NPR World News

Ike Hits Haiti And Cuba, Aims For U.S. Gulf

Hurricane Ike is the latest in a string of deadly storms, following Fay, Gustav and Hanna. Ike hit Cuba late Sunday night and headed toward the U.S. Gulf Coast. In Haiti, dozens of people have died and severe flooding is preventing aid agencies from getting food and water to stranded residents. (read more)

Berlusconi's Alitalia Rescue Plan Faces Hurdles In EU

Alitalia is on the verge of liquidation in a few weeks. Now the only hope for Italy's flagship air carrier is a controversial rescue plan proposed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. But the plan would lay off thousands and could face obstacles in the European Union. (read more)

Fannie, Freddie News Boosts Asian Markets

The bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was good news for Asian markets — they surged the most in seven months. Analysts say the government takeover removed the uncertainty stalking the markets and renewed investor confidence. (read more)

Fannie, Freddie And America's Role In Global Economy

China is the largest purchaser of the debt of mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Both the United States and China depend on the companies for economic survival. (read more)

Scientist Finds New Way To Get Prints Off Bullet

He may not handle a gun as artfully as that other Bond, but University of Leicester scientist John Bond has made a real contribution to crime fighting. He has figured out a way for forensics experts to take a fingerprint off a bullet, even if the shooter has wiped the casing clean. The technique has already helped reopen three cold cases. (read more)

China Eyes Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Bailout

The government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is making waves far off American shores. China is watching the events closely because some 10 percent of China's gross domestic product is invested with the troubled mortgage giants. NPR's Adam Davidson talks with host Jacki Lyden about China's stake in the U.S. mortgage industry. (read more)

Hurricane Ike Churns Through Caribbean

Hurricane Ike has passed over Haiti and is now steaming toward the Gulf of Mexico, leaving devastation in its wake. Flooding has hampered relief efforts in the port city of Gonaives, Haiti, which is still suffering from the effects of Tropical Storm Hanna. (read more)

Brits React To McCain-Palin Ticket

Gov. Sarah Palin and the Republican National Convention made headlines around the world last week. Weekend Edition's regular essayist Diane Roberts is spending the election season in the United Kingdom, and she sends us this essay about what the British media is saying about Senator John McCain's choice for vice president. (read more)

Haiti Is Struck By Hanna, Drenched By Ike

In Haiti, relief efforts continue almost a week after Tropical Storm Hanna caused extensive flooding on the island. The town of Gonaives was the hardest hit; scores of people were killed and much of the city remains under water. Aid workers are desperately trying to provide food, shelter and medicine to people there while fearing more flooding from Hurricane Ike. (read more)

Relief Efforts Under Way In Flood-Stricken Haiti

Haitians are heading to higher ground to escape massive flooding caused by Tropical Storm Hanna, and they're bracing themselves for Hurricane Ike. More than 150 people have been killed. (read more)

Bhutto's Widower Elected President In Pakistan

Just over nine months after his wife, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated in a suicide attack, Asif Ali Zardari has been chosen as the new president of Pakistan. His election Saturday has been received warily by the Pakistani public. It came on a day marred by death and mayhem after a suicide bomb attack in Peshawar killed at least 30 people. (read more)

Tracing A Father's Steps On China's Long March

Red Army soldiers trekked through China on their epic journey nearly 75 years ago. The daughter of an officer, Diane Zhang, follows the route on a quest to learn about the defining moment in her family's and China's history. (read more)

Cracking Down On Mexican Violence

Mexican citizens are getting sick of the murders and kidnappings in their country and are demanding the government do something about them. (read more)

Gustav, Hanna Batter Haiti

Tropical storm Hanna and Hurricane Gustav have overwhelmed Haiti with floods and mudslides that have killed more than 130 people. The city of Gonaive is almost entirely cut off from the rest of the country. Officials call the situation "catastrophic." (read more)

