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 News Around the Americas
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Central American Cross-Border Cartels Dig in Their Heels
 Danilo Valladares
Stepped-up efforts against drug trafficking in Colombia and Mexico are increasingly driving drug mafias into Central America, where drug-related corruption and violence are on the rise.
Texas Senators Call on Obama to Refocus on U.S.-Mexico Border Drug Violence
 Jordy Yager
The ongoing drug war in Mexico is expected to gain a renewed focus on Capitol Hill in the coming weeks as top White House and U.S. military officials ready for a trip to the violence-riddled country following the slayings of three U.S. citizens.
US House Democrats Pass Historic Health Overhaul, 219 to 212
 David Lightman and William Douglas
The House of Representatives late Sunday passed by a 219 to 212 vote the biggest overhaul of the nation's health care system in more than four decades, sweeping changes expected to make coverage easier and cheaper to obtain.
Obama Buys Health Care Passage with Executive Order on Abortion
 David Espo
President Barack Obama and House Democratic leaders struck a last-minute deal Sunday with abortion foes to secure the final few votes needed to remake America’s health care system, writing a climactic chapter in a century-old quest for near universal coverage.
 Obama's Weekly Address: Time for Action on Financial Reform for the Economy
 The White House Blog
As a key committee in the Senate takes up reforming the ways of Wall Street, the President lays down a marker.
U.S. Authorities Launch Inquiry in Mexico Killings
 CNN
More than 200 federal, state and local law enforcement personnel have been assigned to an operation intended to find who was responsible for Saturday's fatal shootings of three people linked to the U.S. consulate in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico, an official said.
TSA To Make Full Body Scans Mandatory At US Airports
 eCanadaNow
In a new attempt to curb terrorism on airplanes and in airports, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced this week that they plan on making full body scanners mandatory.
FBI, Police Raid Gang in Texas After Mexico Murders
 Agence France-Presse
FBI agents and police swooped Thursday on suspected members of a gang thought to be involved in the slaying of three people linked to the US consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, an official said.
Post-Genocide Countries Ban Executions to 'End Revenge'
 Gustavo Capdevila
More than 1,000 activists and experts attending last month's Fourth World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Geneva are building a network of cooperation to support local organisations campaigning for human rights in countries that retain capital punishment.
Migration-US: Mixed-Status Families Face Hard Choice
 Valeria Fernández
A controversial bill moving fast through the Arizona state legislature would make it a crime for undocumented immigrants to trespass on state land. But it also could result in fines and criminal charges against family members and employers that harbour or transport undocumented immigrants.
Guantanamo Update
 The Real News Network
Bengali: Cleared of crimes or lack of evidence, many prisoners continue to be held in Guantanamo.
Tucson International Mariachi Conference Request for Sombreros
 Tina Roesler
The Tucson International Mariachi Conference needs the community to lend them a hand, actually a hat. A donation or loan of a sombrero to the conference for one night can make the pivotal difference in whether or not Tucson breaks the Guinness World Record for the most Mariachis performing simultaneously on one stage.
Amnesty Calls for More Freedom in Cuba
 Paul Haven
The human rights group Amnesty international appealed to Cuban President Raul Castro to release political prisoners and scrap laws that restrict fundamental freedoms, using the seventh anniversary of a major crackdown on dissent to call for change.
Another Broken Promise: Obama More Secretive than Bush
 Sharon Theimer
The government’s use of legal exemptions to keep records secret rose during President Barack Obama’s first year in office, despite promises of increased openness, an Associated Press review found.
American, 22, Completes Solo Row Across Atlantic
 Bert Wilkinson
A 22-year-old American rower completed a solo journey across the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday, touching a pier in the coffee-brown waters of Guyana to claim a record as the youngest person to accomplish the feat.
Obama Angry About Mexico Murders
 Reuters
President Barack Obama is "outraged" by the murders in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico of three people connected with the US consulate there, a White House official said on Sunday.
Liz Cheney’s Witchhunt Flames Out
 Lucile Malandain
A witchhunt orchestrated by George W. Bush supporters against government lawyers representing Guantanamo inmates has backfired, as conservatives joined the outcry against the McCarthy-like attacks.
Goldcorp Shows Little Respect for Local Population
 The Real News Network
The mine of Canadian Goldcorp Inc. is another blow to the environment and health of Guatemala communities.
