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> Mon., June. 26, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Senate Democrats Hold Hearing on “Weapons of Mass Destruction”
Violence Leads to Capture of Israeli Soldier
Mauritanians Vote in Key Referendum
Navajo Oppose Senate Relocation Bill
UN Human Rights Council Considers Declaration of Human Rights
of Indigenous Peoples
Country Weighs In on “Energy Week”
FSRN Headlines
TIMORESE PRIME MINISTER RESIGNS
East Timor's Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said today that
he is "ready to resign". The announcement marks
the end of a political showdown between Alkatiri and President
Xanana Gusmao - who on Thursday had threatened to resign if
the Prime Minister did not leave office. Alkatiri's decision
to fire some 600 disgruntled soldiers earlier this year is
widely seen as the catalyst for the country's currents political
crisis. Fretelin, the prime minister's political party, will
name his replacement.
SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS SRI LANKAN GENERAL
A powerful bomb exploded near Sri Lanka's capital today while
Norwegian diplomats were busy organizing an upcoming meeting
with Nordic nations to decide the fate of a truce monitoring
mission. Ponniah Manikavasagam reports from Sri Lanka.
A bomb blast killed a Sri Lankan top military officer this
morning on the outskirts of the island's capital, Colombo.
It was the second suicide bomb attack in 3 months. The government
said a Tamil Tiger bomber rammed his motor bike into a convoy
of military vehicles, killing Major General Parami Kulatunge
and 3 others as they traveled to work. The army commander
narrowly escaped death in a similar attack in April. Tamil
Tiger rebels have denied responsibility for this morning's
attack. Officials say more than 700 people have been killed
this year in ambushes and military clashes; half of them are
civilians. The Norwegian truce monitors tasked with observing
the 4 year old cease-fire said Monday's attack is a serious
one and the country is fast drifting towards a full scale
of war as violence escalates. For Free Speech Radio News,
I am Ponniah Manikavasagam in Vavuniya, Sri Lanka.
SUPREME COURT RULES ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 this morning to uphold the constitutionality
of capital punishment in Kansas. Today's vote overturns an
earlier ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court that found the
state's sentencing guidelines favored the death penalty over
life imprisonment.
NEW YORK TIMES CATCHES CRITICISM
President George W. Bush today slammed last week's disclosure
of a government program to monitor international financial
transactions. Speaking to reporters today, Bush said (quote)
"We're at war with a bunch of people who want to hurt
the United States of America, and for people to leak that
program, and for a newspaper to publish it does great harm,".
Yesterday, Republican Congressman Peter King called for the
criminal prosecution of all New York Times staff responsible
for the publication of the report about the financial monitoring
program. Although 2 other national newspapers ran articles
on the program on Friday, the New York Times has received
the bulk of Representative King's criticism. The New York
congressman, who serves as the chairman of the House Homeland
Security Committee, said the Times broke the law and compromised
national security by publishing the report. Back in December,
the New York Times broke the story of another controversial
surveillance operation - that of a massive NSA program to
wiretap telephone and e-mail communications without a court
order. Lawsuits questioning the legality of the warrantless
wiretapping program have already begun.
LEGAL CHALLENGES TO WARRANT-LESS WIRETAPPING
On Friday, Government attorneys asked a federal judge in San
Francisco to dismiss a lawsuit against AT&T over its role
in the government's warrantless surveillance program. The
government argued that proceeding with the lawsuit would exposure
"state secrets"--thereby putting national security
at risk. Government critics say the Bush administration is
abusing its powers to avoid embarrassment. Brian Edwards-Tiekert
was at the federal courthouse in San Francisco.
The lawsuit accuses AT&T of giving the national security
agency access to its customers' communications without a warrant.
