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> Mon., Dec. 12, 2005
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FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Congress Enters Last Week of the Year
WTO Protest in Portland
Trade Between US and Latin America Discussed at Border Conference
Kashmiri Protest on Human Rights Day
Los Angeles Support Victims of Human Rights Atrocities in
the Philippines
Richard Pryor Dies at 65
FSRN Headlines
WTO ROUND IN HONG KONG
The 6th ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization
is set to open tomorrow in Hong Kong. Both police and protesters
are preparing for mass mobilizations. Aaron Glantz reports
from Hong Kong.
RACE RIOTS IN SYDNEY
In Australia, street violence has continued into a second
day after race riots erupted yesterday at a beach in Sydney.
Cinnamon Nippard has the story.
About 5000 white Australians from Cronulla and further afield
gathered at the beach chanting racist slogans and attacking
anyone they suspected of being Arab. Twenty-five people, including
2 ambulance officers, were injured during the riots. Later
on Sunday night, up to 60 men reportedly of Middle-Eastern
appearance retaliated; vandalizing 40 cars with baseball bats
and stabbing two youths. Police arrested 16 people who have
been charged with 41 offenses. Police Minister Carl Scully
said that neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups were a part
of the mob who took part in the attacks. Prime Minister John
Howard denied any suggestion that his recent warnings about
the possibility of attacks by so-called "home-grown"
Islamic terrorists had fueled the riots. The Prime Minister
condemned the actions of the rioters, but denied that there
is any underlying racism in Australia. New South Wales Premier
Morris Lemma met with senior police, Lebanese community leaders
and local council members on Monday, urging them to take a
message of unity and respect to their communities. On Monday
night, the New South Wales police closed roads in the Cronulla
area and have deployed more police to certain suburbs. For
Free Speech Radio News in Sydney, I'm Cinnamon Nippard.
WEST BANK INCURSION
Israeli soldiers arrested a number of Palestinians today during
incursions into the West Bank cities of Nablus and Jenin.
Manar Jibrin reports from the West Bank.
The Israeli army invaded Nablus this morning and arrested
five residents. This comes after a separate incursion yesterday
which claimed the life of one member of the Al Aqsa Brigades.
Meanwhile, soldiers have sealed off access to and from Jenin
and its surrounding areas for the third consecutive day. One
Palestinian youth from Jenin was arrested today after he attempted
to stab a soldier guarding the gate that leads to the military
camp near the city. So far total of 17 of West Bank residents
have been arrested during the current military operation.
For FSRN from IMEMC.Org in Palestine I'm Manar Jibrin.
BEIRUT CAR BOMB
A massive car bomb killed Lebanese legislator and newspaper
editor Gibran Tueni this morning in Beirut. Tueni was known
as a critic of Syrian involvement in Lebanese affairs. The
assassination came the morning after United Nations Secretary
General Kofi Annan received another report on the car-bombing
murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
WAR CRIMES VERDICT
In Belgrade, a Special War Crimes Court today convicted 14
former members of Serbia's military forces for brutally executing
some 200 Croat prisoners of war in the Croatian town of Vukovar
in 1991. Zoran Culafic reports from Belgrade.
The Belgrade Special War Crimes Court today sentenced 14
Serb defendants, including one woman, to a total of 219 years
in prison. Eight of them will serve the maximum sentence of
20 years in jail. The Special Court found firm evidence that
all of the defendants are guilty of killing at least 200 prisoners
of war during a three-month-long siege in 1991 of the Ovcara
village near the Croatian town of Vukovar. The Vukovar case
is widely seen as a test of Serbia's domestic war crimes process
and this is the first verdict for the Special War Crimes Court
in Belgrade. Since the landmark trial opened over a year and
a half ago, only one suspect and two protected witnesses have
confessed to their roles in the brutal killings at a farm
near the Croatian town of Vukovar. For Free Speeech Radio
News, I'm Zoran Culafic from Belgrade.
CHILEAN ELECTIONS
Chileans went to the polls yesterday for the 4th time since
the end of Pinochet's dictatorship. From Santiago, Jorge Garretón
has the details.
Center-left candidate Michelle Bachelet will have to wait
until next month to see if she'll become Chile's first female
President. She received 46 percent of the vote in Sunday's
election so she will face a runoff next month against billionaire
businessman Sebastian Piñera who finished with 25 percent
of the vote. In yesterday's ballot Bachelet faced the strong
challenge of two right-wing conservative candidates, billionaire
businessman Piñera and hard-line conservative Joaquín
Lavin. Also running was leftist candidate Tomas Hirsch. Bachelet
a medical doctor hopes to lead the ruling coalition to its
fourth presidential term since the return to democracy in
1990. Chile prepares now for its second run off election in
its history. For FSRN this is Jorge Garretón in Santiago.
[top]
Congress Enters Last Week of the Year (4:05)
Today starts what's likely be the last Congressional week
of the year. Our DC correspondent, Mitch Jeserich takes a
look at some of more controversial measures the Congress is
likely to act on.
[top]
WTO Protest in Portland (1:50)
Workers and concerned citizens are gathering in cities around
the world this week to protest the World Trade Organization,
which is holding its sixth ministerial meeting in Hong Kong,
beginning tomorrow. Julie Sabatier reports from Portland,
Oregon, where people gathered to demonstrate against economic
globalization.
[top]
Trade Between US and Latin America Discussed at Border
Conference (2:36)
The 4th annual Cuba/Venezuela/North American Labor Conference
in Tijuana, Mexico this weekend. Representatives from throughout
the region came together to share strategies and to activate
the international labor movement, particularly in reference
to the sensible examples flowing from Cuba and Venezuela.
Recent developments in bilateral trade agreements between
the US and Latina American countries, such as the deal inked
between the US and Peru just last week, provided a platform
for discussion. Kelly Barnes attended the conference and files
this report.
[top]
Kashmiri Protest on Human Rights Day (2:41)
Angry protests marked International Human rights day in
Indian administered Kashmir this weekend, as activists from
most of the separatist factions came out to protest the alleged
Human rights violations by Indian security forces. Shahnawaz
Khan reports from Kashmir.
[top]
Los Angeles Support Victims of Human Rights Atrocities
in the Philippines (3:17)
An alliance of progressive organizations and community allies
gathered together in Los Angeles to commemorate the 57th Annual
Human Rights Day, by honoring victims of human rights atrocities
in the Philippines. The festivities coincided with celebrations
hosted by the AFL-CIO throughout several US cities. FSRN's
Leilani Albano reports.
[top]
Richard Pryor Dies at 65 (2:52)
Comedian Richard Pryor died this weekend in Los Angeles.
He was 65. Pryor pushed the limits and set the benchmark for
African American comics to follow, satirizing issues of politics,
class, and race. Richard Pryor hosted a program on Pacifica's
own KPFA in Berkeley in 1971. In September of that year, a
massive prison riot took place in Attica – where prisoners
demanded improved living conditions. 40 people died and although
mainstream media reported that prisoners slit their captive’s
throats, but conclusive medial evidence later proved it was
state troopers that shot at the hostages. In a rare, serious
moment, Richard Pryor addressed the Attica Prison Riots on
September 15, 1971.
[top]
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