The Americas


Obama lifts restrictions for Cuban Americans (5:00)

President Obama today announced an easing of restrictions on travel to Cuba. The new rules will also allow American telecommunications companies to apply for licenses in Cuba. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Professor Lisandro Perez, founder of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University. download

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Danger for Mexican journalists (3:30)

Mexican lawmakers recently passed a bill that says it’s a federal offense to threaten or murder a journalist. That says a lot about how dangerous it is for journalists to cover issues like corruption and drug-trafficking in Mexico. The World’s Lorne Matalon reports.

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Mexico journalists

Mexico’s Congress has passed a bill that treats murders of journalists as federal offenses. Advocates say is necessary to end rampant impunity at the state and local level, where crimes against journalists are seldom investigated.

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Architects Share Green Building Ideas

TorontobuildingIn the fight to curb global warming, we’re often encouraged to drive less or use more fuel efficient cars. Well, it turns out that cars aren’t the biggest source of greenhouse gases. Buildings are responsible for roughly half of the total greenhouse gas emissions around the world. There’s a group of architects that’d like to change that. They call themselves ‘Architecture 2030′. Their goal is to make buildings that use no fossil fuels by the year 2030. The World’s Jason Margolis has our story.

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Canada Seals on Thin Ice?

The World’s Jeb Sharp visited the pack ice off the Magdalen Islands in Quebec to check on how the harp seal population is doing there. View the audio slideshow

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Robots, robots, robots!

Clark Boyd went to the Robo Business Conference and Expo in Boston. He managed to hear about some cutting edge stuff, and take a few pictures. View the audio slideshow

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Romanians Debate Massive Gold Mining Plan

In tough economic times the price of gold usually shoots up, and this recession is no different. A Canadian mining company hopes to cash in on the latest gold boom by reopening a giant mine in Romania. The World’s Aaron Schachter had a look at the ‘Red Mountain’. Pictures and narration: Aaron Schachter. View the [...]

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Old Forests vs. New: Do Critters Care?

Correspondent Julia Kumari Drapkin reports from Panama on the debate over the conservation importance of tropical forest that are growing back after being cut. View the audio slideshow

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Canta Conmigo

The World’s Marco Werman tells us about a program in Colombia called Canta Conmigo. It’s a government program that provides music instruction to former guerrilla fighters to reintegrate them into peaceful society. View the audio slideshow

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Buddhism in Mexico

The World’s Lorne Matalon visits a touring display of ancient Tibetan relics in Mexico City and tells us how Buddhism is gaining popularity in mostly-Catholic Mexico. View the audio slideshow

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Mexico’s Saint of Death

Mexico is experiencing a horrifying wave of violence. So it’s not surprising that the religious cult, Santa Muerte – or the Saint of Death – has gained a following. View the audio slideshow

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Panama: A historical perspective

A century ago, the building of the Panama Canal and construction of Lake Gatun was met with great fanfare. It captured the attention of the world, showing that the seemingly impossible was indeed possible. The engineers were heroes, household names. Newspapers were obsessed with how much earth would be excavated to build the canal – [...]

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Part II: Developing Panama City

Today we continue our series exploring the expansion of the Panama Canal. Panamanians recently voted in favor of a $5 billion project to upgrade the century-old waterway. A wider passageway will be able to accommodate larger ships… and bring in more money. Panama has run the canal since 1999, when the American government handed over [...]

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Part I: The Big Canal

A century ago, American engineers embarked on what was then the greatest building project in history. It took 10 years and 75,000 men to construct. Three presidents oversaw its completion. Teddy Roosevelt called it, “the giant engineering feat of the ages.” We’re talking about the Panama Canal. Now a hundred years later, Panama is in [...]

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Panama series

IMG_0208The century-old Panama Canal has become too small for today’s massive ships. So the country decided to widen the canal. The World’s Jason Margolis went to Panama to report on the excavation project, to examine the engineering, and Panama City’s current explosive growth.

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