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> Fri., Oct. 29, 2004
FSRN
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Today's lead stories:
Arafat in Paris Hospital ~ what next for Palestinians?
New report: 100,000 Iraqis Dead
Changes in British Political Climate
Only D.O.J. can Sue over Voting Rights?
3rd Party Candidates speak to FSRN
Halliburton under more Fire
Lawsuit fights for Free Speech on Internet
FSRN Headlines
Dems and Repubs in FL Call Foul
Democrats and Republicans are accusing each other of voter
fraud in Florida. State Republican Party officials say they
are merely making sure that only legal voters are voting.
Democrats counter that by saying Republicans are using scare
tactics to keep voter turnout low, especially in minority
communities that traditionally vote Democratic. The head of
the state’s Division of Elections is being called in
to resolve the disputes and avoid longer lines on Tuesday.
Leon County Supervisor of Elections for the past 16 years,
Ion Sancho says party affiliated poll watchers are using an
1895 Jim Crow era law to intimidate voters. TAPE 0:21
We’ll have more on voter challenges coming up.
IRS Threatens NAACP
The Internal Revenue Service is threatening the NAACP’s
tax-exempt status over comments made by Executive Director,
Julian Bond. Aliyah Shahid reports from D.C.
MX Debates GMO
Mexican legislators and campesinos are debating the final
draft of a proposed National Biosecurity Law on genetically
modified organisms. Luz Ruiz reports from México.
New Gated Communities Created in Johannesburg
Residents in wealthy suburbs won the right from the Johannesburg
City Council to cut off public roads and staff them with private
guards to form gated communities. Na’eem Jeenah reports
from Johannesburg.
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Arafat in Paris Hospital ~ what next for Palestinians?
- 3:13
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat today arrived at a French
military hospital for urgent medical treatment. His departure
from Ramallah is his first trip abroad after three years of
Israeli-imposed confinement at his compound in the West Bank.
Arafat has been sick for the past two weeks and blood tests
reveal he has a low platelet count. Our correspondent Awad
Duabes speaks with Deepa Fernandes from Ramallah with the
latest.
[top]
New report: 100,000 Iraqis Dead - 3:43
The prestigious British medical journal – the Lancet
– has published a report by scientists from Johns Hopkins
University estimating 100,000 Iraqis -- many of them women
and children -- have met early deaths since the US invasion,
58 times more than in the last years of Saddam’s regime.
The researchers concluded that violence accounted for most
of the extra deaths and that air strikes by the US military
were a major factor. FSRN’s Aaron Glantz has more
[top]
Changes in British Political Climate - 3:05
European leaders today signed the EU’s first ever
constitution. EU leaders touted it a diplomatic triumph. The
constitution took over two years to come to fruition and is
the work of 25 EU governments. It comes at a time when British
politics is undergoing a dramatic shift, and Britain is somewhat
pulling away from the EU. Also, for the first time in British
history since the Second World War, the British Conservative
party may be losing its status as the main political opposition
party. Naomi Fowler brings us this report from London.
[top]
Only D.O.J. can Sue over Voting Rights?
- 2:22
Lawyers for the Bush administration filed briefs in three
swing states arguing that only the Justice Department may
bring cases to enforce voting rights protections under the
Help America Vote Act, according to the LA Times. Since the
1960’s, the Supreme Court and the Justice Department
traditionally held the view that citizens could sue to enforce
elections laws. But in Ohio, Michigan, and Florida, the Bush
administration is arguing that the law gives Attorney General
John Ashcroft exclusive power to bring such cases. Thanks
to Mitch Jeserich for contributing to this story.
[top]
3rd Party Candidates speak to FSRN - 4:09
With the polls suggesting that the presidential race between
John Kerry & George W Bush is still too close to call,
independent candidate Ralph Nader and Green Party candidate
David Cobb say they’re still going to follow through
with their campaigns to the very end. Our DC correspondent
Mitch Jeserich spoke with both of them.
[top]
Halliburton under more Fire - 2:03
The FBI yesterday requested an interview with a top contracting
official at the US Army Corps of Engineers who has accused
Army Commanders of violating rules to help Halliburton “squelch
a political firestorm.” Also on Thursday, in Halliburton's
hometown, at least one hundred protesters snaked through downtown
Houston streets to protest war profiteering and corporate
cronyism. From KFPT, Erika McDonald has the details
[top]
Lawsuit fights for Free Speech on Internet
- 2:04
A three day trial just concluded this afternoon in which
Barbara Nitke, an established photographer, and the National
Coalition for Sexual Freedom, are suing US Attorney General
John Ashcroft to challenge the federal Communications Decency
Act of 1996 which currently criminalizes free speech on the
internet. Dante Toza has more from the steps of the Federal
District Court in New York City.
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