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Martine Moïse, Haitian President’s Widow, Recounts Assassination

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MIAMI — With her elbow shattered by gunfire and her mouth full of blood, the first lady of Haiti lay on the floor beside her bed, unable to breathe, as the assassins stormed the room.

“The only thing that I saw before they killed him were their boots,” Martine Moïse said of the moment her husband, President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti, was shot dead beside her. “Then I closed my eyes, and I didn’t see anything else.”

She listened as they ransacked the room, searching methodically for something in her husband’s files, she said. “‘That’s not it. That’s not it,’” she recalled them saying in Spanish, over and over. Then finally: “‘That’s it.’”

The killers filed out. One stepped on her feet. Another waved a flashlight in her eyes, apparently to check to see if she was still alive.

retired Colombian commandos, a former judge, a security equipment salesman, a mortgage and insurance broker in Florida, and two commanders of the president’s security team. According to the Haitian police, the elaborate plot revolves around a 63-year-old doctor and pastor, Christian Emmanuel Sanon, who officials say conspired to hire the Colombian mercenaries to kill the president and seize political power.

But critics of the government’s explanation say that none of the people named in the investigation had the means to finance the plot on their own. And Mrs. Moïse, like many Haitians, believes there must have been a mastermind behind them, giving the orders and supplying the money.

were being hollowed out.

Mr. Moïse was also locked in battle with some of the nation’s wealthy oligarchs, including the family that controlled the nation’s electrical grid. While many people described the president as an autocratic leader, Mrs. Moïse said her fellow citizens should remember him as a man who stood up to the rich and powerful.

And now she wants to know if one of them had him killed.

“Only the oligarchs and the system could kill him,” she said.

Dressed in black, with her arm — now limp and perhaps useless forever, she said — wrapped in a sling and bandages, Mrs. Moïse offered an interview in South Florida on the agreement that The New York Times not reveal her whereabouts. Flanked by her children, security guards, Haitian diplomats and other advisers, she barely spoke above a whisper.

She and her husband had been asleep when the sounds of gunfire jolted them to their feet, she recalled. Mrs. Moïse said she ran to wake her two children, both in their early 20s, and urged them to hide in a bathroom, the only room without windows. They huddled there with their dog.

Her husband grabbed his telephone and called for help. “I asked, ‘Honey, who did you phone?’” she said.

“He said, ‘I found Dimitri Hérard; I found Jean Laguel Civil,’” she said, reciting the names of two top officials in charge of presidential security. “And they told me that they are coming.”

But the assassins entered the house swiftly, seemingly unencumbered, she said. Mr. Moïse told his wife to lie down on the floor so she would not get hurt.

“‘That’s where I think you will be safe,’” she recalled him saying.

It was the last thing he told her.

A burst of gunfire came through the room, she said, hitting her first. Struck in the hand and the elbow, she lay still on the floor, convinced that she, and everyone else in her family, had been killed.

None of the assassins spoke Creole or French, she said. The men spoke only Spanish, and communicated with someone on the phone as they searched the room. They seemed to find what they wanted on a shelf where her husband kept his files.

“They were looking for something in the room, and they found it,” Mrs. Moïse said.

She said she did not know what it was.

“At this moment, I felt that I was suffocating because there was blood in my mouth and I couldn’t breathe,” she said. “In my mind, everybody was dead, because if the president could die, everybody else could have died too.”

The men her husband had called for help, she said — the officials entrusted with his security — are now in Haitian custody.

And while she expressed satisfaction that a number of the accused conspirators have been detained, she is by no means satisfied. Mrs. Moïse wants international law enforcement agencies like the F.B.I., which searched homes in Florida this week as part of the investigation, to track the money that financed the killing. The Colombian mercenaries who were arrested, she said, did not come to Haiti to “play hide and seek,” and she wants to know who paid for it all.

In a statement on Friday, the F.B.I. said it “remains committed to working alongside our international partners to administer justice.”

Mrs. Moïse expected the money to trace back to wealthy oligarchs in Haiti, whose livelihoods were disrupted by her husband’s attacks on their lucrative contracts, she said.

Mrs. Moïse cited a powerful Haitian businessman who has wanted to run for president, Reginald Boulos, as someone who had something to gain from her husband’s death, though she stopped short of accusing him of ordering the assassination.

Mr. Boulos and his businesses have been at the center of a barrage of legal cases brought by the Haitian government, which is investigating allegations of a preferential loan obtained from the state pension fund. Mr. Boulos’ bank accounts were frozen before Mr. Moïse’s death, and they were released to him immediately after he died, Mrs. Moïse said.

In an interview, Mr. Boulos said that only his personal accounts, with less than $30,000, had been blocked, and he stressed that a judge had ordered the release of the money this week, after he took the Haitian government to court. He insisted that, far from being involved in the killing, his political career was actually better off with Mr. Moïse alive — because denouncing the president was such a pivotal part of Mr. Boulos’s platform.

“I had absolutely, absolutely, absolutely nothing to do with his murder, even in dreams,” Mr. Boulos said. “I support a strong, independent international investigation to find who came up with the idea, who financed it and who executed it.”

Mrs. Moïse said she wants the killers to know she is not scared of them.

“I would like people who did this to be caught, otherwise they will kill every single president who takes power,” she said. “They did it once. They will do it again.”

She said she is seriously considering a run for the presidency, once she undergoes more surgeries on her wounded arm. She has already had two surgeries, and doctors now plan to implant nerves from her feet in her arm, she said. She may never regain use of her right arm, she said, and can move only two fingers.

“President Jovenel had a vision,” she said, “and we Haitians are not going to let that die.”

Anatoly Kurmanaev and Harold Isaac contributed reporting from Port-au-Prince.

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This Ethiopian Road Is a Lifeline for Millions. Now It’s Blocked.

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AFAR, Ethiopia — The road, a 300-mile strip of tarmac that passes through some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth, is the only way into a conflict-torn region where millions of Ethiopians face the threat of mass starvation.

