Newscast for Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Small business owners weigh in on the health care reform bill
On Capitol Hill, House Democratic leadership is attempting to iron out the final details of health care reform. Sticking points include abortion and immigration. Many conservative Democrats are demanding that no federal dollars fund abortions and that lawmakers exclude undocumented immigrants from a government health plan. Despite some progress, health care reform is far from the finish line. Today, small business owners descended on Washington to urge its passage. But as FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports, the small business community is split on reform efforts.

Climate change bill hits roadblock as Republicans refuse to work on legislation
When a senate committee met in Washington today to mark up the climate change bill, a surprise came when no Republican senators came to participate in the process.  As FSRN’s Sam Greenspan reports, a continuing wave of bipartisan politics could stall the bill’s progress.

Middle East peace process stalls over settlements dispute
In East Jerusalem today, a riot broke out between Israeli settlers and Palestinian residents as settlers forced a Palestinian family from their home. A district court denied the residents' appeal to stay on the property.

For nearly thirty years, both sides have been locked in a legal battle over the ownership of 28houses in the neighborhood.

Amar Arrori is a human rights researcher who witnessed the event.

“The police arrived ten minutes after the settlers took over the house. Settlers told them they had a court order to occupy the home. Officers took a representative of the settlers and the resident owner’s son to the police station, where the settlers were told to leave the house for ten days and the owners were instructed to file an appeal. The settlers left the house, but also left two armed guards at the entrance to the home."

The incident follows an especially tense few days in the Middle East peace process. Over the weekend, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton drew sharp criticism from Arab leaders when she seemed to back away from the Obama Administration's demand of a freeze on settlements in the West Bank. The incident came when Clinton praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's pledge to temporarily suspend new settlements, rather than stop them completely.

Today, Clinton re-asserted the call for a freeze on settlements.

"The position of the Obama Administration has not changed. We do not believe that settlements are legitimate. We said that repeatedly. And we have made that clear to the Israelis, the Arabs, the Palestinians and the world.”

But the peace process in the Middle East - a month after Obama called for a renewed focus - has yet to make real progress.

We're joined by Stephen Zunes. He's a Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, where he chairs the program in Middle Eastern Studies.

Afghans respond to Karzai’s appointment as President
In Afghanistan today, Hamid Karzai promised to form an inclusive government and tackle corruption. The speech comes one day after Karzai was declared the de-facto winner of the run-off election, after his challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, dropped out of the race.

“We are aware of the difficulties of our governance, and the environment in which we live. We will keep trying our best to address the question that we have, facing Afghanistan, and to make sure that the wished of Afghan people come true towards an effective, clean government, legally bound and also the same time to make sure that the tax paid money coming to us from your countries is spent wisely and rightly by us the Afghan government also by the donors themselves.”

President Karzai also called on the Taliban to leave the militancy and prepare for peace talks. But in a statement, the Taliban called Karzai a "puppet president" installed with the help of Washington and London.

Yesterday’s announcement handing Karzai a second five-year term is raising questions, as a candidate needs 50 percent of the vote to win under Afghan Election Law. After investigations into extensive fraud during the first round of voting, election officials threw out nearly one million illegitimate votes for Karzai, and his percentage dropped to 48 percent. For this edition of Street Beat, FSRN's Kabul-based reporter Mujahid Jawad talked to some MPs, residents and political experts about the legitimacy of this decision.

...

You just heard Ahmad Shah Rasheed an NGO worker; Wais Kakar a law student; Mullah Tarakhail Kochi and Doud Sultanzoe, members of the lower house of Afghanistan's Parliament; Matiulllah Khurotai, an Afghan political expert; Ajmal Suhail, leader of the liberal party and Najeeb Mohammoud, an official of the Afghanistan Research and Study center -- all commenting on the decision to give Karzai a second term as president after his challenger withdrew from the run-off election.