Panama

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Plan to Save the Panama Canal Isn't Entirely Without Harm

Construction of new reservoir will force relocation of 2K people

(Newser) - You could forgive Ricaurte Vásquez Morales his cellphone addiction. As the New York Times explains, he checks it constantly—to make sure Lake Gatún is registering about 83.5 feet deep. That's the artificial reservoir that forms a crucial part of the Panama Canal system, of which...

Panama Sends Its Navy After 'Irregular' Migrants

Nation also erects barbed wire along perilous Darien Gap route out of Colombia to slow migration

(Newser) - Less than two weeks after Panama's leader vowed to shutter the perilous Darien Gap, the Panamanian government has taken another step to crack down on the 66-mile jungle route used by migrants to cross over into Central America from Colombia. The country's Ministry of Public Security on Thursday...

US Inks Deal to Help Panama Control 'Shocking' Migration

New Panama president says he'll shut down Darien Gap route; US will pay migrant repatriation costs

(Newser) - Hundreds of thousands of people cross the Darien Gap each year, a perilous 66-mile stretch of jungle connecting the South American country of Colombia and the Central American country of Panama—many of them on their way to the United States. Now, Panama's new leader is vowing to shutter...

Sinking Island's Residents Throw in the Towel

Gunas of Gardi Sugdub, an island off Panama, relocate to mainland amid sea level rise

(Newser) - On a tiny island off Panama's Caribbean coast, about 300 families are packing their belongings for a dramatic change. Generations who have grown up on Gardi Sugdub in a life dedicated to the sea and tourism will trade that next week for the mainland's solid ground. They go...

President-Elect Wants to Close Migration Route in Panama

Path through Darien jungle is a dangerous but popular way to head toward the US

(Newser) - Panama is on the verge of a dramatic change to its immigration policy that could reverberate from the dense Darien jungle to the US border. President-elect José Raúl Mulino says he will shut down a migration route used by more than 500,000 people last year. Until now, Panama...

Half a World Away, More Bad News for Global Shipping

Traffic slashed at drought-stricken Panama Canal as attacks continue in Red Sea

(Newser) - A severe drought that began last year has forced authorities to slash ship crossings by 36% in the Panama Canal, one of the world's most important trade routes, per the AP . The new cuts announced Wednesday by authorities in Panama are set to deal an even greater economic blow...

Number of People Braving the Darien Gap Is Exploding

Some 250K migrants crossed the perilous stretch of jungle in 2022

(Newser) - The Darien Gap is a perilous place: a jungle filled with vipers and anacondas, deadly spiders, bandits, and flash floods and lacking any roads or even trails. It's also the sole overland path from South America into Central America, a 66-mile run of land between Colombia and Panama. As...

Panama Adds Day to Mourn Victims of US Invasion

On Dec. 20, the nation will commemorate the hundreds killed in 1989

(Newser) - The president of Panama has declared an annual national holiday to commemorate Panamanians who died during the 1989 US invasion of the country. The decree signed Thursday by President Laurentino Cortizo establishes Dec. 20, the date of the invasion, as a national day of mourning, the AP reports. People in...

At Panama Canal, 7 Hikers Massacred

A man has been charged

(Newser) - Seven young people on a trip at Gatún Lake, which forms part of the Panama Canal, were found murdered in a wooded area near the lake Saturday, the BBC reports. All had been shot in the head. The victims, four males and three females aged 17 to 22, were...

4 Die on Cruise Ship Isolated Off Panama

Crews try to move healthy passengers to another ship

(Newser) - Four passengers have died aboard a cruise ship now anchored off the coast of Panama, and two people aboard the ship have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the cruise line said Friday. Holland America Line said in a post on its Facebook page that more than 130 people aboard...

7 Killed in Panama Exorcism Ritual
7 Killed in Panama
Exorcism Ritual
Jan 17, 2020 3:08 AM CST

7 Killed in Panama Exorcism Ritual

Police say residents were rounded up by preachers

(Newser) - Seven people—including a pregnant woman and five of her children—were murdered by preachers in a remote area of Panama holding a bizarre ritual to make them "repent their sins," authorities say. Ten people, including the children's grandfather, were arrested in an area controlled by the...

Company Paid $25K to Name 4-Inch Critter After Trump

Worm-like 'Dermophis donaldtrumpi' buries its head in the sand

(Newser) - A UK-based company paid $25,000 to name a newly discovered amphibian after President Trump. Hence the Dermophis donaldtrumpi, a small, blind caecilian that buries its head in the sand. On climate change, so does the president, according to Aidan Bell, co-founder of sustainable building materials company EnviroBuild, which bid...

Trump Firm Asked Panama President to Intervene in Dispute

Move is clear example of conflict of interest, experts say

(Newser) - President Trump's company appealed directly to Panama's president to intervene in its fight over control of a luxury hotel , even invoking a treaty between the two countries, in what ethics experts say was a blatant mingling of Trump's business and government interests. That appeal in a letter...

Trump Name Taken Off Panama Hotel in Dramatic Fashion

Trump Organization kicked out of disputed property

(Newser) - A fierce dispute over a 70-story Trump-branded hotel in Panama ended Monday with armed police evicting Trump Organization staff from the building and a worker with a crowbar taking the word Trump off the outside of the building. The move followed a standoff between the Trump Organization, which had a...

Reason for US Ambassador to Panama's Resignation: Trump

John Feeley is out effective March 9

(Newser) - The US ambassador to Panama will no longer have that title as of March 9. John Feeley has submitted his resignation and cited President Trump as the motivating factor. Reuters quotes from part of the longtime diplomat's resignation letter: "As a junior foreign service officer, I signed an...

Panama Sentences American Serial Killer

William Holbert killed 5 other Americans

(Newser) - US citizen William Dathan Holbert was sentenced to 47 years in prison by a court in Panama for robbing and killing five other Americans in a Caribbean tourist destination, authorities say. Holbert's ex-wife Laura Reese was sentenced to 26 years for her role. Authorities say Holbert admitted killing five...

Trump to Panama Prez: 'We Did a Good Job Building' Canal

Varela reminds him it was built 100 years ago

(Newser) - Walls aren’t the only thing President Trump enjoys touting. According to Politico , Trump gave props to the Panama Canal during Panamanian president Juan Carlos Varela’s visit to the Oval Office Monday. The White House blog recounts the remarks made during press availability at the meeting. After Trump greets...

One of Taiwan's Major Allies Just Switched Sides

Panama switches recognition to Beijing

(Newser) - Panama switched diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China on Tuesday, dealing a major victory to Beijing in its drive to isolate the self-governing island it claims as its own territory. In Panama, President Juan Carlos Varela announced the change, which entails breaking off formal relations with Taiwan, saying in a...

Beginning of End for Noriega: One Marine's Wrong Turn
Beginning of End for Noriega:
One Marine's Wrong Turn
the rundown
May 30, 2017 12:53 PM CDT

Beginning of End for Noriega: One Marine's Wrong Turn

George HW Bush decided to invade after off-duty US officer was fatally shot

(Newser) - The death of Manuel Noriega has prompted all kinds of stories about his reign and overthrow, and the New York Times notes that it was the fatal shooting of a US military officer that proved to be the tipping point in his downfall. In December 1989, Panamanian troops killed an...

Ex-Dictator Manuel Noriega Dead at 83

He suffered complications after brain surgery

(Newser) - Manuel Noriega, the former dictator of Panama and US ally who went on to serve nearly two decades as a US prisoner, has died. The 83-year-old died around 11pm Monday at a hospital in Panama City after undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor in March, reports the BBC . He...

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