But it is a fragile lifeline, fraught with dangers that have made the route barely passable for aid convoys trying to get humanitarian supplies into the Tigray region, where local fighters have been battling the Ethiopian army for eight months.

the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in a decade.

wrote on Twitter. “People are starving.”

Ethiopian prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, who won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, said last week that his government was providing “unfettered humanitarian access” and committed to “the safe delivery of critical supplies to its people in the Tigray region.”

But Mr. Abiy’s ministers have publicly accused aid workers of helping and even arming the Tigrayan fighters, drawing a robust denial from one U.N. agency. And senior aid officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing their operations, said the government’s stated commitment to enable aid deliveries was belied by its actions on the ground.

Aid workers have been harassed at airports or, in the case of a World Food Program official last weekend, have died inside Tigray for want of immediate medical care.

Tigrayan fighters had marched into the regional capital, Mekelle, hours after beleaguered Ethiopian soldiers quit the city. The city airport was shut, so the only way out of Tigray was on a slow-moving U.N. convoy that took the same desolate route out as the fleeing Ethiopian soldiers.

We drove down a rocky escarpment on a road scarred by tank tracks. As we descended into the plains of Afar, the temperature quickly rose.

publicized the flight but made no mention of the delays or harassment — an omission that privately angered several U.N. officials and other aid workers who said it followed a pattern of U.N. agencies being unwilling to publicly criticize the Ethiopian authorities.

Further complicating the aid effort: The war is now spilling into Afar.

In the past week Tigrayan forces have pushed into the region. In response Mr. Abiy mobilized ethnic militias from other regions to counter the offensive.

Mr. Abiy has also resorted to increasingly inflammatory language — referring to Tigrayan leaders as “cancer” and “weeds” in need of removal — that foreign officials view as a possible tinder for a new wave of ethnic violence across the country.

Ms. Billene, his spokeswoman, dismissed those fears as “alarmist.” The Ethiopian leader had “clearly been referring to a terrorist organization and not the people of Tigray,” she said.

Inside Tigray, the most pressing priority is to reopen the road to Afar.

“This is a desperate, desperate situation,” said Lorraine Sweeney of Support Africa Foundation, a charity that shelters about 100 pregnant women displaced by fighting in the Tigrayan city of Adigrat.

Ms. Sweeney, who is based in Ireland, said she had fielded calls from panicked staff members appealing for help to feed the women, all of whom are at least eight months pregnant.

“It brings me back to famine times in Ireland,” Ms. Sweeney said. “This is crazy stuff in this day and age.”

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Credit Suisse helped Archegos take ‘potentially catastrophic’ risks before losing billions when it collapsed

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London CNN Business —  

Credit Suisse investment bankers allowed Archegos Capital to take “voracious” and “potentially catastrophic” risks that culminated in the US hedge fund’s spectacular collapse in March, costing the bank $5.5 billion and causing chaos on Wall Street, according to an investigation published Thursday.

The Swiss bank published a report by law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, which uncovered persistent failures by senior managers to address risks connected with trades made by Archegos, a New York-based family office that managed the fortune of investor Bill Hwang.

Archegos used borrowed money to build massive positions in stocks including media companies ViacomCBS (VIACA) and Discovery, and was unable to pay back its lenders when share prices dropped.

Its implosion cost global banks, including Morgan Stanley (MS) and Japan’s Nomura (NMR), more than $10 billion and led to calls for tighter regulation of firms that invest on behalf of wealthy families and individuals who are subject to less scrutiny than financial institutions.

Credit Suisse (CS) punished 23 of its employees following the hedge fund’s collapse, canceling or clawing back bonuses totaling $70 million and firing nine staff members, including top investment banker Brian Chin and chief risk officer Lara Warner.

The independent review found that the Archegos-related losses were the result of a “fundamental failure of management and controls” in Credit Suisse’s investment bank and specifically its prime services business, which provides trading, financing and advisory services to hedge funds and institutional clients.

“The business was focused on maximizing short-term profits and failed to rein in, and, indeed enabled Archegos’s voracious risk-taking,” according to the report, which was based on more than 80 interviews with current and former Credit Suisse employees and more than 10 million documents.

“There were numerous warning signals — including large, persistent limit breaches — indicating that Archegos’s concentrated, volatile, and severely under-margined swap positions posed potentially catastrophic risk to Credit Suisse,” it added.

Despite some individuals raising concerns, risk managers and senior executives, including the global head of equities, failed to heed the warnings. Although no fraudulent or illegal activities took place, there was a “persistent failure” to manage “conspicuous risks,” the report said.

It highlighted a “lackadaisical attitude toward risk” in the prime services business and a “cultural unwillingness to engage in challenging discussions.”

“The Archegos matter directly calls into question the competence of the business and risk personnel who had all the information necessary to appreciate the magnitude and urgency of the Archegos risks, but failed at multiple junctures to take decisive and urgent action to address them,” the report added.

In a statement, Credit Suisse chairman António Horta-Osório, who joined the bank in April following a decade at the helm of Lloyds (LLDTF), said the Swiss bank had already taken “a series of decisive actions” to strengthen risk oversight.

“We are committed to developing a culture of personal responsibility and accountability, where employees are, at heart, risk managers,” he added.

Credit Suisse said that following the Archegos collapse it has “significantly reduced” leverage exposure in the prime services business, increased margin requirements and implemented extra approval processes for “material transactions.”

The more conservative approach to risk is already weighing on its investment bank, which suffered a 41% decline in revenue in the second quarter compared with a year earlier. Credit Suisse on Thursday reported a 78% decline in profit for the period, which follows a loss in the first quarter attributable to Archegos.

It said that the findings of a separate investigation into its relationship with failed UK supply chain finance firm Greensill Capital would be published in the coming months.

CEO Thomas Gottstein said the bank took the Archegos and Greensill events “very seriously” and was “determined to learn all the right lessons.”

