lucia newman, al jazeera. >>> a lot to come.ild ginseng is bringing one of the world's most depressed economies back to life. commemoration 100 years on. >> wild american ginseng is popular because of its medicinal properties. now it's reviving an economy in the u.s. john hendren reports. in appalachia. >> it's called appalachiacola gold. >> dodging copperhead snakes in what some call the most lucrative legal hern o herb on . >> sometimes they stay in the ground ten to 12 years before they come up. >> chinese value the herb as a l remedy, consumers pay more for wild north american variety. >> most of the dried market goes to china and chinese consumers prefer that wild root because it has deep rings on there, grown slower, so they feel like in their philosophy it's gotten more energy more information from other earth. >> these ten pound boxes hold more than $5,000 worth of ginseng. this plant is too young to pick. you pick it at this age and it won't reseed. but something like this, a digger could get $40 for this but could be w

contractor alan gross, lucia newman knows cuba better than anyone we know. lucia, help us to understand what's happened here. the timing of it, why now? >> joie, to understand the timing you have to go back 20 months to the last summit of the americas in cartajena, the highest level regional forum that includes the united states and canada but which secluded cuba which was expelled from the organization of american states at the asking of united states. basically, president obama had his feet put to the fire, all the regional leaders said there will not be another summit of the americas without cuba. that summit is scheduled for this april, four months from now. the united states knew that. president obama who was interested in improving relations with cuba but the hadn't made it a priority. or the united states would lose more of its leadership role in its own backyard and placed in a very embarrassing position, sitting at a summit table with raul castro without being able to talk to one another. this has resolved that issue. >> tell us how this is going to

lucia newman reports reports. >> indigenous mapuches induce their mache.the authority in the country. minutes earlier a judge had sentenced to a 61 day suspended sentence. far less than the year she'd already spent in prison awaiting trial on charges of covering up an arson attack on a forestry country. >> translator: our people have attempted all legal and administrative means. yet the forestry company continues to take our land. obviously it will not be pretty. >> 130 years after they were defeated by the chilen army can the mapuches are on the defensive. abandoned home with graffiti warning the colonialists to get out. nearby a military outpost waits for the next confrontation near azia where attacks against farmers and private companies have escalated dramatically. there are many mapuche leaders who believe the only way to turn the clock back is by recovering their ancestral land by force if necessary. also many chilians who believe that they have as much right to this land as the mapuches. are his home is protected around the clock by police in many a

lucia newman has more from mexico city. >> ease or satisfy the friends and relatives of the other 42. in fact, in a march through mexico city they said they refused to consider them dead, they demanded the government produce them live and well. the government is under extreme pressure to show results to try odo something to provide security for mexicans throughout the country not just the state of guerrero where this horrible incident took place. in the meantime, the attorney general is expected to give more details, of the test from austria, to get positive identification. >> lucia newman, in new york city. north korea said they didn't do it, the hacking of sony a righteous act. >>> in something you rarely see these days: a republican congressman standing behind the president. find out why after the break. plus rebecca is here with the forecast. >> we are still tracking the typhoon hagupit, on the eastern side of the philippines but the rain is even moving to parts of the west now. i'll show you where it is, coming up. >> welcome back. today marks 76 years since the attack on pearl h

lucia newman reports. >> it's offer referred as the pairs of south america. argentina's capital many buenoss aires. the city's oldest neighborhood, st. elmo. >> the cords ordered the city to restore the original cobble stones. >> reporter: puso's organization recently forced the government to stop working on the french plaza that would have provided access to a nearby shopping mall. >> now, the city government is suing us for damages for the amount of money it cost them to stop work for ten months. >> it is a battle between those who feel buenos aires needs to be a more modern city. these have less safety features than the mod earned ones, cost more to fix and lot slower. there is no question, they have more charm and that they get you to where you're going. but it's a fine balancing act says the city's top architect. >> the preservation of the old. >> for example, the recently renovated galleria venez looks like the finest in milan and naples. nonetheless, even the staunchest conservationists, is its present as well as in the past, however to make sure the p

lucia newman reports now from guerrero state. >> farmers husk their corn in silence in guerrero. vultures circle ahead, signaling the possibility of a body nearby. >> the head and body of a boy about 12 or 15, chopped up into little pieces. >> in the town of chillapa people live in terror. today it happened to us. tomorrow it could happen to you reads the sign. written by the people in this house, a fortnight ago their two brothers and three others went missing. three days after they disappeared, five decapitated and partially charred bodies were found lying right here on this road. just a few days before athat, 11 other bodies of exactly the same condition were found a few kilometers from here. the family says their lives might have been spared. they gave the gps coordinates of their brother's vehicle to the police and army soon after the kidnapping. information they say authorities ignored. >> translator: we are sure that there was negligence, complicity or both. we know the power of the local criminal gang whose leaders are the brothers of our state congressman. >> at this chu

