• EPA Creates New Air Quality Standards
• Mexico Judicial Reform Treats Social Protest at Criminal Activity
• Armenia Fights to End Effective Blockade
• Congress Commemorates Iraq War Anniversary, While Winter Soldier Begins
• Iraqi Refugees in Syria

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• Justice Dept Report Finds National Security Letter Abuse by FBI
  
• Pentagon Backtracks on Publicly Releasing Report Finding No Ties Between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda
• Sudan-Chad Peace Agreement Stalled in Senegal
• Rebel Pipelines Discovered in Niger Delta
• Gitmo Detainee Outburst Delays Tribunals

While Congress memorialized the war, veterans from across the country have convened in the area to hold an event exposing the horrors of war. The event, Winter Soldier, is reminiscent of the Vietnam War action with the same name in which soldiers publicly spoke about war atrocities.  This war's four day long Winter Soldier begins today. Live coverage begins tomorrow on Pacifica Radio – go to www.warcomeshome.org for more information.

The Environmental Protection Agency is under fire from Congress for failing to move forward on regulating greenhouse emissions from motor vehicles. The head of the EPA, Stephen Johnson, told Congress that he needs more time to think about the complexity of the issue. This comes as the EPA enacted ozone air-pollution standards that many scientists and environmentalists say are weak.  FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.

The war in Iraq has caused an estimated 2.5 million Iraqis to flee their homeland. One point five million of those refugees are now living in Syria. The head of the UN's refugee agency said the Iraqis in Syria are running out of money and options. The United Nations says if the international community doesn't provide enough relief support, many Iraqi refugees could try to move to European Union nations. Zack Baddorf has more from Damascus.

The Caucasus region is the gateway to Central Asia's rich oil and gas deposits. Following the collapse of the USSR, a series of conflicts left the small republic of Armenia isolated by hostile neighbors on nearly all sides. A railway construction project – potentially vital to the region's transportation and economy – linking Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia pointedly left Armenia out. Garegin Khumaryan reports from Yerevan on a rival project that aims to break the blockade.

US ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza has congratulated Mexican president Felipe Calderón for yesterday's arrest of one of the FBI and DEA's most wanted drug traffickers. According to the embassy, the arrest of Gustavo Rivera Martinez, head of the Tijuana cartel, demonstrates the effectiveness of the newly reformed prosecution policies within Mexico's law enforcement system. While framed as a measure to crackdown on organized crime, the judicial reform package has also drawn criticism from sectors of society who say the reforms confuse social protest with criminal activity. FSRN's Vladimir Flores reports from Oaxaca.