Rio's Christ Statue Getting $4M Renovation
 Associated Press
The iconic statue of Christ with outstretched arms that overlooks Rio de Janeiro is getting a $4 million renovation. Heavy rains have eroded portions of the face and hands of the statue. It has also been damaged by lightning strikes over the years.
Obama's Weekly Address: Education for a More Competitive America & Better Future
 The White House Blog
The President discusses his blueprint for an updated Elementary and Secondary Education Act to overhaul No Child Left Behind, the latest step from his Administration to encourage change and success in America’s schools at the local level.
Michelle Obama to Mexico on First Official Trip Alone
 Agence France-Presse
Michelle Obama will make her first solo official trip as first lady to Mexico next month, to stress education and economic development, the White House said Friday.
UK Voted Worst Place in Developed World to Bring Up Children
 Lucy Ballinger
Britain is the worst country in which to raise children, while Australia is the best, a study has found. The survey of expatriates living in six different countries found there was a better standard of living Down Under, and a better quality of family life.
U.S. Falters in Screening Border Patrol Near Mexico
 Randal C. Archibold
Federal anticorruption investigators continue to struggle to keep up with the screening of newly hired United States law enforcement officers working on the Mexican border and have fallen far behind in checking current employees as well, federal officials testified on Thursday.
Five Republicans Back Kucinich, But US Antiwar Vote Loses
 Jason Leopold & Yana Kunichoff
A resolution introduced in the House Wednesday, aimed at bringing a swift end to the war in Afghanistan, was overwhelmingly defeated following a passionate, three-hour debate on war policy.
Pacific North American Regional Integration and Control
 Dana Gabriel
U.S.-Canadian state and provincial integration is being achieved in areas of transportation, the economy, energy and the environment.
Chief Exorcist Says Devil is in Vatican
 Nick Squires
Father Gabriele Amorth said people who are possessed by Satan vomit shards of glass and pieces of iron. He added that the assault on Pope Benedict XVI on Christmas Eve by a mentally unstable woman and the sex abuse scandals which have engulfed the Church were proof that the Anti-Christ was waging a war against the Holy See.
ID Card for Workers Is at Center of US Immigration Plan
 Laura Meckler
Lawmakers working to craft a new comprehensive immigration bill have settled on a way to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants: a national biometric identification card all American workers would eventually be required to obtain.
Arizona to Criminalize Presence of Undocumented Immigrants
 Yana Kunichoff
A bill currently working its way through the Arizona legislature would criminalize the presence of undocumented immigrants in the state through an expansion of its trespass laws, increase the role of local law enforcement in upholding immigration law and penalize anyone who harbors an undocumented immigrant.
Obama’s New Regulations Will Ban Sport Fishing
 Jim Hoft
Barack Obama has a message for America’s 60,000,000 anglers – we don’t need you. The American Sportfishing Association reported back in October about the sweeping changes proposed by the Obama Administration in regards to the sport fishing industry.
Former Medellin Drug Trafficker Porras Dies at 62
 Libardo Cardona
Evaristo Porras, a former high-flying Medellin cartel drug trafficker associated with Pablo Escobar in the 1980s, has died at age 62, reportedly in economic ruin.
Costa Rica: Headhunting First-World Seniors
 Daniel Zueras
The Costa Rican government has declared retirement communities, aimed at attracting U.S. pensioners, to be "of national interest." Plans to create "retirement clusters" providing complete health services for older adults are seen as a profitable prospect for this Central American country.
US Department of Homeland Security Immigration Agencies Fall Short
 William Fisher
As the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) celebrates its seventh anniversary, its immigration agencies are struggling to "create more humane ways to enforce broken laws" - but trying to enforce their way out of a broken immigration system is ultimately "a losing proposition."
US Searching for 'Radicalized' Americans
 Associated Press
The top U.S. diplomat in Pakistan says the Obama administration does not know how many Americans might have disappeared overseas to train with al-Qaida or other terrorist groups.
Iran's Ahmadinejad: Sept. 11 Attacks a 'Big Lie'
 Akbar Dareini
Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday called the official version of the Sept. 11 attacks a "big lie" used by the U.S. as an excuse for the war on terror, state media reported.
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