Audio

• Clashes erupt in the Maldives as ousted leader describes forced removal
• Super PACs rely on wealthy individuals for outside money in elections
• Lawmakers push for military service as route to citizenship though DREAM Act
• New York communities express outrage at police violence on black youths

• US protesters stand in solidarity with oppressed Syrians
• SC sues feds to unblock voter ID law
• New mass graves discovered in Mexico
• Police in Bahia, Brazil occupy legislature calling for pay increase
• Report: GMOs failing to gain a foothold in Europe

• Clashes erupt in the Maldives as ousted leader describes forced removal
• Super PACs rely on wealthy individuals for outside money in elections
• Lawmakers push for military service as route to citizenship though DREAM Act
• New York communities express outrage at police violence on black youths

In a blow to Republican candidate Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum won all three primary contests Tuesday night—in Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota. But the results were non-binding —and no candidate is anywhere near the number of delegates needed to lock in the party nomination. Meanwhile, supporters of Barack Obama received an e-mail earlier this week announcing that the President’s reelection campaign will now formally support the Super PAC “Priorities USA”—despite President Obama’s public stance against the influence of outside spending in politics.

Immigrant rights groups continue to call for lawmakers to pass the DREAM Act, which would provide undocumented youth with a path to citizenship if they fulfill requirements for attending college or serving in the military. In recent weeks, some Republicans have expressed support for eliminating the education component and requiring military service. Last month, Congressmember David Rivera of Florida introduced the Adjusted Residency for Military Service or ARMS Act, which would do just that.

We turn now to New York, to look at a string of police shootings and a beating involving young black males that has community members outraged. FSRN’s Jaisal Noor reports.

• Court rules California’s Prop 8 ban on same sex marriage unconstitutional
• Civil rights groups say voting laws disenfranchise poor, people of color, women
• Minnesota’s Susan Allen, Native American and lesbian, brings distinct experience to state legislature
• In Indonesia, those fleeing violence in home countries trapped in search for asylum

• UNICEF says children continue to suffer in Syria
• France recalls diplomats from Damascus
• Arab countries recall ambassadors
• HRW: epidemic lead poisoning in Nigerian kids working in gold mines
• Maldives President quits amid clashes between military and police
• Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners begin gradual hunger strike
• Komen executive quits on heels of Planned Parenthood controversy

Today, a US appeals court ruled that California’s Proposition 8 measure that bans same sex marriage is unconstitutional. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upheld a previous decision that also struck down the state measure. Backers of Proposition 8 vowed to challenge the decision and the case may make its way to the US Supreme Court. After the ruling was issued, Sandra Stier, one of the lead plaintiffs in the case along with her partner, Kristin Perry, spoke about the decision in reference to the couple’s two teenage sons.

The race for a Republican presidential nominee continues today, with a primary in Missouri and caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota. As the contest for the 2012 elections heats up, more and more states are passing laws requiring residents to present photo ID at the ballot box, which supporters say is in response to voter fraud. But civil rights groups are joining with unions to launch a national campaign today to combat these efforts, saying such laws will disenfranchise people of color, women, students, the elderly and the poor.