Heavy rain pounds DomRep
Much of the Dominican Republic remains under red alert as a tropical weather system dumps heavy rain on the country.
Local media say flooding this week has caused two deaths and driven hundreds from their homes.
Meteorologists are predicting continued rain, though not as heavy as the downpours that hit the Dominican Republic this week.
President Leonel Fernandez has freed up $1.6 million for food and other basic necessities for flood victims.
Canada bats for Haiti
Canada, which is hosting the G8 summit, wants the rebuilding of Haiti after January’s earthquake to be a focus of leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations.
Haiti was invited to attend summit along with Jamaica and some African countries.
Canada, which is also the location for a G20 meeting, also wants to ensure that donor countries follow through on their commitments to developing nations generally.
UN gets Haiti reconstruction update
The United Nations economic and social council has been hearing from donor agencies and governments on the state of play in the reconstruction of Haiti.
UNICEF said it was planning what was called a nationwide movement for learning to bolster education.
The plan involves a massive enrolment drive to get more children into the classroom, the abolition of school fees and the provision of safe environments for students.
Hilde Johnson, the deputy executive director of UNICEF, told the meeting that “visibility” for the recovery effort was missing.