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Why Tunisia’s Promise of Democracy Struggles to Bear Fruit

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GAZIANTEP, Turkey — In the 10 years since its popular uprising set off the Arab Spring, Tunisia has often been praised as the one success story to emerge from that era of turbulence. It rejected extremism and open warfare, it averted a counterrevolution, and its civic leaders even won a Nobel Peace Prize for consensus building.

Yet for all the praise, Tunisia, a small North African country of 11 million, never fixed the serious economic problems that led to the uprising in the first place.

It also never received the full-throated support of Western backers, something that might have helped it make a real transition from the inequity of dictatorship to prosperous democracy, analysts and activists say. Instead, at critical points in Tunisia’s efforts to remake itself, many of its needs were overlooked by the West, for which the fight against Islamist terrorism overshadowed all other priorities.

Now, as Tunisians grapple with their latest upheaval, which began when President Kais Saied dismissed the prime minister and suspended Parliament over the weekend, many seem divided on whether to condemn his actions — or embrace them.

terrorism and the pandemic, Mr. Kaboub said.

overthrew the country’s authoritarian president of 23 years, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

But Western officials were obsessively focused on the Islamists — namely the Ennahda, or Renaissance, party that swept early elections — and where they were going and what they represented.

“In conversations, those sorts of questions ate up almost all the oxygen in the room,” Ms. Marks said. “It was almost impossible to get anybody to ask another question.”

awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015 — to the point that it became a “fetish,” she said.

After the 2011 revolution, Al Qaeda and other extremists were quick to mobilize networks of recruits.

Terrorism burst into the open in 2012 when the U.S. Embassy in Tunis came under attack from a mob. Over the years that followed, extremist cells carried out a string of political assassinations and suicide attacks that shattered Tunisians’ optimism and nearly derailed the democratic transition.

training and assisting Tunisian security forces, and supplying them with military equipment, but so discreetly that the American forces themselves were virtually invisible.

By 2019, some 150 Americans were training and advising their Tunisian counterparts in one of the largest missions of its kind on the African continent, according to American officials. The value of American military supplies delivered to the country increased to $119 million in 2017 from $12 million in 2012, government data show.

The assistance helped Tunisia defeat the broader threat of terrorism, but government ministers noted that the cost of combating terrorism, while unavoidable, burned a larger hole in the national budget.

But it is the structure of the economy that remains the root of the problem, Mr. Kaboub said. All of Tunisia’s political parties have identical economic plans, based on World Bank and International Monetary Fund guidelines. It was the same development platform used by the ousted president, Mr. Ben Ali, Mr. Kaboub said.

“Right now,” he said, “everybody in Tunisia is begging for an I.M.F. loan, and it is going to be seen as the solution to the crisis. But it is really a trap. It’s a Band-Aid — the infection is still there.”

Lilia Blaise contributed reporting from Tunis.

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‘They Have My Sister’: As Uyghurs Speak Out, China Targets Their Families

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She was a gifted agricultural scientist educated at prestigious universities in Shanghai and Tokyo. She said she wanted to help farmers in poor areas, like her hometown in Xinjiang, in western China. But because of her uncle’s activism for China’s oppressed Muslim Uyghurs, her family and friends said, the Chinese state made her a security target.

At first they took away her father. Then they pressed her to return home from Japan. Last year, at age 30, Mihriay Erkin, the scientist, died in Xinjiang, under mysterious circumstances.

The government confirmed Ms. Erkin’s death but attributed it to an illness. Her uncle, Abduweli Ayup, the activist, believes she died in state custody.

Mr. Ayup says his niece was only the latest in his family to come under pressure from the authorities. His two siblings had already been detained and imprisoned. All three were targeted in retaliation for his efforts to expose the plight of the Uyghurs, he said.

called a genocide, prompting foreign governments to impose sanctions.

Credit…Abduweli Ayup

Now the Chinese authorities are pushing back against overseas Uyghurs by targeting their relatives.

The Communist Party has long treated the relatives of dissidents as guilty by association and used them to pressure and punish outspoken family members. With the courts under the control of the authorities, there is little recourse to challenge such prosecutions. Liu Xia, the wife of Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo, spent nearly eight years under house arrest after he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. Her younger brother, Liu Hui, served two years in prison for a fraud conviction she called retaliation.

But with the Uyghurs, the authorities seem to be applying this tactic with unusual, and increasing severity, placing some Uyghur activists’ relatives in prison for decades, or longer.

Dolkun Isa, the German-based president of the World Uyghur Congress, a Uyghur rights group, said he believes his older brother is in detention. He learned in late May that his younger brother, Hushtar, had been sentenced to life in prison. “It was connected to my activism, surely,” Mr. Isa said.

Radio Free Asia, a United States-funded broadcaster, says that more than 50 relatives of journalists on staff have been detained in Xinjiang, with some held in detention camps and others sentenced to prison. The journalists all work for the broadcaster’s Uyghur language service, which has in the past several years stood out for its reporting on the crackdown, exposing the existence of camps and publishing the first accounts of deaths and forced sterilizations.

The sister of Rushan Abbas, a Uyghur American activist, was sentenced in December to 20 years in prison for terrorism. The sister, Gulshan Abbas, and her aunt had been detained in 2018, days after Rushan Abbas spoke at an event in Washington denouncing the crackdown and widespread detention in Xinjiang.

use of the Uyghur language. The government regarded even the most moderate expression of ethnic identity as a threat and Mr. Ayup was arrested in 2013 and spent 15 months in prison. After he was released, he fled abroad, but his experience emboldened him to continue campaigning.

a leaked government document outlining how Uyghurs were tracked and chosen for detention.

The circumstances of Ms. Erkin’s death remain unclear.

Radio Free Asia, which cited a national security officer from Ms. Erkin’s hometown as saying she had died while in a detention center in the southern city of Kashgar. Mr. Ayup said he believed it was the same place where he himself had been beaten and sexually abused six years earlier.

