09 Jul 2009: Today's Democracy Now!

In Rare U.S. Broadcast, Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya Discusses Coup, Costa Rica Talks, U.S. Role and More
Talks between the ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and the leaders of last week’s military coup begin today in Costa Rica. Shortly before leaving Washington DC for Costa Rica, Zelaya sat down with us for a rare U.S. television interview. He discusses how military coup forces forced him out, the upcoming talks in Costa Rica, his domestic policies in Honduras, the role of the United States and more.[includes rush transcript]

Report From Urumqi: Thousands of Chinese Troops Enter City Torn by Ethnic Clashes
Thousands of Chinese troops have flooded into the regional capital of the country’s western-most Xinjiang province following bloody clashes between the city’s Han Chinese and Uighur populations. Four days after the violence that left at least 150 dead and over a thousand injured, reports indicate an unsteady calm has returned to the city of Urumqi. We go to Urumqi to speak with Al Jazeera English correspondent Melissa Chan.[includes rush transcript]

Stella D'Oro Workers End 11-Month Strike After NLRB Victory, But Owner Threatens to Close Factory
More than than 130 workers at the Stella D’Oro Biscuit Company in the Bronx have ended an 11-month strike. The employees walked off the job last August after company officials tried to force them to accept a 20% pay cut, elimination of sick days and overtime and other cutbacks. The workers returned to their jobs a week after the National Labor Relations Board ordered the company to reinstate and pay back wages to the striking workers. The company’s owner – the Connecticut-based private equity fund Brynwood Partners–is now threatening to close the factory within 90 days.

Obama's War: Thousands of Marines Battle in Helmand in Major U.S. Offensive
In Afghanistan, a powerful truck bomb killed at least 25 people today, including up to 16 schoolchildren, in a province just south of Kabul. The latest bloodshed coincided with a major American military offensive in Helmand province in the south. US forces last week launched what’s being described as the largest Marine offensive since the Vietnam War. Some 4,000 Marines and hundreds of Afghan troops are targeting areas in the Helmand River Valley to wrest it from Taliban control. We go to Kabul to speak with Wall Street Journal journalist, Anand Gopal.

U.S. Drones Kill 45 in Pakistan
50 Killed in Iraq Bombings
25 Die in Afghan Bombings
Mullen Foresees “Long Relationship” With Afghanistan
U.S. Awards Lucrative 5-Year Military Contracts in Afghanistan
G8 Fails to Agree on Emissions Cuts
Zelaya Calls for Coup Regime’s Departure
Chinese Troops Threaten Uighurs in Xinjiang
Panetta Admits CIA Has “Misled” Congress
Obama Threatens Intelligence Bill Veto to Prevent Widening Briefings
Massachusetts Challenges Federal Gay Marriage Ban
Charges Dropped Against 4 Members of “San Francisco 8”