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A6 WORLD NEWS
Monday 9 SepteMber 2024
Proposed resolution asks U.N. to plan for U.N. peacekeepers to

replace Kenya-led police mission in Haiti

By EDITH M. LEDERER in phases that would cost
Associated Press roughly $600 million a year.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Currently, the U.N. has $85
United States and Ecuador million in pledges for the mis-
circulated a draft resolution sion, out of which $68 million
on Friday asking the United has been received.
Nations to begin planning for The gangs have grown in
a U.N. peacekeeping opera- power since the July 7, 2021,
tion to replace the Kenya-led assassination of President Jo-
mission now in the Caribbe- venel Moïse and are now
an nation helping police to estimated to control up to
quell gang violence. 80% of the capital. The surge
The proposed Security Coun- in killings, rapes and kidnap-
cil resolution, obtained by pings has led to a violent
The Associated Press, says uprising by civilian vigilante
U.N. peacekeepers are groups.
needed "in order to sustain In February, gangs launched
the gains" made by the U.N.- coordinated attacks on po-
backed multinational mission lice stations and the main
which has seen almost 400 international airport, which
Kenyan police deploy since remained closed for nearly
June to help the Haitian Na- three months. They also
tional Police. stormed Haiti's two largest
The circulation of the short Kenyan police officers, part of a UN-backed multinational force, drive past residents in armored prisons, releasing more than
resolution to all 15 council vehicles on the streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. 4,000 inmates.
members follows U.S. Sec- Associated Press The violence subsided some-
retary of State Antony Blink- The United Nations has been other troops implicated in Some Haitians also see U.N. what before the first contin-
en's visit to Haiti on Thursday involved in Haiti on and off sexual abuse, including rape peacekeepers as an occu- gent of Kenyan police arrived
where he reaffirmed the U.S. since 1990. and the targeting hungry pying force. in late June, with Blinken not-
government's commitment A 2004 rebellion had the children. Haiti asked for an internation- ing that economic activity
to the multinational mission country on the brink of col- Since 2017, the U.N. has had al force to combat gangs has restarted in some areas
and pushed for long-await- lapse, leading to deploy- a series of small missions in in 2022, and U.N. Secretary- of Port-au-Prince, and that
ed general elections. ment of a U.N. force. It Haiti. The latest, political mis- General António Guterres joint operations have led to
America's top diplomat also helped stabilize the impover- sion, BINUH, has a mandate appealed for months for a successes including regain-
said a U.N. peacekeeping ished nation after successful to advance a Haitian-led country to lead the force ing control of Haiti's biggest
force was an option to ad- elections and a devastating political process toward before the Kenyans came public hospital.
dress a funding crisis for the 2010 earthquake that killed elections, the rule of law and forward and pledged 1,000 However, gangs continue
Kenya-led mission, which de- as many as 300,000 people human rights. police. They are expected to attack communities sur-
pends on voluntary contribu- and ended in October 2017. Many Haitians have reject- to be joined by police from rounding Port-au-Prince.
tions. The U.S. and Canada But U.N. peacekeepers left ed the proposal of another the Bahamas, Bangladesh, The draft resolution would
have provided the bulk of under a cloud, with troops peacekeeping operation, Barbados, Benin, Chad and determine that "the situation
funds so far. Peacekeeping from Nepal widely blamed given the introduction of Jamaica, bringing the multi- in Haiti continues to consti-
operations, by contrast, are for introducing cholera that cholera and sexual abuse national force to 2,500 per- tute a threat to international
funded from a special U.N. has killed about 10,000 peo- cases that occurred when sonnel.. peace and security and to
budget. ple in Haiti since 2010 and U.N. troops were last in Haiti. They would be deployed stability in the region."q

Mushrooms foraged in Sweden could

help research Chernobyl fallout

Safety Authority has asked risk. of the forest mushroom" —
mushroom-pickers to send The radiation watchdog is are closely guarded family
samples of this season's counting on the foraging secrets that could cause
harvest for testing. The goal lifestyle in Sweden, which is headaches for researchers
of the measurement proj- covered by more than 60% who need data points.
ect is to map the levels of of forest, to aid its research. "It doesn't have to be the
Cesium-137 in mushrooms, In late summer, many exact location of the most
which can absorb the iso- Swedes spend days in the secret chanterelle spot,"
tope from soil, and see how woods collecting berries, said Pål Andersson, an in-
much remains after the mushrooms and plants. vestigator at the Radiation
A golden chanterelle mushroom, shown here in Stockholm, April 26, 1986 disaster at the It's asking foragers where Safety Authority.
Sweden, on July 31, 2021. Soviet nuclear power plant they found their bounty — Mushroom-pickers are in-
Associated Press in what is now Ukraine. though they don't have to structed to send in double-
By JAN M. OLSEN and determine how much ra- Cesium, the key radioac- disclose the exact where- bagged edible fungi — at
STEFANIE DAZIO dioactive fallout remains in tive material released in abouts of the prized gold- least 100 grams (3.53 ounc-
Associated Press the Scandinavian country the fallout, has a half-life of en chanterelle mushroom. es) of fresh mushrooms, or
COPENHAGEN, Denmark 38 years after the Chernob- some 30 years. It can build Spots that regularly pro- 20 grams (0.71 ounces) of
(AP) — Sweden's strong for- yl nuclear explosion. up in the body, and high duce such chanterelles dried mushrooms — picked
aging culture could help The Swedish Radiation levels are thought to be a — often called "the gold in 2024. q