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> Wed., Feb. 19, 2003
FSRN
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Today's lead stories:
Bolivian Cabinet Resigns
Israeli Army Kills 11 in Gaza
Oil Series: Jordan's Dormant Pipelines
Weapons Inspections in Arizona
Juvenile Justice in DC
Bolivian Cabinet Resigns
The Bolivian President's 18-member cabinet resigned today
after a week of protests capped off by a march yesterday where
tens of thousands again took to the streets angry at President
Sanchez de Lozada's adherence to IMF economic austerity plans.
The IMF recommended Bolivia create a new tax on salaries so
the country would able to pay the interests on its external
debt. The past week has seen massive demonstrations, a police
strike, riots, official buildings burned, attacks on private
property, looting, and retaliatory state repression. The army
has been blamed for killing 32 people and wounding 150. Tomas
Moreno and Sebastian Hatcher report from the streets of La
Paz, Bolivia. Reading is Jim Bennet of KPFA.
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Israeli Army Kills 11 in Gaza
40 Israeli tanks joined by armored personnel carriers rolled
into Gaza for the second time in 2 days leading to the highest
death toll since Jan 26th when 12 Palestinians were killed
in another neighborhood of Gaza City. In yesterday's incursion
11 Palestinians died and twenty more were wounded. The Israeli
military also cut the electricity supply to Gaza City, home
to at least 300,000 Palestinians. Irris Makler has more from
Gaza.
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Oil Series: Jordan's Dormant Pipelines
As we continue our special series on FSRN looking at Oil
and Imperialism, today we take a look at the country of Jordan
where many oil pipelines lie dormant, an under reported fact
that FSRN reporter Aaron Glantz who has been investigating
oil in the region says is very convenient as the US pushes
for war on Iraq.
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Weapons Inspections in Arizona
During a phone conversation today, Chinese President Jiang
Zemin and Russian leader Vladimir Putin reinforced that the
UN Weapons inspections should continue and that the international
community should continue to make efforts towards solving
the Iraq issue through diplomacy and within the UN Framework.
Meanwhile 8 weapons inspectors were arrested at the gates
of the Raytheon artillery plant in Tucson, Arizona last week
and charged with trespassing as they attempted to inspect
the facility. Evan Davis reports from Tucson.
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Juvenile Justice in DC
Issues of juvenile justice are currently being debated in
many states around the country. In Florida, State senators
are trying to decide if they will cut funding from juvenile
justice programs to the tune of $4 billion dollars, while
in South Carolina, the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday
approved the confirmation of William Byars as head of the
state Department of Juvenile Justice. Byars says he wants
the agency to concentrate on keeping offenders out of the
state's juvenile prisons. And in Washington DC, where for
more than 16 years, the juvenile justice system has been the
subject of countless lawsuits and public outrage juvenile
justice advocates are stepping up their struggle for reform.
Last year, a junior high school student was strip-searched
during a school-sponsored tour of the jail, and a 12-year-old
girl was sexually assaulted at the Oak Hill juvenile detention
facility. Despite the work of juvenile justice advocates,
and the recommendations of the Mayor's juvenile justice commission,
there has been little reform. A new generation of social justice
activists believe that only by mobilizing the young people
impacted by the system, will real change occur. Ingrid Drake
reports.
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