Archive - Jan 15, 2009

• Israeli Navy stops supply ship in international waters
• Israeli ground forces continue Gaza City incursion
• Honor killings claim women's lives in Pakistan's tribal region
• Former Guantanamo chaplain James Yee
• Eric Holder denounces torture at Senate confirmation hearing
• Napolitano's hearing to head Homeland Security
• Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.

• Roland Burris Sworn into Senate
• Obama to End "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
• Mexican Peso Falls to 15-Year Low Against USD
• UK Pushes Forward with Heathrow Expansion
• Bolivia Cuts Diplomatic Ties with Israel over Gaza

A group of doctors, journalists, lawmakers and human rights workers aboard a ship packed with medicine destined for the Gaza Strip says that the Israeli Navy threatened to kill them as they sailed in international waters some 100 miles from the coast of Gaza. A similar attempt to  deliver aid by the Free Gaza Movement was thwarted by Israel's Navy about two weeks ago, when gunboats smashed into and nearly sank a ship carrying supplies and unarmed civilians. For the second time in less than one month, a ship is being forced to turn back before the much-needed aid reaches Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israeli ground forces are continuing their incursion into populated areas in Gaza City, striking a hospital and a United Nations Relief Agency warehouse, causing hundreds of frenzied civilians to flee. As the death toll in Gaza nears 1,100, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon says the growing number of casualties has reached an unbearable point. FSRN's Rami Almeghari has this story from Gaza.

Meanwhile, violence continues in Pakistan's tribal areas in a variety of fronts. In addition to attacks from US drones, the Pakistan military, and militants, there's a centuries-old tradition that continues to harm women. A practive called "honor killing" convicts women with murder if they are deemed to have brought shame to the family. Afridai Afridi has the story of 18 year-old Bakht Zamina, who was shot dead by her brother.

One of Guantanamo Bay's youngest prisoners has been ordered released by D.C.'s U.S. District Court. 21 year-old Mohammed El Gharani, who is also known as Yousef Al Karany, was picked up in Pakistan under suspicion of having ties with al-Qaeda – he was just 14 years old when he arrived at Guantanamo in 2002. Judge Richard Leon ruled that the Bush administration has failed to prove that Gharani is an enemy combatant and that the young man must be released and sent home, which may prove to be an obstacle: Gharani is a citizen of Chad and it is unclear whether the country will allow him to return. One person who experienced Guantanamo first hand is James Yee: he is a former US Army Chaplain who served at GITMO – after denouncing what he witnessed at the detention camp he was accused of espionage. The Muslim chaplain was blindfolded, cuffed and held in solitary confinement for nearly three months before he was released without charges.

President-elect Obama is expected to issue an order to close GITMO as early as his first day in office, although he says that actually closing down the detention facility may take months. During his Senate confirmation hearing today, Obama's nominee for Attorney General Eric Holder said that some prisoners will be released and other will be prosecuted – but that a third group cannot be prosecuted and are still considered dangerous.  Holder also indicated significant reversals from the previous Attorneys General under the Bush Administration, Holder made it clear that waterboarding is torture. Eric Holder also said that the United States will comply with standards of humane treatment outlined in international law – another reversal from current US policy. Washington Editor Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.