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> Wed., July. 5, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
North Korea Tests Missile, UN Threatens Sanctions
Israel Expands Gaza Offensive
Republicans Stage Dueling Immigration Hearings
Relief Money Slow to Halt Suicides in Rural India
Nepal’s Madheshis Stage Week-Long Rally for Civil Rights
Argentina: Workers Rally to Keep Occupied Factory
FSRN Headlines
RE-COUNT BEGINS IN MEXICAN ELECTION
Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute today began a re-count
of the votes cast in Sunday's elections as allegations of
irregularities continue to surface. Tim Russo has more on
the tightest Presidential race in Mexican history.
At 8:02 this morning the Federal Electoral Institute - or
IFE - began an act-by-act count of the 130,000 plus polling
stations in 300 districts throughout Mexico, in hopes of determining
the winner of Mexico's July 2nd presidential elections. Murmurings
of electoral manipulation and fraud have abounded in Mexico,
amidst increased reports of irregularities as diverse as ballot
boxes appearing in Xochiaca's municipal dump, to tallies from
special booths exceeding the permitted number of ballots per
booth. The PRD's center-left candidate, Manuel Lopez Obrador,
demanded that the IFE order a ballot-by-ballot recount of
each voting booth as so-called "inconsistent" votes
narrowed the margin of the PAN's conservative Felipe Calderon
to 0.6%. Yet, the president of the IFE announced that there
were only 4 legal ways to order a vote-by-vote recount and
that, for the time being, only the final tallies from each
voting booth would be considered, reiterating that no ballot
boxes would be opened at this time. Results from the recounts
are expected for late this evening or Thursday. At that time,
presidential candidates will have, by law, 72 hours to appeal
the results in court after a winner is announced. For Free
Speech Radio News, this is Tim Russo in San Cristobal de las
Casas, Mexico.
KABUL BOMBINGS
At least 5 bombs have exploded in the past two days in the
Afghan capital of Kabul. Fighting in Afghanistan has intensified
in recent months, mostly in the south and the east. Today
and yesterday's explosions in the capital city targeted government
workers and security forces. The Taliban has reportedly claimed
responsibility for the blasts.
AMNESTY OFFERED TO L.R.A. LEADER
The Ugandan President has declared that his government will
grant total amnesty to Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph
Kony, if the rebel leader agrees to abandon terrorism and
responds positively to the peace talks in Juba, Southern Sudan.
This, despite an indictment from the International Criminal
Court. President Yoweri Museveni has indicated that he no
longer believes in the the United Nations' capacity to handle
the case.The UN has failed to arrest the rebel leader despite
knowing his location in DR Congo's Garamba National Park.
A statement issued by the presidency yesterday says Museveni
will not hand over Kony if he emerges - and that the president
has communicated his position in writing to the President
of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir, whose government is mediating
talks between the LRA and the Uganda government. Museveni
says he would make his case to the African Union Peace and
Security Council, if challenged. The LRA rebels are accused
of mass abductions, rapes, maimings, and killings of villagers
throughout Northern Uganda. (This report provided by Joshua
Kyalimpa.)
EXXON-MOBIL ORDERED TO PAY DAMAGES
A Nigerian court has ordered Exxon Mobil to pay four million
dollars as compensation to some Nigerian fishermen whose sources
of livelihood were affected by an oil spill that resulted
from the company's operations in the Niger Delta region. Sam
Olukoya reports from Lagos.
The compensation was awarded to the fishermen for damages
to their fishing gears and pollution to over six hundred rivers
and five hundred ponds which they use for fishing. The fishermen
instituted legal action against Exxon-Mobil following what
they described as "a massive and tremendous spillage
of crude oil" from one of the company's facilities. The
fishermen said the environmental damage that resulted from
the oil spill denied them their sources of livelihood. The
oil spill, which occurred eight years ago, spread for about
four hundred kilometers across Nigeria's coastline. Exxon-Mobil
is facing several litigations from hundreds of communities
affected by the spill. Nigeria has one of the highest cases
of oil spills in the world due to poor safety standards by
western oil companies operating in the country. For Free Speech
Radio News, this is Sam Olukoya in Lagos, Nigeria.
