Daily Headlines: February 23, 2016

* Honduras: An international mission to combat widespread corruption in Honduras began its work though protesters believe the group lacks the strength of a similar investigative panel in nearby Guatemala.

* Peru: NASA scientists are conducting an experiment in Peru using potatoes in order to figure out the viability of growing crops on Mars.

* Nicaragua: Nicaraguan officials paroled 8149 inmates and repatriated nearly 100 foreign convicts as part of a plan to ease severe prison overcrowding.

* U.S.: A new study found that 71% of Latinos believe speaking Spanish is not a prerequisite to being considered as Hispanic though roughly three in four respondents speak the language at home.

YouTube Source – AFP (“Thousands of people (last August) hold a march with torches in the Honduran capital to protest against corruption and demand the resignation of President Juan Orlando Hernandez and a UN probe into impunity”.)

Online Sources – ABC News, Popular Science, Yahoo News, Fox News Latino

Daily Headlines: May 1, 2015

* Cuba: “We will only advance toward the normalization of bilateral relations (with the U.S.) on a basis of respect for the sovereignty…which includes the lifting of the blockade,” declared the lone speaker at Cuba’s annual May Day parade today.

* Venezuela: Ex-Brazilian President Henrique Cardoso, former Mexican leader Felipe Calderon and 24 other heads of state signed an open letter to the Venezuelan government urging the release of imprisoned opposition activists.

* Nicaragua: Lawmakers in Nicaragua approved a proposal that would allow Russia to build satellite bases on the Central American country.

* Brazil: Police in Curitiba have clashed twice with teachers protesting a planned reform to the pension and retirement system of public employees.

YouTube Source – teleSUR (Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro joined Cuban leader Raul Castro and thousands of other attendees at the annual May Day parade in Havana on Friday.)
 
Online Sources – Bernama, Yahoo! News, BBC News, Fox News Latino

Daily Headlines: September 10, 2013

* Peru: A new study found that illegal mining operations in Peru have led to the toxic poisoning of indigenous communities and a “very serious public health crisis”.

* Guatemala: At least 43 people died in a bus accident that took place roughly two days after eleven people were killed in a series of gang-related attacks.

* Ecuador: Ecuador’s first satellite has officially become a piece of space junk after it was hit by a Russian rocket about a month after it was launched.

* Venezuela: Amnesty International blasted the Venezuelan government’s decision to withdraw from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as putting “future generations of Venezuelans at risk.”

Video Source – YouTube via PBS NewsHour

Online Sources- The Guardian; Time; Al Jazeera English; GlobalPost; Mercopress

Daily Headlines: June 19, 2013

* Cuba: U.S. President Barack Obama claimed today that he would increase efforts to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba while over 150 doctors requested in an open letter permission to treat hunger-striking inmates.

* U.S.: A report by the Congressional Budget Office concluded that comprehensive immigration reform would benefit the U.S. economy and reduce the federal deficit by nearly $200 million in ten years.

* Latin America: Costa Rica and the U.S. edged closer to qualifying for the World Cup after victories on Tuesday night against Panama and Honduras respectively.

* Mexico: Government officials announced the launching next year of a new satellite that will provide expanded broadband service covering several Latin American countries.

Video Source – YouTube via Deutsche Welle 

Online Sources- CNN; Reuters; The Guardian; Fox News Latino; France24

Daily Headlines: March 13, 2013

* Chile: The world’s biggest radio telescope, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, will be officially inaugurated on Wednesday though it has been in use for the past two years.

* Bolivia: Should the next Pope accept Bolivian President Evo Morales’ suggestion and try wine made from the coca leaf?

* Venezuela: According to the International Energy Agency, Venezuelan oil spending will likely decline if interim leader Nicolás Maduro wins next month’s presidential election.

* Argentina: Former military strongman Reynaldo Bignone was sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity committed under his rule during the 1980s. 

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources- Huffington Post, Sky News Australia, Bloomberg, TVNZ

World Watch: Torture

* Georgia: Interior Minister Bacho Akhalaia resigned amidst escalating protests over alleged torture and abuse in Georgian prisons.
    
* Syria: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that approximately 54 people died when an air force jet blew up a gas station.
 
* Space: Six weeks after landing on Mars the Curiosity rover is expected to analyze rock samples on the surface of the Red Planet.

* Somalia: At least a dozen people were killed as result of a double suicide attack believed to have been perpetrated by a group with ties to al-Qaeda.
 
Video Source– YouTube via euronews

Online Sources – Voice of America, Reuters, Scientific American, ABC Online

Daily Headlines: September 18, 2012

* Chile: Scientists released photos taken from the world's most powerful digital camera, which is sitting on a mountaintop in Chile.

* Bolivia: A U.N. report released days after Bolivia was placed on a White House drug trafficking "black list" found that coca production in the Andean country dropped by 12% in 2011.

