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> Tues., Jan. 13, 2004
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
ADA Before the Supreme Court
Summit of America’s Wraps Up in Mexico
Italian Transport Workers Strike
Journalists Called “Traitors" in Aceh
From the Streets of Port Au-Prince
Today's FSRN Headlines
US Military Kills Iraqi Civilians
Witnesses in Iraq say U.S. soldiers have shot and killed four
civilians. U.S. soldiers, posted at city hall in Fallujah,
were fired upon with rocket- propelled grenades. Police and
hospital staff agree that a man and woman were killed when
the military fired back. Four other people were injured. At
a checkpoint in Baghdad yesterday a man and 10-year-old boy
were shot and killed when U.S. soldiers started shooting after
a bomb went off along the roadside. The bomb killed one U.S.
soldier.
Military Lawyers Challenge Tribunals at Gitmo
U.S. military attorneys are challenging the constitutionality
of the military tribunals in which they themselves are involved.
Joshua Wiersma reports from D.C.
Anger Over Jerusalem Wall
Palestinians living and working in Jerusalem are angry over
the rising wall in the city. Israeli officials say the 28-foot
barrier bares no resemblance to the Berlin Wall to which it
is being compared. Rather they say it is a reversible security
measure. Michael Tarazi, a negotiator with the Palestinian
Authority says the PA would support a fence, but objects to
the location. Palestinians and business owners say the wall
separates them from their work, families and the constant
flow of regular traffic that supports their community.
First Primary in DC Today
The first votes of the presidential primary season were cast
today in Washington D.C., where residents do not have voting
representation in Congress. The vote will be non-binding,
after the Democratic National Committee local leaders to bow
to the tradition of keeping Iowa and New Hampshire first.
Five Democratic presidential hopefuls even had their names
removed from the ballot. The D.C. City Council moved the District’s
primary to the second Tuesday in January to protest D.C.’s
lack of voting rights. Until 1964 District residents couldn’t
vote for president, and only in the past decades has D.C.
gained the right to limited self-rule. Local leaders say they
believe moving the primary is another step towards gaining
equal voting rights for the District. This report is filed
by Darby Hickey in D.C.
Invisible VP Appears at Fundraisers
Vice President Dick Cheney can expect a warm welcome on his
fundraising stops in Seattle and Portland, including from
activists upset with the administration’s energy policy.
From KBOO in Portland, Andrew Stelzer reports.
[top]
ADA Before the Supreme Court
Today people with disabilities across the country left their
wheelchairs and crawled up the stairs of court houses in solidarity
with a Tennessee disabled man who was arrested for not showing
up to court because it was located up two flight of stairs
and the court did not have an accessible entrance for the
disabled. The demonstration comes as the U.S. Supreme Court
hears that and another case to decide whether Congress overstepped
its authority in requiring states to abide by the Americans
with Disabilities Act. Mitch Jeserich reports from the Supreme
Court.
[top]
Summit of America’s Wraps Up in Mexico
Representatives from the thirty-four countries of the Organization
of American States are in northern Mexico this week to participate
in what is being called the Special Summit of the Americas.
The conference is guarded by an estimated four thousand Mexican
police officers from the local, state, and federal level.
Largest protests are set to take place this afternoon during
the Summit closing ceremonies. Tensions between the Bush administration
and Latin American nations including Venezuela and Brazil
have been high during the meetings with Venezuela’s
President Hugo Chavez castigating the various head’s
of state for their focus on free trade with out taking social
issues into account. Vladimir Flores files this report from
Monterrey.
[top]
Italian Transport Workers Strike
Transport workers continue to strike in the Italian cities
of Genoa and Milan after air traffic controllers restarted
their protests late last week. An estimated 1 million people
took to the streets in a national demonstration last month
to denounce proposed changes on salary contracts. Despite
a contract deal, Italian transport workers continued a series
of strikes leading up to the Christmas holidays bringing buses,
trams and trains to a halt in several major cities. FSRN’s
Diletta Varlese reports from Italy.
[top]
Journalists Called “Traitors" in Aceh
Last week the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) arrived
in Indonesia’s conflict province of Aceh to facilitate
the release of hostages held by the separatist rebels. Among
the hostages is a cameraperson. The Indonesia army is accused
of killing his colleague, a TV reporter, when the rebels tried
to release him. The Indonesian army calls journalists who
meet the rebels ‘traitors’ and the army recently
jailed an American freelance journalist, William Nessen, after
he interviewed the rebel group. The Indonesian army says Nessen
is a spy. Meggy Margiyono from Indonesia has the story.
[top]
From the Streets of Port Au-Prince
Recent anti-government demonstrations in Haiti culminated
yesterday in one of the largest demonstrations to date with
the protestors calling for the immediate resignation of the
country’s President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The march
came as Haiti's parliament became powerless yesterday as the
terms of most legislators expired. The opposition has refused
to participate in new elections unless Aristide resigns which
he has refused to do. Aristide meanwhile has been participating
in the Summit of the America’s in Mexico. Yet as Kody
Emmaneul reports from Port-au Prince, while the nation remains
divided, there are some factors that untie the Haitian people.
[top]
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