
HAITI: Residents have fled a running battle between gang members and police in the Solino district of the capital Port-au-Prince, one of the few that hadn’t already been fully taken over by criminals.
The violence exploded on Sunday, when Haiti’s transitional council sacked interim prime minister Garry Conille amid political infighting.
More than 4,300 people have fled their homes in and around Port-au-Prince since then, according to a United Nations estimate.
PAKISTAN: The province of Punjab declared a health emergency today due to smog and imposed lockdowns in the cities of Multan and Lahore.
“Smog is currently a national disaster,” senior provincial minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said as he announced the move.
Average air quality index readings in parts of Lahore exceeded 600 today. Anything over 300 is considered hazardous to health.
SPAIN: A fire at a nursing home killed at least 10 people and injured others after it broke out early today.
The alarm was raised just before 5am at the Jardines De Villafranca nursing home, which treats people with dementia and mental health problems, in Villafranca de Ebro, about 18 miles from the north-eastern city of Zaragoza. Two people remain in critical condition, officials said.
The cause of the fire was not yet known.
NORTHERN IRELAND: Four men were arrested on Thursday night during a pro-Palestinian protest outside Queen’s University in Belfast, where former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton was giving a speech.
Protesters carried a cut-out showing her with blood on her hands and chanted: “Shame.”
The men were arrested for public order offences.