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> Mon., Mar. 6, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
NATO To Be Dominating Force in Afghanistan
War Lords in the Parliament: FSRN Speaks with Malalai Joya
Pentagon Transcript Reveals Guantánamo Detainees’
Anguish
Crimes Against Women in Oaxaca, Mexico
Berlusconi Pushes for Controversial Italian Bridge Project
States Move to Challenge Roe V. Wade
FSRN Headlines
BULLDOZING RESUMES IN NEW ORLEANS, LA
Today the Army Corps of Engineers resumed demolition of 120
severely damaged homes in New Orleans, the vast majority in
the city's lower 9th ward. Christian Roselund has more.
(audio: bulldozer) A small bulldozer tore apart a structure
sitting in the middle of Winthrop street in the city's lower
9th ward today; the first of the homes scheduled for demolition
this week. The crew was accompanied by cadaver-sniffing dogs,
as remains continue to be found in the area. John Fogerty
of the US Army Corps of Engineers says that these homes are
preventing the restoration of services to the area: (audio:
Fogerty) The lower 9th Ward still does not have potable water
and few homes have electric service. The city of New Orleans
says that it has mailed out demolition notices to the last
known address of homeowners as required by a ruling against
the city in January. Michelle Shin of the aid organization
Common Ground, which opposed the bulldozing in December, says
her organization has not been in contact with any residents
who were to receive said notification. The city of New Orleans
has not said when it will resume demolition of the other eighteen
hundred homes that it plans to remove. For FSRN, I'm Christian
Roselund.
SOUTH CENTRAL FARMERS FACE EVICTION
The South Central Farmers at the nation's largest urban garden
are facing eviction tomorrow at midnight by the Los Angeles
County Sheriff's Department. KPFK's Kelly Barnes reports.
Last night, a community strategy meeting was followed by
a candlelight vigil to help keep the farm in the hands of
the 350 low-income families that work the 14 acres. Despite
the fact the farmers have raised 9 million dollars to buy
the garden, developer Ralph Horowitz is demanding 16.35 million
dollars, even though he paid just over five million to buy
it back from the city in 2003. Farmers say that sale was a
back-room deal, and they are not willing to consider a compromise
offered by the mayor's office of accepting four or five acres
at the current location and a few smaller plots throughout
the city. So far, the mayor has not responded to farmers'
demands of a city-wide town hall meeting on the issue, in
particular on the legality of the transfer of land back to
Horowitz after the city took it under eminent domain. Tonight,
the community is expected to turn out in force in support
of the farmers--a continuation of the 24-hour presence at
the farm for the last several months. In LA for FSRN, I'm
Kelly Barnes for People without Borders.
SOLOMON AMENDMENT UPHELD
In an unanimous decision today, the Supreme Court ruled that
military recruiters must be allowed onto the campus of any
college or university that receives federal funding. This
knocks down a legal challenge raised by some law schools that
questioned the nature of the "don't ask, don't tell"
policy that recruiters practice. Universities receive some
35 billion dollars a year in federal funding.
FATEH WALKS OUT OF LEGISLATIVE SESSION
The Hamas-dominated Palestinian Parliament's first legislative
session ended today with the walkout of Fateh party legislators.
They were opposing a move to challenge powers that were granted
to President Abbas in the final days of the previous parliament.
POSSIBLE WITHDRAWAL FROM SOME WEST BANK SETTLEMENTS
Meanwhile, the Israeli government has announced plans to evacuate
additional West Bank settlements and define Israel's permanent
borders if the Kadima party of the acting Prime Minister wins
national elections later this month. Manar Jibrin has the
story.
Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced yesterday
that 17 settlements will be cleared in the first stage of
a four-year withdrawal plan. The evacuated settlers of these
outposts will be relocated to major settlement blocs. Unlike
last year's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Israel is not
planning a military disengagement from the evacuated West
Bank land. Mr. Olmert has indicated that Israel will hold
on to the Jordan Valley, as well as East Jerusalem and the
major settlement blocs of Maale Adumim, Ariel and Gush Etzion
as part of a final settlement. The move would cement Israeli
control over the most heavily populated settlements in the
West Bank, where Israel is building a controversial Separation
Wall. All settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem
are illegal under international law.
