French President Emmanuel Macron is among the leaders set to attend a regional summit Saturday in Iraq, with the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan and a deadly jihadist attack in Kabul overshadowing the meeting.Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II also are to attend the Baghdad summit, while the foreign ministers of arch-foes Iran and Saudi Arabia will also be present.Organizers have been tight-lipped on the agenda, but the meeting comes as Iraq, long a casualty of jihadist militancy, tries to establish itself as a mediator between Arab countries and Iran.Iraq seeks to play a “unifying role” to tackle crises shaking the region, sources close to Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi have said.Oil-rich Iraq has been caught for years in a delicate balancing act between its two main allies, Iran and the United States.Iran exerts major clout in Iraq through allied armed groups within the Hashed al-Shaabi, a powerful state-sponsored paramilitary network.Baghdad has been brokering talks since April between U.S. ally Riyadh and Tehran on mending ties severed in 2016.Macron aims to highlight France’s role in the region and its determination to press the fight against terrorism, his office said.The French president considers Iraq “essential” to stability in the troubled Middle East, it added.’More urgent than ever’An Islamic State (IS) group affiliate claimed Thursday’s suicide bombing in Kabul that killed scores of people, including 13 U.S. service members.The attack has revived global concerns that the extremist organization, which seized swathes of Syria and Iraq before being routed from both countries, is emerging anew, analysts said.According to Colin Clarke, senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, IS “still has access to tens of millions of dollars and will likely continue to rebuild its network throughout Iraq and Syria.”Its “primary goal at the moment is to have its affiliates maintain momentum until it can sufficiently rebuild its core in the Levant,” he said.”(IS) affiliates in sub-Saharan Africa and now Afghanistan will have the opportunity to make strides in the coming year.”In July, President Joe Biden said U.S. combat operations in Iraq would end this year, but that U.S. soldiers would continue to train, advise and support the country’s military in the fight against IS.Washington currently has 2,500 troops deployed to Iraq.Rasha Al Aqeedi, senior analyst at Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy, said coalition forces believed Iraq’s security personnel could prevent another IS advance.”Maybe they’re not ideal, but they’re good enough for America to leave the country believing that Iraq is not going to live through another 2014,” she said. 
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As Haiti recovers from a quake that struck the country nearly two weeks ago, relatives bury a girl near the ruins of her house. She’s among the more than 2,200 people killed by the 7.2 magnitude quake. Elsewhere, women say they fear for their safety and that of their children. More with VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo.
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​A first group of 121 evacuees from Afghanistan arrived early Friday in Albania, after the country agreed to temporarily house at-risk Afghan nationals at the request of the United States.More are expected to go to the Western Balkan country, but the timing is uncertain because of the chaos and evolving situation at the Kabul airport, as the United States and other countries race to get Americans and others out of the country ahead of an Tuesday deadline for complete withdrawal, amid the threat of more terror attacks.Officials in Albania said the first group of 121 was made up of civil society activists and others, including children and 11 babies. The flight made one stop in Tbilisi, Georgia, then departed for Albania, arriving at the country’s main airport in Tirana at 3 a.m. local time.Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama offers a gift to a boy during his visit to a resort accommodating Afghan refugees in Golem, west of Tirana, Aug. 27, 2021.They were being sheltered temporarily in three hotels near the coastal town of Durrës, about 38 kilometers (23.5 miles) from Tirana.“We have prepared for everything, including processing documentation and registration, health checks, sanitary packages, food, transportation and of course safety,” said Foreign Minister Olta Xhaçka, who welcomed the group at the airport.U.S. Ambassador to Albania Yuri Kim was also present, thanking Albania for the hospitality.Albania was one of the first countries to agree to take in at-risk Afghans, initially saying that it would house hundreds of them, later putting that figure at up to 4,000. All this past week, the flights from Kabul kept being scheduled and canceled because of the chaos at the airport.“I feel relieved that finally the first flight was able to make it, bringing the first Afghan contingent, including, men, women and children. It is truly an emotional moment, because each man, woman, child that you see here is a life saved from the horror of war,” Xhaçka said.A moral imperativeIn addition to Albania, fellow NATO member North Macedonia and Kosovo have agreed to take in at-risk Afghans.Albania and Kosovo, noting their own people’s plights, see helping with the Afghan evacuees as a moral imperative. Thirty years ago, thousands of Albanians fled to Western Europe after the fall of communism to build a better life.“It’s about who we are. It’s about also being a member of NATO and feeling the responsibility to act as part of NATO,” Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama said in an interview with CNN, urging other wealthier fellow NATO members to do more.During the Balkan conflict of the 1990s, 700,000 people from Kosovo were displaced and became refugees. President Vjosa Osmani, confirming the U.S. request, recalled that experience in a tweet early last week.Since mid-July, ?? expressed its readiness to do its part to host ??citizens, upon request by An Afghan family gathers at a resort that is accommodating Afghan refugees in Golem, Albania, Aug. 27, 2021.While the length of the Afghan evacuees’ stay in these countries remains to be seen, Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a global affairs think tank, told VOA the priority is to move them out of Afghanistan.”Right now, I think the key is to get them to a place where they are safe to begin the paperwork, the background checks, other necessary steps to process to them for refugee status and for ultimate resettlement,” he said, adding that the Biden administration “is very appreciative for any country that is willing to help out.” Ilirian Agolli contributed to this report.
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Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is heading back to England to play for the team where he became a legend.Manchester United said Friday that it had reached an agreement to bring the 36-year-old Portuguese forward back to Old Trafford, where the storied club plays.”Manchester United is delighted to confirm that the club has reached agreement with Juventus for the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo, subject to agreement of personal terms, visa and medical,” a statement from the team read.”Cristiano, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, has so far won over 30 major trophies during his career, including five Champions League titles, four FIFA Club World Cups, seven league titles in England, Spain and Italy, and the European Championship for his native Portugal.”In his first spell for Manchester United, he scored 118 goals in 292 games. Everyone at the club looks forward to welcoming Cristiano back to Manchester,” the statement concluded.Ronaldo said on Thursday that he no longer wanted to play for Juventus of the Italian league.While details of the move were not officially made public, The Associated Press said the transfer fee would be $29.5 million. Ronaldo had a year left on his contract with Juventus. His contract with United is for two years.Ronaldo played previously for Manchester United from 2003 to 2009 when he left to play for Spanish team Real Madrid before moving on to Juventus.Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who played alongside Ronaldo at the club, said, “He is the greatest player of all time, if you ask me.”“Such a tremendous human being as well. … Everyone who’s played with him, I think, has a soft spot for him,” Solskjaer said.United no doubt hopes Ronaldo can help the team win the Premier League championship, something it hasn’t done since 2013.Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
