Home > Programs
> FSRN
> Fri., Feb. 17, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
Thanks to FSRN.org
for making the daily programs available to Pacifica.org
Today's lead stories:
House and Senate Differ on Presidential Oversight Investigation
Russ Feingold Withdraws Patriot Act Reauthorization Act Block
Bush’s Budget Contains Effort to Further Privatize Public
Lands
Australian Immigration Officials Questioned Over Asylum Seekers
Detention
Thousands of Doctors Continue to Strike in Nicaragua
Royal Nepalese Coup Suppresses Press Freedoms
FSRN Headlines
LANDSLIDE IN THE PHILIPPINES
Hundreds are feared dead after a massive mudslide buried an
entire village in the Philippines today. The partial collapse
of a nearby mountain comes after two weeks of heavy rain.
Over 2000 people were thought to be present in the village
at the time of the mudslide. Less than 60 have been rescued.
CARTOON PROTESTS TURN DEADLY IN PAKISTAN
Denmark has closed its embassy in Pakistan as violent protests
against cartoon depictions of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed
entered into their fifth day today. Masror Hussain reports
from Islamabad.
(sound)
Pakistani police arrested around 150 Islamists all over the
country in what was claimed to be a pre-emptive crackdown
on potential troublemakers to stop Friday's demonstrations
from turning into a repeat of this week's bloody anti-Western
riots, in which five people have died. In Peshawar a religious
leader offered a one-million-dollar reward for the death of
the cartoonists. Weeks of low-key protests in Pakistan turned
into violent displays of anger at the West and discontent
with the government of President, General Pervez Musharraf.
Protests are also expected on March 3, the day US President
Bush visits Pakistan. For Free Speech Radio News, Masror Hussain,
Islamabad.
MORALES EXECUTION DEVELOPMENTS
A federal judge in California has said he'll allow the Tuesday
execution of condemned murderer, Michael Morales, after hearing
a challenge to California's lethal injection process. For
the first time, the state will have a doctor present in the
execution chamber. Christopher Martinez reports.
Lawyers for Michael Morales are objecting to a new plan to
put a doctor in the San Quentin execution chamber to monitor
the lethal injection process. The lawyers had challenged California's
lethal execution process, saying records of past executions
showed problems that could cause extreme pain, amounting to
cruel and unusual punishment. A federal district court judge
yesterday ruled the presence of the anesthesiologist will
ensure that Morales is unconscious before he receives otherwise
painful injections of drugs to paralyze him and induce a fatal
heart attack. Doctor Jonathan Groner is a professor of surgery
at Ohio State University College of Medicine and an opponent
of doctor involvement in executions. The California Medical
Association is objecting to the state's new execution plan,
saying capital punishment is "not a medical task"
and threatens the public's trust of physicians. Reporting
for Free Speech Radio News, I'm Christopher Martinez.
STATUS ON SAO PAOLO HOMELESS MOVEMENT
Residents of Prestes Maia, a massive 23-storey building in
downtown São Paulo, are facing a battle over its ownership.
People who were formerly homeless have occupied the building
for more than 3 years, but now the courts have given its 1600
residents a deadline by which leave. Natalia Viana has the
story.
Prestes Maia, the biggest building occupied in Brazil by
the homeless movement, won an important battle this week.
Jorge Hamuche, the man who claims legal ownership of the building,
conceded another 60 days before the 1600 residents are evicted.
The previous deadline was February 15th. Now, the MSTC, or
Homeless Movement of São Paulo Center, is negotiating
a solution with several deputies. They want the building to
be purchased by the government so families may permanently
live there. Hamuche owes about 2 million dollars to City Hall
in unpaid property taxes. On Saturday, homeless advocates
will meet a secretary of the National Ministry of the Cities
to ask the federal government to provide funds to the city
to purchase the building. Natalia Viana, FSRN, Sao Paolo.
UKZN STRIKE ENDS
After 9 days of a united strike comprising four unions and
five student organisations, academic activities at South Africa's
University of Kwazulu-Natal resumed today. Na'eem Jeenah has
the story.
