Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 10, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba B4 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti’s newly selected prime minister, Garry Conille, and Haiti’s police chief visited the country’s largest hospital on Tues- day, after authorities said they took control of the medical institution from armed gangs over the weekend. Haitian Police Chief Normil Rameau told a news conference Monday that po- lice took control of the Hospital of the State University of Haiti, known as the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, on Sunday night after months of escalat- ing attacks from armed groups. Haitians will “wake up one morning and find the operation done, the bandits stopped, and neutralized,” Normil said at the briefing, but did not take ques- tions from the media. He was accompanied by Kenyan offi- cer Godfrey Otunge, who said the UN- backed contingent of Kenyan police intends to work closely with Haitian authorities as well as local and inter- national partners dedicated to rebuild- ing Haiti. The green- and white-coloured hospi- tal was left ravaged by gangs, with beds stripped of their cots and ceiling fans on the floor. The building’s interior was left with debris and lighting fixtures among the hospital’s cubicles. Hospital walls and nearby buildings were riddled with bullet holes, signal- ling fights between police and gangs in the neighborhood. The hospital is just across the street from the national palace, which was the scene of several battles in the last five months. Conille said the building looked like “a war zone.” Council member Louis Gerald Gilles was also present on Tuesday’s visit, and announced the hospital should be in full service by February 2026. Conille said the hospital served about 1,500 people a day before the gang’s chokehold. “This hospital is not for the rich, it’s for the poor,” Conille said on Tuesday. “These are people that need serious help that can’t go see a private doctor.” The attacks from criminal groups have pushed Haiti’s health system to the brink of collapse and the escalating violence has led to a surge in patients with serious illnesses and a shortage of resources to treat them. Gangs have been looting, setting fires and destroying medical institutions and pharmacies in the capital, where they control up to 80 per cent of the area. Haiti’s health-care system, already struggling before the violence, faces additional challenges from the rainy season, which is likely to worsen con- ditions and increase the risk of water- borne diseases. Poor hygiene conditions in camps and makeshift settlements have heightened the risk of diseases such as cholera, with more than 84,000 suspected cases in the country, as per a UNICEF report. Besides the hospital, gunmen have seized police stations, attacked the main international airport, which was closed for nearly three months, and stormed Haiti’s two largest prisons. In April, a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Haiti told The Associat- ed Press that staff had been forced to cut the number of outpatients it treats daily to 50 from 150, with people lining up outside the hospital each day and risking being shot by gang members as they awaited medical care. The violence in Haiti has displaced nearly 580,000 people since March, as per a report from the UN migration agency. — The Associated Press HOUSTON — Many of the millions of people left without power after hurri- cane Beryl crashed into Texas swel- tered and grumbled Tuesday as the storm gutted access to air conditioning, food and water, and smothering heat and humidity draped the city. Frustration mounted that Houston ap- peared to buckle under a storm not as powerful as previous ones. State officials were questioned about whether utilities were prepared in ad- vance, and at least one said they would withhold judgement until after the lights were turned back on. “We can handle it, but not the kids,” said Walter Perez, 49, as he arrived early Tuesday at celebrity pastor Joel Osteen’s megachurch in Houston, which served as a cooling centre and distribut- ed 40-bottle packs of water to cars that drove up. Perez said he, his wife, their three- year-old son, three-week-old daughter and his father-in-law retreated from their apartment after a night he de- scribed as “bad, bad, bad, bad.” A heat advisory took effect through- out the Houston area and beyond, with temperatures expected to soar above 32 C and humidity that could make it feel as hot as 40.5 C. The U.S. National Weather Service described the condi- tions as potentially dangerous given the lack of power and air conditioning. Beryl, which made landfall early Mon- day as a Category 1 hurricane, has been blamed for at least seven U.S. deaths — one in Louisiana and six in Texas — and at least 11 in the Caribbean. At midday Tuesday, it was a post-tropical cyclone centred over Arkansas and was fore- cast to bring heavy rain and possible flooding to a swath extending to the Great Lakes and Canada. Nearly two million homes and busi- nesses around Houston lacked electri- city Tuesday, down from a peak of more than 2.7 million on Monday, according to PowerOutage.us. For many, it was a miserable repeat after storms in May killed eight people and left nearly one million without power amid flooded streets. Hospitals had a crowding problem be- cause they haven’t been able to release patients who can’t return to homes with no power, said Texas Lt.