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Cuba has introduced new controls over online content deemed to affect national interests, in a move described as “Orwellian” by independent media and activists.Decree 35 was passed last week, following the biggest anti-government protests in decades, as Cubans called for better living conditions amid economic hardship and the pandemic. Details of the unrest spread in part because of social media.The new law is aimed at content or messages that Havana deems to be false news, offensive or that may incite acts “that upset public order.” Under it, anyone who tries to “subvert the constitutional order” will be considered a cyberterrorist.  A special channel also has been set up for citizens to inform on anyone who breaks the law.”Our Decree 35 goes against misinformation and cyber lies,” Reuters quoted Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel as saying.The Cuban president blamed the July 11 protests on an online campaign that he said was led by U.S.-backed counter-revolutionaries.  So far, the penalties for breaching the regulations have not been made public, but it is believed the government would fine offenders, a Cuba-based journalist who requested anonymity, said.FILE – Police detain an anti-government demonstrator during a protest in Havana, Cuba, July 11, 2021.‘Orwellian’ measuresIndependent media within Cuba and analysts have said the decree is similar to the totalitarianism described in George Orwell’s novel 1984, in which Big Brother controls every aspect of citizens’ lives.“This decree is a way of silencing any critical voices in Cuba, which may have existed after 62 years of communist rule,” Normando Hernandez, of the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press, told VOA. The Miami-based organization supports opposition media on the island.“It is a way to kill off all liberty of expression. It means even if you call a meeting, this can be construed as cyberterrorism. Any content that the government construes as against the government can be seen as a crime,” he said.No arrests under the law have been reported. But Hernandez said that many Cubans already are fearful of violating the legislation, and they are avoiding posting on social media platforms.Bertrand De La Grange, chief editor in Madrid for independent Cuban website 14ymedio, said the new decree is “Orwellian.”“They are trying to create the same totalitarian world as George Orwell described in 1984 or Animal Farm,” he told VOA.De La Grange said the government introduced further restrictions on free speech in response to the biggest demonstrations since the 1990s, which in part were caused by criticism over the high coronavirus rate.  “The fact the regime is doing this shows it is on the defensive. It is not solving any of the major problems. The COVID-19 situation is much worse than the official media say,” he added.FILE – Police scuffle with anti-government demonstrators during a protest in Havana, Cuba, July 11, 2021.As of Thursday, Cuba has more than a half-million confirmed cases and 4,500 deaths from COVID-19, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University. Its new case rate is estimated at 9,376 a day over the past week.De La Grange said 14ymedio and other independent media had managed to circumvent controls because Havana does not operate a total block on the internet in the way that China does.“This decree is a way to try to punish those who publish what the regime calls ‘fake news’ but it is what we know is the true situation,” said De La Grange.Under the new decree, the state telecommunications company can suspend access to the internet for those found to have broken the new law.Journalist Camila Acosta said that despite the regulations, Havana could not prevent millions of Cubans from accessing social media.“They can charge independent journalists like me – I have had five telephones confiscated this year alone – but they cannot possibly control millions of Cubans who access social media all the time. It is impossible,” said Acosta, who works for the news website Cubanet, and for the Spanish daily ABC.Acosta was arrested after reporting on the July demonstrations and has been placed under house arrest for six months while police investigate her case.Cuba Detains, Questions Dozens of Journalists Over Protest Coverage ‘They tried to intimidate me,’ says Cuban journalist who was detained for a week in Havana and is now under house arrest “This will make my job more difficult, but they have introduced previous legislation to attack the free media so this is not new. What is new is that it is an attempt to stop people organizing demonstrations,” Acosta told VOA from her home in Havana.‘Digital repression’Since the introduction of mobile internet a bit more than two years ago, platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram have allowed Cubans to air complaints.Havana insists that it permits free speech as long as it is “within the revolution.” But Decree 35 has alarmed Cuba civil rights campaigners, who say it uses vague language regarding what information internet users should provide to the government.The law says users should grant public security institutions the “technical facilities and services they require” and give the Communications Ministry the “information that (the ministry) determines.””We have to see the context of this. Cuba has already introduced legislation to restrict the activities of journalists and activists,” said Amnesty’s Americas director Erika Guevara-Rosas, referring to a law passed in 2019. “This new decree is not sending out a message to them, it is sending a message to the general Cuban population.” “It wants to strengthen a culture of fear among anyone who might be thinking of organizing protests or complaining about the fact you have to stand in line for hours to get basics in Cuba,” Guevara-Rosas told VOA.The communist government wanted to “formalize digital repression” in a country in which it already controls all aspects of life, Guevara-Rosas said. U.S. lawmakers, including Senator Marco Rubio, as well as foreign diplomats in Havana, have criticized the new measure.“What the dictatorship doesn’t realize is that the Cuban people have lost all fear to voice their opinions, they’ve realized the despotic nature of the regime and aren’t afraid of protesting against over 60 [years] of repression,” Rubio told VOA.Congress this month passed an amendment co-sponsored by the Republican senator from Florida to provide Cubans uncensored access to the internet.“It is now in the [U.S.] president’s hands to act upon what Congress has approved,” Rubio said.British Ambassador to Cuba Antony Stokes also voiced concern at the decree, tweeting, “Harassment, detentions against peaceful protesters, trials without due process and censorship embodied today by Decree Law 35 silence legitimate voices and violate international conventions.”