Ms. Erkin’s family was given her body, Mr. Ayup said, but were told by security officials to not have guests at her funeral and to tell others she died at home.

In a statement to The New York Times, the Xinjiang government said that Ms. Erkin had returned from overseas in June 2019 to receive medical treatment. On Dec. 19, she died at a hospital in Kashgar of organ failure caused by severe anemia, according to the statement.

From the time she went to the hospital until her death, she had always been looked after by her uncle and younger brother, the government wrote.

Before she returned to China, Ms. Erkin seemed to be aware that her return could end tragically.

“We all leave alone, the only things that can accompany us are the Love of Allah and our smile,” she wrote in text messages to Mr. Ayup when he tried to dissuade her from going home.

“I am very scared,” she admitted. “I hope I would be killed with a single bullet.”

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The amazing vacation homes you can buy for $1 million

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(CNN) — Vacation homes are one of those things that many people aspire to.

And with house prices recently seeing double-digit percentage increases in 90% of US metro areas, along with other urban centers around the world, some of those fantasy properties in less expensive destinations are starting to look pretty appealing.

Though travel restrictions are still in place in many parts of the world, it’s still fun to contemplate the places we could take off to if we decided to uproot and buy our overseas dream homes.

“With restrictions in most locales lessening, the process of purchasing is becoming less burdensome and interest in buying abroad continues to expand,” Joyce Lee, associate vice president for Asia Pacific at Christie’s International Real Estate, tells CNN.

“Resourceful Americans have continued to buy properties abroad.”

So what will a million or so US dollars get you these days? Here are a few of the properties on the market in some of the world’s most popular travel destinations right now.

Phuket, Thailand

phuket villa pool

When you tire of Phuket’s many beaches, relax in your private pool instead.

Courtesy Coldwell Banker Phuket

Thailand’s island of Phuket has long been one of the most desirable vacation spots in all of Asia, and the pandemic hasn’t changed that.

Local real estate agent Norbert Withinrich of Coldwell Banker Phuket confirms that Covid-19 may have slightly cooled the market, but not dramatically.

“In the past 15 months, we saw some second homeowners drop their prices,” he says, adding that some properties even sold over the Internet without a single in-person viewing. But that won’t be necessary now — Phuket reopened to vaccinated travelers on July 1.

Among Coldwell Banker Phuket’s listings within the million-dollar range is a four-bedroom, four-bathroom villa set in a gated community in the island’s hills, a short drive from Bang Tao Beach.

Sitting on a 995-square-meter plot (10,710 feet), the home is laid out in a u-shape around a 15-meter pool, which the bedrooms open up to.

Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

This three-bedroom pool villa is located in Dominican Republic's Sosua Ocean Village.

This three-bedroom pool villa is located in Dominican Republic’s Sosua Ocean Village.

Courtesy Ocean Side Realty by Remax

It’s not hard to see why Puerto Plata was the first part of the Dominican Republic to open up to tourism — between the lush green valleys and the long stretches of sandy beachfront, it’s basically impossible to find an unattractive view in this province.

For those looking to enjoy it from the privacy of their own home, this three-bedroom, oceanfront villa is located inside the Sosua Ocean Village gated community, just a 15-minute drive from Puerto Plata International Airport.

The villa, built in 2018, is 220 square meters and sits on a 2,088-square-meter lot. Owners can walk straight out of the breakfast nook into the electric-blue swimming pool, or follow one of the shaded footpaths down to the Atlantic.

Barcelona, Spain

barcelona spain lucas fox

This four-bedroom apartment is located in Barcelona’s Sant Gervasi – Galvany neighborhood.

Courtesy Lucas Fox

Does your second-home dream look more like a trendy urban loft apartment than a beachside villa?

The price on this design-forward, 187-square-meter apartment in Barcelona’s trendy Sant Gervasi – Galvany neighborhood has just been reduced.

Featuring four bedrooms and two bathrooms, it was recently renovated, with the original features carefully maintained. And did we mention the clawfoot bathtub?

Spain has recently reopened its borders to international visitors. Combine your real estate tour with stops in the neighborhood’s cool cava bars.

The Bahamas

Golding Cay Bahamas

Golding Cay: For those who want to build their very own dream home.

Courtesy 7th Heaven Properties

If you liked social distancing so much you’re hoping to keep it up after the pandemic, consider investing in your very own island.

Golding Cay is a 3.4-acre beauty just off the coast of North Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas. It’s totally empty and ready for you to build a mansion, villa, tree house or any other property of your choice.

Golding Cay offers privacy and breathing room while not being completely cut off from the rest of the world; it’s just 10 minutes by boat from the fishing village of Spanish Wells.

It’s close enough to North Eleuthera that you can have easy access to the island’s airport and infrastructure, while if you have a boat you can be in Miami in a few hours’ time.

Hokkaido, Japan

Hanazono North Hills Log House Sapporo

A log cabin in one of Japan’s most luxe ski areas.

Courtesy Niseko Real Estate

If you’re the kind of person who hoards your vacation days to chase powder in Vail, consider buying a home on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, where you’ll find some of the best skiing in Asia.

This quaint, 168-square-meter (1,808 square feet) log cabin in world-famous Niseko is unfurnished, so you can be 100% in charge of decorating decisions.

Located in North Hills, the two-bedroom home is just five minutes away from the slopes of Hanazono.

Los Cabos, Mexico

Playas de Rosarito Baja California

This ocean-front, 9,000-square-foot mansion has six bedrooms.

Courtesy Baja123

With 1,933 miles of shared border, Mexico has always been a popular getaway for Americans.

This includes the beachside community of Los Cabos. Located on the very southernmost tip of the Baja peninsula, it offers gorgeous views in nearly every direction.

One option for sale there: This ocean-front, 836 sqm mansion in Rosarito Beach’s gated Castillos Del Mar development, which sits on a stretch of sand that’s popular with surfers.

