Gangs attack police stations in Haiti
Explosives detonate, 2 killed:
A motorcycle packed with explosives went off in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Sunday morning, killing two people and severely injuring another, police said.
The motorcycle carried between 4 and 5 kilograms (9 to 11 pounds) of explosives when it detonated in the Board Bazaar area of Peshawar, said Kashif Abbasi, senior superintendent of police operations in Peshawar.
The explosives detonated prematurely, Abbasi added. He did not say what was the intended target.
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which is a former stronghold of the militant Pakistani Taliban group, also known as the TTP. The city has seen several deadly attacks in recent years.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered prayers for the victims. “We are fully determined to root out terrorism,” he said, according to a statement from his office. (AP)
❑ ❑ ❑ Tibetans march on Delhi streets:
Hundreds of Tibetans in exile marched on the streets of New Delhi on Sunday to commemorate the 65th Tibetan National Uprising Day against China.
Over 300 protesters gathered near India’s Parliament House and chanted slogans including “Tibet was never a part of China” and ”China should leave Tibet.”
The protesters carried Tibetan flags and photographs of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
The 88-year-old Dalai Lama has made the Indian hillside town of Dharmsala his headquarters since fleeing from Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. India considers Tibet to be part of China, though it hosts the Tibetan exiles.
The Dalai Lama denies China’s claim that he is a separatist and says he only advocates substantial autonomy and protection of Tibet’s native Buddhist culture.
The Tibetan government-in-exile in India accuses China of denying the most funda
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 10, (AP): Police and palace guards worked Saturday to retake some streets in Haiti’s capital after gangs launched massive attacks on at least three police stations.
Guards from the National Palace accompanied by an armored truck tried to set up a security perimeter around one of the three downtown stations after police fought off an attack by gangs late Friday.
Sporadic gunfire continued Saturday, and one woman writhed in pain on the sidewalk in downtown Port-auPrince with a gunshot wound after a stray bullet hit her in the leg.
The unrelenting gang attacks have paralyzed the country for more than a week and left it with dwindling supplies of basic goods. Haitian officials extended a state of emergency and nightly curfew on Thursday as gangs continued to attack key state institutions.
Dire
Caribbean leaders issued a call late Friday for an emergency meeting Monday in Jamaica on what they called Haiti’s “dire” situation. They have invited the United States, France, Canada, the U.N. and Brazil to the meeting.
Members of the Caricom regional trade bloc have been trying for months to get political actors in Haiti to agree to form an umbrella transitional unity government.
But average Haitians, many of whom have been forced from their homes by the bloody street fighting, can’t wait. The problem for police in securing government buildings is that many Haitians have streamed into them, seeking refuge.
“We are the ones who pay taxes, and we need to have shelter,” said one woman, who did not give her name for safety reasons.
mental human rights to people in Tibet and vigorously carrying out the extermination of the Tibetan identity. (AP)
❑ ❑ ❑ Zardari elected prez of Pakistan:
Pakistan’s lawmakers elected Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday as the country’s president for
Another Port-au-Prince resident, who also did not give his name, described the massive attacks Friday.
“They (the gangs) came with big guns. We have no guns and we cannot defend ourselves. All of us, the children are suffering,” said the man.
So far, efforts to broker a solution have been unsuccessful. Caricom, the 15-nation Caribbean bloc, said in a statement late Friday that “the situation on the ground remains dire.”
The Caricom statement said that while regional leaders remain deeply engaged in trying to bring opposition parties and civil society groups together to form a unity government, “the stakeholders are not yet where they need to be.”
Aware
“We are acutely aware of the urgent need for consensus to be reached,” according to the statement. “We have impressed on the respective parties that time is not on their side in agreeing to the way forward. From our reports, the situation on the ground remains dire and is of serious concern to us.”
“It is vital that this engagement be at as high a level as possible to send a clear message of unity between Caricom and the international community as we work together to provide the critical support to the Haitian people at this time of crisis for them,” said the statement.
In February, embattled Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry agreed to hold general elections by mid-2025, and the international community has tried to find some foreign armed force willing to fight gang violence there.
Caricom has also pushed Henry to announce a power-sharing, consensus government in the meantime, but the prime minister has yet to do so even as Haitian opposition parties and civil society groups are demanding his resignation.
the second time.
He is the widower of assassinated former premier Benazir Bhutto and the father of former foreign minister Bilawal BhuttoZardari.
Zardari secured 411 votes from national and provincial lawmakers. His opponent, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, who is backed
Henry, a neurosurgeon, was appointed as prime minister after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.
It was unclear whether Henry would be in Jamaica. The prime minister had traveled to Kenya to push for the U.N.-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country to fight gangs in Haiti. A Kenyan court, however, ruled in January that such a deployment would be unconstitutional.
Also: SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador:
El Salvador’s lawmakers have granted a request by President for the 24th consecutive one-month extension of an anti-gang emergency decree.
The vote by congress late Friday means that by March 27, the country will have spent a full two years under the decree, which suspends some rights.
Bukele has used emergency powers to round up 78,175 suspected gang members in sweeps that rights groups say are often arbitrary, based on a person’s appearance or where they live. The government has had to release about 7,000 people because of a lack of evidence.
The measure was approved Friday with 67 votes in the 84-seat congress, where Bukele’s party holds a majority.
The original 30-day state of emergency - approved on March 27, 2022, following a spate of 62 killings in one day - restricts the right to gather, to be informed of rights and have access to a lawyer. It extends to 15 days the time that someone can be held without charges.
El Salvador’s homicide totals have dropped from 6,656 in 2015 - an average of about 18 per day - to 18 so far this year.
In all of 2023, there were about 214 homicides, or about one every two days.
Nayib Bukele
by the party of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, received 181 votes.
The Pakistani presidency is a largely ceremonial role. Zardari was previously in the job between 2008 and 2013. Zardari was the joint candidate of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, or PML-N, party of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his other political allies.
He was the favorite to win on Saturday because of his alliance with Pakistan’s other political dynasty, the Sharifs, and his key role in talks to form a coalition government after the disputed national parliamentary election on Feb 8. (AP)
❑ ❑ ❑ ‘Indian citizens duped’:
Indian authorities on Friday said they are in talks with Russia’s government about the return of Indian citizens who were duped into working for the Russian army, a day after a federal investigation agency said it broke up a human trafficking network that lured people to Russia under the pretext of giving them jobs.
India’s foreign ministry said the government has initiated action against a network of agents who duped the men into traveling to Russia.
“We remain committed to the early release of our nationals serving as support staff with the Russian army and their eventual return home,” Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in New Delhi.
Jaiswal urged Indian citizens not to be deceived by offers by agents of support jobs with the Russian army. (AP)