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FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
State of the Union Preview
Iran Defies the Big 5
Iraqi Politics
World Social Forum Review
Rape Case in India Enrages Villagers
In Memoriam - Wendy Wasserstein and Coretta Scott King
FSRN Headlines
OPENING ARGUMENTS IN ENRON TRIAL
Opening arguments began today in the Enron trial, with both
sides staying on message. Lisa Cohen reports from Houston.
Federal prosecutors told jurors today the Enron trial is
a case about lies and choices, not about accounting. Defense
lawyers for former Enron executive Jeff Skilling argued the
case is very much about accounting. Attorney Daniel Petrocelli
said when Skilling left the company four months before its
bankruptcy, Enron was in fine financial health. Petrocelli
said Skilling will take the stand in his defense. Halfway
through opening arguments jurors were given note pads, and
some seemed to take extensive notes. Outside the federal courthouse
in downtown Houston, what's known as 'the Enron trial' is
stirring up discussion in a city where thousands of people
lost their jobs when the company collapsed... and the court
of public opinion is also in session...[ambient sound] "Get
a rope!" From KPFT in Houston, I'm Lisa Cohen for FSRN.
EPA GOES EASY ON FACTORY FARMS
The Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to let some
factory farms escape fines for environmental pollution in
exchange for data on the extent of their contamination. Factory
farms are industrial-scale feeding operations designed to
maximize overall dairy or meat output. These operations produce
massive amounts of animal excrement, which can result in serious
water and air contamination. Under the terms of the first
of 20 compliance agreements signed yesterday, the EPA will
settle liability for certain past violations at factory farms
and will be able to develop new compliance standards, guidelines
and enforcement policies.
AND IOWA GET TOUGH ON COMPLAINTS
Meanwhile, the Iowa state legislature is considering a bill
that could penalize a person for filing repeated complaints
against factory farm operations. Under the proposed law, anyone
who files 3 or more complaints within 2 years time could be
labeled a (quote) "chronic complainant" if investigations
do not find evidence of legal violations. So-called "chronic
complainants" could be forced to pay damages and investigations
costs to the owner of the feeding operation and to the government.
SHOOTOUT NEAR JENIN
In other news, Israeli forces invaded a village near the West
Bank city of Jenin today, killing two people in the first
armed clash since the Palestinian elections. Manar Jibrin
reports from the West Bank.
Israeli army special units, backed by armored vehicles and
Apache helicopters, invaded the village of Araba this afternoon,
surrounding a local house where members of the Islamic Jihad
movement were thought to be hiding. Two Palestinians inside
of the house and an Israeli soldier was killed in the subsequent
shootout. Fifteen civilian bystanders and at least two soldiers
were injured. Ambulance driver, Iyad Mutlaq: [sound] "We
received information that at least one Israeli soldier has
been killed and two or three injured, in addition, two Palestinians
have been killed. We are unable to enter the area because
the army has closed it. There are at least 15 Palestinians
injured with live ammunition, but we are unable to locate
or reach them." Nidal Abu Sadah, a senior leader of Al-Quds
Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, was reportedly
killed in the siege. This military operation is a part of
a larger sweep of arrests of 22 residents throughout the West
Bank cities, who are said to be activists of Hamas, Fateh,
Islamic Jihad, and Popular front for the Liberation of Palestine.
For FSRN from IMEMC.org, this is Manar Jibrin reporting from
Palestine.
ASYLUM CASES IN THE UK
In Britain, A report published today reveals how failed asylum
seekers with children are going underground to avoid deportation.
This just as a High Court challenge on the issue of access
to pubic services for asylum seekers has failed. From London,
Naomi Fowler has more.
Last year, the government introduced regulations that strip
all state support from families whose attempts to seek asylum
in Britain are rejected; the families then risk threats to
take their children into care because they have become destitute.
It was intended to 'persuade' families to return to their
countries. Today's report from organizations the Refugee Council
and Refugee Action says in a pilot scheme they were monitoring,
more than a quarter of such families went underground when
their support was cut. This means they lose all contact with
services, leaving them and their children highly vulnerable.
The first High Court challenge to the rules allowing the cutting
of all state support has just failed. A Congolese woman had
argued that cutting off support breached the Children Act
and Human Rights Act but the judge disagreed. A hundred thousand
or more 'disappeared' and destitute people are being assisted
by the Red Cross and Medicin Sans Frontieres, normally associated
with conflict zones and international crises. This is Naomi
Fowler in London for Free Speech Radio News.
KENYA TURNS DOWN AID FROM DOG FOOD MANUFACTURER
Authorities in drought-stricken Kenya today rejected an offer
of emergency food rations from a New Zealand dog food manufacturer.
