Headlines for Monday, February 6, 1012

Foreclosure settlement close; will CA and NY join?

Today is the deadline for states to sign on to President Obama's multi-state mortgage relief agreement that would see banks pony up billions in relief for homeowners who have lost their homes or are about to. California and New York balked at the terms, wanting to be sure that individuals can still sue banks for bad business practices and that investigators can continue probes into what caused the financial meltdown. if the two states do join, the pot of available cash would jump from 19 to 25 billion dollars.  In the past 5 years, foreclosures have forced about 4 million families from their homes.

Google and Facebook take down content from Indian domains

Google and Facebook have both censored content from websites in India after a court ordered them to do so. Shuriah Niazi has more.

The Delhi high court said that if  21 internet companies did not remove so-called objectionable content on websites available in in India,  the government would block the websites like China does. Today, the court further ordered that the  firms present a plan for policing their sites within the next 15 days. In recent months, the Indian government has called for tighter controls over the internet. Telecommunications Minister Kapil Sibal pointed to offensive religious content that could cause ethnic or inter-communal conflict. India's civil society, and more particularly its very active blogosphere, was outraged by the minister’s comments.The court’s verdict in support of the government is seen by the net community as a further gagging of free speech. Shuriah Niazi, FSRN, India.

International nurse-in calls on Facebook to stop blocking breast feeding photos

Mothers in cities around the world held a nurse-in today outside  Facebook offices,  demanding that the social media giant stop censoring account users who posted  pictures of babies at the breast. Facebook responded saying that while breast feeding is natural, they will continue to take down pictures that “contain a fully exposed breast.”

Oakland demonstrators gather at court house

In Oakland this morning, demonstrators gathered at the court house where 10 people arrested during local Occupy demonstrations appeared. Hundreds of people have been detained by police since the protests began in October. FSRN's George Lavender reports.

Some of those facing charges for participating in Occupy demonstrations appeared in court this morning. All of the 10 people in court this morning were arrested in January when police targeted a gathering of people in downtown Oakland. They were charged with obstructing the sidewalk. Autumn Belnap, with the Occupy Legal Committee,  says the arrests and charges are intended to intimidate people. “... that is why Occupy Legal is doing the work we do is to turn these experiences into empowering ones and to be able to fight for that right to express yourself- to express your discontent.”  According to Belnap, another 10 Occupy Oakland demonstrators are still in custody, including one person who has been held since the Oakland General Strike in November. Others remain behind bars with bail set at up to 400, 000 dollars. Further court appearances are scheduled for the coming weeks. Today's courthouse demonstration follows the mass arrest of  more than 400 people at Occupy Oakland's 'Move In Day' just over a week ago. It was the largest mass arrest in Alameda County since 1982. George Lavender, FSRN, Oakland.

Park police enforce no camping ban at Occupy DC encampments

US Park police were back at Washington DC's Occupy encampments today, making sure that no one is living in any of the tents that remain. Five days after their announced deadline, park cops cleared the camps of any overnight camping gear.  Some said police  confiscated belongings other than sleeping equipment. The Occupy library was not removed. Eleven people were arrested, one officer was hit in the face with a brick. In Pittsburgh today Occupiers continued to dismantle their camp, after a judge gave them three days to vacate.

China tells airlines to ignore EU greenhouse gas laws

China has ordered its airlines not to participate in the European Union's program to limit greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft. From France, FSRN's Liam Moriarty has more.

Since the start of the year, all airlines flying into European airports – even foreign carriers – have to meet increasingly strict emissions standards or pay for their excess carbon pollution. The US and other countries have tried unsuccessfully to overturn the E-U law in court. And the US House passed a bill that would have outlawed paying the fees, but the Senate killed it. Now China is the first to refuse to obey what it calls a trade barrier disguised as environmental policy. But EU spokesman Isaac Valero-Ladron says Europe is proud of taking the lead in climate protection and plans to stick it its guns. “We're not backing down, and this legislation will apply to these companies operating in Europe.” Valero-Ladron notes that airlines can be exempted from the law if they have equivalent carbon-reduction measures in their own countries. So far, no other country has anything close. The impasse is sure to be discussed at a summit meeting in Beijing next week. Also on the agenda? EU officials will try to persuade China to contribute to Europe's financial rescue fund. Liam Moriarty, FSRN, Normandy, France.

After their failure to agree on the House measure that would have “exempted” US airlines from the EU law, a broad aviation bill before the Senate later today contains a Congressional statement saying that officials should use all means available to be sure that US airlines do not comply with the EU rules – we'll have more on the FAA bill later in the newscast.

Egypt names those arrested for working for foreign groups operating without permission

Egyptian officials identified dozens of  people charged with working for organizations that didn't have  government approval. 29 foreign nationals and 14 Egyptians are to stand trial.  Among them,  the son of  U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood;  staff from the  National Democratic Institute, including chief Julie Hughes;  and  Patrick Butler with the International Center for Journalists. Egyptian officials  say they were doing political work on behalf of “foreign interests.” The US says that 1.5 billion dollars in foreign  may not be forthcoming if the situation is not adequately resolved.