-Gov. Dan Pat- rick, who is acting as governor while Gov. Greg Abbott is out of the country. A large sports and events complex will be used to temporarily hold up to 250 patients who are released from hos- pitals. Food spoiled in listless refrigerators in neighbourhoods that pined for air conditioning. Long lines of cars and people queued up at any fast food res- taurant, food truck or gas station that had power and was open. Patrons lined up on one block to eat at KFC, Jack in the Box or Denny’s — or just to get a few minutes in some cool- er air. Dwight Yell, 54, had power at his house but took a disabled neighbour, who did not, to Denny’s for some food. He complained that city and state offi- cials did not alert residents well enough to a storm initially projected to land much farther down the coast: “They didn’t give us enough warning, where maybe we could go get gas or prepare to go out of town if the lights go out.” Robin Taylor, who got takeout from Denny’s, was getting tired of the same old struggle. She has been living in a hotel since her home was damaged by the storms in May. When Beryl hit, her hotel room flooded. She was angry that Houston didn’t appear prepared to handle the Category 1 storm after it had weathered much stronger ones in the past. “No WiFi, no power, and it’s hot out- side. That’s dangerous for people. That’s really the big issue,” Taylor said. “People will die in this heat in their homes.” Nim Kidd, head of the state’s division of emergency management, said at a news conference with other officials that restoring power is the No. 1 prior- ity. In Washington, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration. Emergency crews hoped to have power restored to an addi- tional one million people by the end of the day, she said. It could take days to fully return power in Texas after Beryl toppled 10 transmission lines. Sixteen hospitals were running on generator power Tues- day morning, according to the U.S. Fed- eral Emergency Management Agency. CenterPoint Energy, which covers much of the Houston area, said it was bringing in about 12,000 workers from around the region to help restore power. A company spokesperson said those workers weren’t staged in the Houston area before the storm hit, noting that forecasts initially predicted it would go much further south. Lesley Briones, a Harris County com- missioner, who visited a community centre, said she’s been told about people waiting hours to get gas. “It’s catastrophic when you lose everything in your fridge and you are living cheque to cheque,” Briones said. Beryl’s strength at midday Tues- day — with sustained winds near 48 km/h — wasn’t expected to change much in the next two days. It was fore- cast to bring heavy rain and possible flash flooding from the lower and mid- Mississippi Valley to the Great Lakes. — The Associated Press I NDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday, seeking to deepen the relationship between the two nuclear powers at a time when NATO leaders gathered in Washington and Russia launched deadly missile at- tacks in Ukraine that hit a children’s hospital. “Our relationship is one of a par- ticularly privileged strategic partner- ship,” Putin told Modi, who made his first trip to Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Kremlin’s forces in 2022. Modi has avoided condemning Rus- sia while emphasizing a peaceful settlement. Their partnership has become more complicated, however, as Russia has moved closer to China amid international isolation of Mos- cow over Ukraine. Modi did not attend last week’s summit in Kazakhstan of a security organization founded by Mos- cow and Beijing. Modi arrived Monday, shortly af- ter Russian missiles struck across Ukraine, severely damaging the lar- gest children’s hospital in Kyiv and killing at least 42 people nationwide, including some children, officials said. After their leaders met, India said its nationals who were “misled” into joining the Russian army will be dis- charged. New Delhi had raised this issue in March, when its federal investigation agency said it had broken up a net- work that lured people to Russia under the pretext of giving them jobs, with at least 35 Indians being sent. It said the men were trained in combat roles and deployed to Ukraine against their wishes, with some of them “grievously injured.” On Monday, Putin greeted Modi at his residence near Moscow, and the two leaders shook hands and em- braced Noting the warm welcome after the attack in Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on X: “It is a huge disappointment and a dev- astating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest dem- ocracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day.” Modi on Tuesday alluded to the bloodshed while speaking about his meeting with Putin, which included over four hours of talks. “Be it war, a struggle or a terrorist attack, every person who believes in humanity, when there is loss of life, he is pained,” the Indian prime minis- ter said. “When innocent children are killed, when we see innocent children dying, then the heart pains. And that pain is very horrible.” Modi said the two leaders shared “our opinions on Ukraine with an open heart and in detail. We respectfully listened to each other.” Modi added that “a solution is not possible on the battlefield. Between bombs, guns and bullets, a solution and peace talks cannot be successful. And we have to adopt the path of peace only through talks.” