Stamp prices rise for the third time in five years amid financial woes for Canada Post
Canada Post is increasing stamp prices for the third time since 2019, a move the Crown corporation says is a "reality" of its sales-based revenue structure.
The funeral for slain Haitian President Jovenel Moise was briefly interrupted Friday by nearby gunfire and tear gas as well as agitated supporters that caused U.S. and UN officials to leave before his widow spoke publicly for the first time since the attack.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the private compound where Moise's funeral was held as some mourners inside shouted, "Justice for Jovenel!" and cheered when Martine Moise, who was seriously injured in the July 7 attack at the couple's private home, rose to the podium at the end of the ceremony.
"They're watching us, waiting for us to be afraid," she said. "We don't want vengeance or violence. We're not going to be scared."
Smoke and ash from burning barricades that demonstrators set up around the compound, along with tear gas fired by police, blew through the ceremony as Martine Moise and others spoke.
Her soft voice grew stronger through the 15-minute speech as she thanked the crowd for their support and said those responsible would not assassinate Jovenel Moise's vision, ideas or dreams for Haiti.
"We lost a fight, but we did not lose the war," she said as she condemned the country's oligarchs and suggested that Moise was killed in his pursuit to provide electricity, build roads and make a better life for poor people. She later addressed his killers: "They are here looking at us. They are not even hiding."
The funeral was held amid heavy security following violent protests and fears of political volatility in the Caribbean nation.
Before the funeral began, cries of "Assassin!" filled the air at the arrival of Haiti's National Police Chief Leon Charles. Haitians clad in somber suits, shiny shoes and black and white formal dresses shouted and pointed fingers at the neighboring seating platforms where Haitian officials and foreign dignitaries sat above at least a dozen men with high-powered weapons.
"You didn't take any measures to save Jovenel! You contributed to his killing!" one woman yelled.
On the grounds below, one Moise supporter threatened Charles: "You need to leave now or we're going to get you after the funeral!"
Yves Paul Leandre, spokesman for Haiti's Communications Ministry, told The Associated Press that the U.S. and United Nations delegations left about 10 to 15 minutes after arriving due to hostile words that Moise supporters inside the compound hurled at everyone arriving.
Two U.S. officials confirmed there was an incident at the event and that the U.S. delegation left early. All members of the U.S. delegation were safe and accounted for and it does not appear they were targeted, according to the officials, who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Shortly before the funeral began, Martine Moise arrived to cries of "Justice! Justice!" as she headed straight to her husband's casket, climbing the stairs and stopping in front of it. With her right arm in a sling, she lay her left arm on the casket draped with a large Haitian flag and then brought it to her heart as she stood there in silence. Her eyes filled with tears as her three children joined her.
Minutes later, a group of supporters grabbed a large portrait of Moise and paraded with it as the police band began to play the national anthem over loud wails.
White T-shirts and caps emblazoned with Moise's picture were distributed to supporters the day before the final ceremony to honor Moise.
"This is something that will be engraved in our memory," said Pedro Guilloume, a Cap-Haitien resident. "Let all Haitians channel solidarity."
Before the funeral began, a man wrapped himself in a large Haitian flag and approached the casket, crying out, "We need to fight and get justice for Jovenel!" Next to him, a man carrying a T-shirt commemorating Moise joined in as he yelled, "Jovenel died big! He died for me and for the rest of the country…We're not going to back down."
Once the funeral ended, protesters threw rocks at a caravan of Haitian authorities and journalists that were leaving.
The funeral comes days after Prime Minister Ariel Henry, with support from key international diplomats, was installed in Haiti -- a move that appeared aimed at averting a leadership struggle following Moise's assassination.
Henry, who was designated prime minister by Moise before he was slain but never sworn in, replaced interim prime minister Claude Joseph and has promised to form a provisional consensus government until elections are held.
On Wednesday and Thursday, violent demonstrations hit neighborhoods in and around Cap-Haitien as groups of men fired shots into the air and blocked some roads with blazing tires. One heavily guarded police convoy carrying unknown officials drove through one flaming barricade, with a vehicle nearly flipping over.
A priest who presided over a Thursday Mass at Cap-Haitien's cathedral to honor Moise warned there was too much bloodshed in Haiti as he asked people to find peace, noting that the poorest communities are affected.
Moise was sworn in as Haiti's president in February 2017 and faced increasing criticism in recent years from those who accused him of becoming increasingly authoritarian. He had been ruling by decree for more than a year after the country failed to hold legislative elections.
Authorities have said that at least 26 suspects have been arrested in the killing, including 18 former Colombian soldiers. Police are still looking for several more suspects they say were involved in the assassination plot, including a former rebel leader and an ex-senator.
----
AP writers Evens Sanon in Cap-Haitien, Haiti and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
Canada Post is increasing stamp prices for the third time since 2019, a move the Crown corporation says is a "reality" of its sales-based revenue structure.
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women in Winnipeg, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc will be tabling legislation on Monday aimed at countering foreign interference in Canada. Federal officials have scheduled a technical briefing on the incoming bill for Monday afternoon.
H5N1 or avian flu is decimating wildlife around the world and is now spreading among cattle in the United States, sparking concerns about 'pandemic potential' for humans. Now a health expert is urging Canada to scale up surveillance north of the border.
Polish prosecutors have discontinued an investigation into human skeletons found at a site where German dictator Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders spent time during the Second World War because the advanced state of decay made it impossible to determine the cause of death, a spokesman said Monday.
Italy's mafia rarely dirties its hands with blood these days. Extortion rackets have gone out of fashion and murders are largely frowned upon by the godfathers.
An Ontario MPP was asked again to leave the Ontario legislature on Monday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that was banned by the Speaker last month due to its political symbolism.
After his adopted parents died, Dave Rogers set out to learn more about his birth mother. DNA results and a little help from friendly strangers would put him on a path to a small town in England.
The judge presiding over Donald Trump's hush money trial fined him US$1,000 on Monday for violating his gag order once again and sternly warned the former president that additional violations could result in jail time.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.