Americas

By Alan Fisher in Americas on March 5th, 2012
Republican candidate Mitt Romney is hoping to widen his lead in the race for his party's nomination on Tuesday [Reuters]

It should be no surprise some Republicans are talking about a brokered convention in Tampa in August.  Many harbour the hope a new candidate will emerge in the next few weeks and will be anointed the chosen one, replacing the four men who are now pursing the nomination.

The party looks at the current economic climate, the high price of gas, the unemployment figures and believes Barack Obama could be a one term President.  The problem is at the moment, they don’t seem to be able to agree on who can beat him.

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By Anand Naidoo in Americas on February 28th, 2012

The pilot tried for the third time to land the plane. Wind and rain lashed us from all sides. The plane swayed a bit, then banked sharply to the left and dropped. But this time we made it.

There were no runway lights, no radar, no instrument landing system and, to be frank, no real runway - just a long clearing surrounded by thick jungle.

Later the young pilot would tell us the first two attempts get the plane down failed because he could not see the runway.

That was comforting and I was glad he made that admission when we were on terra firma.

After a trip that had started 48 hours earlier in Washington DC, we had arrived in the land of the Sarayaku, deep in the Ecuador's Amazon region.

“Let’s get out of this tin can, “ cameraman Steve Harper said, his face slowly recovering its normal colour after the plane stuttered to a stop at the far end of the clearing.

By John Terrett in Americas on February 21st, 2012



A family of five from North Carolina is on the verge of being torn apart forever, if child welfare officials get their way.

The state's social services department wants the family's three children to be adopted by US foster parents, rather than have them live with their real father in Mexico.

He was deported just over a year ago and even though his wife supports the idea of the kids living with him, case workers doubt his accommodation in Mexico is suitable and they're pushing to keep the youngsters in the US.

I'm in the small town of Sparta to find out more.

Small town of Sparta

By Benedict Moran in Americas on February 19th, 2012
Photo by EPA

Port-au-Prince, Haiti –  A bas Kolera, a bas Minista,– Creole for “down with cholera, down with MINUSTAH,” the United Nation peacekeeping force in Haiti – can be seen spray-painted across Port-au-Prince.  One national newspaper headline recently read, “MINUSTAH must go.” And the refrain of a popular song by the Haitian band Brothers Posse mocks UN soldiers.

After years of scandal, including allegations of sexual abuse and accusations of introducing cholera into the country, many Haitians want the UN’s third-largest peacekeeping force to leave.

But despite calls to leave, the UN Security Council, which recently made a visit to the country to assess its mission, foresees a UN military presence in the country for years to come.

Since entering the country in 2004, MINUSTAH has heavily focused on training the Haitian National Police to provide security for the country.

By John Terrett in Americas on February 19th, 2012

What do you do if you're one of those people whose health is affected by all those radio waves buzzing around our heads from mobile phone masts, Wi-Fi and even microwave ovens?

The answer, if you live in the US, is move to West Virginia.

For here exists the world's only National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ), set up to protect the sensitive telescopes of the country's biggest star gazing radio observatory.

People who claim to have been made ill by radio waves say they find relief from their symptoms when they're in the radio quiet zone.

I came to West Virginia to do two things - see the telescopes - and meet some of those who have moved into the NRQZ to seek respite.

It takes your breath away to see the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) for the first time.

By Al Jazeera Staff in Americas on February 16th, 2012
Xi Jinping jokes in the home of Roger and Sarah Lande in Muscatine on Thursday [AFP]

What was the man assumed to be the next leader of China doing in a living room in Muscatine, Iowa, and what does his visit have to do with the future of Sino-US ties? Al Jazeera's John Hendren explains.

It was probably the first protest ever to break out on the corner of 2nd and Spruce streets in Muscatine, Iowa.

On one side were students from as far away as Minnesota, chanting "Shame on China" and waving Tibetan flags.

Across the narrow residential street on Wednesday, the chanters were countered by Chinese young people, waving their own flag and singing nationalist songs.

The groups were divided by polite Iowa state troopers who occasionally urged them to remain on the sidewalk. Curious Muscatine residents took in the spectacle.

By Alan Fisher in Americas on February 15th, 2012
AFP photo

Political symbolism is important.

It's why US politicians are frequently pictured in front of a flag.

It's why the faces in the crowd at rallies are always mixed.

It's why Mitt Romney ditched his suit jackets of four years ago when he was campaigning for President and now bounds onto the stage in check shirts and chinos or jeans.

It's all about making the multi-millionaire "more normal", more like the people he needs to elect him president.

The other Republican candidates do it too.

Ron Paul, the oldest man in the race, packs his rally with young people to reflect his appeal to a different generation.

Newt Gingrich is more often than not pictured in a suit and a tie.

It may be because he looks odd in casual clothes - a bit like seeing one of your teachers at the weekend - but it is more to carry the air of gravitas, to emphasis his belief he is the smartest man in the race.

Trump's theories

By John Terrett in Americas on February 13th, 2012
Photo: GALLO/GETTY
The United States is on the lookout for more international travellers who want to visit the country.
 
Part of the problem is the difficulty tourist and business people face obtaining a visa to enter the US.
By Imran Garda in Americas on February 4th, 2012
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran would not yield to the pressure of sanctions imposed by the West. [AFP]

A few months ago I had an email exchange with the former Deputy Director General of The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Bruno Pellaud. 

By Imran Garda in Americas on January 30th, 2012
Phillip 'The Cat In The Hat' Black sells newspapers in Washington

"I know them all. This one on the wheelchair, with everybody around her. She sells heroin. That guy who’s looking at you like that - he’s high on crack. Don't take a picture of him or you might not get home to your daughters alive."

I first met Phillip Black on a corner of cosmopolitan F Street in Washington, a few stops away from Ford’s Theatre, where Abraham Lincoln was shot, and almost within earshot of the White House.

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