Haitians seek to flee gang-fueled anarchy as neighbours boost militaries
Port-au-Prince, Haiti/Kingston, Jamaica Reuters With no sign yet of a long-promised transitional council to usher in the deployment of international troops and restore order, Haitians who can are trying to flee the country. Violent gangs have taken over much of the capital, killed thousands, and forced millions into acute hunger. People take cover from gunfire […]
Updated: Haiti’s neighbours prepare for “drastic escalation” in violence after jailbreak
Updated 10:55am (AEDT) Port-au-Prince, Haiti Reuters Haiti’s neighbours on Monday began shoring up their defences and recalling embassy staff as a gang conflict in the Caribbean nation escalated and thousands fled fresh fighting. On Sunday, Haiti’s de facto government issued a 72-hour state of emergency and imposed nightly curfews after armed men busted thousands from […]
Haiti’s gang wars death toll doubles to nearly 5,000 in a year – UN
Port-au-Prince, Haiti Reuters The number of people reported killed as Haiti faces a worsening conflict between heavily armed gangs increased by more than 110 per cent last year to reach 4,789, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a report published on Tuesday. “I am appalled by the staggering and worsening level of gang violence,” […]
Hurricane Fiona slams Turks and Caicos as Category 3 storm
San Juan, Puerto Rico/Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Reuters Hurricane Fiona bore down on Turks and Caicos Islands on Tuesday as a powerful Category 3 storm, slamming the Caribbean archipelago with heavy rains and life-threatening flooding after cutting a path of destruction through the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. US officials said on Tuesday the storm […]
Fiona batters Dominican Republic, leaves Puerto Rico in blackout
San Juan, Puerto Rico/Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Reuters Hurricane Fiona battered the Dominican Republic on Monday with torrential rain and winds as strong as 136.79 kilometres per hour, one day after triggering a total power outage in neighboring Puerto Rico where at least one person has died. The Category 1 hurricane will likely become a […]
Hurricane Fiona makes landfall on Puerto Rico, knocking out power to island
San Juan, Puerto Rico Reuters Most of the island of Puerto Rico was without power on Sunday as Hurricane Fiona made landfall, causing severe flooding and landslides before barreling toward the Dominican Republic, a government agency said. The center of the storm made landfall on the south-western coast of Puerto Rico near Punta Tocon at […]
Dominican Republic begins building border wall with Haiti
Santo Domingo, Dominican RepublicReuters The Dominican Government on Sunday began building a wall that will cover more than half of the 392-kilometre border with Haiti, its only land neighbour, to stop irregular migration and the smuggling of goods, weapons and drugs. While the two countries share the island of Hispaniola, they are worlds apart in […]
Dominican Republic bans child marriage amid fears of global rise
Bogota, ColombiaThomson Reuters Foundation The Dominican Republic needs to change its culture so that women are seen as more than housewives for this week’s ban on child marriage to work, girls’ rights campaigners said on Thursday. The Caribbean nation has one of Latin America’s highest rates of child marriage and early unions – typically where […]
Dominican poor struggle for water as coronavirus lockdown hits supplies
Santo Domingo, Dominican RepublicThomson Reuters Foundation The Dominican Republic has plenty of water – unless, that is, you are poor. Nearly one in every two households in the Caribbean nation has no running water, relying instead on expensive private deliveries that have been badly disrupted by the coronavirus, just as they are most needed. Women […]
Millions of “invisible” stateless could be denied help if they get coronavirus
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Millions of people worldwide will be unable to get healthcare if they fall ill with coronavirus because they have no nationality, potentially exacerbating the spread of the disease, human rights campaigners said on Tuesday. They urged every country to ensure all stateless people on their territory can receive free medical assistance […]