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> Mon., Oct. 10, 2005
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FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
7.6 Magnitude Quake Hits Kashmir
Polish Elections Turns Country Towards the Right
German’s New “Grand Coalition”
EPA To Hold Public Hearings on Radiation Exposure Rules Changes
The American Indian Movement Takes on “Columbus Day”
Union Asks Yale to Divest Funds
Everyday Iraqi Stories; Part 2 in an FSRN Series
FSRN Headlines
RESCUE EFFORTS IN PAKISTAN
As rescue workers scramble to deliver aid to earthquake survivors
in Pakistan, they are faced with the challenge of transportation
to the hilly areas. Sonali Kolhatkar has more:
The devastation from this weekend's earthquake in Pakistan
was centered around Muzzafarabad, the capital of Pakistani
Kashmir. According to AH Nayyar, a Pakistani peace activist
in Islamabad, accessibility to the affected region is currently
the most important issue.
(AH Nayyar Clip 1) "This is extremely poor area- subsistence
farming, terrace farming, and this is a hilly area - all very
inaccessible. There are some roads. But the roads are very
narrow. In some places the roads don't even exist. The roads
that existed have seen many land slides because of which,
the rescue workers are finding it very difficult to get into
these places."
Nayyar reports that President Musharraf has specifically asked
the US for helicopters.
(AH Nayyar Clip 2) "Pakistan is feeling a shortage of
helicopters so it has asked for helicopters from "friendly
countries." He specifically mentioned help with some
Chinook helicopters. It will amount to the US disengaging
some its forces from Afghanistan and passing on this equipment
to Pakistan."
Thus far, the US has pledged a loan of only 8 helicopters
that are expected to arrive in Pakistan from Bagram Airbase
in Afghanistan within the next few days. For Free Speech Radio
News, I'm Sonali Kolhatkar in Los Angeles.
IN IRAQ
British Defense Secretary John Reid has announced that Britain
will soon reduce it's military presence in Iraq by 500 troops.
Two minor bases in Basra will be closed and Iraqi police will
assume patrolling duties.
In Baghdad, an Arab league delegation visiting Iraq was fired
upon today while traveling thru the city in a vehicle convoy.
Although members of the delegation escaped unharmed, three
police were reportedly killed in the incident.
At least two car bombs exploded in Baghdad today and mortor
shells struck the U.S. consulate in Hilla. Violence has raged
in recent weeks as the referendum nears. Iraqis will vote
on a draft constitution this Saturday.
SHARON-ABBAS SUMMIT POSTPONED
A high-profile meeting of Palestinian and Israeli leaders
will not take place tommorrow as planned. Manar Jibreen reports
from the West Bank.
Tuesday's summit meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been postponed
after the two sides failed to agree on important issues during
preparatory meetings. Palestinian negotiators demanded that
Israel supply the Palestinian Authority with weapons and hand
over security control in all Palestinian cities. Israeli Defense
Minister, Shaul Mofaz, rejected the two demands saying there
will be no handovers in the near future and that the Palestinian
Authority must act against resistance groups. The Bush administration
originally requested the summit as a precursor to President
Abbas' October 22nd visit to Washington. Abbas has said that
he is not interested in talks with Sharon for Public Relations
purposes, but rather, for concrete results to push peace talks
forward.
CBC LOCKOUT OVER
The employee lockout at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
is now over. From Vancouver, Alison Benjamin has the details.
Some 90% of CBC workers -over 5,500 employees, including
journalists, tv and radio announcers, and technical staff,
will return to work after a seven week lockout. The lockout
that began on August 15th stemmed from a dispute over CBC
hiring practices. About 30 percent of CBC workers are contract;
but CBC management wanted to expand this amount in order to
remain flexible in Canada's media climate. The union argued
this policy would negatively affect job security. Over the
weekend, the union that represents CBC employees voted overwhelmingly
to accept a new collective agreement from CBC management.
