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> Fri., Oct. 22, 2004
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
More Accusations on Capitol Hill of Skewing Pre-War Intelligence
Mexican Women’s Justice Caravan Arrives in DC
American Elite Split on Chechnya Policy
Election Special Story: Getting Voters to the Polls in Washington
State
African Nations Moving with Peace Talks for Sudan
FSRN Headlines
Today Russia's Duma ratified the Kyoto protocol on global
warming, pushing the 1997 treaty over the threshold it needs
to become legally binding. It will take effect in 90 days,
forcing participating nations to reduce their emissions of
carbon dioxide to at least 5% below 1990 levels. The move
comes on the heels of new data released last week that suggests
global warming is accelerating faster than expected and may
become irreversible in a few years. Experts stress that reductions
under the Kyoto Protocol will make only a negligible difference,
but say the Protocal does establish an important framework
for making more cuts in the future. Roger Pielke Jr. is a
professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado,
Boulder:
[Pielke] It is an important symbolic step, but it doesn't
do much in terms of emissions reductions, and it does a very
little in terms of helping developing countries deal with
impacts that they experience from climate and population growth
and increasing vulnerability.
The United States is the largest producer of greenhouse gases,
accounting for nearly one quarter of the world's total. President
George Bush pulled out of the Kyoto protocol shortly after
taking office in 2001.
The controversy over Sinclair Broadcasting Group's decision
to run a documentary attacking John Kerry continues. The Company,
facing an advertiser boycotts and shareholder concerns, backed
down yesterday, saying it would only air clips of the documentary
in a special on the role of movies in the election. But protesters
say the company is simply a repackaging the attack as news.
Ed Stephen reports from Washington.
A new survey shows Americans planning to cast their vote
for George Bush are largely misinformed about world issues
and the president’s foreign policy positions. Erika
McDonald has more:
With the election less than two weeks away, the FBI is stepping
up its program of interviewing Muslims and Arab Americans
for information about terrorism. That’s led the ACLU
to sue the agency over what it calls racial profiling. Kellia
Ramares has more.
[top]
More Accusations on Capitol Hill of Skewing Pre-War
Intelligence
In San Francisco, The American Civil Liberties Union has
filed a lawsuit against the FBI seeking internal documents
to find out whether the agency has violated the rights of
Arabs and Muslims who were targeted for interviews. The FBI
has again begun targeted interviews, it says to thwart any
attack before the November 2nd elections. But Muslim groups
are complaining that the campaign unfairly singles them out
for questioning, detentions and other abuses. In Washington
DC, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee
is accusing Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith of skewing
prewar intelligence reports to support the administration's
case to invade Iraq. Mitch Jeserich has more
[top]
Mexican Women’s Justice Caravan Arrives in
DC
As Mexican women continue to disappear, the International
Caravan for Justice from Juárez and Chihuahua is traveling
across the United States to call attention to the murders
of at least 370 women along the US-Mexico border since 1993.
The Caravan arrived in Washington, DC today, where WPFW's
Ingrid Drake spoke with mothers of the victims and human rights
advocates.
[top]
American Elite Split on Chechnya Policy
This week the European Human Rights Court will consider
the claims of 6 Chechens who have suffered human rights violations
on the part of the Russian military. The decision by the Court
will significantly affect the stance of the West towards Russia's
actions in Chechnya. For now the position of the West, and
especially the American political elite, is very divided.
Anastasia Gnezditskaia has the story.
[top]
Election Special Story: Getting Voters to the Polls
in Washington State
With the deadline for registering voters over, attention
has shifted to strategies that will actually get new voters
to the polls. Research shows that direct personal contact
could increase turn out as much as 10%. Political parties
as well as partisan and progressive organizations are working
overtime to assure a record turn-out in 2004. Washington State’s
Citizen Action, is turning to face to face contact with a
specific message. Seven days a week, teams of trained volunteers
are going door to door in communities the state’s largest
citizen watchdog group has spent months registering voters;
low income, new citizens, people of color and single women.
Martha Baskin has our One Month Election Countdown special
story.
[top]
African Nations Moving with Peace Talks for Sudan
The Sudanese government and the Darfur region's rebel groups
are due to meet in the Nigerian capital Abuja to restart the
stalled peace process, some say to prove that the troubled
continent can handle its own crises. At a summit in Tripoli
last weekend, five African leaders, including AU chairman
and President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, stressed their
"rejection of all foreign intervention in this purely
African question". Nigeria and Rwanda are in the process
of deploying troops to Sudan to form an AU peacekeeping force
for Darfur, which Obasanjo wants to be 4,500-strong by the
end of next month when three more countries sign up. FSRN'S
Joshua Kyalimpa reports.
[top]
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