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Abuja and Moscow have signed an agreement for the former to buy nearly $1 billion in military equipment and services, Nigeria’s ambassador to Russia, Abdullahi Shehu, told VOA.The Nigerian Embassy released a statement that said the agreement “provides a legal framework for the supply of military equipment, provision of after sales services, training of personnel in respective educational establishments and technology transfer, among others.”Reuters reported in July that U.S. lawmakers had put a hold on a proposal to sell almost $1 billion worth of weapons to Nigeria over concerns about possible human rights abuses by the government.When asked if the agreement reached with Russia was influenced by the failure to secure such a deal with the U.S. government, Shehu said no.”As I stated after opening, after the signing ceremony, I said clearly that Nigeria is not looking for alternatives but complementarity and mutual benefits,” Shehu, who is in Russia, said in a telephone interview with VOA.”So the fact that Nigeria has signed agreement with Russia does not affect Nigeria’s relationship and cooperation with its strategic partners around the world.”The Nigerian ambassador added, “So to us, the signing of this agreement is in furtherance of our bilateral cooperation with the Russian Federation in this area.”The embassy statement described the pact as “a landmark development” in the countries’ bilateral relations.Shehu said training was one aspect of the military cooperation agreement between the two countries.”So I believe that as soon as the agreement comes into force, both countries will discuss what would be Nigeria’s needs and how the Russian Federation can assist Nigeria in such direction,” he said.Nigeria already uses some Russian fighter jets and helicopters, alongside military equipment purchased from Western powers such as the United States, according to Reuters.A U.S. State Department spokesperson, speaking on background, told VOA in a statement, “Nigeria is a critical partner in the fight against terrorism in Africa. … Our security cooperation with Nigeria aims to enable the Nigerian government to better protect its citizens and defeat terrorist groups that threaten U.S. interests, while respecting human rights and the law of armed conflict.”The spokesperson said U.S. military assistance included military education and training, as well as training and equipping “law enforcement and judiciary professionals” in an array of priorities, from “stopping banditry to protecting intellectual property rights to more effectively addressing trafficking in persons and gender-based violence.”Grace Alheri Abdu of VOA Hausa service and VOA’s Nike Ching at the State Department contributed to this article. Some information also came from Reuters. 
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During a surprise visit to survey earthquake damage in Haiti on Thursday, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power announced an additional $32 million in assistance for victims.”I am pleased here to announce that USAID will provide an additional $32 million as part of a broader American response to support people here affected by the earthquake,” Power told reporters during an afternoon press conference at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince.A 7.2 magnitude earthquake devastated cities in Haiti’s southwest on Aug. 14. Later that day, U.S. President Joe Biden named Power as the senior administration official to coordinate the American post-quake relief effort.Power told reporters she flew over the hardest-hit towns.”Today we had a chance to witness the impact of the earthquake and the response firsthand,” she said. “First we flew over the affected terrain. And just to see the mountains, the narrow roads, many of which were damaged or blocked with landslides, is to be reminded of the challenge of accessing many, many parts of the affected area.”Power said she had also visited the rural town of Maniche.”We stopped in Maniche and spoke with families who have been devastated by the earthquake,” she said. “According to the mayor of Maniche, of the 9,800 homes in that area, more than 5,000 were destroyed.”Power expressed concern about a “completely flattened” school, whose condition will disrupt education for hundreds of students at the start of the school year. She said she also visited a partially damaged health clinic that was “overwhelmed by need.””The needs we experienced in Maniche are being experienced, as you well know, by many families in this country,” Power said.Earthquake survivors in remote southern towns have criticized the U.S. for paying too much attention to larger cities while their needs remain unattended to.A man stands in the front yard of his home, which was completely destroyed by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Maniche, Haiti, Aug. 19, 2021. (Jean Handy Tibert/VOA)To adjust its relief effort, USAID held an hourlong online discussion with members of the Haitian diaspora in the United States on Wednesday, hearing their complaints and suggestions.Sarah Charles, assistant to the administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, told participants that aid workers were having trouble reaching remote towns in the mountains.”One of the challenges that we have right now — and I think why you’re seeing more of that assistance flow to some of the bigger towns and villages right now — is because … there are some very remote communities, particularly on some of the hillsides, that I think, to be perfectly frank, I don’t think we have reached,” Charles said.Citing security concerns, she added that USAID was relying heavily on barge and air “assets,” including helicopters, to move supplies to the area.”Because of some of that insecurity on the road from Port-au-Prince into Les Cayes in particular, it is impacting, I believe, the speed at which we’re able to get out to some of those smaller villages,” Charles said.During her press conference, Power lauded the Haitian USAID surge staff who took part in the immediate post-quake relief effort in concert with the Haitian Civil Protection first responders.”We have been able to assist or rescue through medevac more than 450 Haitians and, using U.S. government assets, deliver more than 200,000 pounds of vital aid,” Power said.
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Thursday that Tropical Storm Ida in the Caribbean Sea was likely to become a major hurricane and reach the United States on Sunday.In its latest advisory, the center said an Air Force Reserve hurricane hunter plane determined that Ida had formed and was about 160 kilometers (100 miles) west-southwest of Jamaica, moving northwest about 22 kph (14 mph).The storm had maximum sustained winds of about 65 kph (40 mph). Forecasters said they expected it to strengthen into a hurricane as it moves to the west of Cuba and into the southern Gulf of Mexico.”There is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge, damaging hurricane-force winds, and heavy rainfall Sunday and Monday, especially along the coast of Louisiana,” the hurricane center said.Forecasters fear dramatic strengthening as the storm moves over the Gulf of Mexico. On her Twitter account, Mississippi State University atmospheric scientist Kim Wood said the storm track would take it over the warmest waters in the gulf.She said the water in the area was about 30 degrees Celsius to a depth of 40 meters. “I don’t have words for that,” she said in the tweet.Such extremely warm waters favor rapid strengthening after Ida enters the gulf Friday.Forecasters said that while there was still a great deal of uncertainty, the forecast track would take the storm into Louisiana, which was hit hard by three major hurricanes last year. The hurricane center was already warning of a “life-threatening” storm surge when the storm makes landfall and the potential for damaging winds and flooding rain.Forecasters said the storm track was still coming into focus and could shift in the next several days. They urged concerned citizens in the potential path to continue to watch the storm’s movement.
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center says a tropical depression in the Caribbean Sea is likely to strengthen into a major hurricane that could threaten southern parts the United States on Sunday.
 
