Newscast for Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Obama looks for allies on health care reform
President Obama held another town hall meeting to sell his health reform plan. His lobbying of the American public is intensifying as his coalition of support is crumbling. FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.

Disputed senate race ends in Minnesota following High Court decision
After the Minnesota High Court decided in favor of Democrat Al Franken yesterday, Republican Norm Coleman conceded, announcing he was stepping aside.
Minnesota's Governor Tim Pawlenty signed the official election certificate late last night, clearing the way for Al Franken to be seated as US Senator. Both Franken and Coleman spoke to supporters about the lengthy contest and what it meant to them.  FSRN reporter Marty Owings brings us the story.

OAS demands Honduras reinstate ousted President Zelaya
Despite the widespread international rejection of the June 28 military coup that forcibly removed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya from power, de facto President Roberto Michelleti has enforced a 6pm to 6am military curfew on the entire country.
On Wednesday, the Organization of American States, demanded that President Zelaya be reinstated in no more than seventy two hours, threatening to expel Honduras from  its ranks. But in the capital city of Tegucigalpa, Michelleti declared that Zelaya would be detained if he chooses to return to Honduras.
In cities throughout the Central American country, increasing numbers of demonstrations have been organized by citizens who demand Zelaya´s return.  FSRN´s Tim Russo and Luz Ruiz report.

Academic All Star Walter Lara faces deportation
The Pew Hispanic Center calculates that every year there are some 65,000 high school graduates in the US, who can´t go to college because of their immigration status.
Most of these young men and women were brought to the country years ago, by their parents who entered the US as undocumented immigrants. Many of them now face deportation, because of a law that bars these young people from staying in the country after they turn 18.
FSRN has recently been following a few people in this situation, including Walter Lara, who´s been in Washington, DC trying to raise awareness about US immigration laws.
Lara was born in Argentina but he came to the US with his parents when he was three.   He´s an Academic All Star, graduating from high school with a 4.7 GPA and over 1000 hours of community service. Lara says his dream is to study computer animation, and while his legal status has prevented him from entering  a full time university program, he did finish an associates degree at Miami Dade community college.
Lara was recently detained by immigration authorities, and he´s facing deportation on the 6th of July.

World´s cyber freedom activists gather in Brazil
Open Source or Free Software is computer software that is open to be modified, shared and distributed freely.  It is seen as an alternative to copyrighted software, which may contain features to spy on users, and restrict what we can do without our knowledge.
While many of us use the internet and software without thinking much about who created it and how it works, there´s a growing cyber freedom movement that´s raising awareness on these isssues. Mike Fox has more from Porto Alegre, Brazil, where thousands recently gathered for the 10th International Forum on Free Software.