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> Thur., Mar. 16, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Bush Administration Calls Iran the Greatest Security Challenge
US Military Launches Largest Air Assault on Iraq Since 2003
Invasion
Senator Feingold Presses Forward with Bush Censure
Residents in US Northwest Tackle Water Table Drop
The Rain Catchers of Rajastan
FSRN Headlines
Iraq Parliament Meets
After a three day wait, prayers opened the first session of
the new Iraqi Parliament today where members were sworn in.
Today's function is largely ceremonial, but there is incredible
pressure on Iraqi lawmakers to create a unity government.
Some analysts say the rapid formation of such a government
could help curb the unrest brewing in the country. Iraqi Prime
Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari may be willing to withdraw his
nomination for a second term. Kurdish and Sunni political
factions are saying they would not support his re-election.
Also, the US Military announced it has launched its biggest
offensive in Iraq since the invasion of 2003.
70 Billion More for Iraq War
On Capitol Hill, the House of Representatives is poised to
pass a 92 billion dollar emergency supplemental request to
continue funding the war in Iraq and for rebuilding for New
Orleans and the gulf coast. Over 70 billion dollars of the
request goes to the war, bringing the total cost up to about
400 billion dollars.
Raising the Roof
The Senate narrowly voted to raise the national debt ceiling
to nearly 9 trillion dollars. The move prevents the first
ever default on US Treasury notes. The debt limit increase
is the fourth such move since President Bush took office five
years ago. The move allows the government to continue paying
for big ticket items, such as the war in Iraq, without having
to raise taxes. The 9 trillion dollar deficit averages out
to about 30 thousand dollars a person.
Fighting in Palestine Continues
An Israeli incursion into Jenin broke out into a gunfight,
furthering the recent hostilities between Israel and Palestine.
Manar Jibreen reports.
An Israeli soldier was killed another was injured on Thursday
morning during a military invasion to the West Bank city of
Jenin and its refugee camp. There, a gun battle erupted between
Palestinian resistance fighters and the invading paratroopers,
supported by 22 military vehicles, which entered the camp
and searched scores of houses and arrested several civilians.
Qadura Abu Mussa, Jenin's governor, described what happened.
"Today at dawn, dozens of Israeli armored vehicles invaded
the city and surrounded the eastern neighborhood, firing rounds
of live ammunitions and clashed with the resistance fighters
there. One Israeli soldier was killed and another wounded
in the clashes. In addition, six residents were arrested.
The army withdrew as the residents hurled stones and empty
bottles at them"
In separate incident, two Israeli security guards were wounded
in another shoot out near a settlement adjacent to the West
Bank city of Nablus. Al Aqsa Martyrs brigades, the armed wing
of Fateh, claimed responsibility for the shooting. This invasion
came two days after the arrest of Ahmad Saadat secretary general
of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and five
of his comrades in an attack on a Palestinian jail in the
West Bank city of Jericho which is a continuity of Israel's
unilateral policy that will diminish chances to resume future
peace talks.
FMLN Wins Coveted Mayorship
Police and protesters clashed in El Salvador on Thursday after
election officials said leftist Violeta Manjivar of the FMLN
had won the Capitol's Mayoral election race by a hanful of
votes. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas when supporters
of Manjivar approached a hotel in the city where electoral
authorities announced the results after a delay. Officials
also announced the right wing ARENA will hold a narrow lead
in Congress.
French Students and Unions Take to the Streets
Thousands of school and university students took to the streets
of France's main towns and cities today in ongoing protests
against the government's youth employment plans. And trade
unions are hinting they too may launch a strike. Tony Cross
reports:
Tens of thousands marched in Paris today ... and there were
large demonstrations in the provinces, including Marseille
on the Mediterranean Coast, Bordeaux on the Atlantic and in
Rennes, a centre of militancy in Brittany. Students' Unions
claim that 64 of the country's 84 demonstrations are on strike
... the education ministry admits to 58. School-students unions
claim that three-quarters of Paris's high-school students
joined the strike. The conference of University Chancellors,
meeting today, declared that they share their students' concern
over their future and called on the government to act to end
the crisis. Government ministers have hinted that they might
change parts of the scheme ... prime minister Dominique de
Villepin said that he's open to dialogue which might 'improve"
it. But Bernard Thibault, the leader of the powerful C-G-T
trade union, threatened to take the movement up a notch ...
hinting that he might call a general strike. And all the unions
are calling for a massive turnout at protests on Saturday.
[top]
Bush Administration Calls Iran the Greatest Security
Challenge (4:08)
The Bush Administration released a revised National Security
Strategy today, calling Iran the greatest challenge and reinstated
the pre-emptive strike policy adopted by the United States
after September 11th. Although some analysts think that a
military strike against Iran is not imminent, strategy plans
are being developed. Washington Editor Leigh Ann Caldwell
reports.
[top]
US Military Launches Largest Air Assault on Iraq
Since 2003 Invasion (3:17)
The U.S. military launched its largest air assault on Iraq
since the 2003 invasion today. The Bush Administration employed
more than 50 aircraft and 200 armored vehicles in the bombing
campaign, code-named "Operation Swarmer," which
the Pentagon says will continue for days. The area being bombed
is near the ancient city of Samarra, home to the Golden Domed
Askareyeeh mosque, which militants blew up a month ago. Aaron
Glantz has more.
[top]
Senator Feingold Presses Forward with Bush Censure
(3:04)
Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold issued a resolution today
to request the Senate to officially censure President Bush
for breaking the law by authorizing an illegal wiretapping
program. Censure has only been used once in Congressional
practice. The resolution was met with moderate support by
the Democrats and is now awaiting a full hearing. Anastasia
Gnezditskaia has more from Washington, DC.
[top]
Residents in US Northwest Tackle Water Table Drop
(4:16)
The World Water Summit is underway in Mexico City, where
participants are tackling such issues as water contamination,
privatization and availability – while aquifer depletion
remains a major issue around the world as more wells tap into
rapidly decreasing groundwater reserves. In places like Yemen
and Iran’s agriculturally-rich Chenaran Plain, the water
table is dropping by about 9 feet per year. Smaller drops
elsewhere still raise concerns about water table sustainability.
Leigh Robartes looks at how people in an area known as the
Palouse, located in eastern Washington and Northern Idaho,
are dealing with their declining aquifer.
[top]
The Rain Catchers of Rajastan (4:29)
The twentieth century opened Eastern Rajastan, known as
the driest state in India, to marble miners and loggers who
decimated its forests and damaged its watershed. Its streams
and rivers dried up first – the farms went next. Dangerous
floods accompanied the monsoon rains. Overwhelmed by these
calamities, villagers abandoned their farms. As men shifted
to the cities for work, women spirited frail crops from dry
ground and walked several kilometers a day to find water.
But in 1985 a water reclamation movement started in Alwar.
The architect of the ambitious movement, Rajendra Singh,spearheaded
the revitalization and now Alwar is water sufficient, and
its people are back on their farms. Vinod K. Jose reports
from the villages of Alwar, a model now replicated in many
water-starved areas.
[top]
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