Newscast for Thursday, August 26, 2010

Investigation into BP spill questions accountability in lead up to explosion
An investigation into the causes of the BP oil spill continued today in Houston. Members of the Coast Guard, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and attorneys from all sides questioned BP executives about safety culture and accountability - at times investigators grew frustrated with a web of authority that made it unclear who was really in charge in the lead-up to the disaster. Tanya Snyder reports.

Man charged with attacking Muslim taxi driver in New York
Today, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance called on Manhattan's DA to take action against the suspect in an attack on a Muslim taxi driver.

A twenty-one year old man is being charged with hate crimes and possession of a weapon after allegedly attacking the 43-year-old driver. The attack took place on Tuesday. After the man entered the cab, he asked the driver if he was Muslim and observing Ramadan and then attacked him with a knife, slashing him across the neck, face and shoulders, according to the driver, Ahmed Sharif.

Sharif spoke to New York 1 after being treated at the hospital.

"I saw on his face so much hate and so upset, he anger me, because of my religion and it shocked me."

Sharif said he believed the attack was related to rising criticism over the Islamic Center in lower Manhattan.

Also in New York a man has been arrested after entering a mosque in Queens during a prayer service last night. According to CAIR and the New York Post, the man shouted anti-Muslim slurs and urinated on prayer rugs. The man has been charged with criminal trespass.

Los Angeles jail installs controversial ray gun to use on prisoners
Officials at the Pitchess Detention Center in Los Angeles County are getting ready to use what they call a non-lethal ray gun to put down prisoner unrest. The gun produces a painful, burning sensation when it hits the body. Human rights groups say the ray gun is abusive and harmful. Matt Laslo reports from Washington.

Attacks in Iraq grow bolder ahead of US withdrawal
Today, an attack in eastern Iraq has killed eight members of the Sunni Awakening Council militia. According to Al Jazeera, Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki blamed the attack on a group linked to Al-Qaeda.

This follows a series of bombings in 13 different cities on Wednesday that killed at least fifty. The deadliest was in the southern city of Kut that, according to the BBC, killed 19 people. In Baghdad, a car bomb targeting a police compound killed 15.

The attacks come as the US is drawing down its combat operations in the country ahead of President Obama's deadline at the end of this month.

To get more we called Bashar Mendalawi, he's the project Manager for the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory in Iraq. He joined us by phone from Baghdad. He began by describing the events this week as a shift in strategy for the attackers.

Burundi’s president faces social challenges that extend beyond charges of fraud
Burundi’s president was inaugurated today in the country’s capital Bujumbura. President Pierre Nkurunziza won re-election with 92 percent of the vote in the late June presidential race that was boycotted by all opposition parties. They claimed “massive fraud” in the country’s series of elections for the legislature and local government seats.  The new president faces many political and socioeconomic challenges as he assumes leadership of the small central African nation. FSRN’s Zach Baddorf reports.

New Orleans health centers, key to Katrina recovery, face closure
Five years after Hurricane Katirina, New Orleans is expected to receive a $1.8 billion FEMA grant to build and renovate about 85 schools. Senator Mary Landreu said in a statement Wednesday that she had been told by an Obama Administration official that the announcement would come later this week.  Schools were devastated after Hurricane Katrina, and many children continue to go to school in temporary or inadequate schools.

Meanwhile, another program seen as key to the recovery efforts in the city is facing cut backs.
When the 2005 flooding destroyed several New Orleans hospitals, School Based Health Centers, along with other neighborhood clinics, stepped in to provide primary and mental health care for New Orleans’ residents - including kids - who needed service.  But as Federal funding for the School Based Health Centers expires, the Centers are forced to close their doors or dramatically reduce services. FSRN's Eve Abrams reports.