In its latest advisory, the center says the tropical depression about 180 kilometers south-southwest of Jamaica is moving to the northwest and is expected to continue in that direction over the next few days.  
 
The storm system has maximum sustained winds of about 55 km/h but forecasters expect it to strengthen into what will be known as Tropical Storm Ida (and then a hurricane) as it moves to the west of Cuba and into the southern Gulf of Mexico.  
 
Forecasters fear dramatic strengthening as the storm moves over the Gulf of Mexico. On her Twitter account, Mississippi State University atmospheric scientist Kim Wood said the storm track will take it over the warmest waters in the gulf.
 
She said the water in the area is about 30 degrees Celsius to a depth of 40 meters. “I don’t have words for that,” she said in the tweet.
 
Such extremely warm waters favor rapid strengthening after Ida enters the gulf Friday.  
 
Forecasters say that while there is still a great deal of uncertainty, the forecast track would take the storm into Louisiana, which was hit hard by three major hurricanes last year. The hurricane center is already warning of a “life-threatening” storm surge when the storm makes landfall and the potential for damaging winds and flooding rain.  
 
Forecasters say the storm track is still coming into focus and could shift in the next several days. They urged concerned citizens in the potential path to continue to watch the storm’s movement.
 
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With the Taliban in control of Afghanistan, the European Union is looking to Turkey to bear the brunt of an expected exodus of Afghan refugees heading to Europe. But Turkey is resisting the call.  Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
Video editor: Marcus Harton
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Ukraine, which is marking 30 years of independence this August, is among Europe’s poorest countries. But its vibrant culture and business climate have attracted many foreigners who now call Ukraine home. Among them is American investment banker Nick Piazza, who has been living in Ukraine since 2004. Iryna Solomko has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.
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Thirty years ago, a group of Soviet hard-liners attempted a coup in the Soviet Union aimed at stopping reforms started by then President Mikhail Gorbachev. The coup failed in the course of three days but put in motion events that would forever change its course. VOA’s Daria Dieguts reports.
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The European Court of Human Rights has asked Poland and Latvia to help dozens of migrants trapped at their respective borders with Belarus.
 
Neither country is allowing the migrants in, and both Poland and the Baltic states have accused Belarus of using the migrants as a political tool for revenge, specifically over European Union sanctions imposed after the Belarusian government cracked down on protesters claiming an August 2020 presidential election was rigged.
 
Polish refugee charity Ocalenie Foundation said the migrants had no drinking water and had not eaten since Tuesday, Reuters reported.
 
According to the court, Polish and Latvian authorities should “provide all the applicants with food, water, clothing, adequate medical care and, if possible, temporary shelter.”
 
The court also clarified “that this measure should not be understood as requiring that Poland or Latvia let the applicants enter their territories.”
 
Some 3,000 migrants, some of them from Iraq and Afghanistan, have attempted to enter Poland from Belarus this month, The Associated Press reported. Poland is denying them entry, and it said Monday it would build a fence to keep them out.
 
The Polish government says it has provided tents, blankets and power generators to the migrants, who remain on Belarusian territory.
 
On Tuesday, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, called for Poland to provide medical and legal support to the migrants.
 
Poland’s prime minister said Tuesday that Belarus is purposely urging migrants from the Middle East to enter Poland to destabilize the European Union.
 
“Our eastern neighbor is trying systematically, and in an organized way, to destabilize the political situation,” Mateusz Morawiecki said during a visit to the eastern town of Kuznica.After the EU had imposed its sanctions, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko warned member countries that Belarus will no longer prevent unauthorized migrants from crossing into EU territories, Reuters news agency has reported.
 Some information in this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters.
 
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Vesta Guerrier survived Haiti’s massive earthquake this month, but it flattened her home and she has since been living at a makeshift camp fearing she could be raped at any time. “We’re not safe,” she told Agence France-Presse, echoing the worry of other Haitian women all too aware of the sexual violence that has followed the disaster-plagued nation’s previous calamities.   Home for Guerrier, her husband and three children was a flimsy shelter made of sticks and plastic sheets at a sports center in the hard-hit town of Les Cayes, on the peninsula southwest of the capital Port-au-Prince. Vesta Guerrier, 48, poses for a portrait at a camp for people who lost their homes during the Aug. 14 earthquake, in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 23, 2021.”Anything can happen to us,” said Guerrier, 48, “especially at night. Anybody can enter the camp.”  The 7.2-magnitude quake that struck August 14 killed over 2,200 people but also destroyed or heavily damaged tens of thousands of homes in a nation still recovering from a devastating quake in 2010. After the tremor 11 years ago, which killed over 200,000 people, some survivors spent years in makeshift shelters where victims were assaulted by armed men and gangs of youths who roamed the poorly lit, overcrowded camps after dark. More than 250 cases of rape were recorded in the roughly five months after the 2010 disaster, according to a 2011 Amnesty International report that noted many advocacy groups considered that a small fraction of the true number.  About 200 people were living at the same camp as Guerrier, where privacy is next to impossible. Because of her worries about being attacked, Guerrier does not entirely remove her clothing to bathe and always waits until dark to wash so that others cannot see her. When light does fall on her in the darkness of the camp, she is left wondering if it’s just one of her neighbors, or if it’s “someone who wants to do what he wants to do,” she added. There were no functioning toilets at the site, which makes Guerrier afraid and embarrassed because “people can see you from every direction.” “Only the girls can understand what I’m telling you. We women and the little ones who are here, we suffer a lot,” she said.  A woman and kids rest in the shade at a camp for people who lost their home during the Aug. 14 earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 23, 2021.Other evacuees at the camp also revealed their fears.  “We are afraid. We are really afraid for our children. We need tents so we can go back to living at home with our families,” said Francise Dorismond, who is three months pregnant.  Another makeshift camp has popped up a short distance away from the main site due to the risks of attacks.  Pastor Milfort Roosevelt said “the most vulnerable” have been placed there.  “We protect the young girls. In the evening, we have set up a security team that patrols throughout the night and ensures that no young men commit violence against these women,” explained the 31-year-old.  In the ruins of a former nightclub destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in 2016, dozens of people were taking shelter in a tangle of sheets and tarps strung between walls.  In the middle of this maze, young mother Jasmine Noel tried to make a bed for her 22-day-old baby to sleep in.  “The night of the earthquake, I was going to sleep on the field next door, but they told me that with my baby, it was not right, so they welcomed me here,” Noel said.  “Some people always try to take advantage of these kinds of moments to do wrong,” she said, adding that her suffering makes it feel like she is no longer “really living.” “Our bodies are here, yes, but our souls are not,” said Noel, hoping her mother, a street vendor, would have made enough that day to buy food for them. 
 
