Archive - Apr 14, 2009

• North Korea leaves six-way disarmament talks
• Relative calm after political protests grip Thailand
• Mexico City’s water crisis
• Advocates applause transgender murder trial
• Legal advocates press for right for all citizens to have counsel

• Obama speaks on economy – pessimistically optimistic
• Retail sales fall, Goldman Sachs climbs
• Minnesota Senatorial contest: Coleman to appeal State Supreme Court ruling
• Afghan Taliban execute young couple for eloping
• Suspension bridge collapses in Peru killing at least 9

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Tuesday that North Korea decided to reactivate its nuclear facilities and resume reprocessing of spent fuel. The South Pacific nation didn't stop there- it also kicked out the agency's inspectors today. The moves come after the UN Security Council issued a statement criticizing Kim Jong il’s regime for launching a rocket on April 5. North Korea called the statement "an unbearable insult" to its people. FSRN’s Jason Strother is in Tokyo, where some analysts say that this is Pyongyang’s way of pushing the United States into meeting one-on-one.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva restored order to Thailand’s capital city of Bangkok today, following clashes between soldiers and anti-government protesters clad in red shirts. The protests began when the supporters of deposed PM Thaksin Shinawatra, referred to as “Red Shirts,” crashed the East Asia summit the current prime minister was hosting, forcing him to cancel meetings with regional leaders. Despite two deaths and some 120 injuries, the government troops largely avoided bloodshed when soldiers were given orders to enforce a state of emergency over the weekend. The government has now succeeded in pressuring the Red Shirts to end their sit-in and protests peacefully. Aura Bogado speaks with Dr. Kantathi Suphamongkhon, he was Thailand’s foreign minister during the coup in 2006 and is now the Senior Fellow at the Burkle Center for International Relations at UCLA, where he is also a professor of diplomacy.

Some five million people went without running water over the weekend in Mexico City, which is facing a critical water shortage. Authorities predict more shortages in the future. Daniel Hernandez reports from Mexico’s capital, where many are wondering if the city of more than 22 million people can survive without running water.

Jury selection is underway today for the murder trial of Angie Zapata, a transgender resident of Greeley, Colorado, who was murdered last July. Advocates are highlighting that the trial marks the first time any state in the nation is using a hate crime statue in the murder of a transgender person. Grace Hood reports

Almost half a century after the 1963 Supreme Court case, Gideon v Wainwright, guaranteed that states must provide legal counsel to citizens unable to afford their own lawyer, a new report reveals that many poor defendants still do not receive adequate public defense. The Washington, DC-based Constitution Project advocates strengthening the fundamental right to counsel and they are taking their recommendations to the Obama administration today.