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> Fri., May. 30, 2003
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Israeli Palestinian Talks
Venezuelan Peace Deal
Police Killings in NYC
Growing calls for Reparations for Slavery
FARC Member Extradited
Part 4: FCC Series: Behind Rupert Murdoch
Israeli Palestinian Talks (3:28)
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met new Palestinian
Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas yesterday for a three hour meeting,
ahead of a regional summit with President Bush next week.
Inside Israel and the Occupied Territories there is cautious
optimism about restarting a dormant peace process as Irris
Makler reports from Jerusalem.
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Venezuelan Peace Deal (3:11)
Yesterday, after seven months of negotiations that were
facilitated by the secretary general of the Organization of
American States, Venezuela’s government and its opposition
reached an agreement to keep the peace, to abide by the constitution,
and to hold a recall referendum for the president and other
elected officials. Some hailed the agreement as a big step
forward, while others are saying that it is nothing too significant.
Gregory Wilpert has more from Caracas, Venezuela.
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Police Killings in NYC (3:36)
As two recent and shocking cases of police brutality from
New York City continue to rock black communities, yesterday,
an eyewitness came forward to give his version of what happened
on the day that the west African father of two, Ousmande Zongo,
died. His testimony contradicts that of Officer Bryan Conroy,
the police officer who shot Zongo. The deaths of Zongo and
Alberta Spuril, at the hands of NYPD, both innocent, law abiding
citizens, has opened painful wounds for communities of color
and is forcing authorities to take some action. Ama Buadi
reports from NYC.
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Growing calls for Reparations for Slavery
(3:13)
According to the Federal Freedmen's Act of 1865, slaves
were owed 40 acres of land as compensation for slavery. This
was revoked by President Andrew Johnson. Now African-Americans
are demanding settlement to an overdue payment. FSRN correspondent
Ian Forest recently traveled to Capitol Hill with a group
of African-American lobbyist seeking reparations for a debt
they say is overdue.
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FARC Member Extradited (3:29)
This week, Nelson Vargas Rueda was the first alleged member
of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the FARC, to
be extradited to the US from Colombia. Rueda will be tried
for the 1999 killing of three Americans who were helping the
UWA Indians in the state of Arauca, near the Venezuelan border.
The activists were working to support the UWA’s struggle
for land against Occidental Petroleum. As their Colombian
visit ended in Feb. 1999, the three were kidnapped by members
of the FARC and their bullet-ridden bodies were found across
the border in Venezuela 5 days later. So far, Nelson Vargas
Rueda is the only person Colombian authorities have caught
in relation to these murders, but the lack of evidence against
him has led many Colombians to wonder whether Vargas really
was a member of the FARC involved in this crime, or whether
he became a convenient scapegoat. From Bogotá, Nicole
Karsin has more.
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Part 4: FCC Series: Behind Rupert Murdoch
(2:37)
On Monday the Federal Communications Commission will take
a crucial vote to decide if US media ownership laws should
be relaxed – including the important ownership of newspaper
and television or radio stations in a single market. This
freedom could begin a spate of media mergers and acquisitions
and could radically change the US media landscape. At the
center of the debate is Rupert Murdoch – the media baron’s
News Corporation wants to purchase DirecTV – the US’s
largest satellite TV provider. This acquisition would assert
News Corporations dominance in the American TV market as it
has done with pay TV in Britain and to lesser extent in Asia
and Australia. Murdoch has argued before the FCC that buying
DirecTV would be in the public interest and says like other
News Corp ventures it would bring new ideas and innovations
to the medium. However, critics argues that US media ownership
is already too concentrated and News Corporation’s dominance
in any market reduces diversity of views and programming.
In the final days of our FCC Special Series, from Rupert Murdoch’s
home country, Australian Guy Degen brings us this timely profile
and explores the global reach and dominance of News Corporation.
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