It's based on allegations by a former AT&T technician
named Mark Klein: he says AT&T reconfigured its network
in San Francisco and set up a secret room with special equipment
capable of diverting and collecting Internet traffic for the
NSA. Though Klein's statement has already been made public
in redacted form, government attorney Peter Keisler argued
that giving the allegations a full public hearing could subject
AT&T facilities to attack and enable terrorists to "communicate
more securely." Attorneys for the plaintiffs dismissed
those arguments-- Rob Framm is an attorney working for the
Electronic Frontier Foundation, which brought the case: [Framm,
0:20 ] "We showed the judge the evidence of warrantless
mass surveillance by AT&T. We showed that it's not a secret.
We established that there's no legal basis whatsoever, for
the U.S. government to take this evidence - which is already
in the record - and try to reclaim it as a state secret."
The courts have rejected the "state secrets" argument
only 4 out of the 79 times that presidents are known to have
used it. The Bush administration has invoked the "state
secret" privilege at least 24 times - far more than any
prior administration. I'm Brian Edwards-Tiekert, reporting
from San Francisco.
[top]
Senate Democrats Hold Hearing on “Weapons
of Mass Destruction” (4:37)
A top aid to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, says
he was dismayed on the misuse of national intelligence in
the lead up to the war in Iraq. A committee of Senate Democrats
held investigative hearings today on the faulty intelligence
claims. FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.
[top]
Violence Leads to Capture of Israeli Soldier
(3:28)
A massive number of Israeli soldiers backed by military
vehicles have gathered on the Gaza border, and are poised
to enter if an agreement for the release of an Israeli soldier
captured by Palestinian militants is not reached. Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has publicly ruled out negotiating
with the captors who issued a demand today for Israel to release
the about 100 women and 300 minors currently jailed. Aside
from the soldier that was captured, at least three Palestinian
resistance fighters and two Israeli soldiers were killed in
the early Sunday morning attack launched by Palestinian resistance
groups at the Israeli military post of Kerem Shalom near the
southern Gaza Strip. Manar Jibrin reports.
[top]
Mauritanians Vote in Key Referendum (2:27)
Mauritanians voted in a referendum to amend their constitution
yesterday to end decades of coup attempts and one-party rule.
If approved, it will limit the terms a president can serve
in Mauritania, an Islamic Republic with Arabs and Black populations
in West Africa. From Senegal, Ndiaga Seck has more.
[top]
Navajo Oppose Senate Relocation Bill (4:17)
Arizona Senator John McCain's Senate Bill 1003 would finish
the relocation process of the remaining Navajo from land on
the Black Mesa Hopi/Navajo Reservation. The bill passed the
Senate unanimously last month, and is under consideration
in the House Resources Committee. The Navajo, faced with relocation,
oppose the bill and say relocation would strip them of their
way of life. Since 1974 Over 15,000 Navajo and 100 Hopi have
been displaced from their ancestral homes in Arizona due to
an alleged land dispute between the two tribes. But opponents
say that the Navajo are being moved off their land so coal
companies can mine it. The Bureau of Indian Affairs estimates
that less than a few hundred Navajo remain on Black Mesa and
John McCain's bill would require their imminent removal by
2008. But the remaining Navajo refuse to be moved. Christina
Aanestad reports.
[top]
UN Human Rights Council Considers Declaration of
Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2:17)
The newly established UN Human Rights Council is holding
its inaugural session in Geneva. The meeting, set to last
through the end of the month, brings together high-level representatives
from over 100 countries, many of whom hope that the new Council
will make its mark on history by adopting, at its first session,
the Declaration of the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Despite some progress over the last decade, indigenous people
around the world continue to live in hardship and danger,
due to the failure of states to uphold their fundamental human
rights. Danuta Szafraniec reports from New York.
[top]
Country Weighs In on “Energy Week”
(2:59)
People around the country are outraged at proposed energy
bills and policies, as the House of Representatives embarks
on its “Energy Week” today. Some are calling for
real solutions to the energy problems, both domestically and
internationally. DC Radio Coop’s Ryme Katkhouda in Washington
DC has more.
[top]
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