Photos

Here is a picture of several undocumented Haitians Dominican Sugar cane Workers wait in long lines seeking to establish their legal residence.

The objective of the repatriation was aimed at regulating the continuous flow of migrants from impoverished Haiti to the relatively wealthier D.R. As per Interior Ministry's statement, there could be about 500,000 prospective applicants for residency under the program and of whom about 50,000 people would have a fair chance of granting citizenship. However, as of Wednesday, June 17, about 250,000 people have been registered and as per the officials, only about 10,000 have submitted sufficient required documents. In the final weeks, the number of applicants was far beyond, exceeding the serving capacity of the 36 processing centers under National Plan of Regularization of Foreigners (PNRE), and that made a disorganized process even worse. Many people have all the required documents but could not register due to lack of money, work schedule and overcrowded jumbled serving counters. There were few complaints that some police officers were providing preferential treatment in exchange for bribes.

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Here is a picture marking the end of the time allowed for Haitian migrants looking to establish their residence in the Dominican Republic before a midnight deadline.

In October 2013, the constitutional court of the Dominican Republic announced a decision that stripped an estimated 210,000 people -- about 2% of the country's population -- of their citizenship overnight, most of whom were Haitians and many Dominicans of Haitian descent. However, the government later softened its decision on mounting international pressure and allowed people with birth certificates to "validate" their citizenship, and those without them to register as foreign migrants, but however, with at least one parent must be a citizen or legal resident of D.R in each situation, within a deadline on June 17, 2015, 7:00 pm.

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A Very proud and beautiful performance of 9 young students of Lycée Marie-Jeanne to win the Palm of the contest of text, songs and music.

"Angel's Voice", a group of 9 young students from the Lycée Marie-Jeanne School in Port-au-Prince has won the Palm award in the music contest under the mobilizing slogan "Kenbe Tèt ou", a contest of text, songs and music around, inspired by the song of BIC Group "Kenbe tèt ou, kwè nan tèt ou, kraze bèt ou". The nine young talents from the Lycée Marie-Jeanne were chosen as the winner among other hundred participant groups. The competition was started in March 2015 with an objective to develop talents in the young minds and instill the values of respect, communication, solidarity and sharing so that they can learn the joy of living together. The selection criteria for the ten jury artists (like BIC, Jean-Jean Roosevelt, Belo, Rénette Désir, and others), were based on the participants' regards to the theme, message content, aesthetics, melody, song interpretation.

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Here is a picture of Dr. Guerda Massillon who received the 2015 IUPAP in Toronto.

Dr. Guerda Massillon, a Haitian born physicist and Assistant Professor in the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) has been awarded the Young Scientist Prize by the IUPAP (International Union of Pure and Applied Physics). Dr Guerda was born in Bassin-Bleu (Northwest of Haiti), she graduated in Physics (BSc) from the Universite d'état d'Haiti in July 1996, moved to Mexico city in 1998 where she completed her Masters (MSc) in Medical Physics and a PhD on the thesis "Thermo luminescent efficiency and glow curve of LiF: Mg, Ti exposed to intermediate energy ions" during the year 2001 and 2006. She had led a research project on "Absorbed dose measurement for low-energy photon brachytherapy Sources" at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD USA. She is a regular reviewer for many scientific journals and has published 20 peer reviewed papers.

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Here is a picture of Haitian Marine biologist Jean Wiener in the coastal town of Cap Haitien, teaching some of the locals how to better protect the sea.

Haiti was once famous for its pristine beaches. Nowadays, it is more known with its extreme poverty and its resulting environmental damages. The situation has worsened further since the 2010 earthquake. The virgin forests that once covered the entire country have now been reduced to 2% of the total land area, losing 3% of its forests every year. Many homeless people now live in the streets full of garbage. Jean Wiener, a Haitian marine biologist in the northern coastal town of Cap Haitien, is trying to convince Haitians the need to protect the sea. In 2014, while working with the community to promote sustainable fishing practices, he has created the country's first marine protected area, a national park named 'Three Bays National Park'. The protected marine land is a large swath in the Haiti's north coast covering 30,000 square miles (75,000 sq km) stretching from the city of Cap Haitien to the border with the Dominican Republican; it protects the vulnerable eco-system of the over-fished waters in the bays of Limonade, Caracol and Fort Liberté. Wiener, for his effort, has won a prominent U.S. environmental activism prize valuing $175,000, the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2015.

