Martine Moïse alleged to have conspired with former PM to kill president and replace him herself

A Haitian judge in charge of the investigation into the assassination in 2021 of the country’s last president, Jovenel Moïse, has charged 50 people including his widow and a former prime minister, according to a document leaked to local media.

According to the 122-page document from Judge Walther Wesser Voltaire, made public by AyiboPost, the president’s widow, Martine Moïse, conspired with the former prime minister Claude Joseph to kill the president in order to replace him herself.

Thick smoke rises above strategic neighbourhood of Solino as frantic residents call into radio stations for help

• Haiti crisis: how did it get so bad, and is there a way out?

Gang members have targeted a strategic neighbourhood in Haiti’s capital, in a four-day attack which has left residents trapped in their homes by flaming barricades and automatic gunfire.

Shots echoed throughout Solino on Thursday as thick columns of black smoke rose above the once peaceful neighborhood, as frantic residents called radio stations appealing for help.

Rights groups say churchgoers were killed and wounded as they marched in order to rid the area of gang members

At least seven people were killed in Haiti, a rights group said, after a powerful gang that controls a northern suburb of the capital, Port-au-Prince, opened fire with machine guns on a protest organised by a Christian church leader.

Hatian rights group CARDH director Gedeon Jean said the final number killed would probably be higher, adding that several people were wounded and some churchgoers had been kidnapped, after they marched through the community on Saturday trying to rid the area of gang members. Local media reported at least 10 participants were killed.

Human Rights Watch says country unable to protect citizens from killing and rape by armed gangs, and floats overseas peacekeepers

Human rights abuses in Haiti are soaring while the Haitian state is almost nonexistent and unable to protect its people from the brutality of armed gangs, Human Rights Watch has warned in a new report.

Rival criminal factions now have such a tight grip over the country that international security forces could be necessary to restore order, the rights groups said.