NEW JERSEY BUDGET CRISIS
The partial shutdown of the New Jersey state government continued
into its fifth day today. A disagreement of how best to balance
the state's budget for has fueled the crisis. Governor Jon
Corzine is pushing for a one percent increase on the state's
sales tax, which has met resistance in the Democrat-led General
Assembly. Tens of thousands of state employees are temporarily
out of work - and the state's parks, lottery commission, and
Atlantic City casinos are closed.
KEN LAY DIES
Ken Lay, the founder and former CEO of the Enron corporation
died this morning at his Colorado vacation home from a heart
attack. Lay, who presided over Enron along with Jeffrey Skilling
during its 2001 financial collapse, was awaiting sentencing
after a Houston jury found him guilty of multiple counts of
conspiracy and fraud. Ken Lay was 64 years old.
[top]
North Korea Tests Missile, UN Threatens Sanctions
(4:22)
North Korea has test-fired a long-range missile believed
to be capable of reaching Alaska . Although the test failed,
it prompted The United Nations Security Council to begin drafting
a response that will likely include economic sanctions against
the country. The US has signaled they will support UN actions,
but will not engage in direct bi-lateral talks with North
Korea.
[top]
Israel Expands Gaza Offensive (3:34)
The Israeli military is expanding its offensive in Gaza.
Overnight, an Israeli airstrike hit the Palestinian interior
ministry building, wounding three. And today Israeli tanks
rolled in to re-occupy two former Israeli settlements that
witnesses say have been used to launch rocket attacks on Israel.
And, this afternoon, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on
human rights in Palestine called the Israeli actions “disproportionate,”
“morally indefensible,” and a “violation
of the most fundamental norms of humanitarian Law and Human
Rights Law.” From Palestine, Manar Jibrin has more.
[top]
Republicans Stage Dueling Immigration Hearings
(2:23)
Republican lawmakers have begun a series of public hearings
on immigration policy. The hearings come months after the
House and Senate passed starkly different immigration bills—no
compromise has been reached yet, and analysts call today’s
competing hearings an extension of that conflict. DC Correspondent
Darby Hickey has more.
[top]
Relief Money Slow to Halt Suicides in Rural India
(3:06)
In Southern India, crop failures and falling prices are
driving an increasing number of farmers to take their own
lives. Although the government has pledged $815 million in
aid, it's done little so far too slow the suicide rate: estimates
currently place it at over two per day. Binu Alex has more.
[top]
Nepal’s Madheshis Stage Week-Long Rally for
Civil Rights (4:20)
When Nepal's monarchy caved in to popular demands for democratization
in April, it raised hopes that the country's more marginalized
groups would finally secure a voice in politics. Women, the
disabled, transgendered people, youth, untouchables, and indigenous
groups are all asking for their needs to be addressed in Nepal's
new constitution. Far and away the largest disenfranchised
group is a Hindi-speaking people called Madeshis, who number
roughly 11 million. On Sunday, they began a week-long protest
of their conditions. PC Dubey reports from Nepal.
[top]
Argentina: Workers Rally to Keep Occupied Factory
(2:32)
During Argentina's financial meltdown, many unemployed workers
occupied their closed factories and forcibly reopened them--under
employee control. Four years later, Argentina's economy is
well on the road to recovery, and many worker-run factories
are seeking permanent legal status. Yesterday, workers from
the Zanon ceramics factory in the Patagonian province of Neuquen
held a rally to demand the government expropriate their plant
and give permanent legal status to FASINPAT, their worker
cooperative. If there’s no action, it will lose its
temporary legal status in October.
[top]
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