International news via Reuters:

Two Kenyan police officers in Haiti have been seriously injured in clashes with gangs over the past week, three officers told Reuters, adding to the mission’s growing list of casualties as it comes under increasingly frequent attack.

Kenya first deployed officers last June to the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, which currently has around 1,000 security personnel, about three-quarters of them from Kenya.

The mission, aimed at restoring enough security for Haiti to hold elections by February 2026, has faced morale issues almost from the start and uncertainty about its possible expansion amid escalating gang violence.

It suffered its first fatality in February, and the MSS reported another Kenyan officer missing last week. The three officers, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, said he was believed to be dead.

They said the two injuries came during routine patrols in and around the capital Port-au-Prince, which is mostly controlled by heavily armed gangs blamed for thousands of deaths since 2021.

MSS spokesperson Jack Ombaka confirmed two officers had been evacuated to the Dominican Republic for medical care.

“As in any mission, casualties are sometimes unavoidable,” he said.

The three officers said the gangs were attacking them on an increasingly regular basis and complained that their equipment was inadequate.

They said one of the officers was shot in the head after a bullet pierced his helmet and the other was hit in the ear when a gunshot penetrated the walls of an armoured vehicle.

Twenty armoured vehicles have been grounded since this weekend after officers refused to use them, complaining that this was the second time a vehicle had failed to stop a bullet, the three officers said.

An MSS delegation plans to travel to Washington this week to present concerns over the quality of protective gear to U.S. officials, two senior MSS officers told Reuters.

The United States has provided most of the funding and equipment for the mission, which has struggled to secure significant contributions from other countries.

Kenya’s government has cited humanitarian reasons for its intervention in Haiti, though analysts say the deployment is also motivated by a desire to boost the country’s international profile and win favour with the United States.

Asked about concerns about the equipment, Ombaka said: “MSS continues to receive increased logistical support from partners and stakeholders, with assurances that all equipment meets international standards.”

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reporting by Edwin Okoth; Editing by Aaron Ross and Aidan Lewis

International news via Reuters:

Germany’s interior minister claimed success for her outgoing government in efforts to curb irregular immigration, saying deportations were up and asylum claims down in an apparent centre-left pitch to be part of the next ruling coalition.

Nancy Faeser, a Social Democrat, remains as acting minister until her party and the election-winning conservatives agree on a new coalition deal, with how to handle immigration the sharpest dividing line between the would-be partners.

Conservative leader Friedrich Merz, seeking to win back voters his Christian Democrats (CDU) lost to the far right, pledged during the campaign to turn away at the borders people with the wrong documents. The SPD opposes this hard-line approach, saying it violates European Union law.

“Migration policy isn’t something for jokers, but a management assignment you have to work on seriously,” Faeser said in a statement on Tuesday asserting that Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government had successfully curbed irregular migration.

While the number of asylum claims halved over the past two years, she said, the number of people illegally present in Germany who were then repatriated had risen 55% and the number of skilled workers who had immigrated legally had risen by 77%.

“The numbers speak for themselves,” she said. “Today we are a country that invests more in integration and is more attractive to talented and qualified workers from the world over.”

Talks between the two parties last week went into a second round after leaders acknowledged the drafts prepared so far fell far short of what was needed for a government programme. Merz has said he wants to form a government by Easter.

FAR RIGHT RISES IN POLLS

Merz, the likely next chancellor, won the February 23 election but with a poorer-than-expected 28.5% of the vote. That left the SPD as Merz’s only possible partner if he sticks to his pledge not to cooperate with the runner-up far-right AfD party, or form an unstable three-way coalition as Scholz did.

Leaked drafts of coalition negotiating positions show the parties far apart on immigration policy. The conservatives demand more powers to expel and turn away migrants, while the SPD is focusing on integration of migrants and steps to recruit foreign skilled workers for labour-short German industries.

Concerns that commitments on migration and fiscal rigour could be watered down under the next government have preoccupied right-wing voters in particular – the AfD has gained three points in the polls since the election while the conservatives have lost three.

