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> Wed., Feb. 26, 2003
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Agent Orange in Supreme Court
Jeb Bush Boots Death Row Appeals
Press Corps. Laugh at Ari
War Will Mean Humanitarian Crisis
One Year Anniversary of Gujarat Killings
Oil Series: Nigeria
Agent Orange in Supreme Court (3:16)
The Supreme Court this morning heard an appeal brought by
the manufacturers of Agent Orange, the notorious cocktail
of herbicides the US government used in the early 1970's to
defoliate the jungles of Vietnam. Dow Chemical, Monsanto,
and others argue they've already settled a class action lawsuit
brought by Vietnam veterans harmed by Agent Orange exposure,
and that they shouldn't have to pay any more. Josh Chaffin
reports from the Supreme Court
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Jeb Bush Boots Death Row Appeals (3:31)
Florida Death Row inmate Amos King is scheduled to die by
lethal injection today. It is his sixth scheduled execution
date during the last 26 years he has spent on death row. Although
Florida has the country's third largest death row population-
behind California and Texas, it also has the most men that
have been exonerated. Earlier this month, the attorneys who
handle death penalty cases were surprised when Florida Governor
Jeb Bush said he wants to dismantle their agency, Sally Watt
has more from St. Petersberg.
[top]
Press Corps. Laugh at Ari
The Turkish Government has sent its parliament a motion
to permit 62,000 US troops to be deployed in Turkey for six
months. The US has been pressuring Turkey to allow it to use
the country for its likely war on Iraq, and on top of stationing
troops in Turkey, the deal would also grant the US permission
to base up to 255 aeroplanes and 65 helicopters in the country
for use against Iraq. In return Turkey has been holding out
for a multi-billion dollar aid package. Meanwhile, it seems
even the White House Press Corp is growing cynical of the
US motives for war. At a White House Press Briefing yesterday
after a Mexican reporter asked what Mexico might get in return
from President Vicente Fox’s vote on the side of the
US at the Security Council, Press Secretary Ari Fleischer
first denied that any country could be bought by the US. A
French reporter followed up. The White house press corp. continued
to laugh as Fleischer left the room.
[top]
War Will Mean Humanitarian Crisis (4:01)
Meanwhile humanitarian relief agencies warn a US-led war
on Iraq would provoke a massive flow of Iraqi refugees into
neighboring countries. In Jordan, where between 100 000 and
300 000 Iraqis fled during the 1991 US led Gulf War, the Jordanian
government says it does not intend to allow Iraqi refugees
to set-up camps on its border. Raphael Krafft reports from
Amman, Jordan.
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One Year Anniversary of Gujarat Killings
(4:17)
One year ago the western Indian state of Gujarat was torn
apart by unprecedented Hindu-Muslim violence. More than 2000
Muslims were butchered across the state as Hindu mobs took
revenge for the massacre of dozens of Hindus on a train in
the town of Godhra. Over a hundred thousand people were displaced
as town after town was burnt and security forces stood by
in the face of what many have described as anti-Muslim pogroms.
State chief minister Narender Modi remains unrepentant about
what he called legitimate Hindu anger and went on to win another
5-year term, despite calls for the dismissal of his government
and his own arrest. One year on, justice is still to be done
for the victims of the carnage and the specter of Gujarat
looms high as the country heads into election mode and the
Hindu extreme right continues to up the ante. But Gujarat
was also a wake-up call for secular and progressive forces
in India and initiatives are underway across the country to
pre-empt another Gujarat. Sputnik Kilambi reports in this
two-part program.
[top]
Oil Series: Nigeria (4:17)
As we continue our February special series examining oil
around the world, today we look at the significant negative
social and cultural impacts the foreign oil industry has on
many indigenous communities, especially in Africa. Nigeria
correspondent Sam Olukoya traveled to an oil rich island on
the Nigerian coast to see how the presence of hundreds of
foreign oil workers is changing the lives of local girls for
the worse.
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