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> Thur., June. 22, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Republicans on Capitol Hill Attempt to Alter Federal Voting
Procedures
Senate Rejects Two Amendments for Iraq Withdrawal
Chinese Premier Visit Highlights Concerns on African Continent
Sudanese Refugees Cause Debate in Israel
Group Documents Human Rights Abuses by Border Patrol Agents
UK Enforces Old Law to Limit Protestor’s Rights
FSRN Headlines
POLITICAL CRISIS IN EAST TIMOR
In an address to the nation today, East Timor's President
Xanana Gusmao threatened to resign if the country's prime
minister does not leave office. President Gusmao requested
the prime minister's resignation in a letter yesterday. Prime
Minister Mari Alkatiri was expected to resign today, but decided
otherwise after an emergency session with members of his political
party. Many Timorese fault the prime minister's dismissal
of 600 soldiers for triggering a series of violent protests
that eventually led to the deaths of at least 2 dozen people
in the capital city and caused tens of thousands to flee their
homes in fear. President Gusmao, who remains popular in East
Timor despite the ongoing crisis, said he will send his resignation
letter to Congress tomorrow if Prime Minister Alkatiri does
not step down.
ABBAS AND OLMERT MEET OVER BREAKFAST
An Israeli war plane fired two missiles Thursday night into
the southern Gaza Strip killing two civilians and injuring
thirteen others. This, just hours after the Palestinian and
Israeli leaders held a short, unofficial meeting in Jordan.
Manar Jibrin reports.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert met for an informal discussion in the Jordanian
city of Petra today during a breakfast hosted by Jordan's
King Abdullah. It was the first time the two sides have met
since Olmert took office. The two leaders were careful to
downplay the formality of today's event, but agreed to hold
an official meeting in the coming weeks. Today's breakfast
meeting came just before the opening of an international conference
in which Nobel laureates, businessmen and politicians from
around the world will discuss Israeli-Palestinian peace, other
Middle East issues, and global security. This, as Israeli
air strikes continue against residential areas in the Gaza
Strip for the second day. For FSRN from IMEMC.org in Palestine,
I am Manar Jibrin.
ALAN GARCIA´S VISIT TO CHILE
Peru's President-elect Alan García arrived in Santiago
today to meet with Chile's President Michelle Bachelet. But
before he set foot in the country, exiled Peruvian groups
in Chile with the help of local lawyers, filed charges of
genocide and human rights abuses against the Peruvian President-elect.
From Santiago, Jorge Garretón has the story.
Before entering the Presidential palace this morning to meet
with President Michelle Bachelet, Peru's President-elect Alan
García was accosted by a heckler, who accused him of
genocide and of corruption during his first term in the mid-1980s.
At a Santiago courthouse, lawyers representing exiled Peruvian
groups in Chile, filed genocide charges against García.
The lawyers argue that García is responsible for the
execution, disappearance, and torture of thousands of people
from 1985 to 1990. García fled Peru at the end of his
first term, thereby escaping charges of corruption and theft
of public resources, returning only after the statute of limitations
had expired. García is here to improve relations with
Chile, damaged in the past 12 months by Lima's attempts to
redraw the common sea border and by political scapegoating
of Chile by the candidates in Peru's recent presidential election.
For FSRN, this is Jorge Garretón in Santiago.
MORE EVIDENCE OF GLOBAL WARMING
A report released today by the National Academy of Sciences
concludes that the global mean surface temperature was higher
in the past few decades than in any other comparable period
in the last 4 centuries. Scientists who researched the report
say they have a "high level of confidence" in their
findings, supported by evidence from "proxies",
including; retreating glaciers, ice cores, corals, tree rings,
and ocean sediments.
CATTLE DRUG BANNED IN INDIA
The government of India has imposed a ban on a drug used on
livestock that has been linked to the virtual decimation of
the vulture population in South Asia. Gloria Khamkar reports.
