Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa addresses the crowd
Photo courtesy of Nelson F. Núñez Vergara; Indymedia Ireland, 2006

• Kenya: Protests Escalate
• Israel Pursues Peace Talks, Bombs Palestine
• Which Way Ecuador?
• Romney wins Michigan; NBC Bars Kucinich from Debate
• Senate Committee Explores the R-Word

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Kenya: Protests Escalate

In Kenya, the ethnic violence that followed controversial presidential
elections is subsiding, but clashes between political protesters and
police are escalating. Today was the first of three days of mass
action, with the worst confrontations in the opposition stronghold of
Kisumu, where police reportedly shot three protesters, killing one.
And in the nation's capital, protests and police actions paralyzed
business. John Bwakali reports from Nairobi.

Israel Pursues Peace Talks, Bombs Palestine

Israeli attacks in the Palestinian territories continued today,
bringing the Palestinian death toll since Monday to 23 people.
Meanwhile, Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams started
discussing core issues as part of the US-backed peace process. FSRN's
Ghassan Bannoura has the details.

Which Way Ecuador?

Ecuador's left-wing president Raphael Correa delivered his first
state-of-the-union address yesterday. Correa won the presidency after
10 years of political turmoil, on promises to boost state oil income
and social spending, which he says will exceed foreign debt payments
for the first time this year. Juliette Beck takes a closer look at the
sometimes-diverging visions of development held by leaders of Correa's
political base.

Romney wins Michigan; NBC Bars Kucinich from Debate

A lot of campaign news today….Michigan held its primary last night and
Mitt Romney came out on top in Republican racewith 39% of the vote.
The win in his home state puts Romney in the lead. Romney's victory
speech sounded a lot like speeches from Democratic contenders calling
for change:

CUT: GUESS WHAT THEY'RE DOING IN WASHINGTON? THEY'RE WORRYING BECAUSE THE LOBBYISTS AND THE POLITICIANS REALIZE THAT AMERICA NOW UNDERSTANDS THAT WASHINGTON IS NOW BROKEN AND WE'RE GOING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

John McCain came in second with 30 percent of the vote, followed by
Mike Huckabee with 16 percent, and Ron Paul with 6 percent.
Republicans now turn to South Carolina where that state's Republicans
head to the polls Saturday.

Hillary Clinton won the democratic primary in Michigan with 55% of the
vote, but will win no nominating votes from the state--the Democratic
party had punished Michigan for moving its primary too early by taking
away its delegates. Only Dennis Kucinich campaigned there—he won 4% of the vote.

Most democratic candidates focused their attention on Nevada, which
caucuses Saturday. Last night, all but two participated in a televised
debate in Las Vegas. Representative Dennis Kucinich was once again
excluded. NBC, which produced the debates, said Kucinich didn't meet
viability requirements. A flurry of court activity yesterday failed to
override NBC's decision.

The three candidates who did participate discussed their positions on
Iraq, giving some specifics on how they plan to deal with it. FSRN's
Leigh Ann Caldwell has more.

Senate Committee Explores the R-Word

A joint Senate economic committee held hearings today to see what the
federal government can do to stimulate the economy. Members of the
committee described the nation as "teetering on the brink of a
recession." FSRN's Karen Miller has more