The founder of Mighty Mix dog food told Kenya's Daily Nation
newspaper that she had originally planned to send biscuits,
but decided to send 42 tons of a powered mix after learning
of the magnitude of the country's food crisis. A spokesperson
for Kenya's government told the Agence France-Press (quote)
"Telling us that you are giving us food for dogs in our
culture is an insult of the highest order. Maybe, she was
trying to help, but I hope this offer is a result of naivety."
The manufacturer has defended her offer by saying that the
mixture is not dog food, but a modified recipe fit for human
consumption.
[top]
State of the Union Preview (3:40)
Ben Bernanke was just confirmed as Federal Reserve Chairman
to replace Alan Greenspan. Greenspan served for nearly twenty
years. And Samuel Alito is the newest member of the Supreme
Court. It's a major win for President Bush as he prepares
to give the annual State of the Union address this evening.
Leigh Ann Caldwell has more from Capital Hill.
[top]
Iran Defies the Big 5 (2:12)
Early in the morning London time, Chinese and Russian representatives
joined the United States, Britain, and France in calling on
the U-N's nuclear watchdog to report Iran to the Security
Council. There was rapid response from Iran - Vice President
Aghazadeh says there is no legal justification for such a
move and that it would be the "end of diplomacy."
Selina Musuta reports from Washington DC.
[top]
Iraqi Politics (1:56)
Al-Jazeera today showed part of a videotape of American
hostage Jill Carroll, a freelance reporter on assignment for
the Christian Science Monitor who was kidnaped in Baghdad
earlier this month. Jazeera reported that Carroll made a plea
for the release of female prisoners in U-S and Iraqi custody.
Violence continued in the country, with the U-S military calling
in an air strike against what it says was a guerilla position
in a soccer stadium after clashes with fighters in the western
city of Ramadi. There was also an attack on Iraqi police in
Nasariyeh in the south and a British soldier was killed by
a roadside bomb in Misan province, also in the south. Against
this backdrop, negotiations over who will be Iraq's next prime
minister continue. Cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, whose militia fought
foreign troops last summer before a cease-fire was declared,
said Monday that he would not support any candidate that does
not call for an American withdrawal. Salam Talib and David
Enders file this report.
[top]
World Social Forum Review (4:08)
The second phase of the sixth annual World Social Forum
finished up this weekend in Caracas, Venezuela. The World
Social Forum began in 2001 in Porto Alegre Brazil as an alternative
response to the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzwerland.
In 2005, the organizing committee decided to divide the Forum
into three poly centric sessions. One concluded in Bamako
Mali earlier last week, another is scheduled for March in
Karachi, Pakistan. The third location, Caracas Venezuela,
was also the site of the first Americas Social Forum in 2004.
FSRN's Norm Stockwell brings us this portrait of the event:
[top]
Rape Case in India Enrages Villagers (3:39)
A woman is raped every 30 minutes in India-- a country of
more than 1.1 billion people. Conviction rates are nearly
nil in a very feudal, patriarchal, under developed society
where factors such as family pressure, illiteracy, the might
of the police, the unreasonably long, unjust process and application
of law deny justice to women. In recent years, the abduction-rape-and
murder case of 18-year-old Kiranjit Kaur has become a symbol
for thousands of villagers of the Western Indian state of
Punjab who turn out in huge numbers in protest. Now the leaders
who fought against the rapists have been sentenced to life
in prison in other allegedly false cases. Scores of irate
villagers are blocking roads, rails, and making pledges of
protest against the feudal landlords, police, and the judiciary.
Our reporter Vinod K. Jose spent time with the protesting
villagers and filed this report from Punjab.
[top]
In Memoriam - Wendy Wasserstein and Coretta Scott
King (3:25)
Today we note the passing of two American women who devoted
their lives to change. Award winning playwright and arts activist
Wendy Wasserstein died yesterday following a battle with lymphoma
- she was 55. Wasserstein's best-known plays, written from
a feminist perspective with a wry sense of humor, include
"The Heidi Chronicles", "The Sisters Rosensweig"
and "An American Daughter." And early this morning,
civil rights leader Coretta Scott King died at the age of
78. She suffered a major stroke and heart attack in August
and had been in decline ever since. The widow of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist long before her
marriage. After her husband was killed, Mrs. King emerged
and remained at the forefront of the fight for equality for
all Americans. A staunch pacifist, she influenced Dr. King's
controversial decision in 1967 to speak out against the Vietnam
War. The following is an excerpt of Mrs.King's remarks at
the Peoples March on Washington in 1971. [Audio 1:59]
After her husband's murder, Mrs. King fought for more than
a decade to establish a federal holiday on his birthday. She
also raised millions of dollars to establish the Martin Luther
King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change, an Atlanta complex
that houses her husband's tomb, archives and exhibits. She
served as its president for two decades.
The Pacifica Radio Archives generously provided our tape
of Coretta Scott King.
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