Haitian President Jovenel Moïse has been murdered and the first lady injured in an attack on their home in Port-au-Prince.
Unidentified gunmen stormed the property at 01:00 local time, interim PM Claude Joseph said.
PM Joseph has called for calm and declared a state of emergency nationwide.
Jovenel Moïse, 53, had led Haiti, one of the poorest nations in the world, since 2017 but had faced widespread protests demanding his resignation.
Haiti’s recent history has been plagued by coups, political instability and widespread gang violence.
First Lady Martine Moïse later reportedly arrived by plane in Fort Lauderdale, south Florida, for treatment. There is no official word on her condition.
Claude Joseph called the shooting of the president a “heinous, inhuman and barbaric act”, saying the attackers were “foreigners who spoke English and Spanish”. Haiti’s official languages are Creole and French.
Some reports spoke of men dressed in black carrying high-powered weapons who may have pretended to be part of a US drug enforcement operation, although no official details have been given.
Haiti’s ambassador to the US, Bocchit Edmond, said there was “no way” US drugs agents carried out the attack. He believed it was the work of “professional mercenaries”.
Addressing the nation, PM Joseph vowed the killers would be brought to justice and said the security situation was “under control”.
The state of emergency, or “state of siege”, allows for the banning of gatherings and use of the military for police roles, along with other extensions of executive powers.
PM Joseph said that “all measures have been taken to ensure continuity” and that “democracy and the republic will win”.
But questions remain about how much control PM Joseph can assert.
Haiti’s constitution says ministers, under the leadership of the prime minister, take control in the event of presidential vacancy until elections can be called.
However, that also remains unclear, as a new prime minister, Ariel Henry, was named by Jovenel Moïse just this week but has yet to be sworn in.
The US later said it believed elections should go ahead this year, to bring about a peaceful transfer of power.
The US has been Haiti’s biggest donor for 50 years but has had a fractious relationship with some of its rulers and has carried out a number of blockades and interventions.
The country has also had strong counter-narcotics ties with Haiti to try to prevent South American drugs being shipped through the nation and on to the US.
The neighboring Dominican Republic ordered the “immediate closure” of its border with Haiti.
President Jovenel Moïse, 53, had been in power since February 2017.
His time in office was rocky as he faced accusations of corruption and there were widespread demonstrations in capital Port-au-Prince and other cities earlier this year.
Haiti’s opposition said that Jovenel Moïse’s five-year term should have ended on February 7, 2021, five years to the day since his predecessor, Michel Martelly, stepped down.
However, there had been a year’s delay to elections after Michel Martelly’s departure, and Jovenel Moïse insisted he had one more year to serve as he did not take office until February 7, 2017.
Parliamentary elections should have been held in October 2019 but disputes have delayed them, meaning Jovenel Moïse had been ruling by decree.
In February 2021, on the day the opposition wanted him to leave office, President Moïse said an attempt to kill him and overthrow the government had been foiled.
Hurricane Matthew has strengthened into a Category 4 on October 1, with winds reaching up to 145mph, making its way towards Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba, forecasters say.
Matthew is the strongest Hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean since Felix back in 2007.
According to the US National Hurricane Center, the storm is expected to hit Haiti and Jamaica on October 3.
Image source Wikipedia
Haiti has begun evacuating residents from high-risk areas.
Residents have been frantically stocking up on emergency supplies.
Jamaica’s PM Andrew Holness has urged citizens to make all preparations before it is too late.
However, he told Reuters that Jamaica was prepared for the category 4 hurricane.
In Jamaica, the powerful storm is expected to bring up to 25 inches of rain, which could trigger life-threatening landslides and floods, according to forecasters.
In the capital Kingston, supermarkets were crowded with people looking for canned foods, water and flashlights.
Officials have warned the high winds could batter the country’s main tourist areas including Montego Bay in the north.
In Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, residents from outlying islands have been evacuated, and officials have banned boating.
The hurricane is expected to cause up to 40 inches of rain in Haiti.
Hurricane Matthew is expected to hit Cuba on October 4, potentially hitting the colonial city of Santiago de Cuba and the US Navy base of Guantanamo Bay.
A mandatory evacuation of non-essential personnel, including about 700 family members of military personnel, was underway at the base and everyone remaining there was being told to take shelter, the Navy said in a statement.
There are about 5,500 people living on the base, including 61 men held at the detention centre.
Cuban President Raul Castro traveled to Santiago to supervise preparations.
According to health officials, the number of suspected and confirmed cases of chikungunya virus in Caribbean countries has risen sharply over past weeks.
Tens of thousands of new cases have been reported in the Dominican Republic and its neighbor, Haiti.
There is currently no vaccine or treatment for the mosquito-borne virus which resembles dengue fever and can cause fever, skin rash and joint pain.
European health authorities have warned travelers to take extra precautions.
The number of suspected and confirmed cases of chikungunya virus in Caribbean countries has risen sharply over past weeks
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control told people travelling to the Caribbean to apply insect repellent and avoid mosquito bites.
France has detected more than 70 imported cases of chikungunya, mainly in people returning from holidays in the French Antilles.
The Centre said there was a risk the virus could spread in Europe if infected patients were bitten by mosquitoes upon their return home and those mosquitoes then infected other people.
There are also signs chikungunya is spreading further to Central and South America.
According to the latest figures released by the Pan American Heath Organization (PAHO), almost 265,000 suspected and confirmed cases have been recorded since the outbreak began in December.
More than half of those have been in the Dominican Republic, which has stepped up its fumigation efforts in an attempt to reduce the number of mosquitoes.
Health officials warn that the true numbers may be much higher as some countries have been slow in testing and reporting cases.
