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> Fri., Aug. 18, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Lebanese Refugees Return Home
UN Peacekeepers Hard to Come By
AIDS Conference Wraps Up in Toronto
Workers Battle Police in Oaxaca
FEMA Unprepared for Next Katrina
FSRN Headlines
ETHIOPIAN FLOODS
Severe flooding in Ethiopia has claimed the lives of at least
618 people this week. The death toll will likely rise as flood
waters recede and rescue teams reach isolated areas. Figures
from the World Food Programme indicate that over 70,000 people
have been affected and around 16,000 have been displaced by
the flood waters. More than a dozen villages in southern Ethiopia
remain inaccessible. Forecasts indicate continued showers
in the coming days.
PALESTINIAN CEASEFIRE
Palestinian factions have agreed to extend a cease-fire agreement
in an effort to renew negotiations with Israel. Internal plans
for a Palestinian national unity government have stalled,
with neither side willing to agree to the other's terms. Saed
Bannoura reports.
National unity talks between Fatah and Hamas reached an impasse
today, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas refusing to
accept the conditions set by the Hamas party. Gazi Hamad is
a government spokesman for Hamas: (sound) "The issue
here is not about control or domination. We came to this government
to conduct reforms and to bring transparency, fairness, and
justice. The issue of a National Unity Government was proposed
before we formed the current government, but we were not successful
at that time. I believe that Palestine is suffering from political,
economic and security crises,among other difficulties, therefore
the solution requires everyone's participation." Palestinian
armed factions agreed today to halt rocket fire aimed a Israel,
in an effort to re-start negotiations. Also today, Israeli
forces carried out 3 targeted assassinations in the West Bank.
And the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced that
he will not go forward with his so-called 'convergence plan'
to consolidate Israeli settlers living on Palestinian land
in the West Bank, saying that concerns for security in the
north of the country take precedence at this time. Palestinian
farmers in Hebron received military orders from Israeli soldiers
last night that 275 acres of their farmland would be seized
to make room for Israeli settlement expansion in that area.
For FSRN, from imemc.org, this is Saed Bannoura in Beit Sahour,
Palestine.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT APPEALS RULING
The US Department of Justice has filed an appeal in reaction
to yesterday's ruling by a district judge in Detroit that
found the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping
of telephone and internet communications to be in violation
of the first and fourth amendments of the US Constitution.
President George W. Bush condemned the ruling today, saying
(quote) "those who herald this decision simply do not
understand the nature of the world in which we live,".
Opponents say the legal way to carry out the eavesdropping
program would be to seek warrants from the court established
by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
LAMONT AND LIEBERMAN
Former Senator and vice-presidential candidate John Edwards
was in New Haven, Connecticut yesterday to campaign with Democratic
Senate candidate Ned Lamont. Lamont, running on an anti-war
platform, beat 3-term Senator Joe Lieberman in the Democratic
primary last week. But Lieberman is still very much in the
race, running as an independent. Melinda Tuhus reports from
New Haven.
A new poll out yesterday shows Lieberman beating Lamont 49
to 38 percent among all voters. Republicans overwhelmingly
support Lieberman over the endorsed Republican candidate,
making it really a two-man race just like the primary. Lamont's
numbers are up from a month ago but he has a long way to go
to win. Lamont said after the primary each candidate got a
call. (sound) "One of the first calls Joe Lieberman got
was from Karl Rove. The first call -- the FIRST call I got
was from John Edwards, and I'm so proud of that." (applause)
Edwards said that as a senator he had voted for the Iraq war,
and admitted that was a mistake. (sound) "It's obvious
to anybody that what's happening there now is not working.
We need to make it clear that we are going to leave Iraq,
and the best way to make it clear is to actually start leaving."
(applause) A young woman standing on the edge of the crowd
was not impressed. She held a sign reading, "Capitalism
is the problem; Democrats are not the answer." (sound)
"Looking to Democrats for major change is not going to
happen, and they've proven that. The majority of them support
the war." For FSRN, I'm Melinda Tuhus in New Haven.