If you prefer calmer waters, there’s a dreamy infinity pool that overlooks the ocean.

It’s got six bedrooms, six full bathrooms and offers private beach access. According to the agent, the title is held in a club membership, which has approximately 51 years remaining on it.

Price: $1,050,000. Contact Baja123 for more info.

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

ocho rios jamaica

Boasting 11 bedrooms, this Jamaica mansion is 15 minutes from James Bond Beach.

Courtesy Coldwell Banker Jamaica

“Over the last two years, Jamaica’s real estate market has literally been on fire!” laughs Matthew Stevenson, an agent at Coldwell Banker in Jamaica. The good news here is that you can buy houses that are absolutely not on fire, although Stevenson’s joy is palpable.

While Caribbean islands are never a hard sell, Stevenson has noticed one major takeaway — Jamaicans who moved elsewhere in the world found themselves pulled homeward once the pandemic started.

According to Stevenson, many Jamaicans who had settled in countries like the US decided that they’d rather wait out the Covid storm from a cozy beach, and property sales kicked up accordingly.

The agent recommends that Americans check out areas like Ocho Rios, near the famous “James Bond Beach” — your money will go further, but you’ll also be enjoying some of the prettiest landscapes on the island.

Among the properties now on sale for under a million there is an 11-bedroom mansion in the St. Mary Country Club, just 15 minutes away from James Bond Beach. It offers ocean views and over 800 square meters of living space, with each bedroom having its own private balcony.

St. John, Barbados

St Johns Barbados

A four-bedroom home with stunning hilltop views.

Courtesy Seaside Realty Inc

Who needs neighbors? If you buy this home, perched on a hilltop overlooking Martin’s Bay in St. John, eastern Barbados, you won’t have to worry about anybody else blocking your view.

The open-plan property has a roomy walk-in shower, a balcony perfect for watching the sunrise, an elegant garden and four bedrooms, where you can listen to the waves crashing as you fall asleep.

CNN’s Karla Cripps contributed to this feature.

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Tunisia’s Democracy Verges on Collapse as President Moves to Take Control

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CAIRO — Tunisia’s fledgling democracy, the only one remaining from the popular revolutions that swept the Arab world a decade ago, trembled on the brink of collapse Monday after its president sought to seize power from the rest of the government in what his political opponents denounced as a coup.

The president, Kais Saied, who announced the power grab late Sunday, did not appear to have completely succeeded in taking control as of Monday evening, as chaos enveloped the North African country. But many Tunisians expressed support for him and even jubilation over his actions, frustrated with an economy that never seemed to improve and a pandemic that has battered hospitals in recent weeks.

With Syria, Yemen and Libya undone by civil war, Egypt’s attempt at democracy crushed by a counterrevolution and protests in the Gulf States quickly extinguished, Tunisia was the only country to emerge from the Arab Spring revolutions with a democracy, if a fragile one.

But the nation where the uprisings began now finds even the remnants of its revolutionary ideals in doubt, posing a major test for the Biden administration’s commitment to democratic principles abroad.

statement. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, in a phone call Monday with Mr. Saied, encouraged him “to adhere to the principles of democracy and human rights,” a spokesman said.

Defying the Tunisian president, the prime minister, Hichem Mechichi, said he would hold a cabinet meeting even after Mr. Saied announced the dismissal of him and several ministers. Parts of Parliament said they would meet virtually even as soldiers cordoned off the Parliament building.

But the danger remained that Mr. Saied would back up his power grab with greater force, whether by further deploying the military or arresting top officials.

“This is a very concerning development that puts the democracy at great risk of unraveling,” said Safwan M. Masri, executive vice president of Columbia University’s Global Centers network, who studies Tunisia. Referring to Mr. Saied, he said: “An optimistic scenario would be that the Parliament and the Constitution and democratic institutions would prevail and that he would be forced out of office. But I would not bet any money on it.”

Already, the president has announced that he was assuming the public prosecutor’s powers and stripping lawmakers of immunity.

whether the revolution was worth it.

Protests and strikes frequently racked the country, and popular discontent widened the gap between elites who praised Tunisia’s democratic gains and Tunisians who simply wanted to improve their lot.

The coronavirus pandemic made things worse by devastating Tunisia’s tourist industry, an important economic engine. The virus has shaken the government and the health system even further in recent weeks as Tunisians have died of Covid-19 at the highest rate in the Middle East and Africa.

On Sunday, demonstrators across Tunisia called for the dissolution of Parliament, giving Mr. Saied some popular cover to announce that night that he was firing Mr. Mechichi, freezing Parliament for 30 days and assuming executive authority.

Tarek Megerisi, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “They blame them for all the country’s problems and think that they need to be removed.”

The showdown was a long time coming, with Mr. Saied locked since his election in political infighting with Mr. Mechichi and the speaker of Parliament, Rachid Ghannouchi.

Mr. Saied has been hinting for months at expanding his authority by refusing to swear in ministers and blocking formation of a constitutional court, raising alarm among opponents and political analysts.

In response to chaos in Tunisia’s Covid-19 vaccination rollout last week and a surge in cases that has overwhelmed hospitals, Mr. Saied stripped control of Tunisia’s coronavirus response from the Health Ministry and handed it to the military.

On Sunday night, Mr. Saied cited Article 80 of the Constitution, which he said permits the president exceptional powers. He said he had consulted both Mr. Mechichi and Mr. Ghannouchi and held an emergency meeting with other officials before acting.

Mr. Saied said he was doing so to preserve the country’s “security and independence and to protect the normal operation of state institutions.”

Article 80, however, accords the president such powers only if the country faces an imminent threat and only after the prime minister and parliament speaker have been consulted. Mr. Ghannouchi denied that he had been.

In a statement, Mr. Ghannouchi deplored what he called a “coup” and described the suspension of Parliament as “unconstitutional, illegal and invalid.” The assembly “remains in place and will fulfill its duty,” he said.