* Brazil: Finance Minister Guido Mantega criticized the latest round of U.S. monetary alleging, “the depreciation of the dollar will cause lots of problems for emerging nations.”

* Mexico: Authorities are searching for over 130 inmates who escaped from a prison in the northern Coahuila state.

Video Source – YouTube via Fermilab

Online Sources- Wired.com, ABC News, Reuters, Businessweek, USA TODAY

World Watch: To the Moon and Back

* U.S.: A private service is planned on Friday for Neil Armstrong, the pioneering astronaut who was the first man to walk on the moon, after he died on Saturday at the age of 82.

* Syria: Opposition activists claimed that at least sixty-two people were killed near Damascus as part of a military jet offensive.

* Russia: Lawyers appealed the recent conviction of three members of the feminist punk group Pussy Riot who face two years in prison for performing an anti-government song at a Moscow Orthodox church.

* Kenya: Violent protests have taken place in Mombasa after “radical Islamist preacher” Sheikh Aboud Rogo died in an apparent extrajudicial killing.

Video Source– YouTube via Associated Press

Online Sources – CBS News, Christian Science Monitor, Reuters, Huffington Post

World Watch: Srebrenica

* Bosnia: Over five hundred victims of the infamous 1995 Srebrenica massacre were buried though “bodies of the victims are still being found in mass graves throughout eastern Bosnia.”

* Afghanistan: Demonstrations took place in Kabul condemning the public execution of a woman accused of adultery last month.

* Spain: Thousands of coal miners from around Spain gathered in Madrid to protest against austerity measures that are part of a “soft bailout” from the E.U.

* Space: The Hubble Space Telescope discovered a fifth moon orbiting around the dwarf planet Pluto.

Video Source– YouTube via Journeyman Films

Online Sources – USA TODAY, ABC News, Reuters, BBC News

World Watch: The Not-So-Beautiful Game

* Egypt: Clashes have taken place between Cairo police and mourners angry at military authorities in the aftermath of a deadly soccer riot on Wednesday in Port Said.

* Space: International astronomers concluded that a new planet located about twenty-two light years from Earth might be able to support life.

* Europe: At least one hundred people are dead as a result of cold spell that has hit several European countries.

* Afghanistan: U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta indicated that troops could withdraw early from Afghanistan in 2013 though it remains to be seen if NATO forces will do the same.

Video Source– YouTube via Al Jazeera English (” Egypt has declared three days of mourning for the more than 70 people who died at a football stadium amid violent clashes between rival supporters in the northern city of Port Said.”)

Online Sources – The Guardian, National geographic, TVNZ, USA TODAY

World Watch: Fickle Finger-pointing

* Cambodia: Nuon Chea, a deputy to the late despot Pol Pot, alleged that the Vietnamese and not the brutal Khmer Rouge regime committed “crimes against humanity” in Cambodia.

* Space: Researchers at NASA discovered Kepler-22b, a planet 600 light years away and a “possible Earth twin” that could support life.

* Ivory Coast: At his first appearance in front of the International Criminal Court, ex-President Laurent Gbagbo claimed that he would “challenge” the evidence against him.

* World: According to a new study published in the journal “Nature Climate Change” global carbon dioxide emissions spiked in 2010 and reached a record 9.1 billion tons.

Image Source – Flickr via Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. (“Nuon Chea during a Trial Chamber hearing on 31 Jan 2011.”) (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources – BBC News, National Geographic, CBC News, UPI

World Watch: Leaving Libya

* Libya: NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced the end of the alliance's seven-month military intervention in Libya.

* Thailand: Relief agencies worry that a humanitarian crisis could occur due to historic flooding across the nation.

* Palestine: The U.S. will cut off $60 million in aid to UNESCO after members of the body voted to include Palestine.

* China: The Chinese space exploration took a key step forward with the launching of an unmanned rocket that is expected to dock with a space lab.

Video Source - YouTube user Associated Press

Online Sources - BBC News, The Globe and Mail, CNN, Al Jazeera English

Daily Headlines: September 13, 2011

* Chile: European researchers at an observatory in Chile discovered fifty “exoplanets” located outside of our solar system.

* U.S.: The possible discrimination against Latino educators in Arizona may've factored in the decision to halt monitoring classrooms to see if teachers speak with accents.

* Brazil: The country’s currency, the real, fell to its weakest level in ten months due to worries over a possible Greek default.

* Mexico: Monterrey mayor, Fernando Larrazabal has refused to resign despite allegations of corruption related to the last month’s deadly arson at the Casino Royale.

Image – ESO via MSNBC (“An artist's depiction of a super-Earth." Scientists using the Harps instrument in Chile’s La Silla Observatory discovered sixteen “super-Earths”).

