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> Fri., Dec. 26, 2003
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
New foreigner registration program
Future of Northern Cyprus?
To Live in a Dam
Coke dealt blow in India
Suicide rates in French prisons very high
FSRN Headlines by Randi Zimmerman
Second Mad Cow Identified
A second cow in Washington State has been diagnosed with mad
cow disease and quarantined. Officials say how the cows got
the disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy will likely take
months. Humans eating meat from infected cows can get the
fatal brain wasting illness known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Since 1997, the Food and Drug Administration banned the use
of feeding cows the tissue of other infected cows, a suspected
cause of the breakout in England during the 1980’s.
One FDA official said compliance with the rule is about 99-
percent, but he said at least two firms were still using such
feed. The FDA says they have been vigilant. But, the first
cow discovered earlier this week was born two years after
the food ban – indicating contaminated feed may be in
the system.
4th Investigator Assigned White House Leak
The Justice Department is moving forward in their investigation
of the Bush White House for disclosing the identity of a CIA
agent supposedly to retaliate against her husband for remarks
he made contradicting the administration’s reasons for
invading Iraq. Mitch Jeserich has more.
Pakistan's President Avoids 2nd Assassination Attempt
In Pakistan, self-proclaimed President General Pervez Musharraf
survived a second attack on his life in 11 days. Masror Hussain
reports from Islamabad.
IDF Shoots at Peace Activists
Today, during a non-violent demonstration, two peace activists
were shot and wounded by the Israeli military. More than 100
activists from around the world assembled at the fence being
built around an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank
and called the fence “an apartheid wall.” The
IDF confirms shooting live ammunition and rubber bullets.
A military official said he has ordered an investigation.
2 Month Lull in Middle East Shattered
One Palestinian retaliates for the violence in the occupied
territories, shattering a 2-month lull, and kills 4 people
waiting at a bus stop in a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. But,
as Mohammed Ghalayini in Gaza City reports, the Israeli military
incursion never lets up.
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New foreigner registration program
Air France said flights between Paris and Los Angeles resumed
today after investigators found no evidence of a Christmas
Day terrorist plot to use an aircraft to attack American targets.
Dec. 24 and 25 saw all Air France flights between Paris and
Los Angeles cancelled after apparent intelligence information
came from the US embassy in Paris that warned of a terrorist
threat. Los Angeles International airport also banned all
passenger pick-up and drop-off’s, as security around
the airport was stepped up. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland
Security this week began testing a new program at the Dallas
- Fort Worth International Airport. The pilot program is a
practice run for the United States Visitor Immigrant Status
Indicator Technology data registration system scheduled to
begin January fifth at all U.S. airports with an international
port of entry. But as Shannon Young reports, land ports of
entry will also soon be required to register biometric data
for all visa holders upon arrival and departure.
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Future of Northern Cyprus?
The northern Cyprus Assembly opened today without a permanent
Prime Minister who Tuesday presented his resignation to the
President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The
Prime Minister’s resignation came just two days after
last Sunday’s election to decide the political future
of Turkish Cypriots and also the relationship to the EU. Meanwhile
Turkish Cypriot politicians are wrestling with how to form
a government after elections ended in deadlock. Since 1974,
the Mediterranean island of Cyprus has been split in two as
the result of a Turkish invasion of the north while Greek
control remained in the south. For over 50 years Cypriots
have been denied the right to decide their destiny. Ezgi Saritas
with Ozhan Onder files this report from Turkey.
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To Live in a Dam
The second international meeting of dam affected people
was held in north- eastern Thailand earlier this month. Participants
lived in bamboo huts for 5 days on land that is being restored
to life after being flooded by a dam. With thousands of dams
currently in construction, and hundreds more being proposed,
the international anti-dam movement found inspiration to continue
their struggle in a little known place called Rasi Salai.
Doualy Xaykaothao reports from Rasi.
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Coke dealt blow in India
Last week, a court in South India asked Coca Cola to stop
drawing groundwater from a village that has been accusing
the American soft drink giant of depleting it’s water
levels. The villagers, however, say the damage has already
been done. Many are suffering from skin diseases and other
symptoms from the waste water that Coca Cola has been injecting
into the ground. Our correspondent, Binu Alex visited the
village and discovered the damage is extensive.
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Suicide rates in French prisons very high
Suicide rates in French prisons are among the highest in
Europe. In the last twenty years, the number of inmates who
committed suicide in French prisons tripled. France’s
Justice and Health ministers released a report saying they
will actively work to reduce this rate by 20% in the next
five years. This report comes a month after the French section
of the International Observatory for Prisons released statistics
showing French prisons have an average overpopulation rate
of 123%, with some prisons reaching 200% of overpopulation.
Yet as Raphaël Krafft reports, the solutions proposed
by the government are insufficient.
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