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Russia’s central regions on Wednesday battled “extreme” wildfires fueled by an unusual heatwave that comes after forest fires linked to climate change ravaged Siberia for most of the summer.    Authorities were fighting 15 wildfires in the Urals region of Sverdlovsk, the Emergencies Ministry said.    The region — which lies on the border of Europe and Asia — faced “extreme fire hazard” due to a heatwave, it added.    Images on social media Tuesday showed flames on either side of a federal highway between regional capital Yekaterinburg and the Urals city of Perm, forcing the road shut for most of the day, according to reports.   Fires had meanwhile grown so intense in Mordovia, a region southeast of Moscow, that firefighters were forced to escape from a “ring of fire,” the ministry said Wednesday.    And in the Nizhny Novgorod region east of Moscow, nine planes provided by the emergencies ministry, the Defense Ministry and the Russian National Guard had dropped 129 tons of water onto a large wildfire spreading to neighboring Mordovia.    Authorities had deployed 1,200 firefighters to put out the blaze, the emergencies ministry said.    President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to protect the country’s forests, saying the nation must learn from the “unprecedented” wildfires that engulfed swathes of Siberia.   In the country’s largest and coldest region of Yakutia, fires have burned through an area larger than Portugal.   The emergencies ministry said Wednesday that there were 50 forest fires now burning in the region.    Officials in hard-hit regions have called for resources and economic support from Moscow to deal with the damage.   Experts blame the huge fires that have ripped across Russia’s vast territory in recent years on climate change, negligence and underfunded forestry management services.   Russia’s forestry agency says fires this year have torn through more than 173,000 square kilometers (67,000 square miles), making it the second-worst season since the turn of the century.   A former sceptic of man-made climate change, Putin has called on authorities to do everything possible to help Russians affected by the gigantic fires. 
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U.S. allies say they have no choice but to follow the American timetable and withdraw their troops from Afghanistan by August 31, despite fears that not everyone will get out in time.Several NATO allies are evacuating their citizens from Kabul airport, including eligible Afghans who worked alongside them and who are now desperate to flee. Britain, which holds the rotating presidency of the G-7 group of advanced economies, called an emergency virtual summit of the group Tuesday to discuss the crisis. Many G-7 leaders implored U.S. President Joe Biden to extend the August 31 deadline for the withdrawal of American troops. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
In this image provided by the US Marine Corps, a Marine guides families during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 23, 2021.The Taliban also said it will not allow any extension of the August 31 deadline. Therefore, U.S. allies say they are left with no choice but to follow that timetable.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said U.K. forces had already evacuated 9,000 people as of Tuesday. “We will go on right up until the last moment that we can. But you have heard what the president of the United States has had to say, you have heard what the Taliban have said. I think you have got to understand the context in which we’re doing this,” he told reporters after the summit. “We’re confident we can get thousands more out. But the situation at the airport is not getting any better, there are public order issues, it’s harrowing scenes for those who are trying to get out, and it’s tough for our military as well.”Johnson said G-7 leaders had agreed a common future approach. “We’ve got together, the leading Western powers, and agreed not just a joint approach to dealing with the evacuation, but also a road map for the way in which we’re going to engage with the Taliban, as it probably will be a Taliban government in Kabul.” Amid Fear, Criticism, Taliban Want International Recognition of ‘Representative’ RuleCritics cite reports of summary executions and restrictions on women in areas under Taliban controlThe G-7 has set conditions with safe passage for those who want to leave as the number one priority, Johnson told reporters. “Now, some of them will say that they don’t accept that and some of them, I hope, will see the sense of that because the G-7 has very considerable leverage, economic, diplomatic and political.”Several G-7 nations pledged for an increase in humanitarian aid and financial assistance for Afghanistan and its neighbors. In a press conference Tuesday, the European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc has conditionally set aside $1.2 billion for Afghanistan for the coming seven years for development aid.“I and many others stressed that the future development assistance has to be condition-based. It always is condition-based, linked to fundamental values, human rights, of course, women’s rights,” von der Leyen said. “This aid ($1.2 billion) is now frozen. And it is frozen until we have solid guarantees and credible actions on the ground that the conditions are being met.” Can Taliban Turn From Insurgency to Governing?The Taliban may discover that retaking Afghanistan may prove an easier task than ruling itThere are European concerns over the longer-term consequences of the Western withdrawal. Charles Michel, the European Council President, said the EU would not allow another migrant crisis.“We will work with the countries in the region, especially Iran, Pakistan and Central Asia, to address the different needs. International protection will be needed for those facing persecution and for other vulnerable Afghans. And EU member states will contribute to this international effort,” Michel told reporters. “Let’s be clear, let us not allow the creation of a new market for smugglers and human traffickers. And we are determined to keep the migratory flows under control and the EU’s borders protected.”The focus of the U.S. and its allies currently remains on the difficult and dangerous days ahead, as the evacuations continue amid the chaos at Kabul airport. But analysts say the abruptness of the U.S. withdrawal has also tested transatlantic alliances.“In the short term, certainly this will continue to add some of the friction. There are bridges that continually need to be rebuilt in the post-Trump era,” Indiana University’s Bell said. “But I think in the long term this won’t do much to significantly damage our (U.S.) relationship with our with our allies.”Some information for this report came from the Associated Press.
