Haiti

Thousands of anti-government protesters have clashed with police in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince. They burned tyres and threw stones at officers who responded with tear gas. The protesters want President Michel Martelly and Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe to resign and long-overdue elections to be held.

The United Nations Security Council today adopted a resolution renewing the mandate for the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) in the Caribbean nation, urging political stakeholders in the country to fully commit to the democratic process and calling on international donors to strengthen their efforts in helping the Government.

A federal judge in New York has agreed to hear oral arguments in a lawsuit filed against the United Nations by advocates for Haitian victims of the cholera epidemic that first appeared on the island four years ago.

Thousands of supporters of former president clash with officers as they march to mark 1991 coup in which he was ousted.

Mr Aristide faces charges of money laundering, but his supporters say the investigation is politically motivated.

Today the EU will approve a direct payment to the government of Haiti of €34 million in order to support ongoing reforms to modernise the state administration and the public finance management.

The Haitian government has announced a date for legislative elections, which are two years overdue. The first round will be held on 26 October 2014, but the second round still needs to be scheduled.

“Dialogue as means of agreement is a victory for Haiti,” said Sandra Honoré, head of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), as she hailed as an “unprecedented step in Haitian political history,” the launch of a dialogue among the Executive, the Parliament and political parties to discuss democratic governance, elections and amendment of the Constitution.

The United Nations is facing a huge new lawsuit over the outbreak of cholera in Haiti that has widely been blamed on its peacekeepers, after 1,500 Haitian victims and their family members sued the international body in a federal court in Brooklyn in a class action.