In a televised statement, Mr. Saied said, “This is not a suspension of the Constitution.” And he sounded an ominous warning to adversaries: “Whoever fires a single bullet, our armed and security forces will retaliate with a barrage of bullets.”

Videos posted to social media showed crowds cheering, honking, ululating and waving Tunisian flags after the president’s actions Sunday night, the dark night lit up by red flares. Other videos showed Mr. Saied wending through cheering supporters along the main thoroughfare of Tunis, where revolutionaries gathered during the 2011 protests.

The next step for Tunisia is unclear. The country has so far failed to form the constitutional court, called for in the 2014 Constitution, that could adjudicate such disputes.

In his statement, Mr. Saied said cryptically that a decree would soon be issued “regulating these exceptional measures that the circumstances have dictated.” Those measures, he said, “will be lifted when those circumstances change.” He also fired the defense minister and acting justice minister on Monday afternoon.

Tunisia’s divisions reflect a wider split in the Middle East between regional powers that supported the Arab revolutions and the political Islamist groups that came to power at the time (Turkey and Qatar), and those that countered the uprisings (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt). While Turkey and Qatar expressed concern on Monday, the others remained quiet.

Reporting was contributed by Nada Rashwan from Cairo, Lilia Blaise and Massinissa Benlakehal from Tunis, and Michael Crowley from Washington.

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In Nagorno-Karabakh, Land Mines, Bulldozers and Lingering Tensions

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When I came to Nagorno-Karabakh after the war last year, the sight of a hillside Armenian military cemetery brought to my mind the layers of tragedy embedded in this land.

After returning in June, I left wondering just how much heartbreak a patch of earth can bear.

In Shusha last October, I stepped into the concrete basement of an apartment block, where Armenian women were sheltering on flattened cardboard boxes. They thought they had known what war was like, one said, recalling the 1990s conflict. But the enormous firepower of modern weapons was different, “a horror, a horror.”

Back then, as Communism collapsed, the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war over Nagorno-Karabakh — an area mostly populated by Armenians within the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan. Armenia won that war, leaving about one-seventh of Azerbaijan’s territory under Armenian control.

As international efforts to mediate the conflict failed, and Azerbaijan’s oil and gas riches boomed, the country invested in modern drones from Israel and Turkey. By the time Azerbaijan attacked last September, its military, supported by Turkey, was overpowering compared with that of poorer and smaller Armenia.

When I returned last month to the Shusha apartment block, it was gone, razed to bare, brown ground. The area will become part of a new “streetscape,” the British architect, Adrian Griffiths, told me.

Rather than allow the Azerbaijanis to simply return to their homes, President Ilham Aliyev, the country’s authoritarian ruler, wants to rebuild Shusha as Azerbaijan’s cultural capital. About 15,000 people, mainly Azerbaijanis, lived there before the 1990s war; until last fall, there were roughly 5,000 Armenian residents.

The striking hilltop city was a cradle of Azerbaijani music and poetry in the 19th century, though Armenians also see it as core to their historical identity.

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What to expect if you want to visit the Caribbean anytime soon

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Editor’s Note — Coronavirus cases remain in flux across the globe. Health officials caution that travel increases your chances of getting and spreading the Covid-19 virus. Unless you’re fully vaccinated, staying home is the best way to stem transmission. Below is information on what to know if you still plan to travel, current as of July 23.

(CNN) — If you’re planning to travel to the islands of the Caribbean, here’s what you’ll need to know and expect if you want to visit during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The first thing to keep in mind is the Caribbean Sea region consists of 13 independent island nations. There are even more overseas territories. Each of them has its own rules, subject to frequent change.

Some of the islands opened back up to travel in the summer and fall of 2020. Others reopened more recently. Restrictions can vary. Some islands require quarantines, even for vaccinated travelers, while others don’t even request a Covid-19 test. Rules vary depending on your country of origin.

Also remember that hurricane season continues through November 30. Typically, the worst part of the season is mid-August through September. Islands in the southern part of the Caribbean are usually less affected by hurricanes than their more northerly neighbors. Get updates at CNN Weather.

Here’s a roundup on 10 popular destinations that are open. Follow the links provided so you can find out all the crucial details and check for updates before you book a trip:

Aruba

Aruba is known for its white beaches and colorful buildings in the capital city of Oranjestad.

Aruba is known for its white beaches and colorful buildings in the capital city of Oranjestad.

DPPA/Sipa USA/AP

What’s on offer: Days are usually dry and sunny. Arikok National Park features caves, desert landscapes and giant lizards. Wide beaches bordering clear jade water are the big draw.

Who can go? Citizens of all countries can enter with the exception of Venezuela.

Entry requirements: All visitors 15 and older must have a negative result from a molecular Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours of arrival. Aruba visitors health insurance is mandatory. No quarantine is in place. Travelers who test positive for Covid-19 are required to stay in mandatory isolation.

US CDC travel advisory: Level 3: High. Unvaccinated travelers should avoid nonessential travel to Aruba.

The Bahamas

You'll find Bimini Big Game Club and Marina on North Bimini, which is off the coast from Miami, Florida.

You’ll find Bimini Big Game Club and Marina on North Bimini, which is off the coast from Miami, Florida.

Francisco Blanco/Alamy

What’s on offer: The chain has 700 islands — from the hustle and funky beats of the capital city, Nassau, on New Providence, to the peaceful beaches on many less-visited islands. You can swim with pigs or dive with sharks.

Who can go? The Bahamas is open to all international travelers.

Entry requirements: Fully vaccinated travelers are exempt from testing requirements. Unvaccinated travelers must present a negative result from a PCR test taken no more than five days before arrival. Children 11 and younger are exempt. You must fill out a health visa application and opt in to the Bahamas’ Covid-19 health insurance. Unvaccinated travelers staying longer than four nights and five days must also take a rapid antigen test on day five.

US CDC travel advisory: Level 3: High. Unvaccinated travelers should avoid nonessential travel to the Bahamas.

