Archive - Jan 14, 2009

• Veteran's Affairs nominee hearing
• Community leaders weigh in on arrest of BART officer that killed Oscar Grant
• Human rights group calls on Obama administration to reverse harm done
• Colombia's travel agents hype drug trafficking legacy
• India scandal compared to Enron debacle

• SCHIP Passes US House
• Crawford Confirms 9/11 Suspect Tortured in Gitmo
• More than 1000 Deaths in Gaza
• Cholera Claims Thousands in Zimbabwe
• Sri Lankan Military Captures Final Bit of Tamil Tiger Territory

The Senate is moving forward on confirmation hearings for President-elect Obama's Environmental Protection Agency and Agriculture Department cabinet positions. Today, FSRN takes a look at the nominee to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, General Eric Shinseki. Shinseki would take over a department plagued with challenges and an increasing number of veterans returning from war. Washington Editor Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.

The Bart police officer who killed Oscar Grant has been arrested in Nevada. Johannes Mehserle was booked on a fugitive arrest warrant and waived expedition this morning. He reportedly fled the state to avoid death threats. Despite the arrest, community leaders are disappointed that the detention took so long, and are still demanding police oversight. Africa Jones reports.

Human Rights Watch issued its annual World Report today, and says that Obama's administration needs to put human rights at the center of its foreign and domestic policy to begin reversing the harm generated from the Bush years. Ken Roth is Executive Director of Human Rights Watch; Roth outlines some of the Bush administration's decisions to fight terrorism without regard to the basic requirements of human rights law, and what HRW is demanding from the incoming Obama administration.

Travel agencies in Colombia's second largest city, Medellin, are attracting foreign visitors by offering Pablo Escobar theme tours. Escobar formed one of the world's largest drug cartels in the 80's and 90's, killing hundreds of innocent people as he waged war against the Colombian government. Many of Medellin's residents oppose these tours; while local authorities would rather travel agents highlight the nicer side of town. In response, travel agents say that they are merely showing people how far the city has come, fifteen years after Escobar´s death. FSRN's Manuel Rueda has more from Medellin.

India's government has ordered an investigation into massive financial fraud in one of the countries largest IT and outsourcing Companies, Satyam Computer Services. The scandal, which many are now calling "India's Enron", has shaken up the country's business community, while the company itself is fighting for survival. FSRN'S Bismillah Geelani has more.