Home > Programs
> FSRN
> Thur., Dec. 15, 2005
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
Thanks to FSRN.org
for making the daily programs available to Pacifica.org
Today's lead stories:
Iraqis In and Out of the Country Vote in Parliamentary Elections
Hurricane Survivors Fear Congress Will Delay Relief Package
African Delegates to the WTO Say the Global North Makes Empty
Promises
African Aid to the UK in Form of Health Professionals
South Korean Farmers Protest WTO
The Water in Delhi: Privatization and Resistance
Los Angeles’ Bus Riders Union Seeks to Extend Consent
Decree
FSRN Headlines
ANTI-TORTURE AMENDMENT
The White House agreed today to accept Senator John McCain's
amendment to ban torture of detainees held by U.S. forces.
Darby Hickey reports from Washington DC.
The Bush administration has been resisting the Senate-approved
anti-torture amendment, proposed by Senator John McCain. Calling
for an exemption from the rule for CIA interrogators, the
President was dealt a blow yesterday when the House overwhelmingly
passed a non-binding measure in support of the McCain amendment.
Now, a compromise has been reached, which Senator McCain and
President Bush announced this afternoon at the White House.
[McCain clip] Another opponent of the anti-torture amendment,
chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Duncan Hunter
of California, has yet to indicate if his position on the
compromise. For FSRN I'm Darby Hickey in Washington DC.
COLOMBIAN PEACE TALKS
On Friday, Cuba will once again host peace talks between the
Colombian government and the second largest guerrilla group
operating in the country, the National Liberation Army or
ELN. Joseph Mutti has more from Havana.
This is the fourth attempt for both sides to seek common
ground in the longest conflict in all of Latin America. The
last meeting took place here in Havana three years ago, but
ended in failure when the Colombian government suddenly pulled
out of the talks. Public pressure in Colombia has forced President
Alvaro Uribe to negotiate with both the left-wing ELN guerrillas
and the right-wing paramilitary groups, which are considered
to be some of the most brutal in the hemisphere. Over the
weekend, the government signed an agreement with a sector
of the paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
to lay down its arms on condition it be granted two seats
in Parliament and full amnesty for its crimes. Many analysts
are pessimistic about these new talks, saying Uribe is only
seeking to gain points from war-weary voters for his re-election
in May. In Havana, I'm Joseph Mutti.
ARREST WARRANT IN ARGENTINA
A court in Argentina has issued an arrest warrant for one
of the nation's most notorious military captains for human
rights abuses committed during Argentina's military dictatorship.
Marie Trigona reports from Buenos Aires.
A federal judge yesterday indicted a number of former military
and police officers – among them ex-navy captain Alfredo
Astiz – in connection with the murder of journalist
and political writer Rodolfo Walsh. Astiz is also accused
of organizing the police operative to kidnap Walsh on a Buenos
Aires street corner and of raiding the writer's house. Astiz
is currently in custody and awaiting trial for the kidnapping,
torture and murder of political activists during the military
junta dictatorship which ruled Argentina from 1976-1983. Astiz
is infamous for kidnapping two French Nuns who were later
killed, as well as for infiltrating the Mothers of Plaza de
Mayo. For Free Speech Radio News I'm Marie Trigona in Buenos
Aires.
WAR CRIMES CHARGES
The former Chief of Staff of Israel's military has been charged
in a U.S. federal court with war crimes and crimes against
humanity. Laila El-Haddad has more from Gaza.
The class action lawsuit was filed against retired General
Moshe Ya'alon in a Washington DC court earlier today in connection
with hundreds of civilian deaths and injuries resulting from
the 1996 shelling of the UN compound in Qana, south Lebanon.
