U.N. to keep peacekeepers in Haiti 8 more months

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to extend the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti for eight months following an agreement between the United States and China on the length of the new mandate.

In a report in December, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended that the 8,800-strong mission be extended for one year when its mandate expired February 15, a view backed by the Friends of Haiti, whose members include the United States, Canada, Brazil, France and Britain.

But China, which has no diplomatic relations with Haiti, pushed for a six-month mandate.

Diplomats in Haiti have said China wanted the shorter mandate because of Haiti’s support for Taiwan’s bid to join the United Nations. Haiti is one of a handful of countries that has diplomatic ties with Taiwan. China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949, but Beijing still claims sovereignty over the island.

Full Story 

MSU student brings hope to Haiti

He says experience changed his life

(Courtesy photo)

Learn more Find out more about the Rain Catchers Organization at www.raincatchers.org. 0 ) { document.write(‘Related news from the Web Latest headlines by topic: ‘); for( i = 0; i ‘ + topixcats[i].name + ‘  ‘ ); } document.write(‘ Powered by Topix.net‘); } //–>

Lynne Crandall | for NOISE

At first glance, Kiel Tilley might seem like a typical college student: good-looking, athletic-build, studying biology and chemistry at MSU to become a teacher. But when the 22-year-old talks about his trips to install water filtration systems in Haiti, you see that the warmth of the people and the poverty of the tiny island haunt him.

In 2004, Tilley went on an eight-day trip to Haiti with a Howell-based group called Rain Catchers that has become a yearly commitment.

After arriving on his first trip, Tilley was overwhelmed when dozens of needy village children surrounded him, jumping up and down and asking for hugs and presents. Tilley was so shaken that he retreated for an hour to process the experience.

Full Story

HAITI CLAIMS CARIBBEAN TITLE

Haiti claimed the 2007 Digicel Caribbean Cup after defeating the hosts, Trinidad & Tobago by a score of 2:1 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in
Port of Spain on Tuesday evening.

Alexandre Boucicaut and Fucien Brunel gave the Haitians a 2:0 lead with goals in the 23rd and 52nd minutes, respectively. Nigel Daniel answered for the soca warriors in the 66th minute, but the Haitians held on for their first-ever Digicel Caribbean Cup title.

This is also the first tournament crown won by Haiti since capturing the 1973 CONCACAF Campeonato de Naciones which also gave them the Confederation’’s qualification berth to the FIFA World Cup”
West Germany 1974.

Full Story