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> Tue., Feb. 4, 2003
FSRN
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Today's lead stories:
Powell to Address UN
No Nukes in Space
Inside the Bush Budget
AIDS in the Caribbean
US Companies Role in Venezuela
Powell to Address UN
US Secretary of State Colin Powell is at the United Nations
today, seeking support from the other 14 members of the Security
Council for a US-led war on Iraq. Powell is slated to give
a briefing to the Council tomorrow that is widely expected
to begin the countdown to war. President Bush promised in
his State of the Union speech last week that Powell would
present damning evidence of Iraq's determination to thwart
UN weapons inspections. Today Powell himself played down expectations,
saying there would be "no smoking gun." Skepticism
of the administration's case remains strong, with most countries
saying inspections must continue. Yet there is an increasing
sense that war is inevitable. Susan Wood reports from the
UN.
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No Nukes in Space
Today President Bush was at the Houston Space Center at
a memorial for the Columbia 7, the seven astronauts who were
killed when the Shuttle Columbia exploded on Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, international propulsion scientists and industrialists
are meeting in New Mexico to plan the next generation of nuclear-powered
space engines and other technologies. But protestors outside
that meeting are pointing to the crash of the space shuttle
Columbia as proof that nuclear material does not belong on
spacecraft. From Albuquerque, Joe Gardner Wessely reports
on the Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies Forum.
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Inside the Bush Budget
President George W. Bush yesterday sent Congress a US$2.23
trillion Budget for next year that would expand the military,
slash taxes for the rich and overhaul Government-subsidized
health care while literally breaking the bank with record
deficits. And the budget does not even include the cost of
a possible war with Iraq. Deepa Fernandes reports.
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AIDS in the Caribbean
Meanwhile, when President Bush tabled his Budget in Congress
yesterday, he included $15 billion dollars to be spent on
the global fight on AIDS, with areas of focus being Africa
and the Caribbean. While some Aids activists say this is nowhere
near enough money to fight the global pandemic, as Ian Forest
reports, activists in the Caribbean welcome the increase even
while it is unclear how much of the money will actually go
to them.
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US Companies Role in Venezuela
The Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez today rejected an opposition
call for a vote on a constitutional amendment to allow his
term to be cut short to send the country to early elections.
However, the government said it endorsed another plan - to
hold a binding referendum on Chavez's presidency in August
as per the constitution. Meanwhile, the re-opening yesterday
of most businesses across Venezuela after being shut down
for 2 months lead to many workers, who had been shut out of
their work places being able to return. Johnny Moreno and
Yajaira Hernandez file this report from Caracas where they
look at the role US multinationals played in the also shutting
up shoe and firing employees. The English translation is read
by Carlos Fabara.
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