FSRN Weekly Edition – September 2, 2016

• White House names emergency board to take over Puerto Rico’s finances
• Brazil’s Senate confirms ouster of Dilma Rousseff
• Trump meets with Mexican president ahead of immigration speech in Arizona
• Mexico’s Federal Police chief fired after report on extrajudicial killings
• Dozens of Dakota Access pipeline protesters arrested in N. Dakota and Iowa
• Florida voters approve expanded tax breaks on solar energy equipment
• California passes bill raising farm worker overtime pay to match other industries
• Overturned burkini ban anecdotal of growing racism, Islamophobia in France
• Ukrainian nationalist hackers blamed for leaking personal information of journalists

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White House names emergency board to take over Puerto Rico’s finances

After a long wait for Puerto Rico, the White House has named an emergency management board to take over the territory’s finances with the stated aim of ending its debt crisis. Amid Puerto Rico’s electoral campaign season, protesters say the seven appointed officials who will now decide the fate of public spending and related services will wield more power than their elected representatives. From San Juan, Ezequiel Rodriguez Andino reports.

Brazil’s Senate confirms impeachment of Dilma Rousseff

The South American nations of Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela have recalled their ambassadors to Brazil after the country’s Senate permanently removed  suspended president Dilma Rousseff from office this week. The now-ousted president has filed an appeal to the country’s Supreme Court to overturn the outcome of her impeachment and force a retrial. Sam Cowie reports from São Paulo.

Trump meets with Mexican president ahead of immigration speech in Arizona

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump traveled to Mexico Wednesday to meet with the president ahead of delivering a speech on immigration. The hastily-announced trip  prompted a tsunami of outrage south of the border; both at the visit by the candidate who has called Mexicans “criminals” and “rapists” and at  Mexican President Peña Nieto for extending the invitation. Nell Abram has more.

Mexico’s Federal Police chief fired after report on extrajudicial killings

Public bewilderment over Peña Nieto’s meeting with Trump dominated media coverage in Mexico this week, eclipsing news of yet another human rights scandal and the firing of the country’s Federal Police chief. Shannon Young reports.

Dozens of Dakota Access pipeline protesters arrested in N. Dakota and Iowa

Protests against the construction of an oil pipeline connecting the Bakken Oil fields on the northern U.S. border to refineries along the Gulf Coast of Texas are growing. Eight people were arrested near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation this week, and another 30 in Iowa. Nell Abram has the details.

Florida voters approve expanded tax breaks on solar energy equipment

Meanwhile, some voters are showing support for renewable energy initiatives. This week, the Florida electorate approved a measure to add a tax break for solar energy to the state’s constitution. If the measure becomes law, it could encourage businesses to add rooftop solar in the Sunshine State. FSRN’s Sean Kinane has more.

California passes bill raising farm worker overtime pay to match other industries

A bill passed Monday in California would make the state the first in the country to provide agriculture workers the same levels of overtime pay as laborers in other sectors. The Governor has 12 days from the date of passage to either sign, veto or simply allow the bill to become law without his stamp of approval. If enacted, FSRN’s Lena Nozizwe reports it could mean pay raises for more than a quarter of a million farm workers around the state.

Overturned burkini ban anecdotal of growing racism, Islamophobia in France

A judge in the French Riviera ruled Thursday that a ban on burkinis on beaches in the coastal city of Nice is illegal. It was on a Nice beach that police recently ordered a woman to remove her full body swimwear. The court’s ruling echoes the country’s top administrative body, which tossed out burkini bans across the country last week. But the topic of women’s religious clothing and their freedom to wear it has  become a central theme in the political sphere in the country that is growing increasingly intolerant of Islam.  FSRN’s Khaled Sid Mohand has more from Paris.

Ukrainian nationalist hackers blamed for leaking personal information of journalists

With constant ceasefire violations occurring on its eastern borders and a tanking economy nationwide, Ukrainian journalists should have their hands full. But many of them, as well as foreign correspondents, have recently found Ukrainian nationalist hackers are leaking their private details.

Journalists not toeing the government’s line are targeted by internet bots and trolls, and many say that’s with the blessing of Ukraine’s secret service and a number of prominent government officials. As a result, a stifling atmosphere lingers over the country’s media landscape. Fil Warwick reports from Kiev.