• Nine swept to death in Nepal avalanche

    Handout / Reuters

    Rescue team members carry a survivor (center) after an avalanche at Mount Manaslu Base Camp, Sunday.

    By Reuters

    Updated at 2:15 p.m. ET: KATHMANDU, Nepal - An avalanche swept away climbers and their camps on the world's eighth highest mountain in northwestern Nepal on Sunday, killing at least nine people, police said.

    A former president of Nepal Mountaineering Association, Ang Tshering Sherpa, said most of the dead climbers were French and that others were from Italy, Germany and Spain.

    French news channel BFM TV reported that four of those killed on Mount Manaslu were French, citing a mountain climber.

    Nepalese officials confirmed earlier that the dead included climbers from Nepal, Germany and Spain, and they said four people were missing. Five injured climbers were rescued by helicopters and flown to the capital Kathmandu.


    German climber Andreas Reitero, 26, said he was sleeping in his tent when the avalanche struck at about 4 a.m. local time (2315 GMT on Saturday). His camp was about 7,000 meters (22,950 feet) above sea level.

    "It was a big sound. I was afraid," Reitero told Reuters from hospital in Kathmandu after being rescued by a helicopter from the mountain, 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the capital.

    "I was so confused that I can't say how far I was swept away or how many people were there in the camp at the time of avalanche," said the climber, who is being treated for a back injury. "I had luck. I did not go far enough and was (left) outside ... not buried under snow."

    Reitero was one in a group of 13 climbers - 11 Germans and two Austrians. One German member of the group died, he said.

    A French Foreign Ministry spokesman would not confirm any deaths but said "at least three" French climbers were injured.

    Police Inspector Basant Mishra said the bodies of a German climber and a Nepali guide were recovered from the snow on the 8,163-metre (26,781-foot) mountain.

    "Rescue pilots have spotted seven other bodies on the mountain," Mishra said. 

    Sources at the Spanish Foreign Ministry said one of the dead climbers was Spanish, without giving further details.

    The accident took place at 7,000 meters (22,950 feet), making it difficult for land rescue teams to reach the scene.

    Helicopters were dispatched to the remote area to look for those missing after the early morning accident, but cloud and fog were complicating rescue efforts, Mishra said.

    Hundreds of foreign climbers flock every year to Himalayan peaks in Nepal, which has eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Mount Everest. September marks the beginning of the autumn climbing season which runs through November.

    In the last major accident, at least 42 people including 17 foreigners, were killed in heavy snowfall in the Mount Everest region in 1995.

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  • Film protests: Pakistan added to growing no-go list for Americans

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    Pakistan has become the third country in five days to be added to the State Department’s list of countries to which Americans should avoid traveling amid clear signs that anti-Western protests are likely to continue across the Muslim world.

    Officials late on Wednesday upgraded their ongoing caution about the travel risks in Pakistan, explicitly advising Americans to put off any non-essential travel to the country and “strongly” urging those already there to avoid protests and large gatherings.

    It followed similar warning on Tuesday against all travel to Lebanon and on Sunday against visiting Tunisia.

    Slideshow: Pakistan: A nation in turmoil

    K.M. Chaudary / AP

    Images of daily life, political pursuits, religious rites and deadly violence.

    Launch slideshow

    Thursday's warning came as hundreds of Pakistanis angry at a crude, provocative anti-Islam film made in California, clashed with police in the capital, Islamabad.

    A crowd of more than 1,000 tried to make their way to the U.S. Embassy inside, which is inside a guarded enclave that houses other embassies and government offices.

    Analysis: 'Manufactured outrage' behind Middle East protests

    Riot police used tear gas and batons to keep stone-throwing demonstrators away from the enclave, and hundreds of shipping containers were lined up to cordon off the area. Some protesters were students affiliated with the hardline Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami.

    There were smaller demonstrations in Indonesia, Iran and Afghanistan.

    Slideshow: Anger over film spreads throughout Muslim world

    Akhtar Soomro / Reuters

    Protests ignited by a controversial film that ridicules Islam's Prophet Muhammad spread throughout Muslim world.

    Launch slideshow

    The film’s vulgar depiction of Islam's Prophet Muhammad as a fraud, womanizer and child molester, has sparked angry demonstrations in dozens of countries, including an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in which ambassador Chris Stevens was killed. In total, violence related to the film has left at least 30 people in seven countries dead.

    The demonstrations are expected to grow in Pakistan on Friday, the traditional day of prayer in the Muslim world. The Pakistani government called a national holiday for Friday so that people could come out and demonstrate peacefully against the film.

    That decision drew rare words of praise from the Pakistani Taliban, which is usually at war with the government.

    Meanwhile in Indonesia, the U.S. consulate in the country's third-largest city of Medan shut its doors Thursday for a second day because of demonstrations.

