Category World News

Two Haitians have been sanctioned by the US Treasury for their membership in the Viv Ansanm criminal alliance, one of whom is a former police officer and the other an alleged gang leader.

In a news release released on Friday, a Treasury official claimed that Kempes Sanon and Dimitri Herard had colluded with Viv Ansanm, contributing to Haiti’s upheaval.

In the US, no one can access any asset or property because of the sanctions. Additionally, they forbid entities with US addresses from collaborating with the two men.

The director of the US Office of Foreign Assets Control, Bradley T. Smith, said in a statement that “Today’s action highlights the crucial role of gang leaders and facilitators like Herard and Sanon, whose support enables Viv Ansanm’s campaign of violence, extortion, and terrorism in Haiti.

US President Donald Trump has attempted to take a hard line stance against criminal organizations in Latin America since taking office for a second term, blaming them for illegal immigration and drug trafficking on American soil.

Trump has referred to their actions as a criminal “invasion,” using nativist language to defend military action in international waters.

Trump’s crackdown included Viv Ansanm. On January 20, Trump signed an executive order establishing the definition of “foreign terrorist organizations” for his administration.

Several weeks later, that process started. In May, Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif, a different Haitian criminal organization, were added to the growing list of international criminal organizations that received the “foreign terrorist” designation.

A power vacuum has developed in Haiti since Jovenel Moise’s assassination in 2021. The last democratically elected officials to win a seat in the country held in 2016 were in 2023, and they were the last ones to win.

That has led to a public confidence crisis that gangs and other criminal networks have abused to increase their influence. One of the most powerful organizations is Viv Ansanm, a coalition of gangs with a focus in Port-au-Prince, the capital.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s executive director, Ghada Waly, warned in July that the gangs now have “near-total control of the capital,” with 90% of its territory under their control.

The country’s gang violence has caused 1.4 million people to flee, up 36% over the previous year. More than 5, 600 people died and 2, 212 were injured last year.

Herard, a former police officer, was accused of colluding with the Viv Ansanm alliance through training and the distribution of weapons in the US Treasury’s sanctions on Friday.

Herard was detained by Haitian authorities for his involvement in the Moise murder, according to the article. In 2024, he later escaped.

Sanon is credited with being the leader of the Viv Ansanm alliance’s Bel Air gang. He was cited by the Treasury as having “a significant role” in establishing Viv Ansanm’s authority and being responsible for kidnappings, killings, and extortion.

On Friday, the UN Security Council designated both Sanon and Herard in a similar fashion to the US’s sanctions. Additionally, it agreed to extend the arms embargo that Haiti’s arms embargo started in 2022.

A “gang suppression force” with a 12-month mandate to work with Haitian police and military was approved by the UNSC in September. 5, 550 people are expected to make up the force, which will be led by Kenyan-led operations to strengthen Haiti’s security forces.

The Trump administration, however, claimed on Friday that the UN’s efforts to combat gangs in Haiti were insufficient. More suspect designations were demanded, in addition.

The list is incomplete, despite our admiration for the Council’s decision to design these individuals. According to US Ambassador Jennifer Locetta, there are more enticers of Haiti’s insecurity who are avoiding accountability.

Better is what Haiti deserves. Please continue to lobby the Security Council and its affiliate organizations to make sure the sanctions lists are accurate.

As the Palestinian group calls on mediators and the international community to compel Israel to open border crossings and allow aid in, Hamas has handed over the remains of an additional captive it recovered from the ravaged Gaza Strip.

Without providing further details about where the body was recovered, Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, claimed in a statement released on Friday that its fighters had handed the remains at 11 p.m. local time (20:00 GMT).

The group claimed that an “occupation prisoner” was the source of the remains, which suggested that they belonged to an Israeli rather than one of the several other captives of various nationalities that Hamas also took on October 7, 2023.

Shortly after that, Hamas’ hands of a captive’s coffin to Israel were handed over to the Red Cross, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the country had received it.

Before the family is informed, the coffin will be moved to Israel’s Ministry of Health’s National Center for Forensic Medicine, where a formal identification procedure will be carried out.

