France Promises Aid for New ‘Haitian’ Army | Haïti-Armée: La France promet son appui

By L. Joseph Olivier, HPN | English translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. “…the UN force will not be in Haiti forever, and so we look to our partners for a guarantee of public assistance for the design and formation of a new force.” – Haitian Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Lamothe during the announcement in Paris on Jan 24, 2012 that France had agreed to grant aid to Haiti for a new armed force.

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The Underside of International Adoption in Haiti | Les dessous de l’adoption internationale en Haïti

Amos Cincir, Le Nouvelliste | Staff, HPN | Commentary and translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Over 2,000 Haitian children are adopted each year by foreigners, over 55 percent of them French. This is an activity fraught with scandal. The Haitian government has announced that it will resume international adoptions that had been frozen since the earthquake.

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Haiti’s Elected Mayors Dismissed, Illegally Replaced by Presidential Appointees | Prefeitos Eleitos do Haiti Demitidos, Substituídos Ilegalmente por Nomeados pelo Presidente

By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Thirteen Haitian mayors were dismissed and replaced on February 18, 2012 by presidential decree. In a press conference, one mayor said that a new individual recently arrived claiming to be his municipality’s new mayor, and two days later he got a letter telling him to assist this person in taking inventory of the region’s heritage. Another mayor wrote in open letter on February 3 that his life is under threat. Secretary of the Interior Georges Racine is thought to be behind the wave of illegal dismissals. (English | Portuguese)

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Pioneering Cholera Scientist Gives Thumbs Down to Oral Vaccines Promoted for Haiti | Un pionnier scientifique du choléra dit que les vaccins oraux promus pour Haïti sont inutiles

By Rashid Haider, Haiti Chery. Prof. Richard A. Finkelstein, an eminent microbiologist and Nobel-Prize nominee for his pioneering studies on cholera, advises that for cholera “the best solution resides in providing safe drinking water and sewage disposal.” In Dec 2010, alarmed by the oral vaccination plans for Haiti, he wrote to the health officials, including Jon Andrus, the Deputy Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) that the proposed use of Dukoral was “a useless and expensive waste of resources.” This vaccine was not adopted, but a campaign immediately started for the use of Shanchol, another questionable oral cholera vaccine. (English | French)

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Western Biologists Study Tuna Collapse as Their Countries’ Fleets Pillage World Coasts | Pesca de atún requiere sacrificios a corto plazo

Julio Godoy, IPS, Tierramérica | Enrique Gili, IPS | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. The world’s tuna populations, and particularly bluefin tuna, are being overfished to extinction. Despite numerous violations for overfishing, vessels fly flags of convenience, change their names, swap crews and continue to operate. (English | Spanish)

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How Somalia’s Fishermen Became ‘Pirates’

By Ishaan Tharoor, Time Magazine | Chebucto | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Since 1991, Somalia’s 2,000-mile coastline, the longest in continental Africa, has been pillaged by foreign vessels. An estimated $300 million of seafood is stolen from Somalia each year by countries that include France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Pakistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Spain, and Taiwan.

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Poland Government: We Were Wrong, We Will Not Ratify ACTA

By Alice Trudelle, Warsaw Business Journal | By Staff, The Slovenia Times | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. “I was wrong,” said Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, who announced that he wrote to his party not to back ACTA in the EU Parliament in its current form. A protest by Anonymous is underway.

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Haitian Senate Resolution: UN Soldiers Accused of Rape Should Be Tried In Place | Le Sénat vote une résolution réclamant que des soldats de l’ONU accusés de crimes soient jugés en Haïti

By staff, AHP | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. The Haitian Senate has strongly condemned the latest rape of a boy on Jan 20, 2012 by Pakistani UN soldiers and noted that in such cases it is the law of the place where the crime is committed that should prevail. (English | French)

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U.N. Tightens Belt: No More Cruise Ship Hotels | La ONU se ajusta el cinturón : No mas barcos de crucero

By Thalif Deen, IPS. Compared to the $5.4 B U.N. budget for 2010-11, the 2012-13 budget will be cut by $260 M. This is a cut of less than 5%, but the news are still significant because, since its inception over 50 years ago, the U.N. has expanded every year, except for one instance 14 years ago. (English | Spanish)

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Act Up Against ACTA Saturday Feb 11th

By Staff, Access Now | YouTube | Haiti Chery. Protests against ACTA will take place worldwide on Saturday February 11, 2012. Over 1.75 million people have signed a petition against ACTA that is expected to get the endorsement of more than 2 million.

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ACTA Not Yet International Law | French MEP Quits in Protest

By Olivia Solon, Wired | Kader Arif, European MP Socialists & Democrats of the EU, Translated from the French by Dady Chery for Haiti Chery. It is not over. ACTA will not become law if the European Parliament is prevented from making it so in June 2012. Translation of full statement from Kader Arif included. (English | French)

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Haiti-Bound Cholera Vaccine ‘Absolutely Useless’ According to Bangladesh Field Trial | Le vaccin pour Haïti contre le choléra est ‘absolument inutile,’ d’après un essai au Bangladesh

By Dr. Rashid Haider, The Independent | Ahmed Sadiq, News from Bangladesh | Translated by Dady Chery for Haiti Chery. Incidents of scientific fraud have reached a record high, and one area that requires careful scrutiny is vaccine trials in far-away developing countries. A detailed report of Bangladesh’s 2011 field trials, for the Shanchol vaccine being pushed on Haiti, thoroughly disproves claims made about this vaccine. (English | French)

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Caracol Haiti Industrial Park With Projected Adverse Environmental Impact | Caracol, un parc industriel d’Haïti Parc qui aurait un impact environnemental négatif

By Staff, Haiti Grassroots Watch. Part 6 of 7. The same week over 300 agricultural plots in Caracol, Haiti, were unexpectedly destroyed, the Haitian government signed an agreement with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, IDB, and Korean textile giant Sae-A Trading to convert the lands into an industrial park. This park will dump its wastes into a bay with extensive coraf reefs and one of the country’s last mangrove forests. (English | French)

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