    Crowds of angry protesters showed up in Kabul, Afghanistan and Jakarta, Indonesia. The violent uprising followed a deadly weekend marking the deaths of eight International Security Assistance Force members. NBC's Atia Abawi reports.

    About 50 students from an Islamic university gathered in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province in Indonesia.

    They burned tires and forced a McDonald's restaurant to close. The door was later covered with a sign saying, "This must be closed as a symbol of our protest of the 'Innocence of Muslims' made in the U.S.," referring to the title of the film.

    In Iran, hundreds of students and clerics gathered outside the French embassy in Tehran to protest the publication of the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in a French satirical weekly.

    Police are investigating a bomb blast in Peshawar, Pakistan. The explosion killed at least eight people and injured dozens. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    Protesters chanted "Death to France" and "Down with the U.S." and burned the flags of the United States and Israel. The demonstration ended after two hours.

    In Afghanistan, a few hundred people demonstrated in downtown Kabul against the film, chanting ant-American slogans before dispersing peacefully.

    The State Department currently has warnings in place for 32 countries, although many urge Americans simply to exercise caution when traveling there.

    Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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  • 4 slain in French Alps; girl, possible witness, survives

    By Isolde Raftery, NBC News

    Updated at 10:48 p.m. ET: A cyclist came across a chilling scene Wednesday afternoon as he climbed a wooded road in southeastern France at the foothills of the French Alps: Three dead bodies in a BMW registered in Britain.

    Nearby was the body of another cyclist, dressed in cycling gear, his bike nearby.

    A slain man was seated at the BMW's steering wheel; the two dead women were in the back seats. The sole survivor was a girl – news reports dispute whether she is 8- or 10-years-old – who had been shot three times, according to Le Dauphiné Libéré. The cyclist found her in front of the car.

    Norbert Falco/Le Dauphine / EPA

    French Police officers cordon off the road leading to a gruesome scene where four people were shot dead near Annecy Lake, a popular tourist destination at the foothills of the French Alps. A girl survived the shooting.

    The passing cyclist called "les secours" – France’s 911 – and the girl was transported by plane to Grenoble, where she was being treated. Police have secured her hospital room, officials said. Authorities believe the attack may have been the result of an attempted robbery or hijacking, the Independent reported.

     

    The BMW was parked in a lot between two small villages – Chevaline and Doussard – at the upper part of Lake Annecy in the Haute Savoie region in southeastern France, news reports said. Although the region is a British tourist destination known for its hiking trails and wooded beauty, the summer crowds have dwindled.

    Watch US News crime videos on NBCNews.com

    Police believe the victims were shot between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. – just 10 minutes before the cyclist came upon the car. Sixty casings littered the crime scene, but a gun was not found, they said, which could rule out domestic violence as the reason for the deaths.


    French authorities have contacted British officials but said they did not know the identities or nationalities of the victims.

    "For right now, we cannot form a single theory," said Eric Maillaud, a public prosecutor for the Annecy region, according to Le Dauphiné. He said the discovery looked like a scene from a movie, the Scotsman reported.

    The cyclist who found the bodies and the girl was in shock as he was interviewed by police, according to news reports.

    The bodies will remain at the crime scene overnight, the Independent reported; autopsies will be performed in a day or two.

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  • Migration in the Americas: Iraqis in US, safer but struggling

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    Samad and Dina Jabbo dance at a banquet organized for the Iraqi community in El Cajon, Calif. Samad, 40, his wife Dina, 37, and their daughters Monica, 16, and Milano, 12, and son Antonio, 7 months, arrived in the United States in June 2010 after living in Damascus, Syria, for four years. They are Christians from Baghdad and have green cards. They felt their lives were in danger when they lived in Iraq.

    Photojournalist Kadir van Lohuizen traveled from the southern tip of South America to the far reaches of Alaska on the North American continent to explore migration in the Americas. What he found both supported and defied stereotypes, which he reported on a website and an app for iPad called Via Panam.

    “Little Baghdad” is the nickname for El Cajon, a suburb of San Diego that is home to a high concentration of the 116,000 Iraqis living in the United States. The Kurds came in the late 1980s, followed later by Sunnis, Shiites and Christians. They live together peacefully, far away from the violence in Iraq, but life is far from easy. Many lost their social status and networks of family and friends when they emigrated, and they often struggle to find work. Xenophobia is also an ever-present obstacle.

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    Monica Jabbo opens her locker at school in El Cajon. She and her sister Milano love being in the U.S. but it's still a struggle for the family -- they have to finance day-to-day life and pay their rent, which is $1,200. Because Monica's father Samad is unemployed, the family has to rely heavily on government assistance -- $760 per month.