The Israeli military urged the general public to “wait for the official identification” and act with sensitivity. Additionally, it stated that “Hamas is required to uphold the agreement and take the necessary steps to return all the deceased hostages.”

Hamas has stated that it is adhering to the terms of the US-mediated ceasefire, including the transfer of captive bodies still unaccounted for beneath Gaza’s ruin. It has repeatedly stated that it has recovered all of the bodies, but that it still needs assistance finding the bodies of the captives who have been buried beneath the rubble as a result of Israeli strikes.

According to Al Jazeera’s Hamda Salhut, who was based in Amman on Friday, “There are still 18 bodies inside Gaza.” “Hamas says they’re waiting for the assistance they need, in the form of teams on the ground and heavy machinery,” he says.

Israel is “not cooperating,” according to the statement.

Alon Liel, the ex-Israeli ambassador, claimed the country is feeling a lot of emotional pressure as it receives the bodies of the dead prisoners.

He claimed that Hamas had violated the ceasefire agreement by failing to return all of the dead’s bodies to Israel. There is a lot of rage, Liel said.

In a statement released earlier on Friday, Hamas claimed that some captives’ remains were hidden in abandoned buildings or tunnels and that heavy machinery was needed to dig through rubble to retrieve them. Israel claimed that it had not permitted any additional bulldozers into the Gaza Strip, making up the blame for the delay.

Only a small number of Palestinians attempt to clear significant amounts of rubble across the bombarded territory as a result of the war’s destruction of the majority of the heavy equipment in Gaza.

Nour Odeh, a reporter for Al Jazeera from Amman, claimed that Israel is “not cooperating with nations that are assisting us in the search for those remains.”

For instance, Turkey was prepared to send 81 experts into the body retrieval, but Israel did not permit it to do so. Additionally, it has forbidden it from providing any additional resources that might help that, Odeh said.

As Hamas searched for captives’ remains in Khan Younis’s Hamad City, a complex of apartment towers, on Friday, two bulldozers dug up pits in the earth. During the war, Israeli forces repeatedly bombarded the towers, toppling some, and troops carried out a weeklong raid there in March 2024.

If Hamas doesn’t live up to its end of the bargain and returns all 28 of the dead’s bodies, US President Donald Trump has warned Hamas that he will authorize Israel to reengage in the conflict in Gaza. Hamas has so far handed over the remains of nine captives and a tenth body that Israel claims was not a captive.

More than 10,000 slain Palestinians are still trampled across the enclave, according to Gaza’s civil defense, who returned the 10th dead on Friday. To date, only 280 items have been recovered.

Hamas has urged mediators to speed up reconstruction, facilitate the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, and ensure the flow of essential aid into Gaza. Israel is still operating in about half of the Gaza Strip as attacks continue in some areas despite the ceasefire agreement reached last week.

As he met with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, US President Donald Trump expressed optimism about the resolution of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Trump also confirmed to reporters on Friday that Zelenskyy would “be in touch” with Russian President Vladimir Putin during upcoming negotiations in Hungary.

However, direct discussions between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine are unlikely, according to Trump, who reiterated that the two presidents are at odds with one another.

Trump told reporters, “I believe we have a chance of ending the war quickly if flexibility is shown.”

Zelenskyy, for his part, cited the Trump-brokered ceasefire in Gaza and the Russian losses as indicators of a resolution.

Zelenskyy remarked, “I believe this provides the momentum to bring Russia’s war against Ukraine to a close.”

He told Trump, “Yes, we understand that Putin is not ready.” However, I have faith that we can stop this war because we really need it, and I’m confident in that.

Zelenskyy’s third trip to Washington, D.C., since Trump’s second term as president was over in January. The two presidents’ ties improved following the brief but friendly meeting.

In contrast, Zelenskyy’s initial visit, which took place in February, resulted in a contentious White House exchange. Trump insulted the president of Ukraine by telling him to stand up for him in front of reporters.

In response to Zelenskyy’s public retaliation, Vice President JD Vance alleged him of not expressing gratitude to the US for supporting Ukraine. Zelenskyy left the White House early after the meeting was ultimately cut short.

