Top story: The search for survivors from the Jan. 12 Haiti earthquake officially ended over the weekend and with a few exceptions, search-and-rescue efforts are winding down throughout the country. Aid groups' new priority is finding shelter for the estimated 600,000 people left homeless in Port-au-Prince, living in squalid makeshift camps.
“Tents, tents, tents,” said a spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration. “That’s the word we want to get out.We need tents." The group says it currently has around 20,000 family-sized tents but needs 100,000 to shelter 500,000 people.
Canada is hosting an international meeting in Montreal today to discuss international support for Haiti's recovery. Attendees include Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Belerive and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Pressure is growing on Haiti's creditors to cancel Haiti's debt.
There is also a growing call for the U.S. to allow in more Haitian immigrants. The government has taken in children already on the cusp of adoption and granted a reprieve for Haitians already in the United States illegally, but 55,000 Haitians have been approved for U.S. visas but are currently on waiting lists because of quotas.
Summit watch: The presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan meet for talks in Istanbul today.
Middle East
- Three large explosions hit Baghdad this morning.
- Osama bin Laden endorsed the Christmas Day plane bombing attempt in a new audio message.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that some West Bank settlement would always remain a part of Israel.
Asia
- An opponent of relocating the U.S. military base on Okinawa won a closely watched mayor's race.
- A Burmese government minister said that democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be freed in November.
- Afghanistan postponed its parliamentary elections from May until September.
Europe
- Northern Ireland's power-sharing government is teetering on the bring of collapse over a dispute about control over the justice system.
- A French parliamentary committee will recommend banning the wearing of face-covering veils in public facilities.
- Gunmen attacked the apartment of a militant Kurdish cleric in Oslo.
Americas
- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ordered a television taken off the air after it refused to show his speeches.
- Police were called to prevent the head of Argentina's central bank from returning to his office after a court ruling ordered him to step down.
- The United States is seeking to extradite the former president of Guatemala on money-laundering charges.
Africa
- A Nigerian Anglican bishop was kidnapped after saying mass amidst worsening religious violence that killed hundreds last week.
- Sudan set a two-month deadline for negotiations with Darfur rebels.
- Two Algerians held at Guantanamo Bay have been transferred home.
Marco Dormino/MINUSTAH via Getty Images
Read More
(1)
HIDE COMMENTS LOGIN OR REGISTER REPORT ABUSE