    The United States admits thousands of Iraqis each year as refugees -- although that is only a fraction of the number that Iraq's Middle Eastern neighbors and some European countries have absorbed. Nonetheless, their numbers in the San Diego area rose rapidly after the American invasion of Iraq. El Cajon, around 15 miles northeast of San Diego, has almost 7,000 Iraqi-born residents out of a total population of 100,000. A further 3,000 have Iraqi ancestry, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    The Baghdad cafe in El Cajon, above, is a popular tea house frequented by many Iraqis in the community.

    In recent years, Iraqi stores and restaurants have been cropping up across the city, the Arabic script signs above their doors quickly becoming part of the city's scene. But the growing Iraqi presence has also brought some unsavory characters: According to authorities, members of Iraqi criminal organizations from Detroit are now active in El Cajon. In late 2011, police raided an Iraqi club in search of drugs and weapons.

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    Mohammed Mustafa, 68, in his store in El Cajon. Mustafa and his wife Nasrin, 58, have eight children, two of whom live at home. They are from Dohok in Iraqi Kurdistan. In August 1988 they fled to Diyarbakir in Turkish Kurdistan, and in September 1991 they arrived in New York. They made their way to El Cajon in June 1993. Mustafa feels he has made a mistake by coming to the U.S. and not returning to Kurdistan, where the economy nowadays is growing. The family recently opened this 'Community Fashion' store but business is very slow, he says.

    Many Iraqis in El Cajon say xenophobia is common, and some fear being the victim of a hate crime. It is not an unfounded worry -- a 32-year-old Iraqi woman was murdered in El Cajon in what appeared to be a racially motivated attack in March. Next to her body police found a note threatening her family. "Go back to your own country, you're a terrorist," it read.

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    Breakfast at home. Khattab Aljubori, 37, and his wife Suhad, 31, frequently speak to their family in Iraq through Skype. The computer is parked near the table so that they can have breakfast 'together'. The family, including children Ibrahim, 4, Awos, 3, and twins Mustafa and Fatima, 6 months, as well as Khattab's mother Nhanaa, 61, came to San Diego in November 2010 from Babylon, Iraq. Khattab worked for the U.S. in Iraq as a computer and info system administrator and was often threatened for being a U.S. agent. In the end it became so dangerous for him and his family that they sought asylum in the U.S. and were granted visas.

    Iraqis in El Cajon make an effort to support their fellow immigrants. Each year the Iraqi community organizes a large celebration that brings everyone together. Local businessmen meet one another and newly arrived immigrants learn about life in America from their established countrymen.

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    Khattab with his family in a park in San Diego. While they lived comfortably in Iraq, they find it much harder to be successful in the U.S. and they say they feel they've lost their dignity. Khattab likes the U.S. but his wife wants to go back to Iraq. She says she feels locked up and misses her family. Finances are also an issue -- Khattab earns some money repairing people's computers but they depend on government support and sometimes find it difficult to pay the rent.

    Slideshow: Migration in the Americas

    K. van Lohuizen / NOOR

    From Colombians fleeing war to North Americans retirees moving to Nicaragua, a photographer's journey from Chile to Alaska explores both the expected and unexpected patterns of migration in the Americas

    Launch slideshow

    Experience the entire journey, from Chile to Alaska, by exploring the slideshow at right, the Via Panam website or by downloading the app for iPad.

    More Photoblogs from the Migration in the Americas series:
    Mom works in US while family stays in El Salvador
    US retirees flock to Nicaragua
    On the run from water in Panama
    Bolivia hopes for windfall from producing lithium

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  • Migration in the Americas: Mom works in US while family stays in El Salvador

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    Carmen Elena Rosales, 26, Irving Ernesto Rosales, 23, Nancy Jasmin Rosales, 15, and their father Ernesto Rosales Guillen, 47, at home in the community of Iberia in El Salvador's capital San Salvador.

    Photojournalist Kadir van Lohuizen traveled from the southern tip of South America to the far reaches of Alaska on the North American continent to explore migration in the Americas. What he found both supported and defied stereotypes, which he reported on a website and an app for iPad called Via Panam.

    El Salvador has been called the most Americanized country in Latin America. An estimated one quarter of its citizens live in the U.S. -- often illegally. A significant part of El Salvador's national income is made up of the money that these migrants send back, and American mores and customs penetrate the small Central American country.

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    Sonia Vanegas Munoz is a domestic worker in Beverly Hills. She earns $10 per hour. Vanegas Munoz hasn't seen her husband and children in six years.

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    Ernesto Rosales Guillen and Sonia Vanegas Munoz appear in a wedding picture that hangs in the couple's home in El Salvador.

    The mass migration of Salvadorans to the United States began during the country's civil war in the 1980s and continues to this day, fueled by overpopulation and poverty. After the fighting there ended in 1992 many of the refugees were sent back to El Salvador, taking American culture with them. Many of the Salvadorans who remained in the U.S., whether legally or illegally, have also never broken ties with their homeland.

