- Six dead after floods in central Japan: media
- Australian golf prodigy suffers career-threatening eye injury
- Gaza hospital a symbol of the ruin of war
- October 7: how Israel's deadliest day unfolded
- Bibles, sneakers, silver coins: Trump's merch for sale
- Met Opera opens season with tech-heavy 'Grounded'
- Colombia's Inirida flower: from 'weed' to emblem for UN meeting
- Colombia rebel group imposes control in restive coca zone
- Rams fight back to upset 49ers, Cowboys lose again
- Sri Lankan leftist leader to take office after landslide election win
- 300-kilo WWI bomb removed in Belgrade
- Zelensky in US to explain war plan to Biden, Harris, Trump
- 'Atrocious' Sudan war pushing refugees further afield: UNHCR chief
- 'Convergence' growing on global plastics treaty: UN environment chief
- MLB White Sox fall to Padres to match one-season loss mark
- All-Australian Ripper squad captures LIV Golf team crown
- Barnier promises compromise from France's embattled new govt
- Zelensky arrives in US to explain war plan to Biden
- Barca rout Villarreal but Ter Stegen hurt, Atletico draw at Rayo
- Darnold shines for Vikings, Steelers and Eagles win
- Atletico held to draw at Rayo Vallecano
- Marseille stun Lyon with 95th-minute winner after early red card
- Gabbia ends AC Milan's derby pain with late winner against Inter
- Surging Ko claims LPGA Queen City crown in spectacular style
- 'Impossible': Alcaraz shoots down Federer comparisons after Laver Cup win
- Scholz's party beats far-right AfD in east German state vote
- Verstappen says 'silly' swearing row could hasten F1 exit
- Calls for Israel and Hezbollah to step back from the abyss
- Israel and Hezbollah urged to avoid 'catastrophe'
- Colombia battles fires as drought fuels Latin American flames
- Pressure piles on new French government from day one
- Arteta proud as Arsenal salvage point from 'impossible' task
- Barca rout Villarreal in thriller but Ter Stegen hurt
- Roma stroll past Udinese as fans protest De Rossi sacking
- Horschel outduels McIlroy to win PGA Championship play-off
- Audiences summon 'Beetlejuice' to top of N. America box office for third week
- Stones salvages point for Man City against 10-man Arsenal
- Egypt fears 'all out' regional war: foreign minister to AFP
- Last-gasp Boniface gives Leverkusen victory, Stuttgart outclass Dortmund
- Scholz's party beats far-right AfD in east German state vote: projections
- Olympic champion Evenepoel retains world title in 'toughest time trial'
- Horschel's eagle beats McIlroy in PGA Championship play-off
- Mourners at commander's funeral express loyalty to Hezbollah
- Norris hails his 'mega' McLaren after dominant win at Singapore
- Monaco beat Le Havre to join PSG at the top of Ligue 1
- Scholz's party narrowly leads far-right AfD in east German state vote: exit polls
- New leftist president vows to 'rewrite Sri Lankan history'
- UN adopts pact to tackle volatile future for mankind
- Leclerc hails Ferrari fightback from torrid Singapore GP qualifying
- Belgian Evenepoel retains world title in 'toughest time trial'
Panama halts migrant aid in Darien jungle: MSF
Doctors Without Borders said Thursday the Panamanian government has halted its humanitarian activities in the notorious Darien Gap after it criticized a sharp rise in sexual violence against migrants who pass through there.
Last week, the NGO that goes by its French initials MSF, reported an "extreme" level of brutality against migrants who undertake the dangerous trek through the jungle between Colombia and Panama on their way to the United States.
And it urged the Panamanian authorities to redouble efforts to protect the most vulnerable people "on their territory."
On Thursday, MSF said it was "forced to suspend all medical activity for the migrant population in the Darien by order of the Panamanian authorities."
It said the government cited the lack of a valid "collaboration agreement" with the health ministry to operate in Panama.
The NGO said it had been trying in vain to renew the agreement since October 2023.
AFP has reached out to the government for comment.
In just one week in February, the NGO said last week, it had treated 113 people, including nine children, who had been sexually assaulted by criminal groups operating in the lawless Darien Gap.
For the whole of January, the number was 120.
"The level of brutality is extreme," Luis Eguiluz, the group's head of mission in Panama and Colombia, said in a statement, and expressed outrage at the "impunity" with which criminal groups operate.
MSF has volunteers stationed to help migrants as they emerge from the jungle.
It says it provides medical and psychological care to about 5,000 people a month, with a focus on survivors of sexual violence.
Despite its dangers, the 165-mile (265-kilometer) Darien Gap has become a key corridor for migrants heading from South America through Central America and Mexico in hopes of reaching the United States and a chance at a better life there.
They face treacherous terrain, wild animals and violent criminal gangs that extort, kidnap and abuse them.
In 2023, a record 520,000 people crossed through the Darien, 120,000 of them children.
In 2022, 62 people died on the trek, and a provisional count for 2023 stands at 34.
Keeping count is difficult as many deaths are never reported, and jungle animals sometimes devour the bodies of those who perish along the way.
In the first two months of this year, 72,000 people are known to have crossed the Darien: mainly Venezuelans but also Haitians, Ecuadorans, Colombians and Chinese, according to official data.
Panamanian authorities, with international support, have installed care centers in populated areas of the Darien to provide basic services to migrants.
MSF said Thursday it was "extremely concerned about the consequences of the suspension on the migrant population."
The International Organization for Migration and the Red Cross have also denounced an increase in violence against migrants in the Darien.
A.Mahlangu--AMWN