Barack's Speech on Race in Philadelphia, PA 3/18/08

• Barack Obama Calls for Further Dialog on Race Issues
• US Supreme Court Examines Washington, DC Gun Laws
• Indian Government Criticized for its Support of China's Crackdown in Tibet
• US Pledges More Aide to Countries Housing Iraqi Refugees
• Despite Gains, Economists Still Fear Recession

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• El Paso City Council Denies Federal Government Access to Land for Border Wall
• Indigenous Protestors Sentenced in Canada for Opposing Mining Operation on Their Land
• Hundreds Displaced in Outbreak of Fighting Between Military and FARC in Colombia's Cauca Region
• Chadian Rebels Threaten Oil Infrastructure as EU Peacekeeping Mission Begins
• UAW Strike at American Axle Enters 4th Week

China's crackdown on protesters in Tibet continued today, entering its second week.  The Tibetan capitol has been under lockdown since Friday.  Today a Tibetan official announced that 100 protesters have voluntarily turned themselves in to the Chinese government.

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy is reporting that at least three protesters were shot dead this afternoon during a peaceful demonstration in eastern Tibet.  The center says Chinese troops fired indiscriminately on the crowd.

Barack Obama responded today to the political firestorm surrounding the religious leader at his Church. Videos of Reverend Jeremiah Wright of Trinity United Church of Christ, the largest African American church in Chicago, have surfaced on YouTube in which he made comments like 'Goddamn America'. In a speech given in Philadelphia, Obama spoke about race in America.

Stocks rallied today on news of better than expected results from the investment banks Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs. This news comes amid recent volatility in world markets sparked by the fall of one of the country's oldest investment banks, Bear Stearns. The US Federal Reserve also slashed interest rates today by three-quarters of a point.

Still, former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan says that the US is faced with the worst financial crisis since World War Two, and experts are worried that the economy is headed in to a recession.  Africa Jones reports.

For the first time in years, the Supreme Court is addressing the second amendment. The context is Washington DC, which has some of the strictest gun laws in the country.  The District prohibits handguns.  Today protesters on both sides of the issues rallied and debated outside the court while the nine Justices provided lively oral arguments inside.  FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.

Five years after the US and international occupation of Iraq, the suffering of Iraqi refugees continues as hosting countries say they have increasingly "burdened" their resources.  In response, the United States has pledged to increase its financial assistance to those countries to $208 million dollars - an increase of 37 million.  But that still may be enough.  Correspondent Oula Farawati attended the regional meeting of countries hosting Iraqi refugees in Jordan.