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> Tue., Oct. 11, 2005
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Morocco Deports Thousands Back to Senegal
Tough New British Asylum Policies under Fire by UN Commission
for Refugees
Campaigners Organize Against Death Penalty in the Philippines
The Role of Afghanistan’s Kuchis in Elections
DC Residents Call Moratorium on Sale of Public Property
National Coming Out Day
FSRN Headlines
ELECTIONS IN LIBERIA
Liberians went to the polls today to take part in the country's
first general elections since the end of a Civil War in 2003.
Voters began lining up before dawn to cast their ballots for
legislative representatives and the presidential contenders.
Although twenty-two candidates are running for president,
the election is down to two top contenders -- a former soccer
superstar and an ex-official from the World Bank. Both promise
to restore running water and electrical services to Liberia's
capital city.
RELIEF EFFORTS IN KASHMIR
Indian Prime minister ManMohan Singh visited the quake-affected
areas of Indian administered Kashmir today where he announced
a $115 million dollar financial assistance package to the
state government for disaster relief and rehabilitation. FSRN's
Shahnawaz Khan reports from Sriangar.
The death toll in Indian administered Kashmir has reached
1300. Across the line of control, more than 20,000 people
are estimated to have died in Pakistan Administered Kashmir.
Rescue teams have yet to reach many of the villages left inaccessible
by the quake on Saturday. Around 80 per cent of the houses
in the areas of Uri, Tanghdar and surrounding areas were destroyed.
Many of the survivors spend their nights in the open without
food. although authorities are distributing tents and food
to those families, the pace of relief work falls short when
compared to the scale of the disaster. Bad weather is compounding
the miseries of the survivors and adding hurdles to the rescue
work. India has offered help across the line of control in
Kashmir and a plane carrying tents and medical supplies flew
to the Pakistani side today. The Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Road
connecting the capitals of the two sides of Kashmir is closed
- damaged badly by the landslides triggered by the quake.
The road was was opened in April of this year for the first
time since Kashmir was divided in 1947 by a line of control.
In Indian administered Kashmir, the challenge still is to
reach all of the affected villages and to provide food and
shelter to the survivors. For Free Speech Radio News I M Shahnawaz
Khan from Sriangar Kashmir
SEARCH ENDS IN GUATEMALA
Search operations have been called off in Guatemala. The confirmed
death toll is currently at over 650, although it is recognized
that the actual number may be far greater. An estimated 1400
people died when the entire town of Panabaj was buried by
a mud-slide. The exact figure may never be known as local
authorities have declared the site a cemetary rather than
to exhume decomposing bodies.
MOBILIZATIONS IN COLOMBIA
Members of indigenous groups in Colombia are in the second
of a 3-day march that turned bloody on Monday. The ongoing
national march commemorates 513 years of indigenous resistance
to European colonialism and this year's march specifically
is directed against the implementation of a proposed Andean
Free Trade Agreement. The peaceful demonstration was attacked
yesterday by riot police. A fifty-nine year old member the
National Indigenous Organization of Colombia died from asphyxiation
as the march was gassed by police. Approximately 20 people
were wounded in the incident. Groups opposed to the Andean
Free Trade Agreement are calling for a general strike tomorrow
throughout Colombia.
CAFTA PASSES IN NICARAGUA
Nicaraguan leaders negotiated a political pact yesterday as
the National Assembly ratified the Central American Free Trade
Agreement. Nan McCurdy has more from Managua.
CAFTA was ratified by Nicaragua's National Assembly yesterday
in a 49 to 37 vote. All of the dissenting votes came from
the Sandinista Deputies. They rebuked the Liberal Party Deputies,
for bowing to pressure from the United States. Yesterday,
a seven-hour meeting between former Sandinista President Daniel
Ortega and President Enrique Bolanos resulted in a moratorium
on the power struggle between the executive and legislative
branches of government. It was agreed that constitutional
reforms transferring power from the president to the legislature,
passed nearly a year ago, will not go into effect until after
the presidential elections in 2006. The United States opposed
the reforms that would have weakened the mandate of President
Bolanos, a close ally in the region. For Free Speech Radio
News, from Managua, I'm Nan McCurdy
TARGET TARGETED
A group of labor activists, dressed in Halloween costumes,
demonstrated outside of a Target store in the Bronx, New York
yesterday. Rebecca Myles explains why.
