Financial pledge for Kenya-led multinational security mission in Haiti nears $300 million
A US statement said Canada, Benin, France and Jamaica “announced financial, personnel, and in-kind commitments to the mission” during Thursday’s meeting. Blinken later said countries committed at least another $120 million to the initiative during the meeting.
Maize farmers in US in a quandary on back of a glut that’s driven prices into the ground
Record-large harvests in the United States and Brazil, increased competition for US grain exports, and limited domestic demand led to hefty amounts of corn locked away in storage, pushing US corn prices to their lowest level since November 2020 on Wednesday.
New York AG: Trump’s properties will be auctioned unless he pays $454m civil fraud fine
Trump’s ability to pay his mounting legal debts is increasingly murky after back-to-back courtroom losses. In January, a jury ordered him to pay $83.3 million for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.
American students reeling under university loans forgiven as Biden writes off debts for 153,000
The first round of forgiveness from the SAVE plan will clear $1.2 billion in loans. The borrowers will get emails with a message from Biden notifying them that “all or a portion of your federal student loans will be forgiven because you qualify for early loan forgiveness under my Administration’s SAVE Plan.”
US censorship: First Amendment must keep pace with ‘the rise of behemoth social media platforms’
An amicus brief is filed by non-parties to a lawsuit to provide information that has a bearing on the issues and to assist the court in reaching the correct decision.
Drums of war: US tells Rwanda and Congo they must ‘walk back from the brink of war’
Congolese authorities accuse the central African country of actively supporting M23. Congo’s UN Ambassador Zenon Ngay Mukongo urged the Security Council to demand that Rwanda withdraw its troops from the country without pre-conditions, and halt all support for M23.
Samson and Delilah: Judge lays out how plot to assassinate Haitian President Moise was masterminded by his widow
Moise was shot dead when armed men broke into his Port-au-Prince bedroom on the night of July 7, 2021, a raid that left the former first lady injured. The judge’s order calls for the arrest and trial of those charged.
UN Mission in Somalia head worried about emerging terrorist threats, finalising new constitution
The UN is working with the authorities to develop a realistic plan that will ensure momentum towards one-person, one-vote is maintained. The global body has also welcomed Parliament’s approval of the procedural rules for constitutional changes.
Gaza war enters new phase as US pushes UN to back temporary ceasefire, oppose Rafah assault
Until now, Washington has been averse to the word ceasefire in any UN action on the Israel-Hamas war, but the US text echoes language that President Joe Biden said he used last week in conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mexico report sharp rise number of illegal migrants from Africa and Venezuela in 2023
Mexico’s Interior Department said year-end figures showed that nine times more migrants from Africa entered Mexico in 2023, with numbers rising from 6,672 in 2022, to 59,834 in 2023.
