Vodou grows powerful as Haitians seek solace from unrelenting gang violence

Canadian Press Videos

Shunned publicly by politicians and intellectuals for centuries, Vodou is transforming into a more powerful and accepted religion across Haiti, where its believers were once persecuted. Vodou believers are seeking solace and protection from violent gangs that have killed, raped and kidnapped thousands in recent years. Amid the spiraling chaos, a growing number of Haitians are praying more or visiting Vodou priests known as “oungans” for urgent requests ranging from locating loved ones who were kidnapped to finding critical medication needed to keep someone alive. (AP video by Pierre Luxama)

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • 3 dead, 5 injured in evening boat crash north of Kingston

    Three people are dead and five others injured in what police are calling a "horrible" collision involving two boats on a lake north of Kingston, Ont. Ontario Provincial Police say the crash happened in the Buck Bay area of Bobs Lake after 9:30 p.m. on Saturday. It involved "an open bow fishing-style boat" and a speedboat, they said.Emergency crews from surrounding regions, along with the 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron out of CFB Trenton, responded to the call around 9:45 p.m.OPP said two of t

  • They’ve been stuck for 7 weeks on the ship that crashed into a Baltimore bridge. This is what life is like for the Dali crew

    It could be weeks or even months before crew members can leave, due to complications beyond their control. Here’s why they’re still confined – and how they’re coping

  • Diddy's downfall: Sean Combs' career looks bleak after leaked tape, entertainment lawyer says

    Sean "Diddy" Combs apologized for assaulting his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura. An entertainment attorney says it won't save his career.

  • Tugboats escort ship that caused deadly Baltimore bridge collapse back to port

    BALTIMORE (AP) — The recovery from the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse reached a significant milestone Monday as the ill-fated container ship Dali was slowly escorted back to port, its damaged bow still covered with smashed shipping containers, fallen steel trusses and mangled concrete. Nearly two months have passed since the Dali lost power and crashed into one of the bridge’s supporting columns, killing six construction workers and halting most maritime traffic through the Port of Baltimore.

  • Woman jailed for murdering mother-in-law in fire for inheritance

    Karen Vamplew is ordered to serve a minimum of 32 years for killing her mother-in-law.

  • Toothpaste tube helps narrow investigation into remains found near Sask. campsite

    MOOSE JAW, Sask. — Investigators in Saskatchewan have released photos of items found near a campsite along with human remains of a person who they believe died a decade ago. RCMP say they're hoping someone will recognize the items and can help figure out the person's identity. Police say in a news release they began an investigation April 28 into human remains located at a makeshift campsite in a deeply forested area in the Rural Municipality of Moose Jaw. The release didn't specify whether it w

  • An Hours-Long Home Invasion, a Triple Murder, and a Father Who Survived: Inside the Petit Family Murders

    In the early morning hours of July 23, two men broke into the Petits' Cheshire, Conn., home, held the family hostage for hours and assaulted them

  • Arizona man sentenced to natural life in prison for the 2017 death of his wife, who was buried alive

    An Arizona man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2017 death of his wife, who was buried alive in a hand-dug grave near their home, authorities said. Seven years after the murder, David Pagniano decided to plead guilty before his trial was scheduled to start and allowed a judge to determine his sentence without a plea agreement. Pagniano, 62, also was sentenced on May 9 to a 16 ½-year prison term for kidnapping, forgery and fraud, according to the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office.

  • Officials seize around $500,000 worth of elvers from Toronto's Pearson airport

    TORONTO — A major seizure of baby eels at Toronto's Pearson International Airport that federal officials say were destined for shipment overseas are estimated to be worth between $400,000 and $500,000. The seizure of 109 kilograms of elvers was carried out on Wednesday by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canada Border Services Agency. "Our message is crystal clear: do not travel to Nova Scotia to illegally fish or export elvers this year, enforcement officers will be waiting for yo

  • "He Had Killed His Own Son, Niece, And Brother Later That Day" And 26 More Terrifying Stories About People Who Encountered Or Knew Killers

    "I look up and make eye contact and he had more blood splattered on his face, and a huge grin."