Over 100 civilians who had sought shelter from Israeli shelling
were killed in the attack, and hundreds others wounded, including
U.N. personnel. The suit was filed on behalf of the sole survivor
of a 10 member family, among others. As head of Israeli army
Intelligence, Ya'alon participated in the decision to shell
the clearly marked UN compound at Qana and commanded responsibility
for the attack, according to the complaint. The suit follows
a complaint filed last week against Avi Dichter, Israel's
former intelligence chief, for his role in the decision to
drop a one-ton bomb on a crowded residential neighborhood
in Gaza City in July of 2002. Fifteen Palestinians were killed
and hundreds more injured in the attack. Reporting from Gaza
City for Free Speech Radio News, this is Laila El-Haddad.
DUPONT TO PAY RECORD EPA SETTLEMENT
The DuPont chemical company will have to pay out 16.5 million
dollars for violations of the federal Toxic Substances Control
Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The dollar
amount includes a record-setting fine of 10.25 million dollars
for eight counts of failure to report to the Environmental
Protection Agency on the dangers of a synthetic compound used
to manufacture Teflon. For over 20 years, DuPont did not disclose
data about perfluorooctaonic acid - or PFOA, a toxic chemical
compound that has been shown to cause cancer and developmental
defects in animal studies. The EPA says the PFOA compound
is "very persistent in the environment" and has
been widely found in the blood of the general U.S. population.
The settlement is pending approval by the EPA's Environmental
Appeals Board.
[top]
Iraqis In and Out of the Country Vote in Parliamentary
Elections (1:40)
Iraqis, including many Sunni who boycotted last January
election, headed to the polls in record numbers today to vote
in the country’s parliamentary election. At least one
attack was carried out in central Baghdad’s Green Zone,
which houses the US embassy. Today was also the third and
final day of expatriate voting, and election officials in
Amman, Jordan, said turnout was higher than either of the
previous two days. David Enders has more.
[top]
Hurricane Survivors Fear Congress Will Delay Relief
Package (3:30)
The White House announced today it had agreed to a $3.1-billion
plan to strengthen the New Orleans levees to withstand a Category
3 storm – although some New Orleans residents say they
need levees that will endure a Category 5, like Hurricane
Katrina. Fears are also arising that Congress won’t
finish its Hurricane relief package for those who have been
displaced before it takes its winter recess. Mitch Jeserich
has more from Capitol Hill.
[top]
African Delegates to the WTO Say the Global North
Makes Empty Promises (2:07)
The United States yesterday proposed to increase aid for
trade funding, an initiative that the European Union matched
also by pledging to increase their funding for the development
package in this round of the WTO negotiations. Meanwhile,
the African delegates, along with trade analysts and observers
are charging that the US and the EU are making empty promises.
FSRN’s Dante Toza spoke with Tanya Van Meelis of the
South African Trade Union Confederation.
[top]
African Aid to the UK in Form of Health Professionals
(2:59)
With a global shortage of trained health professional, a
new report issued by Save the Children and medical research
charity Medact says poor countries are giving substantial
aid to richer countries in the form of trained migrant health
professionals, thereby saving the world’s rich country’s
health services from collapsing. Naomi Fowler reports from
London.
[top]
South Korean Farmers Protest WTO (2:26)
Thousand of South Korean farmers marched on the WTO Ministerial
today, demanding access to the closed talks. They walked up
to police barricades as a group, regularly pausing to sit
and meditate as a form of Buddhist meditation. South Korean
farmers have been the most numerous and most organized. FSRN’s
Aaron Glantz reporting
[top]
The Water in Delhi: Privatization and Resistance
(3:37)
The World Bank gave India $110-million for the city of Delhi
to ensure the management of its water management is handed
over to private corporations. FSRN’s Vinod K. Jose looks
at how the World Bank is pushing its water privatization project,
while Delhi’s residents are resisting it.
[top]
Los Angeles’ Bus Riders Union Seeks to Extend
Consent Decree (2:56)
The LA-based Bused Rider’s Union, or BRU, who advocates
for transit-dependent people to get their fair share of transportation
dollars, took the city’s Metropolitan Transit Authority
to court in 1996 for violating bus rider’s civil rights.
The court battle resulted in a consent decree, but that decree
is set to expire next year, and, as Kelly Barnes reports,
the BRU is now considering requesting an extension.
[top]
|
Listen
to the show 
Help
stream
download
