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> Thur., Nov. 20, 2003
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Massive protests in London against Bush
Opposition Rising to Gay Marriage Ruling
Miami’s streets are militarized
NAFTA Lessons for the FTAA
Guantanamo Detainee’s Family Speaks to FSRN
FSRN Headlines by Randi Zimmerman
Angry youths have taken over a Chevron Texaco installation
in Nigeria's Niger Delta, highlighting the escalating discontent
in the region. The Nigerian Navy has dispatched a warship
to the area. Sam Olukoya reports from Lagos.
Today the U.S. military will test the next generation of
large-scale conventional weapons. One serviceman dubbed the
massive ordinance air blast bomb, or MOAB the “mother
of all bombs.” Jake Swinton a spokesperson for the Air
Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida’s
panhandle said the last blast could be seen and heard for
miles. ...ACTUALITY.
This bomb will be guided by global positioning satellites,
set to hit their target within 13-meters of accuracy. At close
to 22-thousand pounds, it takes the place of the so-called
Daisy Cutter in the US arsenal.
Bill Hartung, a senior research fellow with the World Policy
Institute, counters the claim that this is a precision-guided
weapon that will only kill terrorists. ...ACTUALITY
Today is the 5th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. In
cities around the world transgender people and their supporters
gather in mourning. Darby Hickey reports from Washington D.C.
United Airlines settled a discrimination case with the U.S.
government over charges the company removed passengers from
airplanes in the nine months following the 2001 attacks. A
legal advisor for the American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee,
who praised the settlement, said airline employees would have
to learn that it is normal for a Muslim to say a prayer from
the Quran before takeoff as part of their agreed to 1.5 million
dollar civil rights training. A spokesperson for United said
the airline did not break any anti- discrimination laws. United
Airlines, working to come out of bankruptcy protection will
also now reportedly seek to postpone depositing as much as
2- billion dollars over three years into their worker’s
pension fund.
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Massive protests in London against Bush
The British consulate and the headquarters of HSBC bank
in Istanbul have been hit by bomb blasts killing at least
26 people and seriously injuring more than 400. 10 people
in the British consulate died, including the Consul-General.
This is the second set of bombings in Istanbul in less than
a week and they come as more than 100,000 demonstrators took
to the streets of London to protest the policies of US president
George W Bush. President Bush’s visit to London was
supposed to symbolize the “special relationship”
between the US and UK and their combined success in the war
on terror. However, as Brendan Sweeney reports from London,
massive crowds have shown up for a historic march against
the Bush visit, while the façade of mutual respects
and cooperation is gradually showing cracks.
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Opposition Rising to Gay Marriage Ruling
Tuesday’s court decision in Massachusetts to allow
gay and lesbian marriages continues to resonate throughout
that state and the nation. The Boston Globe reports today
that opponents of same sex marriage have flooded state legislator’s
offices with angry phone calls and e-mails. But the plaintiffs
in the case and their supporters say the court left little
or no room to prevent marriage rights from being extended
to all Massachusetts citizens. Dave Goodman in Boston has
our story.
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Miami’s streets are militarized
The newly militarized streets of Miami today hosted thousands
of riot police along with a diverse crowd of tens of thousands
of protesters. Renee Feltz has more from downtown Miami
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NAFTA Lessons for the FTAA
Inside the FTAA meetings which officially kicked off today,
trade ministers from 34 nations are being asked by the US
and Brazil to remove tariffs and open markets from Canada
to Chile. Many are voicing strong opposition to the clauses
around agricultural subsidies and intellectual property. The
final agreement, due to be reached by January 2005, will likely
change many things, from what food consumers buy in supermarkets
to deciding the future jobs of the hemisphere's workers. And
while these FTAA debates continue, some analysts are calling
public attention to the problems that the North American Free
Trade Agreement - or NAFTA, has already wreaked on women in
Latin American, citing it as a lesson of what to expect should
the FTAA be ratified. From Tijuana, Aura Bogado has more.
IAEA on Iran and Nuclear Weapons The International Atomic
Energy Agency, or IAEA, is expected to approve a resolutiontoday
that declares Iran in “breach” of its nuclear
obligations, but stops short of recommending action by the
United Nations Security Council. Such a move would deal a
setback to the Bush administration, which accuses Tehran of
secretly developing nuclear weapons. Critics say the charges
have little credibility in light of the US failure to find
weapons of mass destruction following its invasion of Iraq.
Today we conclude a two-part series that looks at how nuclear
issues are being used to target countries on the US “enemies”
list. Susan Wood has this report from the UN.
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Guantanamo Detainee’s Family Speaks to FSRN
Today the Center for Constitutional Rights submitted Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) requests on behalf of individuals
identified by the US Government as “enemy combatants.”
If granted, the FOIA requests will provide an opportunity
for attorneys to review information and gain better understanding
of the circumstances regarding the detainees, none of whom
have been charged with any crime. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme
Court will decide early next year whether American courts
can hear claims by foreign nationals imprisoned at a US military
base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Supreme Court's decision
to provide the United States' ultimate level of judicial oversight
may be as important as its ruling in this matter. The decision
has aroused anger in the Muslim world, where people are expressing
little hope that the Bush administration will act in a just
manner to try these cases. And in this FSRN exclusive, our
Jordan correspondent Oula Farawati speaks with the family
of a man currently detained in Guantanamo Bay and brings us
this report.
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