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> Thu., Oct. 21, 2004
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Iran and EU Negotiating Nuke Issue
Burma’s Military Junta Cements Strangle Hold
International Election Observers Arrive
Pressure on Nader to Not Run is Growing
Election Special: Bush’s Environmental Legacy
FSRN Headlines
A U.S. soldier who pleaded guilty to abusing Iraqi prisoners
has been sentenced to 8-years in prison. Staff Sergeant Ivan
Frederick received the toughest sentence to date of the three
soldiers now convicted of abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison.
Prisoners on the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
must be allowed to talk with their lawyers in private according
to a federal judge. Katie Murray reports from D.C.
Britain's Defense Secretary today confirmed that Britain
has agreed to a Bush Administration request to deploy the
first battalion to a US-controlled area in Iraq. From London,
Naomi Fowler has more.
The African Union will increase its military force in Sudan?s
troubled Dafur region by more than three thousand troops.
Sam Olukoya reports from Lagos.
34 contaminated Superfund sites in 19 states have no money
for cleanup, according to the EPA. From KPFT in Houston, Erika
McDonald has more.
Nearly 2-thousand farmers in Peru were protesting U.S. sponsored
coca eradication programs at a hydroelectric plant on Tuesday.
More than 800 remained behind on Wednesday, hundreds of police
were sent in to break up the demonstration and three farmers
were killed. Police say they shot the farmers, who were throwing
rocks, in self-defense. Peru is the second largest grower
of coca after Colombia. Growers say coca is a traditional
curative when chewed and only half Peru's coca goes to the
drugs trade, not the 90 percent the government claims. One
local official said the government is responsible for the
violence because they have yet to hold long promised meetings
with the farmers this month to discuss alternative crops.
[top]
Iran and EU Negotiating Nuke Issue - 2:50
Following talks with European officials in Vienna today,
Iran says it will consider an EU offer to receive nuclear
technology in exchange for abandoning its uranium enrichment
program. The United States claims that Iran has a secret nuclear
weapons program and has been urging the International Atomic
Energy Agency to bring Iran before the United Nations Security
Council where it could face punishing sanctions. However,
with nuclear power technology as an incentive, the EU has
offered Iran a last chance deal to assure the world that it‘s
not secretly enriching uranium for nuclear weapons. As Guy
Degen reports today’s talks follow Iran’s test-fire
of a long range Shahab ballistic missile yesterday.
[top]
Burma’s Military Junta Cements Strangle Hold
- 4:41
Prospects for regaining democracy in Burma took a turn for
the worst this week as the head of Burma’s military
junta, Than Shwe, removed Prime Minister Khin Nyunt as part
of an internal power feud. Initial reports said the Prime
Minister resigned for health reasons, but independent observers
say he was ousted from power. Today the US State Department
said that the man appointed to be the next prime minister,
Soe Win, is a hardliner who master-minded the violent attack
last year on pro-democracy leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi. To help
us understand more of the situation FSRN Host Deepa Fernandes
speaks with Alan Clememnts, the biographer of Aung Sang Suu
Kyi.
[top]
International Election Observers Arrive
- 3:55
Many states face legal challenges over possible voting problems
on Nov. 2. In order to ensure a fair presidential election,
watchdog groups continue to push for observers to monitor
the election process. WPFW's Selina Musuta has more from Washington,
DC.
[top]
Pressure on Nader to Not Run is Growing
- 3:58
Now that Independent Presidential candidate Ralph Nader
has been thrown off the ballot in the swing state of Pennsylvania,
his campaign is urging supporters to vote for him as a write-in.
However under Pennsylvania law, voters must also list 21 people
who also endorse that candidate in order that the write-in
to be counted. Still, Nader will be on the ballot in all other
swing states besides Pennsylvania and Ohio. And with national
polls suggesting Bush may have a slight lead, pressure for
Nader to step down is as strong as ever. Mitch Jeserich has
more from Washington DC.
[top]
Election Special: Bush’s Environmental Legacy
- 4:23
Nearly four years since President Bush took office, the
newest data from government agencies suggests this administration
has managed to reverse a 30-year trend of declining pollution
in the nation's air and water. This, despite the fact that
the President has been unsuccessful at getting most of his
major environmental initiatives through Congress. As we continue
our One Month Countdown coverage to the November 2nd election,
today, Brian Edwards-Tiekert looks at Bush's environmental
legacy.
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