Ariel Henry resigns as prime minister of Haiti, paving the way for new government

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Ariel Henry has resigned as prime minister of Haiti, paving the way for a new government to take power. The country has been wracked by gang violence that killed or injured more than 2,500 people from January to March. Henry presented his resignation in a letter signed in Los Angeles, dated April 24, and released on Thursday by his office on the same day a council tasked with choosing a new prime minister and Cabinet for Haiti was sworn in. Henry’s Cabinet meanwhile chose Economy and Finance Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert as the interim prime minister. It was not immediately clear when the transitional council would select its own interim prime minister.

UN report says 282 million people faced acute hunger in 2023

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A new report says nearly 282 million people in 59 countries suffered from acute hunger in 2023, with war-torn Gaza hosting the largest number of people facing famine. The Global Report on Food Crises released Wednesday said the increase of 24 million people experiencing an acute lack of food from 2022 was due to the sharp deterioration in food security, especially in the Gaza Strip and Sudan, and the expanded number of nations with food crises that are monitored. According to the report, more than 705,000 people in five countries were at the worst catastrophic level of food insecurity. Máximo Torero, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’s chief economist, said over 80% of those facing imminent famine — 577,000 people — were in Gaza.

Malaria is still killing people in Kenya, but a vaccine and drug production may help

MIGORI, Kenya (AP) — Malaria is still a significant public health challenge in Kenya, but an important pilot of the world’s first malaria vaccine may help. The disease is preventable and curable, but poverty makes it deadly for those who can’t afford treatment. Most of those affected are children under 5 and pregnant women. Some progress has been made with local manufacturing of crucial antimalarial medication, an important step in Africa’s capacity to make lifesaving drugs.

More than 100 inmates break free from an old Nigerian prison after heavy rains

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A Nigerian official says more than 100 inmates have escaped from a prison near the capital city of Abuja after heavy rains overnight destroyed parts of the facility, including the perimeter fence. He said that 10 of the 119 inmates who escaped from the medium-security prison in the town of Suleja have been recaptured. The affected prison, with cracked and defaced walls, had 499 inmates, which is double its capacity. Most prisons in Nigeria are old, having been built during the colonial era before independence from Britain in 1960. Many are also overcrowded and more than two-thirds of those detained are still awaiting trial.