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> Wed., Mar. 29, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Senate Approved Watered-Down Lobbying Reform Bill
Iraqi Kurd Journalists Weigh In on Free Speech
Geneva-Based Global Fund Under Investigation
House Debates Federal Assistance to College Students
School District Hostile to Native American Students
Students Affected By Immigration Laws
FSRN Headlines
Headlines (5:27)
ISRAELI ELECTION RESULTS
Israeli Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert today began the
process of coalition-building after his presumed victory in
yesterday's election. During his campaign, Olmert promised
to define Israel's permanent borders by 2010. Yesterday's
election turnout is said to be the lowest in the country's
history.
U.S. SEVERS DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH HAMAS-BACKED OFFICIALS
The US government severed all ties with the Palestinian Hamas-led
government today, minutes before its official swearing in
ceremony. Laila el-Haddad has more from Gaza.
In a directive distributed today to diplomats and other officials
by email, the American government instructed them not to have
contacts with Hamas-appointed government ministers, whether
they are members of the group or not, according to American
officials. The no-contact policy, which took effect just before
6 p.m. Jerusalem time, applies equally of to those who work
for the ministers but are not Hamas members, such as independents
and technocrats in the new government. The United States hopes
to pressure Hamas to recognize Israel and renounce its armed
struggle. Hamas officials have called on the United States
to reconsider its policy of "collective punishment"
of the Palestinian people for their democratic choice. The
group's leaders have also said that Israel has not yet recognized
Palestinian rights nor abided by peace accords that should
have afforded Palestinians a state.
CHARLES TAYLOR EXTRADITED FROM NIGERIA
Former Liberian President, Charles Taylor has been extradited
from Nigeria after attempting to flee the country. Sam Olukoya
reports from Lagos.
Charles Taylor was arrested this morning while trying to
escape from Nigeria, where he had been living in exile since
2003. Taylor had attempted to flee the country after Nigeria
agreed to his extradition. Policemen arrested the former Liberian
president at a border town while trying to cross into Cameroon
from Nigeria. His attempt to escape was a major embarrassment
for the Nigerian government. President Olusegun Obasanjo,
currently in Washington DC, subsequently ordered his immediate
extradition to Liberia. After landing in Liberia, Taylor reportedly
boarded a helicopter bearing a United Nations emblem. Taylor
is expected to face trial at a UN-backed war crimes tribunal
in Sierra Leone. For Free Speech Radio News, this is Sam Olukoya
in Lagos.
PROTESTS CONTINUE IN FRANCE
French workers' and students' unions have set a date for another
day of strikes and protests against the government's youth
employment scheme. And The Education Ministry has ordered
police to be called in to reopen high schools closed by protests.
Tony Cross reports from Paris.
After mobilizing millions on the streets yesterday, 12 workers'
and students' unions today declared that April the fourth
will be a new day of action against the First Jobs Contract,
the CPE, which allows employers to fire workers under 26-years
of age at any time. Official figures show some form of protest
in well over a quarter of the country's 4,300 high schools.
So, the Education Ministry has told principals to bring in
the police if necessary to end occupations or pickets that
have paralyzed 318 of them. Students in the western city of
Rennes, a stronghold of the protests, today blocked the main
roads into the town. Police used teargas to clear them. With
Socialist representatives in the National Assembly after his
blood, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin again refused
to scrap his plan, but said he's ready to discuss improvements.
And, as pressure mounts for the president to intervene to
end the crisis, officials have let it be known that Jacques
Chirac will make a statement "in the next few days".
So far he has backed up de Villepin, whom he appointed as
prime minister. It's not yet clear when he'll make a declaration.
Tomorrow the Constitutional Council rules on a Socialist claim
that the contract breaks France's promise of equality of opportunity
to all its citizens. For FSRN, I'm Tony Cross in Paris.
UK FAILS TO MEET GOAL FOR CO2 EMISSIONS CUTS
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been the most vocal
world leader in pushing for cuts in greenhouse gases. Yet
today his government has admitted it will not meet its own
pledge on cutting C02 emissions. From London, Naomi Fowler
reports.
Tony Blair's government had pledged to reduces carbon emissions
by 20% by 2010. But UK emissions in 2005 are currently higher
than in 1990. Scientists, environmental campaigners and politicians
have described Britain's efforts as 'pitiful,' accusing the
government of lacking the political will to tackle global
warming. Alongside recent announcements on such things as
the widening of motorways and building of new airport runways
just in the last few days, the government has lowered its
emissions target; but many argue that unless more radical
policies are adopted, even a 15-18% reduction by 2010 will
not be possible. Governments should be scaling up their efforts,
not scaling them down, and it all leaves the national and
the global effort in a sorry state, say campaigners. Tony
Blair has said he will push for a new international framework
to replace the Kyoto protocol when it expires at the end of
2012. This is Naomi Fowler in London for Free Speech Radio
News.
[top]
Senate Approved Watered-Down Lobbying Reform Bill
(3:55)
Former lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced to nearly six
years in prison for fraud, related to the purchase of a casino
boat in Florida. In a separate scandal, Abramoff was indicted
for three felonies relating to his lobbying practice. Meanwhile,
on Capitol Hill, the Senate is set to pass a lobbying reform
bill that Congress has labeled as crucial to changing the
nature of politics and governance in Washington. But as Leigh
Ann Caldwell reports, according to Senators and political
analysts, the bill has been watered down, and includes little
context to offer real change.
[top]
Iraqi Kurd Journalists Weigh In on Free Speech
(3:40)
Though Iraq's Kurds were freed from the repression of Saddam
Hussein's government in 1991, journalists continue to fight
for free speech in the autonomous region. FSRN’s David
Enders files this report from Sulemaniya in Iraqi Kurdistan.
[top]
Geneva-Based Global Fund Under Investigation
(3:50)
The scandal surrounding the Geneva-based Global Fund has
not only caused the resignation of Executive Director Richard
Feachem, but is affecting thousands of patients who would
be fund beneficiaries. The Global Fund suspended three grants
to Uganda citing corruption, and the country has now instituted
a commission of inquiry into the alleged mismanagement of
billions of Global Fund dollars meant to fight AIDS, tuberculosis
and malaria. FSRN’s Joshua Kyalimpa reports from Kampala.
[top]
House Debates Federal Assistance to College Students
(1:47)
The House of Representatives is debating federal assistance
to students attending higher education today. Many student
activists and college administrators are pushing to defeat
the bill, which will be voted on tomorrow. FSRN’s Darby
Hickey reports from Capitol Hill.
[top]
School District Hostile to Native American Students
(2:29)
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a class action
lawsuit in federal court against the Winner School District
in South Dakota. As FSRN’s Jim Kent reports, the ACLU
charges the school district has maintained an environment
that is hostile to Native American students and disciplines
Native students more harshly than their Caucasian peers.
[top]
Students Affected By Immigration Laws (2:52)
Thousands of high school students in Houston, Texas, continue
to march today against pending immigration legislation in
the US Senate. Although Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
will introduce his harsher immigration reform bill to the
floor, The Senate Judiciary Committee will introduce its version
as well. The Committee’s bill includes the DREAM Act,
which will provide undocumented high school students a path
towards citizenship. Rachel Clarke reports from Houston, where
students recently gathered to urge Congress to move on the
DREAM Act.
[top]
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