  • Sentencing trial set to begin for Florida man who executed 5 women at a bank in 2019

    Zephen Xaver walked into a central Florida bank in 2019, fatally shot five women and then called police to tell them what he did. Xaver pleaded guilty last year to five counts of first-degree murder for the Jan. 23, 2019, massacre at the SunTrust Bank in Sebring, about 84 miles (135 kilometers) southeast of Tampa. Michael Cook said he hopes his wife's killer gets the death penalty and described being very frustrated by the years of delays.

  • Republicans who showed up at Trump’s NYC trial were way out of their lane | Opinion

    A shameful attempt by Speaker Johnson and others in NYC to tip the scales of justice | Letters

  • Overnight fires may be linked to Toronto tow truck wars

    Two fires in Scarborough are under investigation and could be linked to ongoing turf wars in the GTA towing industry. As Sean O’Shea reports, they’re just the latest in a growing number of suspicious fires.

  • ‘We’ll See You at Your House:’ How Fear and Menace Are Transforming Politics

    One Friday last month, Jamie Raskin, a Democratic member of Congress from Maryland, spent a chunk of his day in court securing a protective order. It was not his first. Raskin, who played a leading role in Donald Trump’s second impeachment hearing, said he received about 50 menacing calls, emails and letters every month that are turned over to the Capitol Police. His latest court visit was prompted by a man who showed up at his house and screamed in his face about the COVID-19 vaccine, Trump’s i

  • Horrific car crash leaves a high school senior dead and another injured

    Dashboard camera video caught alleged drunk driver suspect Taeyoung Kim slamming into 17-year-old Marko Niketic's car, just days before the senior's prom and graduation.

  • ‘How do you get hypothermia in a prison?’ Records show hospitalizations among Virginia inmates

    RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia State Police investigator seemed puzzled about what the inmate was describing: “unbearable” conditions at a prison so cold that toilet water would freeze over and inmates were repeatedly treated for hypothermia. “How do you get hypothermia in a prison?” the investigator asked. “You shouldn’t.” The exchange, captured on video obtained by The Associated Press, took place during an investigation into the death of Charles Givens, a developmentally disabled inmate at

  • SIU investigating woman's death after arrest in Barrie

    Ontario's police watchdog is investigating after a 28-year-old woman died in hospital Saturday morning after she was arrested in Barrie. Barrie police arrested the woman on Thursday near 49 Colter Street for outstanding warrants, the province's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said in a news release Saturday. She was taken to the station and held in a cell.On Friday, Ontario police transported the woman from the Barrie police station to Central North Correctional Centre, the SIU said. The woman

  • In divided Iran, president's death met by muted mourning and furtive celebration

    Iran proclaimed five days of mourning for President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday, though the muted atmosphere revealed little of the spectacular public grief that has accompanied the deaths of other senior figures in the Islamic Republic's 45-year history. While government loyalists packed into mosques and squares to pray for Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, both killed in a helicopter crash, most shops remained open and the authorities made little effort to interrupt ordinary life. A year after Raisi's hardline government cracked down violently to end the biggest anti-establishment demonstrations since the 1979 revolution, opponents even posted furtive video online of people passing out sweets to celebrate his death.

  • US Supreme Court spurns former Guantanamo Bay detainee's appeal

    The U.S. Supreme Court turned away on Monday a Canadian former Guantanamo Bay detainee's bid to vacate his convictions for the 2002 murder of an American soldier in Afghanistan and other crimes he committed at age 15 to which he later pleaded guilty. The justices declined to hear an appeal by Omar Khadr, now age 37, of a lower court's refusal to hear his case on the grounds that he had waived his right to appellate review as part of a 2010 plea agreement before a U.S. military commission. Khadr was one of the youngest prisoners held at the detention facility at the U.S. naval base in Cuba.

  • Ontario's police watchdog investigating death of 28-year-old woman arrested in Barrie

    BARRIE, Ont. — Ontario's police watchdog is investigating the death of a woman who passed out while officers were taking her to jail. The Special Investigations Unit says officers with the Barrie Police Service arrested the woman on Thursday night because she was wanted on outstanding warrants. The agency says the officers took the woman to a police station, where she was kept in a cell. The following day, the SIU says special constables with the Ontario Provincial Police were taking the woman f