The number of full-time workers the CBC can hire on contract
is now capped at 9.5 percent. Aside from political pressure,
commercial forces were likely key in resolving the dispute.
National Hockey League games began this month. The advertising
money is an important source of income for the broadcaster
as government funding has diminished over the last 10 years.
Public funding of the CBC is a contentious issue, with some
conservatives questioning the value of the CBC, saying it
is often liberally biased. For others, it represents an alternative
to Canada's commerical media outlets. The CBC is expected
to be up and running in the coming days and weeks. For FSRN
in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, I'm Alison Benjamin.
[top]
7.6 Magnitude Quake Hits Kashmir (3:29)
Kashmir has been deeply affected by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake,
leaving the city and its residents devastated. The quake’s
epicenter was located near Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered
Kashmir. More than 20,000 people are dead in Kashmir alone.
The trembler also affected parts of Kashmir under the Indian
control, although the toll in that region is relatively less,
although authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir say the
real picture has yet to emerge. From Indian-administered Kashmir,
Shahnawaz Khan has more
[top]
Polish Elections Turns Country Towards the Right
(3:27)
Poles cast their votes in the first round of a presidential
election which, as expected, cemented the former communist
country's decisive shift to the right. Voters choose two centre-right
candidates with roots in what’s called the Solidarity
movement: the centre-right free-market liberal Donald Tusk
of the Civic Platform and conservative Lech Kaczynski of the
Catholic Law and Justice Party. On October 23, Poland's voters
will head to a third round at the polls, to make a final decision
between two different visions of the nation's future when
they choose a successor to left-wing President Aleksander
Kwasniewski. Danuta Szafraniec reports from Warsaw.
[top]
German’s New “Grand Coalition”
(2:15)
After three weeks of wrangling over which configuration
of political parties would make up its next government, the
German people finally have an answer. The Christian Democratic
Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) have struck
a deal, deciding to combine to form a so-called "Grand
Coalition". The SPD has agreed that Angela Merkel of
the Christian Democratic Union, will take over from Gerhard
Schroeder, as Germany's first female Chancellor. From Berlin,
Cinnamon Nippard has more on what Germans can expect from
their new government.
[top]
EPA To Hold Public Hearings on Radiation Exposure
Rules Changes (2:37)
The Environmental Protection Agency will hold public hearings
in Washington, DC tomorrow concerning the agency's proposed
new rules on radiation exposure limits at Yucca Mountain,
as well as other nuclear waste storage sites. Opponents of
the changes, ranging from doctors to conservation and environmental
groups, say that these changes are a threat to public safety.
Selina Musuta reports on the opposition from Washington, DC.
[top]
The American Indian Movement Takes on “Columbus
Day” (3:00)
For many people in the US, today is known as Columbus Day,
which celebrates the 1492 landing of Christopher Columbus
and his fleet on the Americas. Now a federally recognized
holiday, Colorado was the first State to make it an official
state holiday, 100 years ago. In recent years, the celebration
of the holiday has been shrouded in controversy, as Native
Americans dispute the doctrine of discovery and equate the
Columbus Day commemorations as a celebration of genocide.
The Colorado American Indian Movement has been fighting for
nearly 20 years to abolish the holiday and the local parade
which celebrates it. Maeve Conran reports from Denver.
[top]
Union Asks Yale to Divest Funds (2:57)
Researchers affiliated with Yale's unions are asking that
the university divest from a company they say directly hurts
the country's poor Black and Latino residents. Melinda Tuhus
reports.
[top]
Everyday Iraqi Stories; Part 2 in an FSRN Series
(2:01)
The Iraqi government announced new security measures on
Saturday including a curfew, weapons ban and a closure of
its borders - all part of the country's preparations for next
week's constitutional referendum. In our continuing series
of in interviews from Iraq, FSRN’s Salam Talib spoke
with Mokdad Hazem, an 18-year-old Iraqi police officer and
1 of a family of 7 living in Babylon.
[top]
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