Bird-watcher Jeff Gilligan snapped this photograph of a small boat in distress. Gilligan and others say the cruise ship he was traveling on did not stop to help the stricken craft.
Credit Jeff Gilligan
A zoomed-in view of the photo taken by Jeff Gilligan, of a boat drifting in the Pacific. When he saw the image, Adrian Vasquez — the boat's only survivor — said, "That's us."
Tourists visit the San Felipe neighborhood in Panama City in December 2011. Panama is experiencing record economic growth, but many fear the benefits aren't trickling down to the poor.
Credit Juan Jose Rodriguez / AFP/Getty Images
This photo from Dec. 21, 2011, shows construction of new locks on the Panama Canal, in Cocoli, Panama.
The Central American nation of Panama is booming. Fueled by a multibillion-dollar expansion of the Panama Canal, a thriving banking industry and capital flight from Venezuela, the tiny nation has the highest economic growth rate in the hemisphere.
But even as the government builds a subway system and markets the country as a tropical paradise for multinational corporations, not everyone is sharing in the prosperity.
