Celestin accuses US of double-standard in pushing for election

PORT-AU-PRINCE— Haiti's opposition candidate for president is warning that if a runoff is held next weekend as scheduled it will be a big step back for the country's fragile democracy and lead to increased turmoil in the sharply divided nation.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Jude Celestin said he has such deep concerns about vote-rigging and a lack of transparency by Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council that he is boycotting a Jan. 24 presidential runoff. His party will not send any monitors to polling stations.

SANTO DOMINGO — Cresnel Ceus no longer lives in the shadows. For the first time in 15 years, the Haitian migrant can move about this country without fear of being detained at any moment.

PORT-AU-PRINCE—A decision to postpone a presidential runoff in Haiti could help the leading candidate address what may be his greatest liability: Most voters know hardly anything about him.

Ads for Jovenel Moise have blanketed Haitian TV and radio for weeks and he has held rallies across the country. Social media users have been bombarded with campaign pitches and slick images of him working at a banana exporting venture or decorating a Christmas tree with his family.

Yet few feel they know the political newcomer, a businessman who had never run for office until he was hand-picked by outgoing President Michel Martelly.

Haitian authorities on Monday postponed presidential and legislative runoffs set for this weekend, saying they needed to wait for recommendations from a special commission tasked with evaluating the country's widely criticized electoral process.

Advocates raise alarm over higher income thresholds in Dot, Mattapan

Mayor Martin Walsh will sign an executive order today that will create a new tri-tiered system to build and fund new units of affordable housing in the city of Boston.

The mayor and his policy advisors briefed reporters Tuesday on the revision of the city’s Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP), which has helped to create thousands of affordable units of housing since 2000.
The new iteration of the IDP – which will go into effect on New Year’s Day – mandates that developers of housing with 10 or more units set aside a percentage of those units for low or moderate-income residents – or “cash-out” by paying into a citywide fund that subsidizes low- and moderate-income housing projects.

PORT-AU-PRINCE— A young man stands on a busy street corner in the Haitian capital wearing the campaign logo of one presidential candidate on his sweat-soaked T-shirt, the name of another emblazoned on his sunglasses while he passes out flyers on behalf o

JetBlue Airways is doubling down on its US-Haiti routes, adding bigger planes to its New York and Florida gateways and planning three-day-a-week summer season flights direct from Boston beginning next June.

PORT-AU-PRINCE— U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stopped in Haiti's capital on Oct. 6 to discuss preparations for the country's upcoming elections and encourage people to refrain from disrupting balloting after a messy parliamentary first round in August.

Bostonians who hope to become US citizens will get an assist this month from city officials who are teaming up with a non-profit organization to help streamline the naturalization process.