MADRID, Spain (Reuters): Spanish journalist Ricardo Ortega was shot dead by foreign soldiers in Haiti in 2004, according to a court order from the Caribbean country, the contents of which were made public by Ortega's family on Friday. Ortega died while covering a demonstration in March. read more...

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters): Haiti took a step toward installing a new government on Wednesday as the Senate ratified nominee Ericq Pierre for prime minister, more than a month after violent protests over rising food prices that led to the ouster of the old government. The Senate voted 17-0 with two abstentions to approve Pierre. read more...

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MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AFP): Leaders and representatives of several South and Central American nations prepared to meet here to discuss a regional strategy to avert the food crisis affecting poor nations around the world, officials said Tuesday. The meeting Wednesday was hosted by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. read more...

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MANAGUA, Nicaragua (Bloomberg): Haitian President Rene Preval said the onset of hurricane season in the Caribbean coupled with rising oil prices may deepen the food crisis in his country, the Western Hemisphere's poorest. Global warming and climate change may lead to an increase in hurricanes in the region this year. read more...

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LES CAYES, Haiti (Reuters): Slum leaders in the southern town of Les Cayes who started Haiti's recent food riots handed lawmakers an ultimatum on Monday to install a new government within a week or face more protests. Parliamentary leaders were not immediately available for comment on the threat. read more...

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters): For many Haitians, a job is not about the ability to pay bills, manage family finances or save money. It simply supplies enough money for one hot meal a day. The unemployment rate is over 60 percent, but several Haitians said they work so they don't have to beg for help. read more...

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I would like to comment on a particular passage by Bob. "The United Nations, the World Food Organization and the Organization of American States are taking steps to provide emergency food to Haiti because of the crisis inflicted upon the Haitian people by President Preval and his predecessors." read more...

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WASHINGTON, USA (Reuters): The Inter-American Development Bank on Thursday said it would give $27 million in grant money to Haiti to deal with higher global food prices and to revive agricultural production. Higher global food prices are squeezing most countries around the world. read more...

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters): Haiti faces a "major crisis" if international donors fail to provide urgent aid to help feed its poor, a top official with the World Food Program said on Wednesday. The WFP appealed for $54 million in fresh funding to offset soaring food prices in Haiti. read more...

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters): US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson called for urgent debt relief for Haiti on Tuesday to ease the burden of a food crisis that sparked violent protests in the impoverished Caribbean nation earlier this month. Jackson said Haiti owed the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. read more...

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The United Nations, the World Food Organization and the Organization of American States are taking steps to provide emergency food to Haiti because of the crisis inflicted upon the Haitian people by President Preval and his predecessors. Some years ago, (under the Latortue governance)... read more...

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OTTAWA, Canada (AFP): Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier on Tuesday welcomed the nomination of a new Haitian prime minister after his predecessor was ousted over soaring food and fuel prices. The appointment comes two weeks after his predecessor was ousted. read more...

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SEATTLE, USA: World Concern and Operation Blessing are planning to ship two 40-foot containers of soy-enriched rice to Haiti in May. The food will provide over one million meals and will be distributed through the partners of the Association of HIV/AIDS in Haiti to those who are most at risk in the current food shortage crisis. read more...

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters): Parliamentary leaders said on Monday Prime Minister-designate Ericq Pierre, who was nominated by President Rene Preval on Sunday, was a "technician" with the right experience to lead Haiti's new government after violent protests triggered by rising food prices. read more...

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP): The man tipped to be Haiti's next prime minister, Ericq Pierre, 63, is an experienced international civil servant trained in economics and agriculture, and is a personal friend of President Rene Preval. During Preval's first term in the presidency, Pierre was chosen in 1999 to serve in the post. read more...

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters): Haitian President Rene Preval named a new prime minister on Sunday after lawmakers fired his predecessor to quell violent protests ignited by rising food prices in the impoverished Caribbean nation. Preval named Ericq Pierre, a senior adviser with the IADB. read more...

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters): The World Food Program lacks crucially needed funds to help feed Haiti's poor, and international donors must provide urgent and massive aid, a spokesman for the United Nations agency said on Thursday. The agency had a $37.8 million shortfall in the $45 million budget. read more...

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WASHINGTON, USA (Reuters): The International Monetary Fund said on Friday it was working with donors to review Haiti's need for more aid to deal with soaring food prices, which have sparked violent protests in the Caribbean country. "Haiti has been particularly affected," said IMF mission chief, Andreas Bauer. read more...

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters): Three children were killed and two people injured when a mudslide triggered by torrential rains knocked down a wall and crushed a house in the Haitian capital, witnesses said on Thursday. Haiti is vulnerable to flash floods and mudslides because most of its trees have been chopped down. read more...

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti: Demonstrations that started in Le Cayes on Thursday, April 3, against soaring food prices spread across Haiti to Petit-Goagve, Gonaïves, Aquin and, by April 7, to the capital, Port-au-Prince. Anger over rising prices has been building for many months with basic food stuffs increasingly out of reach for the poor. read more...

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MONTROUIS, Haiti (Reuters): Acute hunger and the rising cost of living could send a new wave of boat people from Haiti, where rising food prices set off deadly riots two weeks ago and drove the prime minister from office. The US Coast Guard has intercepted 972 Haitian migrants at sea since October 1. read more...

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP): Lawmakers in Haiti are urging President Rene Preval to name a new prime minister by the end of the week, after several days without a head of government following the forced exit of Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis. Alexis was ousted over rocketing food and fuel prices. read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana: For the first time in four years, Haiti has appointed two Youth Ambassadors for the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors (CYA) programme. Both M. Isnel Pierreval and Mlle. Gyliane Cadet were warmly welcomed among fifteen new Youth Ambassadors, read more...

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WASHINGTON, USA: Secretary General José Miguel Insulza travels to Haiti on Thursday leading a high-level Organization of American States mission to meet with President René Préval and his cabinet as well as leaders of the Senate and Chambers of Deputies, the business community, political parties and civil society. read more...

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SINGAPORE, China (Bloomberg): Haiti's food shortages, which caused riots and led to the ouster of Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis this month, may persist for months because farmers lack seeds to produce another harvest in June, World Vision International said. read more...

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters): Four days after the government took steps to lower the price of rice to counter food riots, Haitians complained on Wednesday that the cost of other staples needed to drop too. Business owners whose properties were looted during recent violence said they would sue the government. read more...

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Prime Minister Alexis (appointed by President Preval) is gone, ostensibly in response to the riots fueled by the rising cost of food. Other governments have poured money into Haiti, the children eat mud cookies and have blonde hair, people can't afford to feed their families, rotted on the docks. read more...

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters): Sellers and angry customers clashed over the price of rice in Haiti on Tuesday, three days after the government announced a deal to reduce the price by 15 percent after food riots that killed at least five people. Vendors said customers had expected rice prices to drop. read more...

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CARACAS, Venezuela (Bloomberg): Venezuela, the biggest oil exporter in the Americas, committed to financing sales of about 50,000 barrels a day of oil, refined products and liquefied petroleum gas to Haiti, Nicaragua and Bolivia. Venezuela will finance 14,000 barrels a day for Haiti under agreements signed last year. read more...

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP): The UN Security Council on Monday strongly condemned the killing of a Nigerian police officer of the UN mission in Haiti and urged Haitian authorities to take all necessary steps to bring those responsible to justice. UN chief Ban Ki-moon also expressed shock at the killing. read more...

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