    An estimated 2 million Salvadorans live in the United States. Many share housing in large cities like Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. In contrast to the Mexican or Cuban communities, Salvadorans are not conspicuously politically active, although in recent years the Salvadoran government has tried to get successful immigrants to invest and help build the country's economy. 

    'No papers, no fear': Undocumented immigrants declare themselves on bus tour

    Los Angeles and its suburbs are home to an estimated 1 million Salvadorans, the largest community from the Central American country in the United States.  The migrants, many without residence permits, often work as unskilled laborers, cleaners or nannies for American families. Because the migration had its origins in hospitable U.S. immigration policies in the 1980s during the Salvadoran civil war, the group has played a major role in the discussion over whether the United States bears some responsibility for the world's refugee problems.

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    The gate of the home where Munoz works in Beverly Hills. She left El Salvador in 2005 because her family wasn't making ends meet.

    Slideshow: Migration in the Americas

    K. van Lohuizen / NOOR

    From Colombians fleeing war to North Americans retirees moving to Nicaragua, a photographer's journey from Chile to Alaska explores both the expected and unexpected patterns of migration in the Americas

    Launch slideshow

    Experience the entire journey, from Chile to Alaska, by exploring the slideshow at right, the Via Panam website or by downloading the app for iPad.

    More Photoblogs from the Migration in the Americas series: 
    US retirees flock to Nicaragua
    On the run from water in Panama
    Bolivia hopes for windfall from producing lithium

    Follow @NBCNewsPictures

    •Sign up for the NBCNews.com Photos Newsletter

  • Migration in the Americas: US retirees flock to Nicaragua

    "In the US, money and beauty are the power, but I am looking for something else," said Kathy Aley, originally from Newport Beach, Calif., who moved to Nicaragua in 2001. "I left because of the greed and the selfishness in that country. I worked as an aerobics instructor for the school district, but I tore my muscles. I have two daughters in the US … they are 40 and 32 years old. I live here with my eight dogs, 10 cats and my parrot. Every morning, I jog the beach up and down with my dogs and parrot. They need the exercise."

    Photojournalist Kadir van Lohuizen traveled from the southern tip of South America to the far reaches of Alaska on the North American continent to explore migration in the Americas. What he found both supported and defied stereotypes, which he reported on a website and an app for iPad called Via Panam.

     “I came (to Nicaragua) on holiday in October 2000 and while I was watching the sunset on the beach, I knew I had to move here,” said Kathy Aley, now 64, a transplant from Newport Beach, Calif. “I need the warmth and the slow life.”

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    Captain Zatara, 53, and Katy, 41: "It was our dream to sail around the world and live and sail in the tropics. We bought our boat in Washington state in 2003. She is a beauty. We came to San Juan de Sur three years ago and we wanted to make some adjustments to the boat … (now) we are rebuilding it from scratch. In the meantime Katy runs a massage salon, so we earn some money. I think it will take another two years to finish the boat. We have five children, one is with us."

    Central America is a growing destination for moderately wealthy Americans looking to leave the rat race behind. In their search for quieter and less expensive places, some have chosen to settle in Nicaragua — the poorest nation in mainland Latin America, but also the safest, according to The Economist.

    One such quiet and affordable enclave is the tranquil bay of San Juan del Sur. In addition to safe harbor for retirement, the location also offers a break from recession and politics.

    Nicaragua was recently named one of the most favorable retirement destinations in the world.

    Below are some stories of Americans who picked up and moved south for their retirement years:

     

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    Fred Goldfarb, 60: "I am from the San Francisco Bay Area. I always had a desire for traveling, and in 2006, I came with my girlfriend to Nicaragua. She didn't like it, so that is where our relationship ended. I had a company in the US and in 2007 I bought 350 acres of land. With my business partner, we build environment friendly houses to sell. In 2008 the market collapsed, we are selling less now than before. I built this house actually to sell, but for the time being I live here. I don't like the politics in the US and the cost of living is very high."

    Tom and Patty Lowy (55 and 62 respectively), from the San Francisco area: In 2004 Tom bought land close to San Juan del Sur. "I paid far too much … now we live here, in our gringonized house," he said. "We brought the TV chairs from the US. I earned good money in the US -- $400,000 a year -- I was a retail broker and I saw the crisis coming. We wanted to leave, we don't like the politics of the US, the Patriot Act, the propaganda from the mass media and the misinformation. Here is a safe place, safe for a nuclear war. We watch US television, but most of our friends are Nicaraguan. We believe we should integrate."

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    Beverly Gene Marte, 74: "Everybody calls me BJ here. I came 10 years ago and I am from Walminton, Calif. I came on a yacht. It was a long trip from Florida, via Cuba, Cayman Islands, Panama Canal. In Costa Rica the yacht nearly sank, it took two years to fix it. In the end I made it to Nicaragua. I don't want to live in the US anymore. Obama ruins the country. Now I have my monkey, Cindy. Years ago I was photo model and I also worked for the US coast guard. The sea is in my blood."

