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> Tue., July. 25, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Lebanese Refugees Seek Shelter in Unlikely Places
India Blames U.S. for WTO Doha Round Failure
South American Summit Wraps up in Argentina
Congress Introduces New Immigration Reform
The American Legislative Exchange Council Meets to Expand
Free Trade
Residents in Queens Still Without Power
FSRN Headlines
AL-MALIKI IN DC
President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
today announced a new program aimed at curbing violence in
Baghdad. Additional American troops will be brought into Baghdad
from elsewhere in the country and will embed with Iraqi security
force patrols. Al-Maliki is currently visiting Washington
DC and is scheduled to address a joint meeting of Congress
tomorrow. Some congressional democrats have threatened to
boycott al-Maliki's speech unless he apologizes for statements
made last week condemning the Israeli offensives against Lebanon
and Gaza. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on al-Maliki's
comments.
ROME SUMMIT ON MID-EAST
An international conference will convene tomorrow in Rome
to discuss urgent measures of dealing with the crisis in the
Middle East. Diletta Varlese reports.
GAZA
In the Middle East, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today
held separate meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as the Israeli military
operation against Gaza continued without a pause. Rami Almeghari
reports.
PRE-ELECTION TENSION IN D.R.C.
Riots erupted today in the capital city of the Democratic
Republic of Congo. Police reportedly fired tear gas and warning
shots at demonstrators calling for the postponement of the
upcoming election, citing fears of political violence and
voting irregularities. The DRC will hold its first multi-party
election in 4 decades this Sunday.
DEAD ZONES
Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
and Louisiana State University are predicting that the so-called
"dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico along the coasts
of Texas and Louisiana will reach an area of 6700 square miles
this summer. That's nearly 2000 square miles above the summer
average since 1990. Dead zones are areas of very low oxygen
in the water at or near the ocean floor. Nitrate and phosphorus
loads carried into the Gulf by the Mississippi and Atchafalaya
rivers can cause excessive algae production in the summer
months. The algae that sinks to the bottom consumes more oxygen
than required to sustain other marine life in the same area.
According to the Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research,
dead zones can cause "habitat loss, stress and even death
to marine organisms; affecting commercial harvests and the
health of impacted ecosystems". Researchers have found
that nitrogen loads into the Gulf have tripled in the past
50 years.
[top]
Lebanese Refugees Seek Shelter in Unlikely Places
(4:19)
Israel began the 14th day of its military campaign against
Lebanon today by moving ground troops to the southern city
of Bin Jbail about 10 kilometers from the southern Lebanese
border. Military sources said that Israel's capture of Bin
Jbail was done to better respond with artillery against Hezbollah
fighters that continue to fire Katyusha rockets into Northern
Israel – one of those rockets killed a young girl in
the Arab Israeli town of Maghar today. Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert told reporters that Israel has the ability to
wage "a long struggle" in order to destroy Hezbollah
fighting positions and push them from their positions in the
south. Israeli warplanes continue to batter areas around the
southern coastal city of Tyre – and as Jackson Allers
reports from the besieged city, Lebanese refugees are now
seeking shelter in unlikely places – like Palestinian
refugee camps close to the southern Lebanese border.
[top]
India Blames U.S. for WTO Doha Round Failure
(3:09)
Talks among six key World Trade Organization governments
collapsed in Geneva yesterday, imperiling efforts to reach
a global market-opening agreement worth billions of dollars.
Ministers from the U.S., the European Union, Brazil, India,
Australia and Japan remained deadlocked, prompting WTO Director-
General Pascal Lamy to suspend the five-year-old talks to
dismantle market barriers and to supposedly lift millions
out of poverty in the developing world. The EU and the US
have taken turns blaming the other for the talk’s failure
– and India, a country which boasts 700-million farmers,
has been quick to step up their criticism on the U.S. for
torpedoing global trade talks. Vinod K. Jose has the details
from New Delhi.
[top]
South American Summit Wraps up in Argentina
(3:35)
The South American trade union, Mercosur, concluded its
summit in Cordoba, Argentina on Friday with 10 presidents
agreeing to work toward regional integration to offset U.S.
influence. Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez dominated the spotlight
with the oil-rich nation making its formal entry into Mercosur
during the summit, boosting the regional trade bloc composed
of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Fidel Castro made
a surprise visit to Cordoba for the regional meeting, signing
several trade agreements and encouraging his left leaning
sympathizers to fight against U.S. hegemony. FSRN’s
Marie Trigona reports from Cordoba.
[top]
Congress Introduces New Immigration Reform
(3:36)
A new proposal on immigration reform was offered in Congress
today. Its authors are calling it the right compromise for
the stalemate on immigration legislation. But key players
in the immigration debate have not yet embraced the proposal.
FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.
[top]
The American Legislative Exchange Council Meets to
Expand Free Trade (2:51)
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) held its
annual meeting in San Francisco this past weekend. Known as
one of the nation’s largest corporate lobbying groups,
ALEC’s mission is to promote free trade, private enterprise,
and limited government oversight. Guest speakers at this year’s
conference included conservative economist Milton Freidman
of the Hoover Institute and U.S. Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales. FSRN’s Christina Aanestad reports.
[top]
Residents in Queens Still Without Power
(2:34)
Record temperatures around the country have caused at least
20 heat-related deaths the past week. The heat wave in California
has caused blackouts throughout the state, and 250,000 homes
and businesses in Saint Louis, Missouri have been without
power since storms struck last week. Thousands of New Yorkers
are still without juice after a blackout started 7 days ago.
Politicians in Queens are pointing fingers at the Mayor and
Con Edison for slow response, and the State’s Attorney
General is reminding New Yorkers they’ve been there
before, and the city’s power infrastructure needs some
serious overhauling. Rebecca Myles reports.
[top]
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