Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a multiday gang siege in Haiti, North Korea testing an underwater nuclear-capable drone, and Ukraine targeting Russia’s oil infrastructure.
Port-au-Prince Under Siege
A surge in gang violence forced Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, under lockdown on Thursday. Locals reported flaming barricades blocking streets, and the National Police released a video showing officers exchanging gunfire with suspected gang members. Port-au-Prince’s Solino neighborhood has become the epicenter of the multiday siege, which has killed around 24 people, with many residents sheltering in place.
Gangs now have control over an estimated 80 percent of Port-au-Prince. Last year, nearly 4,000 people were killed by suspected gangs across the country and another 3,000 people were kidnapped. Although United Nations peacekeeping forces drove gangs out of Solino in the mid-2000s, former President Jovenel Moïse’s work with gangs, a devastating 2010 earthquake, Moïse’s assassination in July 2021, and subsequent political infighting have all returned significant power to organized crime.
Interim Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has begged for international assistance to quell the violence, including a plan for a Kenyan-led multinational force backed by the U.N. Security Council. But calls for Henry to step down have curtailed the prime minister’s efforts. His rule is set to expire on Feb. 7, and Haitian opposition leader Moïse Jean Charles has urged residents to protest Henry’s reign in the coming days.
Henry must hand over power when the deadline arrives or risk losing legitimacy. Without a new government in place, it is still unclear who will take power if he leaves. When Henry consolidated control in 2021, he was tasked with forming a new government and holding national elections. Two years ago, he called for renewed efforts to organize elections on the same day that Moïse’s term would have ended had he not been assassinated. Elections, though, were repeatedly postponed, which many regional experts accuse Henry of purposefully doing to lengthen his tenure.
Later this month, Kenya’s high court is set to rule on whether Nairobi can legally deploy 1,000 police officers to Port-au-Prince. Kenya’s parliament approved the request last November, but the court delayed the order until Jan. 26, arguing that it may violate Kenya’s constitution. No decision has been issued yet. When one is, it can still be repealed if Kenya’s justices choose to authorize the mission, meaning a judicial quagmire is likely in the future for both Haiti and Kenya.
Without consensus on future Haitian governance and the 1,000-officer deployment, Kenya’s mission risks getting embroiled in political dogfighting, as Comfort Ero and Richard Atwood wrote in Foreign Policy’s 10 conflicts to watch this year. “In this scenario, the widely disliked Henry could tighten his grip, putting the unity government that is likely essential for any credible election further out of reach,” they argued.
Today’s Most Read
- What Is Taiwan’s New President Going to Do About China? by Timothy S. Rich
- Washington Is Exaggerating China’s Military Budgets by William D. Hartung
- The West Needs to Show It Values All Human Life by Mark Malloch-Brown
What We’re Following
Pyongyang’s “tsunami” drone. North Korea announced Friday that it had tested an underwater nuclear weapons system (known as Haeil-5-23) in the Sea of Japan following joint naval exercises in the area among South Korea, Japan, and the United States. “Underwater responsive actions will continue to deter the hostile military maneuvers of the navies of the United States and its allies,” Pyongyang’s Defense Ministry said, threatening “catastrophic consequences” if similar actions continue.
South Korea denounced the test as violating U.N. Security Council resolutions. According to North Korea’s state news agency, the Haeil-5-23 (which means “tsunami”) is an unmanned underwater attack drone. Pyongyang last year said it had tested two similar models. The news follows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s statement on Monday that peaceful reunification with South Korea is no longer possible.
Ukraine targets Russian crude. Ukrainian forces attacked an oil depot in western Russia on Friday with a drone strike, setting aflame four reservoirs capable of holding 1.6 million gallons of crude. The strike, the fourth such assault in three weeks, was part of Kyiv’s campaign to disrupt Moscow’s critical infrastructure and fuel lines as the region faces a brutal winter.
Ukrainian Strategic Industries Minister Oleksandr Kamyshin claimed responsibility on Thursday for another targeted attack on an oil storage facility in St. Petersburg. “I’m sure we will see more and more things happening this year,” Kamyshin said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, hinting at an “asymmetrical war” currently underway.
War crimes accusations. Mexico and Chile asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday to investigate possible Israeli war crimes against Palestinian civilians in Gaza. They also requested that the ICC review Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Although Israel is not a member of the ICC, the court’s prosecutor argued in October 2023 that the ICC holds jurisdiction over potential crimes connected to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
“The action by Mexico and Chile is due to growing worry over the latest escalation of violence, particularly against civilian targets,” Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Last week, South Africa presented a similar case at the International Court of Justice, first submitted in December 2023, that accuses Israeli forces of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has condemned both court accusations.
What in the World?
Farmers protested in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate on Monday. On Friday, which group of workers continued the protest in the same location?
A. Construction workers
B. Hospitality and tourism workers
C. Finance professionals
D. Truckers
Odds and Ends
Olympic athletes have many admired skills, but who would have guessed a fashion model strut was one of them? More than a dozen French Olympic competitors donned new Stéphane Ashpool-designed uniforms on Tuesday for this year’s Paris Summer Games. Celebrating France’s blue, white, and red flag, the athletes went for a 1990s chic that aimed for elegance. And the catwalk delivered.
And the Answer Is…
D. Truckers
Farmers say they are upset about the government’s plan to repeal agricultural diesel fuel subsidies. But Paul Hockenos argues it’s much ado about nothing.
To take the rest of FP’s weekly international news quiz, click here, or sign up to be alerted when a new one is published.