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    The tranquil bay of San Juan del Sur is pictured. Although Nicaragua hasn't had good relationships with the US over the last three decades, it is a popular destination for US citizens.

    Slideshow: Migration in the Americas

    K. van Lohuizen / NOOR

    From Colombians fleeing war to North Americans retirees moving to Nicaragua, a photographer's journey from Chile to Alaska explores both the expected and unexpected patterns of migration in the Americas

    Launch slideshow

    Experience the entire journey, from Chile to Alaska, by exploring the slideshow at right, the Via Panam website or by downloading the app for iPad.

    More Photoblogs from the Migration in the Americas series:
    On the run from water in Panama
    Bolivia hopes for windfall from producing lithium for batteries
    Mom works in US while family stays in El Salvador

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  • Four dead in Masai Mara, Kenya tourist plane crash

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    A plane carrying mostly tourists crashed in Kenya's Masai Mara national park Wednesday, according to news reports, killing up to four people.

    Two German tourists and two Kenyan pilots died, local police chief Peterson Maelo told Reuters.

    An AFP report said there were four American survivors, but this could not be confirmed.

    Maelo said one of the dead tourists, an elderly woman, died first while the other, a middle-aged man, succumbed to his injuries later.


    The aircraft was carrying between 12 and 14 people, the BBC reported.

    Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper reported that six passengers on board the light aircraft, belonging to Mombasa Air, were seriously injured as the pilots prepared to land at Ngerede Airstrip near the Mara Safari Club.

    It quoted airstrip manager Daniel Jivai saying the plan wobbled before it came down at around 12:17 p.m. local time (4:17 a.m. ET).

    “When we saw it coming down, there was a swift response from hotel personnel, tourists, and other visitors around the place and we managed to put off a small fire on one of the engines," said Jivai.

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  • Migration in the Americas: On the run from water in Panama

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    A langouste diver in front of Carti Cohabita. Residents of the island are scheduled to evacuate in August.

    Photojournalist Kadir van Lohuizen traveled from the southern tip of South America to the far reaches of Alaska on the North American continent to explore migration in the Americas. What he found both supported and defied stereotypes, which he reported on a website and an app for iPad called Via Panam.

    Thousands of Kuna — indigenous people living in an archipelago off the northern coast of Panama — are facing a drastic lifestyle change because of rising seas.

    Kuna Yala, or Kuna Land, is comprised of 365 islands and a narrow, 250-mile-long strip of land on the Caribbean coast. Thirty-six of the islands are inhabited.

    In August, the first round of evacuations will force some Kuna to the mainland because of dangerous living conditions, affecting 65 families. Ultimately, all of the islands will be evacuated — affecting 36,000 people — and new dwellings are being built and funded on the mainland by the Panamanian government.

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    This family has to evacuate to the mainland in August 2012.

    The inhabited islands are chock full of houses built of reeds and palm leaves and no match for storms and rising water. Historically, flooding was comparatively rare, but residents now regularly contend with surging water.

    Experts say sea levels rose nearly seven inches over the past century, and levels could rise another two feet by the end of this century.

    The Kuna have lived on the Caribbean coast in autonomy for more than 80 years. Two centuries ago, most Kunas lived on the mainland, but they relocated to the islands following an epidemic. They make their living from fishing and farming. They grow manioc, pineapples and bananas in their small fields on the mainland, but their most lucrative crop is coconuts.

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    One of the Carti community's two political and spiritual leaders -- and his entourage -- visit the main land where the first 65 houses will be constructed.

    The Kuna form a tight-knit community, have their own language, and are well-organized. Decisions are made collectively in the Onmaked Nega — the assembly hall. Meetings are presided over by a saila, a political and spiritual leader.

    The coming evacuation was debated at the hall, and was eventually approved after long discussion. Many residents are still afraid of being tricked by the state. Because they have no financial resources to build new accommodations for themselves, they ultimately agreed to the evacuation plans.

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    Multiple generations of this family live together on one of the islands.

    Slideshow: Migration in the Americas

    K. van Lohuizen / NOOR

    From Colombians fleeing war to North Americans retirees moving to Nicaragua, a photographer's journey from Chile to Alaska explores both the expected and unexpected patterns of migration in the Americas

    Launch slideshow

    Across the water, on the mainland, lies a 4-year-old road — the only one in the vicinity. It used to be a 12-hour walk to reach the Pan American Highway, which connects to Panama City, the country's capital. Now it takes three hours.

    As a result, many of the young Kuna have left for the capital city. Conversely many more consumer goods, like televisions and Coca-Cola, now reach Kuna Yala.

    Experience the entire journey, from Chile to Alaska, by exploring the slideshow at right, the Via Panam website or by downloading the app for iPad.

