Wednesday, October 15, 2008

• Iraq Starts Oil Bidding Despite Lack of Oil Law
• Final Presidential Debate Taking Place in New York
• Canada's Conservative Party Advances Though Not Enough to Win Parliamentary Majority
• Maricopa County Series: Sheriff Arpaio's Actions Called Unconstitutional
• The Debate Over "White Spaces": Accessible Broadband or Interference?

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Iraq Starts Oil Bidding Despite Lack of Oil Law

Iraq's Parliament has spent years wrangling over an oil law that they still haven't been able to pass. So the oil minister has started opening the prized oilfields up to foreign companies – with no law in place. Tanya Snyder reports.

Final Presidential Debate Taking Place in New York

Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama will meet face to face tonight at New York's Hoffstra University for the final debate of the presidential campaign. Both candidates have released new economic proposals this week and the financial crisis is expected to take center stage. The third party candidates were not invited to the debate. Independent candidate Ralph Nader will also be in New York. He'll speak at New York City's Cooper Union.

Canada's Conservative Party Advances Though Not Enough to Win Parliamentary Majority

Canadians went to the polls yesterday, in the first political test of a G7 nation's government since the start of the global financial meltdown. The ruling Conservative Party saw an overall increase in support. Having won the most seats, the conservatives will once again form the government. But with four parties represented in the Parliament, those gains weren't enough to win them the majority of seats. From Toronto, Kristin Schwartz brings us this wrap-up of issues and results.

Maricopa County Series: Sheriff Arpaio's Actions Called Unconstitutional

We continue our series on Maricopa County, Arizona today, where a battle is intensifying between Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has served for 16 years and is seeking reelection come November, and activists who say Arpaio is using hate and racial profiling to divide a community. For the past two years, Arpaio's local deputies have enforced federal immigration law under an agreement with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, called 287g. But people in Maricopa County say that 287g has now become a pretext for deputies to target and harass anyone with brown skin – regardless of their immigration status. And it's not just activists and organizers who allege that Arpaio has infringed on people's civil rights: Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon is so disturbed by Sheriff Arpaio's tactics that he has personally written two letters to the FBI, demanding an investigation into what he says is discriminatory harassment, improper stops, searches and arrests. Aura Bogado has the story.

The Debate Over "White Spaces": Accessible Broadband or Interference?

A technical study released on Friday by the Federal Communications Commission has seemingly debunked arguments against utilizing "white spaces", or unused channels between television signals, to expand broadband internet access. On one side of the debate are telecommunications companies that market services for handheld wireless devices, digital television broadcasters, and wireless microphone manufacturers who argue that new users will interfere with their existing signals. White space advocates say that opening up the spectrum will allow owners of certain wireless devices to access the internet for free via the public airwaves. Christine Lewis reports from New York City.