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> Fri., July 29, 2005
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Congress Approves National Energy Plan
US Soldier Sentenced to 15 months in Prison, Acquitted of
Desertion
Indian Law to Restrict Family Size
Argentine Indigenous Community Battles Oil Companies
Brazilians Weigh-In On Government Corruption Scandals
FSRN Headlines
More than 800 people have died in the devastating monsoons
in Mumbai, India. This was the worst rainfall recorded in
a century. Vinod K. Jose reports from New Dehli.
Tha Rwanda government began releasing more than 36,000 genocide
suspects from jails across the country. Joshua Kyalimpa reports
from neighboring Uganda.
Two government reports say that reconstruction projects in
Afghanistan and Iraq have lost funding due to an increase
of security costs. In Iraq, the government allocated 18 billion
dollars for projects to restore electricity, water, and health
services. As of July 2004, 23 percent of reconstruction funds
were spent on security. In April of this year, that percentage
rose to 34 percent. Although the U.S. has made progress restoring
basic services, crude oil output is lower than during the
time of the invasion in 2003, resulting in less available
electricity. Many hospitals are still incomplete, and water
projects have gone unfinished. A separate report on Afghanistan
said progress in reconstruction was made in some areas but
lagged in others. For example, 238 schools were supposed to
be rebuilt or repaired, 8 were completed. The reasons include
the lack of security and poor contractor performance. The
U.S. allocated 720 million dollars for fiscal year 2004 in
Afghanistan
At the conclusion of the AFL-CIO conference in Chicago, president
John Sweeney spoke swiftly against union "free-riders."
Doug Cunningham with Workers Independent New Service reports.
A recent article in the American Journal of Public Health
explains that immigrants are not a financial burden to America’s
health care system but are actually receiving less health
care than U.S. citizens. Selyna Perez reports from Washington
D.C.
Ocean species have dropped by as much as 50 percent in the
past 50 years. That's according to a paper that was published
in the journal Science. The reasons for the depletion of ocean
life is due to over fishing, habitat destruction and climate
change.
[top]
CONGRESS APPROVES NATIONAL ENERGY PLAN
(4:09)
It was another major victory for Corporate America today
as the US Senate easily approved the Energy bill, practically
ending a 5 year struggle between the energy industry and environmentalists
in carving out the nation’s energy policy for the next
decade. The Energy bill offers billions of dollars in incentives
for electricity producers while rolling back key environmental
laws. Mitch Jeserich has more.
[top]
US SOLDIER SENTENCED TO 15 MONTHS IN PRISON, ACQUITTED
OF DESERTION (3:27)
Army Sergeant Kevin Benderman has been acquitted of desertion
charges in his military court martial. He was, however, sentenced
to 15 months in prison for missing movement… was demoted
to the army’s lowest rank of private… and faces
a reduction in pay. As FSRN’s Sarah Olson reports, Kevin
Benderman joins a small but growing number of Iraq war veterans
who are speaking out against the war in Iraq.
[top]
INDIAN LAW TO RESTRICT FAMILY SIZE (3:58)
Various state governments in India have recently introduced
a bill that restricts those with more than two children from
contesting village council elections. Human rights activist
point out that this will only lead to female infanticide.
The ratio has already gone down to less than 900 females to
1000 males. FSRN Correspondent Binu Alex has more.
[top]
ARGENTINE INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY BATTLES OIL COMPANIES
(3:53)
Numerous Mapuche indigenous communities in the Neuquén
province in the northwestern Argentine Patagonia suffer the
encroachment on their aboriginal territories by oil corporations
- which, by Argentine law violates their political rights.
Gelay Ko is one of the communities affected by the hydrocarbon
activities, but continues to resist it. Pablo Badano, Hernán
Scandizzo and Giulia Luisetti report.
[top]
BRAZILIANS WEIGH-IN ON GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION SCANDALS
(4:17)
We close out today’s newscast by going to the streets
of Sao Paulo where Brazilians weigh-in on the spate of corruption
scandals plaguing the South American nation, and its President,
Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva. Correspondent Natalia Viana has
more from Sao Paulo…
[top]
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