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> Thur., Sept. 8, 2005
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
The Lockdown at the Astrodome
Organizations Step Up Relief Efforts in Los Angeles
New Haven To Accept 100 Displaced Families
Bids for Government Contracts to Rebuild Devastated Areas
Partisan Fighting On Capitol Hill over Hurricane Response
Investigation
Workers Gather for First Ever National Anti-Wal-Mart Gathering
Kashmiris Strike Against Jailing of Separatists Activists
FSRN Headlines
More trouble for Republican Majority Leader Tom Delay. A
Texan grand jury announced a series of indictments against
his political action committee Texans for a Republican Majority.
The Pac took a 100-thousand dollar corporate check to spend
on the 2002 statewide elections. That's allegedly a violation
of campaign finance laws in the Lone Star state. Wendy Wang
reports it's one of a series of related charges that could
haunt the G-O-P leader.
Election authorities in Egypt today rejected calls for a
new round of presidential elections. Opposition leaders and
international observers say yesterday's vote was marred by
a number of irregularities. Preliminary results show current
President Hosne Mubarak winning by a landslide. Paul Schemm
reports.
Israeli forces today announced the closure of the main border
checkpoint between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Laila El-Haddad
has more from Gaza City.
Lawyers for Guantanamo Detainees and the Justice Department
meet in court again today. At issue...what rights at detainees
at the naval base have. Darby Hickey reports.
[top]
The Lockdown at the Astrodome (3:40)
As we continue our special Free Speech Radio News team coverage
on Hurricane Katrina, today, we'll take a look at the obstacles,
hope and expressions of solidarity facing hurricane victims.
We start in Houston, where hundreds of evacuees at the Astrodome
were barred from entering the building today after FEMA announced
that they were going to begin issuing debit cards. Evacuees
were told to wait outside in the heat while they processed
paperwork. FSRN's Dolores M. Bernal spoke to the waiting evacuees.
[top]
Organizations Step Up Relief Efforts in Los Angeles
(2:04)
We now go to two parts of the country, where evacuees are
being relocated. In Los Angeles, organizations are stepping
up to the plate by providing aid and shelter to thousands
of Hurricane Katrina evacuees. With resources to spare, the
city - along with the rest of the state of California, is
becoming a major destination for many New Orleans residents
in times of need. FSRN's Leilani Albano has more.
[top]
New Haven To Accept 100 Displaced Families
(1:51)
While the federal government hesitated on hurricane evacuee
relief efforts, Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell set up a committee
to study how her state might respond to Hurricane Katrina:
the City of New Haven yesterday announced it will accept a
hundred families to take up new lives there. Melinda Tuhus
reports.
[top]
Bids for Government Contracts to Rebuild Devastated
Areas (2:49)
Bids for government contracts are being taken to rebuild
New Orleans and surrounding areas devastated by Hurricane
Katrina. In a predominantly African American city, many are
pressing for that community to have a hand in the rebuilding
effort. FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell has more.
[top]
Partisan Fighting On Capitol Hill over Hurricane
Response Investigation (2:49)
Congress moved today on a 51.8 billion dollar emergency
supplemental bill for Hurricane Katrina relief, and is expected
to pass it by the end of the evening. However, partisan fighting
has erupted on Capitol Hill. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
announced today that Democrats will not participate in a Congressional
investigation over the response failures to Katrina - calling
it a whitewash, and instead insisting that an independent
commission be created. And at the White House, a couple of
hundred people protested outside, chanting shame on Bush and
calling for the resignation of FEMA Director Michael Brown.
Mitch Jeserich reports.
[top]
Workers Gather for First Ever National Anti-Wal-Mart
Gathering (3:17)
The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated,
has identified 371 small, rural cities in Mexico where it
plans to open new Walmex stores. The announcement nearly doubles
the amount of sites identified by Wal-Mart earlier this year,
and shifts the super-store's focus from large urban centers
to small rural areas in Mexico. Meanwhile, for years in the
United States, Wal-Mart employees have faced fierce opposition
from the corporation at any efforts to unionize. As an alternative,
current and former Wal-Mart employees in Florida have formed
the Wal-Mart Workers Association, a member-run organization
designed to defend each other against unfair labor practices
by the chain store. Some of the Wal-Mart workers recently
attended the first ever nationwide gathering of anti-Wal-Mart
activists and organizers. >From St Petersburg, Florida,
Andrew Stelzer reports.
[top]
Kashmiris Strike Against Jailing of Separatists Activists
(2:38)
A general strike was observed in Indian Administered Kashmir
today to protest the arrest of eight women belonging to Dukhtaran-e-Milat,
the only female separatist group in Kashmir. The women, including
Dukhtaran-e-Milat Chief Asiya Andrabi have been charged under
a tough Public Safety Act law, and Kashmiri separatists have
oppose the arrest. From Srinagar, FSRN's Shahnawaz Khan reports.
[top]
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