Archive - Dec 7, 2009

• Anti-government protestors fill streets in Iran on national student day
• UN climate conference opens in Copenhagen
• Morales projected as presidential winner in Bolivia
• US military commissions resume with new rules in Guantanamo
• Next phase of health care debate begins in US Senate

• Explosions rock market in Pakistan killing 30, suicide bomber outside court kills 10
• 60 arrested in Philippines, martial law remains in effect
• Romanian elections call Basescu winner, but rival to file official complaint
• Iraq lawmakers resolve election law impasse but delay election
• LA Episcopalians elect openly lesbian bishop
• Former paramilitary commander in Colombia alleges banana growers willingly financed and ordered murders

In Iran today, thousands of students and opposition supporters defied government warnings of a crackdown and protested in cities across the country, including Tehran, Shiraz, Kerman, and Masshad. Under overcast skies, many wore green - the color of the opposition movement - and masks over their faces. Riot police, Revolutionary guards and paramilitary troops attacked protesters with tear gas, clubs, and stun guns, according to witnesses - many of whom spoke to media outlets via cell phone. Demonstrators shouted "Allahu akbar!" -- God is great -- and "Death to the dictator!"

Today is National Student Day, an annual protest commemorating the deaths of three students who were killed by security forces in 1953 while demonstrating against a US-backed coup that overthrew the democratically elected government. For many decades, the government sanctioned the protests - until recently when they've been used to express dissent against the ruling government. This year is no exception and many are still emboldened by the controversial election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last June and the government's violent response, which resulted in dozens of deaths and hundreds more detained. In advance of today's protests, the government cut some internet service, blocked some websites and required foreign journalists to stay in their offices. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi encouraged people to demonstrate.

More protests are planned later this month, during the Shiite festival called Ashura.
Meanwhile, violent protests continued for a second day in Greece. People there were marking one year since the killing of a 15-year old by police. Several thousand youth demonstrated today, and a smaller group of several dozen teens set off firebombs, threw rocks at riot police and smashed storefront windows. According to the Guardian UK, protesters beat a passer-by unconscious. During yesterday's protests, five demonstrators and 16 police officers were injured. About 180 were detained.

Today the US Environmental Protection Agency announced that greenhouse gases threaten the public health and welfare of the American people. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson:

"Today’s finding is based on decades of research by hundreds of researchers. The vast body of evidence not only remains unassailable, it’s grown stronger, and it points to one conclusion: greenhouse gases from human activity are increasing at unprecedented rates and are adversely affecting our environment and threatening our health."

Jackson called the findings "long overdue" and once again stated support for Congress to pass comprehensive climate legislation.

Meanwhile, international negotiations on a new treaty to address climate change started today in Copenhagen, Denmark. The run-up to the conference has been marked with shifting expectations of what countries around the world will actually be able to agree to by the end of the next two weeks of high-level negotiations. FSRN'S Jenny Johnson gives an overview of some of the key issues.

In Bolivia, early exit polls indicate that President Evo Morales won 63 percent of the vote in yesterday’s election, becoming the first president in the country to be re-elected and to win the highest popular vote in Bolivia’s history. Morales’ party, the Movement towards Socialism, also gained control of the Senate Chamber controlled until now by the opposition. Bolivia continues to have tense relations with the US – which still does not have a diplomatic presence, after the US ambassador left the country last year. FSRN’s Leny Olivera and Aldo Orellana report. This story was produced with the assistance of Jessica Aguirre.

Today, the US Supreme Court denied review of the case of Guantanamo Bay detainee, Abdul Hamid Al-Ghizzawi. Al-Ghizzawi, a Libyan, attempted to have the court rule on the legality of his continued confinement. His lawyer says he has been cleared for release by the US government but he continues to be imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, where he has been detained for nearly eight years.

Meanwhile, military commissions at Guantanamo Bay started up again last week. It's the first time since Congress passed new rules in October governing the commissions. And prosecutors are having to figure out how to implement those new rules.

We're joined by Nusrat Choudhury. She's a staff attorney at the National Security Project at the American Civil Liberties Union and she was in Guantanamo Bay last week to observe the proceedings.

Over the weekend, the Senate stayed in Washington to work on health care reform.  The next phase of debate is likely to revolve around abortion. Meanwhile, behind the scenes discussions are still taking place around the central component of the bill - the public option. As FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports, a new idea to replace the public option has surfaced.