Online Sources- UPI, The Guardian, Bloomberg, LAHT

Today’s Video: Zoom

On Thursday a rocket is scheduled to take off carrying the "Aquarius/SAC-D" satellite into space as part of a collaborative effort between the U.S. and Argentine space agencies. The aim of the satellite is to measure the levels of salt in the world's oceans. The importance of the Aquarius project, as one of the team's researchers told MercoPress, cannot be understated:

“Salinity is the glue that bonds two major components of Earth's complex climate system: ocean circulation and the global water cycle,” said Aquarius Principal Investigator Gary Lagerloef of Earth & Space Research in Seattle. “Aquarius will map global variations in salinity in unprecedented detail, leading to new discoveries that will improve our ability to predict future climate.”

Researchers hope that in a few months the equipment on the "Aquarius/SAC-D" satellite can update 125 years of data obtained by ships and buoys.

The project has generated plenty of excitement among members of CONAE, Argentina's space agency. "We may come from different places, but we all talk the same language. And it isn't English - it's science," said CONAE investigator Sandra Torrusio to the Space Daily.

For more on the Aquarius project and the progress made by Argentine scientists check out the following video from GlobalPost:

By the way, the title to this post was inspired by this song from seminal Argentine rockeros Soda Stereo.

Online Sources - MercoPress, Space Daily, Boston Globe
Video Source - GlobalPost, YouTube

World Watch: Bumps on the road

* Middle East: One person died when Bahraini police used tear gas in an attempt to clear out protesters while demonstrators in the Iranian capital of Tehran clashed with police.

* Italy: Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said that he was “not worried” over going to trial despite the possibility that he could be imprisoned for fifteen years over the “bunga bunga” sex scandal.

* Japan: Officials temporarily suspended Arctic whaling due to pressure from a conservation group popularized by the TV series “Whale Wars.”

* Space: A massive solar flare was emitted from the Sun and it could possibly interfere with the Earth’s electrical power, communications systems and satellites.

Image – Reuters/Hamad I Mohammed via CBC News (“Family members and supporters of Fadel al-Matrook, a protester who was killed Tuesday morning during police clashes in Bahrain, carry his coffin to the funeral in Manama on Wednesday.”)
Online Sources- The Telegraph, Voice of America, Reuters, BBC News, MSNBC

Daily Headlines: August 17, 2010

* Colombia: An elderly man who suffered a heart attack was the lone fatality of a plane crash on San Andres Island yesterday.

* Cuba: Six more jailed dissidents are expected to be freed though its unknown if they will be allowed to stay in Cuba or travel to Spain.

* Argentina: Eleven countries have thus far launched satellites into space; Argentina could be the twelfth.

* Dominican Republic: Will Leonel Fernandez the latest regional leader to seek a third presidential term?

Image – ABC News (“An Aires airlines 737 lies in pieces after crashing on landing at the airport on San Andres island in Colombia, Monday Aug. 16, 2010.”)
Online Sources- CNN, LAHT, UPI, Voice of America

Today's Video: Somewhere out there

The wonders of space and the galaxies of the firmament light years away from us can be beautiful and awe-inspiring. For instance, check out in the video below where scientists working at the Cerro Paranal Observatory in Chile reportedly found the largest star ever discovered:

Online Sources - YouTube

Daily Headlines: April 28, 2010

* Chile: The world's largest telescope will be built on a 3000-meter high mountain in the Atacama Desert and will include a light-collecting mirror nearly 140 feet wide.

* Guatemala: The Santiaguito volcano erupted and sent a massive plume of ash across parts of Guatemala.

* Latin America: A World Court decision last week did not end a dispute between Uruguay and Argentina over a controversial border paper mill.

* Peru: Soccer veteran Nolberto Solano was arrested and released after he was accused of rape in England.

Image – Al Jazeera English (“The giant telescope is expected to cost more than $1bn and be operational by 2018.”)
Online Sources- UPI, Sydney Morning Herald, USA TODAY, Scientific American

Daily Headlines: April 2, 2010

* Bolivia: The Andean country is closer to launching its first telecommunications satellite after working out a deal with China.

* Colombia: In a week when the FARC freed two troops the rebels also handed over the remains of a soldier who died while held in captivity.

* Puerto Rico: As part of a Clean Air Act settlement oil giant Shell will have to upgrade its Puerto Rican refinery.

* Argentina: National soccer team coach Diego Maradona was discharged from a Buenos Aires clinic after one of his dogs bit him in the lip.

Image – BBC Mundo
Online Sources- MSNBC, Reuters, The Latin Americanist, AP, Canadian Press

Daily Headlines: February 11, 2010

* Costa Rica: China and Costa Rica reached a free trade deal that is expected to be signed before President Oscar Arias hands the reins over to Laura Chinchilla.

* Paraguay: The country is facing its own energy emergency as a result of a heat wave that has disrupted hydroelectric output.

* Bolivia: Bolivia may start a national space program with the aim of launching a communications satellite.

* Argentina: Diego Maradona’s coaching woes continued as a pair of late goals were needed to avoid a humiliating loss to Jamaica last night.

Image – AFP (“A man collects coffee beans 20 kilometers from the Costa Rica capital of San José.")
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, USA TODAY, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Reuters