• What Musharraf's Resignation May Mean for Pakistanis
• Pakistanis in Peshawar React to Musharraf's Resignation
• More on Blackwater's Legal Limbo over Killing of 17 Iraqi Civilians
• New York's Resolution to Defederalize National Guard
• Mogadishu Water's Woes

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What Musharraf's Resignation May Mean for Pakistanis

News of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's resignation has resulted in widespread celebration in Pakistan – stirring some hope of stability in the country. Musharraf came to power in 1999 after a bloodless coup, but has faced constant opposition from a coalition of competing factions since. Pakistan's constitution calls for the Chairman of the Parliament to assume power for 30 days after which a new president is to be elected, which may prove to be a tremendous obstacle: the two main opposition leaders are rivals themselves, one is Benazir Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari, the other is former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Shahid Mahmood is an internationally syndicated cartoonist – he comments on the upcoming struggle between Sharif and Zardari.

Pakistanis in Peshawar React to Musharraf's Resignation

Word of Musharaff's resignation has been most welcomed in the streets in the Northwest frontier province of Pakistan. Students in Peshwar distributed sweets and danced on public roads – and at the madrassas, students and Taliban prayed in mosques. For FSRN'S street beat, Mudassar Shah complied public response to the resignation.

More on Blackwater's Legal Limbo over Killing of 17 Iraqi Civilians

The Justice Department is moving a step closer to prosecuting several Blackwater private security guards involved in the shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians last year. The DOJ recently sent letters to six of the contractors, providing them the opportunity to give their own version of what took place – the information will be reviewed by a grand jury, which will later decide whether to indict. Legal questions remain however on whether or not these contractors can be prosecuted at all. FSRN Karen Miller takes a look at some of the legal wrangling around this case and others like it.

New York's Resolution to Defederalize National Guard

With a new front of tension developing between Russia and the United States in the Caucuses, New York State Senators joined anti-war activists to announce a resolution to bring the state's National Guard home.  They join 8 other states in a resurgence of anti-war activism in a national campaign to press for the end of the occupation in Iraq and to stop future deployments by the National Guard. Free Speech Radio News correspondent Rebecca Myles reports from New York.

Mogadishu Water's Woes

World Water Week began in Stockholm today, bringing together scientists, elected officials and NGOs to tackle the growing global water crisis and develop water policy and management initiatives. This year, the conference is focusing on sanitation, health, and hygiene.  More than two-and-a-half billion people lack adequate sanitation, affecting human and environmental health, according to the World Water Week website. And in many places, wastewater isn't being treated properly, leaving people with dirty water to drink and use for food crops. To examine the water crisis in detail, today FSRN takes you to Somalia, where water's been an issue since the Central government collapsed with the fall of Siad Barre's government in 1991. In the long years since, pipes, reservoirs and water treatment plants in south and central Somalia have been extensively vandalized. Mogadishu's residents have devised their own informal water distribution systems, but it may not be enough.  Abdurrahman Warsameh reports.