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Garry Orelien, the judge named to oversee the investigation into the slaying of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, is being criticized as inexperienced and incapable of handling the case.     Orelien replaces Judge Mathieu Chanlatte, who resigned August 13, citing personal reasons. One of Chanlatte’s assistants died under unclear circumstances the day before his resignation, The Associated Press reported.  Moise was shot to death inside his home in a luxury suburb of the capital, Port-au-Prince, in the early morning hours of July 7. His wife, Martine Moise, was injured and later transferred to Florida for treatment.  The Haitian National Police (PNH) has arrested dozens of people in connection with the case, including Haitian Americans, Colombians, members of the president’s security detail and police officers.  Orelien previously worked as a substitute judge in Saint Marc and Croix-des-Bouquets, Le Nouvelliste newspaper reported. He was moved to the Port-au-Prince court in December 2020.  Rockfeller Vincent, Haiti’s minister of justice and public security, tweeted Monday that he was making available all necessary resources to Judge Orelien to move forward with the case. “Let me be clear: All efforts will be made to arrest all individuals implicated in this crime,” he tweeted. Le MJSP a mis à la disposition du Juge d’instruction Gary Orélien tous les moyens nécessaires à la bonne conduite du dossier de l’assassinat du Président Jovenel MOÏSE. Que ceci soit clair : Tous les efforts seront déployés pour arrêter tout individu impliqué dans ce crime. 1/3— Rockfeller Vincent (@RockfellerVinc1) Haitian gang leader holds voodoo ritual for assassinated Haitian President Jovenel Moise in Port-Au-Prince, July 27, 2021.In an exclusive interview with VOA Creole Monday, Marie Rosy Auguste Ducéna, a lawyer and human rights activist, alleged that the national police are deeply implicated in the killing.  She mentioned Joseph Felix Badio, a former Haitian Justice Ministry official who has a warrant out for his arrest, as having made at least two phone calls to Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Ducéna told VOA that Badio made the phone calls on the morning that Moise was killed.  “I’d like to underline that there are 647 police officers whose principal mission is to protect the president. We can say they failed, since the president was assassinated,” Ducéna told VOA. “Secondly, there were 63 agents detailed to provide security for the president, and they had backup agents whose responsibility it was to secure the perimeter of the president’s residence. However, they allowed the commandos to gain access to the home. Why? Because they had been paid off.”  The RNDDH report also alleges that PNH Director General Leon Charles received two urgent phone calls from Moise the day of his assassination, but the report says Charles never responded.  VOA Creole’s calls to Henry and Charles requesting comment were not answered.  In Washington, Ricardo Zuniga, U.S. special envoy for the Northern Triangle at the State Department’s Bureau for Western Hemisphere Affairs, told VOA that the United States is still assisting Haiti with the Moise investigation.    “What we have is a promise from the United States to contribute to and collaborate with the Haitian officials leading the investigation,” Zuniga, speaking Spanish, told VOA Monday. “What is important going forward is that this be a Haitian-led effort. So, the United States, along with our international partners, will continue to do whatever we can to help the Haitian officials move forward with the case.”     Asked by VOA if U.S. President Joe Biden plans to invite Henry to the White House for talks, Zuniga instead addressed the recent earthquake in Haiti, which killed more than 2,200 people.   “Right now, the focus of the new prime minister and the Biden administration is dealing with the current crisis,” Zuniga said of the post-earthquake recovery effort. “So, it’s clear that we need to collaborate in order to relieve the suffering of the Haitian people. That is our focus.”     Meanwhile, in Port-au-Prince, ordinary citizens are expressing doubt about whether Moise’s killer will ever be brought to justice.   Contributed to this report Cristina Caicedo Smit, Jacquelin Belizaire.      Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
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Five members of an Afghan girls robotics team have arrived in Mexico after evacuating from their home country. The girls landed in Mexico City on Tuesday night and were welcomed at the airport by Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard. “We received the first applicants for humanitarian status in Mexico from Afghanistan,” Ebrard tweeted late Tuesday. “They are part of a robotics team from that country and uphold a dream: a world with gender equality.”An Afghan woman, member of the Afghanistan Robotic team, is seen during a press conference after her arrival to Mexico after asking for refuge, at the Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City, on August 24, 2021.The robotics team made up of girls and women as young as 14 years old gained attention in 2017 when they traveled to the United States to take part in an international competition. Last year, they worked to develop an open-source, low-cost ventilator as hospitals in many countries faced shortages of equipment to help coronavirus patients. The Associated Press quoted one team member Tuesday saying the team was grateful to Mexico “for saving our lives.” She said that thanks to Mexico’s actions, “our story will not end in a sad way” because of the Taliban. Some information for this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters. 
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The British government is considering plans to release beavers back into the wild across England some four centuries after the dam-building mammals became extinct in Britain. The proposals, described as a cautious step toward establishing a native beaver population, would see the animals allowed to be introduced if strict criteria were met along with an assessment of their impact on the surrounding land and other species. It comes after a successful five-year trial on the River Otter in Devon, a rural county in southwest England, concluded a family of beavers had a beneficial effect on the local ecology in what was the first legally sanctioned reintroduction to England of an extinct native mammal. “Today marks a significant milestone for the reintroduction of beavers in the wild,” environment minister George Eustice said on Wednesday at the start of a 12-week consultation on the plans. “But we also understand that there are implications for landowners, so we are taking a cautious approach to ensure that all potential impacts are carefully considered.” The government said beavers could play a hugely significant role in helping to restore nature, creating dams from trees, mud and rocks, which raise water levels and create wetland habitats that support the recovery of a wide range of native species. The semi-aquatic vegetarian mammals were hunted to extinction in Britain about 400 years ago because people wanted their meat, fur and castoreum, a secretion that was used in medicine and perfumes. The government said it also planned to make it an offense to capture, kill, disturb or injure beavers or damage their breeding sites. 
 
