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> Mon., Jan. 23, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Bush PR Machine On Wiretapping
Pro-Choice & Anti-Abortion Activists Converge on Capitol
Hill
Bolivia Inaugurates First Indigenous President
Kosovo's President Ibrahim Rugova Dies
Hundreds Arrested in Nepal After Protesting Monarchy
Low Income Housing Proposal in Seattle
FSRN Headlines
CANADIAN ELECTIONS
Canadians are voting today in a special election. Today's
election comes after a no-confidence vote caused the collapse
of Prime Minister Paul Martin's government last November.
Opinion polls predict the Conservative party will win by a
comfortable margin.
SENATE DEMS INVESTIGATE HALLIBURTON
Senate Democrats are conducting a hearing today into allegations
that Halliburton failed to provide safe water to U.S. Troops
in Iraq. Zachary Jarvinen reports from Washington DC.
Details of a memo written by a Halliburton official, William
Granger, on July 15th reveal that both civilian and military
base camp populations had been exposed to an untreated and
unsafe water source for possibly up to a year. Halliburton
has denied the charges. However, their own former water expert,
Ben Carter, had already tested and affirmed that the water
was "without question contaminated with numerous micro-organisms,
including Coliform bacteria." Carter later resigned from
his post after Halliburton officials would not take any action
to inform the camp population. Halliburton, formerly headed
by Vice President Dick Cheney, has received a number of no-bid
contracts and has been repeatedly criticized for over charging
and under-performing. For Free Speech Radio News in Washington,
DC, I'm Zachary Jarvinen.
GAS EXPLOSIONS IN GEORGIA
Several explosions in southern Russia early Sunday morning
have suspended gas and electricity supplies to Georgia and
further strained the already tense relationship between the
two countries. From Tbilisi, Deborah Wild reports:
All through the night and into the early morning hours, Georgians
were queuing up for gas bottles. The government had announced
that it would stop gas distribution for most of the country
by Sunday evening. The beginning of the new school term, scheduled
for today, has been postponed. Georgians use gas for heating
and cooking. But the country has no gas storage and receives
all its gas through Russia. President Michael Saakashvili
is accusing Moscow of being behind these explosions as an
attempt to blackmail Georgia. The Russian Energy giant, Gazprom,
is interested in buying Georgia's pipeline network in order
to supply gas to Turkey. But Washington opposes such a deal
fearing it would make Georgia even more dependent on its northern
neighbor. Moscow has discarded the Georgian allegations as
hysterical while trying to transport gas to Georgia through
an old pipeline from Azerbaijan which not has been used in
years. Estimates as to when gas supplies will be restored
vary from days to weeks. Georgians are now preparing for some
cold days as snow begins to fall. For Free Speech Radio News,
I'm Deborah Wild in Tbilisi, Georgia.
MILITANTS ATTACK PIPELINE IN INDIA
In northeastern India, rebels have claimed responsibility
for a series of explosions along an oil pipeline. Vinod K.
Jose reports.
Ten bomb explosions and multiple grenade attacks killed two
policemen and injured more than 30 people on Sunday in the
north-eastern Indian state of Assam. The United Liberation
Force of Assam or ULFA, has claimed responsibility for the
attacks, saying they have waited too long for the government
of India to begin peace talks. The area of India's northeastern
states has many nationalities and each group has liberation
armies to fight what they call "Indian occupation".
India has been dealing with the insurgency militarily for
over 50 years. Some human rights records show more than 200,000
people lost their lives in the liberation movement of the
Nagas and Assamese alone. The ULFA and three other groups
in north-east India have called for a general strike on 26
January; India's Republic Day. The insurgent groups oppose
the official celebrations, saying the Indian government is
an occupying force. From New Delhi, in India, this is Vinod
K. Jose for Free Speech Radio News.
VIOLENCE CONTINUES IN THE DRC
Violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has forced
tens of thousands of people to flee the region in recent days.
The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, sent teams to
the DRC-Uganda border region over the weekend. The agency
estimates that around 20,000 Congolese had recently arrived
in the area. Earlier today, eight Guatemalan peace keepers
were killed during a gunfight with rebels along the Congolese
border with Sudan. The acting UNHCR representative in Kampala,
Uganda said today that as many as 2,000 Congolese were returning
to their homes but that the situation is volatile and unpredictable.
[top]
Bush PR Machine On Wiretapping (3:21)
The Bush Administration defended its program of wiretapping
US citizens through the National Security Agency, saying it
is lawful, limited, and necessary. They say if the program
was used prior to September 11th, the attacks may have been
thwarted. Our DC Editor Leigh Ann Caldwell reports from Capital
Hill.
[top]
Pro-Choice & Anti-Abortion Activists Converge
on Capitol Hill (1:56)
Thousands of anti-abortion activists gathered in Washington
DC today to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Roe V Wade decision.
The activists used this gathering to also advocate for the
confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court to
replace Sandra Day O’Connor in the hope that Alito will
lead the court in further chipping away at a woman’s
right to choose. The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote
tomorrow on his confirmation. Pro-choice activists are engaged
in a last minute effort to convince Democratic Senators to
filibuster Alito’s nomination. Ingrid Drake has more
from the Capitol.
[top]
Bolivia Inaugurates First Indigenous President
(4:11)
Bolivia has inaugurated its first indigenous President Evo
Morales on Sunday. In his inaugural address Morales pledged
to end 500 years of injustice for his people. Morales, who
is considered a strong critic of the United States, also reaffirmed
his campaign pledge to nationalize the country’s natural
resources. Morales’s victory was also celebrated with
a traditional indigenous ceremony on Saturday. On Sunday his
inauguration was attended by an unprecedented number of dignities,
including Brazil’s Luiz Ignacio Lula Da Silva and Venezuela’s
Hugo Chavez. FSRN’s Diletta Varlese reports from La
Paz.
[top]
Kosovo's President Ibrahim Rugova Dies (2:53)
The President of Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova, died on Saturday
after a 6 month battle with lung cancer. He was 61 years old.
The pacifist leader of the ethnic Albanian majority for the
better part of 15 years, Rugova was considered by many to
be a unifying element among an increasingly fractured Albanian-led
government that is poised to gain some form of conditional
independence in 2006. A UN run province since the end of ethnic
fighting in 1999, Kosovo is still technically part of the
former Yugoslav successor state, Serbia and Montenegro. Tensions
have elevated with Rugova's death, as the Albanian government
must now negotiate its future without firm leadership. From
Kosovo's capital Pristina, Jackson Allers has this report.
[top]
Hundreds Arrested in Nepal After Protesting Monarchy
(3:40)
23 people in Nepal were killed, mostly security forces and
Maoist rebels, after hundreds of protesters clashed with police
over the weekend. The demonstrators are calling on Nepal’s
King to give up complete authority over the country. It is
estimated that as many as 500 people have been arrested. The
King has sent about 20 thousand soldiers to Katmandu to stop
the protesters; however opposition leaders are calling for
three more days of demonstrations. FSRN’s Carey Byron
is there and has this report.
[top]
Low Income Housing Proposal in Seattle (4:01)
With about 20% cuts in subsidies for low income housing
since President took office, affordable housing advocates
are beginning to turn to the states for help. An amendment
to proposed legislation in the state of Washington, called
The Affordable Housing For All Act, would bar the Seattle
Housing Authority from tearing down any low income housing
without first replacing all units at comparable rent. Martha
Baskin has our story.
[top]
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