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Haiti’s Prime Minister Says He’ll Resign Once Council Is Formed to Lead Country in Turmoil

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced early Tuesday that he would resign once a transitional presidential council is created, bowing to international pressure to save the country overwhelmed by violent gangs that some experts say have unleashed a low-scale civil war. Henry made the announcement hours after officials including Caribbean leaders and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Jamaica to urgently discuss a solution to halt Haiti’s spiraling crisis and agreed to a joint proposal to establish a transitional council. “The government that I’m running cannot remain insensitive in front of this situation. There is no sacrifice that is too big for our country,” Henry said in a videotaped statement. “The government I’m running will remove itself immediately after the installation of the council.” Henry has been unable to enter Haiti because the violence closed its main international airports. He had arrived in Puerto Rico a week ago, after being b
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South Korea Deploys Military Surgeons to Public Hospitals as Doctors Strike Drags On

S outh Korean authorities, increasingly desperate as over 90% of the country’s junior doctors have gone on strike, are looking to the military for help, announcing that they would start deploying military medical personnel to public hospitals to address the crippling shortage of doctors. Twenty Military surgeons and 138 public Health doctors will be sent to 20 hospitals for four weeks, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said on Sunday.  South Korea’s defense ministry said at a news briefing on Monday that it would dispatch more Military doctors to general hospitals if needed and that the deployment would not significantly affect defense operations, which has roughly 2,400 total Military doctors. Military hospitals have already accepted over 100 public patients for treatment since the strike, as part of emergency measures to cope with the absence of doctors in the country’s largest hospitals. The South Korean government is still pressuring striking doctors to return to work, having thr
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U.S. Forces Fly in to Embassy in Haiti to Evacuate Nonessential Personnel

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The U.S. Military said Sunday that it had flown in forces to beef up security at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti and allow nonessential personnel to leave. The aircraft flew to the embassy compound, the U.S. Southern Co MMA nd said, meaning that the effort involved helicopters. It was careful to point out that “no Haitians were on board the Military aircraft.” That seemed aimed at quashing any speculation that senior government officials might be leaving as the gang attacks in Haiti worsen. The neighborhood around the embassy in the capital, Port-au-Prince, is largely controlled by gangs. “This airlift of personnel into and out of the Embassy is consistent with our standard practice for Embassy security augmentation worldwide, and no Haitians were on board the Military aircraft,” according to the Southcom statement. In many cases, nonessential personnel can include the families of diplomats, but the embassy had already ordered departure for nonessential staff
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Why Ramadan Is a Time of Activism for Many Muslims

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A s the holiest month of the year for Muslims, Ramadan—which begins on the evening of March 10 in 2024 — is a time of spirituality, self-discipline, and compassion. For many who observe, that focus on compassion also translates into an increased focus on social justice and activism. “If Ramadan isn’t a month of activism, I don't know what is,” says Hassan Selim, the Imam of the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids in Iowa , an extension of the first established mosque in America. Activism can emerge in many ways. Imams like Selim raise awareness for countries and people in need during community gatherings. There are often food drives and clothing donations. Others promote global causes online, or participate in protests. Many donate. During Ramadan, according to one Hadith—a text of the words of Prophet Muha MMA d—good deeds are multiplied, and the quality of the reward in the afterlife is higher for anything done during the month. “Any deed of spiritual significance then becomes magnif
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Pakistan’s Lawmakers Pick Asif Ali Zardari as the Country’s President For a Second Time

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's lawmakers elected Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday as the country’s president for the second time. He is the widower of assassinated former premier Benazir Bhutto and the father of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. Zardari secured 411 votes from national and provincial lawmakers. His opponent, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, who is backed 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. Sharif congratulated Zardari on becoming the countr
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How Israeli and Palestinian Medical Volunteers Work Across Borders to Save Lives

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D ays before Vivian Silver was killed by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attacks, the 74-year-old Israeli-Canadian peace activist was planning to drive six critically ill Palestinian patients to a hospital in Jerusalem. A longtime member of Kibbutz Be’eri, Silver often volunteered with Road to Recovery, an Israeli NGO that enlists volunteers to drive buses of Palestinian patients who are unable to access specialized medical care in the West Bank and Gaza to Israeli hospitals. “You could see that my mother was doing something very significant for Palestinians in need of those services,” says Yonatan Zeigen, Vivian Silver’s son.  The medical administration of the occupied Palestinian territory—divided into the three regions of Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem—faced limitations in resources and expertise far before the recent outbreak of war. According to Project Rozana, close to 100,000 Palestinian patients seek specialized treatment in Israeli and East Jerusalem hospitals every year, includ
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Dragon Ball Creator Akira Toriyama Dies at 68

A kira Toriyama, creator of the beloved manga and anime  Dragon Ball , has died, his production studio said in a statement Friday. He was 68. The artist behind the long-running media franchise that popularized Japanese manga abroad, passed away on March 1 from an acute subdural hematoma, according to the statement. First appearing in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1984,  Dragon Ball  follows protagonist Son Goku’s martial arts training and quest to find the seven titular orbs and summon a wish-granting dragon. It remains one of the most successful Japanese media franchises of all time, with the Shueisha Inc.-published manga selling more than 260 million copies worldwide and spawning several anime series, video Game s and a Hollywood-produced live-action movie. His creations, which span more than 45 years, include  Dr. Slump ,  Sand Land  and the character designs for the  Dragon Quest  video Game s. News of Toriyama’s death triggered an outpouring of condolences from other artists, man
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