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U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in Syria say they are increasingly concerned about a wave of Turkish drone attacks against their commanders in northeast Syria.Turkey reportedly carried out dozens of airstrikes last week, including several with unmanned aerial vehicles, against positions belonging to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led military alliance that has been a major U.S. partner in the fight against the Islamic State group, also known as IS or ISIS.Turkey views the SDF and its main element, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), as an extension of the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a militant group given a terrorist designation by Washington and Ankara. The U.S., however, makes a distinction between the two Kurdish groups.”Turkey has recently increased its drone attacks against our military points and commanders throughout northeast Syria, in places like Kobani, Tell Tamer and most recently in Qamishli,” said Shervan Darwish, a spokesperson for the SDF-affiliated Manbij military council.”The current political climate doesn’t help Turkey to wage a large-scale ground operation, so instead they use drones and airstrikes to expand their operations,” he told VOA.The SDF said a Turkish drone strike killed one of its high-ranking commanders near the city of Qamishli on Sunday. Several other SDF commanders were targeted last week in another reported Turkish drone attack on the SDF-held town of Tell Tamer.FILE PHOTO: A police officer stands next to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during Teknofest airshow at the city’s new airport in Istanbul on Sept. 22, 2018.US ‘deeply concerned’On Monday, a U.S. State Department spokesperson told VOA on background that “the United States is deeply concerned about reports of increased military activity in northeast Syria,” adding that Washington supports the “maintenance of the current cease-fire lines and urge(s) all parties to de-escalate.”In a bipartisan letter addressed to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this month, 27 members of the U.S. Congress expressed concern over Turkey’s plans to develop its armed drone industry.Turkey’s use of drones “has destabilized multiple regions of the globe and threatens U.S. interests, allies, and partners,” the letter said.”Over the last year, Turkish drones have been deployed by Azerbaijan against Armenian civilians in Artsakh, Syria; against Kurdish forces that have partnered with the U.S. in the war against ISIS; and in Libya’s civil war,” it added.Seth Frantzman, author of the recent book Drone Wars, says drones are a weapon system that is “ideally suited” for the Middle East.”You can use drones over areas that are part of a conflict or contested area where maybe there is no governing authority,” he told VOA. “You can fly the drones, attack people, and then the drones go away. There’s no risk to your own pilots, and if you make a mistake, you can blame it on someone else. So a lot of countries in the region love drones.”Frantzman said Turkey’s drone campaign and overall posture in Syria also complicates ongoing counterterrorism efforts against remnants of IS in the war-torn country.”The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are fighting ISIS. Meanwhile, Turkey is trying to destabilize the same area by carrying out airstrikes and drone attacks on the SDF or groups linked to the SDF, and that destabilizes the region that may inadvertently or advertently end up helping the ISIS cells.”VOA’s Nike Ching, Saleh Damiger and Ezel Sahinkaya contributed to this story from Washington. 
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Poland’s prime minister said Tuesday that Belarus was purposely encouraging migrants from the Middle East to enter Poland to destabilize the European Union.”Our eastern neighbor is trying systematically, and in an organized way, to destabilize the political situation,” Mateusz Morawiecki said during a visit to the eastern town of Kuznica.About 3,000 migrants, some of them from Iraq and Afghanistan, have attempted to enter Poland from Belarus this month, The Associated Press reported. Poland is denying them entry and on Monday said it would build a fence to keep them out.The Polish government said Tuesday that it had provided tents, blankets and power generators to the migrants, who remain on Belarusian territory.On Tuesday, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, called for Poland to provide medical and legal support to the migrants.Morawiecki said Belarus’ efforts would fail because “Poland’s border will be very well protected.”Other criticsPoland is not alone in accusing Belarus. Other Baltic states have also said Minsk is pushing migrants toward them. They say it is in retaliation for EU sanctions against Belarus following government crackdowns against those protesting the disputed reelection of President Alexander Lukashenko in August 2020. The European Commission, the executive body of the EU, said it was monitoring the situation.”We firmly reject attempts to instrumentalize people for political purposes,” spokesman Christian Wigand said in Brussels. “We cannot accept any attempts by third countries to incite or acquiesce in illegal migration” to the EU. Wigand called for “orderly border management” and “full respect for migrants’ fundamental rights.”According to a BBC report, the Belarusian president on Monday accused Poland of starting a “border conflict” and violating his country’s territory.Lukashenko has warned EU members that his country will no longer prevent unauthorized migrants from crossing into EU territories after the EU imposed its sanctions, Reuters news agency has reported.Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, BBC and Reuters.
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Charlie Watts, the self-effacing and unshakeable Rolling Stones drummer who helped anchor one of rock’s greatest rhythm sections and used his “day job” to support his enduring love of jazz, has died, according to his publicist. He was 80.Bernard Doherty said Tuesday that Watts “passed away peacefully in a London hospital earlier today surrounded by his family.”“Charlie was a cherished husband, father and grandfather and also as a member of The Rolling Stones one of the greatest drummers of his generation,” Doherty said.Watts had announced he would not tour with the Stones in 2021 because of an undefined health issue.The quiet, elegantly dressed Watts was often ranked with Keith Moon, Ginger Baker and a handful of others as a premier rock drummer, respected worldwide for his muscular, swinging style as the Stones rose from their scruffy beginnings to international superstardom. He joined the band early in 1963 and remained over the next 60 years, ranked just behind Mick Jagger and Keith Richards as the group’s longest-lasting and most essential member.Watts stayed on, and largely held himself apart, through the drug abuse, creative clashes and ego wars that helped kill founding member Brian Jones, drove bassist Bill Wyman and Jones’ replacement Mick Taylor to quit and otherwise made being in the Stones the most exhausting of jobs.A classic Stones song like “Brown Sugar” and “Start Me Up” often began with a hard guitar riff from Richards, with Watts following closely behind, and Wyman, as the bassist liked to say, “fattening the sound.” Watts’ speed, power and time keeping were never better showcased than during the concert documentary, “Shine a Light,” when director Martin Scorsese filmed “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” from where he drummed toward the back of the stage.The Stones began, Watts said, “as white blokes from England playing Black American music” but quickly evolved their own distinctive sound. Watts was a jazz drummer in his early years and never lost his affinity for the music he first loved, heading his own jazz band and taking on numerous other side projects.He had his eccentricities — Watts liked to collect cars even though he didn’t drive and would simply sit in them in his garage. But he was a steadying influence on stage and off as the Stones defied all expectations by rocking well into their 70s, decades longer than their old rivals the Beatles.Watts didn’t care for flashy solos or attention of any kind, but with Wyman and Richards forged some of rock’s deepest grooves on “Honky Tonk Women,” “Brown Sugar” and other songs. The drummer adapted well to everything from the disco of “Miss You” to the jazzy “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” and the dreamy ballad “Moonlight Mile.”Jagger and Richards at times seemed to agree on little else besides their admiration of Watts, both as a man and a musician. Richards called Watts “the key” and often joked that their affinity was so strong that on stage he’d sometimes try to rattle Watts by suddenly changing the beat — only to have Watts change it right back.Jagger and Richards could only envy his indifference to stardom and relative contentment in his private life, when he was as happy tending to the horses on his estate in rural Devon, England, as he ever was on stage at a sold-out stadium.Watts did on occasion have an impact beyond drumming. He worked with Jagger on the ever more spectacular stage designs for the group’s tours. He also provided illustrations for the back cover of the acclaimed 1967 album “Between the Buttons” and inadvertently gave the record its title. When he asked Stones manager Andrew Oldham what the album would be called, Oldham responded “Between the buttons,” meaning undecided. Watts thought that “Between the Buttons” was the actual name and included it in his artwork.To the world, he was a rock star. But Watts often said that the actual experience was draining and unpleasant, and even frightening. “Girls chasing you down the street, screaming…horrible!