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| Mon, 12/17/2007 - 17:09 |
WTO LAUNCHES PROBE INTO US SUBSIDIES
The World Trade Organization launched an investigation today into multi-billion dollar U.S. farm subsidies that Brazil and Canada say break international trading rules. The size of U.S. farm subsidies is a major battleground in the WTO's six-year-old Doha round talks on opening world trade. The probe of U.S. agricultural support for wheat, corn, rice and other crops comes three days after the U.S. Senate passed a $286 billion farm bill, following a similar bill from the House of Representatives in July. The White House has threatened to veto the bills, saying they failed to overhaul crop subsidy rules. The Canadian and Brazilian complaints to the WTO relate to whether U.S. support topped Washington's limit of $19.1 billion a year since 1999, except 2003, for the most trade-distorting support.
JAILBREAK IN INDIA
Nearly 300 prisoners broke free in a jailbreak in India's central state of Chattisgarh on Sunday. FSRN’s Bismillah Geelani reports.
SOMALI PRIME MINISTER SACKS CABINET
Somalia's new Prime Minister, Nur Hussan Hussein, has dissolved his cabinet in an attempt to unify an interim government bogged down by a power-sharing disagreement. Emmanuel Okella reports from neighboring Uganda.
DEMOCRATS SOFTEN STAND ON INTERNATIONAL REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Democrats are backing off their insistence that the 2008 foreign aid budget reverse President Bush's ban on providing aid to family planning groups abroad that offer abortions. A measure to ease restrictions on international aid was stripped over the weekend from a 500 billion-dollar government-wide spending bill, which includes some 35 billion dollars for the State Department and foreign aid programs. Congress is expected to pass the bill this week. Eliminating the provision allows Democrats to wrap up their long-unfinished budget work and go on vacation before Christmas.
HUNGER AND HOMELESS SURVEY RESULTS
The US conference of Mayors released its 2007 Survey on Hunger and Homeless today. The report looks at 23 major American cities and the efforts these cities are making to combat these issues in their communities. FSRN’s Karen Miller has more.
SENATORS THREATEN FCC
A bipartisan group of Senators on Monday threatened to override the Federal Communications Commission if the agency goes ahead with plans to loosen media ownership restrictions in an agency vote scheduled for Tuesday. The group of 25 senators said they wrote a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, warning that they would "move legislation to revoke the rule and nullify the vote" if the FCC goes ahead with a vote on media ownership rule changes.
