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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is traveling with a handful of Democratic congressmen and one Republican on a trip to Haiti today, the speaker's office announced. A month after an enormous earthquake tore the country apart, the country of Haiti is still struggling to recover. "In the spirit of President Obama, we go to demonstrate the ongoing American commitment to the Haitian people – that they will not be forsaken or forgotten," Pelosi said in a statement. She said it was critical for both Democrats and Republicans to take the opportunity to examine the reconstruction efforts in Haiti before Congress considers...

The song "We Are The World" was originally released in 1985 to raise money for Africa, and now it has been re-released in 2010 as "We Are The World - 25" to raise money for Haiti, but is it any good? ... The new version features none of the original singers except Michael Jackson who is spliced in for a duet with his sister Janet. We Are The World -25 was first shown tonight, Feb. 12, before the opening ceremony for the 2010 Olympic games in Vancouver on NBC, local station KNSD 7 in San Diego. Here are some current...

"We Are the World" got a bad rap. Not the original charity anthem recorded in 1985, but the 25th-anniversary remake that debuted Friday night during coverage of the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The updated take was horribly oversung, but it was largely faithful to the original tune written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie -- save for the 21st-century rap verses added toward the end of the track. One group rap-along, penned by Will.I.Am and led by LL Cool J, ends with a particularly platitudinous couplet: "We are the world connected by a common bond: Love!...

Missionaries, who were accused of kidnapping, could be released Thursdaymsnbc.com news services updated less than 1 minute ago A Haitian judge has decided to release 10 U.S. missionaries accused of kidnapping 33 children and trying to spirit them out of the earthquake-stricken country, a judicial source told Reuters Wednesday. However, NBC News reported that no final decision had been made, though it's possible a decision could be made as early as Thursday. A lawyer representing one told The Associated Press he expects Judge Bernard Saint-Vil to issue his recommendation to the prosecutor Thursday. The prosecutor has the right to appeal...

It is time to start bringing our troops home from Haiti. The earthquake is over; order is restored; the star-studded benefit songs have been recorded. When the emergency ends and reconstruction begins, the mission should be handed off to other government departments, and the fighting forces should depart.

Curtis C. Newman, a volunteer for the Utah Hospitals Task Force, is writing a series of first-person stories on what he sees in Haiti.   Wednesday, Feb. 3: Tender mercies PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Marlin Cheri was standing near a cinder block wall of her home when a wall fell over during the earthquake. She was able to cover most of her head and escape most of the debris. Unfortunately, a piece of cinder block damaged her forehead and left eye. Her face was lacerated deeply, including her eyelid and eye. She came to today to Community Hospital of Port-au-Prince to...

Haiti is sitting on one of the biggest untouched oil reserves in the world. If anything the earthquake has proven this, as oil is being found everywhere. In 2008 Metrople Haiti.com reported that Haiti could have larger oil reserves than even Venezuela.

WASHINGTON —The federal government announced on Monday that it would reimburse American hospitals who treat Haitian earthquake victims with life-threatening injuries, making it possible for more hospitals in states outside Florida to consider taking those patients. The announcement came as a C-130 cargo plane was being sent to carry at least 10 Haitians seriously injured in the earthquake from Port-au-Prince to Palm Beach, Fla., the first military airlift of wounded Haitians since a controversial suspension of the flights last week.

MERIDIAN, Idaho (BP)--Members of two Southern Baptist churches in Idaho are awaiting word on what a Haitian judge will decide Feb. 1 when he hears the case of 10 Americans accused of unlawfully trying to remove 33 children from Haiti. Five of the 10 are members of Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian, Idaho, and three are from Eastside Baptist Church in Twin Falls, including Eastside's pastor, Paul Thompson. Two others are believed to be from other states.

In the wake of the Haiti earthquake tragedy, something unusual has been happening amongst conservatives. On talk radio, the blogosphere and elsewhere, some have been wondering how our government can afford to help Haiti given the current economic crisis in the United States. Considering the magnitude of the tragedy in Haiti, I found this to be a rather insensitive question. It’s also a good one. Republican opposition to the Democrats’ national healthcare agenda is in large part due to the exorbitant cost, perceived inefficiency and intrusive, bureaucratic character of the plan. Still, argue liberals, there are too many Americans suffering...

