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Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater, attends a police and military presentation, in Guayaquil, Ecuador April 5, 2025.
What We’re Watching: Haiti turns to foreign fighters, China’s economy slumps, protests flare-up in Serbia
Haiti turns to foreign guns as gangs tighten grip
Blackwater founder Erik Prince is ramping up his private security firm’s presence in Haiti, deploying hundreds of fighters from the US, Europe, and El Salvador to battle gangs controlling much of the country. Prince’s Vectus Global, active there since March, says it’s working under a 10-year deal with Haiti’s government, including a role in tax collection. The move — involving snipers, helicopters, and drones — comes after gangs toppled the government in February, causing ongoing chaos in Port-au-Prince.
The stakes of China’s economic slowdown
China’s economy stumbled in July, with factory output hitting an eight-month low, though still 5.7% higher year-over-year than the previous July. The relative slowdown reflects weakening domestic demand, property sector woes, extreme weather, and fierce market competition — compounded by uncertainty over Donald Trump’s trade policy. Beyond the economic hit, analysts note that prolonged weakness could limit Beijing’s ability to come into impending trade talks on strong footing.
Tension in Serbia flare
Tensions in Serbia escalated this week after supporters of President Aleksandar Vučić and his ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) hurled flares at anti-government protestors late Wednesday. The violence follows nine months of demonstrations sparked by the deadly collapse of a train canopy in Novi Sad that killed 16 last year – an incident which protestors have blamed on state corruption and mismanagement. With Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević having already resigned earlier this year, we’ll be watching to see if Vučić can outlast this growing political crisis.
Myanmar's military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing leaves after a military parade on Victory Day, marking the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2025.
HARD NUMBERS: Myanmar monastery suffers deadly airstrike, US State Department to cut staff, Nvidia sets valuation record, Mahmoud Khalil sues US government, Haiti’s gangs kill thousands
23: At least 23 people were killed on Friday in an airstrike on a Buddhist monastery in northern Myanmar. The attack is believed to have been carried out by the country’s ruling military junta. Since seizing power in a 2021 coup, the junta has been locked in brutal civil war with several powerful rebel groups.
15%: The US State Department is about to lay off 15% of its 18,000 US-based staff, as part of an efficiency drive. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the move will make Washington’s foreign policy more agile, while critics say it will downsize America’s diplomatic capabilities at a critical moment.
$4 trillion: The AI chipmaker Nvidia has become the world’s first company valued at more than $4 trillion. Its remarkable rise in value is one of the fastest in Wall Street history, leaving its main domestic rivals Apple and Microsoft feeling.. Nvious indeed.
$20 million: Former Columbia University student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil filed a $20-million claim Thursday against the US government for damages incurred during his Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention. The lawsuit accuses ICE of false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The Department of Homeland Security dismissed Khalil’s claims as “absurd.”
5,000: Gang violence has killed nearly 5,000 people in Haiti since last October alone, according to a new UN report. The Caribbean country has been mired in a deepening political, economic, and humanitarian crisis since the 2021 assassination of president Jovenel Moïse. An international police force sent to the island last year has failed to dislodge the gangs, which control large swathes of the capital, Port-au-Prince.US President Donald Trump speaks as he attends a “Summer Soiree” held on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., USA, on June 4, 2025.
Hard Numbers: Trump issues sweeping travel ban, BoC holds rates steady, US funds “self-deportations,” and more...
12: US President Donald Trump has banned visitors to the US from 12 countries: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Another seven countries will face greater restrictions. The ban, which Trump based on national security grounds, takes effect on Monday.
2.75: The Bank of Canada held its key interest rate steady for the second time in a row, leaving it at 2.75% amid uncertainty about the extent and effect of US tariff increases. The bank said it may still cut rates later this year if the economy continues to struggle.
