International
Leslie Voltaire assumes the presidency of the Council of Haiti and promises transparency
Leslie Voltaire took office as president of the Transitional Council (CPT) of Haiti and will succeed Edgard Leblanc Fils, in a ceremony held in Port-au-Prince in which the new leader promised to work with transparency, dedication and efficiency to change the living conditions of the Haitian people.
“The moment is serious. The time has come to reconcile the great nation of Haiti with itself so that future generations can escape the horrors of this inconceivable brutality, the time has come to unite. We have to govern in another way. The Haitian people are fed up with violence, lies and corruption,” Voltaire said at the act of transfer of power in the Villa d’Accueil.
The ceremony took place in the absence of Leblanc Fils, who left the Villa d’Accueil hours before the inauguration of Voltaire, appointed to be part of the Presidential Council of Transition (CPT) by the Fanmi Lavalas party.
Call to solve the challenges of Haiti
In his speech, Voltaire pledged to work in common agreement with the other members of the CPT and called for the unity of all to solve the challenges that the country has, especially the restoration of security because the “great change” that Haiti needs “cannot be achieved through violence and conflict.”
“We are mobilizing to ensure the success of the transition. We will move forward to restore security, strengthen the police and the prison system, create the conditions for (the holding of) elections, organize the national conference and the referendum on constitutional reform,” he added.
Modification of the rotating presidency
On that date, the official newspaper Le Moniteur published a resolution on the changes in the rotating presidency of the CPT that modifies the document of last May 7 in this regard.
This resolution is released days after the official Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) asked for action to be taken against three members of the Council – Louis Gérald Gilles, Emmanuel Vertilaire and Smith Augustin – for abuse of functions, payment of bribes and passive corruption.
In principle, it was Smith Augustin who was to succeed Leblanc Fils, but the three defendants have been removed from the rotating presidency of the Council, although they remain in the institution.
Under the new agreement, from October 7 to March 7, 2025 the presidency of the CPT will be occupied by Voltaire, from March 7 to August 7, 2025 it will be exercised by Fritz Alphonse Jean and from then to February 7, 2026 (date on which a president of Haiti elected at the polls should take office) it will be Laurent Saint-Cyr’s turn.
Haiti has not had a president since on July 7, 2021, he was murdered in his Jovenel Moise residence by a group of mercenaries, mostly Colombians.
Crisis in the Council
In his last speech to the nation published a few hours ago, Leblanc Fils said that he hoped that the three involved in the alleged corruption would agree to move away from the CPT until justice clarified the matter, but this did not occur: “unfortunately they did not understand that it was the right decision, this scandal affects the image of the entire Presidential Transition Council.”
“I cannot accept to participate in any process that weakens and further devalues the country’s justice system,” Leblanc said, explaining why he was the only one of the nine members of the CPT who did not sign the new resolution on the rotating presidency.
In his opinion, “the majority of the Council is taking the wrong path. He runs the risk of plunding the country into instability. It will worsen the situation and prolong the transition period.”
The change in the presidency of the CPT occurs when Haiti is still shocked by the massacre last week at the hands of the armed group Gran Grif in Pont Sondé (artibonite department) of more than 70 people, despite the fact that part of the Multinational Security Support Mission led by Kenya is on the ground to try to curb the violence.
In 2023, the violence caused, between deaths and injuries, 8,000 victims in Haiti and in the first half of this year alone it already rose to about 3,900, according to UN data.
International
Germany says football bodies alone will decide on possible World Cup boycott
The German Football Association (DFB) and FIFA will decide with full “autonomy” whether to boycott the upcoming World Cup, which will be hosted mainly by the United States in six months, following threats made by former U.S. president Donald Trump, the German government told AFP on Tuesday.
Trump has threatened to seize Greenland and impose higher tariffs on European countries that oppose the plan, raising political tensions between the United States and Europe.
“This assessment therefore lies with the relevant federations, in this case the DFB and FIFA. The federal government will respect that decision,” Sports State Secretary Christiane Schenderlein said in a statement emailed to AFP.
AFP had asked the German government about the possibility of a boycott of the World Cup to be jointly hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.
“The federal government respects the autonomy of sport. Decisions regarding participation in major sporting events or possible boycotts fall exclusively within the responsibility of the relevant sports federations, not the political sphere,” said Schenderlein, a member of the conservative CDU, the party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
International
Daily Mail publisher insists reports relied on legitimate sources amid privacy trial
Two British tabloids accused of phone hacking and other forms of “unlawful information gathering” against Prince Harry and six other individuals, including singer Elton John, insisted on Tuesday that their reporting relied on legitimate sources.
Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, sought to rebut allegations of privacy violations through illegal methods on the second day of trial at London’s High Court, following a lawsuit filed by the seven claimants.
Prince Harry, 41, who attended court hearings on both Monday and Tuesday, could be called to testify starting Wednesday in a trial expected to last up to nine weeks.
Lawyers for the claimants said the alleged illegal activities took place between 1993 and 2011, with some incidents reportedly extending as late as 2018. They argue that the tabloids hired private investigators to intercept phone calls and obtain confidential information, including detailed phone records, medical histories, and bank statements.
However, Anthony White, counsel for ANL, told the court that the trial would show the company presents “a compelling account of a pattern of lawful source acquisition” for its articles.
White added that the claims would require the court to believe that journalists and staff at the tabloids had engaged in widespread dishonesty, which the company strongly denies.
International
Death toll from southern Spain train crash rises to 40
The death toll from the train accident that occurred on Sunday in southern Spain has risen to 40, according to investigative sources cited by EFE on Monday afternoon.
Since early Monday, search operations have focused on the damaged carriages of a Renfe train bound for Huelva, which collided with the last derailed cars of an Iryo train traveling from Málaga to Madrid after it left the tracks.
The crash has also left more than 150 people injured. Of these, 41 remain hospitalized, including 12 in intensive care units at hospitals across the Andalusia region.
More than 220 Civil Guard officers are working at the site, searching the railway line and surrounding areas for key evidence to help identify victims and determine the causes of the accident.
The tragedy has revived memories of the deadliest railway disasters in Europe in recent decades. In Spain, the most severe occurred on July 24, 2013, when an Alvia train derailed near Santiago de Compostela, killing 80 people and injuring 130 others.
At the European level, the worst rail disaster took place on June 3, 1998, in Eschede, northern Germany, when a high-speed train struck a bridge pillar at 200 kilometers per hour, resulting in 98 deaths and 120 injuries.
Germany says football bodies alone will decide on possible World Cup boycott
Daily Mail publisher insists reports relied on legitimate sources amid privacy trial
Death toll from southern Spain train crash rises to 40
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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