Headlines for Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Election irregularities reported in Moldova
Polls have now closed in Moldova, where voters cast ballots for a new parliament, repeating a process they went through just three months ago.  In April, charges of vote rigging resulted in violent protests.  Last month, the ruling Communist Party dissolved the parliament because the country’s political parties couldn’t agree on a new president.  Within hours of the start of today’s election, several Moldovan NGOs released information about alleged irregularities.  Miles Ashdown has more from Chisinau.

Reporter:
Several Moldovan NGOs have cited dozens of alleged irregularities at the polls, including people missing from voting lists and verbal attacks on observers.  During the April election, opposition parties alleged voter registries included the names of 400,000 people who were dead or living outside of Moldova.  About 2.6 million Moldovans are eligible to vote.  Meanwhile, authorities in Transnistria, the separatist region in the southeast, blocked access to a poll and didn’t allow election observing in the area.

She believes the part will move the country towards a triving a European-style democracy.  Miles Ashdown, FSRN, Chisinau.

Uighur leader says 10,000 people disappeared in one night
An exiled Chinese Uighur activist has come forward claiming that 10-thousand people involved in the recent ethnic violence in the Xinjiang region have gone missing.  Rebiya Kadeer, who now lives in the US, says the protesters all disappeared in one night, but did not cite the source of her information.  Kadeer is perhaps the most prominent human rights Uighur activist and leader of the World Uighur Congress.  She is calling for an internal investigation.  China claims that nearly 200 people died in the early July riots, and that 1200 people have been detained.  Yesterday, the government restored some phone and internet service to the region, after cutting communication channels following the ethnic clashes.      

Protests over social conditions continue in South Africa
Protests by South Africa’s municipal workers against low salaries have entered their third day.  Davison Makanga has the latest.

Reporter:
Disgruntled municipal workers have rejected a government offer of a 13 percent salary increase, vowing to continue their strike until their demand of a 15 percent pay increase is met.  In a symbolic gesture, thousands of municipal workers spread dirt over major streets of Cape Town and Johannesburg’s central business districts.  Basic services such as refuse collection, water and transport services have been affected by the strike.

In addition to the strikes, unrest continues this week in impoverished communities throughout South Africa.  President Jacob Zuma has called for the arrest of protesters who resort to violence or property destruction.  The country’s unemployment rate is nearly 24 percent.  Davison Makanga, FSRN Cape Town.

Alleged Eta bomb attack in Spain injures dozens
In the northern Spanish city of Burgos, a powerful car bomb exploded outside the family quarters of a police barracks early this morning, stripping off the outside walls as high as 3 stories up.  Flying glass and debris injured at least 46 people, including officers and their wives and children.  Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez blamed the attack on the Basque separatist group Eta, but the organization has not claimed responsibility.

CA budget signed, sealed and cut even further
After months of negotiations and massive cuts, California finally has a signed budget.   But not before the governor made more cuts to social programs.  Kellia Ramares has the story.

Reporter:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger used his line item veto to cut about half a billion dollars more in spending.  He said the budget is “kind of like the good, the bad and the ugly.” The ugly referred to his additional cuts that reduced or eliminated programs for babies with development disabilities, victims of domestic violence, AIDS patients, and seniors and disabled people who want to stay in their own homes.

Democratic legislative leaders questioned the legality of Schwarzenegger's last-minute cuts and vowed to fight them.  Kellia Ramares Free Speech Radio News.