Newscast for Friday, March 6, 2009

• Unemployment hits 25-year high
• California Supreme Court hears Prop 8 same sex marriage ban arguments
• Bay area activists protest BART officer involvement in Oscar Grant killing
• Mexico Unconquered: author says struggle for dignity continues - Full Interview here
  
• Salvadoran troops sent to Lebanon

Unemployment hits 25-year high
Unemployment numbers jumped to their highest levels in a quarter century. Lawmakers begged for a silver lining to the bad news – but there doesn’t seem to be one. Tanya Snyder reports from Washington.

California Supreme Court hears Prop 8 same sex marriage ban arguments
California’s State Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday in a case challenging a state ban on same sex marriage. The Prop 8 measure passed with a 52 percent majority – but opponents say it’s an unconstitutional threat to equal protection and basic civil rights. Christopher Martinez reports.

Bay area activists protest BART officer involvement in Oscar Grant killing
Activists attempted to shut down the Bay Area Rapid Transit station Thursday where Oscar Grant was killed. Grant died on New Year’s Day after he was shot in the back by BART police officer, Johannes Mehsrle. Meserle has been arraigned for Grant's murder, but demonstrators want charges filed against another officer present on the night of the killing and have called for BART police to be disbanded. Africa Jones reports.

Mexico Unconquered: author says struggle for dignity continues
Mexico has been in the US news a lot this week: the U.S. sent its top military officer there to pledge support to quell escalating violence near the border; Mexican military troops stormed a maximum security prison in Juarez to deal with a massive riot; and U.S. college students have been warned from traveling to certain places in Mexico for Spring Break, due to possible local violence. But recent news hasn’t highlighted continuing struggles for liberation across Mexico – and one author says that although we’re taught that the conquest of Mexico is something that’s buried in the past, there is an ongoing story between a violent and powerful elite and everyday people who rebel. John Gibler’s new book is called Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of Power and Revolt… Aura Bogado recently sat down with him and asked him what it’s like to write about a nation that is deeply divided

Salvadoran troops sent to Lebanon
The last of 200 Salvadoran troops returned to El Salvador from Iraq last month –but additional troops have been sent to Lebanon. The United Nations asked that El Salvador increase its force there, but as FSRN’s Ricardo Martinez reports, some are worried about their government’s attempts to get involved in international issues.