Nicaragua aims to fight deforestation with soldiers

Deep insight Nicaragua's inhospitable Mosquito Coast a specially trained army unit is fighting against deforestation. Operation Green Gold has 580 environmental soldiers to try and stop the growing problem of criminal gangs extracting logs. Since 1983 it is believed that Nicaragua's forest cover has dropped from 63% to 40%. The fight is been taken to loggers in attempt to protect the country's agriculture, climate, biodiversity and tourism.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17062806

12 Killed in US Tornadoes

At least 12 people have been killed in tornadoes that hit Illinois, Missouri and Kansas. At least 16 tornadoes were reported across the states damaging buildings and injuring a further 100. March is the beginning of the US tornado season.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17210325

Devastating Drought Hits Paraguay

Thousands of small farmers are struggling across Paraguay as the region is hit by a drought. Some areas have seen virtually no rain in the last 5 months. The dry weather is being blamed on La Nina. The government estimates that up to 60% of the country's crop could have been lost already. With winter approaching farmers are desperate for some rain to salvage their crop. Paraguay relies heavily on the primary sector so any failure of crops will increase poverty as well as hunger.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17123537

American Illegals in Mexico

There is often news stories about the number of Mexican illegal immigrants living in the US. However, there is very little said about the growing number of US illegal immigrants living in Mexico. Last year over 1000 US citizens were questioned about their status in Mexico and fined up to $400. According the Mexican status over 730,000 US born citizens live in Mexico. Some are tourists who have overstayed, other have fallen in love with the country and retire others are working illegally and unregistered.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-radio-and-tv-17098719

The American Bus Revival

Coaches are currently the fastest growing form of long distance transport in the US. The coach long out of favour in the UK is making a comeback due to budget fares making coach travel very competitive. As well as offering cut price tickets between major cities, companies also offer wifi on board and pick up on the roadside rather than in bus terminals which are seen as dangerous. In 2011 intercity coach travel rose by 7.1%.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16881957

Is the building boom helping everyone in Sierra Leone?

Since the end of the civil war ten years ago, Sierra Leone is experiencing a building boom. Once such project is Bumbuna Dam which produces 40 MW of electricity, however, the poor state of the national grid mean that not all of this electricity can be used. Railways lines and raids have also been improved and mines opened. However, many jobs are temporary and much of the profits have gone to a limited few. In addition despite growth adult literacy is still low and infant mortality high.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17160679

Ship's Anchor Slows Internet

East Africa's high speed internet access has been severely disrupted because a ship has dropped its anchor on fibre optic cables off the coast of Kenya. Since 2009 East Africa has been connected with three undersea cables. The damage to this one, which could take 14 days to repair is going to slow speeds across the region. The arrival of the cables has seen internet usage increase in Kenya from 1.8 million users to 3.1 million users.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17179544