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> Thur., May. 22, 2003
FSRN
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Today's lead stories:
UN Overturn Iraq Sanctions
Corporate Crime Pays for MCI
Trying the US for Iraqi War Crimes?
Standardized Tests Under Fire
FCC Atlanta Hearing
UN Overturn Iraq Sanctions (4:32)
In a nearly unanimous vote, the United Nations security
council today approved a US-drafted resolution that recognizes
the US and Britain as occupying powers in Iraq and lifts the
nearly 13 year old economic sanctions, paving the way for
resumed oil exports under their control. Passage of the resolution
seemed assured after France, Russia and Germany announced
last night they would vote for it. These countries, which
opposed the US led invasion, had said that they wanted a lead
role for the UN in rebuilding Iraq, but, as Susan Wood reports
from the UN, a combination of pressure and incentives appears
to have won out for now.
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Corporate Crime Pays for MCI (3:13)
Today one of the nations largest accounting firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers,
has agreed to pay $1 million to settle charges of improper
professional conduct relating to an audit of a now-bankrupt
company. In other corporate crime news, the embattled telecom
giant WorldCom is looking less and less so every day. As punishment
for defrauding investors to the tune of eleven billion dollars,
the company has agreed to pay a fine that's worth about a
week's worth of its revenue. The company has a new name--MCI,
a new DC-area headquarters, and a 45 million dollar no-bid
contract from the Pentagon in Iraq. And as Josh Chaffin reports,
corporate crime watchers say MCI WorldCom is a symbol of what's
wrong with Wall Street.
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Trying the US for Iraqi War Crimes? (4:14)
British newspapers are reporting this week that a British
army officer is being investigated for war crimes against
Iraqi soldiers and civilians. Back in the US, a New Mexico
resident, Martha Dominguez is heading an ad hoc committee
filing suit against the US in international court for its
crimes against Iraqi citizens. The UN has received the complaint
and others like it. And, as KUNM's Leslie Clark reports, the
group is hopeful their voices will be heard:
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Standardized Tests Under Fire (3:41)
As the school year draws to an end, attention is being focused
on the controversial standardized testing mandated by the
No Child Left Behind Act. The Texas Board of Education recently
voted to reduce the number of questions that students must
answer correctly to pass the tests while the Maryland Board
of Education has not yet decided whether senior high school
students will need to pass the tests to graduate. And today,
in Florida, over 12,000 senior high school students protested
in front of the offices of Governor Jeb Bush in Miami to stop
high stakes testing in Florida, because High School Seniors,
many of them Black and Latino are in danger of not graduating
next month, as they failed to pass a battery of tests that
critics say is ruining Florida public education. Mitch Perry
reports from Tampa.
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FCC Atlanta Hearing (3:45)
According to a study released today some FCC commissioners
including the FCC's current chair, Michael Powell have received
financial compensation for travel from numerous broadcast
and other media entities over the last 8 years totaling a
cumulative 2.8 million dollars. Meanwhile last night in Atlanta
the last in a series of public hearings on the FCC's proposed
new round of media deregulation took place in Atlanta. Evan
Davis reports.
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