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> Mon., Jan. 3, 2005
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Report from Banda Acheh
Interview with Achenese Prime Minister
Lastest in Palestine
Faith-Based Funding Controversy
International Effects of WTO’s Multi-Fiber Agreement
Lasting Effects of Asbestos in Egypt
In Memory of Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm
FSRN Headlines
Life-Long Detention?
The White House is considering plans to build a permanent
prison in Guantanamo Bay that would hold terrorist suspects
for the rest of their lives. Selina Musuta reports from Washington,
DC.
Japan Increases Tsunami Relief Support
The UN says the international community has pledged over two
billion dollars in aid for tsunami stricken regions in South
Asia. Japan initially promised some thirty million dollars
but ahs since announced a dramatic increase. Miles Ashdown
is in Tokyo.
Colombia Extradites FARC Leader to U.S.
Colombia has extradited a prominent FARC leader to the United
States. A US plane picked up Simon Trinidad after heavily
armed troops took him to an airfield outside Bogota. The FARC
leader, whose real name is Ricardo Palmera, was extradited
to Colombia from Ecuador last year. Colombian President Alvaro
Uribe agreed to the new extradition after rebels failed to
free more than 60 hostages. Among those held by the group
are former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt,
three US citizens and dozens of Colombian army officers and
political figures.
Fox Television Affliate's FCC License Renewal Questioned
Two television journalists filed a petition with the FCC today
calling for the denial of a license renewal for FOX TV affiliate
WTVT in Tampa Florida. Jane Akre and Steve Wilson claim that
the television station is not operating on the public interest
and lacks the good character to do so. The reporters charge
that while employed by WTVT station executives demanded they
falsify news stories they were preparing about bovine growth
hormones manufactured by Monsanto. At a press conference today
announcing the petition, Steve Wilson compared the actions
of station management to an issue near and dear to the FCC
– indecency.
CLIP
In 1998 the other reporter, Jane Akre, won a 425,000-dollar
jury award when she filed a whistleblower suit seeking employee
protection regarding the stories. That award was overturned
by an Appellate Court who ruled that it is not technically
against the law for a broadcaster to distort the news. It’s
unclear when or if the FCC will respond to the petition.
Prominent Deaths
Today we note the deaths of three public figures in recent
days. India's national security adviser JN Dixit died this
morning after suffering a massive heart attack. Dixit led
India’s peace initiatives with Pakistan and brokered
boundary talks with China. He was the first Indian High Commissioner
to Afghanistan and had also served as High Commissioner in
Islamabad. On New Years Day, US Representative Robert T. Matsui
died as a result of a rare stem cell disorder. Matsui was
an influential California Democrat who served in the U.S.
House of Representatives since 1979 and was a major force
on trade and Social Security issues. He was the third-ranking
Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee and among the
highest-ranking Asian Americans in House history. As an infant,
he was interned in a detention camp for Japanese Americans
during World War II. And also on New Years Day, political
pioneer Shirley Chisholm died. She was the first African American
woman ever elected to Congress. Chisholm served seven terms
and was one of the first women ever to seek the presidential
nomination of a major party, winning 151 delegates to the
1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami. She served in
Congress until 1982. We’ll have more on the legacy of
Shirley Chisholm later in the newscast.
[top]
Report from Banda Acheh
One week after one of the world’s worst natural disasters,
recovery efforts are still moving slowly across Asia and Africa.
US Secretary of State Colin Powel and Florida Governor Jeb
Bush are en route to the affected nations where they will
assess the situation. Meanwhile, in all the affected countries,
the death tolls are rising and the scope of the crisis is
beginning to set in. In the worst hit region, the Acheh province
of Indonesia, the death toll is estimated to be upwards of
80,000. Rescue workers are only managing to airlift out some
6000 bodies per day. 45,000 bodies have been buried in mass
graves and as our correspondent Meggy Margiyono reports from
Banda Acheh, the more remote areas of Acheh are yet to receive
any aid or evacuation services.
[top]
Interview with Achenese Prime Minister
Meanwhile, members of the Free Acheh Movement (GAM) who
have been fighting for independence from Indonesia for decades,
today accused the Indonesian military of using the disaster
to step up its campaign against the GAM rebels. The Indonesian
military said its troops killed three separatist rebels in
Acheh. A guerrilla commander with the Free Acheh Movement
(GAM) and two of his men died in a clash with troops in northern
Aceh yesterday, a military spokesman said. The military spokesman
said the clash occurred after the rebels tried to ambush a
convoy of military trucks carrying relief supplies. Achenese
Prime Minister in Exile is Mr Malik Mahmud. He spoke with
host Deepa Fernandes from Sweden.
[top]
Lastest in Palestine
As we reported last week on FSRN, the Israeli army is in
the midst of a renewed invasion of the Khan Younis refugee
camp, the fourth major attack on Khan Younis in the last two
weeks. Muhammed Omar has the latest from Palestine
[top]
Faith-Based Funding Controversy
The White House has released figures showing an increase
in federal money granted to faith-based organizations in 2004.
A keystone of President Bush's social policy, federal funding
for religious organizations has caused controversy, as reports
Darby Hickey from DC.
[top]
International Effects of WTO’s Multi-Fiber
Agreement
The World Trade Organization's, WTO, Multi-Fiber Agreement
which sets quotas on textile exports came to an end on December
31, last year. With this development, major textile producing
countries like China will as from January 1, 2005, be free
to flood the international market with cheap textiles. The
cheap goods will force many textiles industries to close down
and thousands of jobs will be lost. Africa will be the worst
affected. In Nigeria, more than 70 of the countries 113 textile
industries have closed down as textile imported from China
dominate the market. Sam Olukoya reports from Lagos.
[top]
Lasting Effects of Asbestos in Egypt
The Egyptian government announced it's banning asbestos.
The toxic material has been banned in the United States for
over two decades, but the industry has thrived in Egypt which
after Canada has the second largest source of asbestos deposits
in the world. Environmentalists and workers hailed the move
as a victory, but now they wonder what will happen to those
who worked in the asbestos industry, since many are now dying
of cancer. Aaron Glantz reports from Cairo.
[top]
In Memory of Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm
Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm, the first black woman elected
to Congress and the first woman to seek the Democratic nomination
for President in 1972, has passed away in her Florida home
at age 80. Chisholm was a fierce activist representing the
impoverished people of the Bed Stuy section of Brooklyn and
was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and
the National Organization for Women (NOW). When Chisholm served
her first term in Congress she hired an all women staff. Chisholm
was an outspoken critic of the Vietnam war and a staunch supporter
of civil rights and women’s rights.
[top]
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