Barbados

Charles Fort was built in 1650 to protect Carlisle Bay on Barbados from pirates.

Charles Fort was built in 1650 to protect Carlisle Bay on Barbados from pirates.

Jon G. Fuller/VWPics/AP

What’s on offer: Golf, history and architecture get visitors beyond the beach on the most easterly island in the Caribbean. Rum distilleries offer tours and the local cuisine — a blend of African, Indian, Irish, British and Creole flavors — will soak up the spirit.
Who can go? The island is welcoming visitors from around the world; however, those from “countries of special consideration” have more stringent testing and quarantine requirements. Barbados also has a travel bubble list of some other Caribbean islands and Bermuda that allows people who meet certain conditions to bypass quarantine.

Entry requirements: Both fully vaccinated travelers and the unvaccinated must present a negative result from a Covid-19 PCR test taken no more than three days before travel. You must upload results to the BIMSafe app.

Vaccinated travelers also take a rapid test upon arrival and quarantine for one or two days awaiting results. Unvaccinated travelers must quarantine for five days, take another PCR test and remain in quarantine until receiving results. You must book your room ahead of time at a government-approved accommodation (scroll down for list).

US CDC travel advisory: Level 1: Low.

Cuba

The Cuban flag at the Melia Varadero International Hotel in Matanzas Province, east of Havana on Cuba's north coast.

The Cuban flag at the Melia Varadero International Hotel in Matanzas Province, east of Havana on Cuba’s north coast.

Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images

What’s on offer: The largest island in the Caribbean, Cuba has a plethora of beaches. The romantic charm and mystique of Old Havana and the lush Viñales Valley, both UNESCO World Heritage sites, set this destination apart.
Who can go? Cuba is allowing visitors from around the world to enter. The US government doesn’t allow its citizens to visit Cuba for general tourism purposes. However, there are a variety of permitted reasons to visit.

Entry requirements: Visitors are required to show proof of a negative result from a Covid-19 PCR test taken within three days of arrival. They must take another PCR Covid-19 test upon arrival in Cuba and quarantine at a government-approved hotel. On day five, they take another Covid-19 test. No exemptions for the fully vaccinated. Cuba remains on lockdown as it has for much of the pandemic.

US CDC travel advisory: Level 3: High. Unvaccinated travelers should avoid nonessential travel to Cuba. (The US State Department currently has a “Level 4: Do not travel” advisory out on Cuba.)

Curaçao

The Penha Building was built in 1708 in the Dutch colonial style and is now a department store in Willemstad, the capital of the island.

The Penha Building was built in 1708 in the Dutch colonial style and is now a department store in Willemstad, the capital of the island.

Jon G. Fuller/VWPics/AP

Who can go? Curaçao divides countries and territories — and the travelers arriving from them — into four categories: very low risk, low risk, high risk and very high risk. You need to check which category you’re in as they may have varying requirements.

Entry requirements: All visitors except those coming from “very low risk” destinations must have negative results from a Covid-19 PCR test that’s no more than 72 hours old before your flight to the island. There are no exemptions for the fully vaccinated. All travelers must fill out the passenger locator card 48 hours before arrival. No quarantines are in place unless you test positive for Covid-19 during your stay.

US CDC travel advisory: Level 1: Low.

Dominican Republic

Tourists take pictures of flamingoes in Bayahibe, La Altagracia province.

Tourists take pictures of flamingoes in Bayahibe, La Altagracia province.

Erika Santelices/AFP/Getty Images

Who can go? Travelers around the world may enter, but depending on where you’re coming from, entry requirements will differ.

Entry requirements: Travelers from many nations — including the United States, Canada, Mexico and France, among others — do not need a Covid-19 test to enter. But as of June 28, the DR has set up a list of nations from which you do need a negative result from a Covid-19 PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before arrival. Nations on that list include Brazil, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom, among others. No quarantines are in place.

US CDC travel advisory: Level 3: High. Unvaccinated travelers should avoid nonessential travel to the Dominican Republic.

Jamaica

Reach Falls, near the city of Port Antonio, is a popular destination in Jamaica.

Reach Falls, near the city of Port Antonio, is a popular destination in Jamaica.

Valery Sharifulin/TASS/Getty Images

Who can go? Until August 10, anyone who is not a citizen of Jamaica and has been in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, India or Trinidad and Tobago within 14 days of the intended date of entry will not be OK’d for travel.

Entry requirements: Travelers 12 and older must have a negative result from a Covid-19 molecular (PCR, NAA, RNA) or antigen test performed taken within three days of the travel date. You must fill out a travel authorization form.

Visitors are allowed to go only to “Resilient Corridors” designed specifically for tourists along with other licensed accommodations that meet Covid-19 safety standards. If you require a Covid test upon arrival, you must quarantine in your hotel or resort until you get a negative result.

US CDC travel advisory: Level 2: Moderate. Unvaccinated travelers who are at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 should avoid nonessential travel to Jamaica.

Puerto Rico

Paddleboarders enjoy themselves near a beach in the Condado neighborhood of San Juan.

Paddleboarders enjoy themselves near a beach in the Condado neighborhood of San Juan.

Xavier Garcia/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Who can go? Puerto Rico is a US territory. According to US State Department and CDC guidelines on international travel, people who have been in Brazil, China, the European Schengen Area, Iran, India, Ireland, South Africa and the United Kingdom in the past 14 days will be denied entry for leisure travel. Others who meet entry requirements may enter.

Entry requirements: Fully vaccinated travelers on domestic flights must upload their vaccination card to the island’s online portal, which will generate a QR code. Nonvaccinated travelers on domestic flights must have a negative result from a Covid-19 PCR or antigen test taken within 72 hours of arrival.

International visitors, regardless of vaccination status, must have a negative result from a Covid-19 PCR or antigen test taken within 72 hours of arrival.

