Archive - Nov 30, 2009

• Honduran voters elect new president under intense military presence
• Obama orders troops to Afghanistan as new info emerges on secret detention facility
• Treasury Dept to pressure banks into lowering monthly housing payments
• Ten years after WTO protests, a legacy of activism

• Supreme Court refuses to order US to release torture photos
• Senate begins debate on health care reform
• 26 dead in Russian train blast – another bomb targets rails
• Trial of accused Nazi war criminal begins in Munich
• Peru formally apologizes to citizens of African descent
• Noted LA Times Sportswriter, Transexual, Dies

In Honduras, conservative National Party candidate Porfirio Pepe Lobo claimed victory over Liberal Party candidate Elvin Santos in yesterday’s presidential elections. While some are celebrating the victory, others say the election was marred by fear, intimidation, and violence. Many also boycotted the polls in response to the ongoing political crisis that started five months ago, with the coup that removed former President Manuel Zelaya from power. Now many Hondurans are waiting to see if the international community will accept the outcome. Tim Russo brings us more from Tegucigalpa.

This week is shaping up to be critical for President Obama. He will officially assume the duties of a war time president. Obama has given the order to his military commanders to send additional troops to Afghanistan. Tomorrow, he is scheduled to announce a significant expansion to the war with an address to the nation from West Point.  But as FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports, his announcement comes as new information is revealed about a secret prison in Afghanistan.

As many homeowners continue to struggle with unaffordable mortgages, the Obama Administration says banks aren’t doing enough to keep people in their homes. Today, the US Treasury Department announced measures designed to pressure banks into permanently lowering monthly payments for homeowners. The pressure comes in response to new data on the federal government’s $75 billion Making Home Affordable program, which aimed to help millions of people lower mortgage payments to 31 percent of their income. But the program was voluntary for banks, and consumer advocates and homeowners say many lenders have been difficult to work with. The Congressional Oversight Panel, said in a recent report that less than one percent of borrowers in the program were able to secure permanent, lower monthly payments.

Today marks the 10-year anniversary of the protests in Seattle that took place during the World Trade Organization's meeting. The week brought together a coalition of environmentalists, labor activists and human rights groups and drew attention to the WTO's growing influence throughout the world. It also led to a new alternative gathering of activists, called the World Social Forum and then, the US Social Forum. In the first of a two-part series, FSRN's Jill Friedberg has more on the legacy of the protests, ten years later.