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> Mon., Jan. 9, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito's Confirmation Hearings
Begin
Escalating Violence In Southern Iraq
Remembering Comandanta Ramona
Hong Kong Activists Call For Dismissal Of Charges Against
WTO Protestors
Ohio's African Communities Demand Police Accountability For
Somali Youth's Death
Private Companies Taking Over The UK Healthcare System
FSRN Headlines
CORRUPTION SCANDAL FALLOUT
Republican Congressman, Tom Delay, will leave his position
as House Majority leader. The GOP is now trying to distance
itself from ongoing corruption scandals. Ingrid Drake reports
from Washington, DC.
In the midst of federal investigations into lawbreaking and
ethics violations of lobbyist Jack Abramoff and several Congress
members and their staff, Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert
announced yesterday he will "move forward aggressively
and quickly" address lobbying reform. Mary Boyle, with
Common Cause, a DC-based grassroots citizens lobbying group.
[TAPE] The election of a new House Majority leader is scheduled
for the week of January 30. For FSRN this is Ingrid Drake.
BORDER TENSION
The fatal shooting of an undocumented Mexican teenager by
a Border Patrol officer along the San Diego – Tijuana
border, has outraged Mexican authorities, adding more tension
to the complicated immigration debate between both countries.
Luis Perez reports from Tijuana.
Guillermo Martinez was shot in the back on Friday, December
30, while attempting to enter illegally into the US. After
being shot, Martinez ran back to Mexico where he died hours
later in a local hospital. The incident was promptly condemned
by Mexican Federal Authorities, as well as civil leaders and
human rights defenders on both sides of the border. The fatal
shooting comes at particularly tense moment between Mexico
and the United States, after the House passed an immigration
measure to extend and fortify the metal fence along the common
border. Investigations into the shooting are underway by Mexican
and US authorities. The results are due in 30 days. For FSRN,
I'm Luis Perez in Tijuana.
SELECTIVE ABORTIONS IN INDIA
A study conducted by Indian and Canadian researchers has concluded
that millions of abortions based on the gender of the fetus
have caused a lopsided male-to-female ratio in India. Binu
Alex has more from Ahmedabad.
The British medical journal, the lancet, reports that an
estimated 10 million female births have been selectively aborted
in the last twenty years. The Indian society has been traditionally
male-dominated and many families consider girls as a liability,
especially when they are to be married off with a huge dowry.
The research found that educated classes have the tendency
to selectively abort females when previous children had been
girls. Though sex determination and sex selective abortions
are illegal in India, the business in this sector, all equipped
with the latest technology, has been widespread in major cities.
Female births have been on the decline in the past decade.
Today the ratio stands at 933 females for every 1000 males.
From Ahmedabad in India, I am Binu Alex for Free Speech Radio
News
FREEZING IN KASHMIR
A particularly harsh winter is adding to the miseries of the
survivors of the October 8th earthquake in Kashmir. Shahnawaz
Khan reports from Srinigar.
Temperatures have dropped below freezing in Kashmir and most
of the quake survivors in Indian-administered Kashmir are
living in tin sheds, highly inadequate for the harsh winters.
It has been one of the chilliest winters in decades. Aid workers
in the region are reporting a lack of fuels like firewood,
necessary to keep warm in the harsh winters. Heavy snowfall
in the last week has left some villages inaccessible, creating
shortages of food and essential supplies. The Voluntary Association
Network, a local organization working in the relief efforts
has warned of higher casualties in the absence of heating
arrangements. The United States military has doubled cargo
loads on its helicopters to the remote, affected areas in
Pakistan-administered Kashmir to ensure adequate supplies
in the region before snows pile higher. For FSRN, I'm Shahnawaz
Khan.
MORE CHEMICAL ACCIDENTS IN CHINA
Another toxic spill has polluted a major waterway in China
and a capsized boat full of chemicals could potentially cause
further problems. Dante Toza reports from Hong Kong.
