Headlines for Tuesday, January 6, 2009

• 111th US Congress Officially Opens
• European Gas Crunch
• Automated Unemployment Systems Overloaded
• Blackwater Guards Plead Not Guilty to Manslaughter
• Judge Says Bush Administration Hides Evidence

111th US Congress Officially Opens
The United States Senate and the House of Representatives officially opened the 111th Congress today with the swearing in ceremony, conducted by the President of the Senate, Dick Cheney:

Cheney swearing in members.

However, some Senate seats are still unsettled. Roland Burris, appointed by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to replace President-elect Barack Obama, arrived on Capital Hill for the first day but was not allowed to enter the Senate Chamber.

"I will now consult with my attorneys and we will determine what our next step will be."

His next step could be the courts, or working out a deal with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Reid has said he will not seat Burris because the appointment was made by the tainted Governor of Illinois. The Minnesota Senator was also not sworn in as battles continue between incumbent Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken.  And in the House of Representatives, members re-elected California Democrat Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. She defeated Republican John Boehner.

European Gas Crunch
Alarm is growing in Europe as a dispute over prices worsens between Russian gas company Gazprom and neighboring Ukraine -- whose pipeline delivers a large proportion of Europe's gas. From London, Naomi Fowler reports.

Reporter: In the early hours of this morning Russian supplies of gas to the EU fell 70%. European countries depend on Russian gas for about a quarter of their total gas supplies, 80% of which comes through a Ukrainian pipeline. Some EU members are entirely dependent on Russian gas; Slovakia has declared a state of emergency and some countries like Greece, Romania and Bulgaria only have a few days supply in storage. So why has Russia cut supplies? Gazprom says gas middleman the Ukraine owes $600 million for gas delievered in 2008. Julian Leigh of the Centre for Global Energy Studies:

‘Gazprom says it is continuing to put gas through the pipelines across Ukraine for delivery to consumers in Europe, however it accuses Ukraine of having taken some of that gas out of the pipeline for its own use, Russia has therefore cut the pressure to correspond to the amount it says Ukraine has taken out of the pipeline.’

The Ukrainian government denies theft and its gas company web site advises European users receiving reduced volumes of natural gas to direct complaints to Gazprom. This is Naomi Fowler in London for Free Speech Radio News.

Automated Unemployment Systems Overloaded
Overloaded automated unemployment claims systems have crashed in two states. Both North Carolina and New York report today that both online and telephone systems have   experienced problems. In New York, more than 10,000 jobless people per hour are trying to access the system ahead of a looming filing deadline next weekend. There’s no word yet as to when New York’s system will be repaired. And in North Carolina – the internet claims site crashed twice, accompanied by phone line problems yesterday. Once the system was restored they processed a one day record number of requests – 106,000 transactions totaling 31.5 million dollars in unemployment benefits.  North Carolina’s Employment Security Commission says nearly three times more people were trying to set up or continue online benefits than usual.

Blackwater Guards Plead Not Guilty to Manslaughter
Five former security guards for Blackwater Worldwide accused of manslaughter in the 2007 deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians were arraigned and pleaded not guilty today.  Prosecutor’s claim the men were unprovoked – defense counsel says they opened fire after coming under attack. The Director of the Iraqi Human Rights Ministry Kamil Amind, says the trial should have been held in Iraq, calling it a sovereignty issue. Defense attorneys are expected to argue that the men have been charged under a law that only applies to soldiers and military contractors -- not civilian contractors who work for the State Department.

Judge Says Bush Administration Hides Evidence
At a hearing today regarding the detention of a Yemeni man at Guantanamo Bay, a District Judge accused the Bush administration of what he called ‘another example of hiding evidence from the courts.” U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said that Justice Department lawyers have intentionally delayed turning over government documents from the Defense Department since September. Judge Sullivan said he is therefore unable to rule on whether or not to free Aymen Saeed Batarfi until he reviews the classified material.

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