Democracy Now! Thursday, June 26, 2008

Today's Headlines

• U.S. Attacks Kill 8 Iraqis, Including Family
• Supreme Court Cuts Exxon Damages for Alaska Oil Spill
• Justices End Executions for Child Rape
• Internal Probe Faults Security Gaps at U.S. Nuclear Sites
• Amnesty International Erects Gitmo Cell on National Mall
• Canadian Judge: U.S. Treatment of Khadr Amounts to Torture
• Judge: NSA Not Compelled to Disclose Spying on Gitmo Attorneys
• Senate Begins Debate on FISA Bill
• Obama, Clinton to Hold Joint Rally
• South Koreans Protest as U.S. Beef Imports Set to Resume
• Mandela Criticizes Mugabe on Political Crisis
• Cuba Approves Lung Cancer Vaccine
• U.S. Mayors Call for Shunning Bottled Water
• Countrywide Shareholders Approve Bank of America Deal
• Intelligence Estimate Warns on Global Warming

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  Supreme Court Slashes Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Fine to One-Tenth of Original $5 Billion Ruling

  The Supreme Court handed corporate America a major victory this week when it sharply reduced the amount of money Exxon Mobil has to pay in punitive damages for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. An Alaskan jury had initially ruled Exxon should pay five billion dollars in punitive damages but in 2006, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court cut the award of punitive damages in half. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court cut the amount of punitive damages again and ordered Exxon Mobil to pay just $500 million in punitive damages – one tenth of the original jury’s ruling.

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  Haditha Massacre Victims' Kin Outraged as U.S. Marines Go Free

  A U.S. military judge last week dismissed charges against another Marine connected to the massacre of twenty-four unarmed Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha. Of the eight Marines originally charged in the case, only one still faces prosecution. Criminal charges have been dismissed against six of the Marines and a seventh Marine was acquitted. We speak with McClatchy’s Baghdad bureau chief, Leila Fadel, who recently traveled to Haditha to interview survivors of the massacre.

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  Zimbabwe and the Question of Imperialism: A Discussion

  In Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe has come under widespread criticism for refusing to cancel a run-off election scheduled for Friday. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the first round of elections in March but withdrew from the run-off late last week. He has sought refuge in the Dutch embassy in Harare out of what he says is concern for his life. We host a discussion on Zimbabwe with University of Houston Professor, Gerald Horne, author of “From the Barrel of a Gun: The United States and the War Against Zimbabwe, 1965-1980” and Syracuse University University Professor, Horace Campbell, his latest article is titled, “Pan-Africanists: Our collective duty to Zimbabwe.”