Election preparations underway in Haiti – threatened by gang violence
Election preparations are underway in Haiti, reports the AP. The authorities have opened ten registration centers in the capital Port-au-Prince, in areas considered reasonably safe from the brutal gang violence that has hit the island nation.
The plan is to hold elections on December 13, with a second round in February. But a large part of Haiti's eligible voters risk being left out of the process, as the risk of violence is too high for them to get to the polls.
Haiti has not had an election in over ten years. The last time the country had a president was in 2021, when President Jovenel Moïse was killed.
“We need security before we can have elections”
Registration has
opened for Haiti’s December elections, but many Haitians say they don’t
know if they will be able to get to the polls because of widespread gang
violence. This is reported by the AP.
38-year-old Victor
Valensky says he wants to participate in the elections, but that he is
afraid that his wife will not be able to take care of their children if
he is killed on election day.
Lawyer Francky Cavetan says he does not plan to go and vote – it is too dangerous.
–
The elections will not take place, because the government and the
electoral authority are lying to the people. They make people believe
that the elections will lead to security, but we need security before we
can have elections, he says.
fredag 31 juli 2026
Violence in Haiti
Border crisis in Ceuta
Over 48,000 have already returned voluntarily to Morocco
Over 48,300 of the Moroccans who entered the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in the past 24 hours have returned. This is stated by the Spanish Interior Ministry according to AFP.
At least 57 people have died, according to Spanish authorities.
Local authorities in Ceuta initially reported that around 60,000 migrants had made it there from Morocco. However, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry, it is about 50,000 people. In such cases, this would mean that around 1,700 of the Moroccans who made it to Ceuta are now left there.
Italy suspends agreement on free movement with Spain
Italy is suspending the Schengen agreement with Spain after the migrant crisis in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, the Italian Interior Ministry said in a statement according to Reuters.
Italy has no border with Spain, but the decision will affect people traveling from Spain to Italy by boat or plane.
The Interior Ministry also said it agreed with Paris on the proposal to strengthen border controls between France and Italy.
Later, the ministry said checks would be carried out on people without citizenship in any EU country traveling to Italy from Spain.
The Schengen Agreement is the cooperation within the EU that is intended to facilitate free movement by establishing an area
Not a single migrant has made it to the mainland
Not a single person who made it from Morocco to the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in the past two days has made it to the Spanish mainland. This is what the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, writes in a post on X.
The information comes from the Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares, whom Brunner spoke to on the phone during the evening.
The Foreign Minister himself writes on X that “practically everyone” has returned and that the integrity of the Schengen area is “absolutely guaranteed”.
“It is not possible to move from Ceuta and Melilla to the mainland without showing identification at a police check”, writes Albares.
without border controls. Ceuta is not covered by the agreement, and does not have free movement to the rest of the EU.
Russian invasion
The world's response
Trump: US must be "very careful" about letting Ukraine build Patriot
The US must be "very careful" about giving Ukraine permission to manufacture the Patriot air defence system, Donald Trump told reporters according to AFP.
- These weapons are incredible. We have to be very careful about letting anyone build them, he said.
Ukraine has repeatedly said that the country needs Patriot to defend itself against Russian attacks. As recently as early July, Trump gave Ukraine permission to manufacture the air defence system during a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyj.
Ukraine's response
Thousands demonstrate in Kyiv - want Fedorov back
Thousands of people took part in a demonstration in Kyiv on Friday to demand that Mykhailo Fedorov be reinstated as defence minister, Reuters reports.
“I don’t like it when decisions are made without someone being able to explain why they were made,” Oleksandr, 40, told the news agency.
The demonstrations against Fedorov’s move have been going on for a little over two weeks. Organizers have said they will not back down, despite there being no sign that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is changing his mind.
Middle East Crisis
Iran War
Sources: US and Israel to Attack Energy Targets in Iran
The US and Israel are planning to launch new attacks on energy infrastructure in Iran as soon as this weekend, several sources told CBS News.
However, Donald Trump has not yet given the green light for the attacks.
It is unclear when the attacks will end, but according to the sources, discussions were underway to try to round them off in time for the stock market to open on Monday.
Earlier in the day, Donald Trump told reporters that the US will “hit Iran very hard”. When a reporter asked about resuming diplomatic talks, Trump replied:
– I think we just want to win.
Gaza War
Source: Israel will not leave Gaza until Hamas is disarmed
Israel will not leave Gaza until Hamas is “genuinely disarmed”, an Israeli source told AFP.
Hamas has previously said that the group agrees to disarm – but that Israel must fulfill its part of the agreement first.
According to the agreement, Hamas will hand over its weapons to a newly formed Palestinian authority, the so-called Palestinian Technocratic Committee.
US President Donald Trump was the first to talk about the disarmament agreement, which Hamas has announced that it has signed. No official response has yet come from Israel.
Experts: No one will want to take the first step
The agreement reached between Hamas and Trump's "peace council" stipulates that Hamas will lay down its weapons and that the Israeli military will leave the Gaza Strip. But how this will happen is a completely different question.
Bader al-Saif, a professor at Kuwait University, tells the BBC that he expects both parties to demand that the other take the first step.
Berlingske's expert Kristian Mouritzen wants to wait for the text of the agreement, but already sees major problems for Hamas if its leaders agree to disarm.
–It is pure suicide for them to give up their weapons, he says, and believes that competing groups within Gaza will then be able to attack the leaders.
Middle East expert Anders Persson tells Aftonbladet that the agreement is the biggest thing that has happened since the autumn ceasefire. However, he is still cautious about what it will lead to in practice.
–Trump's diplomacy in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran has not been very successful overall. His ceasefires tend to break down and he also tends to exaggerate successes with very big words.
...............................................
Sources: Preparing Iran attacks
TT
Published 00:46
The US and Israel are preparing major attacks on energy facilities in Iran, CBS News reports, citing several sources.
The
planned attacks are described as among the largest yet against energy
infrastructure during the Iran war and could begin this weekend.
Israel carried out air strikes together with the US at the beginning of the war, last winter.
