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> Fri., Oct. 6, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
FSRN Puts Congressional Democrats on Record
Sworn Statement Indicates Beatings Are Common Practice at
Guantanamo
Military Has Tough Time Recruiting Service Members
Tensions Continues in Oaxaca as the Popular Movement Take
Another Radio Station
Attacks in Nigeria Could Threaten International Oil Supply
Counter-Demonstrators Confront Pro-dictatorship Supporters
in Buenos Aires
L.A.-based Law Firm Alleges U.S. Companies Poisoned West African
Workers
FSRN Headlines
INDUSTRIAL WASTE PLANT FIRE
Some 17,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes
after a fire and a series of explosions at an industrial waste
facility in Apex, a town near Raleigh, North Carolina. The
Environmental Quality Industrial Services plant had been fined
$32,000 earlier this year for safety violations. Fireballs
shot out of the facility overnight and and the explosions
sent a chlorine cloud into the skies over Apex. As of airtime,
the plant where the fire originated had reportedly collapsed.
CRISIS IN RUSSIA-GEORGIA RELATIONS
Five days after Georgian authorities handed over four Russian
officers accused of espionage, tensions are still on the rise
between the two neighboring countries as Moscow begins to
turn the heat up on Georgians living in Russia. Deborah Wild
reports from Tbilisi.
Moscow's police are raiding businesses owned by native Georgians.
At least two restaurants and three casinos have reportedly
been closed down for tax evasion. Russian migration authorities
have opened a special department to track down Georgians and
all employment and residency quotas for Georgians have been
canceled. About 130 of them were deported today from Russia
on a plane owned by the Russian Ministry for Special Affairs.
Reportedly, the same plane carried some 200 Russians living
in Georgia back to Moscow. A school run by the Russian military
here in Tbilisi has suspended Georgian students and teachers.
On Tuesday, the Russian Duma has declared the actions of Georgia's
leadership to be (quote) "state terrorism" and has
signaled to take harsher measures if the situation worsens.
The current crisis in Georgian-Russian relations also topped
the domestic agenda. Ahead of local elections, which took
place in Georgia on Thursday, the opposition gathered in front
of the Russian Embassy to demonstrate Georgia's unity vis-à-vis
Russia.. The United States and the Council of Europe have
expressed concern over Russia's sanctions and urged to abstain
from acts of retaliation affecting individuals. For Free Speech
Radio News, I'm Deborah Wild in Tbilisi, Georgia.
DENGUE FEVER OUTBREAK IN INDIA
Authorities in the Indian capital of New Delhi are battling
a major outbreak of dengue fever. Binu Alex has more.
Today the Delhi High Court came down heavily on the inability
of the government to prevent the spread of an outbreak of
dengue in the capital. New Delhi has reported close to forty
deaths and more than three thousand cases of Dengue in the
past month. Even the Indian Prime Minister's son-in-law and
two grandsons have fallen ill. Dengue is reportedly now spreading
to other regions in the north and the government claims it
is doing whatever it can to contain the epidemic. In the meanwhile
the southern tourist destination of Kerala is battling with
a chikungunya scare, with 70 deaths already reported and thousands
in hospitals. This has prompted the officials of the World
Health Organization to take a look at the region. The outbreak
has coincided with the start of the tourist season. Health
officials are playing down the threat, asking people not to
panic and to improve sanitation. For Free Speech Radio News,
I am Binu Alex.
SAME SEX MARRIAGE BAN UPHELD IN CALIFORNIA
A California Appeals Court has ruled to uphold a ban on same-sex
marriage. Max Pringle reports.
Thursday's decision reverses the March 2005 ruling of a San
Francisco trial judge. The First District Court of Appeals
agreed with California Attorney General Bill Lockyer who argued
that the same-sex marriage ban does not discriminate against
homosexuals because of the state's strong domestic partner
law. Gay rights advocates disagree. Molly Mckay is Media Director
of Marriage Equality USA. (sound) "That's really especially
disappointing because domestic partnership gives us only a
handful of rights compared to what you get with marriage under
federal and state law." Gay marriage advocates said they
will appeal the decision to the California Supreme Court.
For Free Speech Radio News, I'm Max Pringle in Berkeley.
NATIONWIDE PROTESTS AGAINST WAR IN IRAQ
Residents of more than 200 cities and towns across the US
yesterday protested the policies of the Bush administration
and demanded an end to the war in Iraq. Nan McCurdy reports
from Washington DC.
