FSRN Weekly Edition — February 27, 2015
FCC Approves Net Neutrality Rules The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 on Thursday to approve the strongest net neutrality protections in the agency’s history, reclassifying broadband internet as a public utility under Title II of the Communications Act. The rules bar internet service providers from blocking or slowing…
Syria: Fighting Over Territory Blocks Access to Vital Medicine and Health Services
As Syrian government forces backed by Russian airstrikes pushed to cut off rebel-held territory north of Aleppo this year, they severed something beyond a supply route — the last practical way thousands of civilians had to reach a functioning hospital. A Siege Measured in Blocked Roads, Not Just…
South Sudan’s Growing Refugee Problem: Thousands Flee Border Violence
Akech Garang hasn’t seen her two daughters since the night fighting broke out in South Sudan. “It was about 3 a.m. We were trying to escape. We were walking and running. There were too many people fleeing. At first, we moved together but then they disappeared. I lost…
Military Trial of Bradley Manning Begins, Raising Secrecy Issues
Bradley Manning’s court-martial opened at Fort Meade this week, more than three years after his arrest — and press freedom advocates say the trial’s own procedural secrecy has become nearly as significant a story as the leak case at its center. A Trial Three Years in the Making…
House Passes $1.1 Trillion CR/Omnibus Bill to Partially Fund Federal Government
The House narrowly passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill Thursday night, averting a government shutdown just hours before the midnight deadline — but only after a last-minute revolt from within the Democratic Party nearly sank the deal entirely. A Bill With a Deliberately Split Purpose The legislation, quickly…
France’s Aerial Attacks in Mali Expand, Aid Groups Warn of Risks to Civilians
French warplanes have expanded their bombing campaign deeper into northern Mali this week, pushing toward Islamist-held strongholds in Gao and Timbuktu — an escalation that has humanitarian organizations warning of a growing risk to civilians caught between advancing French-Malian forces and retreating militant fighters. An Intervention That Began…
Nationwide Marches in Mexico Demand Answers in Case of Missing Students and Mass Graves
Thousands marched through Mexico City and cities across the country today, demanding the government explain what actually happened to 43 students who vanished nearly two weeks ago — a case that has grown only more disturbing since a mass grave was discovered outside the city where they were…
China Protests on Environmental Problems Get Louder Despite Government Obstacles
Three times in the span of a few months this year, thousands of Chinese citizens have taken to the streets over industrial projects they fear will poison their air, water, and land — and three times, local governments have backed down and scrapped the projects rather than risk…
Activists Crash Pharmaceutical Giant’s Symposium at International AIDS Conference
A satellite symposium hosted by a major pharmaceutical company at this year’s International AIDS Conference was interrupted by activists demanding the company drop patent barriers keeping life-saving antiretroviral drugs unaffordable across the developing world. A Tactic Born of Frustration With Official Channels Direct disruption of pharmaceutical industry sessions…
Activists, Lawyers Call for Transparency in U.S. Funding of Egyptian Military
As the State Department prepares to decide whether Egypt’s military-backed government has earned the release of suspended U.S. aid, human rights advocates are pressing officials not to look away from a crackdown they say has only intensified since the country’s 2013 coup. A Certification Process With Real Money…
