“ A serving Prime Minister before a judge, a first for Haitian justice “, title The Nouvelliste. Until now, the Haitian justice system had only heard, for cases concerning them, former presidents or former prime ministers.
The Nouvelliste specifies that it still took more than two years of hesitation for Ariel Henry to put his hearing before the investigating judge on the agenda of the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers gave its agreement on Tuesday, December 19: the head of government, but also ministers and senior officials summoned to appear, will be able to do so, specifies daily life.
The Nouvelliste asks: what evidence or arguments does the justice system have for wanting to hear the Prime Minister, in addition to the telephone calls with at least one of the people arrested in the case? The Nouvelliste also wonders who is on the right track: the Americans, who have already convicted several defendants (most recently, former senator John Joël Joseph, sentenced to life in prison); or Haitian justice, which “ increases the number of questions without going to trial “.
Police deployment for Christmas
The National looks at the measures announced by the Haitian national police for the end of year celebrations while, writes daily life“ armed bandits have not let down their guard during these festive periods », with a large part of the capital which remains under the control of armed bands, like 80% of Haitian territory, and 1,600 police officers who have fled the country for the year 2023 alone, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti.
For these end of year celebrations, The National is particularly interested in the public transport sector, in which, in addition to “ toll booths established on national roads by gangs, transporters are quite often victims of kidnapping, murder and other crimes perpetrated by armed groups “. Police report The Nationalhas planned ” to increase the presence of law enforcement deployed in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, provincial towns and on the main roads of the territory “. But trade unionist Jacques Anderson Desroches, member of the Union Force to Save Haiti Fosah, is rather pessimistic: “ as long as these operations do not target places occupied by gangs, we cannot hope for positive results “.
Floods in northern Haiti
Northern Haiti is subject to flooding following heavy rainfall over the past two days, explains The Nouvelliste. Particularly affected are Cap-Haitien, Plaine-du-Nord, Limonade, Quartier-Morin and Acul-du-Nord. In Cap-Haïtien, specifies the newspaper, “ residents are hard hit due to lack of maintenance of water drainage networks “: several neighborhoods were submerged in the city center, ” the streets are invaded by muddy water and debris, considerably disrupting vehicle traffic “.
In Canada, visas for certain residents of Gaza
In Canada, Ottawa announces temporary visas for Gaza residents with Canadian family. Following this announcement, “ hundreds of Palestinians expected in Canada to escape violence in the Gaza Strip “, writing The Globe and Mail. They will be able to stay three years in the country, while, underlined the Minister of Immigration Marc Miller, the Israel-Hamas war “ created a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented magnitude in Gaza “.
But, specify The Montreal Gazettethe government said it could not guarantee that the affected Palestinians would be able to escape, even if, the minister said, ” we will do everything we can to help them “. “ The Rafah border is tightly controlled by Israel and Egypt, and Canada has no say in who can cross it », writes the daily, but “ Canada has provided a list of names that authorities can look into “.
In any case, this is good news for Canadian Palestinians who were putting pressure on the federal government in this direction, underlines the Toronto Star. The newspaper spoke with Ola Alanqar, a Toronto resident whose great-aunt was killed this week: “ It continues to be very difficult here, so imagine what the people of Gaza are going through “. Osma Ebid, who heads a group of a thousand Canadian-Palestinians, emphasizes that many questions still remain unanswered: are the families of asylum seekers in Canada affected by the measure? Those who want to come will be able to have passports and travel documents? Are they able to take advantage of the financial assistance put in place for displaced Ukrainians?
President Milei’s “mega-decree” in the spotlight
In Argentina, the new president, the ultraliberal Javier Milei, announced that he was going to issue a decree massively deregulating the country’s economy. It plans to modify or repeal more than 300 standards, including those on rents, privatizations and labor law. The announcement provoked a lot of reactions, including “ a strong rejection in Congress “, Or ” a majority is emerging to invalidate the decree “, title The Nationwhat ” could lead to the first major legislative rout » from the Milei government.
But, the daily specifies, it is more the form than the content that poses a problem: the opposition blocs “ most cooperative with the governmentt” consider that the majority of the articles of the decree are “ reasonable and necessary “, but these enormous changes would be implemented without going through Congress. “ We are in a Republic, the president must govern with Congress, not against Congress “said former vice-presidential candidate Miguel Angel Pichetto in Page 12.
As for the unions, it is the fundamentals that are wrong: the CGT will demonstrate next Wednesday in front of the courthouse to ask the courts to declare Javier Milei’s mega decree unconstitutional, written Clarin. THE daily recalls that demonstrations have already taken place for two days, “ casseroles », against the new president’s economic deregulation projects.
Donald Trump accused of pressuring election officials
During the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump reportedly put pressure on Michigan election officials not to validate the presidential results in their state. THE Detroit News made public a phone call from the billionaire to the two election agents on November 17, 2020: “ We can’t let these people steal our country “, Donald Trump told them. The chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, who was also on the phone call, told them: “ If you can go home tonight, don’t sign… We’ll find you lawyers “. In fact, the two assessors left without signing the documents and tried unsuccessfully to reverse their vote in favor of certification, reports the Detroit News.
Reaction from the spokesperson for Donald Trump’s campaign for the 2024 presidential election, collected by The Hill : “ Everything President Trump has done has been done as part of his duty as President of the United States to enforce the law and ensure the integrity of elections, including investigating the rigged presidential election. and volley of 2020 “.
The affair, written The Hillrecalls Donald Trump’s phone call to the Georgia Secretary of State, asking him to “ find » enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in this state.