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> Thur., June. 12, 2003
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
More Violence in the Middle East
Increasing Costs of Medicare
US Immunity to the International Criminal Court?
Scream-Out Rally in New York
Part 2: Roots of Congo Crisis
Remembering Civil Rights Leader Medgar Evers
More Violence in the Middle East (4:19)
Israeli army radio announced that the Israeli Military has
been ordered to "completely wipe out" Hamas. The
announcement came after a suicide bomber blew up a downtown
Jerusalem bus killing 16. Over the past two days- 5 separate
Israeli airstrikes have killed some 14 Palestinians. And as
Mohammed Ghalayni reports from Gaza City the mood of Palestinians
is increasingly grim.
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Increasing Costs of Medicare (3:38)
Congress has started work on a bill to reform the medicare
system, with the goal to finish by the Fourth of July. Opponents
of the current proposals charge the White House is out to
destroy the popular program and replace it with one that costs
more, and puts private hospitals and drug companies needs
over the needs of patients. Josh Chaffin reports from DC.
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US Immunity to the International Criminal Court?
(3:29)
The United Nations Security Council today renewed a 1-year
exemption for U.S. peacekeeping troops from prosecution by
the International Criminal Court. The vote on the U.S.-sponsored
draft resolution was 12 to 0; france, germany and syria abstained.
The vote was preceded by an open debate in which dozens of
nations took part. Most disputed the u.s. claim that the court
could be used for frivolous or politically motivated prosecutions.
While the outcome of today's action was never in doubt, human
rights activists are hailing the breadth of support for the
court expressed in the public debate. They say it points to
a growing awareness of the need to end impunity for massive
human rights violations, and a rejection of the notion that
any country is above the law. Susan wood has more from the
UN.
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Scream-Out Rally in New York (3:35)
The anti-choice movement scored a victory last week when
the House approved legislation banning certain medical procedures
used to terminate pregnancies. The Senate approved the same
bill in March. Although promoted as narrowly focused on a
single late-term abortion procedure, the wording of the so-called
partial birth abortion ban adds up to a sweeping prohibition
that would, in effect, overturn Roe v. Wade. The ban criminalizes
the most common procedures used after the first trimester,
but well before fetal viability. The measure replicates the
key defects that led the Supreme Court to reject a strikingly
similar state law a mere three years ago. In addition to its
deceptively broad sweep, the bill unconstitutionally omits
an exception to protect the health of the woman. President
Bush is expected to sign the bill into law soon, but women’s
groups across that country say this most recent assault on
reproductive rights may be his last as they are joining forces
to mobilize a massive pro-choice march on Washington in April
2004. A series of smaller actions will precede the march,
like the SCREAM OUT performance protest held this week in
New York that linked women’s rights to the nation’s
fight to protect civil liberties…. WBAI’s Ginger
Otis has more on the story.
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Part 2: Roots of Congo Crisis (3:47)
250 Peacekeeping soldiers out of approximately 1500 troops
authorized by the UN have arrived in the war torn city of
Bunia, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. These
peacekeeping troops are in addition to the 5500 UN mandated
troops already present throughout the DRC prior to alarm over
the recent ethnic conflict in Bunia. Yet, after approximately
five years of war in a country about the size of Western Europe,
Dena Montegue brings us part two of a three part special series
on the Congo Crisis reporting today that there is outrage
among many Congolese over the lack of international attention
the world's deadliest war since World War II.
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Remembering Civil Rights Leader Medgar Evers (0:51)
Today we remember Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers who was
murdered 40 years ago today. Also on that day in 1963, Alabama
Segregationist Governor George Wallace stood on the steps
of the state’s all white University and tried to block
the admission of two black students. Throughout his life Evers
fought for the rights of black students, he was well known
for his struggle to register black voters and he led business
boycotts. We go out with Medgar Evers speaking about a protest
to fight the Jim Crow laws shortly before he was killed 40
years ago.
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