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FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Congress Resumes The 108th
Congress on the Federal Marriage Amendment
Living Wage Victory in Orlando
Returning the Displaced in Kosovo
Militarizing Oil in Nigeria
Congress Resumes The 108th
U.S. Congress reconvened today after a month long recess.
With just a month before the new fiscal year begins, Congress
will have to deal with 13 appropriations bills that will shape
Government spending for 2004. Today the Senate debated spending
on Education in which Senate Democrats say President Bush’s
No Child Left Behind Act is not being fully funded for disadvantaged
students. Over the next couple of months Congress will try
to hash out deals on everything from prescription drugs for
seniors to a national energy policy. Mitch Jeserich reports
from Washington D.C.
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Congress on the Federal Marriage Amendment
As Congress resumes in Washington today, it will be met
with an agenda including several measures that address so-called
tradition family values. Among them is the Federal Marriage
Amendment, a proposed Constitution Amendment which would outlaw
same-sex marriage, and make a move to block marriage benefits
for domestic partners. The proposed amendment will likely
become more of an issue if the Massachusetts Supreme Court
rules to recognize same-sex marriage, which they are expected
to do, any day now. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender
people still live without equal protection for their civil
rights, and are waging their battles not only in the courts,
but in state legislatures as well. Nate Johnson reports from
Bloomington, Indiana.
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Living Wage Victory in Orlando
And as we round out the Labor Day weekend, some good news
for low-income workers in Florida! The City of Orlando has
passed an ordinance last week that will require city employees
and contracted workers, to be paid at least $8.50 per hour.
The increase provides $3.35 more per hour than the minimum
wage, but will still keep those earners slightly below the
federally designated poverty line. The initiative, called
the "Living Wage Ordinance" takes effect October
1, 2003. WMNF's Beth Wolfe has this report.
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Returning the Displaced in Kosovo
The killing of another Serb in Kosovo in a grenade attack
this past weekend has heightened fears of a fresh spiral of
ethnic violence in the disputed province currently under UN
rule. This after a brutal attack on Serb children 3 weeks
ago that left 2 dead- a grim reminder on the task ahead of
the new UN envoy to Kosovo, Finland's former Prime Minister
Harri Holkeri. The mounting violence, according to Kosovo
premier Bairam Rexhepi, is aimed at destabilizing the province.
The killings, which follow other attacks on Kosovo's Serb
minority, have already led to fresh Serb-Albanian clashes
and thrown a damper on the fragile returns process - a key
part of the UN's mission in Kosovo is to enable the return
of tens of thousands of displaced Serbs and other minorities
to the province. More from Sputnik Kilambi in Kosovo.
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Militarizing Oil in Nigeria
Communal unrest in Nigeria's Niger Delta region has forced
multinational oil companies operating in the area to shut
down more than one tenth of Nigeria's oil production. Nigeria
is the world's sixth largest oil producer. Western oil companies
operating in the region want security from their home countries
to safe guard their installations. But human rights groups
accuse the companies of trying to militarize crude oil exploitation.
Sam Olukoya reports from the Niger Delta.
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