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> Wed., Apr. 20, 2005
FSRN
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Today's lead stories:
Increasing Troubles on Ecuador's Streets
Congressional Committee Passes Anti-Gang Measure but Protects
Gun Sellers
New Jordanian Prime Minister has Questionable Past
Tsunami Rehabilitation Lagging In India
Arrest and Detention of Teenage Girls in New York Called Cases
of Racial Profiling
Bush Administration Restricts HIV Funding
FSRN Headlines
White House officials restated their support for John Bolton
to be the next ambassador to the United Nations over harsh
allegations from Senate Democrats. Secretary of State Condoleeza
Rice said she is disappointed about the delay. Late yesterday,
Republican Senator George Voinovich surprised members at the
committee proceedings when he said that he too has doubts
about Bolton’s qualifications to be the nation’s
leading diplomat at the U.N. Voinovich said that he would
like more time to consider additional allegations that Bolton
tried to dismiss intelligence officers and other government
officials who disagreed with him. Even one Republican committee
vote against the nomination would stop Bolton’s candidacy.
Voinovich joins two others who originally said they were wavering
but indicated yesterday that they would vote for Bolton. The
committee is scheduled to meet on the matter again in May.
Italy’s president has resigned as a way of holding
on to power longer. Diletta Varlesce explains from Brescia.
Small but continuous protests in Egypt defy the government’s
rules and push for reform. Paul Schemm reports from Cairo.
Connecticut today passed the first civil unions bill in the
nation without a court mandate to do so. Melinda Tuhus reports
from New Haven.
Utah’s governor is set to sign legislation that will
put the state’s education policies above the federal
mandate known as the “No Child Left Behind Act.”
Legislators easily voted for the measure yesterday, over threats
from the Bush administration that the state could lose 76-million
dollars from the federal bureaucracy. One state senator said,
my state sovereignty “is not for sale at any price.”
Officials from more than half the states in the nation say
they are considering or have taken action against the federal
law charging it requires expensive paperwork for little return,
especially for students. Connecticut state officials say they
will sue the federal government over the
[top]
Increasing Troubles on Ecuador's Streets
(3:30)
Protests continue in Ecuador, as demonstrators demanding
the resignation of President Lucio Gutierrez pack the streets
of Quito, hoping to reach the presidential palace. Last December,
Gutierrez eliminated 27 out of 31 judges on the Supreme Court
citing bias- although under mass public pressure, he fired
those replacements on Friday. As protests continued and a
nation-wide strike was underway, Gutierrez issued a state
of emergency last weekend, then lifted it one day later. Although
up to 50,000 crowd Quito's streets, demanding Gutierrez quit
immediately, he says he intends to stay in office. Protestors
have been met with riot-clad police and armed forces, who
used up to 1,500 tear gas bombs last night alone to clear
demonstrators. Joining us to talk about the latest developments
in Quito is Juana Sotomayor, with the Center for Economic
and Social Rights. Can you give us an idea of what is going
on in Quito?
[top]
Congressional Committee Passes Anti-Gang Measure
but Protects Gun Sellers (3:52)
Today a key Congressional Committee passed an anti-street
gang measure that would require the death sentence or life
in prison for gang members who were involved in the killing
of another person. The bill also increases penalties for gang
related activities. Right after the committee approved the
measure, it then approved another measure to protect gun industry
sellers from potential lawsuits over how their weapons were
used or acquired. Mitch Jeserich has the story from Capitol
Hill.
[top]
New Jordanian Prime Minister has Questionable Past
(3:36)
Jordan's new Prime Minister Adnan Badran is coming under
attack from pro-democracy advocates for his role in the killing
of three University students in 1986. Badran wasn't elected
Prime Minister of Jordan - he was simply picked for the post
by Jordanian ruler and US ally, King Abdullah II. FSRN's Aaron
Glantz reports.
[top]
Tsunami Rehabilitation Lagging In India
(3:35)
More than one hundred days later, and after millions of
dollars in aid, survivors of the December tsunami in Southeast
Asia say that relief efforts are worsening, as they continue
to live in unsanitary conditions. Tsunami victims are often
sandwiched between government delays and their own trauma
and poverty. FSRN correspondent, Binu Alex reports from Colachel
in South India.
[top]
Arrest and Detention of Teenage Girls in New York
Called Cases of Racial Profiling (3:30)
Two New York City teenagers have been held in an immigration
detention center for nearly one month. Watchdogs monitoring
the situations say they are both cases of racial profiling.
FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell has more.
[top]
Bush Administration Restricts HIV Funding
(3:45)
The head of the Global AIDS Fund has said India now has
the highest number of HIV-positive individuals, a claim the
Indian government and some AIDS organizations deny. All sides
agree that more needs to be done to stop the epidemic. But,
as Darby Hickey of the DC Radio Coop reports, new US policies
enacted by the Bush Administration may be weakening the fight
against HIV.
[top]
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