Tag: politics

Vaccinated W.House official tests positive for Covid: spokeswoman

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A vaccinated White House official has tested positive for Covid-19, a spokeswoman said Tuesday, adding that the person had not had contact with President Joe Biden or other top-level staff. “I want to confirm that yesterday a fully vaccinated White House official tested positive for Covid-19 off campus,” Biden’s press secretary Jen Psaki said at a briefing, adding that the official, who has not been identified, had mild symptoms. She […]

Confidante of Myanmar’s Suu Kyi dies after contracting Covid in junta jail

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — A confidante of deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and stalwart democracy campaigner died Tuesday after becoming infected with Covid-19 in prison, authorities said. Nyan Win, a veteran senior member and former spokesperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party — led by Suu Kyi — was 78. He had been arrested after the February 1 coup removed the NLD from power and was held in Yangon’s notorious Insein […]

New Haiti govt to be formed Tuesday, Ariel Henry as PM

by Robenson Geffrard PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — Haiti’s interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who has run the country since the assassination of president Jovenel Moise, will step down to make way for a new government headed by the man Moise handpicked days before his killing, an official said Monday. The new government — due to take over on Tuesday — will not have a president, and will be tasked with organizing fresh elections “as soon […]

75 children killed, around 1,000 detained since Myanmar coup: UN experts

  GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Dozens of children have been killed and hundreds arbitrarily detained in Myanmar since a coup more than five months ago, UN rights experts warned Friday. The UN child rights committee said it had received “credible information” that 75 children had been killed and around 1,000 arrested in Myanmar since February 1. “Children in Myanmar are under siege and facing catastrophic loss of life because of the military coup,” committee chair […]

Haitian police close net in probe of president’s murder

  by Robenson Geffrard Agence France Presse PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — The assassination of Jovenel Moise by armed mercenaries was planned in the neighboring Dominican Republic, say Haitian police, who announced the detention of the slain president’s chief bodyguard and three other members of his security detail. The apparent ease with which a hit squad entered the Haitian leader’s residence in Port-au-Prince and shot him dead, with no injuries to his bodyguards, has raised suspicions […]

Haitian police arrest assassination suspect with ‘political’ aim

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — Haitian police announced Sunday they had arrested a Haitian national “who had political objectives” in recruiting the gunmen who assassinated President Jovenel Moise last week. “This is an individual who entered Haiti on a private plane with political objectives,” said Leon Charles, head of the Haitian National Police. Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, who is of Haitian nationality, arrived in the island nation in June accompanied by several Colombians, according to details […]

Spanish PM presents govt reshuffle to king: statement

MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will announce a reshuffle of his government, composed of Socialists and the radical left Podemos, later on Saturday, according to an official statement. Sanchez “is currently at the Zarzuela Palace informing His Majesty the King of the composition of his new government,” a government statement said. Sanchez is due to formally present his new cabinet around 2:00 pm (1200 GMT). According to press reports, the five […]

Assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise: what we know

  by Robenson Geffrard with Cyril Julien in Washington Agence France Presse The assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise has plunged the impoverished Caribbean nation into crisis. Here’s what we know about the attack: – The assassination – Early Wednesday, around 1:00 am local time, gunmen attacked Moise’s heavily guarded private residence in the capital Port-au-Prince. Moise was shot dead and his wife, Martine, critically wounded. She was rushed to a local hospital and later […]

26 Colombians, 2 Americans behind Moise killing: Haiti police

  PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — At least 28 people carried out the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, Haitian police said Thursday, adding that 26 of them were Colombian and two were Americans of Haitian origin. “We have arrested 15 Colombians and the two Americans of Haitian origin. Three Colombians have been killed while eight others are on the loose,” national police director general Leon Charles said at a news conference. On Wednesday police said four […]

Assassins of president were ‘professional’ mercenaries: Haiti envoy

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The assassins Wednesday of Haiti’s president were “professional” mercenaries who disguised themselves as US agents and may have already left the country, Haiti’s ambassador to the United States said. The killers presented themselves at the residence of President Jovenel Moise as agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration but their conduct was not in keeping with forces from the US agency, Ambassador Bocchit Edmond said. “It was a well-orchestrated attack […]

Haiti police hunt down president’s assassins as uncertainty grows

by Robenson GEFFRARD PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — Haiti police killed four “mercenaries” they said were behind the assassination of President Jovenel Moise Wednesday and took two more into custody, as the impoverished and crisis-hit Caribbean nation was pitched into uncertainty. Police did not identify the suspects or say what their motives were for the gun attack on Moise and his wife Martine, who survived, at their private residence in the capital Port-au-Prince in the early […]

Key Malaysian party withdraws support for embattled PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — The biggest party in Malaysia’s ruling coalition said Thursday it was withdrawing support for the embattled prime minister and urged him to step down to make way for a new leader. It was a major blow for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who took power last year following the collapse of a reformist administration, although it was not immediately clear whether he would resign. His administration has been racked by instability […]