Sunday morning, a boat containing hundreds of tons of sulfuric
acid sank and capsized at the bottom of Yangzte River, the
longest river in Asia. According to official press reports,
the sunken cargo boat contained at least 260 tons of sulfuric
acid. This is the 4th major chemical accident to affect a
Chinese river in the last 3 months. Last week, the Xiangjiang
River was polluted by an industrial cadmium spill. According
to the state-run Xinhua news agency, at the height of the
spill, the cadmium level was 25.6 times greater than the safety
standard. Cadmium is carcinogenic and is extremely toxic even
in low concentrations. Media reports indicate that water will
probably not be shut off along the route of the cadmium spill.
As for the sunken boat containing hundreds of tons of sulfuric
acid, there have not been any reports of the recovery of the
boat by either of the official news agencies. For Free Speech
Radio News this is Dante Toza in Hong Kong.
[top]
SUPREME COURT NOMINEE SAMUEL ALITO'S CONFIRMATION
HEARINGS BEGIN (3:57)
Today, the U.S Senate Judiciary Committee opens its confirmation
hearing for Judge Samuel Alito to be U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
If confirmed, Alito would replace retiring Justice Sandra
Day O’Connor. As Justice O'Connor is regarded as a moderate
conservative and swing vote on the court, many believe Alito
will go through a much more contentious confirmation battle
than Chief Justice John Roberts did several months ago. Yanmei
is in the hearing room at Capitol Hill.
[top]
ESCALATING VIOLENCE IN SOUTHERN IRAQ (2:03)
After a week of escalating violence in Iraq, the conditions
in the south of the country continue to deteriorate with almost
500 Iraqis either dead or injured. The lack of infrastructure
and reconstruction is taking its toll in the region, which
has previously showed progress and has been cited as an area
without high security problems. FSRN's Salam Talib spoke to
Iraqi activist, Eman Al-Hamash, about the situation in the
south.
[top]
REMEMBERING COMANDANTA RAMONA (2:24)
Comandanta Ramona, a tiny Tzotzil indigenous woman who strategized
the takeover of San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas during
the January 1, 1994 armed uprising, died in the early morning
hours of January 6th. Ramona was driven from her highlands
home to a San Cristobal de las Casas clinic where the Zapatista
leader's frail body succumbed to an infectious tuberculosis
and kidney failure. Luz Ruiz and Tim Russo report from Chiapas.
[top]
HONG KONG ACTIVISTS CALL FOR DISMISSAL OF CHARGES
AGAINST WTO PROTESTORS (2:47)
Over 300 local Hong Kong activists marched with 11 Korean
farmers on Sunday to the Hong Kong Police Headquarters demanding
that charges against the farmers be dropped immediately. The
11 Korean farmers were arrested and charged with unlawful
assembly during the protests at last month's World Trade Organization
minesteral conference. The farmers, who were also arrested
with three other WTO protesters, are on their 6th day of hunger
strike and say they will continue indefinitely unless the
charges are dropped. In solidarity, a group calling itself
the International Campaign for the Immediate Release of WTO
Political Prisoners is calling for international solidarity
to support them. FSRN's Miae Kim reports.
[top]
OHIO'S AFRICAN COMMUNITIES DEMAND POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR SOMALI YOUTH'S DEATH (4:47)
The recent police shooting in Columbus, Ohio of a Somali
youth, who suffered mental health problems, has sent waves
of shock and resentment throughout the Black and African communities
there and has provoked demands for an examination of police
use-of-force policies. Evan Davis files this report.
[top]
PRIVATE COMPANIES TAKING OVER THE UK HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
(3:47)
Since the 1950's, Britain's policy of free 'cradle to grave'
health care for all its citizens has been renowned worldwide.
But recently, leaked government papers have proved what public
health workers have suspected for a long time; that the British
government is permanently opening up the doors to private
companies to take over large parts of public healthcare system.
From London, Naomi Fowler reports.
[top]
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