Haiti, DRC, Tunisia.

Today's three stories you should know.

Jul 26, 2022

Haiti

More than 200 people have been killed during gang violence in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince in just the last 10 days, according to the United Nations. The UN said that almost half of that number were residents with no gang ties. The city has been thrown into chaos this month as two major gangs, the G9 and G-Pèp, went to war. Residents have been too frightened to go out to get food and water in some neighborhoods and several people have been killed by bullets coming through the thin walls of their houses. About 3,000 people have fled their homes since the violence began.

DRC

Violent anti-UN protests in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter, and today they took a deadly turn. Three UN peacekeepers and 12 civilians were killed as the trouble spread, according to local authorities. The demonstrators say that the UN peacekeeping mission in DRC, known as MONUSCO, is useless at protecting civilians from a patchwork of militias in the region who have been active for decades. Government forces are currently engaged in a conflict with the M23 rebel group, which has escalated in recent months.

Tunisia

Tunisians appear to have voted for a new constitution in a referendum critics say will usher in a dictatorship under President Kais Saied. His supporters started celebrating based on an exit poll that said 92.3 percent of voters had backed the plan. The opposition boycotted the vote and turnout was abysmal with only 1.9 million people casting a ballot out of more than 9 million registered voters. Saied has been ruling by decree for a year after dissolving parliament and sacking several influential judges.