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> Tue., Mar. 28, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Baghdad Governor
Bill Frist Says He Will Introduce Immigration Legislation
to Senate Floor
Southern California Students Continue Massive Walk Outs
5,000 Join March to Feinstein’s Office Calling for Citizenship
for Undocumented
Black Tuesday: Protests in France Continue
Former FISA Judges Testify in Senate
Caspar Weinberger Dies at 88
FSRN Headlines
SUPREME COURT HEARS GUANTANAMO CASE
The Supreme Court today will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality
of special military tribunals for detainees held at Guantanamo
Bay. The case, known as Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, questions the
extent of presidential and legislative powers in judicial
matters. The lawsuit argues that the special military tribunals
are fundamentally unfair, as the Department of Defense, acts
as prosecutor, judge, and jury while the laws governing the
crime are being defined. Chief Justice John Roberts has recused
himself from the case, as he ruled against Hamdan in a federal
appeals court. Calls have also been made for Justice Antonin
Scalia to remove himself, based on public remarks made earlier
this month in Switzerland.
ANDREW CARD RESIGNS
Also in Washington, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card
resigned today. President Bush has named budget director Joshua
Bolton as Card's replacement.
PUBLIC SECTOR STRIKE IN UK
Britain saw its biggest national strike for decades today.
For 24 hours the strike has brought many public services across
the country to a halt. From London, Naomi Fowler reports:
The strikers have been caught up in Britain's pension crisis
and the government attempts to solve it. After paying into
state pension schemes all their working lives, workers are
being told that the government is to change the terms of their
pensions, which originally allowed them to retire at 60. It
means many will be forced to work beyond that time. The government
says longer life spans for retirees are costing the state
more than it can now afford. However, while the government
is guaranteeing lifetime protection from changes to pension
scheme terms for some public sector employees, it's refusing
to grant the same deal to others, mainly its lowest earning,
female workforce. Unions are demanding that all public sector
workers be guaranteed the same pension rights they signed
up for. The pensions crisis runs deep and requires radical
action; according to a Financial Services Authority study
published today, high house prices, loans for higher education
and the collapse of company pension schemes mean 42% of adults
now have no pension and 70% have no meaningful savings and
little prospect of being able to save at all for a pension.
This is Naomi Fowler in London for Free Speech Radio News.
ELECTIONS IN ISRAEL
Israel held general elections today. The centrist Kadima party
is favored to win. Many analysts see today's election as a
landmark in the future of Israeli policies in the West Bank.
BHOPAL SURVIVORS MARCH TO DELHI
In India, over 200 survivors of the Bhopal gas leak tragedy
were arrested today in Delhi as they picketed outside of a
government office. FSRN's Vinod K. Jose reports from New Delhi.
The 500-mile, 33-day march from Bhopal to Delhi is the latest
in the 22 year-old fight for justice for the survivors of
world's worst industrial disaster. Their demands include medical
and social rehabilitation, safe drinking water for communities
currently drinking poisoned water, and the inclusion of the
disaster story in school and college curriculum. The survivors
of the massive gas leak are also calling for prosecution of
the Union Carbide Corporation and its former chairman, Warren
Anderson, and a ban on Dow Chemical and its subsidiary Union
Carbide's business in India. In the winter 1984, an explosion
at a Union Carbide fertilizer plant released methyl isocyanate
gas in Bhopal. At least 15,000 people died as a result of
the disaster. Union Carbide is a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Dow Chemical Co, the biggest chemical company in the US. For
FSRN, I'm Vinod K. Jose, in New Delhi.
CAMPESINOS MARCH IN CARACAS
A 2000-strong campesino march wound its way through the capital
of Venezuela yesterday, blocking the intersection in front
of the Vice-President's offices well into the night. Mike
Fox reports from Caracas.
The campesinos stressed their support for President Chavez
but demanded that the government fulfill promises made in
agreements last July. According to the Ezequiel Zamora National
Campesino Front, which organized the march, a total of 164
campesino leaders have been assassinated in recent years by
paramilitaries working on behalf of large landowners. Unfortunately,
none of the 46 agreed-upon proposals ensuring the safety of
Venezuelan campesinos have been put in to effect. Among other
issues ranging from Social Security to local infrastructure,
the campesinos are demanding that a commission be created
to investigate the assassinations, prosecute the criminals,
and compensate the families of the victims. Discussions will
continue between the National Coordinators for the Campesino
Front and the Vice-President's office on Wednesday. Mike Fox,
FSRN, Caracas.