Push with a tomahawk

Trump, however, praised Zelenskyy as a “very strong leader” and praised his suit jacket on Friday.

The US president, however, refused to back Ukraine’s request for Tomahawk missiles, a type of precise, long-range projectiles Kyiv wants.

Trump said that while they are a very powerful weapon, they are also a very dangerous weapon, which could lead to significant escalation.

It “could lead to a lot of bad things happening,” he said. Hawkeyes are a significant deal. However, I must add that we also want Tomahawks. We don’t want to distribute things to protect our country.

The US president stated that he would continue to discuss the matter with Zelenskyy.

Trump made an open letter to the Ukrainian president about trading mass-produced Ukrainian drones for US Tomahawk missiles.

Zelenskyy added that Ukraine is prepared to negotiate a ceasefire through diplomatic means with Russia.

He told reporters, “We know what we need to do to get Putin to the table of negotiations.” We are ready to speak in any kind of format, whether it be bilateral or trilateral, as I previously stated. Just peace is what matters, really?

When asked if Ukraine would abandon its desire to join NATO in order to put an end to the conflict, Zelenskyy declined, stating that Kyiv still values security guarantees.

A member of NATO is protected by a mutual defense pact, which means an attack on an allies is regarded as an attack on allies. Russia has opposed the United States’ attempts to join.

However, Zelenskyy made a suggestion on Friday that Ukraine would be content with a US-US military alliance.

“Bilateral security guarantees between President Trump and me are very important to us.” Although we didn’t speak with specifics about it, he said, “This is the most significant document because the United States is very strong.”

Trump “wants to make a deal,” according to Putin.

In February 2022, Russia declared that NATO was expanding into former Soviet republics and that it had invaded Ukraine completely.

The initial stages of the offensive, which had the goal of capturing Kyiv, were successfully fought off by Ukrainian forces. However, the conflict has deteriorated into a protracted conflict centered in Ukraine’s eastern regions.

Joe Biden, a former US president, worked with Congress to secure tens of billions of dollars in military and humanitarian aid for Kyiv and declared unwavering support for the country.

Trump hasn’t been as enthusiastic about supporting Ukraine, despite promising to put an end to the conflict right away.

Instead, he has rekindled his diplomatic relations with Putin and has been urging a peaceful resolution.

However, he asserted in a significant change last month that Ukraine could win militarily and reclaim all of Russia’s territory.

The US president and Putin had a “productive” phone conversation on Thursday to set up the upcoming meeting in Hungary. In August, the two leaders had a bilateral summit in Alaska.

A reporter questioned Trump about whether Putin might be talking to Zelenskyy about extending his diplomatic ties to advance the war during their meeting on Friday.

Trump said, “I’ve been played by the best of them all my life, and I came out really well, so it’s possible – a little time.”

Who: Manchester United vs. Liverpool
What: English Premier League
Where: Anfield in Liverpool, United Kingdom
When: Sunday, October 19, at 4:30pm (15:30 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 2:30pm (13:30 GMT) in advance of our live text commentary stream.

Liverpool and Manchester United will play one of the most competitive derbies in a row on Sunday against the Premier League’s two most decorated clubs.

Under Arne Slot, who won the Premier League title last season and led the Anfield team to victory in his first year in charge, the Reds have experienced their first setback.

Since Sir Alex Ferguson left the Red Devils in 2013, the club has been under constant strain, and despite improving performances, Ruben Amorim’s performance is still disappointing.

Al Jazeera Sport examines what seems like a must-win situation for the clubs, who have won and won the English top flight title on 22 occasions but find themselves at different points in their current plights.

How will Liverpool prepare for a visit to Man Utd?

After a three-game losing streak, Liverpool manager Arne Slot called for defensive improvements ahead of Manchester United’s visit, saying “results don’t lie.”

The Premier League champions’ seven games of the season were won in all competitions, but a string of late goals tarnished their performances.

Before the international break, Liverpool lost to Chelsea, Galatasaray, and Crystal Palace, leaving them one point behind title rivals Arsenal.

