• SOFA Agreement Receives Final Approval
• Canada Suspends Parliament to Stave off Political Ouster
• Unemployment Up; AT&T Announces Job Cuts
• Argentina Moves to Nationalize Airline
• Anti-Morales Killings in Bolivia Declared a "Massacre"
• Cholera Outbreak Leads to State of Emergency in Zimbabwe

SOFA Agreement Receives Final Approval
The Status of Arms agreement, or SOFA, received final approval today when the Iraqi presidential council signed off on the security pact.  The highly contentious deal provides the ground rules for US forces in Iraq.  Under the agreement, US troops will leave Iraq by the end of 2011.  The passage of SOFA comes as a suicide bomber in Mosul killed two US soldiers and injured several civilians.  And in Fallujah, two suicide truck bombs exploded near a police station and school, killing at least 15 and wounding nearly 150.

Canada Suspends Parliament to Stave off Political Ouster
Political turmoil continues in Canada's capital of Ottawa, less than 2 months after the last elections.  A vote of confidence was scheduled for next week, but PM Steven Harper today won a request to suspend Parliament until late January, securing his standing in the government – for now.  FSRN's Aaron Lakoff has more: And then add this note to the bottom of that story:

CORRECTION: FSRN incorrectly reported that Canadian Conservatives won a slim majority in the last Parliamentary elections.  Conservatives received a minority of votes and seats.

Unemployment Up; AT&T Announces Job Cuts
More dire economic news today in the United States: Unemployment rates are at a 26-year high of 6.5 percent.  Today, AT&T announced a 4-percent workforce reduction, that's 12-thousand jobs.

Argentina Moves to Nationalize Airline
And in Argentina, the government has unveiled an economic bailout plan. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said today that the government will inject 3.9 billion dollars to stimulate the South American nation's economy.  FSRN's Marie Trigona reports from Buenos Aires.
The 3.9 billion dollar stimulus plan will be injected into Argentina's auto, textile and meat packing industries to stave off further job losses in the midst of THE international financial crisis. Meanwhile, lawmakers approved a bill late yesterday to seize the nation's largest airline carrier. The vote is a step forward in the government's plans to take over Aerolineas Argentina – seizing the financially troubled airline from its private Spanish owners.  The government claims it wants to protect a public service.  The move will now have to be approved by the Senate before taking effect. Expropriation of private assets has become a pattern for President Cristina Kirchner's government. The airline decision follows the government's November move to nationalize private pension funds.  For Free Speech Radio News I'm Marie Trigona in Buenos Aires.

Anti-Morales Killings in Bolivia Declared a "Massacre"
The Union of South American Nations, UNASUR, haS released a report on the bloody events in the Bolivian region of Pando last September.  FSRN's Jorge Garretón has more.
UNASUR calls the September 11th killings of supporters of Bolivian President Evo Morales a massacre.  It places the blame squarely on the shoulders of the president's opponents - specifically the Prefect of Pando District Leopoldo Fernandez, who is currently under arrest facing charges of genocide.  The new report says the massacre was planned and organized with a clear command structure.  UNASUR says it has confirmed the killing of 20 pro-Morales peasants, but it does not discount that more deaths could have also occurred.  The report says two opposition supporters died in the violence as well.  The massacre in Bolivia followed the introduction of a new constitution that incorporates a native people's majority.  That constitution was opposed by the business and landed elite.  After the September violence, both sides agreed to accept the new constitution with the provision that President Morales does not run for reelection.  For FSRN this is Jorge Garretón in Santiago.

Cholera Outbreak Leads to State of Emergency in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe declared a state of emergency today in the face of a massive cholera outbreak.  The disease has already killed more than 550 people.  The United Nations says the rise in cholera cases is caused by – quote – "poor water and sanitation supply, a collapsed health system and limited government capacity to respond to the emergency."  Yesterday police broke up protests by health care workers in the capital Harare.  The workers are demanding government support in treating the outbreak.