US CDC travel advisory: Level 2: Moderate. Unvaccinated travelers who are at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 should avoid nonessential travel to Puerto Rico.

Turks and Caicos

Colonial houses line the waterfront in Cockburn town, Grand Turk.

Colonial houses line the waterfront in Cockburn town, Grand Turk.

Alamy

What’s on offer: This British overseas territory — northeast of Cuba and southeast of the Bahamas — is known for it coral reefs, ripsaw music and a low-key vibe. Whale watching, snorkeling and a range of other outdoor activities pair well with the islands’ natural aquatic beauty.

Who can go? Visitors from around the world are welcomed to vacation here.

Entry requirements: All travelers 10 and older need a negative result from a Covid-19 PCR test taken no more than five days before arrival to enter. Starting July 28, that window goes down to three days. No exception is in place for the fully vaccinated. There’s no quarantine on arrival. You must fill out a travel authorization form, and Covid-19 travel insurance is required as well.

US CDC travel advisory: Level 1: Low.

US Virgin Islands

St. Thomas saw a lot of cruise ship activity before the pandemic.

St. Thomas saw a lot of cruise ship activity before the pandemic.

Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post/Getty Images

What’s on offer: From fine dining, scuba diving and golfing on St. Croix to the pristine shores of unspoiled and undeveloped St. John, these islands have a lot to offer. In lively St. Thomas, boating and duty-free shopping are big draws.
Who can go? The USVI is a US territory. According to US State Department and CDC guidelines on international travel, people who have been in Brazil, China, the European Schengen Area, Iran, India, Ireland, South Africa and the United Kingdom in the past 14 days will be denied entry for leisure travel. Others who meet entry requirements may enter.
Entry requirements: Travelers 5 or older who enter by air or sea are required to use the USVI Travel Screening Portal and submit a Covid-19 test result before travel. You must have one of the three following to enter:

— A negative result from a Covid-19 molecular test taken and received within five days of the start of your trip.
— A negative result from a Covid-19 antigen test taken and received within five days of the start of your trip.
— A positive result from a Covid-19 antibody test taken and received within four months of travel to the USVI.

No Covid-19 test is required for travel to and from the US Mainland.

Effective July 19, passengers traveling from the British Virgin Islands to the U.S. Virgin Islands must provide either a negative result from a PCR test taken within 48 hours of travel or a positive antibody test result taken within four months (marine) or three months (air) of travel.

US CDC travel advisory: Level 3: High. Get fully vaccinated before traveling to the US Virgin Islands.

CNN’s Forrest Brown, Marnie Hunter and Patrick Oppmann contributed to this report.

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Flood Deaths in China Show Road Risks From Climate Change

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ZHENGZHOU, China — More than 200 cars were caught in a highway tunnel on Tuesday in central China when record-setting rainfall soaked the area. Torrents of water poured in the tunnel’s entrances, nearly filling it to the ceiling.

The death toll that day probably would have been higher had it not been for a semiretired special forces commando who swam back and forth among the bobbing, colliding vehicles to rescue drowning drivers as their cars filled with water and sank. The authorities are still draining the tunnel, and have said that at least four people died.

Initially, international attention to transportation safety risks from extreme weather focused on drownings in a subway tunnel that filled with water during the same cloudburst in Zhengzhou, in central China’s Henan Province. But the highway-tunnel flooding deaths highlight the risks that climate change can also pose to motorists, transportation safety experts said this weekend.

Indeed, the deaths show that road engineers, like subway-system designers, will need to cope with the more intense rainfalls associated with climate change, said Kara M. Kockelman, a transportation engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

1993 during the Mississippi River floods in the Midwest to alleviate pressure on dams when the water behind them became dangerously high.

Only two months ago, the Henan Province government was promoting its “smart tunnel” investments in the same mile-long, four-lane highway tunnel that flooded on Tuesday. Sensors could be used to track and precisely locate any person or vehicle, and to closely monitor the tunnel’s water pumps. An artificial intelligence system could be used to instantly analyze problems and suggest solutions.

Highway tunnels, including Zhengzhou’s, are built with their own pumping systems. But extreme cloudbursts like the one last week, in which eight inches of rain fell in a single hour, pose formidable challenges for road designers.

To work, such pumping systems need to be able to move the water somewhere that is not underwater itself. Zhengzhou is nearly flat and slow to drain. The entire street at the south end of the tunnel filled with water several feet deep.

Dr. Kockelman said that any investigation of what went wrong in Zhengzhou would need to examine whether the exit point for the pumps had become submerged. That could cause the flow of water through the pumps to reverse direction and fill the tunnel.

Liu Chunge, an owner of a tiny grocery store that sits two stairs above the sidewalk next to the south end of the tunnel, said that the water in the streets rose fast. She was soon calf-deep inside her store.

The freezer from which she sells ice cream began to float, so she loaded beverage bottles onto it to force it back down to the floor.

“I’ve never experienced such a big flood,” said Ms. Liu, 50. “In previous floods, the water never rose above the two steps.”

Zhengzhou officials have held three news conferences since the tunnel floods, but they have yet to directly explain what went wrong.

Local authorities have struggled to remove water from the highway tunnel. On Friday afternoon, they were operating a pair of pumps nearly the size of commercial jet engines attached to bright red, fire engine-size suction trucks at the tunnel’s south end. But the muddy water was still deep enough in the tunnel that only the roof of a white car inside was visible.

Several workers maneuvered a large yellow tow truck to try to pull a mud-covered black minivan out of the tunnel’s exit. The minivan had its rear wheels on a nearly yard-high highway median, and its driver’s door hung open. Five other mud-soaked cars and vans lay in the water nearby, including a dark blue Ford sedan with a white car on its roof.

Many Zhengzhou residents watched and filmed the crews’ work on Friday afternoon, and were occasionally chased away by a few municipal police officers.

As for Mr. Yang, Caocao gave him a new, $25,000 electric minivan on Friday night.

Li You, Claire Fu and Liu Yi contributed research.

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