After winning the title last year, Liverpool spent nearly 450 million pounds ($604 million) on signing new players, including Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, both of whom have neither yet scored a Premier League goal.

In four of Slot’s side’s seven Premier League games, the team has conceded two or more goals.

We’ve won seven games, lost three, and played ten. At his pre-game press conference on Friday, Slot stated that the three losses were “by close margins.”

“But as I keep saying, we shouldn’t be dependent on such margins,” I say.

Results don’t lie; if you lose three in a row, you need to do better. We are aware of that and must take action.

What has been the biggest challenge for Liverpool this year?

Mohamed Salah led Liverpool to the title last season thanks to his outstanding form, but the 33-year-old Egyptian has struggled to adapt to the changes made to the side since the transfer window.

Slot cited problems at set pieces and a lack of game-changing opportunities from his star-studded forward line.

We haven’t created as many chances as we did last season, and the opponent’s playing style forces us to come up with solutions, he said.

The first response was to concede more goals than we did. We need three goals if a team scores one or two goals.

“We primarily scored these goals in the first half of last year from a memorable moment for one of our front three,” said the coach. Set pieces against a low block were necessary for the second half.

We haven’t scored from set pieces this season, and we haven’t had those special moments.

A team that wants to compete is clearly far too likely to concede four goals from set pieces.

Mohamed Salah has six goals in ten games this season for Liverpool, which is acceptable for most, but for a player of his caliber, that is considered underperforming.

Salah has just four non-penalty goals in his last 24 games, totaling just 24. #LFC pic. twitter.com/DA4Uqi9b7J

How will Manchester United prepare for their trip to Liverpool?

Ruben Amorim, the manager of Manchester United, has welcomed Jim Ratcliffe’s backing, but he claimed it did not relieve the pressure of needing to quickly turn around his team’s fortunes.

Despite having a difficult first year in charge, Ratcliffe argued during the international break that Amorim should be given the full three years of his contract to demonstrate his worth at Old Trafford.

Prior to the match at Anfield, Amorim had never won back-to-back Premier League games, recording only 10 victories out of his first 34 as manager.

He has been under pressure because of that, but Ratcliffe, who hired him last year, gave some reassurance in an interview with The Times last week.

In his news conference on Friday, Amorim said, “He always tells me, sometimes with a message after games,” but you know, I know and Jim knows that football is not that.

“It’s really encouraging to hear that.” It enables our fans to understand that the leadership is aware that it will take some time, in my opinion.

“But I don’t like that because it will make us feel like we have time to work things out,” I also don’t want that feeling in our club. Although it’s encouraging to see the support, we must also demonstrate to others that we are game-ready. I’m aware that it will take some time, but I don’t want to think in that way.

United are currently in 10th place in the table, five points clear of Liverpool, who finished last season in the bottom half of the Premier League.

What transpired between Liverpool and Manchester United last time?

The teams drew 2-2 with Liverpool last year, which Amorim arguably considered Amorim’s most impressive result since taking over, and other respectable displays against prestigious clubs have come at the expense of the former Sporting coach, who claims that raises a mentality issue.

Maybe it’s because of the expectations and responsibility of winning, he said.

You must win every game when playing for a lot of clubs. Sometimes it’s challenging to play with that responsibility. We need to change that, even if Manchester United are not expected to win.

When did Liverpool last give Manchester United a win?

Few people will think that will change in United’s 100th game between the old rivals at Liverpool’s ground on Sunday, even though they are on a run of three defeats in all competitions.

Asmorim remarked, “This is one more game that we need to demonstrate our ability to play better.” In both areas, we must excel. We must win one more game, I believe.

Head-to-head

With Manchester United winning on 83 of the encounters, Liverpool have won 72 of them, making it their 218th one.

When Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford put the home team in the lead at Old Trafford in 2022, Mohamed Salah gave the Reds a late consolation, United won the league game.

Since then, United have lost three of their five league games, but they did defeat Liverpool to win the FA Cup in 2024.

news from the Liverpool team

Alisson Becker is still out with a hamstring injury, but Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch is still fit to face United despite being injured for the Netherlands during the international break.

