Archive - Apr 28, 2010

• Authorities struggle to contain massive oil spill in Gulf Coast
• Lobbyists target consumer protection in financial reform bill
• Calls for boycott of Arizona follow harsh immigration law
• Legal experts question unmanned drone attacks at congressional hearing
• Mobile clinic to offer free health care to uninsured in Los Angeles

• First offshore wind farm in US approved
• SCOTUS allows Mojave Cross to remain, hears WA signature case
• Temple University Hospital nurses reach contract deal, wait on strike vote
• Oklahoma legislature overrides abortion law veto
• UK ruling grants equal pay for men and women

In Sudan President Omar al Bashir has been declared the winner of the first multi party elections in more than two decades. The country's election commission said Bashir received 68 percent of the vote, despite claims of fraud and a partial boycott from opposition parties. A former rebel leader, Salva Kiir, has been confirmed in power in the semi-autonomous Southern region. Meanwhile, according to the BBC, some 55 people were killed in clashes along the north-south border over the weekend in the worst violence since the voting.

To discuss the elections in Sudan, we're joined by Georgette Gagnon, director of the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch.

Today, the US Coast Guard said it would set fire to part of the oil spill in the Gulf Coast. The control burn is aimed at stopping the spread of the crude oil, which has reached as close as 20 miles to the coast of Louisiana.

In Washington, for the third time in as many days Republicans blocked the financial reform bill from being debated in the Senate. Democrats charge that Republicans are stalling as a tactic to kill reform. Republicans say the Democrats are prematurely trying to debate a bill that’s not yet ready. Meanwhile, lobbyists are fanned out across Capitol Hill to influence the legislation. At the heart of the lobbyists' interests is the part of the bill that would protect consumers. FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.

The call to boycott Arizona is growing after the governor signed into law a controversial immigration bill. In Los Angeles, seven city council members signed a proposal calling for the city to stop doing business in the state. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom prohibited city employees from most official travel to Arizona and city Supervisor David Campos introduced a non-binding resolution that calls on residents to avoid the state. At the state level, California Senate leader Darrell Steinberg called on Governor Schwarzenegger to tear up the state's contracts with Arizona's public and private entities.

On Capitol Hill today, top legal experts questioned the Obama administration’s rationale for using unmanned drones to carry out killings of alleged terrorists. FSRN's Karen Miller has more.