    More Photoblogs from the Migration in the Americas series:
    Mom works in US while family stays in El Salvador
    US retirees flock to Nicaragua
    Bolivia hopes for windfall from producing lithium for batteries

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  • Migration in the Americas: Bolivia hopes for windfall from producing lithium for batteries

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    The salt flats, or Salar de Uyuni, which covers 4,000 square miles of Bolivia.

    Photojournalist Kadir van Lohuizen traveled from the southern tip of South America to the far reaches of Alaska on the North American continent to explore migration in the Americas. What he found both supported and defied stereotypes, which he reported on a website and an app for iPad called Via Panam.

    Landlocked Bolivia hasn't had much in the way of resources that it can sell to the world, but that could be about to change. It's home to the world's largest salt flat, which also is estimated to hold half the world's reserves of lithium — a light metal that's crucial for today's modern batteries for cell phones, laptops and even hybrid and electric cars.

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    Workers at the experimental evaporation plant where the lithium is extracted bring tubes from the well to the basins. Workers are from different parts of Bolivia.

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    Bolivian President Evo Morales celebrates the inauguration of the experimental lithium plant.

    President Evo Morales wants Bolivia to mine the site itself, albeit with some foreign help. If it can pull off the logistics, it would mean sending an army of workers from all over the country to a remote part of Bolivia along the border with Chile.

    The area is the Salar de Uyuni, which covers 4,000 square miles and where the salt layer is at least 400 feet thick.

    Bolivia started preliminary work in April 2011, employing 150 workers. But progress has slowed, in part because the site still lacks a stable electricity supply.

    Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

    Due to heavy rainfall, much of the Salar de Uyuni is still covered with water. A tractor brings the workers to the experimental evaporation plant.

    Slideshow: Migration in the Americas

    K. van Lohuizen / NOOR

    From Colombians fleeing war to North Americans retirees moving to Nicaragua, a photographer's journey from Chile to Alaska explores both the expected and unexpected patterns of migration in the Americas

    Launch slideshow

    Japan, potentially a major buyer, recently urged Bolivia to speed up the project and meet its goal of a 6-month test run before moving on to commercial production.

    Bolivia also faces competition from lithium mines in neighboring Chile and Argentina.

    Still, it did get a boost in July when a South Korean company said it would help provide technology and training of workers.

    Experience the entire journey, from Chile to Alaska, by exploring the slideshow at right, the Via Panam website or by downloading the app for iPad.

    More Photoblogs from the Migration in the Americas series:
    Mom works in US while family stays in El Salvador
     US retirees flock to Nicaragua
    On the run from water in Panama

    Follow @NBCNewsPictures

    •Sign up for the NBCNews.com Photos Newsletter

  • Plane diverts to Syria, passengers asked if they could pay for fuel

    By The Associated Press

    PARIS -- An emergency layover in Syria's war-torn capital was bad enough. Then passengers on Air France Flight 562 were asked to open their wallets to check if they had enough cash to pay for more fuel. 

    The plane, heading from Paris to Lebanon's capital, diverted amid clashes near the Beirut airport on Wednesday. Low on fuel, it instead landed in Damascus, the capital of neighboring Syria, where a civil war is raging.


    An Air France spokesman explained Friday that the crew inquired about passenger cash only as a "precautionary measure" because of the "very unusual circumstances."

     Sanctions against Syria complicated payment for extra fuel. 

    He said Air France found a way to pay for the fill-up without tapping customer pockets — and apologized for the inconvenience. 

    The plane landed safely in Beirut.

  • Fastest way to get to London's Olympic Park? Car, train, taxi, bus and bicycle compete

    Traveling around traffic-plagued London can be a hassle at the best of times -- never mind during an event such as the Olympic Games. NBCNews.com put the city to the test in a race to the Olympic Park.

    By NBC News staff

    LONDON -- For months, London has been gripped by fear of transport gridlock during the Olympics. So NBC News decided to find out just what was the best way to get about the city, notorious for its near stationary traffic and packed, sweltering subway trains.

    We chose five different methods of travel: car, train, taxi, the city’s famous red double-decker buses and bicycle.

    Our mission was to travel from Piccadilly Circus in central London to the Olympic Park in Stratford, East London.


    At noon last Monday local time, the five of us set off with video cameras to record our attempts to make it in time for the men’s 10-meter synchronized diving at 3 p.m.

    For some it was a simple, pleasant journey. For others, it was an experience to forget.

    Here are our stories:

    Car driver Peter Jeary: ‘You’ll never get parked’
    To be honest, no one in their right mind would drive from central London to Stratford even on the best of days -- let alone during the Olympics. It was, however, much less stressful than expected.  

    The pinch point around Trafalgar Square is always bad; it took me about 20 minutes to travel half a mile. The Olympic Lane [for athletes, officials] was often tantalizingly empty as I sat nose-to-tail in traffic.

