Headlines for Thursday, September 30, 2010

Argentina passes glacier protection law
Argentina’s Senate passed a law today to protect the country’s glaciers, which have faced threats from mining and transportation projects.  FSRN’s Marie Trigona reports from Buenos Aires.

In recent years, provincial economies have flourished thanks to Argentina’s booming mining industry and prospects of lithium.  But the spike in mining activity is threatening to contaminate the vast fresh water reserves found in glaciers, vital for feeding rivers, lakes and underground water tables.

Today’s legislation passed by a narrow margin, 35 to 33, after intense debates in the Senate.  The new law would ban mining in some Andean areas to protect the fragile environment of Argentina’s glacial areas, the most extensive in South America.  President Cristina Kirchner has vowed not to veto the law, despite having vetoed a similar law passed two years ago.

Barrick Gold, a Canadian company with open pit mining operations in Argentina, has been a vocal opponent of the new law.  Minerals have become Argentina's largest export, valued at nearly 80 billion dollars over the past decade.  Marie Trigona, FSRN, Buenos Aires.

Canadian province decriminalizes prostitution
An Ontario judge ruled this week that three Canadian prostitution laws are unconstitutional because they violate sex workers' right to safety.  From Vancouver, Zack Baddorf reports about the legal effect on prostitutes working in Canada.

Prostitution itself is considered legal in Canada.  But running a brothel, making a living as a sex worker and communicating for the “purpose” of prostitution are all against the law.

But on Tuesday, an Ontario Superior Court Justice ruled these provisions do not meet “the principles of fundamental justice.” The ruling stemmed from a case against three Toronto prostitutes.

In Vancouver, a sex workers group embraced the decision, saying it means prostitutes will no longer have to fear phoning the police for help.  They had attempted to get legal permission to run a brothel in the run-up to the city's Olympics held earlier this year, but failed.

A local lawyer told a Vancouver newspaper that the Ontario decision is “persuasive” but not legally binding outside of Ontario.  The federal government said Wednesday it is “seriously considering” appealing the court's decision.  Zack Baddorf, FSRN, Vancouver.

JP Morgan Chase delays thousands of foreclosures over federal rule violation
Mortgage giants JP Morgan Chase and GMAC Mortgage have both suspended home foreclosures after revelations that the companies violated federal regulations.  Federal rules dictate that the banks must use an employee who has a personal knowledge of a client’s loan paperwork to process a foreclosure.  Instead the banks were using designated employees to sign off on hundreds of foreclosures with minimal document review.  JP Morgan has suspended more than 50,000 in 23 states.  GMAC, who announced its problems last week, did not reveal how many foreclosures it was delaying.  The companies will have to re-file paperwork with the courts to proceed.

EU comes down on UK for not providing adequate internet privacy protections
The European Commission is taking the British government to court over alleged internet breaches which break EU rules on safeguarding internet privacy.  FSRN’s Naomi Fowler reports from London:

The EU has warned Britain many times not to turn a blind eye to the growth in this kind of internet marketing.  Last year it called on the British government to enforce EU rules that there must be "clear consent" from internet users for their private data to be used to gather commercial information about their web shopping habits.

It all started when customers complained after telephone and internet provider BT used technology to track their internet searches without their knowledge.  Existing UK law considers it lawful to intercept data when there is "reasonable grounds for believing" there is consent.  But EU rules define consent as a "freely given, specific and informed indication of a person's wishes."

The European Commission's also unhappy there's no independent national supervisory authority to deal with citizens’ complaints about illegal commercial interception and to enforce privacy rights.  Naomi Fowler, FSRN, London.

Right Livelihood laureates honored for grassroots activism
And finally, four grassroots activists have been honored with this year’s Right Livelihood Awards – considered the alternative Nobel Prize.  This year’s winners were Nnimmo Bassey, a Nigerian activist who works on environmental and oil production issues; Bishop Erwin Kräutler, who works on indigenous rights in Brazil; Shrikrishna Upadhyay for anti-poverty work in Nepal and the organization Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, for their work to guarantee access to health care for Israelis and Palestinians.  The recipients will share a 200,000 Euro cash prize.