Haiti's voodoo high priest has claimed believers have been discriminated against by evangelical Christians who are monopolising aid sent to the earthquake-stricken country. Max Beauvoir, Haiti's "supreme master" of voodoo, alleged his faith's opponents had deliberately prevented much-needed help from reaching followers of the religion, which blends the traditional beliefs of West African slaves with Roman Catholicism. "The evangelicals are in control and they take everything for themselves," he claimed. "They have the advantage that they control the airport where everything is stuck. They take everything they get to their own people and that's a shame. "Everyone is suffering the...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI -- International relief organizations backed by American soldiers delivered hundreds of tons of rice to homeless residents of the Haitian capital Sunday, laboring to ease a food shortage that has left countless thousands struggling to find enough to eat. But even as food-aid workers enjoyed their most successful day since the Jan. 12 earthquake, the increasingly prominent role of U.S. troops and civilians in the capital is creating high expectations that the Obama administration is struggling to contain. The needs are extraordinary, and the common refrain is that the Americans will provide. "I want the Americans to take...

Late Friday afternoon, ABC 4 confirmed that at least 50 children were on a flight headed to Miami, where they will be processed into the country by TSA officials. -SNIP- The text posted at 8:48 a.m. Friday morning to the Utah Hospital Task Force blog said, "We have negotiated the release of 125 orphans bound for SLC and are on ramp in Haiti. Steve Studdert and Executive team along with full support from US Military and US Customs and ICE Agents made it happen. It is truly a miracle."-SNIP- ABC 4 News has learned Stephen Studdert, the task force leader,...

The five men and five women were in custody in the capital, Port-au-Prince after their arrests on Friday night. -SNIP-Authorities said the Americans had no documents to prove they had cleared the adoption of the 33 children -- aged 2 months to 12 years -- through any embassy and no papers showing they were made orphans by the quake in the impoverished Caribbean country."This is totally illegal," said Yves Cristalin, Haiti's social affairs minister. "No children can leave Haiti without proper authorization and these people did not have that authorization."-SNIP-"We have a Baptist minister here (in Port-au-Prince) whose orphanage...

Alexandria, VA (January 28, 2010) –The Salvation Army is in the midst of its largest international disaster response since the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2005, providing immediate relief to Haiti following a major earthquake that struck the island on January 12. Teams of international disaster responders from The Salvation Army have joined more than 700 personnel permanently stationed in Haiti to deliver food, water, medicine and other aid supplies to people still suffering more than two weeks after the tragedy. As one of the largest social service organizations in Haiti, this week  The Salvation Army was named by the United...

January 30, 2010   A barge carrying 400 tons (800,000 pounds) of Samaritan’s Purse emergency relief supplies arrived in Haiti on Friday. An assortment of heavy equipment was also on board, including a bulldozer, dump trucks, skid loaders, and flatbed trucks to help with debris removal, access clearing, hauling, and other difficult tasks.“One of the first things I want to do is help rebuild secure perimeters around churches to help them be established as distribution points for the community,” said Ken Isaacs, the vice president of projects for Samaritan’s Purse. “One of the first jobs we’ll tackle with the excavator is...

New Jersey is expecting a "surge" of refugees from the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, which would create a humanitarian crisis and put new pressure on a state treasury already in peril, according to confidential documents obtained by The Star-Ledger.

“I have never seen such suffering. I have never seen so many people go through so much sorrow.” Dr. Dick Furman, co-founder of World Medical Mission, was part of a Samaritan's Purse team that arrived in Haiti less than a week after the earthquake to help provide emergency medical treatment. He reflected on his experiences on his flight out a week later. I don’t know how their memories will affect me as time goes on. But now it is difficult not to compare them with life as we know it. They will not sleep in their homes because of...

SANFORD -- The U.S. government has ordered flights bringing injured earthquake victims into Florida from Haiti to stop after officials said Florida hospitals have stopped accepting patients. Gov. Charlie Crist, however, had a different story.

The United States military has stopped evacuations of critically ill patients from Haiti to Florida until it is resolved who will pay for the treatment. Until now, planes loaded with earthquake victims had been flown out of Haiti to Florida for treatment. But now the U.S. military has halted medical evacuation... "If Florida isn't taking them ... and I can't confirm this, but I think Georgia has made a similar statement, so if we can't bring them anywhere for treatment, then they're staying in Haiti," said Navy Captain Kevin Aandahl of the US Transportation Command. Florida asked for suspension: The...