    Evangelists, 'vegan turkey' seek converts at London Olympics

    One moment of crisis was when a London cab (naturally!) decided to drop a passenger in the only lane open to traffic. Could I sneak past, with just two wheels in the Olympic Lane? As the cars in front did, I decided to as well. Time will tell if I get a £130 fine ($203) in the mail.

    Finding somewhere to park was a nightmare. In the interests of full disclosure -- I parked in a timed zone that would have expired just as the first competitors touched the water. So even if you do try driving -- don't! You'll never get parked.

    Time: One hour 30 minutes

    Slideshow: Venues for 2012 London Olympic Games

    Oda / Getty Images

    From Wimbledon to Wembley Stadium to The Dome, a look at the venues for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

    Launch slideshow

    Cyclist Jim Seida: ‘No better way’
    On a warm, sunny day, there is no better way to navigate the streets of London than on a bicycle.

    As you pedal the tangled web that is central London, the sounds of languages and smells of foods from around the world become part of your point A to point B experience, making it just that, an experience, a journey, and any moment on the bike becomes about that journey, not just time passing by on your way to your destination.   

    For this trip, though, from Piccadilly Circus to Stratford, trying to focus on where to go and when to turn impacted my usual enjoyment of the international experience I've come to enjoy over the past week. 

    Home advantage: Britain celebrates 'sensational' Olympic medal haul

    Sure, I still got to squeeze between double-decker buses with only inches to spare, and I got to dodge pedestrians as they crossed against the light, but doing these things one handed on a bicycle while trying to navigate via an iPhone with the other is, well, a bit awesome. 

    There is no better way to go.  If we had to do it all over again, I'd still take a bike; and I think if we did it during rush hour I'd smoke 'em all. 

    Time: 48 minutes

    An actor from gangster movie "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" is giving walking tours of old underworld haunts in East London, where this month's Olympic Games are being held. NBC's Theresa Cook reports.

    Taxi passenger Ian Johnston: ‘It seemed like I’d won’
    It took me about 20 seconds to find one of London’s famous black taxi cabs after the five of us separated in Piccadilly Circus. 

    My driver, Steve, a cabbie of 19 years’ experience and a native Londoner, was great, regaling me with stories about the time he had actor Roger Moore, rock star Noel Gallagher and other celebrities in his taxi while performing neat u-turns and avoiding traffic effectively by using side streets.

    We hit a bit of traffic initially but then caught Jim Seida as he stood at the side of the road looking a bit puzzled about which direction to go. Jim slipped away again through the traffic, but soon Steve found roads that were really quiet for London and we started making good progress. I started to feel confident.

    In order to drive a cab in London, drivers undergo intense training and classes before getting behind the wheel. TODAY's Lester Holt reports.

    Olympics bring pride, hope to Afghanistan

    Alastair Jamieson sent a text saying he was about to board one of the speedy Javelin trains to the Olympic Park, but moments later we saw our first glimpse of our target destination. It was definitely going to be close.

    As we got to the venue, police stopped Steve from parking in what seemed to be a good dropping-off point and directed him to the taxi rank, wasting a few vital minutes. I thanked Steve profusely, paid the $43 bill and dodged through the crowds at a fast walk. I arrived at the entrance and couldn’t see any of the others. It seemed like I’d won, then I spotted Alastair standing at another entrance. He'd come from a different direction, so I went across to ask when he'd arrived.

    Time: 43 minutes

    Slideshow: When the Olympics is your neighbor

    /

    A diverse community in East London will welcome the world to Britain for the 2012 Olympic Games. Meet residents and hear how they feel about having a huge, world stage in their backyard.

    Launch slideshow

    Bus passenger Jamieson Lesko: Faster if I’d ran
    I've never been a bus rider, so at the start of this journey, I wondered if I've been underestimating the ‘Big Reds’ all this time. But unfortunately, it turns out that I've not been too hard on them. Double decker = double time.  

    It took me one minute shy of two hours to get from Piccadilly Circus to Stratford.

    Olympic hosts: Londoners open their homes to the world

    If I've done my math correctly, it would have been a faster trip if I'd jogged the whole way!

    For visitors to London, the benefit of the bus is that you get a comfortable seat and scenic tour of the many sites there are to enjoy… but, if you've got a ticket for the Games or are on any kind of schedule, take the tube, grab a cab, or put on your sneakers and hoof it over to the venue!

    Time: One hour 59 minutes

    Slideshow: Graffiti Games: UK street artists take on Olympics

    Jim Seida / NBC News

    Street and graffiti artists have been satirizing, celebrating and making jokes about the Olympic Games in London.

    Launch slideshow

    And the winner is: train passenger Alastair Jamieson
    The official London 2012 website journey planner said public transport, using a combination of tube train and high-speed rail link, would be the fastest route for our trip. 

    And so it proved -- but only just.

    My trip took 42 minutes --  five minutes under the website's estimate -- but was almost beaten by the cab.

