Home > Programs
> FSRN
> Tue., June. 28, 2005
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
Thanks to FSRN.org
for making the daily programs available to Pacifica.org
Today's lead stories:
Senate Passes Energy Bill that Further Deregulates the Industry
Civil Liberties Activists Demand Due Process for Guantanamo
Detainees
Psychological Effects of War on Iraqi Civilians
Torture Awareness Events in Washington
Gay Pride Battle in Tampa, Florida
Anniversary of Incident at Oglala on the Pine Ridge Reservation
FSRN Headlines
The Pakistani Supreme Court will reopen the rape case of
Mukhtar Mai, the woman from the southern Punjab region of
Pakistan who was allegedly gang raped. The court overturned
a lower court decision that acquitted five men and discarded
the death sentence of a sixth. Thirteen men were also re-arrested
to face trial. The ruling has received international attention
because rapes and crimes against women are rarely prosecuted
in Pakistan. Mai was allegedly raped under direction from
a town tribunal. They sought retaliation because her brother
is said to have slept with a woman in a higher class.
The Zapatistas in Mexico released another communiqué
which states their latest decision since they went on red
alert last week. Mariana Mora reports from Chiapas, Mexico.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, United Nations peacekeepers
are battling the militia who are using women and children
as shields. Sam Olukoya has this story.
Thousands across India protested their government's economic
policies, which they say are manipulative. Binu Alex has more
from Amdebad.
Today on the first anniversary of the Iraqi elections, President
Bush will speak to boost troop and American morale for the
war. From the military base in Fort Bragg, North Carolina,
he is expected to speak about the need for Americans to be
patient and that the violence has overshadowed the progress
that has been made in Iraq. His speech comes at a time of
low public opinion, increased pressure for an exit strategy,
and rising casualties. As of last week, according to the Ottowa
Sun, more than 22,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed, nearly
13,000 American troops have been injured, and more than 1700
American soldiers have died since the beginning of the war
in 2003. We will have more on the psychological effects of
the war in Iraq, later in the newscast.
Residents who live in government subsidized housing came
to Washington DC to rally against a Bush administration housing
proposal that would negatively affect them. Mike Sintetos
reports from DC.
[top]
Senate Passes Energy Bill that Further Deregulates
the Industry (3:56)
The US Senate easily passed the Energy Bill today that paves
the way for the development of new nuclear power plants. The
measure also contains billions of dollars in tax incentives
for energy producers and would further deregulate the industry.
Supporters of the measure say it will also help spur the development
and use of alternative energy resources. However, numerous
amendments to reduce green house gas emissions and to implement
fuel economy standards were defeated. The House has already
passed its form of the Energy Bill, and now, along with the
Senate,will try to hammer out a single bill in a crucial conference
committee where the legislation has died in previous years.
From Capitol Hill, Mitch Jeserich reports.
[top]
Civil Liberties Activists Demand Due Process for
Guantanamo Detainees (2:25)
As the Supreme Court ended its summer session yesterday,
the courthouse grounds were filled with layers and civil liberties
advocates, who came to express their concern that the June
2004 High Court ruling that granted due process to prisoners
detained at Gauntanamo Bay, Cuba had not been implemented.
One year ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court defined that Guantanamo
detainees had the right to the same legal process that covers
U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike. Selina Musuta of the
DC Radio Coop has more from the U.S. Supreme Court.
[top]
Psychological Effects of War on Iraqi Civilians
(2:58)
Iraqi police opened fire on a crowd of about 2,000 demonstrators
protesting for jobs in Samawa, about 170 miles south of Baghdad.
At least one person was killed and half a dozen demonstrators
were injured, as police fired live ammunition into the crowd.
Protestors threw rocks towards the police - four policemen
were injured by the stones. Meanwhile, at a press conference
in London, Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim Al-Jafaai said that
two years would be more than enough time to establish security
in Iraq. Yet the number of Iraq casualties has risen to 120,000
and the psychological effects of military campaign are waging
another war on civilians, especially the children of Iraq.
Eliana Kaya has more from KPFA.
[top]
Torture Awareness Events in Washington (1:50)
Groups and individuals across the globe commemorated the
United Nations International Day in Support of Torture Victims
and Survivors this past weekend. Ingrid Drake from the DC
Radio Co-op reports on how dozens of torture survivors and
their supporters were in Washington to call for an end to
torture and ill-treatment currently practiced in more than
150 countries.
[top]
Gay Pride Battle in Tampa, Florida (3:57)
Thirty-six years ago today, gay and lesbian patrons at the
Stonewall inn, a gay bar in downtown Manhattan, fought back
against police harassment. To coincide with the anniversary
of what's become known as the Stonewall Rebellion, the last
weekend in June has come to feature Gay Pride celebrations
all over the world. In Toronto, more than 100,000 people joined
the celebration on Sunday; In Paris 300,000 people marched
through the streets. But despite the fact that in many places,
Pride events have turned from protests into celebrations as
people of all sexual orientations become more accepted, battles
are still being fought in other places. A Jerusalem court
on Sunday lifted a ban on gay Pride celebrations imposed by
the city's mayor and ordered him not to interfere with the
march scheduled for later this week. And in Tampa Florida,
the LGBT community is reeling from a decision by the local
county commission to ban the county's participation in any
gay pride related events - that all stems from a display of
books at the public library. FSRN's Andrew Stelzer has the
story.
[top]
Anniversary of Incident at Oglala on the Pine Ridge
Reservation (2:47)
More than one hundred people gathered on the Pine Ridge
Reservation, in South Dakota last Sunday for the 30th anniversary
of the "Incident at Oglala". The 1975 standoff between
American Indian Movement members and the FBI ended in the
deaths of American Indian Joe Stuntz and two federal agents.
American Indian activist Leonard Peltier was convicted in
1977 for killing the FBI agents and is currently serving two
consecutive life sentences in the federal penitentiary at
Leavonworth, Kansas. No one was held responsible for Stuntz'
death. FSRN correspondent Jim Kent attended the anniversary
gathering and found that even after 30 years, neither his
attorneys nor his supporters are giving up the battle to free
Leonard Peltier.
[top]
|
Listen
to the show 
Help
stream
download
