International
Haitian gang leaders charged for kidnapping of US citizens
| By AFP |
The United States on Monday unsealed criminal charges against Haitian gang leaders involved in the kidnappings of Americans and offered up to $3 million for their capture.
Three of the seven Haitians indicted are accused of involvement in the 2021 kidnapping of 16 Christian missionaries and their families near Port-au-Prince.
Lanmo Sanjou, 29, Jermaine Stephenson, in his late 20s, and Vitel’homme Innocent, 36, are charged with conspiracy to commit hostage-taking.
Sanjou and Stephenson are allegedly leaders of the 400 Mawozo gang, while Innocent was described as a leader of the Kraze Barye gang.
The Justice Department offered a $1 million reward for the capture of each of the three men, who are believed to be in Haiti.
Five of the hostages were released, and the rest escaped in December 2021 after being held for two months.
Jean Pelice, an alleged member of the 400 Mawozo gang, was brought to the United States in May to face charges in connection with the kidnapping.
Another alleged 400 Mawozo leader, Joly Germine, has also been extradited to the United States to face charges for his role in the hostage-taking.
Charges were also announced on Monday against four other Haitian gang leaders for the kidnappings of five other US citizens in Haiti.
The victims were released after ransoms were paid.
“The charges unsealed today are a reminder of the FBI’s ability to reach criminal actors overseas when crimes are committed against US citizens,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
“The FBI, with our federal and international partners, will continue to pursue anyone who targets Americans for hostage-taking or other violent crimes -– wherever they are.”
The UN Security Council last month agreed unanimously on a sanctions regime targeting the gangs terrorizing the population in Haiti.
After failing to reach consensus on sending an international force to the crisis-hit nation, members adopted a resolution directly targeting the gangs that have seized control of the main port and blocked fuel deliveries.
The United States last week imposed sanctions on two top Haitian politicians, former Senate President Joseph Lambert and former senator Youri Latortue, accusing them of being longtime drug traffickers.
International
Peru opens new probe into ex-president Humala over killings and forced disappearances
Peru’s Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened a new preliminary investigation against former President Ollanta Humala (2011–2016) and four other former military officers for the alleged killing of two people and the forced disappearance of four others during the 1990s, when Humala served as the head of the Madre Mía military base amid the country’s internal armed conflict, a local media outlet reported on Monday (Nov. 10, 2025).
The First Supraprovincial Criminal Prosecutor’s Office Specialized in Human Rights and Counterterrorism in Lima has formalized the investigation, which targets Humala — currently serving a 15-year sentence for money laundering related to illicit campaign financing — as well as former Army noncommissioned officer Amilcar Gómez and three additional ex-soldiers. They are accused of alleged crimes against humanity.
According to Radio RPP, citing a resolution dated October 28, the case concerns the aggravated homicide of Edgardo Isla Pérez and Nemer Acuña Silva, and the alleged forced disappearance of Luis Alberto Izaguirre Prieto, Nelson Hoyos Sagastegui, Hermes Estela Vásquez, and Yandel Leandro Zúñiga.
Prosecutors have classified the investigation as complex, setting a deadline of May 24, 2026.
Judge Jorge Chávez Tamariz has ordered that the suspects be listed in the National Registry of Individuals Prosecuted for the Crime of Forced Disappearance and has imposed standard reporting requirements while the inquiry continues.
International
Record cold wave freezes Eastern U.S., iguanas falling from trees in Florida
A severe cold wave is gripping two-thirds of the eastern United States, with record-low temperatures reported in Florida — where iguanas are literally falling frozen from trees — the National Weather Service (NWS) warned on Monday.
The agency noted that both high and low temperatures are running between 20 and 30 degrees Fahrenheit below seasonal averages, equivalent to about -6°C to -1°C. The unusual drop has caused many areas across the Southeast to match or break historic cold records.
According to the NWS, the cause is a “frigid continental polar air mass” continuing its push southward following a polar front. This system has brought snow, strong winds, and dangerous cold conditions from the Great Lakes to New England and the Appalachian Mountains.
As a precaution, authorities have issued freeze alerts stretching from the lower Mississippi Valley to the coastal plain of Virginia, where snowfall estimates range from 4 to 8 additional inches on top of what has already accumulated in recent days.
International
U.S. Senate holds emergency session as shutdown threatens economy
The U.S. Senate is convening on Sunday in an extraordinary session to try to put an end to the 39-day government shutdown, which threatens to shrink GDP in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council.
In an interview with CBS, Hassett noted that U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs had previously estimated that the partial shutdown would cost the country around 1.5% of GDP. However, he warned that “this figure will likely fall short” if the impasse continues “for a couple more weeks.” The suspension of flights due to a shortage of air traffic controllers and major disruptions in food assistance distribution are among the difficulties the government is facing as operations stall over disagreements between Democrats and Republicans, including on healthcare spending.
Throughout Sunday, Donald Trump has continued to blame former President Barack Obama’s healthcare plan and the pandemic-era subsidies paid to insurance companies. On Friday, Democrats proposed reopening the government in exchange for a one-year extension of medical tax credits — an offer quickly rejected by Republicans.
“The Obamacare scam directly benefits their allies in the insurance industry. They are getting richer at the expense of the American people, while healthcare coverage worsens. If Democrats get their way again, they will score yet another big win at the people’s expense,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
As he did on Saturday, Trump has demanded that Senate Republicans redirect subsidies directly to U.S. citizens. “Republicans should allocate these funds straight into their health savings accounts,” he argued.
Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced Sunday that the chamber will remain in session until the government reopens in what is expected to be a marathon negotiation.
Senators are working on the final version of a package of three long-term appropriations bills that form part of the Republican plan to break the deadlock. Thune is pushing a strategy that would start by approving the temporary funding resolution previously passed by the House of Representatives and amending it to include the appropriations package — known as a “minibus” — with the ultimate goal of extending funding for a longer term.
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