lucia newman reports from guerrero state where 43 students disappeared in september. our apologies. hopefully we'll bring you lucia's report a little later on. >>> fighting broke out in ukraine in april, a new report a quarter of the deaths have happened since a ceasefire began in september. well over 10,000 people have been injured in the conflict in eastern ukraine. skirmishes and localized shelling have occurred during ceasefire. russia's currency has fallen to an exclusive low, against the dollar. now takes 60 rubles to buy a single dollar. raising its lending rate, so far these measures have been unsuccessful. >>> nationwide strike in belgium has brought parts of the country to a standstill. thousands of members of the union have taken part, workers have expressed anger over the cutting of public services and raising of the pension age. jackie roland has the latest from brussels. >> it was a day when no one was going anywhere. 600 flights were cancelled and passengers were left stranded. it was the same picture at train stations. services were cancelled as railway workers joined

lucia newman, chile. >>> a reminder that you can always keep up to date with all of the news on our website. this is what you are going to get if you click on it now at aljazeera.com. there is lots of commentary and analysis too. >> in the last week an egyptian court hosni mubarak was not guilty of some of the most serious charges brought against him since his overthrow. we look back at the last four years and figure it was all worth it. it's inside story. >> hello, i'm ray suarez. >> thbetween the presidencies of hosni mubarak and if a tal fattah al sisi, the rise of the previously barely tolerated muslim brotherhood, the president from the brotherhood, a and then overthrow, bannings, jailings, and new elections. like mubarak before him, al sisi traded in his uniform for a business suit. over the past week the former president mubarak and a collection of his officials were cleared of charges stemming from the ending days of his long rule. did egypt pass through the fire of revolution only to end up in the same place? >> tarir square, now the scene of fighting and frustration. an eruption o

lucia newman, al jazeera, chile. >> in previously barely tolerated muslim brotherhood, the president from the brotherhood, a and then overthrow, bannings, jailings, and new elections. like mubarak before him, al sisi traded in his uniform for a business suit. over the past week the former president mubarak and a collection of his officials were cleared of charges stemming from the ending days of his long rule. did egypt pass through the fire of revolution only to end up in the same place? >> tarir square, now the scene of fighting and frustration. an eruption of anger saturday following the announcement that ousted leader hosni mubarak no longer faces murder charges tied to the 2011 protest. >> we don't deserve this . we don't deserve such such a verdict after four years. >> to residents of cairo it is more of a disappointment. it's a symbol another sign political and societal changes once dreamed off may be fading away. >> who killed the protesters then if they were all acquitted? the interior minister, the president and head of national police. >> to some it seems that the arab spr

lucia newman, al jazerra. >>> no afghans held in the u.s.itary prison at guantanmo bay were sent home overnight. it's the latest in a series of releases, they were leased last night after 10 years in captivity. all four were considered low-level detainees by the pentagon, they were flown to kabul aboard a u.s. military plane. president obama vowed to close the prison when i took office six years, a but obstacles in congress have prevented that for happening. there are now 132 prisoners left in guantanmo bay, down from 750 since 9/11. >>> north korea has struck a defiant tone denying involvement on the psych air tack on zone i president obama and the fbi says evidence points to pyongyang. but today the north korean minister says the allegations was groundless and offered to conduct a joint investigation with the united states in to the hacking. courtney keel kealy has more. >> reporter: according to a statement by an unidentified north korean foreign ministry spokesman in pee an yang, north korea knows how to prove it's not responsibility for

lucia newman, al jazeera, chile. >> in

lucia newman, chile. >>> a reminder that you can always keep up to date with all of the news on our website is what you are going to get if you click on it now at aljazeera.com. there is lots of commentary and analysis too. >> in the last week an egyptian court hosni mubarak was not guilty of some of the most serious charges brought against him since his overthrow. we look back at the last four years and figure it was all worth it. it's inside story. >> hello, i'm ray

lucia newman went on patrol with police in mexico. >> reporter: this is operation hot land.n as mexico's hot bed of violence. inky kualainky iguala where 43 s were taken by police and handed to drug traffickers. the police force have his been replaced by a new and better trained police force. the french and co lum bee an trained officers go house to house. >> translator: if there is anything that you need, you can count on us, just call. >> reporter: but rebuilding confidence in mexico's institutions is not that simple. >> translator: here nobody wants to talk because we are afraid. if you say something, they'll come and kill you. >> translator: with what is happening, we trust no one, not even ourselves. >> reporter: after the positive identification of the charred remains of one of the missing 43 students most assume the rest of dead. yet the new police commissioner tells us his mission is still to find them. >> translator: right now as we speak i have men in the mountains of guerrero looking for the students with some of their parents who believe they may have been taken

. >> lucia newman in mexico city, thank you. >>> hundreds of activists have taken their protests to the peach. they're pushing -- to the beach. limit to limit global greenhouse gas emissions. >>> the preservation of the amazon rain forest is considered a top battle in the battle against global warming. from lima, crossed the andes, in amazonia. a hub for the logging industry. later he will go by boat through the amazon rain forest and right now nick clark joins us now in pakulpa. an incredible journey nick, tell us about what you've seen in the past five days. >> well, miriam, right now you have joined us on the bank of the river. long way downstream, something about four days boat ride, something like that. this is a major trading hub. there's a tarmac road which goes across the andes mountains and goes directly into lima. but what we're focusing on, what we're most interested in, is the fact this is a timber hub, a hub of the timber trade. that is something the group will be focusing on. the trade here is in very small part legal but for the most part it is very, very illegal. >>> ill