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> Mon., May. 23, 2005
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Afghan President Hamid Karzai Visits Washington
BBC Workers on Strike
Demonstrations Planned Against AIPAC Policy Conference
Mining Effect on the Philippines' Marinduque Island
Property Disputes Over India and Pakistan Administered Kashmir
FSRN Headlines
Top military officials in Iraq confirm reports that the U.S.
is prepared to create 4 larger bases that will condense more
than 100 sites currently being used. However, officials reject
the statement that they are creating a permanent presence
in Iraq. Rather the officials say the four super bases are
part of the withdrawal plan. Military officials also confirm
that currently there is no timetable for when US forces will
leave the country. In a joint operation called “Squeeze
Play,” US and Iraqi military soldiers rounded up nearly
300 people who are accused of attacks on the US detention
facility in the Abu Gharaib region.
A secret Monsanto report shows the agribusiness giant hid
findings of safety risks in their genetically modified corn.
Patrick Beckett has more.
10’s of thousands protested in Bolivia today calling
for the nationalization of gas resources. Linda Farthings
in La Paz has more.
Consumers would save money if the Bush administration insisted
on an increase in the fuel economy standards for cars as part
of the nation’s energy policy. Melinda Tuhus explains.
US Senators are preparing to meet late into the evening on
Capitol Hill trying to negotiate an end to the controversy
over judicial nominees and the filibuster. Republican Majority
leader Bill Frist has called in for sleeping cots. About a
dozen moderate Senators are trying to hammer out a compromise
behind closed doors. Democrats insist that the filibuster
is a way to insure the rights of the minority are heard by
being able to stop particularly egregious legislation or votes.
Republicans insist that all presidential nominees should be
given an up or down vote by the Senate and are threatening
to get rid of the filibuster. If no compromise is reached,
Senators are scheduled to vote on one of the judicial nominees
tomorrow.
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai Visits Washington
(4:44)
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President George Bush
met at the White House today where they reportedly talked
about detainee abuse, the US military and economic assistance,
poppy production, and the development of Afghanistan's natural
gas industry. Mitch Jeserich has more from Washington.
[top]
BBC Workers on Strike (3:27)
BBC staff staged the first of four planned days of strike
action today against massive cuts proposed by the BBC's Director
General. The BBC wants to cut 4,000 jobs, which would save
$585-million per year- money the BCC says it has to invest
in order to keep up with its commercial competitors in the
digital age. But BBC staff are worried that these cuts are
the beginning of a privatization scheme that will see the
end of public service broadcasting in Britain. FSRN correspondent
Naomi Fowler reports from London.
[top]
Demonstrations Planned Against AIPAC Policy Conference
(3:46)
The American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC,
the oldest and strongest pro-Israeli lobby in the US, started
its annual policy conference yesterday. Today, Secretary of
State Condoleeza Rice spoke to the attendees, while protestors
finalized plans for a demonstration outside the conference
site in Washington DC this evening. Darby Hickey has more.
[top]
Mining Effect on the Philippines' Marinduque Island
(4:02)
Almost a decade after the Philippines' worst man-made disaster,
the people of the small island province of Marinduque say
that they have yet to be adequately compensated. Contaminated
tailings from over thirty years of copper and gold mining
remain strewn about the island, poisoning major waterways,
the air, and the surrounding ocean. The Canadian mining company
responsible for the situation claimed as early as 2001 that
all contaminated environments had been rehabilitated and all
affected residents had been compensated. This past March,
the last rehabilitation payment was made. Communities in Marinduque,
however, are just now learning the extent to which their lands
have been poisoned. From the Philippines, FSRN's Carey Biron
has this story.
[top]
Property Disputes Over India and Pakistan Administered
Kashmir (3:58)
Bus Service between the capitals of India and Pakistan administered
Kashmir initiated last month has stirred up controversy regarding
the properties of people who have migrated from one side to
the other. The controversy started when a passenger from Pakistan
administered Kashmir claimed her ancestral property on the
Indian administered side. The left over properties of people
who mostly migrated at the time of the partition of India
in 1947 are currently managed by The Custodian Department
of the state. FSRN's Shanawaz Kahn reports.
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