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> Tue., Sept. 7, 2004
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Congress to Let Weapons Ban Expire?
Federal Budget Faces Considerable Strains
Mexican’s React to Bush’s Immigration Proposals
Oil Series: Part 1: Britain Losing Status as Oil Exporter
Oil Series: Part 2: Nigerians Losing Oil Jobs to Ex-Patriots
FSRN Headlines
A Washington judge ruled today that the state’s 1998
Defense of Marriage Act, which limits marriage to one man
and one woman is unconstitutional. It is the second such victory
in the state for same-sex couples who wish to marry. Judge
Richard Hicks however said that the Legislature could choose
to create "different kinds of domestic unions or partnerships."
An attorney for the 11 couples suing for the right to marry
said he expects the judge to stay the ruling until Oregon’s
Supreme Court rules on the matter.
The US Army will dissolve its $13 billion contract with Halliburton
and open the work to competitive bidding, according to an
internal army memo. From KPFT in Houston, Erika McDonald reports.
15 Palestinians have been killed and at least 30 more injured
in an Israeli aerial attack on a makeshift Hamas training
camp in the Gaza Strip. Laila Al-Haddad has the story from
Gaza.
Some newspapers in India are reporting that Russian President
Vladamir Putin spoke to his counterpart in Pakistan by telephone
today. Reportedly in the conversation, Putin asked General
Pervez Musharraf to stop the financing of terrorism. Retired
Pakistani army officers have also been providing military
training to Chechen separatists in Chechnya. On Saturday,
Musharraf expressed his deepest sympathies with Putin and
the people of Russia for the tragedy at Beslan. More than
350 people, including an estimated 160 children died in a
school first besieged by Chechen separatists then by Russian
troops trying to rescue them.
There is a current severe global shortage of condoms that
will put millions of lives at risk from the HIV/AIDS pandemic
and back street abortions, according to officials with the
United Nations Population Fund. Rupert Cook has more from
Tanzania.
The U.S. installed Iraqi government extended their ban on
the Arab news channel Al-Jazeera. On Saturday, officials raided
the Al-Jazeera office in Baghdad then sealed it shut, reportedly
with red wax. Iraqi officials claim the news network refused
to observe the 30-day ban previously imposed and continues
to incite violence in the country. Free Speech Radio News
correspondent Salam Talib said that reporters continued to
work and report for Al-Jazeera but under different news outlet
names to provide information from the Iraqi people’s
perspective. Talib added that people say they are so upset
by the closure, demonstrations are being planned for the coming
days.
[top]
Congress to Let Weapons Ban Expire?
Congress returned from its summer recess today for its final
6 weeks of session. The agenda will be dominated by the 9/11
Commission recommendations to overhaul the intelligence community
and to increase safety at home. But as Mitch Jeserich reports,
Congress will likely ignore the expiration of the federal
assault weapons ban which is set to end on Monday, making
it legal once again to possess military style semi automatic
weapons.
[top]
Federal Budget Faces Considerable Strains
Today, the Congressional Budget Office issued their Budget
and Economic Outlook update for the next 10 years. With the
navy proposing cuts in its shipbuilding program, it has become
a symbol of a growing financial crisis in the United States
that has even reached into the deep pockets of the military
industry. This while the overall federal budget continues
to face considerable strains. WPFW's Selina Musuta reports
from Washington, DC.
[top]
Mexican’s React to Bush’s Immigration
Proposals
The Bush administration has made little mention recently
of the immigration reform and guest worker program originally
announced in January. President Bush’s nephew, George
Prescott Bush's response to a reporter's question regarding
the proposal during an event last week in New York was seemingly
the first time in months that the subject returned to the
political radar of U.S. campaign politics. In Mexico - the
country of origin of millions of migrants working in the U.S.
- Bush's proposal is regarded with a certain amount of skepticism.
Vladimir Flores has the story.
[top]
Oil Series: Part 1: Britain Losing Status as Oil
Exporter
Britain is losing its status as an oil exporter. That's
according to their National Statistics body. Yet their appetite
for oil remains voracious. Naomi Fowler considers the implications
from London.
[top]
Oil Series: Part 2: Nigerians Losing Oil Jobs to
Ex-Patriots
Indigenous oil workers in Nigeria are threatening to lay
down their tools in protest at the influx of foreign oil workers.
Local workers say western oil companies are laying them off
to make room for expatriates. Many of the foreigners mainly
from the United States and Europe are accused of working illegally
in Nigeria. Sam Olukoya reports from Lagos.
[top]
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