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> Thur., Oct. 23, 2003
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Bush is Heckled in Australian Parliament
Women Protest Israeli Wall
Iraq Donor Conference Begins
University of Minnesota Clerical Workers Strike
Indian Workers Protesting for Right to Strike
Free Speech Radio News Headlines by Randi
Zimmerman
300 Wal-Mart Workers Arrested
Early this morning more than 300 Wal-Mart workers were arrested
in a federally orchestrated sweep in 21 states for undocumented
immigrants. According to government sources, the investigations
stem from cleaning contracts in 1998 and 2001. Reportedly,
one Wal-Mart executive has also been arrested and federal
agents are searching other administrative offices. The workers,
many from Eastern Europe, were taken into federal custody
after they completed their night of cleaning stores.
Liberia's Top Cop Portland's Bad Cop - Andrew Stelzer
Liberia’s newly appointed police commissioner is the
same man forced to resign as Portland, Oregon’s lead
cop over racial tensions.
Anti-War Protestors Aquitted - Melinda Tuhus
Eleven anti-war protesters in Springfield, Mass., were acquitted
in a federal trial that may be an important legal precedent.
Nigerian Leaders Wary of Polio Vaccine - Sam Olukoya
International health organizations have embarked on an ambitious
program to immunize fifteen million children in West and Central
Africa within three days. The children are at risk of an outbreak
of the acute viral infection, Polio.
1-Billion Children in Poverty - Haider Rizvi
The United Nations Children’s Fund, or UNICEF, reports
that more than a billion children live in poverty.
[top]
Bush is Heckled in Australian Parliament
(3:26)
For a few hours yesterday two of the most powerful men in
the world were in Australia, but it was the first Australian
visit of US President George W Bush that stole the spotlight
from China's President Hu Jintao. Prompting the largest ever
security operation in Australia's capital Canberra, President
Bush arrived in Australia for his 21 hour visit with over
600 staff aboard six aircraft. On the agenda for the President's
discussions with the Australian Prime Minister John Howard
was the ongoing so-called war on terrorism and a free trade
agreement which could be in place by Christmas. The President
also addressed a special joint session of the Australian Parliament
where he faced 41 opposition-party lawmakers wearing white
armbands to protest the Iraq war. These elected representatives
had also signed a letter of condemnation saying no clear and
present danger existed to go to war in Iraq. President Bush
was also greeted by many protestors who banged on drums outside
the Parliament building, but as our Sydney correspondent Guy
Degen reports, in a move that angered protestors, a 500 meter
exclusion zone was set up around the Australian Parliament
and the precinct was closed to the public.
[top]
Women Protest Israeli Wall (3:27)
Israel has announced that it will continue to build the
controversial separation wall along the West Bank dividing
Israel from Palestinians. This despite a resolution by the
UN General Assembly calling on Israel to tear it down. Today,
a group of Palestinian women in the occuppied West Bank village
of Jayyous mounted their own protest against the wall by confronting
the Israeli soldiers saying the wall is built on their land
and separates them from their ancestral fields. Irris Makler
reports.
[top]
Iraq Donor Conference Begins (4:00)
The two day Donors Conference for Iraq began today in Madrid.
Though the U.S. hopes to raise 30 billion dollars for the
occupied country, Secretary of State Collin Powell and U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan have both said they doubt the
conference will raise that amount of money. The World Bank
estimates Iraq will need about 50 billion dollars to repair
the country. The United States has pledged 20 billion dollars
in reconstruction funds, but a move by Congress could require
Iraq to pay half of that money back. President Bush says he'll
veto the Iraqi supplemental bill if Congress follows through.
Mitch Jeserich has more from Washington D.C.
[top]
University of Minnesota Clerical Workers Strike (3:29)
Across the country, rising health care costs have meant
higher health insurance premiums, deductibles, and copays.
For some unionized workers, attempts to pass those costs on
to employees have led to bitter contract disputes and sometimes
strikes. Around one thousand clerical workers at the University
of Minnesota went on strike earlier this week after contract
negotiations broke down over such issues. From Minneapolis,
Joshua Welsh reports.
[top]
Indian Workers Protesting for Right to Strike
(4:42)
A campaign dubbed “Save Democracy” is under
way in India by employees of the government and the banks,
postal workers, insurance company employees along with workers
in the transport, textile and big and small industries. The
campaign is aimed at winning back the right to strike, which
in India, has been lost as a series of judgments have come
down in recent years that progressive circles dub as anti-worker,
anti-peasantry, and anti-women. Trade unionists say the ban
on worker strikes is a move that has larger significance,
which will gradually classify all worker’s unions as
terrorist outfits denying them the platform to demand their
rights from multi nationals. From New Delhi, our correspondent,
Vinod K. Jose has the details.
[top]
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