Two dozen Labor activists dressed in Harry Potter Halloween
costumes joined in solidarity with Mexican organizers to protest
labor conditions in Rubie's, a costume factory in Hidalgo,
Mexico. They were protesting the alleged use of child labor
and sweatshop conditions in the Mexican factory Workers say
they have been prevented from freely organizing to improve
their working conditions at the factory where workers as young
as 13 make Halloween costumes for the Rubie's, Mattel and
Warner Brothers labels which are distributed to stores like
Target. Five months ago the company refused to recognize the
workers' union and locked out its labor force. Some have since
accepted a company settlement and were officially dismissed.
About 15 workers continue to fight for reinstatement. For
Free Speech Radio News, I am Rebecca Myles.
[top]
Morocco Deports Thousands Back to Senegal
(2:48)
More and more undocumented African migrants risk their lives
attempting to enter Europe via Spain, some crossing the Atlantic
Ocean on makeshift boats, while others travel through the
continent on foot. Dozens of people have been severely injured
in a rush at the border fence in Melilla, a North African
Spanish enclave. Others have been crushed to death, and some
have died from rubber bullets. Morocco, under pressure from
Spain, recently rounded up and abandoned as many as 500 men,
women and children in a remote southern desert. Doctors Without
Borders treated at least 50 people dumped in the desert. Last
week, Moroccan authorities deported some 1,000 Malian and
Senegalese migrants to Senegal - 140 arrived last night and
another 140 are expected to arrive later this evening. Ndiaga
Seck reports.
[top]
Tough New British Asylum Policies under Fire by UN
Commission for Refugees (3:45)
The United National High Commission for Refugees has criticized
Britain for its ever toughening asylum policy. Tony Blair’s
government plans to change the law so that even successful
asylum seekers will not get permanent status to remain in
Britain. He recently set monthly deportation targets at a
higher rate than the number of asylum rejections. This week,
45 British partners of failed asylum seekers launched a campaign
calling for recognition of their rights as European citizens.
From London, Naomi Fowler reports.
[top]
Campaigners Organize Against Death Penalty in the
Philippines (3:40)
This week marks the World Day against the Death Penalty.
Campaigners in the Philippines are stepping up their efforts
to see the death penalty repealed in that country; where over
2300 people are currently on death row. Rupert Cook reports.
[top]
The Role of Afghanistan’s Kuchis in Elections
(4:07)
Results are expected soon from Afghanistan's legislative
and provincial elections, which took place September 18. Transporting
the votes has been an obstacle in the dry, mountainous country,
which has been ravaged by war for nearly three decades. Voting
officials also faced the practical problem of how to allow
the country's nomadic population, known as Kuchis, to vote.
Special centers were set up for Kuchis, and ten seats in the
parliament, or Wolesi Jirga, were reserved for Kuchi representatives.
Tony Cross visited some members of the group, which is shunned
by many Afghans.
[top]
DC Residents Call Moratorium on Sale of Public Property
(3:12)
In the midst of urban revitalization and a real estate boom,
some Washington DC area residents are calling for a moratorium
on the sale of public property. Ingrid Drake reports.
[top]
National Coming Out Day
As we mentioned at the start of the newscast, today is National
Coming Out Day, which commemorates the estimated 3/4 million
people that marched in Washington on this day in 1987 for
gay and lesbian rights. This day provides an opportunity for
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their friends
and family to highlight awareness of these communities. The
Human Rights Campaign, which manages National Coming Out Day
celebrations, released a list of 10 straight advocates for
LGBT equality today, including the Reverend Al Sharpton, Hip
Hopper Kanye West and Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis
Zapatero.
[top]
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