ACTIVITIES CEASE AT LA ESCONDIDA MINE
The Anglo-Australian mining conglomerate BHP Billiton has
halted operations of its Chilean copper mine, La Escondida,
after striking miners closed all access roads to prevent the
arrival of supplies. From Santiago, FSRN's Jorge Garretón
has more.
Executives at the world's largest privately-owned copper
mine decided to stop operations late last night, after striking
workers closed all access roads to the mine. The police were
unsuccessful in clearing the roadways and mine executives
were unable to bring in a week-long shift of non unionized
workers, contract employees, and scab labor to the mine. La
Escondida officials also canceled all collective bargaining
negotiations. Union leaders fear this is a tactic to break
the miners' union, because Chile's pro business labor legislation
gives the company after 15 days of strike, the right to bargain
individually with each worker. The government has ordered
the Minister of Labor to get involved in the stalemate. Workers
are demanding a 13 percent pay increase and a one time bonus
of some 30 thousand dollars, but the company is only offering
a 3 percent pay increase and 16 thousand dollars one time
bonus. The bonus is compensation for the high price of copper.
La Escondida produces 8 percent of the world's copper and
according to industry experts La Escondida is losing 16 million
dollars a day. For FSRN, this is Jorge Garretón in
Santiago.
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Lebanese Refugees Return Home (4:54)
The five-day United Nations' brokered ceasefire in Lebanon
is holding, despite the continued occupation by Israeli troops
in parts of southern Lebanon . Diplomatic tensions are heightening
as the UN attempts a rapid deployment of some 3,500 troops
within a ten day window. Meantime, the Lebanese army continued
its historic deployment of some 3,000 Lebanese troops in the
south for the first time in nearly forty years. It is the
first wave of nearly 15,000 troops that will be stationed
in territory, which has been controlled by Hezbollah since
Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000. The Lebanese government
estimates the physical damage caused by the 4-week Israeli
bombing campaign at more than $3.5 billion. FSRN's Jackson
Allers spent this week in southern Lebanon to survey the aftermath
of the fighting – which claimed the lives of approximately
1,200 Lebanese civilians.
[top]
UN Peacekeepers Hard to Come By (4:50)
Plans to send 15,000 United Nations troops to Southern Lebanon
are hitting a snag. France – which was to command the
peacekeeping force – now says it will send only 200
soldiers to the conflict zone. ... In addition, Israel objects
to troops from some of the countries that have volunteered
to send soldiers – notably Indonesia and Malaysia –
because they do not recognize Israel 's right to exist. ...
And those aren't the only hang-ups. Ian Williams is United
Nations correspondent for the Nation Magazine and author of
the book "The UN for Beginners."
[top]
AIDS Conference Wraps Up in Toronto (3:53)
The 16th International AIDS Conference wrapped up in Toronto
today. The impact of HIV and AIDS on women was a major focus
in the media and among those who work directly with people
affected by the disease. Kristin Schwartz of CKLN was there
and filed this report.
[top]
Workers Battle Police in Oaxaca (3:03)
Thousands of unionized workers in Oaxaca - among them health
care professionals, municipal workers, state university staff
and employees of the public utility company - are staging
a 24 hour work stoppage today in support of striking public
school teachers and the effort to force the resignation OF
the state's governor. Major roads leading into the state capital
have been blockaded. Just before airtime, gunmen fired on
blockaders at the city's western exit, injuring a teacher
. Vladimir Flores reports from Oaxaca City .
[top]
FEMA Unprepared for Next Katrina (3:15)
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced this week
that they would grant Louisiana more than 34 million dollars
for crisis counseling for Hurricane Katrina victims, the second
largest crisis counseling grant ever awarded the agency. The
grant comes as critics accuse FEMA of failing to prepare for
for another Katrina like disaster. From Washington , DC ,
Selina Musuta reports.
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