While harmless to cattle, the drug Diclofenac causes kidney
and liver failure in vultures that feed on their carcasses.
India's Director-General of Health Services recently decided
to ban the drug after consultations with the ministry of agriculture.
The Drug Controller-General of India, Ashwini Kumar, has issued
a directive to Drug controllers in all Indian states seeking
a withdrawal of the drug from local markets. Kumar has also
asked for a ban on the sale and manufacture of Diclofenac,
to take effect within three months. The move has pleased conservationists
who have been advocating a ban on the drug since 2004. Environmentalists
say that ending the use of Diclofenac is the best way to save
the rare Indian vulture species, which plays a crucial role
in the regional ecosystem. In recent years, the Indian vulture
population has already plummeted by 97 percent. In Pune, India,
I'm Gloria Khamkar for FSRN.
[top]
Republicans on Capitol Hill Attempt to Alter Federal
Voting Procedures (3:35)
The House GOP is attempting to alter voting procedures in
federal elections. Lawmakers are pushing for greater voter
requirements for all people to ensure undocumented immigrants
don't vote in federal elections. The move comes as the GOP
pulled the 1965 Voting Rights Act Reauthorization from the
floor at the last minute. FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.
[top]
Senate Rejects Two Amendments for Iraq Withdrawal
(2:41)
The Senate rejected two amendments today to the Defense
Appropriations bill proposed by the Democrats. The Levin Amendment,
defeated 39-to-60, proposed that the U.S. should pull out
of Iraq by the end of this year. The second, less popular
Kerry Amendment, required withdrawal from Iraq as soon as
possible. In the meantime, Military Families Speak Out has
been holding a vigil outside Congress to force lawmakers to
make their demands to withdraw from Iraq more serious. Anastasia
Gnezditskaia has more from Washington, DC.
[top]
Chinese Premier Visit Highlights Concerns on African
Continent (3:43)
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is on an African tour which will
include a visit to 5 countries on the continent, including
a trip to Uganda this week. The visit comes at a time of growing
speculation over China’s assistance in sustaining dictatorships
and armed conflicts in Africa, in its quest for oil and other
trade ties. Joshua Kyalimpa reports.
[top]
Sudanese Refugees Cause Debate in Israel
(3:59)
Peace talks between Somalias government and the Islamist
movement that controls the countrys capitol are underway in
Khartoum, Sudan, today. Giving in to a key demand, The Union
of Islamic Courts has agreed to recognize the interim government,
and Sudans President called the talks the beginning of the
end of conflicts in Somalia. Meanwhile, the conflict in Sudan
has caused some refugees to flee to Israel, and this influx
of Muslim refugees is causing a stir in the Jewish state.
There are now more and 200 Sudanese refugees who have arrived
via Egypt - many cross the Sinai desert on foot, only to land
in Israeli jails. Their plight, and their incarceration in
particular, has provoked a spirited debate inside Israel,
with many groups arguing that Jews who were the victims of
genocide the last century cannot turn away refugees fleeing
genocide in Darfur today. The United Nations has requested
that for security reasons, we not use the real name of the
Sudanese refugee interviewed by Irris Makler in this report
from Jerusalem.
[top]
Group Documents Human Rights Abuses by Border Patrol
Agents (2:25)
California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas have begun sending
National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border, part of President
Bush’s plan to rotate as many as 6,000 soldiers on the
border until new Border Patrol Agents are trained by 2008.
Meanwhile, in Tucson, human rights advocate coalition No More
Deaths is teaming up with University of Arizona researchers
to document the treatment of migrants by border patrol agents
as well as other factors that impact border crossers. From
Tucson, Patrik Angstrom Poore files this report for FSRN.
[top]
UK Enforces Old Law to Limit Protestor’s Rights
(3:27)
Tony Blair’s government has brought in a number of
new laws that carry the potential to restrict demonstrations
in Britain. But as Naomi Fowler reports from London, an old
law is being used by British police at an unprecedented rate
which targets the placards used by protesters.
[top]
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