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> Mon., Feb. 20, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Palestinian Legislative Council Meets Amidst Economic and
Political Chaos
Budget Cuts to Impact Native American Programs
Native Americans Weigh In on Indian Trust Management
March for Migrants Caravan Converges on US Capitol
US Cities Seeking Energy Aid from Venezuela
FSRN Headlines
ATTACKS IN NIGER DELTA
Royal Dutch Shell has suspended half of it's operations in
the Niger Delta region. In the past 3 days, militant groups
have attacked a number of Shell's facilities and kidnapped
9 foreign oil workers. Sam Olukoya reports from Lagos.
The kidnapped oil workers included 3 Americans, 2 Thais,
and a Briton. The kidnapped workers are being held by a militant
group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.
The group also claims responsibility for a number of attacks
carried out in the last 3 days on Shell oil installations.
This includes oil pipelines and an oil export terminal. The
militants want Western oil companies to leave the Niger Delta.
They accuse the oil companies of denying them a share of the
billions of dollars made yearly from oil sales. In the face
of growing insecurity, Shell, the largest oil company operating
in Nigeria, has suspended about half of its operations in
the country. This means a 20% drop of oil exports from Nigeria,
the world sixth largest oil producer. World oil prices have
gone up, following the situation in Nigeria. For FSRN, this
is Sam Olukoya in Lagos, Nigeria.
BOMBINGS IN IRAQ
Bombings claimed the lives of around 2 dozen people in Iraq
today. At least twelve died when a suicide bomber detonated
explosives in a bus in northern Baghdad. An ambush on a truck
convoy outside of the capital and an attack on a Mosul restaurant
nearly doubled today's death toll. Reuters is reporting that
another 19 people were wounded today when a bomb hidden in
a street vendor's cart exploded near a day-labor site.
HOPES RAISED AT SITE OF MUDSLIDE
Rescue workers in the Philippines are hoping to find survivors
from Friday's massive mudslide. Sonar equipment has reportedly
picked up sounds that could be signs of life at what is thought
to be the site of a school that has been buried by over 100
feet of mud.
MINERS TRAPPED IN MEXICO
In northern Mexico, miners remain trapped after an explosion
at a coal mine yesterday. Vladimir Flores has the story.
A gas explosion in a coal mine in San Juan de Sabinas in
the northern state of Coahuila has trapped 65 miners for over
30 hours. Eleven workers who were able to escape the mine
after the accident emerged with burn injuries. The other workers
remain trapped in the mine at around 200 meters underground.
At the time of the explosion, the workers only had an estimated
6 hours of oxygen available. The rescue efforts are reportedly
complicated by the presence of toxic gases restricted the
use of digging tools to manual instruments like picks and
shovels. Since 2001, at least 25 miners have died in on-the-job
accidents in Coahuila.
SECURITY COMPANY IMPLANTS MICROCHIPS IN WORKERS
An Ohio video surveillance firm has apparently become the
first company in the US to implant microchips under the skin
of key personnel. Allison Raaum reports.
Two employees and the CEO of Cincinnati-based firm "City-Watcher,"
now have silicon chips embedded in their arms. The firm says
it is testing the Radio Frequency Identification Device, or
RFID, as a way to control employee access to high security
rooms. Microchip manufacturer, "Verichip" received
approval from the US Food and DrugAdministration in 2004 to
implant the RFIDs in humans. The company is also working with
a network of hospitals to install chip reading-machines in
emergency rooms. Privacy advocates worry that thesignal could
be picked up by other chip readers, but "Verichip"
denies that claim. They further state that RFIDs do not emit
signals, so the movements of workers like those at City-Watcher,
can't be monitored. For Free Speech Radio News, in Columbus,
Ohio, I'm Allison Raaum.
SUDAN DIVESTMENT
Efforts are growing on US campuses to encourage divestment
from Sudan to influence the situation in the Darfur region.
Melinda Tuhus reports on the latest success from Yale University.
Yale University has announced that it will not invest in
seven oil companies doing business in Sudan and will divest
of its holdings in at least one oil company that operates
there. The university's decision was based on a report by
the International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School.
The report cited Sudanese government support for the Janjaweed,
the Arab militias implicated in the genocide in Darfur. Nick
Robinson is a third year law student at Yale and one of the
main authors of the report. He says oil revenue makesup half
of Sudan's budget and that military spending has increased
alongside rising oil income. "The government of Sudan
is buying helicopters and airplanes that have been used to
bomb villagesin Darfur; they have used that money to pay off
the Janjaweed, to carry out many of these atrocities, and
they've used the money to buy weapons that have gone to further
fuel the conflict. " The oil companies in question are
based in China and India. US companies are barred by a 1997
presidential order from operating in Sudan. Yale joins Harvard,
Stanford, and a few other universities in divestment from
Sudan. For FSRN, I'm Melinda Tuhus in New Haven.
[top]
Palestinian Legislative Council Meets Amidst Economic
and Political Chaos (5:18)
The newly elected Palestinian Legislative Council convened
for the first time on Saturday, amidst an Israeli decision
to cut Gaza off politically and economically, and while the
United States demands the Palestinian Authority return some
$50-million in direct foreign aid. Laila El-Haddad has more
from Gaza.
[top]
Budget Cuts to Impact Native American Programs
(4:38)
The President’s 2007 Budget proposal seeks to eliminate
two important programs for Native Americans – urban
health clinics and the Johnson O’Malley education fund.
As Leigh Ann Caldwell reports from Capitol Hill, Bush’s
proposed cuts to non-Indian health and education assistance
will add another burden to already strained services.
[top]
Native Americans Weigh In on Indian Trust Management
(2:31)
Officials from the Department of the Interior are holding
a series of meetings across the country asking for Native
American input on revising Indian Trust Management regulations.
But, as Leslie Clark reports from the first round of meetings
in Albuquerque, tribal representatives are challenging federal
officials over the proposals themselves, as well as the revision
process.
[top]
March for Migrants Caravan Converges on US Capitol
(2:30)
The March for Migrants Caravan convened in Washington, DC
this weekend, calling for a change in federall immigration
policy. Since the beginning of this month, the group has been
crossing the country, spreading their message: not one more
death – citing that since 1994, over 4,000 people have
died trying to cross the border between Mexico and the US.
FSRN's Darby Hickey caught up with the caravan this weekend
when they rallied outside the US Capitol.
[top]
US Cities Seeking Energy Aid from Venezuela
(3:32)
A severe winter storm caused utility crews to work through
the weekend to restore power to thousands of people from Maine
to Michigan. As states scatter to open shelters for residents
left without energy, some lawmakers are turning to Venezuela
for aid. On the east coast, New York and Massachusetts have
already accepted more than 20 million gallons of heating oil
at 40 percent discount from Venezuela's state-run oil company,
Petroleos de Venezuela, and its Houston-based US affiliate,
Citgo Petroleum, which has offered cities in the United States
millions of gallons of low-cost fuel, And, as Sarah Turner
reports from Wisconsin, some Midwestern cities want a part
of the action.
[top]
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