1,600 girls in 60 communities, Ferrer said. The topics they study vary from region to region, but among the recurring ones are adolescent pregnancy, early unions and feminicide.
“The starting point is our own reality,” said Kathy Cabrera, who joined CONAMUCA clubs at age 9 and two decades later takes new generations under her wing. “It’s how we live and suffer.”
Migration is increasingly noticeable in rural areas, Cabrera said. Women are forced to walk for miles to attend school or find water, and health services fail in guaranteeing their sexual and reproductive rights.
“We have a government that tells you ’Don’t have an abortion’ but does not provide the necessary contraception to avoid it.”
She has witnessed how 13-year-old girls bear the children of 65-year-old men while neither families nor authorities seem to be concerned. On other occasions, she said, parents “give away” their daughters because they cannot support them or because they discover that they are no longer virgins.
“It’s not regarded as sexual abuse because, if my grandmother got pregnant and married at an early age, and my great-grandmother too and my mother too, then it means I should too,” Cabrera said.
In southern Dominican communities, most girls can relate to this, or know someone who does.
“My sister got pregnant at 16 and that was very disturbing,” said 14-year-old Laura Pérez. “She got together with a person much older than her, and they have a baby. I don’t think that was right.”
The clubs’ dynamics change as needed to create safe and loving environments for girls to share what they feel. Some sessions kick off with relaxation exercises and others with games.
Some girls speak proudly of what they have learned. One of them mentioned she confronted her father when he said she shouldn’t cut any lemons from a tree while menstruating. Another said that her friends always go to the bathroom in groups, to avoid safety risks. They all regard their godmothers as mentors who have their backs.
“They call me to confide everything,” González said. “I am happy because, in my group, no girl has become pregnant.”
Many girls from teenage clubs have dreams they want to follow. Francesca Montero, 16, would like to become a pediatrician. Perla Infante, 15, a psychologist. Lomelí Arias, 18, a nurse.
“I want to be a soldier!” shouted Laura Pérez, the 14-year-old who wants to be careful not to following her sister’s footsteps.
“I was undecided, but when I entered CONAMUCA I knew I wanted to become a soldier. In here we see all these women who give you strength, who are like you, but as a guide,” Pérez said. “It’s like a child seeing an older person and thinking: ’When I grow up, I want to be like that.’”
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
World
Minneapolis on edge after fatal shooting of woman by ICE officer
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minneapolis was on edge Thursday following the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer taking part in the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown, with the governor calling for people to remain calm and schools canceling classes and activities as a safety precaution.
State and local officials demanded ICE leave the state after 37-year-old Renee Nicole Macklin Good was shot in the head. But Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said agents are not going anywhere.
The Department of Homeland Security has deployed more than 2,000 officers to the area in what it says is its largest immigration enforcement operation ever. Noem said more than 1,500 people have been arrested.
Macklin Good’s killing Wednesday morning in a residential neighborhood south of downtown was recorded on video by witnesses, and by the evening hundreds of people came out for a vigil to mourn her and urge the public to resist immigration enforcement. Some then chanted as they marched through the city, but there was no violence.
“I would love for ICE to leave our city and for more community members to come to see it happens,” said Sander Kolodziej, a painter who came to the vigil to support the community.
The videos of the shooting show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle. The Honda Pilot begins to pull forward, and a different ICE officer standing in front of it pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.
It is not clear from the videos if the vehicle makes contact with the officer, and there is no indication of whether the woman had interactions with ICE agents earlier. After the shooting the SUV speeds into two cars parked on a curb before crashing to a stop.
In another recording made afterward, a woman who identifies Macklin Good as her spouse is seen crying near the vehicle. The woman, who is not identified, says the couple recently arrived in Minnesota and they had a child.
Noem called the incident an “act of domestic terrorism” against ICE officers, saying the driver “attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot, to protect himself and the people around him.”
President Donald Trump made similar accusations on social media and defended ICE’s work.
