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> Fri., Oct. 15, 2004
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Iraqi “Green Zone" Attacked
US Reaches its Limit of Federal Debt ~ Bush to Borrow from
Pension Fund
Poland Floods with Chechen Refugees
Walmart Opens over the Graves of 42 Native Hawaiians
Police Crack Down on ‘Bar-Girls’ in Mumbai
Election Special: Problems of Voting Machine Increase
FSRN Headlines
Muslim American’s Change Candidates
This election day, Muslim-Americans will likely be casting
far fewer votes for George W. Bush than they did in 2000.
Ed Stephen explains from D.C.
Male Fish in U.S. River Produce Eggs
Male fish in the Potomac River are producing eggs; scientists
suspect unregulated pollutants are the cause. Erika McDonald
has more.
UK Ambassador Fired for Criticism of Human Rights Record
After criticizing Uzbekistan’s poor human rights record,
the British ambassador to country has been fired. From London,
Naomi Fowler has more.
Germany GM Workers Walk Off Job
Workers walked off the job today at one of General Motors’
German car factories in protest over plans to slash 12-thousand
jobs from the European workforce, mainly in Germany. Guy Degen
reports from Bonn.
Bush Refuses to Sign Woman’s Rights Doc
250 global leaders and 85 heads of state signed on to support
a 10 year old UN resolution that supports every woman’s
right to education, health care, and to make choices about
childbearing. However, the Bush Administration refused to
sign saying the document supported “sexual rights”
adding that “the term has no agreed definition in the
international community.” Representatives from the entire
European Union, China, Japan, Indonesia, Pakistan and more
than a dozen African countries recommitted to the plan this
week in Cairo.
[top]
Iraqi “Green Zone" Attacked
- 1:57
Fourteen countries that gave international agencies almost
$1 billion to meet emergency needs in Iraq have been told
that only 5% of the money has been spent because of the uncertainty
of the situation in Iraq and the violence directed at foreign
reconstruction workers. Donor nations meeting in Tokyo were
told that the World Bank, to whom they had entrusted their
donations, had only begun two projects. Money earmarked for
seven other projects, including water system repairs and school
reconstruction, has not yet been spent. Meanwhile, the US
aerial assault on the Iraqi city of Fallujah intensified with
American jets, helicopters and artillery pounding what the
US Army says are “insurgents”. And in Baghdad,
as our correspondent Salam Talib reports, a bomb exploded
today inside the highly fortified Green Zone where most of
the Occupation headquarters are situated.
[top]
US Reaches its Limit of Federal Debt ~ Bush to Borrow
from Pension Fund - 4:06
The Treasury Department has announced that the federal debt
has reached its legal limit, and the government will have
to borrow from a federal employee pension fund in order to
operate normally. After the elections, the Bush administration
is asking Congress to raise the ceiling on the deficit. The
administration announced this week that the country has the
highest deficit ever. Mitch Jeserich reports from Washington
DC.
[top]
Poland Floods with Chechen Refugees - 2:40
The Osetian town of Beslan has marked the end of 40-day
mourning period for the victims of Sept 1st school massacre,
but while its inhabitants and survivors are trying to move
on with their lives, thousands of local Chechens fearing that
the Ossetians’ grief may translate into violence against
them are fleeing the country and arriving at Poland’s
eastern border. Over four hundred ethnic Chechen citizens
have petitioned Poland for refugee status since the Beslan
school siege drama. According to Polish authorities, the refugees
are allowed to enter Poland without any special permits or
visas, and they are sent to refugee camps to wait until their
status is confirmed. However, more Chechen citizens are expected
to arrive in Poland and the interior ministry is not ruling
out asking the EU for help in dealing with the problem. FSRN’s
Danuta Szafraniec reports from Warsaw.
[top]
Walmart Opens over the Graves of 42 Native Hawaiians
- 2:31
This week twenty-five Native Hawaiians protested the opening
of the new Honolulu Walmart. The remains of 42 Hawaiians have
been unearthed over the past year and a half during construction
and Hawaiians were unable to get a court to stop the mega-complex
from being built. But an agreement was reached last spring
to re-inter what Hawaiians refer to as Iwi Kupuna. However,
as Walmart opened for business, the bones remained packed
in cardboard boxes beneath the onramp to the parking lot.
Anne Keala Kelly reports from Honolulu.
[top]
Police Crack Down on ‘Bar-Girls’ in Mumbai
- 4:22
The Indian city of Mumbai, more commonly known as Bombay,
is reeling after a recent spate of police crack downs on the
cities many bars. The police are going after women who work
in these bars, known in Bombay as ‘bar girls’,
and charging them with obscenity. The police have stated that
the move will improve security as the bars are known to be
places where men come to try and buy sex or simply pick up
the working women. In response to the police actions, around
fifty thousand bar girls converged last month to protest.
The work of women in bars means they have to constantly ward
off advances from customers and patrons and most of them are
secretive about their work even with their families for fear
of censure and rejection. And as our correspondent, Binu Alex
reports from Mumbai, protesting bar-girls fear that if the
police raids continue, they will be pushed into the even more
unsafe red-light district of the city.
[top]
Election Special: Problems of Voting Machine Increase
- 3:27
As Election Day approaches, many complaints regarding voter
registration and problems with E-voting machines are flooding
in from across the US. Dolores M. Bernal has the story as
part of FSRN’s special One Month Election Countdown
series.
[top]
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