Archive - Jan 27, 2009

• Fresh violence on Israeli-Gaza border
• Obama envoy heads to Mid East
• How will stimulus affect the neediest?
• Losing jobs… and healthcare coverage
• Children forced to beg on Pakistan's streets

• More Ethics Talk in DC
• Ethics Scandal in Britain
• British Tribunal Orders Release of Secret Meeting Minutes
• Somali Seat Over Power Under Sharia Law
• More US Troops Arrive in Afghanistan
• Namibia Splashes Cash on Civil Servants
• Farm Crisis in Argentina
• World Social Forum Opens

Fresh violence on the Israeli-Gaza border has threatened an already fragile ceasefire. Israeli defense forces say that one of their soldiers was killed when a bomb exploded on their side of the border – a Palestinian farmer was killed in ensuing gunfire. Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak is warning vengeance. FSRN's Rami Almagheri reports from Gaza.

This renewed violence at the Israeli-Gaza border is taking place as President Obama's Middle East envoy, Senator George Mitchell, arrives in the region, tasked with consolidating the ceasefire. Mitchell begins his eight-day tour in Egypt today, with scheduled visits to Israel, the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, before heading to Europe. Mitchell was a key player in the Northern Ireland peace process and led all-party negotiations which led to the Belfast Agreement; but as Karen Miller reports, some question if Mitchell can make move forward on an accord if he doesn't bring Hamas to the table.

President Obama continues to push for the $825 billion dollar economic recovery package: he met with lawmakers once again – this time, he convened with Republicans.  As the GOP continues to push for less spending and more tax cuts, Washington Editor Leigh Ann Caldwell takes a look at what part of the proposed stimulus will directly help the nation's poorest.

Layoffs continue for the 12th month in a row – as big employers like GM, Home Depot and Sprint-Nextel announce thousands of job cuts. New numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that all 50 states plus the District of Colombia are seeing unemployment rate growth compared to the previous month and the previous year.  The unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent in December – that's up from 6.7 the previous month. The 7.2 percent is not all-inclusive of all workers who are truly out of a job: add up people who have giving up looking for work, those who are working part-time because they cannot find full time work, those who have left the workforce entirely, along with the so-called "total unemployed", then the figure nearly doubles, to 13.5 percent.

And as jobs continue to disappear, so does healthcare coverage. As Kellia Ramares reports, the unemployed are finding it hard to keep up with their health insurance premiums on limited unemployment benefits.

Now we move to a report from Pakistan: in the city of Gujrat small-headed or micro-cephalic children are often seen begging on the streets. Many of them are orphans, and are enslaved by criminal gangs. Although Pakistan's government has known about the abusive practice for decades, it has failed to eradicate it. FSRN's Masror Hausen has more.