Noem alleged that the woman was part of a “mob of agitators” and said the officer followed his training. She said the FBI would investigate.
But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called Noem’s version of events “garbage.”
“They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense,” Frey said. “Having seen the video myself, I wanna tell everybody directly, that is bullshit.”
He also criticized the federal deployment and said the agents should leave.
The shooting marked a dramatic escalation of the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations in major cities under the Trump administration. Wednesday’s is at least the fifth death linked to the crackdowns.
The Twin Cities have been on edge since DHS announced the operation’s launch Tuesday, at least partly tied to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.
A crowd of protesters gathered at the scene after the shooting to vent their anger at local and federal officers.
In a scene that hearkened back to crackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago, people chanted “ICE out of Minnesota” and blew whistles that have become ubiquitous during the operations.
Gov. Tim Walz said he was prepared to deploy the National Guard if necessary. He expressed outrage over the shooting but called on people to keep protests peaceful.
“They want a show,” Walz said. “We can’t give it to them.”
There were calls on social media to prosecute the officer who shot Macklin Good.
Commissioner Bob Jacobson of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said state authorities would investigate the shooting with federal authorities.
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Dell’Orto reported from St. Paul, Minnesota. Associated Press reporters Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis, Ed White in Detroit, Valerie Gonzalez in Brownsville, Texas, Mark Vancleave in Las Vegas, Michael Biesecker In Washington, Jim Mustian in New York and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
World
‘Irregular’ armed guards aboard Russian shadow tankers alarm Nordic-Baltic governments
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The seizure of a Russian-linked oil tanker in the North Atlantic has highlighted “worry” among NATO and Nordic-Baltic governments over dark fleet vessels and the type of crews onboard, according to a maritime intelligence analyst.
U.S. military and Coast Guard personnel boarded the Marinera between Iceland and the U.K. Wednesday as it operated under deceptive shipping practices, including flying a false flag and violating sanctions.
According to Reuters, Russian authorities demanded the humane treatment and repatriation of the crew members.
Windward maritime intelligence analyst Michelle Wiese Bockmann claimed the Marinera’s ownership had just been transferred to Burevestmarin LLC, a Russian company.
TREASURY TARGETS OIL TRADERS, TANKERS ACCUSED OF HELPING MADURO EVADE U.S. SANCTIONS
U.S. forces seized the Russian-flagged Marinera oil tanker in the North Atlantic Sea Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, according to the U.S. military. (US European Command)
“We do not know the status of these sailors and seafarers, who are Russian nationals,” Wiese Bockmann told Fox News Digital. “That lack of clarity is common with dark fleet tankers.
“The Marinera did have its ownership transferred to a newly formed Russian company, with the registered owner, ship manager and commercial manager being Burevestmarin LLC.”
She also suggested NATO and the Nordic-Baltic 8+ group of governments have been “worried” about sanctioned oil tankers with unauthorized personnel onboard, including “armed guards.”
WORLD’S BIGGEST OIL RESERVE HOLDER FACES US CHOKEHOLD AS TRUMP TARGETS VENEZUELA’S SHADOW TANKER FLEET
U.S. forces seized the Russian-flagged Marinera oil tanker in the North Atlantic Sea Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, according to the U.S. military. (US European Command)
“Increasingly, and I know the Nordic Baltic 8+ governments are worried about the fact that you are having unauthorized people also on board, also known as armed guards,” Wiese Bockmann said. “But it is highly irregular.
“Armed guards are rarely seen and typically used on ships that are transiting the Gulf of Aden or the Red Sea and are therefore assessed as at risk from attack by Houthis or pirates,” she added.
After the seizure, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected Russian demands for special treatment of the Marinera’s crew during her regular briefing Wednesday.
“This was a Venezuelan shadow fleet vessel that had transported sanctioned oil,” Leavitt said.
