Now President of Cuba, Raul Castro with President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela earlier this year.

• Kurdish-American Community Protest Turkey's Invasion of Northern Iraq
• Veterans Affairs Undersecretary for Benefits Resigns
• Police Arrive en Masse to Break Up Protest at Miami High School
• Low-Income Americans Losing Opportunities to Register to Vote
• The New Face of the Cuban Government Begins Work
• LA Eco-Village Fights School District over Plans to Raze Housing

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Kurdish-American Community Protest Turkey's Invasion of Northern Iraq

In Washington DC, about 4-dozen people from the Kurdish American community, many of whom have family in Kurdistan, protested Turkey's invasion of Northern Iraq.

(sound clip) ambiance: Peace Now War No

They delivered petitions to the State Department, intended for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The letters express opposition to and disappointment with the US's support of Turkey's use of military force against the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. Ismial Sindi's relatives live on the border of Turkey and Kurdistan.

(sound clip) "We are helping each other when we changed the Iraq regime so we want the United States to stay with the Kurdish because we help the United States."

Sharif Behrez says Turkey is violating Iraq's sovereignty.

(sound clip) "It's territory should not be violated but also because the Kurds have been able to put together a peaceful and stable region and the Turkish invasion de-stabilizes the region and Iraq as a whole."

The activists also sent letters to members of Congress, urging the US to change their policy and advocate for diplomacy. The Government of Turkey has said all Turkish troops would be out of Northern Iraq by this morning. But denies that that decision was in any way influenced by the United States.

Veterans Affairs Undersecretary for Benefits Resigns

Another high-ranking Bush Administration official has resigned. The Department of Veterans Affairs Undersecretary for Benefits, Daniel Cooper quit amid mounting criticism over a backlog of disability claims for injured veterans. Reportedly, the backlog runs six months long. Cooper also made an appearance in a fundraising video for an evangelical Christian organization where he said Bible study was more important than doing his job. Aaron Glantz has more.

Police Arrive en Masse to Break Up Protest at Miami High School

This afternoon in Miami, Florida nearly 70 police cars were dispatched to Miami Edison Senior High School to break up what is being called a riot, a brawl or a peaceful walk-out protest – depending on your news source. Dozens of students were taken away in handcuffs.

To get a sense of the situation on the ground, I spoke with Max Rameau of Cop Watch Miami. He has been in contact with sources at the High School. I asked him to explain the situation that led up to today's events.

(sound clip)

That was Max Rameau of Cop Watch Miami.

Low-Income Americans Losing Opportunities to Register to Vote

A new study by two voting rights watchdog groups shows that many states are failing to provide low-income people the opportunity to register to vote. The study says this is disenfranchising millions of US citizens. In Ohio for instance, which votes in the presidential primaries next Tuesday, 100-hundred thousand people were registered in Welfare offices in 1995. By 2005, that number had decreased dramatically to 40,000 people. Yanmei Xie has the story.

The New Face of the Cuban Government Begins Work

Cubans are witnessing historic change in their country's government. Following Fidel Castro's announcement that he would not seek re-election as president, the Cuban National Assembly elected the powerful, 31-member, Council of State to take his place. And one of the first international acts by the Council has been to sign two United Nations human rights pacts – a move Fidel Castro resisted for over 30 years. From Havana, Juan Jacobson takes a look at the new government of Cuba

LA Eco-Village Fights School District over Plans to Raze Housing

The Los Angeles Eco-Village Intentional Community has been fighting plans by the Los Angeles Unified School District to demolish residential buildings in their neighborhood. The School District wants to build a new elementary school on the site of affordable Eco-Village housing. The Village is a U.S. Green Building Council Neighborhood Development pilot program.

But the tide may be turning for the environmentally conscious community. At a third public meeting last night, the School District presented an alternative to the demolition. Dan Fritz attended that meeting and files this report from Pacifica station KPFK in Los Angeles.