20: US intelligence believes Ukraine’s expansive drone attack on Russian airfields last weekend struck just 20 planes, destroying 10 – half the numbers claimed by Kyiv. Still, the damage was significant and Russia will respond “very strongly,” according to Trump, who spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
$250 million: The US State Department has earmarked $250 million to cover travel expenses for migrants without legal status who chose to “self-deport.” The money has been repurposed from funds previously used to aid refugees.
31: Oilers forward Leon Draisatl scored with 31 seconds left in the first extra period, to give Edmonton a comeback win in game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the defending champ Florida Panthers. As many of our readers will be (painfully) aware, a Canadian team hasn’t won the cup since 1993.
Governor of California Gavin Newsom speaks next to U.S. President Donald Trump upon Trump's arrival to tour areas impacted or destroyed by the southern California wildfires, at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 24, 2025.
Hard Numbers: California calls for help, Kenyan killed in Haiti, Trump tariffs to hit Canada soon, Apple to invest big, DRC casualties, An exit from Brexit
40 billion: California Gov. Gavin Newsom has asked Congress to approve nearly $40 billion in aid to help the Los Angeles area recover from January’s wildfires. Total economic losses from the firestorm have been estimated above $250 billion.
1: A Kenyan police officer was killed on Sunday in Haiti, north of Port-au-Prince. This is the first casualty since the Kenyan-led security mission arrived on a mission to stabilize Haiti in June 2024.
25: Been wondering what happened to Donald Trump’s threat to impose huge tariffs on Canada? Well, the US president said Monday the plan for 25% tariffs on most Canadian goods is still very much alive and will start next week. Trump said work on their implementation was “moving along very rapidly.”
500 billion: Apple said Monday it will invest $500 billion to expand its US facilities over the next four years, a move the company says will create 20,000 jobs. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump announced tariffs of 10% on all imports from China, from which Apple imports many products. Trump attributed the investment to his tariffs.
7,000: Judith Suminwa, prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, told a meeting of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday that about 7,000 people have died since January in fighting in the eastern part of the country. That figure includes both combatants and civilians.
15: Applications by Britons for Irish citizenship hit a post-Brexit high last year as a growing number of workers and pensioners tried to gain “backdoor” access into the EU. British applications to the Foreign Births Register, a citizenship route for people with Irish grandparents or parents, jumped 15% in 2024 to 23,456.
A housing activist holds a sign outside a building whose residents fear they will be evicted after its purchase by a real estate investment fund, in the neighborhood of Lavapies, in Madrid, Spain, on Dec. 14, 2024. The sign reads, "My motherland is my neighborhood."
HARD NUMBERS: Spain jacks taxes for foreigners, North Korea blasts off again, Haitian displacements soar, Red Note noted by TikTok users
2: The new year is off to an explosive start in North Korea, where the regime has already conducted its second large-scale missile test of 2025, firing a barrage of short-range ballistic weapons into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Last week, Pyongyang let fly a hypersonic medium-range missile, after spending much of 2024 testing missiles of all kinds. Over the past year, Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un has severely hardened his policy toward the US, South Korea, and Japan, which he accused of forming a bloc of “aggression.”
1, 041,000 million: The number of Haitians displaced by gang violence has tripled over the past year, reaching at least 1,041,000 people, according to a new UN assessment. The forced return of about 200,000 Haitians from the neighboring Dominican Republic had made the problem even worse. Last week, Guatemala was the latest country to join a Kenyan-led international mission in Haiti that is struggling to quash the powerful gangs that control much of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
300 million: With just days before TikTok’s ban in the US is set to go into effect, thousands of the popular app’s users are reportedly flocking – in both irony and protest – to another Chinese-owned video platform called Xiaohongshu, or “little red book,” which English speakers simply call “Red Note.” The app has 300 million users already and is mostly in Chinese, meaning most of the new users have to use translation tools to navigate it.
A contingent of security forces from Guatemala holds a Guatemala flag as they arrive in Haiti for a security mission, at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-Au-Prince Haiti January 4, 2025.
Guatemalan troops arrive in Haiti to combat gang violence
A total of 150 Guatemalan soldiers landed in Haiti on Friday and Saturday to join a United Nations-backed mission led by Kenya aimed at curbing rampant gang violence.