“The vessel was deemed stateless after flying a false flag, and it had a judicial seizure order. And that’s why the crew will be subject to prosecution.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it was “closely following” the situation, according to the state-run TASS news agency.
US COAST GUARD PURSUES THIRD ‘DARK FLEET’ OIL TANKER AS TRUMP TARGETS VENEZUELAN SANCTIONS EVASION NETWORK
A crude oil tanker waits its turn to be loaded with crude oil at Lake Maracaibo in Maracaibo, Zulia State, Venezuela, May 9, 2025. (Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images)
Wiese Bockmann noted that dark fleet crews are often multinational, typically involving a Russian master with Chinese, Indian or Filipino crew members.
“There is a blurring of commercial and military shipping around the dark fleet,” she said. “What we’re seeing now is something that has really only emerged in the last six or seven months.”
European authorities have also begun holding crews accountable, particularly when captains are “facilitating dangerous deceptive shipping practices, such as spoofing and going dark,” she explained.
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“The EU recently sanctioned the captain of a tanker who refused orders from the Estonian navy (Jaguar) to be stopped for inspection last May. And the French charged a captain over his refusal to comply with orders and failure to justify a flag’s nationality after authorities intercepted a dark fleet tanker in the Atlantic last October,” Wiese Bockmann added.
As previously reported by Fox News Digital, a second vessel, the M. Sophia, was also boarded in international waters near the Caribbean while en route to Venezuela.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
World
Saudi-led coalition says STC’s al-Zubaidi fled to UAE via Somaliland
DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,
Secessionist leader took a boat to Berbera and then boarded a plane that flew to Abu Dhabi via Mogadishu, coalition says.
Published On 8 Jan 2026
The Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen has announced that the leader of the secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) has fled to the United Arab Emirates via Somaliland after skipping planned peace talks in Riyadh.
In a statement on Thursday, the coalition said Aidarous al-Zubaidi “escaped in the dead of night” on Wednesday on board a vessel that departed Aden in Yemen for the port of Berbera in Somaliland.
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Al-Zubaidi then boarded a plane along with UAE officers and flew to Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. “The plane turned off its identification systems over the Gulf of Oman, then turned it back on 10 minutes prior to arrival at Al Reef military airport in Abu Dhabi,” the statement said.
There was no immediate comment from the STC or the UAE.
If confirmed, the move could deepen the feud between Saudi Arabia and the UAE that came to light after the Abu Dhabi-backed STC launched an offensive against the Riyadh-backed Yemeni government troops in December.
The STC – which initially supported Yemen’s internationally recognised government against the Houthi rebels in northern Yemen – is seeking an independent state in southern Yemen. It seized the provinces of Hadramout and Mahra, which border Saudi Arabia, in a campaign that Riyadh described as a red line for its national security.
The Saudi-led coalition responded with air strikes on the Yemeni port of Mukalla on December 30, targeting what it called a UAE-linked weapons shipment, and backed a call by Yemen’s internationally recognised government for Emirati forces to withdraw from the country.
For its part, Abu Dhabi denied that the shipment contained weapons and expressed a commitment to ensure Riyadh’s security. On the same day, it announced an end to what it called its “counterterrorism mission” in Yemen.
Yemeni government troops, backed by Saudi Arabian air attacks, went on to reclaim Hadramout and Mahra, and the STC said on Saturday that it would attend peace talks hosted by Saudi Arabia.
But the coalition said al-Zubaidi was not on board the Yemeni Air flight that took the STC delegation to Riyadh on Wednesday.
It launched strikes on al-Zubaidi’s forces in Yemen’s Dhale governorate, while Yemeni government’s ground forces moved on the STC controlled Aden and seized the presidential palace in the city.
The head of the internationally recognised government’s Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad al-Alimi, has meanwhile announced that al-Zubaidi has been removed from the council for “committing high treason”.
Al-Alimi said he has asked the country’s attorney general to launch an investigation against al-Zubaidi and take legal action.
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