Headlines for Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Attack on police housing complex in Pakistan kills at least 20
In Pakistan, at least twenty people, including women and children, are dead today after an explosion at a residential compound housing police officers. And the Taliban has claimed responsibility for yesterday's attack on a police station in the North West. 19 people died.  Taliban spokesperson Azam Tariq expressed regret that four children are among the dead, but added that their children, too, are killed in drone attacks. In North Waziristan, four drone attacks were reported over the past three days. And attacks on schools have begun again.  Four schools have been bombed in as many days, three of them schools for girls. The buildings were all unoccupied.

Strikes in France and London hobble millions of commuters
Nationwide protests in France today hit schools, hospitals, post offices and public transit. Called by unions, the walk outs are in response to a proposed increase in retirement age and overhaul of pension programs. And in London, members of two city transportation unions are on strike today, protesting job cuts. From London, FSRN’s Matthew Petrillo reports.

As quickly as one bus departs, another pulls through at the Gloucster road bus station. The busy streets are nearly out-lined with double-decker buses as ten thousand transportation workers are on strike, limiting or completely halting ten underground London tube lines.  The strike started Monday evening and is in response to 800 planned job cuts, which workers say will sacrifice passengers' safety.  Transportation officials say the cuts at ticket offices are necessary as result of a heavy increase in the use of an automatic ticket service. The strike was initially slated to last 24 hours, but is now expected to end Wednesday morning. But it's not just affecting the capital’s 3.5 million public transit passengers. London Mayor Boris Johnson has deployed an additional 100 buses, and combined with extra taxis, streets are quickly becoming clogged with heavy traffic. The strike is projected to cost the city 48 million pounds – about 73 million dollars, according to the London Chamber of Commerce. Matthew Petrillo, FSRN, London.

Hope for “underwater” mortgage holders begins today
A new program to help so-called “underwater” homeowners begins today.  The FHA will now permit lenders to offer refinancing to owners whose mortgages are higher than the value of their property if they forgive at least 10 percent of the original loan value. The plan is intended to help as many as 1.5 million homeowners who are facing foreclosure.

Mozambique bread and water prices rolled back
Government officials in Mozambique announced today that bread and water prices will roll back effective immediately however elevated electricity costs will remain. Protests last week over the increase in government set prices turned violent: 13 people died. State radio reports that 200 people were arrested, some charged with “inciting demonstrations.” Calls to protest were circulated via mobile phones.  Today, text messaging services were silenced.

Political impasse breaks in Australia; Labor gains majority
Australia's political deadlock broke today when Independent party members gave Julia Gillard’s Labor Party the 76 seats needed to govern. FSRN’s Jessie Boylan reports from Melbourne.

After 17 days of anticipation, Independents Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott pledged their votes to the Labor Party- giving them the 1 seat majority necessary to form the Government. The deal will see Julia Gillard continue on as prime minister. Labor gained power in 2007 with 83 seats after 11 years in opposition. The August 21 federal election failed to give results and left both major parties short of a majority for the first time since World War II. Gillard had only spent three weeks as prime minister before she called the election, and avoided becoming one of the shortest-serving prime ministers in Australian history. Mr. Windsor said Labor’s position on climate change and the National Broadband Network were the major factors in his decision. Mr. Oakeshott stated that Labor had a better deal for the bush and could work best with a Greens-dominated Senate. Parliament is unlikely to sit for several weeks until the Australian Electoral Commission finalizes the election results. Jessie Boylan, FSRN, Melbourne, Australia.

Gulf oil disaster: Feds take failed blowout preventer to Louisiana NASA base
An enormous piece in the BP oil spill puzzle is now in the hands of the US government. The 300 ton blowout preventer will be central in legal actions resulting from the explosion that killed 11 people and spewed more than 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. BP received an environmental waiver on the Deepwater Horizon – the same sort of waiver was issued to a near shore oil production platform that exploded last Thursday. The Obama administration has pledged to stop issuing these environmental exemptions for deepwater rigs. The Center for Biological Diversity says this moratorium should extend to all offshore oil and gas drilling – in either deep or shallow waters.

Two Palestinians killed when Israel bombs tunnel
Just after the first face to face peace talks in almost two years, rockets and bombs continued to fall in the Middle East. Two rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel early Saturday. No damages or injuries were reported. Israel then bombed three smuggling tunnels. Two Palestinians were killed. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas have agreed to meet again in mid-September, but Abbas says he will not move forward unless Israel’s partial settlement freeze is extended past it’s late September expiration date.