Chikungunya is rarely fatal but according to the PAHO, 21 people have died in the Caribbean after contracting the virus.
There have also been cases in Central America, with El Salvador the hardest hit with 1,300 suspected incidences.
Paraguay recorded its first citizen with the virus on Tuesday, but said the man had contracted it while travelling in the Dominican Republic.
Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, Haiti’s former ruler, has appeared in court for a hearing to determine if he can be charged with crimes against humanity.
It was the first time Baby Doc Duvalier, who failed to appear at previous hearings, had faced some of his alleged victims.
Jean-Claude Duvalier returned to Haiti in 2011 after spending 25 years in exile in France.
Human rights groups say hundreds of political prisoners were tortured or killed under Baby Doc Duvalier’s rule from 1971 to 1986.
Opponents and supporters of Baby Doc Duvalier turned out for the hearing, with some of his alleged victims just metres away from him in the packed courtroom.
Supporters dressed in the black and red colors symbolic of Baby Doc Duvalier’s rule chanted “Long live Duvalier” as he entered the courthouse.
Jean-Claude Duvalier’s lawyers had asked for the session to be held in private, arguing he was unwell.
The hearing was requested by his alleged victims, who want to see him stand trial for crimes against humanity.
Last year, a judge ruled that Baby Doc Duvalier should be tried for embezzling public funds but that the statute of limitations had run out on charges of murder, arbitrary arrest, torture and disappearances.
That ruling is contested by human rights organizations, which argue that under international law there is no time limit on prosecuting crimes against humanity.
Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, Haiti’s former ruler, has appeared in court for a hearing to determine if he can be charged with crimes against humanity
Baby Doc Duvalier is himself appealing against the decision to try him on any charges.
Now a three-judge panel must decide whether the former leader should face trial.
Three previous attempts to hold the hearing had to be postponed when Baby Doc Duvalier failed to turn up.
Baby Doc Duvalier was just 19 when he inherited the title of president-for-life from his father, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier, who had ruled Haiti since 1957.
Like his father, he relied on a brutal militia known as the Tontons Macoutes to control the country.
In 1986 Baby Doc Duvalier was forced from power by a popular uprising and US diplomatic pressure, and went into exile in France.
Amnesty International and the Open Society Justice Initiative have urged the Haitian authorities not to drop a rights case against former ruler Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier.
The international human rights groups said Jean-Claude Duvalier “must not evade justice” for alleged crimes against humanity.
In January 2012, a judge ruled that the alleged abuses had expired under Haiti’s statute of limitations.
An appeal hearing against that decision is due to begin on Thursday.
Jean-Claude Duvalier unexpectedly returned to Haiti in 2011 after 25 years in exile, prompting the Haitian authorities to open an investigation into crimes allegedly committed during his 1971-86 rule.
Baby Doc Duvalier has denied all the accusations against him.
A judge decided that he should stand trial for embezzling public funds but ruled that the statute of limitations had run out on charges of murder, arbitrary arrest, torture and disappearances.
Alleged victims and their relatives have appealed against this ruling.
Amnesty International and the Open Society Justice Initiative have urged the Haitian authorities not to drop a rights case against former ruler Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier
A first hearing was postponed when Jean-Claude Duvalier failed to appear in court on 31 January. He has been ordered to attend Thursday’s hearing.
International law requires that he should stand trial for alleged crimes against humanity, the Open Society Justice Initiative said.
Amnesty International has also argued that such crimes are not subject to a statute of limitations.
“With the case of Jean-Claude Duvalier, it is the whole credibility of the Haitian justice system which is at stake,” Amnesty said.
“Only by respecting the procedures in the appeal case, including thoroughly examining all evidence and hearing all the victims, will the court be able to demonstrate the professionalism and independence of the Haitian justice system.”
Jean-Claude Duvalier was just 19 when he inherited the title of president-for-life from his father, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier, who had ruled Haiti since 1957.
Like his father, Jean-Claude Duvalier relied on a brutal militia known as the Tontons Macoutes to control the country.
In 1986 Jean-Claude Duvalier was forced from power by a popular uprising and US diplomatic pressure, and went into exile in France.
High winds and driving rain are lashing the coast of Haiti as Tropical Storm Isaac moves closer to the shore.
The centre of the storm was last reported as being about 100 km from the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.
Aid groups warn that some 400,000 Haitians still living in makeshift camps after the deadly earthquake of 2010 are extremely vulnerable.
Forecasters say Isaac could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The United States National Hurricane Centre (NHCi) predicts that the storm will move near or over Cuba later on Saturday and approach the Florida Keys on Sunday.
High winds and driving rain are lashing the coast of Haiti as Tropical Storm Isaac moves closer to the shore
The storm could pose a potential threat to Florida during the US Republican National Convention.
Tropical Storm Isaac is no longer expected to become a hurricane as it hits the island of Hispaniola – the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic – but the near-hurricane strength winds and rain have the potential to cause great destruction, especially in Haiti.
“These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides,” the NHC warned.
In Haiti, people living in the makeshift squatter camps were “amongst the more vulnerable, should the storm hit the city”, humanitarian group World Vision said.
“Without a stable sanitation system or permanent housing, heavy rain and wind can create much larger problems like disease from water contamination,” the group’s Haiti director Jean-Claude Mukadi was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.
The country’s president, Michael Martelly, has toured some of the camp sites.
“It looks like the south coast is going to get hit, but again we’re so fragile here in Port-au-Prince that just some rain can cause a lot of damage,” Associated Press quoted him as saying afterwards.
Isaac is also expected to bring rain and wind to nearby Puerto Rico.
Several Cuban provinces are now on a state of alert, as are parts of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos islands.
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