Newscast for Thursday, March 26, 2009

Treasury Secretary Geithner unveils a proposal to regulate the financial industry
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has unveiled a broad proposal to bring the financial firms that escape government oversight into a new regulatory framework.  As FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports, Geithner is calling for a comprehensive plan to revamp the governments ability to regulate runaway firms.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee takes up nomination for new ambassador to Afghanistan
Obama’s nominee for Ambassador to Afghanistan Lt Gen Karl Eikenberry testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today. Members of the committee grilled Eikenberry on what success in Afghanistan would actually look like. FSRN Karen Miller has more

Obama holds online town hall meeting
At the White House today, President Obama held a new kind of town hall meeting - asking the public to participate and interact online. The event drew more than 92,000 text and video questions from people across the country, which were then ranked by more than 3.5 million votes. People could stream the meeting live, and watch the President repond to their questions. One topic was pushed to the top by online voters - legalization of marijuana and whether that could jumpstart the economy. The President didn't think so. [Obama clip] Other popular questions focused on the high costs of tuition; teachers' salaries; and the foreclosure crisis. One question posed by a resident of Quakertown, PA asked: "Why did money go to bailing out large corporations, when some of the money could have gone to student loan forgiveness?"

Mexico's Drug War strategy shifts power from civilian institutions to unaccountable military
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continues her visit to Mexico today on the heels of new plans to beef up the US law enforcement presence along the border with Mexico. Clinton announced plans to establish a new office in Mexico, staffed by Mexican and US officials. The office would monitor the implementation of the Merida Initiative, often called "Plan Mexico" due to its similarities with Plan Colombia. Plan Colombia is a multi-billion dollar counter-narcotics strategy developed during the presidency of Secretary Clinton's husband.

In a written statement released today, Mexican President Felipe Calderon expressed a desire to increase bilateral cooperation in the area of public security. Calderon has made public security and the fight against drug cartels a centerpiece of his policy since taking over the presidency in December of 2006...but the fight against the cartels has resulted in one of the bloodiest periods of modern Mexican history with an estimated 6000 drug related deaths in 2008 alone.

Joining us on the line is Luis Arriaga from the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center in Mexico City.

State secrets and the case of Al-Haramain
Lawyers for an Oregon charity have accused the Obama administration of maintaining the Bush administration status quo with regards to secrecy.  FSRN's Jenka Soderberg has more from Portland:

Firefight near Kashimir's Line of Control kills 25
Twenty five people have died in a six day long gunfight between Indian troops and Muslim guerrillas in a forested area of Indian-administered Kashmir.  While the fighting has stopped, the army said it was still scanning the area. Shanawaz Khan has more.