Archive - Mar 17, 2009

• Mexico moves to raise U.S. tariffs
• AIG bonuses draw fire from Congress
• Winter Soldier Europe brings vets together to discuss PTSD and more
• Once a staple food, chicken becomes luxurious commodity in Gaza
• "Sex tourism" targets young in Cambodia

• Sharia Courts open in provincial Pakistan
• Housing starts jump in February
• Educators in Argentina strike
• Federal court says abuse pictures must be released
• Pope says condoms aggravate AIDS
• Call for UN investigation of Gaza fighting
• Power in flux in Madagascar

Mexico is increasing tariffs on some 90 U.S. products – after Congress cancelled a controversial NAFTA program this year. Before it was revoked as part of the omnibus appropriations bill, the program allowed Mexican truckers to drive goods into the United States. Peter Granitz has more from Washington, where lawmakers are weighing in.

Outrage over bonuses given to AIG traders continues for another day on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers are responding with a whirlwind of ideas to get the taxpayers’ money back. As Washington Editor Leigh Ann Caldwell reports, some members of Congress also blame the Obama administration.

As the sixth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War approaches, U.S., British, and German vets testified about their service in Iraq and Afghanistan this weekend at Winter Soldier Europe in Freiburg. Organized by Iraq Veterans Against the War, the vets made their eye witness accounts known to the public. One of those vets is the U.K.’s Martin Webber. Webber served in Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone and Iraq – and was arrested after filming the beating of Iraqis by British soldiers in 2004. He was never charged, and left the Army afterward. Webber talked about what he’s had to do to cope with post traumatic stress disorder, and what its like to return to civilian life after so much war.
Martin Webber’s been working on a film called “Diary of a Disgraced Soldier”
You can see and hear more testimony from Winter Soldier Europe.

There’s a continuing shortage of cooking gas in Gaza due to Israel’s border closures – but there isn’t always enough staple ingredients to cook in the pot. At least seven major poultry farms were destroyed during Israel’s recent attack on Gaza, and as FSRN’s Rami Almeghari reports, that’s made poultry a scarce and unaffordable luxury for most of the territory’s 1.5 million residents.

Thirty years after the genocide, Cambodia is still one of the poorest nations in Southeast Asia, where 35 percent of the population lives on less than half-a-dollar a day. Despite – or maybe because – of its poverty, the country remains a favorite destination for pedophiles. A U.S. tourist and a French tourist were both arrested this month on sexual abuse charges, and last year a California man was handed over to the US Department of Justice and tried and convicted on seven felony charges in San Francisco; he’s now serving a more than 200 year sentence. FSRN's Khortieth Him met a young girl in Phnom Penh, who was one of the seven survivors sexually abused by the California tourist.