The troops, drawn from Guatemala’s military police, were welcomed at a ceremony Friday at Port-au-Prince’s international airport by Haitian leaders, including Transitional Presidential Council head Leslie Voltaire and Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé. US Ambassador Dennis Hankins also attended.
The 400 Kenyan police officers leading the mission have struggled to restore order in Haiti, where armed gangs control much of the capital. Despite international efforts, violence has escalated, with gangs storming prisons, targeting diplomatic vehicles, and conducting murderous rampages such as the voodoo-fueled massacre of nearly 200 people in the capital last month.
In a statement, Normil Rameau, the acting director general of the National Police, said a “marriage” of the police with the people of Haiti remains “the most effective way to facilitate the total restoration of security and the establishment of lasting peace.” We’re watching whether this latest military contingent can help cement that union in the war-torn country.
FILE PHOTO: A Kenyan police officer walks in front of an armoured personnel carrier during a joint operation with Haitian police, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti July 29, 2024.
Haitian leaders condemn Macron for calling them “morons”
Haiti’s government was not amused on Friday after French President Emmanuel Macron was caught on camera calling the island nation’s leaders “morons” for ousting their former prime minister amid escalating gang violence. Macron also blamed Haitians for “letting drug trafficking take over,” sparking outrage in the former French colony.
The comments have led to renewed demands for reparations for payments Haiti made to France back in 1804. The bill was to account for so-called “lost property,” including slaves, after the country declared independence. Activists claim the payments amounted to over $100 billion and engendered a cycle of perpetual economic and political instability.
Violence has again reached crisis levels. Armed gangs control over 85% of the capital of Port-au-Prince and have attacked prisons, police stations, and the city’s international airport, which was closed for the second time this month after gangs fired at passenger planes. This cut off food aid to a population where nearly 6,000 people are starving and 5.4 million are experiencing crisis levels of hunger.
Despite hopes for change, the latest UN-backed security mission led by Kenya has failed to stem the violence. At least 108 suspected gang members were killed over a three-day peroiod last week, and Doctors without Borders has suspended operations in the country. The US pushed for a full UN peacekeeping mission at the Security Council last week, but Russia and China opposed the mission.A man rushes past members of security forces during clashes between gangs and security forces, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti November 11, 2024.
UN will resume aid flights to Haiti as gangs gain ground
The UN Humanitarian Air Service is scheduled to restart flights to Haiti on Wednesday, a week after several planes attempting to land at Port-au-Prince airport came under small arms fire. The attacks wounded a flight attendant and resulted in the US Federal Aviation Administration banning all commercial flights to the island nation for a month.
Despite the arrival this summer of a Kenyan-led international force to help Haitian National Police push back against growing gang violence, the gangs have continued to sow chaos. The UN estimates that 20,000 people fled Port-au-Prince over the course of four days of fighting last week, and on Monday, an attack on the affluent suburb of Petion-Ville — as safe a place as you’ll find in the capital — resulted in at least 28 deaths. Women and girls are being victimized through the systemic use of sexual violence by the gangs, and medical providers have reported a “worrying increase” of such attacks this year, with some areas seeing 40 rape victims seeking treatment daily, just a fraction of the total.
Police are far from blameless: Doctors Without Borders says cops attacked one of their ambulances on Nov. 11, tear gassed the paramedics, held them captive, and summarily executed at least two patients, who the police said were gang members. There is chaos in the corridors of power, as GZERO reported last week, with erstwhile Prime Minister Garry Conille forced out of office and accusations of corruption flying in the transitional presidential council.
Is there hope? Not much. The resumption of aid flights may help some Haitians avoid acute hunger but will do little to end the violence. We’re watching for another 600 Kenyan troops to be deployed this month as promised, and to see whether other countries that have pledged forces follow through. We’re also following US efforts to transform the Kenyan-led mission into a proper UN peacekeeping operation before the Trump administration takes power in late January.