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> Thur., Jan. 6, 2005
FSRN
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Today's lead stories:
Senatorial Objection to Ohio Vote Stalls Vote Confirmation
Gonzalez Nomination Hearings
Disease Spread in Aceh After Tsunami
US Fires on University in Erbil, Iraq
Report from Falluji Refugee Camp
Schwarzeneggar’s State of the State Speech
Closing Arguments in Trial of Lynne Stewart
FSRN Headlines
International Community Meets on Tsunami
The international community agreed to set up an early warning
system in Southeast Asia in the event of another tsunami.
Haider Rizvi has more from the U.N.
Icebergs Off New Zealand Coast
Icebergs have been sighted off the coast of New Zealand for
the first time since 1948. Some of the 15 measure more than
two miles wide. Scientists say they came from a break up of
the vast ice sheets at the South Pole and are now about 400
miles south east of New Zealand but heading towards South
America. For the moment, the only official notice is a hazard
warning for ships in the area. However, the incident coincides
with a large collapse of Antarctic ice shelves and could be
an indicator of rapid climate change.
Physicians Say Military Doctors Abused Prisoners
More charges and evidence of U.S. officials abusing prisoners
overseas is surfacing. Shirley Chang reports from D.C.
Bolivians on Strike
Bolivians are once again demanding the resignation of their
president just fifteen months after the social uprising known
as the “Gas War.” Vladimir Flores has the story.
Mexican Booklet Advises on Border Crossing
The Mexican government is defending a 32-page comic book style
publication that details how to cross the U.S. border safely
without documentation. Besides explaining an immigrant’s
legal rights in the event of detention, it also explains how
to swim across the Rio Grande and avoid dehydration in the
desert. Some U.S. lawmakers from border states are furious
and say the booklet encourages illegal migration. The same
lawmakers argue against human rights workers who have set
up water caches in areas where people have died of dehydration
and pass out similar information and maps. Officials with
the Mexican government said that more than 300 people died
trying to work and live in the United States just last year
and they have a responsibility to work to prevent that. Approximately
1 point 5 million copies of the pamphlet have been given out.
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Senatorial Objection to Ohio Vote Stalls Vote Confirmation
(4:02)
In an historic joint session of Congress today, Senator
Barbara Boxer and Congresswoman Stephanie Tubb Jones took
a stand to object to the certification of Ohio's electoral
votes, which gave President Bush victory from the November
second election. Dolores M. Bernal reports from the Capitol.
[top]
Gonzalez Nomination Hearings (3:58)
Today White Council Alberto Gonzalez testified at his nomination
hearing to become the next Attorney General. If confirmed,
Gonzalez will become the first Latino to head the Justice
Department. But some say that a memo written by Gonzalez that
justified use of abusive interrogative practices makes him
unfit to become the nation's highest law enforcement officer.
Mitch Jeserich was there and he brings us the story.
[top]
Disease Spread in Aceh After Tsunami (2:54)
As we have been reporting on FSRN, Aceh in Indonesia has
been perhaps the hardest hit region from the Tsunami. And
as world leaders meet in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta,
to discuss how best to spend the aid money, concerns are growing
in Aceh that diseases caused by dirty water, deteriorating
bodies and lack of sanitation will raise the death toll even
higher. From Banda Aceh, Meggy Margiyono has more.
[top]
US Fires on University in Erbil, Iraq (1:02)
The Baltimore Sun yesterday published a memo by the head
of the Army Reserve, Lt. Gen. James R. "Ron" Helmly,
that was sent to the Army chief of staff, which expresses
his "deepening concern" about the continued readiness
of his troops warning that his branch of 200,000 soldiers
"is rapidly degenerating into a 'broken' force."
The memo was written on Dec 20 and in it Helmy called the
policies of mobilizing and managing forces “dysfunctional”.
Meanwhile word has come in that on Tuesday, between midnight
and 1am in Erbil, Iraq, US helicopters fired rockets and heavy
machine-guns into the student dormitory of Salahadin University.
Filmmaker James Longley was at the site and he spoke with
KCSB public affairs programmer Elizabeth Robinson about the
events.
[top]
Report from Falluji Refugee Camp (2:29)
Iraqi police today announced they have found the bodies
of eighteen young men who disappeared while traveling from
Baghdad to the northern city of Mosul on December 20. The
men were reportedly all from the Khadmiya neighborhood in
the northern part of the capital, and were traveling to Mosul
to work for a US military contractor. In other parts of the
country, refugees from Fallujah are still waiting to return
home as fighting there continues. FSRN’s David Enders
has this report from a Faluji refugee camp in Baghdad.
[top]
Schwarzeneggar’s State of the State Speech
(2:09)
In his State of the State speech last night, California
Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggar, urged lawmakers to dramatically
reform budget priorities. With a deficit above 8 billion dollars,
the governor says California has a spending problem, yet he
promised to submit a budget next week with no new taxes, that
would gut the state employees retirement package. FSRN's Vinny
Lombardo has more.
[top]
Closing Arguments in Trial of Lynne Stewart
(2:06)
The closing arguments concluded today in the trial of attorney
Lynne Stewart and two other defendants. They are charged by
the U.S. government with conspiring to incite violence and
promote terrorist activity. FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell has
more from New York.
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