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> Fri., Dec. 2, 2005
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Senate Armed Services Committee Probes Possible Pentagon Propaganda
Opposition Parties Boycott Venezuelan Parliamentary Elections
Bloods Join Call for Tookie Clemency
Death Row Inmate Protest
Youth Summit At Montreal Climate Talks
Theresa Dang Acquitted of Dubious Charges
FSRN Headlines
TEN MARINES KILLED NEAR FALLUJAH
U.S. military sources today confirmed the deaths of 10 Marines
- killed yesterday by a roadside bomb near Fallujah. The incident
is the deadliest attack on Marines in Iraq since an improvised
explosive device killed 14 in August. Eleven marines were
injured in yesterday's attack. Seven have since returned to
duty.
UK PROPOSAL TO STRIP CITIZENSHIP
The British government is proposing new powers to deport even
their own citizens if the Home Secretary considers their presence
"non-conducive to the public good". From London,
Naomi Fowler reports.
According to the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association,
there's no established principle in international law for
a country expelling its own nationals. Under the proposed
legislation, the home secretary will be able to strip dual
nationals of their British citizenship as easily as he can
remove or exclude foreign nationals from Britain. That's regardless
of whether dual nationals were born in Britain or whether
they have ever been to the other country where they share
citizenship. That's also regardless of whether or not they've
passed the new UK citizenship test. It's said to be a test
many British people would have difficulty passing. If these
proposals are agreed to by Parliament, the Home Secretary
may be able to deport dual nationals who have not been charged
with any criminal offence and have no criminal record. The
legislation has been severely criticized by the parliamentary
committee on human rights. The House of Lords will debate
the bill next week. This is Naomi Fowler in London for Free
Speech Radio News.
AIRLINE STRIKE IN ARGENTINA
Argentina's Labor Ministry and unionized workers from the
national airline are struggling to end a strike that has halted
domestic and international flights. Marie Trigona reports
from Buenos Aires.
The Argentina Airline Company made a late-night wage hike
offer to the striking pilots and technicians who have paralyzed
the airline's domestic and international flights for nine
days. The unionized workers are holding an assembly today
to decide whether to accept the offer or to continue the strike.
Only emergency flights have resumed. Since the Argentina Airline
Company sent telegrams on Tuesday firing some 373 pilots and
technicians demanding a wage increase, other labor unions
have joined the strike. Throughout the week, airport and airline
workers have rallied to demand a 45 percent wage increase
for pilots as well as the re-hiring of 11 workers fired at
the start of the conflict. The airline company says the strike
has affected some 80,000 passengers and has caused nearly
10 million dollars of profit losses.
ELECTORAL CONTROVERSY IN HONDURAS
In Honduras, the ruling party of outgoing President Ricardo
Maduro says it has recruited 300 lawyers to investigate alleged
irregularities during last Sunday's closely contested presidential
election. Opposition candidate Manuel Zelaya declared victory
shortly after a high-level election official made an announcement
before the vote was too close to call. With close to 90 percent
of the ballots now counted, results indicate the opposition
candidate leads by a 3.7 point margin.
HURRICANE EPSILON
Tropical Storm Epsilon has now developed into the 14th hurricane
of the year. Epsilon intensified into a hurricane after the
storm season officially ended on Wednesday. 2005 has been
the busiest hurricane season on record.
KASHMIR'S WINTER SETS IN
In South Asia, temperatures have dropped below freezing across
the region affected by the deadly October 8th earthquake.
Aid agencies and the United Nations are warning of inadequate
shelter for the millions of people who lost their homes the
disaster. Shahnawaz Khan has more.
For nearly two months, aid agencies have been requesting
specially-designed "winterized" tents to withstand
the harsh Himalayan winter in the quake-struck region. But
the demand for winterized tents far exceeds supply. About
three million people were left homeless by the October 8th
quake in Pakistan and Pakistan administered Kashmir. The International
Organisation for Migration is the aid agency in charge of
the effort to provide shelter to the earthquake survivors.
