Home > Programs
> FSRN
> Fri., Sept. 19, 2003
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
Thanks to FSRN.org
for making the daily programs available to Pacifica.org
Today's lead stories:
South Korean Soldiers to Iraq?
Yale Strike Statement
Sing for Coporate Profits
Vietnam to Join WTO?
ECOWAS: How Forward for Africa’s Children?
FSRN Headlines Produced by Randi Zimmerman
The Turkish Military Finalizing Troops to Iraq Plans --
Ezgi Saritas
Child Combatants in Colombia -- Nicole Karsin
UN Children’s Fund Reports Gross Child Abuse in the
Industrialized World -- Haider Risvi
Bush's Imported Steel Tariffs Hurt Industry -- Mitch Jeserich
Mobile Phones Users Boycott in Nigeria -- Sam Olukoya
[top]
South Korean Soldiers to Iraq?
Families of a Minnesota National Guard company plan to meet
with state Guard officials this weekend for what they characterize
as an "angry confrontation" over the extended tours
of duty in Iraq. This comes as news of the death of another
US soldier, as well as three others was reported overnight
when two mines exploded near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.
Meanwhile today, South Korean opposition leader Choe Byung-yul
who is visiting the US, indicated that his majority Grand
National Party could consent to sending combat troops to Iraq
if the government asks for parliament’s approval. Under
the Assembly Act, when sending Korean soldiers overseas the
president must obtain approval from parliament. The motion
needs the approval of at least half the attending lawmakers
and because the opposition party controls the 272 member National
Assembly, South Korean troops in Iraq could be a real possibility.
However as Eunji Kang reports from Seoul, the public is divided
sharply on this issue.
[top]
Yale Strike Statement
Striking employees at Yale University are going back to
work after a new contract was ratified on Friday afternoon.
It's a huge win for the 4,000 workers and for the national
labor movement, but as Melinda Tuhus reports from New Haven,
some workers are left out of the agreement.
[top]
Sing for Coporate Profits
Despite a seemingly never-ending series of high-profile
corporate scandals - most recently the resignation of New
York Stock Exchange chair Dick Grasso over a lavish compensation
package nearing $140 million - corporate America continues
to sing its own praises. Sometimes literally. A little known
sub- genre of music known as corporate anthems has flourished
over the last several decades in the United States and John
Anderson sampled some of this music and brings us this report
[top]
Vietnam to Join WTO?
International NGO's Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders say
Cambodia was railroaded into concessions as part of its membership
deal into the World Trade Organization. The country agreed
to immediately stop the use of generic cheaper versions of
medicines, such as HIV/AIDS drugs, even though the country
is in the midst of an AIDS crisis. The concession is a warning
to other poor nations seeking entry into the global trade
body. As Aaron Glantz and Ngoc Nguyen report, neighboring
Vietnam has began to make tradeoffs in preparation for its
WTO bid in 2005.
[top]
ECOWAS: How Forward for Africa’s Children?
Yesterday a high-powered delegation of African leaders,
known as ECOWAS, went to Guinea Bissau as part of efforts
to restore constitutional rule in that country, following
last Sunday's military coup d'etat. The team included President
Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, the President and Executive
Secretary of ECOWAS and Ghana's Foreign Minister, Nana Addo-Dankwa
Akufo-Addo. The trip comes on the heels of a visit by an ECOWAS
fact-finding mission, which returned on Wednesday from the
former Portuguese colony after holding consultations with
the military junta leaders. And as Ndiaga Seck reports from
Senegal, ECOWAS leaders have also been discussing the conditions
facing children in Africa after many years of war, drought
and diseases. news is up, more later
[top]
|
Listen
to the show 
Help
stream
download
