Americas

By Alan Fisher in Americas on May 21st, 2012
Al-Megrahi was transferred to a hospital in April after his health rapidly deteriorated [Reuters]

The first time I heard Abdel Bassett Al Megrahi's name, I was reading it out loud on the news.  A  piece of paper had been hurriedly handed to me while I was reading the main evening bulletin on Scottish Television in November 1991.

The breaking news was that two men had been indicted by the Scottish legal authorities, accused of the biggest mass murder in British history.

The fact two Libyans had been implicated was a surprise, not just to me, but to many who had followed developments after Pan Am 103 was blown out of the skies above the Scottish border town of Lockerbie in December 1988.

All the early evidence suggested this was an attack carried out by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command (PFLP-GC).

By Patty Culhane in Americas on May 20th, 2012
Leaders attend the photo session at the G8 summit at Camp David in the US hosted by President Barack Obama [Reuters]

I've had another one of those days where more than once I've asked myself why on Earth anyone would want to be the President of the United States, or the Chancellor of Germany, or any of the leaders traveling to Camp David for the G8 meetings this weekend.

I say this, while sitting in a coach-class seat on one of those tiny commercial planes en route to Chicago for the NATO summit.

I hate tiny planes so of course that makes me realize that Air Force One would be a fun plane to be able to borrow four years at a time. 

I've been aboard – but only in the press area.

Not that comfortable

It's about as far back as you're allowed to go, the seats aren't all that comfortable, and no, it doesn't look anything like it did in the movie with Harrison Ford.

By Kimberly Halkett in Americas on May 18th, 2012
In 30 years minorities will outnumber whites in all age groups

According to new US census figures, for the first time in history, there are more minorities being born in the United States than whites.

Still, this change in demographics hasn’t always been easy for Americans to accept.

Minority babies now outnumber Caucasian babies being born, with Latino children driving the birthing boom.

The census figures show Latino, Asian and African Americans made up 50.4 per cent of the births last year, up from 49.5 per cent in the previous census.

This turning point is a result of an immigration wave that began in the US four decades ago.

It’s predicted in another 30 years minorities will outnumber whites, in all age groups, not just infants.

Still, the transition from a predominantly white society to one that is multicultural hasn’t been smooth for all.

Struggle to navigate

I visited the St Mary’s Center in Washington, DC on Thursday to see just how this transition is play

By John Terrett in Americas on May 18th, 2012

"Shall I put on my white lab coat for you?"

"Yes!", oh, er, I mean yes please, if you wouldn't mind Sir!

That was a brief exchange between me and Professor David Mullin in his tiny two-room laboratory at Tulane University in New Orleans.

As a TV guy I'm slightly embarrassed to admit to you that when your guest is a scientist and he's offering to put on a white coat for an on-camera interview - well - let's just say - that's a gift from God - it really is. We're all about images in TV you see - very important.

By Rob Reynolds in Americas on May 17th, 2012

It started out as the coolest new thing for college kids. Now Facebook's global campus comprises more than 900 million users in 70 languages.

"Leaps and bounds doesn't even describe how much this company has grown," says social media analyst Brian Solis of the Altimeter Group in Silicon Valley. "It surely has eclipsed anyone's predictions."

Andy Smith, the author of The Dragonfly Effect - Powerful Ways to Use Social Media for Social Change, says Facebook's current pre-eminence was far from inevitable.

Facebook won out with its astute sense of what people wanted to share online - photos, games, status updates and tagging friends in picture albums.

By Kimberly Halkett in Americas on May 17th, 2012
Photo: AFP
A shoe manufacturer in the US, known as Skechers, has been forced to pay more than $40m for false advertising.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has ruled the company made unfounded claims, promising consumers, its popular "Shape-ups" shoes would help them lose weight. 

The adverts for "Shape-ups" promised a body that was more toned and svelte, just by wearing the company’s shoes. Several Hollywood celebrities and US athletes endorsed the trendy shoe.

Those endorsements, including a popular 2011 Super Bowl television commercial, featuring reality TV star, Kim Kardashian, prompted thousands in the US to buy the footwear. 

An online promotional video for "Shape-ups" found on the Internet, and also on a DVD included inside every shoebox, claimed the shoes helped by, "improving circulation, burning calories and losing weight."  

How do I know this?
By Lisa Fletcher in Americas on May 16th, 2012
When I first met 18-month-old Elie Madden she was nearing the end of a medical journey that brought her and her family from Ireland to Boston. Physically and emotionally, this was a trip of epic proportions.
Elie was born with nearly six centimetres of her esophagus missing. That's right. Not there. She couldn't eat, drink or breathe on her own.

Doctors in Dublin, and truthfully, most doctors around the world couldn't help her in a way that would make her free of sickness, surgeries and complications that would likely end her life much too soon. But Elie's parents, Eddie and Esti, were determined.  
By Kimberly Halkett in Americas on May 15th, 2012
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner onstage at the 2012 Fiscal Summit in Washington DC [Reuters]

US fiscal policy leaders are watching the European debt crisis closely.

They know that in a global economy European economic woes could have an impact here, spreading like a contagion to US banks, trade, the stock market and, quite possibly, the US election in November.

As the third annual Washington Fiscal Summit, convened by the Peterson Foundation, takes place in Washington, top Obama administration and congressional leaders are meeting to discuss America’s own long-term fiscal challenges.

The nation is facing a series of critical fiscal deadlines by the end of this year.

Tax cuts - sometimes called Bush-era tax cuts - are set to expire and automatic spending cuts to entitlement and defence spending are due take effect in 2013.

Neither Democrats nor Republicans want that to happen and are now arguing, mostly along party lines, on how best to reduce America’s debt and deficit.

Congress is, and has been for months, in a standoff.

By Rob Reynolds in Americas on May 14th, 2012
Photo: EPA

One afternoon in May, Al Jazeera accompanied police sergeant Joseph Paul on patrol in San Jose, California, a city of just under a million people. As Paul wheeled his cruiser down the highways and streets of his city, he said his daily routine is full of  potential dangers. 

“On patrol you have absolutely no idea who you're dealing with, what their story is, why they're where they are, why they're doing what they're doing,” Paul said.  “So you have to always be alert.”

On this particular patrol, Sgnt Paul did not encounter any dangerous situations. But the conditions of police work - the unpredictability, and the way that even a routine traffic stop can suddenly turn violent, are what police departments around the US often cite in support of arming officers with Tasers. In 2004, the San Jose department  became one of the first law enforcement agencies to equip each of its patrol officers with a Taser.

By Alan Fisher in Americas on May 13th, 2012
Mitt Romney's high school behaviour has come under scrutiny after reports suggested that he was a bully [AFP]

Now most of us would not like to be judged as adults by how we behaved in high school. There are moments many of us would choose to forget.

However, for some, those moments are still seared into the memory, an instant replay to make us feel awkward, uncomfortable or sad.

Mitt Romney is now facing allegations about his high school behaviour; how he would shout out 'atta girl' when a 'closeted gay student' answered in class, or how he walked a blind teacher into a door, 'laughing hysterically' at the outcome according to the Washington Post.

But then there is also an alleged attack on John Lauber.

According to the Post, Romney was incensed when Lauber turned up one day with dyed blonde hair.

A group, led by Romney, is then said to have pinned him to the ground.

Despite the screams for help and the tears in his eyes, Romney then cut his hair with a pair of scissors.

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