A series of deadly street attacks during the election campaign, blamed in some cases on foreigners illegally present in Germany, ensured the contest was dominated by a raw and angry debate over migration.

“We must carry out the migration debate without rancour, always in the awareness that we’re talking about people here,” said Faeser, who could stay on as interior minister or in another senior cabinet role if a conservative-SPD “grand coalition” comes to fruition.

Reporting by Thomas Escritt; editing by Ludwig Burger and Mark Heinrich

International news via Reuters:

International news via Reuters:

Shelter, clean water and medicine are in short supply following the earthquake in Myanmar that has caused significant structural damage and had a devastating human toll, the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday.

A 7.7 magnitude earthquake on Friday, which killed more than 2,700 people and left more than 4,500 injured, severely damaged critical infrastructure including major bridges and roads.

“The time window for critical search and rescue is narrowing … Shelter, clean water, medicine are in short supply. People in affected areas spent the night in the open because there is no electricity or running water,” OCHA’s Myanmar Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Marcoluigi Corsi told reporters in Geneva via video link from Yangon.

Multiple UN Agencies have raised the alarm about the shortage of drinking water, with concerns of cholera spreading.

“It is really dire – the most immediate need is water, it is super hot out there…Water pipes and septic tanks have broken,” said Julia Rees, UNICEF’s Deputy Representative, via the video link.

The World Health Organization said hospitals were overwhelmed and that medical supplies were running out, and that there were shortages of running water and fuel.

The UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, has identified the situation as a top-level humanitarian crisis and is mobilising stocks like plastic sheets, sleeping material and mosquito nets.

Response efforts have been complicated by severe damage to roads and bridges, meaning it took UNHCR teams 13 hours to reach Mandalay from Yangon, in what should usually be a eight-hour journey, according to the organisation.

“The most urgent requirements is shelter and relief items … there is also the risk of explosive ordnance – due to the last four years of active conflict,” UNHCR representative Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva.

FUNDING CONCERNS

OCHA, UNHCR and UNICEF have raised funding concerns – urging countries to offer money so they can replenish stocks.

“Stocks on the ground will not last forever, so that is why it is very important that we get the resources that we need”, said Baloch.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since early 2021, when the military ousted an elected civilian government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

A protest movement morphed into an armed rebellion against the junta and the widening conflict has displaced over 3.5 million people.

Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; Editing by Ludwig Burger and Raju Gopalakrishnan

International news via Reuters:

At least 63 people were being treated in hospitals in Malaysia on Tuesday after a major blaze at a gas pipeline operated by state energy firm Petronas, authorities said, with efforts ongoing to control the fire and evacuate residents.  

The fire started on Tuesday morning in the town of Puchong in Selangor state on the outskirts of the capital Kuala Lumpur and those taken to hospitals had suffered burns, respiratory problems or other injuries, authorities said.    

The pipeline had been isolated, Petronas in a statement said. The fire department said the firm had closed off the valve on the 500 m (1,640 feet) long pipeline and 49 houses in the area had been affected.

The fire started on Tuesday morning with a towering orange blaze on the horizon and a large plume of smoke above, according to early images carried by news outlets and footage shared on social media. 

A Reuters journalist located about 5 km (3 miles) away from the blaze said the intensity of the fire had reduced by early afternoon but a flame and billowing smoke could still be seen.    

Ambulances were seen rushing towards the area of the fire, which had been sealed off by authorities.

No deaths were reported but the full extent of the injuries or damage so far was not immediately clear. Authorities had earlier said some people trapped in their homes.

Petronas said it was working closely with all relevant parties to ensure the safety of the surrounding community, environment and security of gas supply to the country. 

The government set up relief centres at two local mosques, Bernama reported.

Reporting by Mandy Leong, Danial Azhar and Ashley Tang; Writing by Xinghui Kok; Editing by Stephen Coates and Martin Petty