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> Thur., May. 11, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Senators Still Wary As New Report Indicates Increased Surveillance
by National Security Agency
DC Moves Closer to Having Voting Member of Congress
Lawmakers Announce Initiative to Enhance Bio-Fuel Production
The Impact Back Home: Immigrating from Oaxaca
Northeasterners Unaware of Regions Vulnerability to Hurricanes
Water And Power Restored 8 Months After Hurricane Katrina
Mumia Abu-Jamal Commentary: "Zacharia Moussaoui"
FSRN Headlines
A DAY OF BLOCKADES IN MEXICO CITY
University students blockaded roads and highways in various
parts of Mexico City today, calling for the release of all
of those arrested last week in San Salvador Atenco.
(audio) According to calls made to Mexico City's Ke Huelga
radio, police launched tear gas near the National School of
Anthropology and History to break up a blockade. Eye-witnesses
say that a police helicopter was used to disperse a blockade
along the highway that connects the Mexican capital to the
city of Puebla. Yesterday afternoon, a judge determined the
legal situation of those arrested during last week's violent
raids. 144 people charged with organized crime and disrupting
a roadway can be released on bail, while 28 people charged
with more serious crimes, including aggravated kidnaping will
remain in prison. Seventeen have been released without charge.
FOX HECKLED IN VIENNA
Meanwhile, Mexican president Vicente Fox was heckled by demonstrators
today in Vienna, in protest of the crackdown in Atenco. Fox
is in the Austrian capital as part of an EU-Latin American
trade summit.
RIGHT TO RETURN RULING IN UK
Britain's High Court ruled today that around 8,000 British
citizens - expelled from their homes in the Chagos Islands
forty years ago to make way for a US military base - have
the right to return. From London, Naomi Fowler reports.
The Chagossian islanders have received favourable rulings
from British courts before, but the British government has
used what's called the 'royal prerogative' to over rule court
decisions on this British colony in the Indian ocean. It allows
government ministers to make decisions without the approval
of parliament. The site is of great strategic importance militarily
and was most recently used for bombing raids in Afghanistan
and Iraq. Most of the islanders are living in poverty in Mauritius
since their forced removal and empty promises of land and
compensation. The Chagos Refugee Group said today they would
go home as soon as possible. The British government is expected
to appeal the court's decision. This is Naomi Fowler in London
for Free Speech Radio News.
FISCAL COMPROMISE IN PUERTO RICO
Government officials in Puerto Rico say they have reached
a compromise to help end the island's ongoing fiscal crisis.
Schools have been temporarily closed and public sector employees
have been out of work because of the budget shortfall. Details
are to be finalized today. Puerto Rico's legislature must
approve the deal before it can take effect.
OIL-COVERED PENGUINS
More than 400 penguins from an Argentine nature reserve have
been found covered in petroleum. At air time, the source of
the contamination had not been found.
SECURITY INCIDENTS IN NIGER DELTA
In Nigeria, Gunmen in the Niger Delta region kidnaped three
foreign oil workers today, just one day after the killing
of an American employee of an oil services company. Sam Olukoya
reports from Lagos.
Although both incidents occurred in the south eastern city
of Port Harcourt, they are thought to be unrelated. In the
first incident, an American working with an oil servicing
company with headquarters in the United States was shot dead
at close range by a gunman who escaped on a motorcycle. Police
believe the American was targeted for assassination. In the
second incident, three foreign workers with a subsidiary of
the Italian oil company Agip were kidnaped today while driving
within the city. In recent weeks, local militant groups have
carried out a spate of attacks on oil facilities and kidnaped
several foreign oil workers to protest the activities of foreign
oil companies in the Niger Delta. It is however unclear if
either of the two latest incidents were related to the growing
unrest in the region. For Free Speech Radio News, this is
Sam Olukoya in Lagos.
SUSPECTED MILITANTS ARRESTED IN JORDAN
Jordan has announced the arrest of more than 20 suspected
Hamas members, accused of smuggling weapons into the country
to attack Jordanian targets. Oula Farawati reports from Amman.
Jordanian government spokesman, Nasser Judeh, said the arrests
were connected to the discovery on April 18 of a cache of
weapons, including Iranian-made Katyusha rockets and anti-tank
missiles, that were allegedly smuggled into Jordan. Jordanian
authorities briefed five top Palestinian security officials,
led by Palestinian General Intelligence chief, Major-General
Tareq Abu Rajab, of the evidence against the suspected Hamas
members. The team was sent by Palestinian president Mahmoud
Abbas, not the Hamas-led government. (voice Judeh) Judeh says
the Palestinian delegation was shown documents, information,
and evidence that implicates Hamas beyond a doubt. Hamas,
meanwhile, denied the accusations and said the fabricated
allegations were an attempt by Jordan to conceal its lack
of support for the Palestinians. In Amman, Jordan, this is
Oula Farawati reporting for FSRN.
[top]
Senators Still Wary As New Report Indicates Increased
Surveillance by National Security Agency (3:47)
According to one Senator, the Bush Administration is moving
toward a constitutional confrontation over the warrant-less
wiretapping program. Other Senators have renewed pledges to
further investigate the program, as the Department of Defense
halted their internal investigation of the program - and an
article in USA Today reveals that the NSA has contracted with
three major phone companies to create a major database of
US resident’s communications. Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.
[top]
DC Moves Closer to Having Voting Member of Congress
(1:50)
The District of Columbia is closer to obtaining voting rights
in Congress than it has seen a decade. A bill to give DC a
voting member of Congress has been presented as having broad
support. The bill will give the district one seat and Utah,
the state next in line for adding a representative, one more
seat. This would increase the number of representatives from
435 to 437. DC delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton.
[top]
Lawmakers Announce Initiative to Enhance Bio-Fuel
Production (3:30)
The House Democratic Rural Working Group held a news conference
today to announce its Energizing America Initiative. Its goal
is to relieve the pain that US energy consumers, especially
farmers, feel at the pump by enhancing production of bio-fuels,
such as bio-diesel and ethanol. Anastasia Gnezditskaia has
more from DC.
[top]
The Impact Back Home: Immigrating from Oaxaca
(4:00)
In the past 5 years, an estimated 5 million people have
left Mexico for the United States - and the southern sate
of Oaxaca continues to be among the top emigration states.
Official data ranks Oaxaca as third in the receipt of remittances,
which constitutes an important indicator of the social situation
in the majority indigenous area. Vladimir Flores reports from
Oaxaca.
[top]
Northeasterners Unaware of Regions Vulnerability
to Hurricanes (2:41)
Its predicted that this years hurricane season will be more
active than normal and the Northeast region of the United
States will be hit by a major hurricane. Its been decades
since a major hurricane struck the Northeast - Danuta Szafraniec
reports that the public there isn't aware of the region's
vulnerability.
[top]
Water And Power Restored 8 Months After Hurricane
Katrina (2:36)
Water service was restored to portions of New Orleans' Lower
9th ward this week, more than eight months after the neighborhood
suffered catastrophic flooding last fall. The restoration
of clean water cleared a major obstacle for those trying to
rebuild in the neighborhood – but it’s only one
of many obstacles that returning residents face. FSRN’s
Christian Roselund reports from New Orleans.
[top]
Mumia Abu-Jamal Commentary: "Zacharia Moussaoui"
(2:30)
[top]
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