Archive - Apr 9, 2010

• Supreme Court Justice Stevens, leader of liberal minority, announces retirement
• Sudanese go to polls in first multiparty election in over two decades
• Call for equity in climate change talks as negotiations enter next round
• Despite discrimination in Russia, LGBT movement increases visibility
• Sri Lanka’s ruling party wins parliamentary elections as low turnout recorded

• Third mine rescue attempt thwarted by underground conditions
• Michigan Democrat Bart Stupak announces retirement
• EPA says controversial California dump violated disposal rules
• Minority human rights violated in Katrina recovery efforts
• Kyrgyzstan’s deposed president refuses to resign

US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens announced today he’ll step down from the bench this summer. Though he’s a Republican and was appointed by Gerald Ford, a Republican president, Stevens is a leader of the liberal wing of the Court. Tanya Snyder has more.

This Sunday, voters begin three days of polling in Sudan in the first election with multiparty candidates in 24 years. Voters will elect the next president. They’ll also fill the 450 seats in the national assembly. Incumbent President Omar Al Bashir, who took over leadership in a 1989 coup and is currently under an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court, is expected to win. But conflict continues in the region and this week the European Union pulled election monitors out of Darfur, citing safety concerns.

International representatives are gathering in Bonn Germany today for the next round of talks on climate change. It's the first meeting since the December conference in Copenhagen. At issue are differences over emissions reductions and the roles of developing and rich nations ahead of the summit at the end of the year in Mexico.

One of those in attendance is the Stockholm Environment Institute, an international science and policy research group. FSRN recently sat down with the institute's executive director Johan Rockstrom during a visit to New York for the State of the Planet Conference. We began by talking about the issue of equity in the climate change debate.

The Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement in Russia is growing even amid aggressive social and official repression. Across the country this week, activists are striking back against deeply-rooted homophobia in Russia through a series of events aimed at increasing the visibility of the rights movement. Jenny Johnson reports.

Today, Sri Lanka's ruling party emerged victorious in parliamentary elections. But it fell short of the two-thirds majority that would have allowed president Mahinda Rajapakse to amend the constitution. It's the first election since the government's defeat of the Tamil Tigers last year and turnout was low. FSRN’s Ponniah Manikavasagam has the story.