Students walked out of schools and thousands took off work
to participate in actions of protest and civil disobedience
in seemingly unlikely places like Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Bizbee,
Arizona, Durango, Colorado, and Norman, Oklahoma. At least
70 of the demonstrations were held in "red" cities
– those with more conservative tendencies. The World
Can't Wait organization saw a surge of support from "red"
states and $100,000 in donations, after taking out an ad last
month in USA Today. Along a three-block stretch in front of
the White House, an estimated five hundred people condemned
Bush's war in Iraq and legislation passed last week allowing
torture. In New York City, thousands of protesters stopped
traffic as they lay down in the street while others carried
signs saying "This war should be over" and "drive
out the Bush regime". In San Francisco, hundreds of people
shut down westbound Market Street in protest against the war
in Iraq.
AMISH BURY SCHOOL SHOOTING VICTIMS
The Amish community today buried the fifth fatal victim of
this week's school shooting. A heavily-armed attacker burst
into a rural school on Monday, killed 5 young girls, and injured
5 others before turning a gun on himself. One of the injured
girls will reportedly be taken off life support today. Relatives
of the shooter's wife say that the victims' families extended
invitations to the funerals and have expressed forgiveness
for the murders.
[top]
FSRN Puts Congressional Democrats on Record
(3:45)
Political pollsters are showing that Democrats have the
best chance yet to win back Congress in November. The latest
numbers show the recent Mark Foley Congressional Page scandal
has enhanced their lead. Democrats have used the opportunity
to express their conviction that Congress would be different
if they were in power. Washington Editor Leigh Ann Caldwell
puts them on the record.
[top]
Sworn Statement Indicates Beatings Are Common Practice
at Guantanamo
The Associated Press has obtained a Marine sergeant’s
sworn statement that guards at the Guantanamo Detention Center
bragged about beating prisoners and not being punished. The
declaration, which was issued to the Department of Defense
this week, describes beatings as common practice, along with
denying detainees water and withholding privileges for no
reason. The Senate recently approved legislation stripping
detainees held in U.S. custody of the right to challenge their
detention and of the 800-year-old legal precedent of habeas
corpus.
[top]
Military Has Tough Time Recruiting Service Members
(3:02)
A Congressional report reveals that the ongoing wars are
challenging the U.S. military's ability to recruit service
members. Meanwhile, Senators from both parties indicate that
Congress may consider changing course in Iraq after the November
election. Yanmei Xie reports from Capitol Hill.
[top]
Tensions Continues in Oaxaca as the Popular Movement
Take Another Radio Station (3:13)
The situation in Oaxaca remains volatile, despite assurances
from Mexico's Interior Secretary that the military will not
intervene in the conflict. This morning, occupied radio station
710 AM’s signal began to experience technical difficulties
and just before airtime – and members of the popular
assembly movement took over the facilities of 1240 AM. Tensions
are reaching a boil as the weekend approaches. FSRN’s
Vladimir Flores reports from Oaxaca.
[top]
Attacks in Nigeria Could Threaten International Oil
Supply (2:47)
Militants in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region say they
are considering reprisal attacks on oil installations after
Nigeria’s military carried out a series of attacks on
villages in the region. The military action was in response
to earlier attacks carried by the militants. Crisis in the
region has forced Nigeria, the world’s sixth largest
oil exporter, to reduce exports by a quarter. It is feared
the escalating crisis could further reduce Nigeria’s
oil exports to the international market. Sam Olukoya reports
from Lagos.
[top]
Counter-Demonstrators Confront Pro-dictatorship Supporters
in Buenos Aires (3:08)
Thousands in Argentina protested against the nation’s
human rights policies and called for amnesty for former military
officers who served under the military dictatorship. After
19 days of searching, there are still no signs of the missing
77 year-old witness whose gripping testimony of torture helped
convict a former police officer in the first junta trial since
an amnesty law was overturned. FSRN’s Marie Trigona
reports from Buenos Aires.
[top]
L.A.-based Law Firm Alleges U.S. Companies Poisoned
West African Workers (3:40)
U.S. chemical companies, along with produce giant Dole Food
Company, knowingly used a banned pesticide on West African
plantation workers, causing sterility for about half of its
employees- that’s according to a Los Angeles-based law
firm. FSRN's Leilani Albano files this report.
[top]
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