Archive - Jun 22, 2009

• Violence continues in Iran; protesters challenge supreme leader over election results
• Israeli government colludes with World Zionist Organization in settlement expansion
• Palestinian village sues Canadian company over Jewish settlements
• Air strikes will be limited says American commander in Afghanistan
• Obama cuts deal with drug companies

• US High Court: Compromise on Voting Rights Act
• Greenpeace activists board cargo ship
• WHO: Swine flu cases increase dramatically
• Blogger charged with inciting injury
• Somali Islamist Court sentences men to amputations – insurgency grows

In Washington, DC today, President Obama formally announced a new deal with drug companies. Under the agreement, drug companies have committed to reducing prices on prescriptions for seniors by eighty billion dollars over the next decade.  The White House is claiming victory, but some critics say it’s a hollow concession. Tanya Snyder reports from Washington.

General Stanley McChrystal, America´s new commander in Afghanistan, said on Friday that US forces would limit their use of airstrikes in Afghanistan only for the protection of US and Coalition forces.

This comes as the Defense Department releases a ground-breaking report, where it admits to the death of 26 civilians as a result of last month´s airstrikes against Taliban forces in the village of Granai.

The small Palestinian community Bil’in has become internationally known for the their ongoing resistance to the unceasing construction of the Israeli wall and settlements within their land.  Today in Montreal Canada, Bil’in argued for the right to move forward in a lawsuit against two Quebec construction companies that are building settlements in the West Bank. FSRN’s Amy Miller has more from Montreal.

A lawsuit filed by several Israeli human rights groups against the Israeli government, continues in Israel's Supreme Court.  Through the proceedings documents have emerged exposing a wide swath of support for Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank by the Israeli government, in violation of Israeli and international law. FSRN´s Ghassan Bannoura has the story.

In central Tehran today, protests continued and riot police fired live bullets and attacked demonstrators with tear gas. This comes after violence this weekend, in which at least 13 people were killed.

Amateur videos emerged on the internet, including one that appears to show a young, bloodied woman dying in the street after being shot, and surrounded by screaming bystanders who had tried to help.  Some are calling the woman, identified as Neda, "Iran's Joan of Arc." According to the Associated Press, the government barred Neda's family from holding a public funeral today.