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> Thur., Sept. 29, 2005
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Rumsfeld Talks Military Strategy on Capitol Hill
“Return to the Land of Wonders” Examines Iraq’s
Interim Constitution
Endangered Species Act Under Attack in the House
OSCE Conference Considers Human Rights and Democratization
Boycott against Greyhound and Amtrak Racial Profiling
Lessons Still to be Learned from Hurricane Rita
FSRN Headlines
The Supreme Court has a new chief justice. Today the U.S.
Senate voted to confirm John Roberts, with only about half
the body’s democrats dissenting. Senate democrats have
drawn fire for not putting up more of a fight after Roberts
largely evaded probing questions during his confirmation hearings.
But Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Arlin Specter, a republican,
applauded what he called bipartisanship, and a thorough review
of Roberts’ qualifications:
[Specter Audio]
Roberts will take his seat in time for the supreme court
session that begins Monday, when the high court will be tackling
issues like assisted suicide,campaign finance law, and abortion.
House Republicans have chosen Majority Whip Roy Bluntto replace
Tom DeLay as house majority leader. DeLay was forced to step
down after being indicted for violations of Texas campaign
finance laws. Blunt has been a vigorous defender of Delay,
and has also been the target of ethics charges. In 2002 he
helped secure spending that benefited United Parcel Service
at time when his son was working as a lobbyist for the company.
He also tried to help tobacco giant Philip Morris with an
amendment to a homeland security bill at a time when he was
romantically involved with a lobbyist for the company, whom
he married the following year.
Following Israeli assaults in the occupied territories, a
leading armed Palestinian group says it will no longer respect
a six-month-old truce in the West Bank. From Palestine, Manar
Jibrin has more:
A nationwide strike against privatization policies swept
India today. Air travel, rail travel, and banking transactions
ground to a halt across the country, and some provinces shut
down altogether. Binu Alex reports from Ahmedabad:
In Indonesia, protests against rising fuel prices escalated
sharply today—more than 15,000 rallied in front of the
Presidential Palace. Meggy Margiyono has more from Jakarta.
[top]
Rumsfeld Talks Military Strategy on Capitol Hill
While US Military officials this morning discussed plans
for continued U-S military operations in Iraq, a string of
coordinated car bombings left at least 60 dead and 70 wounded
in a town 50 miles north of Baghdad. According to Associated
Press, the attacks hit 3 locations including a bank, a vegetable
market and a spot near a police station. Earlier on a road,
just outside of Baghdad, 5 U-S Marines were also killed in
a bombing. Just two weeks ago, 114 people were killed when
a man exploded his vehicle near a group of construction workers
in Baghdad. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, senior military officials,
including Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld testified
in front of the Senate Armed Services committee on their operations
and strategies in Iraq. Selina Musuta files this report.
[top]
“Return to the Land of Wonders” Examines
Iraq’s Interim Constitution
Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw and U.S. President
George W. Bush warned on Wednesday that as Iraq approaches
a referendum vote on its constitution in two weeks, there
will be an increase of violence in the country. As Iraqis
grapple with the implications of their new Constitution, a
new film highlights some of the short-comings of the old one,
drawn up just last year. The film, "Return to the Land
of Wonders," focuses on the crafting of Iraq’s
interim Constitution in the Spring of 2004. The documentary
was shot by Maysoon Pachachi, the daughter of 82 year old
secular businessman Adnan Pachachi, a former Foreign Minister
of Iraq who had spent more than 30 years in exile before the
US military ousted Saddam's regime. Aaron Glantz reports.
[top]
Endangered Species Act Under Attack in the House
Capitol Hill is set to vote on a fast-moving bill today
that seeks to make drastic changes to the Endangered Species
Act, which was originally implemented in 1973. Legislation
to change the Act was introduced by House Resources Committee
Chairman Richard Pombo, and seeks to eradicate “critical
habitat” for animals and plants in places where development
is limited, and includes provisions to give new rights to
property owners while limiting habitat protections. Several
Congress-members have introduced a bi-partisan amendment to
protect the Act’s intent and to eradicate Representative
Pombo’s provisions. We’re joined on the line by
Patty Goldman of the Earth Justice Legal Defense Fund.
[top]
OSCE Conference Considers Human Rights and Democratization
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
or O-S-C-E, human rights and democracy review conference is
taking place for the 10th time in Warsaw. Over 1000 international
experts, human rights activists and government representatives
are participating in the forum. On the agenda for their two-week
meeting is reviewing the progress made by 55 O-S-C-E member
states in implementing their commitments in the field of human
rights and democratization. This year, a special day-long
session was also devoted to preventing and combating torture.
According to various human rights reports, torture and ill-treatment
by law enforcement officials and prison personnel are systematic
and hardly ever investigated – one example being the
May uprising in Uzbekistan. Danuta Szafraniecz reports from
Warsaw.
[top]
Boycott against Greyhound and Amtrak Racial Profiling
Progressive and immigrant rights groups picketed in front
of the Greyhound Bus Depot in Downtown LA today to protest
a policy they say amounts to racial profiling. From KPFK,
FSRN’s Leilani Albano reports.
[top]
Lessons Still to be Learned from Hurricane Rita
Total monetary loses for Hurricane Katrina damage in the
states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida is now
estimated at $44 billion, according to risk analysis company
AIR Worldwide. The city if New Orleans alone takes over half
that amount, at over $22 billion in damage. Just days after
Katrina’s devastation, Rita hit parts of the south,
where new evacuation lessons from that Hurricane are still
being learned as some residents were left without information
or resources. Katie Heim has more.
[top]
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