Headlines for Wednesday, September 8, 2010

LA protest over police shooting leads to arrests
Fourteen people have been arrested for inciting a riot late last night in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Westlake.  Protesters hurled rocks, bottles and eggs while police fired rubber bullets on the crowd.  Residents are angry over the Sunday afternoon police shooting death of a Guatemalan immigrant.  FSRN's Dan Fritz reports.

On Sunday afternoon, 37 year-old Guatemala native Manuel Jamines was walking near a downtown park when LAPD officers stopped him.  Officers said they received reports he was drunk, wielding a knife and threatening passers-by.  LAPD Spokesperson Gregory Bake.

"The officers tried to communicate with the suspect.  When they engaged him, he was unresponsive, and he eventually lunged at the officers with a knife."

That's when police opened fire, killing Jamines.  A man who described himself as Jamines' cousin says Jamines wouldn't have understood anything the police had told him.

"He didn't speak Spanish very well, and not English.  When the police told something to him, he didn't understand what they said."

Jamines spoke Esquiche, a Mayan dialect spoken by over a million Guatemalans.  Police presence has remained high at the scene of the crime, where community members began protesting the incident on Monday.  Dan Fritz, FSRN, Los Angeles.

ACLU challenges warantless laptop searches at US borders
A new lawsuit argues that warrantless laptop, camera and cell phone searches by customs at US border crossings are unconstitutional.  Filed by the ACLU, the case stems from a complaint made by Pascal Abidor, a US citizen working on a PhD in Islamic Studies at McGill University in Canada.  Customs officials detained and seized Abidor’s laptop as he traveled via train into the US.  They let him go without charge, but…

“Eventually when I received the laptop back, I looked at the last opened date of files and based on that I was able to determine that they looked extensively at my personal photos, personal saved chats with my girlfriend.  I knew that my rights had been violated.”

The ACLU says the Department of Homeland Security does not have the right to search, keep or copy the information off these electronic devices without probable cause.  It says approximately 3000 US citizens were subject to such searches between October 2008 and June 2010.  The National Press Photographers Association is also a plaintiff in the case.

H&M and Levi Strauss to stop practice of garment sandblasting
Two major clothing brands today announced they're banning sandblasting in all of their fashion lines.  As FSRN reported in July, sandblasting has been connected to health problems in factories across the globe.  FSRN's Jacob Resneck has the follow up.

Sandblasting is an industrial process used to give denim jeans a worn, faded look.  But the resulting dust has been linked to deadly respiratory diseases among factory workers.  At least 44 workers in Turkey have died from silicosis linked to sandblasting, leading that country to ban the practice last year.

But an FSRN investigation found the practice was still widespread in Bangladesh, a major exporter for international brands.  Now Levi Strauss and Swedish fashion giant H&M say they will ban the practice altogether.  Michael Kobori, Levi's vice president for social and environmental sustainability, says a global ban on sandblasting is needed.

“We've decided that the best way to ensure that no workers in the industry are at risk is to move to end the practice of sandblasting in all of our suppliers and really send a signal that we'd like to see that happen industry-wide.  We're really hoping that other companies will take up this ban as well.”

It's not clear how many other brands will join Levi's and H&M but the move is significant.  Campaigners in Turkey say this is one of their most significant victories to date.  Jacob Resneck, FSRN.

Click here for Jacob Resneck's investigative feature on sandblasting in Bangladesh

Eight missing in Colorado wildfire
Eight people are missing after failing to evacuate ahead of a wildfire burning near Boulder, Colorado.  Nearly 4 square miles of fire has already destroyed more than 50 homes.  Rescue personnel are continuing the search for the missing resident.

Mexican women released after being imprisoned for having abortions
In Mexico, seven women serving out sentences for attempted abortion have been released from prison.  FSRN’s Shannon Young has the details.

All seven women were convicted in the conservative state of Guanajuato on charges of "homicide involving a relative" and sentenced to upwards of 25 years in prison.  One woman imprisoned for more than 6 years maintains she suffered a spontaneous miscarriage.  Another two say their pregnancies were the result of rape, meaning they should have had access to a legal abortion under Mexican law.

The women were released Tuesday afternoon after Guanajuato enacted changes to its penal code.  Now a person can only be charged with the crime of “homicide involving a relative” if the victim has already been born.  Guanajuato continues to punish abortion with 3 to 8 years in prison.

Mexico City is the only place in Mexico where a woman can obtain a legal, on-demand, 1st trimester abortion without having to document rape or risk of maternal mortality.  Shannon Young, FSRN, Mexico.

Powerful Philippines family on trial for 2009 massacre
A trial concerning the massacre of 57 people is underway today in the Philippines.  Authorities allege the associates of the powerful Ampatuan family were responsible for the 2009 attack on journalists and the family members of their political rivals.  Today, an Ampatuan housekeeper testified that she heard family members plotting the attack less than a week before it happened.  According to Reporters Without Borders, more journalists lost their lives in the Southern Philippines massacre than on any other day in history.  The trial is being seen as a test of the independence of the country’s new government.  Nearly 200 people are currently accused of involvement in the incident.