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Paul Denis has protested his exclusion in the electoral process. He called this an act of injustice on the part of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP).

Paul Denis, a candidate for the post of Senator of the Sud, while speaking on an interview with Bob-C on Radio Caraïbes on Monday morning, June 8, 2015 has said that the decision of the electoral council to reject his candidacy due to the lack of a certificate of discharge is an act of "injustice", unto himself and the Haitian people. He had a favorable report from the Supreme Court of Auditors and Administrative Disputes (CSCCA) and had anticipated that the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) would be justified enough and consider his situation, as he could never procure a 'certificat de décharge' from a defunct parliament. There are some more candidates like him who were also deprived of the right to contest the upcoming election and that includes the names like the former Prime Ministers, Jean-Max Bellerive and Laurent Lamothe, and former ministers, Duly Brutus, Danielle Saint-Lot, Jean-Rodolphe Joazile, Josefa Gauthier, Thierry Mayard-Paul, and others.

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Here is a picture of Dr Rony Gilot at the 21st édition of Livres en folie.At the Cane a Sucre Historical Park

For two days, June 19 and 20, the 20th edition of the book fair "Books on Fire" was held at the historic Cane Sugar Park, Port-au-Prince. Where everyone irrespective of their class and creed was present and they were happy to browse and stroll within an atmosphere of perfect communion. There were readers, authors, parliamentarians, foreign diplomats, politicians and other personalities of the society present in the fair; they met to chat, exchange ideas, allowed to get their picture taken. More than 160 authors were present and nearly 2,000 titles were displayed. It is one of the most important cultural events in the Caribbean and Americas. In 2013, the fair received over 13,000 footfalls. The Regional Office of the OIF (Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie) in the Caribbean organized "Francophone Quiz" where hundreds of people participated and won many prizes.

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The CEP has decided to go against the advises of U.S. Special Adviser to Haiti at the State Department, Thomas Adams and organize three cycles for the up coming election. The electoral calendar will not be modified

Thomas Adams, the Special Adviser to the US State Department for Haiti believes if Haiti holds the upcoming election in two cycles instead of three, the country may save around $30 million, and moreover, it will give enough time to the Electoral Council to prepare properly for the forthcoming election. However, the Haitian Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) thinks otherwise. Recently, Pierre Louis Opont, the President of the CEP along with six other councilors, during a press conference has provided an update on the financial, technical and logistical aspects of the ensuing electoral process and they have reaffirmed the earlier announced election calendar. Me. Opont has said that the total cost of holding elections for three days is about US$62 million. So how a reduction by one cycle could save $30 million as per Thomas Adams's calculation?

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Natcom has decided to get into the game of Lajan Cash. The trade name of the Mobile Banking launched through the use of cell phone as electronic wallet.

On Monday, June 1, 2015, the Haitian Prime Minister Evans Paul took part at the launching ceremony of 'Lajan Cash" held in the Natcom auditorium. "Lajan Cash" is a form of electronic wallet, now available on the Natcom network. With the introduction of this new opportunity, the Natcom cell phone users can use their mobile phones to electronic payment solutions, and this became possible with the result a of partnership between Natcom and the Banque Nationale de Credit (BNC). The Natcom subscribers can spend and transfer money with speed and confidence. Evans Paul, as the Head of Government welcomed the new product and hoped this would be more accessible to all people in the country including those in rural areas in near future.

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Here is a design picture of what to become Hilton Garden Inn in Port-au-Prince Louverture Airport. This luxury hotel is scheduled to open in 2017

On April 10, 2014, Ms. Karla Visconti, the Head of Communications for the Caribbean and Latin America, Hilton Worldwide, had announced that "Hilton Garden Inn" has been scheduled to open in early 2017. The $26 million project has been designed by the Groupe CAB S.A, a new Haitian company created by the MAC S.A. group and the owner of the Visa Lodge. The hotel will be operated under the management of Hilton Worldwide Group. The facilities will include an 11 storied building with 152 rooms, full service restaurant offering breakfast, lunch and dinner, a 24-hour Pavilion Pantry with a selection of delicious meals, drinks and snacks and a lobby. The hotel will have a comfortable meeting space with 3 modular meeting rooms and a conference room, free Wi-Fi and a 24-hour business center. The recreational facilities will include an outdoor pool and a free fitness center with cardio equipments.

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