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> Wed., June. 18, 2003
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Protests in Paris
Medicare and Estate Tax
Indian Business and Iraq
Ethnic Profiling Laws
North and South Korea
Protests in Paris
In Paris, three people set themselves on fire today in a
day-long protest against the round ups of Iranian exiles allegedly
affiliated with the people’s Mudjahidin. According to
Associated Press reports, Washington and Teheran have welcomed
the raids -which took place in Paris on Tuesday, and saw more
than 150 people arrested. The majority of those arrested have
now been freed, but demonstrators are asking for the release
of the group's figurehead, Maryam Radjavi. Nick Champeaux
reports from Paris.
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Medicare and Estate Tax
In Washington today the House of Representatives looked
ready to vote for a repeal on the Estate Tax, a tax on a small
fraction of wealthy Americans that's often called the "Death
Tax" by Republicans. A vote to repeal the tax in the
Senate looks increasingly unlikely. The Senate spent the day
today on the Medicare bill, specifically the proposal to add
a prescription drug benefit to the federal health insurance
program. And as Congress debates the cost of drug coverage
to seniors, a new study finds it might make economic sense
for the government to cover healthcare for everyone who doesn't
have it. Josh Chaffin has more from the Capitol.
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Indian Business and Iraq
The United States seems likely to convince the Indian administration
to get 17,000 troops to aid what it describes as its reconstruction
effort. A high level Pentagon delegation is on a "clarification"
mission in New Delhi at the moment, convincing Indian officials
to send their troops. While the opposition parties in India
have expressed their dissent over Indian troops working under
US Central Command, they don’t seem to by the United
Nations. Confederation of Indian Industries estimates $500
billion in business over the next 8 years. From New Delhi,
our correspondent Vinod K. Jose files this story.
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Ethnic Profiling Laws
Guidelines issued yesterday by the US department of Justice
are calling for the ban of racial and ethnic profiling - except
in cases involving national security or border issues. The
ban will affect federal agencies and about 120 thousand law
enforcement officers - including those from the FBI and the
dept of homeland security. But critics of the ban say these
justice dept guidelines give the government a green light
to profile Arab and south Asian immigrants. Max Pringle reports.
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North and South Korea
Leaders from South Korea, Japan and the United States met
in Hawaii last weekend to discuss the Korean Peninsula roadmap.
The three nations agreed to crackdown on what they say is
Pyongyang's trade in illegal drugs and counterfeit money and
demanded that North Korea abandon its nuclear program. Meanwhile,
civic groups from both North and South Korea, along with an
international delegation, held celebrations to commemorate
the June 15, 2000 summit between former South Korean President
Kim Dae-Jung and North Korean President Kim Jong-il. Simba
Russeau files this report from the border of North and South
Korea.
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