Team news for Manchester United

Wessair Mazraoui is doubtful, while Lisandro Martinez is recovering from a knee injury.

Liverpool had a starting lineup in mind.

Mamardashvili, Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Salah, Wirtz, Ekitike, Isak, and others.

Manchester United’s lineup was anticipated.

No left-wing candidate has been cast on the ballot in Bolivia as the country’s final round of presidential elections approaches.

Since the last election, the current governing party, the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), has suffered an implosion, with party leaders splintering off and attacking one another.

Amid the fracas, MAS failed to advance a candidate to the run-off election, meaning its leadership — nearly uninterrupted since 2006 — is slated to come to an end.

In Sunday’s highly anticipated run-off, a centrist and a right-wing candidate square off.

However, the election is unlikely to fracture Bolivian politics, which have been fracturing and destabilizing for a while, as a result of a persistent economic crisis.

Who are the candidates? What issues are voters’ top priorities? What difficulties might the incoming administration face in the near future? We answer those questions and more in this brief explainer.

When is the last day to vote?

The election’s winner will be formally inaugurated on November 8 for the run-off vote on October 19.

What was the result of the first round?

The election’s conclusion itself reflects the country’s shifting and unpredictable political climate.

Despite receiving less than 10% in early polling, Rodrigo Paz, one of the two final candidates, emerged as the unexpected winner in the first round of voting. He carried more than 32 percent of the votes in the August 17 general election.

With nearly 27% of the vote, his rival, former president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, came in second.

No two candidates passed the required 50 percent or 40 percent with a 10-point margin over the closest rival in order to be elected president.

Who is Rodrigo Paz?

Senator Paz and former left-wing leader Jaime Zamora’s son are both senators.

He has worked with a number of different political parties throughout his career, but in this election he is a Christian Democratic Party candidate.

Paz has pitched himself as a more moderate voice who will embrace pro-market policies while taking a cautious approach to austerity measures. His campaign slogan reads “Capitalism for All.”

Edman Lara, a converted Christian and former police officer, quit and gained notoriety on social media for his outspoken criticism of corruption, as does his running mate.

Jorge Quiroga, who is he?

Former president and businessman Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga.

Early in his career, he worked in Texas for the multinational tech company IBM. However, his interests changed to politics, particularly in the 1990s, and he even served as Paz’s father’s finance minister in Bolivia.

Hugo Banzer, who had a military dictatorship in the 1970s, ran for president in 1997 with Quiroga as his running mate. But when Banzer was diagnosed with cancer and resigned in 2001, Quiroga succeeded him as president, serving the remainder of his term.

In his subsequent unsuccessful attempts to win the presidency, Quiroga lost in 2005, 2014, and 2020.

He is running for president of the Libre Alliance, a right-wing coalition, with a staunch pro-market campaign.

Quiroga’s running mate is Juan Pablo Velasco, a 38-year-old tech entrepreneur.

The polls’ answers: what are they?

Although polls currently favor Quiroga, analysts have pointed out that prior to the first round of voting, there had not been any evidence of support for Paz.

A poll taken between October 1 and 6 by the research firm CB Consultora found that Paz has an approval rating of 42.5 percent. Quiroga, however, has a 56% approval rating.

CB Consultora reported that protest votes, which are intended to be omitted or spoiled, are expected to rise while 75% of respondents said they would cast ballots in the run-off.

What happened to Bolivia’s left?

The left-wing MAS party, which presided over a period of robust economic growth while simultaneously reducing inequality, was a remarkable accomplishment.

Morales, who is regarded as the nation’s first indigenous president, seized control of the electoral system as a result.

But an electoral crisis in 2019 resulted in Morales fleeing the country after seeking a contested fourth term, in circumstances that his supporters have characterised as a coup.

The MAS leadership experienced a brief interruption as a result of the crisis, and the short-lived right-wing government was in charge of a deadly crackdown following the election.

When Luis Arce, Morales’ finance minister, replaced him as president in 2020, the left took over. But internal divides have critically weakened MAS, leading to Morales leaving the party.