DOMESTIC WORKERS MARCH IN HONG KONG FOR RAISE
Over 500 migrant workers took to the streets of Hong Kong
yesterday to call on the government to increase the minimum
wage that was lowered in 2003. Dante Toza has more:
Hundreds of migrant workers held up signs saying "Stop
Modern Slavery! Wage Increase Now!". These domestic workers
are employed in private homes throughout Hong Kong. In 2003,
the minimum wage was lowered from $ 470 to 428 US dollars
a month. With the government announcement in the new year
that Hong Kong is no longer in a financial crisis, the workers
are demanding the elimination of a 50 dollar tax levied against
migrant domestic workers and a return to the pre-2003 minimum
wage of $470 dollars. There are over 200 thousand migrant
workers in Hong Kong, many of them from the Philippines, Indonesia,
and Thailand. For FSRN, this is Dante Toza Reporting from
Hong Kong.
[top]
NATO To Be Dominating Force in Afghanistan
(3:19)
NATO has once again signaled that it will be the dominating
force in Afghanistan before the end of the year. The United
States has remain! ed in the background though, saying their
troop levels will decrease by less than 20%. As Leigh Ann
Caldwell reports from DC, some policy experts say the move
will relieve some troop strain for other US-led missions.
[top]
War Lords in the Parliament: FSRN Speaks with Malalai
Joya (4:05)
Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf is accusing
Afghanistan's Defense Ministry and Intelligence of conspiring
against his country. His comments come in response to Afghanistan’s
recent accusation that Pakistan isn’t doing enough to
stop Taliban and al-Queda operatives from crossing the border
and taking refuge in Pakistan. Both countries are considered
allies in the US War on Terror, but as they publicly trade
accusations – it’s rarely mentioned that former
Taliban and other War Lords are serving in Afghanistan’s
Parliament. Were joined in studio by Afghan Member of Parliament
Malalai Joya.
[top]
Pentagon Transcript Reveals Guantánamo Detainees’
Anguish (2:00)
According to Guantánamo Bay hearing transcripts released
by the Pentagon late Friday, Guantánamo Bay detainees
continue to wait in anguish, without knowledge of why they
are being held as prisoners, and what future lies ahead after
years of confinement. Yanmei Xie has the story in Washington
DC.
[top]
Crimes Against Women in Oaxaca, Mexico (3:17)
Although Ciudad Juarez has become infamous for the brutal
murders of young women, the region isn't the only place in
Mexico where crimes against women go routinely unpunished.
According to official statistics from the Mexican federal
government, Oaxaca has become a hot spot for gender-based
violence. Vladimir Flores reports.
[top]
Berlusconi Pushes for Controversial Italian Bridge
Project (3:33)
Upcoming national elections in Italy next month are just
too close to call, although Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's
government might be enjoying its last two months of power.
Berlusconi’s administration is still pushing hard against
environmental law and engineering constraints to build the
longest bridge of its kind in the world connecting Sicily
to the south of Italy. But opposition from both sides of the
coastline is growing. From Sicily, Naomi Fowler reports.
[top]
States Move to Challenge Roe V. Wade (3:44)
South Dakota’s Governor Mike Rounds has signed a bill
to ban nearly all abortions in the state – directly
challenging the US Supreme Court decision that legalized the
procedures in all states in 1973. Meanwhile, citizens in Mississippi
have begun collecting signatures for a ballot initiative,
which if approved, would also outlaw abortion in all cases,
unless the life of the mother or fetus was in danger. The
group behind the proposal believes that if passed, it will
be challenged in court, but are hopeful that with two new
Supreme Court justices, a challenge to the law would fall
in their favor, which could lead to the reversal of Roe versus
Wade - the landmark decision which gave women the right to
choose to terminate their pregnancy. FSRN’s Andrew Stelzer
reports from Jackson, Mississippi home to the only abortion
clinic still open in the entire state.
[top]
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