Archive - Sep 17, 2010

• Security tightens in Afghanistan as voters head to polls in parliamentary elections
• Black farmers urge Obama, Congress to make good on discrimination settlement
• Obama appoints Warren to set up consumer protection agency
• Virginia woman faces execution next week
• Cuba’s move to cut public jobs signals shift in economic policy
• Students in Buenos Aires take over schools to demand improvements to public education

• Borehole reaches Chilean miners; officials say full rescue will take another 6 weeks
• Sri Lanka sentences jail term for its former army commander
• Prominent Pakistani politician assassinated in London
• Supporters of Bradley Manning call for his release
• UN says ozone levels stable

In Afghanistan, the Taliban have kidnapped 19 people, including a candidate in tomorrow's parliamentary elections. According to the AFP, the others abducted are ballot officials and campaign workers. Security during the vote remains a big concern.

More than 2,500 candidates, including about 400 women, are vying for 249 seats. It’s the second round of parliamentary elections in Afghanistan’s history. FSRN’s Kabul-based reporter Bilal Jawad reports.

Protest groups have tried countless ways over the years to get the government’s attention. This week, one man, trying to get justice for black farmers, rode his tractor to Washington, DC. And today, he parked it in front of the White House. He wants President Obama to intervene to force Congress to pay a settlement owed to black farmers for historic discrimination. Tanya Snyder reports.

President Obama has named Elizabeth Warren as special adviser who will set up the consumer protection agency, a central piece of his financial reform.

A Virginia woman is poised to be executed next week for what a judge said was her role in masterminding the murder of her husband and stepson to collect insurance money. Two others involved who carried out the murder were sentenced to life in prison. Supporters, including the prison pastor, are urging clemency, saying the judge did not consider key evidence. Brad Kutner has the story.

This week, Cuban officials announced what’s being called one of the biggest shifts to the private sector since the 1959 revolution. A half million state jobs will be cut. Ongoing US sanctions on the island nation plus the global crisis have put pressure on Cuba's government to respond to financial instability. But the government has a plan: officials say they will convert state businesses to employee-run cooperatives and encourage self-employment.

To discuss the implications, we’re joined by Mario Gonzalez-Corzo. He’s a fellow at the Cuba Project at the Bildner Center for Western Hemispheric Studies at the City University of New York, and an expert in Cuba’s post-Soviet economic development.