The IOM says the situation is critical as approximately 90%
of the tents distributed are unsuitable for winter conditions.
The Associated Press is reporting that hospitals in the Pakistan
quake zone have recently treated more than 700 people suffering
from pneumonia, flu, hypothermia and other weather-related
ailments. Bad weather over the past few days has also significantly
hampered the delivery of relief supplies. For Free Speech
Radio News, I'm Shahnawaz Khan.
LANDMARK EXECUTION
A North Carolina death row inmate was executed this morning
by lethal injection. Kenneth Lee Boyd became the one-thousandth
person to be executed since the death penalty was re-instated
in 1976. The reinstatement of capital punishment overturned
a 1972 Supreme Court ruling that determined the death penalty
to be "cruel and unusual punishment". South Carolina
has an execution scheduled for this evening.
[top]
Senate Armed Services Committee Probes Possible
Pentagon Propaganda (2:13)
The top lawmaker on the Senate Armed Services Committee
held a closed session with Pentagon officials today about
recent reports of the US Military paying some Iraqi newspapers
to report positive news about US efforts there. The LA Times
reported on Wednesday that articles were written by US soldiers
and then translated by a defense contractor. The articles
omitted information that might reflect poorly for the US military
there. Mitch Jeserich has more from Capitol Hill.
[top]
Opposition Parties Boycott Venezuelan Parliamentary
Elections (2:42)
Several of Venezuela's most important opposition parties
withdrew from the parliamentary elections to be held this
Sunday. They say they withdrew because they do not trust the
country's national electoral council. Chavez supporters, however,
say that they withdrew because they prefer to cast doubt on
the electoral process than to face certain defeat at the polls.
Greg Wilpert reports.
[top]
Bloods Join Call for Tookie Clemency (3:19)
As the execution date for Stan “Tookie” Williams
approaches, backers of the Crip gang co-founder are voicing
their support for clemency. The latest group to join the call
are some members of the LA-based Bloods Gang, who are long-time
Crip rivals. FSRN’s Leilani Albano reports.
[top]
Death Row Inmate Protest (4:36)
As the nation marks its 1000th execution since capital punishment
was re-instated in 1976, a non-violent protest by death row
prisoners is underway in Texas. Tony Ford began protesting
about month before his execution, which was originally scheduled
for December. He maintains his innocence in a 1991 shooting
death in El Paso. This week, a judge issued him a stay of
execution so his attorneys can test DNA evidence that may
indicate another man committed the crime for which Ford is
sentenced to die. FSRN’s Renne Feltz recently spoke
with Tony Ford from Death Row.
[top]
Youth Summit At Montreal Climate Talks (2:44)
The largest environmental conference ever held in North
America is taking place this week in Montreal to define a
vision for the Kyoto Protocol after 2012. The absence of the
United States and Australia, however, highlights the difficulty
of international cooperation on the environment. And although
a Youth Summit is also taking place in Montreal with better
prospects, it has not received any official recognition. Elise
Hugus files this report from Montreal.
[top]
Theresa Dang Acquitted of Dubious Charges
(3:26)
The trial against a young Vietnamese-American activist,
Theresa Dang, ended in an acquittal late yesterday in an Orange
County, California court. Dang faced two misdemeanor charges,
standing accused of holding a police officer’s flashlight
in her possession during a Minutemen counter-demonstration
in May of this year. The flashlight is estimated to be worth
about $100, yet the trial is costing taxpayers over $22,000
per day, according to the judge presiding over the case, who
expressed surprise at the trial’s opening that there
had been no attempt to settle the matter. Dang was charged
and her home was raided in search of the flashlight just days
after she asked the local City Council to investigate police
abuse at the counter-demonstration she attended – a
move that many say indicates the police force’s political
spite against Dang. Dang and her attornies are now considering
whether or not to pursue a 4th amendment case against the
authorities for unreasonable search of her home for the flashlight.
Kelly Barnes has more.
[top]
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