Americas

The United Nations on Thursday rejected Haiti's compensation claims for a cholera epidemic that has been blamed on Nepalese U.N. peacekeepers sent to the country after the 2010 earthquake.

“In November 2011, a claim for compensation was brought against the United Nations on behalf of victims of the cholera outbreak in Haiti,” a U.N. spokesman said at Thursday's press briefing. “Today, the United Nations advised the claimants' representatives that the claims are not receivable, pursuant to Section 29 of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.”

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon personally telephoned Haitian President Michel Martelly to inform him of the decision, the spokesman said, and to “reiterate the commitment of the United Nations to the elimination of cholera in Haiti.”

More than 5,000 Haitian cholera victims petitioned the U.N. for millions of dollars in compensation in 2011. The epidemic, which a U.N.-appointed panel of experts has linked to poor sanitation at a U.N. camp, has killed more than 7,750 people and sickened more than 620,000.

The senators said in a letter to the president Thursday his Defense nominee lacks a broad base of bipartisan support.

President Obama should continue to thaw relations with Cuba by considering seven further steps, the Americas Society and Council of the Americas recommended Wednesday.

Obama relaxed the decades-old embargo against the communist island by allowing more trade and remittances during his first term. Now the two groups are urging him to take further executive steps they say would “encourage private organizations and individuals to directly and indirectly serve as catalysts for meaningful economic change in Cuba.”

These include: 

Secretary of State John Kerry cautioned against the automatic cuts to defense and discretionary spending scheduled to go into effect March 1, according to multiple reports.

Secretary of State John Kerry could make hundreds of thousands of dollars off a buyout of the H.J. Heinz condiment company.

Former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice are two of the most popular potential presidential candidates, according to a new poll.

Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that a federal decision on the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline should arrive in the “near term,” but did not define what “near term” means.

Kerry, after meeting with Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, said his State Department predecessor, Hillary Clinton, had established a “very open and transparent process, which I am committed to seeing through.”

“I can guarantee you that it will be fair and transparent, accountable, and we hope that we will be able to be in a position to make an announcement in the near term,” Kerry said of the proposed Alberta-to-Texas pipeline.

“I don’t want to pin down precisely when, but I assure you, in the near term,” he added.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced a gun-control measure Thursday that would clarify that Congress does not authorize persons convicted of dangerous crimes in foreign courts to legally have firearms in the United States.

The No Firearms for Foreign Felons Act, S. 261, would ensure that people convicted of foreign felonies and crimes involving domestic violence cannot possess firearms.

A Center for Public Integrity report detailed the cuts under consideration in a draft version of a classified directive.

Your morning global affairs speed-read

John Kerry holds his first meeting with a foreign leader as secretary of State today when he greets Canada's foreign minister, John Baird, at Foggy Bottom. On the agenda: bilateral trade, investment, energy security and environmental stewardship, securing and streamlining trade and travel at the border – and of course, the Keystone pipeline. 

“They’ll also explore ways to strengthen North American cooperation and U.S.-Canadian collaboration in advancing human rights, democracy, security and good governance in the Americas and around the globe,” spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Also, Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns meets with Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Augustin Matata Ponyo Mapon.