Haiti

“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.

A UN-appointed expert has publicly disagreed with the world body and called for "full compensation" for the victims of a cholera epidemic in Haiti.

Thousands of Haitians took to the streets on Monday calling for President Michel Martelly to resign, and some protesters scuffled with police as international concern mounts over rising violence in the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Demonstrators call on President Martelly to resign, accusing him of cronyism and failing to ease poverty.

The Security Council today voted unanimously to extend the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti until mid-October 2014 so it can continue contributing to stability and development in the small Caribbean nation.

Lawyers representing victims of a cholera epidemic in Haiti have filed a lawsuit against the United Nations at a court in New York. They say UN peacekeepers introduced cholera to Haiti in 2010.

The Organization of American States said Sunday it is preparing to send a mission to Haiti to help supervise elections ahead of its end-of-year polls. The regional bloc's observers intend to arrive several months in advance to help authorities register voters and then count votes, OAS special representative to Haiti Frederic Bolduc of Canada told AFP.

The ongoing electoral stalemate in Haiti, already linked to socio-economic grievances, could undermine the political and security situations, the new head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country said in her first briefing to the Security Council.