INTERNACIONAL
Haitian gangs loot national library amid spiraling violence that has forced thousands to flee capital city
Amid a renewed surge of violence in Haiti this week, armed gangs were reported to have looted the country’s national library in the capital city of Port-au-Prince.
The library’s director, Dangelo Neard, told AFP that Haiti’s «documentary collection are in danger.»
«We have rare documents over 200 years old, with importance to our heritage, which risk being burned or damaged by bandits,» he said. «I was told that thugs are taking away the institution’s furniture. They also ransacked the building’s generator.»
Wednesday’s looting comes after assaults last week on the Ecole Normale Superieure and the National School of Arts.
CLINTONS LED HAITI’S POST-EARTHQUAKE REBUILD: SUPPORTERS CALL THEM LIFESAVERS; CRITICS ALLEGE DIRTY DEALS
UNESCO has condemned the «devastating» attacks on education and artistic institutions in Port-au-Prince.
Eric Jergenson, a former FBI agent who is now Senior Director of Security Operations Concentric Advisors, a risk management firm, told Fox News Digital that criminal gangs operating in the area typically carry out these attacks to «intimidate and/or to gain some sort of political advantage.»
SENATE VOTES TO CONFIRM US AMBASSADOR TO HAITI AMID GANG ATTEMPT TO SEIZE POWER IN CARIBBEAN COUNTRY
«Maybe they’re trying to exert their will or push an agenda of some sort,» Jergenson said. «And in this case, they’re probably… looking to intimidate or coerce the establishment to install a new government in Haiti.»
The United Nations reported Tuesday that more than 53,000 people have fled Haiti’s capital in less than three weeks to escape unrelenting gang violence. More than 60% are headed to Haiti’s rural southern region.
The southern region already hosts more than 116,000 Haitians who previously left Port-au-Prince, according to the report by the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration.
The exodus from the capital began shortly after powerful gangs launched a series of attacks on government institutions in late February. Gunmen have burned police stations, opened fire on the main international airport that remains closed and stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.
PENTAGON ALERTED TO POTENTIAL ‘MARITIME MASS MIGRATION’ FROM HAITI AMID CARIBBEAN NATION’S SPIRALING CONFLICT
More than 1,500 people have been reported killed up to March 22, and another 17,000 have been left homeless, according to the U.N.
The violence forced Prime Minister Ariel Henry to announce last month that he would resign once a transitional presidential council is created. Henry was in Kenya to push for the U.N.-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country when the attacks began, and he remains locked out of Haiti.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The transitional council, which will be responsible for choosing a new prime minister and council of ministers, has yet to materialize.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
INTERNACIONAL
Uganda starts clinical trial of vaccine for Sudan strain of Ebola amid new outbreak
- Ugandan officials confirmed an Ebola outbreak in the east African country’s capital, Kampala, last week.
- One nurse died on Jan. 29, and Ugandan authorities have confirmed two other Ebola cases as of the announcement of the outbreak.
- The World Health Organization director for Africa said Uganda has started a clinical trial of a vaccine against the Sudan strain of Ebola, for which there is currently no approved vaccine.
Uganda has begun a trial vaccination program for the strain of Ebola viral infection that is behind the country’s latest outbreak, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), while the number of confirmed cases has risen to three.
Last week, the east African country announced an outbreak of Ebola in the capital, Kampala, with a single case, a nurse who died on Jan. 29.
CDC ORDERED TO IMMEDIATELY STOP COLLABORATING WITH WHO AFTER TRUMP BEGINS PROCESS FOR US WITHDRAWAL
The total number of cases has now risen to three, with the two additional cases from the family of the deceased man, Ministry of Health spokesperson Emmanuel Ainebyoona told Reuters late on Monday.
In a post on the X platform late on Monday, Matshidiso Moeti, WHO director for Africa, said Uganda had also started a clinical trial of a vaccine against the Sudan strain of Ebola.
Currently, there is no approved vaccine for that strain. The existing vaccination is for the Zaire strain, which is behind a recent outbreak in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
«This marks a major milestone in public health emergency response and demonstrates the power of collaboration for global health security,» Moeti said. «If proven effective, the vaccine will further strengthen measures to protect communities from future outbreaks.»
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Bruce Kirenga, who heads Makerere Lung Institute, a research organization that is doing the trial, told local media during the launch of the vaccination that it had been developed by the International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and that the institute had received about 2,460 doses.
The health ministry last week said that the trial would target contacts of confirmed cases.
A high-fatality disease, Ebola infection symptoms include hemorrhage, headache and muscle pains. The virus is transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids and tissue.
-
SOCIEDAD2 días ago
Conurbano salvaje. Hallaron muertos debajo de un puente a dos adolescentes que habían desaparecido el jueves
-
POLITICA2 días ago
Denuncia judicial contra Axel Kicillof por la crisis de inseguridad en la provincia de Buenos Aires
-
POLITICA23 horas ago
Ola de calor: casi 50.000 usuarios se quedaron sin luz en el AMBA y hubo apagones en el interior
-
POLITICA1 día ago
Guillermo Francos cargó contra Kicillof tras el doble crimen de Florencio Varela: «La Provincia está incendiada por la inseguridad»
-
POLITICA8 horas ago
«Lanus en la oscuridad: Cortes de luz eternos y gestión cuestionada de Julián Álvarez»
-
POLITICA2 días ago
El arte luce sus brillos en Punta del Este