Al-Qaida Sees Opportunity In Pakistan's Flux

Pervez Musharraf's resignation introduced uncertainty, and U.S. officials say al-Qaida is seeking to strengthen its presence in the country. Meanwhile, Pakistan looks likely to pick Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, as its next president. (read more)

Subscribe to this blog's RSS feed

Redibujando el mapa de América Latina

Megaproyectos de infraestructura están cambiando la geografía social, político y físico de América Latina. La Iniciativa para la Integración de Infraestructura Regional Sudamericana (IIRSA), el Plan Puebla Panamá y otras propuestas diseñadas para promover el comercio, la integración energética y el acceso a recursos naturales tendrán impactos ambientales y sociales importantes. En esta serie, los analistas del Programa de las Américas monitorean los proyectos, sus impactos, su financiamiento y las respuestas ciudadanas. (read more)

Oaxaca: After the Barricades

This series contains texts from writers across the hemisphere on the strides made by social movements, the role of gender equity and women's rights, and the stumbling advances and the steps backwards in guaranteeing respect for human rights. It also contains a sub-series on the self-organized movement in Oaxaca, Mexico that startled the world by taking over the city in 2006 and running it for several months. (read more)

IRC Programs Transition to Center for International Policy

The good news is that the IRC's core work through the Americas Policy Program and the Global Good Neighbor Initiative will live on. They have become programs of the Center for International Policy (CIP) in Washington, DC. (read more)

Agrocombustibles, Biodiversidad y Nuestro Futuro Energético

Desde la experiencia de Colombia con la palma aceitera, el nuevo papel de Brasil en abastecer al mundo con etanol a base de caña de azúcar, planes para producción de agrocombustibles en América Central, hasta la conversión del maíz de alimento a energía en los Estados Unidos—las iniciativas de agrocombustibles están cambiando el uso de suelo y las economías en todo el hemisferio. Analistas del Programa de las Américas de estos y otros países llaman la atención al debate sobre los agrocombustibles y sus impactos sociales y ambientales. (read more)

Hambriento por justicia: Como el sistema mundial de alimentos falla a los pobres

Inequidades en el sistema mundial de alimentos han sido agravadas por eventos recientes que han creado el llamado crisis de alimentación. Pero, ¿cual es el trasfondo de los titulares? Esta nueva serie investiga los agrocombustibles, políticas de comercio, cambio climático y aumentos en demanda para buscar las causas verídicas y que hay que hacer para solucionarlo. (read more)

Re-mapping Latin America's Future

Large scale infrastructure projects are changing the social, political, and physical geography of Latin America. The South American Regional Integration and Infrastructure Project (IIRSA), Plan Puebla Panama, and other proposals designed to promote trade, energy integration, and access to natural resources will have important environmental and social impacts. In this series, Americas Policy Program analysts monitor the projects, their impact, financing, and citizen response. (read more)

Fueling the Debate: Agrofuels, Biodiversity, and Our Energy Future

Colombia's experience with palm oil biodiesel, Brazil's new role in supplying the world with sugarcane-based ethanol, planned agrofuel production in Central America, and corn's conversion from food to fuel in the United States—the agrofuels push is changing land use and economies throughout the hemisphere. Analysts of the Americas Policy Program from these countries and others shed light on the rising debate over agrofuels and its social and environmental impacts. (read more)

Hungry for Justice: How the World Food System Fails the Poor

Inequalities in the world's food system have been aggravated by recent developments to create the much talked-about food crisis. But what is behind the headlines? This new series delves into agrofuels, trade policy, corporate concentration, climate change, and rising demand to help sort out the real causes of the crisis and what needs to be done about it. (read more)

Reframing the Immigration Debate: The Actors and the Issues

A series of articles on immigration to engender dialogue and provide food for thought on the issues. (read more)

Republicans Echo Immigration Restrictionists

Four years ago, immigration was one of the shortest sections of the platform. In a sign of the newfound strength of the restrictionists, the immigration section is one of the longest sections of the 2008 platform. (read more)