Daily Headlines: August 24, 2012 (Updated)

* Caribbean: Tropical Storm Isaac could drench Haiti and the Dominican Republic later today with as much as twelve inches of rain while thousands of Puerto Ricans have sought safe shelter in anticipation of the inclement weather.

Update: The National Hurricane Center warned that Isaac "could be near hurricane strength" by the time it hits Haiti tonight.

Haitian authorities were said to be "prepared" for the evacuation of thousands of survivors of a major 2010 earthquake who are living in tent camps. Yet according to the Associated Press "the main threat appeared aimed at Les Cayes, a city of about 45,000 people on the southwestern coast that is prone to flooding during heavy rain".

* Cuba: Police allegedly arrested for the fourth time since April opposition activist and former political prisoner Jose Daniel Ferrer.

* U.S.: The Russian government will reportedly seek the handover of Viktor Bout, an arms dealer imprisoned in the U.S. after being convicted of trying to sell weapons to Colombian guerillas.

* Peru: Prime Minister Juan Jimenez announced the suspension of the $5 billion Conga gold mining project that has run into heavy opposition from locals in the Cajamarca region.

Video Source – YouTube via CBS News

Online Sources (including Update) - NPR, Businessweek, Reuters, CBC News, Focus News, Chicago Tribune

Daily Headlines: August 21, 2012

* Mexico: A study from Mexico’s statistics agency found that the country’s murder rate in 2011 increased at the slowest pace since 2007 yet is triple the rate since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006.

* U.S.: A Pew Hispanic Center report concluded that growing numbers of Latinos are enrolled in public schools and universities while record numbers of Latinos are finishing college.

* Cuba: A dozen people convicted of corruption “including high-ranking government officials, an executive at a state-run nickel company and workers at a Cuban-Canadian joint concern” face prison sentences of four to twelve years.

* Venezuela: According to poll results released yesterday President Hugo Chavez has a double-digit lead over rival Henrique Capriles though nearly 19% of respondents claimed they were undecided.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English (Video uploaded in April 2012).

Online Sources- Bloomberg, Fox News Latino, ABC News, CNN

Daily Headlines: August 20, 2012

* Venezuela: At least twenty people died in a prison riot on Sunday night and which occurred over a week after a local rights group warned about an increase in prison violence.

* Mexico: Authorities have replaced all 348 policemen working as security at the Mexico City International Airport roughly two months after three officers were killed in a shootout.

* Puerto Rico: A majority of voters rejected a pair of proposed constitutional changes that Gov. Luis Fortuño claimed would’ve been “great tools to fight crime.”

* Argentina: The government will reportedly file a complaint with the World Trade Organization against E.U. restrictions on biodiesel imports.

Video Source – YouTube via user Noticias Internacionales (Excerpt from a July 2012 Venezuelan TV news report highlighting the problems with the country’s prison system.)

Online Sources- Bloomberg, The Australian, Huffington Post, CNN, Fox News Latino