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Americas Settled 15,000 Years Ago, Study Says Stefan Lovgren for National Geographic NewsMarch 13, 2008 A consensus is emerging in the highly contentious debate over the colonization of the Americas, according to a study that says the bulk of the region wasn't settled until as late as 15,000 years ago. Researchers analyzed both archaeological and genetic evidence from several dozen sites throughout the Americas and eastern Asia for the paper. "In the past archaeologists haven't paid too much attention to molecular genetic evidence," said lead author Ted Goebel, an archaeologist at Texas A&M University in College Station. "We have brought...

A Three-Stage Colonization Model for the Peopling of the Americas Andrew Kitchen1, Michael M. Miyamoto2, Connie J. Mulligan1* 1 Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America, 2 Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America Abstract Background We evaluate the process by which the Americas were originally colonized and propose a three-stage model that integrates current genetic, archaeological, geological, and paleoecological data. Specifically, we analyze mitochondrial and nuclear genetic data by using complementary coalescent models of demographic history and incorporating non-genetic data to enhance the anthropological relevance of the analysis. Methodology/Findings...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2007 – President Bush issued his Thanksgiving greeting today, counting members of the U.S. military among the many blessings Americans have to be thankful for. “Today, the men and women of the United States armed forces are taking risks for our freedom,” the president said at historic Berkeley Plantation in Charles City, Va. “They're fighting on the front lines of the war on terror, the war against extremists and radicals who would do us more harm.” Bush noted that many U.S. troops will spend Thanksgiving far away from the comforts of home and expressed thanks for...

RECIFE (Reuters) - Flanked by bustling cafes in downtown Recife on Brazil's northeastern coast is a little-known treasure of Jewish history in the New World -- the oldest synagogue in the Americas. Sephardic Jews built the two-story Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue before 1641 -- most likely in 1636 -- when they enjoyed religious freedom under the Dutch, who ruled part of the northeast region from 1630 to 1654 to control sugar production. The Mikve Israel Congregation in Curacao, a Dutch Antilles island in the Carribean, was considered by some to have been the first congregation in the Americas. But it...

Yes, it’s a beautiful day in the land Columbus discovered, I mean ruthlessly subjugated. While in America only a handful of society’s most marginal figures have decided to take up the call, in the yet to be renamed, South “America,” the campaign, known as “Indigenous Resistance Day” is gathering momentum. The Guardian, the U.K.’s most dedicated leftist newspaper cast the movement in these terms: “Now, however, a counter-attack is under way. After centuries as underdogs, indigenous people are rising up - peacefully - to seize political power and assert their heritage. The so-called pink tide of leftwing governments has surged...

Work crews Thursday began installing the first of 152 sturdy vinyl flags that will flutter 24/7 from city light poles along Kansas City’s renamed “Grand Boulevard of the Americas.” The project, a tribute to the 35 nations of the Organization of American States, is the brainchild of local businessman and longtime civic activist James M. Malouff III. “I don’t want to demean our heritage,” he said Thursday. “But we’re way beyond cow town. Kansas City is a cosmopolitan city” engaged in international business and cultural exchanges, with emerging international visitor attractions such as the World War I Museum. He said...

First Known Gunshot Victim in Americas Discovered Kelly Hearn in Buenos Aires, Argentina for National Geographic News June 19, 2007 The first known gunshot victim in the Americas was an Inca Indian killed by a musket-wielding Spaniard nearly 500 years ago in Peru, scientists announced today. (See pictures and watch video.) The casualty's skeleton was discovered in 2004 while excavating an Inca cemetery in the Lima suburb of Puruchuco—less than a mile from thousands of Inca mummy bundles discovered by Peruvian archaeologist Guillermo Cock. The individual may have been killed during an Inca uprising against Spanish conquistadors in 1536, according...

Polynesians beat Columbus to the Americas 22:00 04 June 2007 NewScientist.com news service Emma Young Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Prehistoric Polynesians beat Europeans to the Americas, according to a new analysis of chicken bones. The work provides the first firm evidence that ancient Polynesians voyaged as far as South America, and also strongly suggests that they were responsible for the introduction of chickens to the continent - a question that has been hotly debated for more than 30 years. Chilean archaeologists working at the site of El Arenal-1, on the Arauco Peninsula in south-central Chile, discovered what...

WASHINGTON — Even if terrorism suspect Russell Defreitas were no more than an angry man with vague notions of a spectacular attack, he was able to tap into a network of Islamic extremists in the Caribbean — potentially dangerous and right in the backyard of the United States, authorities said Saturday. It was Defreitas' alleged ties to that network, based primarily in Trinidad and Guyana, that had the FBI and other federal authorities so concerned as they clandestinely monitored his activities over the last 18 months, law enforcement officials familiar with the ongoing investigation said.

The Venezuelan government's shut-down of Radio Caracas Television on Sunday marks a low point for free speech in the Americas. President Hugo Chávez replaced a fierce critic of his administration with a state-owned TV station that spouts government propaganda. As disturbing as is this latest move to chill freedom of speech, the regional trend is just as troubling. In some countries, politically motivated governments attack media in an attempt to silence opposition voices. In other countries, journalists are being killed with impunity in the absence of effective law enforcement. Recent examples include: • Ecuador, where President Rafael Correa has filed...

