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> Fri., June. 23, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Administration Defends Financial Transaction Monitoring
Israeli Government Launches Campaign to Stop International
Peace Activists
World Trade Talks Deadlocked
Undocumented Immigrants Afraid to Seek Medical Assistance
for Fear of Deportation
Critics Say Canadian Government’s Child Care Allowance
Does Not Tackle Real Program
Plaintiffs Question Why Morning After Pill Is Not Approved
for Sale Over the Counter
FSRN Headlines
STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED IN BAGHDAD
The Iraqi government declared a state of emergency today in
Baghdad after firefights between insurgents and US and Iraqi
troops. Residents of the Iraqi capital had just 2 hours to
clear the streets before a curfew went into effect at 2 PM
local time. The state of emergency comes just 10 days after
Iraq's prime minister announced the start of a massive security
operation to crackdown on violent activity in the capital.
NEW BRITISH CRIME LAWS
British Prime Minister Tony Blair today announced controversial
plans to reform Britain's criminal justice system. Naomi Fowler
reports from London.
In today's speech, Tony Blair said that "unpalatable
choices about liberty and security" needed to be made.
He wants to extend 'on-the-spot justice' for low-level crime
and disorder and introduce what he called "public protection
advocates" to limit the impact of European human rights
legislation. Relations with the judiciary are already at an
all-time low. Tony Blair today used the same words as the
tabloid press suggesting that the criminal justice system
has become 'unbalanced' in favor of the criminal. Yet, since
coming to power, Tony Blair's government has passed more than
40 Acts of Parliament addressing law and order issues and
Britain now has the highest prison population in Europe. One
of the government's own advisers, Ian Loader of Oxford Center
for Criminology, said today the government has failed to counteract
the erroneous public perception that crime is rising. It's
also failed, he says, to fund, deliver, and explain programs
that do work - such as prison education, reassurance policing,
and pre-emptive social work. This is Naomi Fowler in London
for Free Speech Radio News.
TERROR PLOT
FBI agents have arrested seven men for allegedly planning
to attack the Sears Tower in Chicago and the FBI field office
in Miami. The men, who Attorney General Alberto Gonzales described
as "homegrown terrorists", were arrested yesterday
in the poor Liberty City neighborhood of Miami. The grand
jury indictment uses testimony from a government agent who
infiltrated the group, posing as an Al Qaida operative.
MOGADISHU RALLY
A Swedish cameraman was shot dead today during a demonstration
in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. The massive rally was
in celebration of a peace deal brokered yesterday and in opposition
to the proposed deployment of foreign peacekeepers to Somalia.
The gunman reportedly shot the journalist at close range and
then escaped into the crowd.
REFUGEE HUNGER STRIKE ON IRAQ-JORDAN BORDER
Refugees stranded at the Jordanian border with Iraq have begun
an indefinite hunger strike to demand a solution to their
predicament. Oula Farawati reports from Amman.
Some 200 Iranian-Kurdish refugees, who have been stranded
on the Jordan-Iraq border since January 2005, began a hunger
strike on Tuesday, demanding re-settlement in a third country.
The hunger strike comes after several unsuccessful pleas for
re-settlement to the world community. The Iranian-Kurdish
refugees arrived at the Karama border crossing between Jordan
and Iraq 18 months ago, after fleeing al-Tash refugee camp
in Iraq's western Anbar province, following clashes there
between insurgents and US forces...but since they lack official
permission to enter Jordan, the refugees have remained on
the Iraqi side of the border, in an area prone to harsh weather
conditions. However, The United Nation's High Commission for
Refugees has said that there is no pressing need for the refugees
to leave the country and that they should go back there to
their homes in northern Iraq, something that the refugees
refuse to do.
PAPER PULP MILLS CONTINUE TO DIVIDE
Uruguay's President Tabare Vazquez met with Brazil's foreign
minister today to ask Brazil to support the construction in
Uruguay of two paper mills at the heart of a diplomatic row
with Argentina. Marie Trigona has the latest from Buenos Aires.
Uruguay sent its case to the tribunal run by the Mercosur
trade bloc earlier this month. The topic is sure to come up
at the Mercosur presidential summit, which Argentina will
host next month. The Argentine government has already taken
the case to the UN's Court of Justice in the Hague to stop
the construction of the pulp mills, saying they will pollute
the shared border river. The High Court will issue its ruling
in July. Workers employed with the Spanish and Finnish companies
building the mills held a one-day strike yesterday because
they suspect that construction is likely to be halted, which
they say would cause 3,000 workers to lose their jobs. Residents
from the Argentine town of Gualeguaychu will protest tomorrow
while simultaneous demonstrations take place in Chile and
Brazil against the installation of pulp mills in those countries.
For Free Speech Radio News, I'm Marie Trigona in Buenos Aires.
[top]
Administration Defends Financial Transaction Monitoring
(4:22)
The Bush Administration is defending the monitoring of financial
transactions, saying it’s legal and essential to the
war on terror. Leigh Ann Caldwell and Yanmei Xie report.
[top]
Israeli Government Launches Campaign to Stop International
Peace Activists (2:35)
The Israeli government announced that it is planning a campaign
to stop international peace activists from entering the country
this summer. They deported nine Italian peace workers today
alone from Ben-Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. This new Israeli
policy comes in the midst of an Israeli escalation in violence
that has resulted in 22 Palestinians killed in the last week,
and 79 injured by Israeli air strikes. Saed Bannoura reports
from the Palestinian Territories.
[top]
World Trade Talks Deadlocked (2:50)
The EU, the US and developing nations remain deadlocked
about the terms and conditions of global trade negotiations.
In a preliminary trade meeting in Vienna Wednesday, President
Bush said he was committed to a successful round of trade
talks. WTO members will meet next week in Geneva to work out
the details of a framework on a global trade deal to cut subsidies
and tariffs on agriculture and manufactured goods. A draft
document was issued yesterday with 760 areas of dispute. NGO's
are critical of the negotiations thus far saying the EU and
US cuts don't go far enough. Cinnamon Nippard reports from
Berlin.
[top]
Undocumented Immigrants Afraid to Seek Medical Assistance
for Fear of Deportation (4:04)
Many Republicans, including Alabama Governor Bob Riley,
have praised the new eligibility requirements for those who
apply for the federal health insurance program for the poor,
or Medicaid. The new eligibility requirements go into effect
on July 1, and will require all U.S. citizens to provide proof
of citizenship in order to receive benefits. Republicans like
Riley say that requiring proof of citizenship will deter undocumented
immigrants from "exploiting the system." But as
Dolores M. Bernal reports, undocumented immigrants seldom
qualify for Medicaid benefits and usually wait until their
health deteriorates before seeing a doctor.
[top]
Critics Say Canadian Government’s Child Care
Allowance Does Not Tackle Real Program (4:13)
Canada's Tory government has ushered in a program that provides
parents of preschool-aged children with a monthly allowance
to spend on child care. But opponents of the initiative say
the taxable allowance doesn't address the shortage of day
care spaces across the country. Alison Benjamin reports from
Vancouver.
[top]
Plaintiffs Question Why Morning After Pill Is Not
Approved for Sale Over the Counter (2:11)
A lawsuit filed this year in New York federal court against
the FDA seeks to clarify why the morning after pill wasn't
approved for sale over the counter. Rebecca Myles files this
report from the Big Apple, where New York University students
organized a discussion with the suit’s plaintiffs about
the fight for women's reproductive rights.
[top]
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