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> Fri., May 28, 2004
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Fighting Continues in Iraq
CAFTA Signed in DC
New Prosperity for all Indians?
New Wal-Mart Battle in Black Communities in Chicago
Rafah Update
FSRN Headlines
The Bush administration controled Iraqi Governing Council
has named their candidate for Prime Minister -- Iyad Allawi.
Beginning in 1991, with an order signed by the first President
Bush, Allawi and his organization the Iraqi National Accord
was promoted as the answer to Saddam Hussein by the Saudi
government and funded by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
Allawi, a former Iraqi intelligence chief, attempted a military
coup in 1996, also funded by the CIA, but failed.
Today at the United Nations, reporters were unable to get
a straight answer from the UN spokesperson about how much
influence Lakhdar Brahimi had in the decision. A decision
he was supposed to be responsible for and that President Bush
said this very week Brahimi would make. Susan Wood reports
from the UN.
The U.S. prison system made its largest increase in four
years, according to the latest assessment from the U.S. Department
of Justice. Nearly 2 point one million people are in federal,
state and local jails – with federal prisons making
the largest jump and now holding the most people. Federal
prisons are also 33-percent above capacity. Among the states,
prison populations in small states had the highest growth
rates. Yet the largest state prison populations are in Texas,
California, and Florida respectively. 12-percent of all black
men in their 20’s are behind bars; while 1 point six
percent of all white men and close to 4-percent of Hispanics
are in jail.
Defense council has rested, after calling only one witness,
in the case of a University of Iowa student accused of supporting
terrorism. Leigh Robartes has more.
Latin American and European Union leaders are meeting in
Guadalajara for a rapid-fire trade meeting that is close to
passing a public resolution on the treatment of POW's and
make more deals behind closed doors. Vladamir Flores reports
from Mexico City.
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Fighting Continues in Iraq
Fighting continued in the southern Iraqi towns of Kufa and
Najaf today despite an announcement by U-S occupation authorities
yesterday that a cease-fire agreement had been reached with
rebel leader Moqtada al-Sadr. On the southwest edge of Baghdad
this morning, around three-thousand Iraqis held Friday prayers
at Abu Ghraib prison. Salam Talib and David Enders have this
report from Baghdad.
[top]
CAFTA Signed in DC
In Washington, DC, six Central American governments are
set to sign a broad free trade agreement with the United States
called CAFTA. However, the Bush administration acknowledged
Thursday that once this agreement is signed, it will not be
submitted for a congressional vote before the November elections.
Anastasia Gnezditskaia and Selina Musuta report on the continuing
pressure by various communities to stop this trade agreement
from being institutionalized in the U.S. and Central America.
[top]
New Prosperity for all Indians?
On the heels of announcing a repeal of the terrorism legislation
that many have likened to the Patriot Act, today India’s
new government unveiled what it calls a Common Minimum Program.
While many in India, irrespective of party allegiances, are
happy with new Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, many
wonder if he can turn things around for the poor Indians who
voted the pro-Hindu right wing BJP party out of power. Dr
Singh and his team say they have plans to ensure that the
India Shining campaign by the BJP party reaches all Indians,
but many are doubtful. FSRN Correspondent Binu Alex reports.
[top]
New Wal-Mart Battle in Black Communities in Chicago
A deeply divided Chicago City Council passed one Wal-Mart
zoning request for Chicago's west side and delayed a vote
on a second request for the south side in a contentious battle
to build two Wal-Marts in the city's African American communities.
The proposed new stores are at the cutting edge of a company
campaign to aggressively expand into urban areas across the
country. The Chicago zoning fight has shaped up as the most
significant battle for the company since Wal-Mart lost its
bid to build a superstore earlier this year in Englewood,
California. Chris Geovanis reports from Chicago.
[top]
Rafah Update
Citizen’s groups across the Arab world, from Morocco
to Lebanon to Turkey have condemned the Israeli attacks in
Rafah over the past weeks. Inside Israel, Israel’s own
Justice Minister Tommy Lapid caused an uproar when he said
that a photograph of a Palestinian woman sitting in the ruins
of her house – which had been demolished by Israeli
troops - reminded him of his grandmother. Tommy Lapid is a
holocaust survivor whose grandmother and father were killed
by the Nazis during World War II. Irris Makler travelled to
Rafah, in Southern Gaza, to find the elderly lady and to hear
her story.
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