… I hated it,” he told The Guardian newspaper in an interview. In another interview, he described the drumming life as a “cross between being an athlete and a total nervous wreck.”Author Philip Norman, who has written extensively about the Rolling Stones, said Watts lived “in constant hope of being allowed to catch the next plane home.” On tour, he made a point of drawing each hotel room he stayed in, a way of marking time until he could return to his family. He said little about playing the same songs for more than 40 years as the Stones recycled their classics. But he did branch out far beyond “Satisfaction” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” by assembling and performing with jazz bands in the second half of his career.Charles Robert Watts, son of a lorry driver and a housewife, was born in Neasden, London, on June 2, 1941. From childhood, he was passionate about music — jazz in particular. He fell in love with the drums after hearing Chico Hamilton and taught himself to play by listening to records by Johnny Dodds, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington and other jazz giants.He worked for a London advertising firm after he attended Harrow Art College and played drums in his spare time. London was home to a blues and jazz revival in the early 1960s, with Jagger, Richards and Eric Clapton among the future superstars getting their start. Watts’ career took off after he played with Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, for whom Jagger also performed, and was encouraged by Korner to join the Stones.Watts wasn’t a rock music fan at first and remembered being guided by Richards and Brian Jones as he absorbed blues and rock records, notably the music of bluesman Jimmy Reed. He said the band could trace its roots to a brief period when he had lost his job and shared an apartment with Jagger and Richards because he could live there rent-free.“Keith Richards taught me rock and roll,” Watts said. “We’d have nothing to do all day and we’d play these records over and over again. I learned to love Muddy Waters. Keith turned me on to how good Elvis Presley was, and I’d always hated Elvis up ’til then.”Watts was the final man to join the Stones; the band had searched for months to find a permanent drummer and feared Watts was too accomplished for them. Richards would recall the band wanting him so badly to join that members cut down on expenses so they could afford to pay Watts a proper salary. Watts said he believed at first the band would be lucky to last a year.“Every band I’d ever been in had lasted a week,” he said. “I always thought the Stones would last a week, then a fortnight, and then suddenly, it’s 30 years.”
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The European Union and Britain are looking to Turkey to become a hub to process Afghan refugees seeking sanctuary in Europe. Turkey is rejecting the call.The Turkish government is dismissing calls from Europe for it to become a hub to process Afghan refugees. Government spokesman Omer Celik said Monday that with Turkey already hosting nearly five million refugees, mainly from the Syrian civil war, it can take no more.Celik says Turkey does not have a capacity to take in one more refugee. He said Turkey is not a refugee camp nor is it a transit point.Celik’s comments were in response to British media reports Sunday citing defense ministry sources, who said London was looking to countries like Turkey to create processing centers for Afghan refugees.Similar suggestions in the last few days were made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the president of the European Council, Charles Michel. Those Fleeing Afghanistan Struggle to Survive in TurkeyVOA reporters meet people who say the Taliban are killing government workers and other ‘enemies’ as they take over areas of Afghanistan Under a deal with the EU, Turkey is already hosting nearly four million Syrian refugees from the civil war in exchange for billions of dollars in aid. But analyst Asli Aydintasbas says Turkish public opinion is strongly against any new deal over Afghan refugees.”We have a situation in which Turkey and the EU (are) negotiating these sorts of large sums, as a refugee deal, in which Turkey gets to keep the refugees,” Aydintasbas said. “I think there is across-the-board resentment about Europe sort of using Turkey as a refugee camp on its borders, so to speak. People are upset about this.  But it’s a huge political cost for Turkey. People simply are questioning the government’s refugee policy.”Resentment over refugee presence exploded into violence earlier this month in a suburb of the capital, Ankara, where hundreds of people attacked the homes and shops of Syrian migrants. Ankara is now stepping up efforts to secure its Iranian border, the main transit route for Afghans seeking to enter Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the construction of a barrier on the frontier would be accelerated.Additional Turkish forces are being deployed on the nearly 300-kilometer-long Iranian border, equipped with the latest surveillance equipment. Hüseyin Ediz Tercanoglu, head of Turkish security on the Iranian border, said Monday the border would be secure against any refugee surge.Tercanoglu said Turkish forces are working in places where smuggling used to be common, adding that the entire area is monitored by 360-degree rotating thermal cameras. If there’s any movement, he said, troops can be dispatched there.Displays of such force are aimed primarily at a Turkish public fatigued by the presence of millions of refugees and Europe to send a message that Turkey will not be the host of another massive influx of refugees.
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Many survivors of an earthquake that killed more than 2,200 people in southern Haiti are worried about providing for their children, with more than half a million minors feared to be at risk from the fallout.The August 14 quake hammered infrastructure, destroying or damaging some 130,000 homes, cutting off roads and pitching thousands of families in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country into an uncertain future.When the magnitude 7.2 quake struck, Lovely Jean was resting inside the general hospital of the southern city of Les Cayes, while her 3-day-old baby, Love Shaiska, was in the neonatal ward being treated for an infection.Les Cayes was one of the areas worst hit by the quake, and as the hospital walls trembled, Jean sent her husband, Pierre Alexandre, to grab the infant while she fled the building.”The earth was shaking, and I was crying, so scared of what was happening,” the 24-year-old said, cradling her child on the porch of their damaged home in a tiny village outside the town of Camp-Perrin, northwest of Les Cayes.The three survived, though the hospital suffered damage that forced some of its departments, including the neonatal ward, to operate outside for days after the disaster.But the problems were only beginning for Jean and her husband, a subsistence farmer.Alexandre’s fields were buried by landslides during the earthquake and rain unleashed by Tropical Storm Grace, which pummeled Haiti last Tuesday. His entire potato and yuca crops are unreachable, leaving the family with barely any food to eat.More than a dozen other parents who spoke to Reuters in the quake zone expressed similar concerns about how they would cope.More than half a million children were affected by the earthquake, the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF said.The temblor claimed the lives of at least 2,207 people, injured 12,268 more and left 344 missing, according to Haitian authorities.Still, there are a few encouraging developments. Late on Sunday, civil protection authorities said 24 people who had been reported missing, including four children, had been found and taken by helicopter to Camp-Perrin to be looked after.Recovery efforts have been impeded by flooding and damage to roads, feeding tensions in hard-hit areas. In the past few days, residents have looted aid trucks in several towns across the south, stirring concerns about security.Deep in the mountains of Haiti’s southern peninsula, in the department of Grand’Anse, near the town of Duchity, about a hundred farmers are living in slender tents of wooden poles and bedsheets they erected along the highway. The quake destroyed their homes, crops and the deep concrete-lined holes used to collect and store rainwater.Now, with scant food and water, many of the young children suffer from hunger, fevers and infections, said Evelya Michele, a mother of five living in the encampment.At least a dozen children had broken out in rashes.”The children are very vulnerable; there is no water so we can’t even wash them to keep them clean,” Michele said.Her older children had taken off earlier that morning, walking to a nearby village in search of food.”I didn’t send them; they just left without even asking me because they are hungry,” she said.
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