Following a tentative agreement reached yesterday, the strike
was suspended. The industrial action was the biggest faced
by the university. All levels of staff at the four campuses
in two cities agreed on demands for salary and benefits and
on the kinds of action to be undertaken. Students joined in
protest against new fee structures which amounted, they said,
to "pre-paid education". Management agreed to unions'
salary and benefits demands – after originally refusing
to budge. They also agreed to cut the pre-payment of student
fees. A committee of union and management representatives
will also investigate complaints about authoritarian governance
at the university. But staff response to the settlement was
mixed. Some felt management hastily agreed to settle because
of worker plans to march on the provincial parliament today,
a move that would have embarrassed the government and the
university. Others were thrilled, celebrating a new kind of
victory at South African tertiary institutions where struggles
around fees and working conditions have intensified in the
past few years. In Johannesburg, I'm Na'eem Jeenah.
[top]
House and Senate Differ on Presidential Oversight
Investigation (4:09)
The Senate Intelligence Committee says they will not conduct
an investigation into the President's domestic spying program
– but the correlating House committee says that it will.
As the debate on Capitol Hill focuses on how or even if Congress
should conduct Presidential oversight, another important question
lingers: Has the President broken the law? Leigh Ann Caldwell
reports from Capitol Hill.
[top]
Russ Feingold Withdraws Patriot Act Reauthorization
Act Block
And in other news from Capitol Hill: Democratic Senator
Russ Feingold of Wisconsin has withdrawn his block of the
Patriot Act Reauthorization bill. The Senate is now debating
the bill and will vote on its final passage at the end of
the month.
[top]
Bush’s Budget Contains Effort to Further Privatize
Public Lands (3:58)
President Bush’s 2007 Budget includes a provision
to sell a large number of parcels of Forest Service and Bureau
of Land Management acreage around the country. The Forest
Service has earmarked tracts in 32 states, ranging from just
a few acres to a 33,000-acre parcel in Oregon’s Klamath
National Forest. For those concerned about the environment,
the plan is cause for alarm, and many say it’s the latest
in a series of attempts to privatize public lands. FSRN’s
Leigh Robartes reports from Idaho.
[top]
Australian Immigration Officials Questioned Over
Asylum Seekers Detention (4:24)
Australian Immigration were grilled during parliamentary
hearings this week, over the fate of 43 West Papuan asylum
seekers currently being held at the detention centre on Christmas
Island, off the west coast of mainland Australia. It is still
unknown when the asylum applications of the group - who arrived
on the Australian mainland in January - will be processed.
Back in their home province, the Indonesian military continues
to suppress residents seeking independence from Indonesia,
and while international human rights groups continue to raise
concerns about abuses being perpetrated by the military, Indonesia
maintains that its government will guarantee the safety of
the asylum seekers if they are returned to West Papua. Erica
Vowles reports from Sydney.
[top]
Thousands of Doctors Continue to Strike in Nicaragua
(3:05)
Doctors in Nicaragua have been on strike for over three
months, demanding an increase in wages, which President Enrique
Bolaños’ administration maintains the country
cannot afford. Striking doctors have held demonstrations in
front of domestic ministries, and at the doors of the International
Monetary Fund. Nan McCurdy has more from Managua.
[top]
Royal Nepalese Coup Suppresses Press Freedoms (3:59)
The Nepali Supreme Court has scrapped the Royal Commission
for Corruption Control, the controversial government body
setup in the wake of last year's royal takeover. The bombshell
decision released the country's imprisoned former Prime Minister,
although at least four journalists are still being held without
charge. In the year since the royal coup took place, civil
liberties have suffered dramatically in Nepal - press freedoms
in particular. FSRN's Carey Biron reports that the government's
new policies have been especially disastrous for the country's
pioneering independent radio movement, while new government
legislation is attempting to make the new regulations permanent.
[top]
|
Listen
to the show 
Help
stream
download
