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A6 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 11 september 2024
Jamaica to deploy a limited number of soldiers and police to help

fight gangs in Haiti

By DÁNICA COTO cess.”
Associated Press He added that the mission is
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) not the only or final solution
— Jamaican Prime Minister to problems in Haiti, where
Andrew Holness announced gangs control 80% of the
Tuesday that his country capital of Port-au-Prince.
would send two dozen sol- The violence has spread to
diers and police officers to other areas across the coun-
Haiti this week to boost a try, with more than 3,200
U.N.-backed mission led by killed from January to May,
Kenya to fight violent gangs. according to the U.N. The
The 20 soldiers and four po- ongoing violence also has
lice officers are scheduled to left more than half a million
arrive Thursday and will join people homeless in recent
nearly 400 Kenyan police years.
who arrived earlier this year “Haiti is the example of what
and are working alongside could happen if states and
Haitian police and military, governments do not take the
said Vice Admiral Antonette problem seriously and put in
Wemyss-Gorman, chief of place the measures and re-
defense staff for Jamaica’s sources necessary to bring
military. the problem under control,”
The Jamaicans will be re- Holness said.
sponsible for providing com- The commander of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission Godfrey Otunge, right, and Overall, the mission is expect-
mand, planning and logistics the Haitian National Police general director Rameau Normil chat as they await the arrival of U.S. ed to have a total of 2,500
support, Holness said at a Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. Associated Press personnel, with the Bahamas,
news conference. Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin
Jamaica had pledged a to- The initial number of police Associated Press asking the there is apparently no mon- and Chad also pledging to
tal of 170 soldiers and 30 po- and soldiers announced by U.N. to start planning for a ey available to support the send police and soldiers, al-
lice officers, but Holness said Holness surprised many and U.N. peacekeeping opera- Kenyan-led mission. though it wasn’t clear when
it wasn’t possible to deploy comes at a time when the tion to replace the current “I think countries should as- that would happen.
them all at once. U.S. government has warned mission. sume responsibilities and On Saturday, the Bahamas’
“It’s not practical,” he said, that the Kenyan-led mission Such a proposal would have should come and provide foreign affairs minister, Fred
adding that facilities to host lacks money and personnel to be decided by the U.N. the necessary funding,” he Mitchell, told reporters that
those arriving and a com- as it considers a U.N. peace- Security Council, which ex- said. while the government hasn’t
mand structure need to be in keeping mission as one way perts do not believe would Holness did not comment wavered in its pledge, it’s
place before the full number to secure more resources. approve it. on the possibility of a U.N. unclear when it’ll deploy
pledged is deployed. “We In recent days, the U.N. and On Monday, U.N. Secretary- peacekeeping mission but troops to Haiti given that
want a very successful op- Ecuador circulated a draft General António Guterres said the current mission “can the mission’s dynamics have
eration.” resolution obtained by The said “it’s very strange” that be a long and extended pro- changed. q

During Brazil’s worst drought, wildfires rage and the Amazon River

falls to a record low

By FABIANO MAISONNAVE since nationwide measure- area roughly half the size of metropolitan area of 21 mil- wildfire.” On Monday, there
Associated Press ments began over seven the U.S. lion people, to breathe the was one uncontrolled wild-
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil decades ago, with 59% of Major Amazon basin rivers second most polluted air in fire in a remote area. A heli-
is enduring its worst drought the country under stress an are registering historic lows, the world after Lahore, Pak- copter was expected to ar-
and uncontrolled man- istan, according to data rive to transport firefighters.
made wildfires have rav- gathered by IQAir, a Swiss Another fire was controlled
aged protected areas and air technology company. by 80 firefighters, with sup-
spread smoke over a vast About 1,100 kilometers (683 port from two aircraft. Two
expanse, plummeting air miles) to the north, a wild- other fires were threatening
quality. fire is sweeping through to enter the park.
“This is the first time that a Chapada dos Veadeiros The blazes in one of the few
drought has covered all the National Park, one of Bra- protected areas of Cerra-
way from the North to the zil’s most famous tourism do, the Brazilian savanna,
country’s Southeast,” Ana sites. are just the latest drama
Paula Cunha, a researcher “This year, the dry season in the country beset by
at the National Center for started much earlier than in months of blazes. From the
Monitoring and Early Warn- previous years, whereas the beginning of the year until
ing of Natural Disasters, said rain season was intense yet Sept. 8, Brazil registered al-
in a statement Thursday. short,” Nayara Stacheski, most 160,000 fires, the worst
“It is the most intense and head of the park, told The year since 2010. In Panta-
Fires spread through the environmental protection area of
Pouso Alto, in Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, during dry widespread drought in his- Associated Press. “The wind nal, the world’s largest wet-
season, in Colinas do Sul, Goias state, Brazil, Monday, Sept. 9, tory.” is strong, the air humidity is land area, it has been the
2024. Smoke on Monday after- very low and it’s extremely second worst fire year on
Associated Press noon caused Sao Paulo, a hot. All this worsens the record.q