Latin America

Mexico's Supreme Court has issued the first of six rulings that could enable legalization of recreational marijuana use. Relatively few Mexicans consume it, but Mexico produces much of the pot used in the U.S.

This is the time of year subsistence farmers clear land by setting fires in the Amazon. They say it's the only way they can make a living, but it's delivering another blow to the rain forest.

We're not talking about the jam, though Chutney does jam. It's a kind of music from Trinidad and Tobago that blends Indian folk, brought to the island nation by indentured Indians in the 19th century, with rhythms from calypso and soca. And it's players are aiming for an audience beyond the Caribbean.

Amid Brazil's economic slump, race and class tensions are playing out on Rio de Janeiro's beaches. Online images of police and vigilantes targeting poor black youth have captured the public's attention.

For generations, the rubber tappers of the Amazon have gone about their business in a way that preserves the rain forest. Today, they are increasingly in conflict with criminal logging gangs.

We've looked at the lives of 15-year-old girls all over the world. Now American girls tell us what it's like to be 15 in the U.S.