Newscast for Tuesday, July 28, 2008

Supreme Court nominee Sotomayor is one step closer to making history
Judge Sonia Sotomayor is one step closer to becoming the first Latina to sit on the Supreme Court.  The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to confirm her nomination. Only one Republican on the committee cast his vote in support. But in doing so, he offered a strong critique of his Republican colleagues.  FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.

Home sales up in the US, but foreclosures also grow
Home sales are up in the US, according to a report released Monday by the US department of commerce.

This may be good news for some aspects of the economy, but lawmakers are worried by the fact that home foreclosures continue to go up as well. Today a congressional committee met to look at ways to prevent more foreclosures from happening.  FSRN Karen Miller has more

Weeks before election, attacks continue against Afghanistan Presidential campaigns
In Afghanistan today, there was another attack on people working for candidates running in next month´s elections. Armed assailants opened fire on a group of campaign workers, wounding a campaign manager for one of President Hamid Karzai´s challengers, Abdullah Abdullah.  A body guard was also killed.

This is the third attack in just under seven days and with the election just weeks away, many are concerned about the persisting violence.  The election is being run mostly by Afghan agencies, but the United Nations is helping with people on the ground and some $200 million in financial support.  Margie cook is with the UN Development Program.

“We´re here to do a lot of work alongside our Afghan colleagues, but it´s a challenge for them too, because they haven´t done this before. And outside of conducting a war, conducting an election is probably the biggest logistics exercise a country has to actually undertake.”

Cook says there are security concerns this year that weren´t an issue in the 2005 elections.

“By all accounts, the security situation is a very different one from that experienced in 2005. In 2005 people could get around much more easily. We're more constrained now and that costs a lot of money in terms of purchasing of armored vehicles, the provision of security equipment, and also for the payment of protection for personnel and locations. So there are a lot of cost challenges, as well as security challenges.”

There are 41 presidential candidates and more than 3,000 provincial council candidates running in the August 20th election.

Sweden asks Venezuela to explain how its weapons turned up in FARC guerrilla camp
Sweden is asking Venezuela to explain how Swedish-made weapons ended up in the hands of Colombia´s FARC guerrillas.  The Colombian army recently discovered several Swedish-made rocket launchers in a raid on a FARC camp and Sweden, which does not sell weapons to Colombia, says it sold those rocket launchers to Venezuela twenty years ago.

Some security experts and journalists have previously published reports suggesting the FARC guerrillas have camps in Venezuela and Ecuador.  And the latest incident has revived accusations that Venezuela´s leftist President, Hugo Chavez, finances guerrilla groups in neighboring Colombia.

Venezuela´s Foreign Minister, Nicolas Maduro, dismissed these claims, saying his government is not providing weapons to the FARC.

“This is a dirty and vulgar campaign. And those who are carrying out this campaign have only one objective, which is to justify what cannot be justified. That is, to justify the installation of US military bases that threaten the whole region. With these lies they want to influence public opinion in Colombia and in the world, telling them that the guerrilla in Colombia exists because a neighboring country is giving them weapons.”

Colombia and the United States are currently negotiating an agreement through which US military planes and personnel would be allowed to use five bases in the South American country.  Venezuela´s President Chavez has said this agreement poses a threat to Venezuela´s national sovereignty as it would facilitate US military attacks on his country. Chavez accuses the United States of being involved in a 2002 coup attempt against his government.

US envoy asks Israel to freeze settlements
A US diplomatic team is visiting the Middle East this week to discuss sensitive issues like Iran´s nuclear program and the Israeli-Palestine peace process, with political leaders in Syria, Egypt and Israel.

The Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today and one of his tasks was to convince the Israeli government to freeze settlements in Palestinian territories. But even as Mitchell meets Israeli leaders, settlers are erecting new communities. FSRN´s Ghassan Bannoura reports.

Argentine hospital uses radio to treat mental illnesses
A hospital in Argentina is using radio to improve life for psychiatric patients. People who suffer from mental illnesses are broadcasting their own programs on FM Desate, while they run the station along with communication specialists and psychologists.

The station managers say radio programs are therapeutic, and they allow patients to express themselves.  Marcos Federman reports from Buenos Aires.

Mumia commentary: Repression of the repressed