CHARLES TAYLOR DISAPPEARS
Former Liberian President, Charles Taylor has disappeared
from his home-in-exile in Nigeria. This comes just three days
after Nigeria agreed to hand him over to face trial before
a UN-backed war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone. Sam Olukoya
reports from Lagos.
Charles Taylor disappeared from his home in Nigeria last
night while Nigeria and Liberia were still trying to work
out the process of handing him over to the War crimes Tribunal
in Sierra Leone. The Nigerian government has set up a panel
to investigate circumstances leading to his disappearance.
Nigeria's Minister of Information says it is unclear whether
Taylor escaped or if he was abducted. Many in Nigeria however
believe the former Liberian leader actually escaped in order
to avoid trial before the war crimes tribunal. Taylor is accused
of supporting Sierra Leone's rebels who killed or amputated
hundreds of thousands of people in a civil war that lasted
ten years. All the 17 charges against him at the war crimes
tribunal carry life imprisonment. For Free Speech Radio News,
this is Sam Olukoya in Lagos.
[top]
Baghdad Governor (2:45)
Followers of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr held funeral
services in Baghdad today for 22 neighbors they say were massacred
by U.S. forces while praying in a mosque – among those
killed was an 80 year old imam. The US military says US troops
were fired on first, but the killings have caused Baghdad’s
governor to cut all ties with the US government and the United
Iraqi Alliance, which holds the most seats in Iraq’s
Parliament, and is calling on the Bush Administration to hand
over control of all security matters to the elected Iraqi
government. FSRN’s Aaron Glantz reports.
[top]
Bill Frist Says He Will Introduce Immigration Legislation
to Senate Floor (1:34)
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says he’ll bring
his immigration legislation to the floor. Frist’s legislation
is similar to the contentious House bill HR4437, and only
encompasses border security and enforcement. Frist is introducing
his version to the floor, despite the Judiciary Committee’s
completion of legislation by the Frist-imposed deadline. Republican
Senator Lindsay Graham from South Carolina, voted for the
Committee’s bill, and commented on the fact that Frist
is ignoring their legislation.
[top]
Southern California Students Continue Massive Walk
Outs (3:37)
Meanwhile, high School Students throughout Southern California,
and now Nevada, continue to stage walk-outs, protesting pending
immigration legislation. Over 20,000 students from LA, Orange,
Riverside and San Diego Counties from at least 70 high schools
walked out of classes yesterday, marching to City Halls, blocking
streets traffic and at least 2 freeways. Riot-clad police
rushed a crowd of student-demonstrators in downtown Santa
Ana, and at a separate student protest at Anaheim City Hall.
Police also barricaded Santa Ana High School for several hours,
and locked down local elementary schools, fearing that student
threats for a district-wide protest would become a reality.
15-year-old Roselina Gracia is a student from Valley High,
and walked out yesterday. She explains her reasons for walking
out.
[top]
5,000 Join March to Feinstein’s Office Calling
for Citizenship for Undocumented (2:28)
In San Francisco, the 7 day hunger strike against HR4437
came to an end with 5,000 people marching to Senator Dianne
Feinstein’s office to break bread and demand legislation
that allows citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Organizers
delivered thousands of petitions to Feinstein’s office,
calling for fair and just immigration reform. FSRN’s
Christina Aanestad reports.
[top]
Black Tuesday: Protests in France Continue
(4:11)
Between 1 and 3 million people joined marches today against
the government's proposed youth employment plan, with widespread
strikes, especially in the transport and education sectors.
It's the biggest mobilization so far in over a month of actions
against the plan. FSRN’s Tony Cross has the latest from
Paris, where violence has hit the fringes of the protests,
with cars and shop windows smashed, amid clashes between youths
and police.
[top]
Former FISA Judges Testify in Senate (4:27)
A Senate committee heard testimony today from former FISA
judges who support legislation amending the FISA courts. But
some analysts still say the proposed legislation is unconstitutional.
Washington Editor Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.
[top]
Caspar Weinberger Dies at 88 (1:13)
Former Secretary of Defense under Ronald Reagan, Caspar
Weinberger, died today at the age of 88. Called the consummate
Cold Warrior, Weinberger was head of Defense from 1981 to
1987 during a period of massive US Military build-up. This
excerpt is from a speech delivered in Los Angeles at the beginning
of that term.
[top]
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