Archive - Jan 23, 2009

• Missile Attacks in Pakistan
• Roadblocks to Obama's Stimulus Package
• What's In The Stimulus?
• New Ethics Rules Let Citizens Lodge Complaints Against Representatives
• Grim Climate Change News: Trees Dying, Seasons Changing, Harvests Dropping
• Bishop Desmond Tutu on Barack Obama

• FDA Gives First-Ever Approval for Stem Cell Research
• Obama to Lift Global Gag Rule
• Offshore Oil Drilling Plan Moves Forward
• US Rep Kirston Gillibrand Appointed to Clinton Senate Seat
• Rebel Leader Laurent Nkunda Captured in Rwanda
• Iceland PM to Step Down Amid Continuing Protests
• Canadian Activists Look to Obama to Release Omar Khadr from Gitmo
• China Passes Health Reforms to Cover 90% of Population

The situation in Pakistan is escalating. Pakistani Officials say two missile strikes near the Afghan border believed to be fired by U.S. drones have killed up to 18 people, some of them civilians. They're the first strikes in Pakistan during Barack Obama's presidency – Pakistan's government had hoped he'd put a halt to them. Today hundreds of tribal people rallied in the capital of Islamabad to demand an end to the drone attacks, and to Pakistani military operations in Swat Valley, where it's fighting a resurgent Taliban. Afridai Afridi has more:

President Obama met with top congressional leaders today to try to clear roadblacks to his $850 billion dollar economic stimulus plan. On the way into the meeting, he told reporters that he thought congress was on target to approve a package by Presidents' day weekend.

"Even as we move swiftly and aggressively on the recovery package, we are also starting to put in place the kind of reform elements – oversight, transparency, accountability – that's going to be required in order for the American people to have confidence in what we're doing."

But Republican opposition could make for a partisan showdown over the size of the package and the spending priorities. FSRN's Tanya Snyder has the story:

Well, as Obama pushes his stimulus package through congress, it's drawing some fire from the left as well. Joining us to discuss that angle is Doug Henwood, editor of the Left Business Observer. Welcome, Doug:

The new Office of Congressional Ethics has released draft rules meant to help root out corruption in congress. They'll allow any member of the public to file complaints against their representatives – and read the investigations into other people's complaints. Karen Miller has more:

More grim news about climate change in the science journalist this week. An article published in the journal Science suggests warmer summers are driving up the rate at which trees die in western North America's old-growth forests, doubling it every few decades. Research published this week in Nature says seasonal changes are happening almost two days earlier than they used to. And a third study says climate change is hurting crop yields—something that could eventually leave half the world starving. Africa Jones reports.