• Weekly Political news Roundup
• Taiwan Election Preview
• Critics Say DNA Swapping Infringes on Civil Liberties
• Nation's Largest Redevelopment Proposal Threatens to Displace 6,000 Residents

13 Meg Version Click Here
Dial-Up Listeners Click Here

Weekly Political news Roundup

The State Department comes under fire as it reveals that passport records of Senators Barack Obama, John McCain and Hillary Clinton were all accessed without authorization within the past year. Although the investigation is ongoing, two of the persons involved have been fired. In more campaign news, New Mexico's governor Bill Richardson formally endorsed Barack Obama at a rally in Oregon today. Richardson said Obama started a discussion on race within the nation that "was long overdue". FSRN's Katharine Jarmul has more in this week's political news round-up.

Taiwan Election Preview

Presidential elections will be held in Taiwan Saturday. After eight years of ruling by the Democratic Progressive Party, the nationalist party was set to take up the lead. But the unrest in Tibet has marked the last days of campaigning, making the outcome uncertain. FSRN's Severine Bardon reports from Taipei.

Critics Say DNA Swapping Infringes on Civil Liberties

In the latest wave of trans-Atlantic security measures, the United States and Germany have agreed to share data like fingerprints and DNA in what they say is a move to prevent terrorist attacks and to combat organized crime. In international criminal investigations, data is currently shared on a case-by-case basis by official legal request. Under the new system of data exchange, each country can send fingerprints to be cross-referenced with the other's database. If there's a match or "hit", the querying country must then make a legal request for further identifying data. But this latest agreement has again provoked debate about personal privacy and infringement of civil liberties in the face of heightened surveillance. Cinnamon Nippard has more from Berlin.

Nation's Largest Redevelopment Proposal Threatens to Displace 6,000 Residents

The private investment firm Fifteen Group's proposal for the nation's largest redevelopment project – which threatens to displace some 6,000 mostly Latino residents – is in the works in the Boyle Heights neighborhood, just east of downtown LA. Some 300 residents gathered this week in what they call "The Mall", a large grassy field that is central to the complex, to inform themselves about the developer's plans and to strategize how to move forward. Nico Aviña has the story.