Morales is prohibited from requesting a fourth term in courts because of an arrest warrant for alleged statutory rape. Morales has continued to support his efforts, calling the restriction on his candidacy an assault on his rights, though.

He has called upon his followers, many of whom are rural and Indigenous voters, to boycott the vote.

What are the priorities?

As Bolivians prepare to vote, concerns about the economy and the cost of living are on their minds.

High inflation and fuel shortages, along with dwindling foreign currency reserves, have been a source of hardship.

People are waiting in line for gasoline for hours, according to Kathryn Ledebur, the director of the Andean Information Network, a human rights advocacy organization in Bolivia. “Diesel, which is crucial for the transportation of other goods, is even worse.”

Polling compiled by the Americas Society/Council of the Americas (ASCOA) shows that 24 percent of Bolivians consider the economy their primary concern this election season. Another 17 percent cited price increases as a major concern, and 14 percent reported fuel shortages.

What controversy has shaped the election?

Velasco, Quiroga’s vice presidential running mate, has faced scrutiny over a series of racist social media posts he made in the past, &nbsp, celebrating violence against the country’s Indigenous population.

An Argentine social media user discovered the posts, some of which are nearly 15 years old. Since then, the posts have been verified by Bulgarian fact-checking organizations.

Velasco responded by denying that he authored the posts. The Bolivian press association issued a statement in support of the fact-checking organizations because of his further criticism of the fact-checkers.

What policies have the candidates suggested?

Both Quiroga and Paz are promising pro-market policies and a departure from the left-wing programme that has dominated Bolivian politics for the last two decades.

The only area of disagreement between the two candidates is how quickly those economic changes can be implemented.

Quiroga has stated that he will reduce funding for social programs, reduce subsidies, privatize state-owned businesses, and seek financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Paz has been more hesitant when it comes to embracing calls for austerity and steep cuts to social programmes, although he has also said that he would cut fuel subsidies.

He also questioned Bolivia’s ability to lower tariffs to encourage imports of goods that the nation does not produce itself, and expressed interest in greater integration into regional trade blocs like MERCOSUR.

What will the election mean for relations with the United States?

Bolivia’s potential for a right-wing government has been approved by US President Donald Trump’s administration.

Coexisting policies that were in conflict with MAS leadership’s efforts to grow coca, a major crop in Bolivia and the source of cocaine, had strained bilateral ties.

On October 14, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the election outright, calling it “important”.

Bolivia will hold elections later this month, according to Rubio. Both candidates running in the run-off election want strong and better relations with the United States after 25 years of hostile, anti-American governments. Another transformative opportunity there”.

Morales, a vocal critic of the US “war on drugs,” claimed in 2013 that the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) was collaborating with USAID and that it was trying to influence Bolivian politics.

Washington, DC, according to Ledebur, “was a great deal of frustration because this refuted the notion that to govern successfully you need US funding and cooperation,” was said.

Both Paz and Quiroga have said that they will seek closer ties with the US. Particularly, Quiroga has criticized left-wing governments in Latin America, including those in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua, with whom MAS had established ties.

The Trump administration is adopting a more aggressive stance in Latin America right now, using US influence to support right-wing allies in nations like Argentina and Brazil, and pushing a highly militarized strategy to combat drug trafficking.

What will the left-leaning Bolivian do next?

Bolivia’s political left is gearing up for a period of political wilderness after years of dominance.

The candidate for MAS, Eduardo del Castillo, won just 3.2 percent in the first round of voting in August. Andronico Rodriguez, a former MAS member, received 8% of the vote.

Due to Paz’s populist stance and soft approach to economic austerity, many former MAS supporters have turned to him, according to Ledebur, who believes the once-powerful left needs to rekindle internal tensions and find a new course of action.

But the forces that have powered the Bolivian left for decades, such as Indigenous and rural voting blocs, are likely to remain a formidable force, even if MAS finds itself out of power.

Ledebur claims that harsh austerity measures may result in significant protests and backlash.

She anticipates that a conflict with the new government will help bring the left together around a common cause, but it will take time.

“The left will definitely have to change something after its defeat in the election”, she said. A reconfiguration is expected, but it could take some time.