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> Tue., June 1, 2004
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Iraq’s New President Named
Mexican Police Accused of Abusing Protesters
Venezuelan Re-call Signatures Re-Certified
Democrats Strive To Keep Nadar Off the Ballot
Voting Machines – Part 1: Conflicts of Interest
Mumia: Free the Five
FSRN Headlines
Today a federal judge agreed with Planned Parenthood and
ruled that a ban on a certain type of abortion is unconstitutional.
The federal government argued in court that the procedure
they call “partial birth abortion” “blurs
the line of abortion and infanticide.” But, the judge
ruled any infringement on a woman’s right to choose
is illegal. The attorney for Planned Parenthood said the government
has no right to intrude on private and sensitive medical decisions.
There are two more challenges pending to the federal law in
Nebraska and New York.
A Pentagon email shows Vice President Dick Cheney had direct
involvement in coordinating the no-bid Halliburton contracts
for Iraqi reconstruction. Jenny Johnson has more on the story
from D.C.
3-fourths of public lands leased for oil and gas development
are producing no oil or gas. The Associated Press performed
a computer analysis of records from the Bureau of Land Management.
Crude oil price contracts for July hit a record of $42 per
barrel today on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price
slightly dropped later on. More from Kellia Ramares.
Violence continued for a second day in Pakistan's port city
where people attending the funeral of 18 Shia Muslims killed
in Monday's bomb blast pelted rocks at police and put up bonfires
on roads. Masror Hussain reports from Islamabad.
Two more so-called faith-based centers are being established
by the Bush administration in three more government agencies.
Bush wants to help religious charities compete for and win
tax dollars to then provide social services. Much of the legislation
supporting the President’s proposals are stalled in
Congress, where legislators charge it is too much of a breach
of the separation between church and state. Today the President
said that religious groups get results and shouldn’t
be discriminated against to help others in need. The new faith
based centers will be established in the Veterans Administration,
the Commerce Department and the Small Business Administration.
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a juvenile’s
confession can be used as evidence against him even if he
never was read his Miranda rights. Allison Koler reports from
D.C.
[top]
Iraq’s New President Named
Iraqis today reacted with some satisfaction as the new interim
president was announced. Despite news reports yesterday the
interim president would be former foreign minister Adnan Pachahi,
the Iraqi Governing Council apparently managed to force the
selection of one of its other members, Shiekh Ghazi Al-Yawar.
Despite multiple car bombings in the country today, many expressed
hope that this is a step in the right direction. David Enders
has more in from Baghdad.
[top]
Mexican Police Accused of Abusing Protesters
Last week, the Mexican city of Guadalajara hosted the third
economic summit between Latin American and Caribbean countries
and the European Union. Protestors from around Mexico came
to protest the meeting that they view as a European version
of Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations. A demonstration
on Friday afternoon resulted in over 100 arrests, dozens wounded,
and now - allegations of police abuse inside of the jails.
Vladimir Flores has the story from Mexico City.
[top]
Venezuelan Re-call Signatures Re-Certified
Venezuela's opposition parties, which have been trying to
oust the country's Democratically elected leftist President,
Hugo Chavez, ever since he was elected, Completed a major
milestone in their efforts this past weekend when signatures
for a recall referendum petition were re-certified by the
signers. The process went smoothly, but not without incidents.
Greg Wilpert has the story from Caracas, Venezuela.
[top]
Democrats Strive To Keep Nadar Off the Ballot
With just 4 months until the Presidential election, John
Kerry and George Bush are in a statistical dead heat throughout
numerous election polls; even while President Bush's job approval
rating has plummeted. One study indicates that independent
candidate Ralph Nader has tilted the balance in Bush's favor
in 33 of 37 the polls examined. A Democratic party supported
anti Nader group conducted the study. And as Mitch Jeserich
reports, well-funded pro-Kerry groups are spending money,
possibly reaching into the millions, to keep Nader off of
the ballots in several states.
[top]
Voting Machines – Part 1: Conflicts of Interest
As the United States nears November elections; the specter
of election fraud hangs heavy in the air. This week Free Speech
Radio News will air a four part series as FSRN reporters take
an in depth look at several issues involving voting machines.
The series will examine ownership, flaws in recent elections,
certification of the machines and citizen action taken against
the machines. We begin with a look at various conflicts of
interest and ownership within the electronic voting machine
companies like as Diebold and Elections Systems & Software.
When just a few layers of ownership are peeled back, it¹s
revealed that some of the prominent voting machine companies
have connections with global firms, defense contractors, and
even a tax sheltered Saudi Arabian company. Conflicts of interest
abound within state and local governments between voting machine
companies and public officials. From New York, Geoff Brady
has this report.
[top]
Mumia: Free the Five
And now a commentary from Free Speech radio news correspondent
Mumia Abu-Jamal from his cell on Pennsylvania’s death
row.
[top]
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