Burkina Faso, Haiti, Iran.

Today's three stories you should know.

Mar 04, 2024

Burkina Faso

About 170 people, including women and children, have been “executed” in three villages in northern Burkina Faso, according to a regional prosecutor. It is not yet known who is behind the attacks. Burkina has for years grappled with armed groups who are now in control of about half of the country. The military came to power in a coup in 2022 promising to defeat the militias after a wave of public protests over the violence, but attacks on civilians have continued.

Haiti

Things are going from bad to worse in Haiti. Thousands of gang members are believed to have poured out of the country’s two biggest prisons after the facilities were attacked during a surge of violence over the weekend. The government declared a 72-hour state of emergency and said it would hunt down the escapees and those responsible for the jail breaks. Haiti has been in a state of chaos since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, and criminal gangs are estimated to now control about 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince.

Iran

We mentioned in Friday’s Proximities that, with politicians opposed to the government staying away, Iran’s parliamentary election would essentially become an opinion poll on the government. Turnout was seen as the key metric of public sentiment less than two years after anti-government demonstrations swept the country. Well, the results are in, and only 41 percent of registered voters came out to cast their ballots, according to official figures. It is the lowest turnout since 1979’s Islamic Revolution and appears to show that the disquiet demonstrated by the 2022-2023 protests hasn’t gone away despite a crackdown.