    London's underground system, whose oldest section dates from 1863, when Abraham Lincoln was president, was an immediate concern for Games organizers.

    Medals for poets? Not at this Olympics but...

    To ease pressure on the narrow tunnels, a shuttle service of Japanese-built 140mph "Javelin" trains was introduced on the fast line between London and Paris which runs underneath the Olympic Park. Running every 15 minutes, it slashed our journey time by a remarkable 21 minutes.

    Despite concerns about crowding, my journey on the Piccadilly line to the King's Cross terminus station was hassle-free and, like the games venues, had plenty of free seats.

    Changing trains took five minutes, and there were elevators available for those unable to tackle the large number of steps.

    More London 2012 coverage from NBCNews.com

    At Stratford's International station, it was only a six-minute walk to Stratford Gate, well-signed by volunteers in purple vests.

    And even better than being the fastest route, it was the cheapest -- free to anyone with an automated Oyster swipe card, including ticket-holders.

    NBC News' Peter Jeary, Jim Seida, Ian Johnston, Jamieson Lesko, Alastair Jamieson, Barny Smith and Kristy Breetzke contributed to this report.

    Slideshow: Olympic Emotional Moments

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    Click for more from the 2012 summer games in London.

    Launch slideshow

  • Olympic hosts: Londoners open their homes to the world

    Alastair Jamieson / NBC News

    Graham and Delwyn Cure, parents of Australian track cyclist Amy Cure, are staying with Elizabeth Gill, center, at her home in Muswell Hill, North London, during the Olympic Games.

    By Alastair Jamieson, NBC News

    LONDON – When one of the most expensive cities in the world hosts the Olympics, high prices for tickets and hotel rooms are no surprise. But Londoners have embraced the spirit of the Games by opening up their own homes free of charge to athletes’ families and spectators from around the world.


    Dozens of British residents have invited guests to use spare rooms as part of organized homestay schemes, while countless more have offered up their sofas through message boards for budget travelers such as Couchsurfing.

    For some, it was reports of hotels and homeowners attempting to cash in on the Olympics that motivated them to offer open up their homes. 

    In February, NBCNews.com revealed that landlords in Britain's capital were evicting tenants in order to cash in on the Games by charging tourists many times the usual rent.

    “I didn’t want the world to come away from London thinking we were only interested in trying to make money from people,” said Liz Gill, who is hosting Graham and Delwyn Cure, from Tasmania, Australia, whose 19-year-old daughter Amy is due to represent her country at the women’s track team cycling later on Friday.

    “When you visit a country for the first time you take away an impression of the place and the people and when I read all these reports of exorbitant hotel prices I thought it would be such a shame if that’s what Britain was remembered for. We’re delighted to have visitors,” she added.

    Jim Seida / NBC News

    Sofa so good: Couchsurfer Shamey Cramer, left, from Los Angeles, and his host in east London, Emy Ritt.

    As long ago as February, when the biggest tranche of tickets for London 2012 went on sale, hotel rooms in London had already peaked during Games dates. British consumer organization, Which?, found a double room at the Best Western hotel on Shaftesbury Avenue for Saturday – the night of the men’s 10,000 metres final – was $733 compared to only $435 for a normal Saturday night last month.

    Gill offered space in her north London home through More Than Gold – a charitable organization originally set up to represent the work of local churches at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

    She is not charging anything for her spare room – something she says is “part of the spirit of the Olympic Games.”

    “We have only known for a few weeks that Amy was definitely going to be part of the Olympic squad,” said Graham Cure. “There was no doubt we didn’t want to miss our daughter in her first Olympics, but by now air fares were more expensive and we were thinking about where to stay.

    “We’d already spend AUS$3,000 ($3,150) each on tickets and I’d previously looked at renting a house from a list on an official website, but most people on it wanted upwards of AUS$4,500 ($4,750) a week and wanted bookings for the entire three weeks, whereas we only needed one week. There was no way we could spend that sort of money.”

    Delwyn Cure added: “We always hoped something would fall into place, and in the end somebody at Cycling Australia mentioned homestay schemes and we were put in touch with Liz.”

    While athletes’ families are usually given free tickets for events, offers of accommodation are rare.

    For others, it was not just the price of London hotels but the atmosphere that was unappealing.

    “I hate soulless and expensive chain hotels,” said Shamey Cramer, a postgraduate student originally from Los Angeles who secured a spare sofa in east London – minutes away from the main Olympic Park - through the Couchsurfing site.

    “Some people like hotels, but I much prefer to meet people and experience more of the place I’m in. This is my first time doing this and it seemed the perfect way to see London during the Games.”

    His host, Emy Ritt, who is working as a transport organizer for London 2012, said: “It’s a great way to meet people. You can see each other’s profiles before making arrangements, so you generally can tell it’s people you’re likely to get along with.”

    More world stories from NBC News:

     

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