• California High Court Says Doctors Can't Discriminate
• Kosovo Independence Moves Forward
• Kashmiris Demand Independence
• Refugee Camps In South Africa Remain Open For Now
• Census Data Unsed to Identify Sex Workers in Nigeria
• Japan Seeks Warrants For Anti-Whaling Activists

Click here for newscast for Monday, August 18, 2008

California High Court Says Doctors Can't Discriminate

California's Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that doctors cannot withhold care to gays and lesbians based on their religious beliefs. The plaintiff in the case says a private fertility clinic refused to inseminate her because of her sexual orientation. California’s High Court said that the state’s civil rights law barring sexual orientation discrimination extends to medical care.

Kosovo Independence Moves Forward
Today in Pristina the UN and EU missions in Kosovo signed a memo of understanding transferring power in justice, police and customs matters to the EU.  Alexandra Spasov reports from Belgrade. 

Besides clarifying EULEX's role in Kosovo during the period of UNMIK re-configuration, the memorandum covers technical details such as space, cars and equipment. The plan is opposed by both Serbia and Russia, and has split the UN Security Council.   Serbia has submitted a request for the UN General Assembly to debate Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence and asked the International Court of Justice to weigh in on the matter.  Meanwhile, EU staff – including a 2,200 member police force – continue to arrive in Kosovo and are expected to be fully operational by September. For Free Speech Radio News – I'm Alexsandra Spasov in Belgrade.

Kashmiris Demand Independence
Asking “If freedom for Kosovo, why not for Kashmir?” demonstrators demanded the United Nations recognize the Himalayan region's right to self-determination. Shahnawaz Khan reports from Srinagar.

Chanting pro freedom and anti-India slogans, some two hundred thousand Muslims assembled in the city centre.  They had planned to submit a memorandum to the UN at its military observer office in Srinagar, but police prevented the march. However smaller groups of protesters including members of Kashmir High Court Bar Association managed to sneak to the UN office and present the memorandum at the gates. The document asked for UN intervention in Kashmir and demanded a referendum as promised by UN Security Council resolution 1948. The Kashmiri separatists who organized the rally said they will ask members of the Kashmiri diaspora now in the West to deliver their memo to the International body. Huge pro freedom demonstrations have returned to Kashmir since controversy over a forestland transfer to a Hindu Shrine erupted in June. An anti India armed insurgency stirred a popular uprising in Indian administered Kashmir in 1989. For FSRN, I’m Shahnawaz Khan in Srinagar.

Refugee Camps In South Africa Remain Open For Now
Refugees in the Guateng province of South Africa now must wait until tomorrow to find out the fate of their temporary homes. Six refugee camps housing foreign nationals displaced by xenophobic violence were scheduled to close last Friday.  But three refugees and an advocacy group are challenging the closures in South Africa’s Constitutional Court.   They say the government has done nothing to help them reintegrate into the communities that turned on them and they have nowhere to go.   Today, the Court in Johannesburg recommended mediation and gave representatives for the displaced, the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa and the government until 10 AM tomorrow to come up with a solution.

Census Data Unsed to Identify Sex Workers in Nigeria
The BBC reports that Islamic authorities in one Nigerian city are rounding up sex workers identified by the Red Cross in a census. But a local commissioner says no arrests have been made and authorities were merely "supervising" against illicit acts. The Red Cross gathered data on female sex workers in an attempt to address the spread of HIV. Several of Nigeria's Muslim majority northern states introduced Sharia law starting in 2000 resulting in clashes between rival groups.

Japan Seeks Warrants For Anti-Whaling Activists
Japanese authorities are seeking international arrest warrants for three Western anti-whaling activists. They are accused of trying to interfere with whaling expedition in the Antarctic Ocean. The three –  two from the US and one from Britain -- are members of the Sea Shepherd group suspected of throwing warning flares into a Japanese whaling vessel last year. Japan claims that the activists rammed a whaling ship and dumped a foul smelling rancid butter acid causing minor injuries to crew members.