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Americas - International Herald Tribune
News from the Americas from The International Herald Tribune, the world's daily newspaper online.
- As Cuba's economy withers, its ecology thrives
Many scientists are worried about what will become of Cuba's ecology if the U.S. government relaxes or ends its trade embargo. - Texas bucks trend away from executions
For the first time in the modern history of the death penalty, more than 60 percent of all American executions took place in Texas. - Hillary Clinton puts her experience first
She stresses her role as the president's partner for eight years, but her rivals question how much she really did. - Edwards gets demerits for tardiness on the campaign trail
While most people who come out to see John Edwards are willing to endure some delays, his habit of lateness has alienated others, some of whom say it is just plain rude. - Escaped tiger kills one at San Francisco Zoo
The police arrived at the zoo to find the Siberian tiger atop one of the victims then shot and killed the animal. - Giuliani campaign founders as New Hampshire vote draws near
Missteps, sharp shifts in strategy and reports about his personal life have hurt Rudolph Giuliani's national standing. - U.S. Democrats try to rein in fees on consulting
Resentment has been building at how presidential elections have become gold mines for media consultants. - Georgia school melds a world of differences
At an unusual school outside Atlanta, more than half the 380 students are refugees from some 40 countries. - Widening of health care in U.S. states hits roadblocks
The governors of California, Illinois and Pennsylvania proposed sweeping plans to restructure health care this year, but none will finish 2007 with bills passed and signed. - Surf's up, and so is the crime rate on Baja's beaches
The surfers of Baja California, Mexico, have been rehashing a series of recent armed attacks on foreigners, many of whom had been frequenting the beaches here just south of Tijuana for years. - Stores offer unwitting stage for activists
Shopdropping, surreptitiously putting things like political propaganda or independent artwork in stores, has grown in popularity in the United States in recent years. - Fine line: Shielding elders' money, and independence
Thousands of older Americans have filed suits against companies who have promoted dubious offers even though the victims concede they freely made unwise decisions. - In Kentucky's teeth, toll of poverty and neglect
About half the population in Kentucky does not have dental insurance, and 1 in 10 residents are missing all their teeth. - U.S. aid plan for tribal areas in Pakistan is threatened
The ambitious $750 million five-year plan is imperiled by questions about whether the money could fall into the wrong hands in the restive region. - A threat so big, academics try collaboration
Students and professors from different disciplines are collaborating in the study of the environmental ramifications of production and consumption. - Pianist, jazz great Oscar Peterson dies at 82
Oscar Peterson, whose early talent and speedy fingers made him one of the world's best known jazz pianists, died at age 82. - 10 years later, Chiapas massacre still haunts Mexico
Since the Acteal massacre on Dec. 22, 1997, dozens of people have been arrested and convicted. But the case remains as foggy as the impoverished Indian village in Chiapas State. - J. Edgar Hoover sought mass arrests in 1950, document shows
A document from 1950 shows that J. Edgar Hoover, then the head of the FBI, wanted to suspend habeas corpus guarantees to imprison some 12,000 Americans suspected of disloyalty. - Democrats make Bush school act an election issue
Criticism of the No Child Left Behind Act by Democratic presidential contenders is endangering its renewal. - CIA intentionally impeded Sept. 11 inquiry, officials say
The chairman and vice chairman of the commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, say a new review of classified information has convinced them that the Central Intelligence Agency made a conscious decision to impede them. - Personal touch for Bill Richardson in envoy role
Bill Richardson, who made his name as a dealmaker in the world's hot spots, argues that no Democratic candidate has as much international experience. - U.S. focus on Cuba travel strains capacity for fighting terror, report finds
Catching Americans who travel illegally to Cuba or who purchase cigars, rum or other products there may be distracting some American government agencies from higher-priority missions like fighting terrorism and combating narcotics trafficking, the audit says. - UN putting early end to corruption watchdog
Singapore leads the fight in the General Assembly against a panel that has exposed more than $600 million in tainted contracts. - Jamie Lynn Spears's pregnancy has high schools abuzz
The pregnancy of Jamie Lynn Spears, who plays a perfect, well-liked and virginal teenager on Nickelodeon, has forced families to confront the issues of pregnancy and contraception. - Epiphanies in a medieval courtyard in New York
The Cloisters, while barely changing at all, has changed a lot for me over the years, becoming a more complicated and contemplative experience. - Scientists weigh stem cells' role as cancer cause
A debate over an unproven hypothesis, which says cancers are fed by cancerous stem cells, could affect the direction of research. - U.S. Congress finds earmarks a hard habit to break
Despite an intense campaign by critics in and out of Congress against home-state projects, the year-end budget plan sent to President George W. Bush on Wednesday was stuffed with almost 9,000 of them. - Little middle ground in country of extremes
In the high-altitude climate of La Paz, President Evo Morales of Bolivia has been toiling to get his version of a constitution passed, while four eastern provinces in the hot lowlands are working toward greater autonomy from his government. - Bush lawyers discussed fate of CIA tapes
At least four top White House lawyers took part in discussions about whether to destroy videotapes showing secret interrogations. - Castro hints at yielding power
His statement fails, however, to say whether he was speaking hypothetically or had a transition plan in mind. - For Romney, a course set long ago
Mitt Romney said he felt as if his campaign to become the Republican presidential nominee was, in a sense, an extension of his father's unsuccessful bid in 1968. - As ethanol takes its first steps, Congress proposes a giant leap
Congress is on the verge of telling American business to create a huge new industry capable of converting agricultural wastes and o