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller noted the Modi visit at a briefing in Washington, saying, “We made quite clear directly with India our concerns about their relationship with Russia. And so we would hope India and any other country, when they engage with Russia, would make clear that Russia should respect the UN Charter, should respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” In televised comments, Putin said “all issues” were discussed with Modi. Modi’s trip received extensive coverage at home, including his laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier at the Kremlin wall. Regarding the issue of Indian recruits into the Russian military, Indian Foreign Sec- retary Vinay Kwatra said that Modi had “strongly” raised the issue with Putin. But coverage of Russia’s deadly attack Monday in Ukraine was muted. At the NATO summit in Washington, Western leaders marked the military alliance’s 75th anniversary and sought to reassure Ukraine of their support. While Western countries have hit Russia with sanctions, Putin point- ed out that trade between Russia and India increased by 66% last year, add- ing that it’s a key focus of Modi’s trip. Energy purchases by India account for part of the increase in trade and Modi said that because of Russia’s support, “we were able to save Indian citizens from difficulties related to re- quirements of petrol and diesel.” He added that the nations’ agreements on energy “helped provide market stabil- ity to the world indirectly.” After the meeting, the Indian for- eign secretary said that Modi and Pu- tin set a goal to reach US$100 billion in bilateral trade by 2030 — up from nearly US$65 billion last year. A significant proportion of that is in the energy and defense industries. Analysts suggest that 60% of India’s military equipment and systems are of Russian origin. But with Russia’s factories now predominantly pumping out arms for its war in Ukraine, India has faced delays in the supply of spare parts, prompting it to buy more from the U.S., Israel, France and Italy. Modi raised the delay with Putin and both sides agreed to address it, Kwatra said. Russian state media reported that the two leaders would also discuss Moscow helping India build more nuclear power plants. The two coun- tries already are collaborating on the Kudankulam nuclear power project in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Russia had strong ties with India during the Cold War, and New Delhi’s importance as a key trading partner with Moscow has grown since the war in Ukraine. China and India are key buyers of Russian oil following sanctions im- posed by the United States and its al- lies that shut most Western markets off to Russian exports. India now gets more than 40 per cent of its oil imports from Russia, according to analysts. Modi last travelled to Russia in 2019, when he attended a forum in the far eastern port of Vladivostok and met with Putin. They also saw each other in September 2022 in Uzbekistan, at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization bloc. A confrontation in June 2020 along the disputed China-India border dra- matically altered the already touchy relationship between Beijing and New Delhi as rival troops fought with rocks, clubs and fists. At least 20 Indi- an soldiers and four Chinese soldiers were killed. — The Associated Press NEWS I WORLD WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2024 ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Russian President Vladimir Putin awards Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called at the Kremlin in Moscow Tuesday. Modi last met with Putin in Russia in 2019. Putin hosts Modi to deepen Russia’s ties with India EMMA BURROWS AND KRUTIKA PATHI Russian court orders arrest of opposition leader’s widow A court in Russia ordered the arrest of the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny during a hearing Tuesday that was conducted in absentia as part of a sweeping Kremlin crackdown on the opposition. Yulia Navalnaya, who lives abroad, would face arrest if and when she returns to Russia. Moscow’s Basmanny District Court ruled to arrest Navalnaya on charges of alleged involvement in an extremist group. Navalny, the fiercest political foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died in February in an Arctic penal colony while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges that he had condemned as politically motivated. Author- ities said he became ill after a walk but have otherwise given no details on Navalny’s death. Navalnaya has accused Putin of her husband’s death and vowed to continue his activities. Navalnaya mocked the court’s order on social media platform X, saying that it’s Putin who should be be prosecuted. Her spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, described the court’s ruling as a recognition of her “merits.” — The Associated Press Frustrations mount in Houston heat after hurricane JUAN A. LOZANO AND MARK VANCLEAVE ODELYN JOSEPH / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille (centre) and police chief Normil Rameau (centre left) are surrounded by security as they arrive at the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday. Haitian PM tours hospital after police wrest control from gangs EVENS SANON ;