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> Wed., Feb. 4, 2004
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Rumsfeld Defending on all Fronts
Primary Results: Focus on New Mexico
Hope for peace in the Sudan?
Homeland Security Gone Wild: ABQ Airport Shut for Hours
Report from Baghdad: Situation Worsens for Iraqi’s
FSRN Headlines
MASSACHUSETS GAY MARRIAGE
The Massachusetts high court ruled today that only full, equal
marriage rights for gay couples - rather than civil unions
- would be constitutional, erasing any doubts that the nation's
first same-sex marriages could take place in the state beginning
in mid-May. The court issued the opinion in response to a
request from the state Senate about whether Vermont-style
civil unions, which convey the state benefits of marriage
- but not the title - would meet constitutional muster.
The four justices who ruled in favor of gay marriage wrote
in the advisory opinion that "The history of our nation
has demonstrated that separate is seldom, if ever, equal,"
and that a bill that would allow for civil unions, but falls
short of marriage, makes for "unconstitutional, inferior,
and discriminatory status for same-sex couples." The
much-anticipated opinion sets the stage for next Wednesday's
constitutional convention, where the Legislature will consider
an amendment that would legally define marriage as a union
between one man and one woman. The soonest a constitutional
amendment could end up on the ballot would be 2006, meaning
that until then, the high court's decision will be Massachusetts
law no matter what is decided at the constitutional convention.
TAUZIN STEPS DOWN – STEPHEN LACEY
Republican Congressman Billy Tauzin stepped down from his
position as Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
after allegations of conflicts of interest with the Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of America. Stephen Lacey has more
from Washington,DC.
FEDERAL BUDGET CUTS – TOM GOMEZ
After proposing bigger budgets for defense and homeland security,
the White House released a list of the 128 programs facing
the axe. Tom Gomez reports from Washington.
SRI LANKAN INDEPENDENCE DAY – PONNIAH MANIKAVASAGAM
Main minority community in the northeastern parts of Sri Lanka
observed Independece Day today as a day of mourning today
to protest and urge Sinhalese political leaders to kick start
the stalled peace process. Ponniah Manikavasagam reportsf
rom Sri Lanka.
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Rumsfeld Defending on all Fronts
Today Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld defended President
Bush’s 2005 Budget proposal to spend 401 billion dollars
on the military that, without including spending on Afghanistan
and Iraq, makes up 20% on national spending. But what was
suppose to be a budget hearing in the Senate Arms Service
Committee quickly became an impromptu hearing on weapons of
mass destruction which saw Rumsfeld field questions from skeptical
Democrats. Mitch Jeserich reports from Capitol Hill.
[top]
Primary Results: Focus on New Mexico
Massachusetts Senator John Kerry was the big winner in yesterday’s
7 state Primaries and Caucuses to select a Democractic challenger
to President Bush. One of the two states that Kerry did not
win was South Carolina which Senator John Edwards won comfortably.
New Mexico and Arizona both went to Kerry and notably they
were the first largely Hispanic states to cast their ballots
for the democratic presidential nominee. FSRN’s Jeremiah
Luria Johnson reports from Albuquerque on the results and
the implications of Tuesday's vote.
[top]
Hope for peace in the Sudan?
Amnesty International reported today that there are massive
human rights abuses still occurring in the Sudan despite the
fact that a peace deal to end Africa’s longest war is
close to being signed between the Sudan government and the
SPLA rebels of Colonel John Garang. The meeting between the
government and rebels in the Kenyan town of Naivasha has lead
to agreements on some of the sticky issues like the sharing
of the countries oil wealth found in the south, and the granting
of some limited autonomy to southern Sudan for a period of
6 years before a referendum may create an independent state
for black Christians. If the current deal is closed, the rebel
leader Colonel John Garang could become the vice president
of the country he has fought for years to save. FSRN’s
Joshua Kyalimpa has visited southern Sudan and reports about
the hopes and fears of the people there.
[top]
Homeland Security Gone Wild: ABQ Airport Shut for
Hours
The luggage of a Russian theater troupe touring in New Mexico
caused the closure and evacuation of Albuquerque International
Airport last week. From Albuquerque, Joe Gardner Wessely reports.
[top]
Report from Baghdad: Situation Worsens for Iraqi’s
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan met with President Bush
yesterday and the two agreed on an interim plan for UN involvement
in Iraq. Annan said the U.S.-led occupying forces and the
U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council indicated they would
accept the conditions under which the U.N. team would work.
The conditions in Iraq have far from stabilized, the death
toll from the weekend’s suicide attacks on Kurdish offices
in northern Iraq rose to 101 yesterday. Many Iraqi’s
are growing impatient as the security problems in Iraq are
worse by the day and foreigners, especially from neighboring
countries, are being linked with various political and religious
parties that are capitalizing on the continued state of lawlessness.
Ahmed Al-Rawi, Free Speech Radio News correspondent, reports
from Baghdad.
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