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> Fri., Nov. 21, 2003
FSRN
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Today's lead stories:
FTAA ‘Lite’ is Signed
Report from the Militarized Streets of Miami
Energy Bill is Dead?
Weak Response from Indonesia on Treatment of Migrant Workers
Native American’s Question Dem. Presidential Hopefuls
Palestinian Factions Meet in Gaza
FSRN Headlines by Randi Zimmerman
Rockets on Donkey Carts in Baghdad Pulled by typically low-key
donkey carts, attackers in Iraq blasted rockets at the Iraqi
Oil Ministry and Sheridan Hotel, home to many foreign journalists.
Ahmed Al-arawi reports from Baghdad.
DOJ Protests Over Wal-Mart Arrests
Today, protestors went before the Department of Justice to
speak out against the raids and arrest last month of close
to 300 undocumented immigrant workers at Wal-Marts throughout
the U.S. Darby Hickey was there.
Oilman as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Today a Senate committee heard from a Texas oilman, who the
President has nominated to be the next ambassador to Saudi
Arabia. Victoria Jones reports from D.C.
Gun Suit Back On
A federal appeals court panel has reinstated claims against
the makers and marketers of guns used by white supremacist
against Jewish children and a Filipino postman in 1999. Kellia
Ramares has more from KPFA.
[top]
FTAA ‘Lite’ is Signed
Trade ministers from the 34 nations of the Western Hemisphere
ended their Miami meetings one day early and agreed to the
largest free trade area in the world. While protestors in
the streets of Miami raised issues of the environment, labor
and immigration, fairness for smaller economies was the issue
on which the ministers expressed their concern throughout
the Ministerial Declaration. Brazil along with United States
spearheaded the draft agreement which ultimately may be slightly
less than the US wanted. We begin our coverage with FSRN’S
Jackson Allers who spoke with Brazilian Workers Party spokesperson
Mauricio Rands-Barrows about the agreement.
[top]
Report from the Militarized Streets of Miami
Meanwhile, yesterday as the negotiations were underway,
on the streets of Miami where police estimate some ten thousand
were protesting, FSRN correspondent’s Sarah Turner and
John Hamilton came under police rubber bullet fire. They bring
us this report.
[top]
Energy Bill is Dead?
In an unexpected turn around, the omnibus energy bill in
Congress is almost dead. In an initial defeat for oil and
electric companies, the agricultural industry, and the Bush
administration, a minority of lawmakers in the U.S. Senate
were able to maintain a filabuster on the energy bill that
was formed in Vice President Dick Cheney's secretive Energy
Task Force and finalized behind closed doors by lawmakers
with close ties from oil and electric companies. However,
as Mitch Jeserich reports from Capitol Hill, Republican Senate
Leadership is leaving the vote open during the weekend in
the hopes of prodding off two more needed lawmakers to break
the filabuster.
[top]
Weak Response from Indonesia on Treatment of Migrant
Workers
Indonesia's military commander in the province of Aceh told
the Associated Press today that beating rebels is acceptable
as long as they're not seriously hurt, but denied persistent
allegations that his troops are torturing civilians. This
comes on the heels of an announcement by the government that
it was continuing martial law in Aceh for another six months.
Meanwhile, while the Indonesian Government has responded to
growing outrage about the appalling fate of Indonesian migrant
workers abroad and issued statements in defense of the workers,
however as Radio 68 reports from Jakarta, many are still skeptical
that the government will not do anything concrete to solve
this situation.
[top]
Native American’s Question Dem. Presidential
Hopefuls
In New Mexico this week, the National Congress of American
Indians gathered close to 5000 people as well as most of the
hopeful Democratic presidential candidates. Jeremiah Luria
Johnson reports from Albuquerque.
[top]
Palestinian Factions Meet in Gaza
The Guardian is reporting that the Israeli military has
admitted that it lied about a rocket attack on a Gaza refugee
camp. According to the Israeli army the rocket attack casued
no casualties, but Palestinians had said it killed 14 civilians.
A leftwing member of the Israeli parliament forced the confession
from the air force chief after he threatened to release evidence
that the military had used a weapon more destructive and indiscriminate
than it had publicly claimed. Meanwhile the new Palestinian
Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei has concluded two days of preliminary
truce talk’s with13 Palestinian factions in Gaza. Israeli
prime minister Ariel Sharon has hinted that he is putting
together a package of "positive unilateral steps"
for Israel to take with respect to Palestinians, and according
to sources in the Israeli government Sharon might announce
his “initiatives” around the time of a meeting
between himself and the Palestinian premier sometime next
week. This comes while Palestinian factions meeting in Gaza
yesterday affirmed that they would only sign on to a bilateral
ceasefire if Israel commits as well. With more from Gaza,
Mohammed Ghalayini reports
[top]
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