John Edwards seemed to cherish the “Two Americas” idea in the run-up to the 2004 presidential election, where he and John Kerry eventually lost to current president George Bush. Strangely enough, the two Americas campaign buzzword managed to hit the nail squarely on the head. Unfortunately, two Americas do exist in this country. One of those Americas supports the government while the other receives from the government. People from one America work for a living, pay taxes and serve as productive members of our society, and people from the other America enjoy the rewards of under achievement and the entitlement...

On a plantation just outside the Jamaican capital, Kingston, we watched workers with long machetes slice down towering stalks of sugar cane with industrial precision. Sugar is still harvested by hand, when it is too wet for machines The crop is only harvested by hand on modern plantations when it rains and today there is a steady drizzle. Usually machines do the graft. But for more than 300 years until the early 19th century the machines were African slaves. Men, women and children were overworked and brutalised. Cruelty and torture meant as many as a third of all slaves...

Police on Thursday recovered a small part of the fortune in cash that disappeared from a small plane after it crashed in northeastern Brazil, according to news reports. The twin-engine plane was carrying $2.6 million worth of Brazilian reals when it crashed Wednesday afternoon near the city of Salvador, some 750 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro in Bahia state, killing all four people aboard, officials said. Police say they suspect locals made off with the bags of cash before rescuers arrived on the scene. But on Thursday, according to the Web sites of O Globo and Estado de S....

Many people were protesting against the war in Iraq Hundreds of demonstrators have rioted outside the US embassy in Mexico City, in the latest protest against President George W Bush's tour of Latin America.Protesters burned US flags and threw stones at police guarding the building. Tear gas was used to disperse the crowds. Several people were injured, including a number of police officers. The violence came hours after Mr Bush pledged to reform controversial immigration laws, during two-day talks with Mexican President Felipe Calderon. Mr Bush made the announcement on Tuesday at the start of talks with Mr Calderon....

Mr Bush will speak about social justice and equality President George W Bush is in Guatemala for a one-day visit, after a stop in Colombia where he pledged his personal support to its fight against drugs. He will discuss security, trade and immigration with Guatemala's president. This is the fourth stop in Mr Bush's tour of Latin America, which has seen protests at every stage. Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, has used a parallel tour of the region to speak out against what he calls the interference of the "American empire". Mr Chavez started his tour last week in Argentina,...

Troops have been deployed to boost police presence in Bogota US President George W Bush has arrived in Colombia as part of his five-nation Latin American tour.He will meet President Alvaro Uribe in a display of support for efforts to combat that country's insurgency. Colombia is one of the largest recipients of US aid to help fight a long-running war against left-wing guerrillas and drug traffickers. The visit is being overshadowed by a political scandal, which has raised questions about US support in Congress. The scandal has linked a number of President Uribe's government politicians to right-wing paramilitaries. Some...

Thousands of protesters greeted Mr Bush's arrival US President George Bush has met his Uruguayan counterpart, Tabare Vazquez, as part of his five-nation Latin American tour to promote trade.Mr Bush arrived in Montevideo from Brazil - where he signed a deal to develop alternative fuel sources. Uruguay is keen to sign free trade deals with the US, even if it means leaving the Mercosur trade bloc. The tour attracted protests in Brazil and about 5,000 protesters gathered in Uruguay for Mr Bush's visit. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is conducting his own tour of the region and addressed 40,000 anti-Bush...

!-- S IIMA --> Chavez attacked Bush in front of the Buenos Aires crowd It was the kind of situation that the Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez, loves - 40,000 flag-waving supporters joining him in hurling insults at the US President, George W Bush.He was at a football stadium in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, leading what he called an anti-imperialist rally to coincide with Mr Bush's arrival in neighbouring Uruguay. Most of the crowd were members of trade unions, left-wing and human rights organisations, those who already supported Mr Chavez and what he calls his brand of socialism for...

Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center Washington, D.C. Thank you all. (Applause.) Please be seated -- si ntese. Buenas tardes. Gracias por la bienevenida. For those of you not from Texas, that means, good afternoon. (Laughter.) And thank you for the welcome. I'm honored to be back again with the men and women of the Hispanic Chamber. I appreciate your hospitality. I'm pleased to report the economy of the United States is strong, and one of the reasons why is because the entrepreneurial spirit of America is strong. And the entrepreneurial spirit of America is represented in this room....

Mummy’s amazing American maize The far-reaching influence of Spanish and Portuguese colonisers appears not to have extended to South American agriculture, scientists studying Andean mummies up to 1,400 years old have found. The University of Manchester researchers working with colleagues in Buenos Aires compared the DNA of ancient maize found in the funerary offerings of the mummy and at other sites in northwest Argentina with that grown in the same region today. Surprisingly, they found both ancient and modern samples of the crop were genetically almost identical indicating that modern European influence has not been as great as previously...