Archive - Jul 2012

• As new health care measures take effect, fight over reproductive rights continues
• Anaheim residents call for reform at city council after deadly police shootings
• Elections in disputed Caucusus region show promise, highlight tension
• Corporations to profit from temporary tax haven at London Olympics

• UN Convoy attacked in Syria
• Police attack Interior Ministry in Yemen
• Russian activist charged and banned from leaving the country
• Power outages continue in India
• Democrats Select Latino keynote speaker, may include same –sex marriage in party platform

Key provisions of the Affordable Care Act take effect this week, including free screenings for cancer and domestic violence, affordable breastfeeding supplies and counseling, and full coverage of preventative care services including contraception. Even though the Supreme Court recently upheld most of the health care reform law, the struggle for reproductive rights on Capitol Hill and across the country continues as the House of Representatives votes to ban some abortions in D.C.

Today in Anaheim, community groups are calling on the city council to adopt reforms that they say would more democratically reflect the city’s Latino residents. The recent shooting of an unarmed man and police force used against residents have refocused attention on police conduct in the Orange County city. Earlier this month the southern chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and Latino leaders filed a lawsuit saying the city’s at-large elections violate the California state voting law resulting in inadequate representation.

Recent elections in a disputed territory between Azerbaijan and Armenia have both highlighted tensions in the region and offered hope.  The heavily militarized area in the South Caucasus, called Nagorno Karabakh is near strategic gas pipelines and was the site of a bloody war in the 1990s between Armenia and Azerbaijan. But officials say the elections are an achievement of democratic standards. FSRN’s MJ del Valle looks at whether democracy could make a difference for this republic’s stability and its relationship with rest of the world.

The Olympic Games in London are underway and projections of event’s cost have risen steadily. At first, London officials estimated $3.6 billion, now they say it will cost $15 billion. And, according to an investigation by Sky News that considers other costs like land acquisition, that could reach nearly $40 billion. As the true cost of the sporting event for the people of the UK is yet to be seen, corporations and private developers already stand to make large profits from the games as the result of a temporary tax break - that has essentially created a tax haven during the Olympics.

• Peace activists call for change in Middle East policy after US increases military funding
• Global activists gather in DC to call for end to hydrofracking
• Powerful group, Council of State Governments, shows corporate influence in shaping legislation
• Twenty arrested in temporary shut down of West Virginia mountaintop removal mine
• In Nigeria, government demolition of waterfront slum makes thousands homeless