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> Fri., Nov. 3, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Oaxaca’s Popular Movement Retains Radio Station after
7 Hour Battle with Troops
Iraqis Consider U.S. Foreign Policy Ahead of Tuesday’s
Election
The Effects of the Felon Voting Ban
Trouble at the Polls: Electronic Voting Machines Still Facing
Problems
Beit Hanon Remains Scapegoat of Israeli Attacks
Critics Say Law Enforcement Not Properly Tackling Child Abuse
FSRN Headlines
US GOVERNMENT COLLECTS INFORMATION ON TRAVELERS
The U.S. Federal Government is expanding its program through
which it collects information on travelers to include ALL
people coming in and out of the country, and store their profiles
for up to 40 years. Yanmei Xie has more in Washington DC.
The Department of Homeland Security yesterday announced it
will collect a traveler's information and compare it with
an existing profile on this person in the government's database.
Based on the comparison, the government will assign a numeric
score to the traveler in order to determine how likely a person
is to be engaged in illegal activities. Law enforcement agencies
of all levels can access the database. The government has
been collecting information on air travelers, since shortly
after the September 11 attacks, but the expanded program will
cover everyone who travels across U.S. borders, regardless
of mode of travel. Jim Harper is Director of Information Policy
Studies at the Cato Institute. (sound) "The problem may
rise soon where you see a person is determined by the government
to be a bad person and then the government goes out to find
out what you have done wrong. You do want to cross a DHS authority
in traffic, because they may figure out who you are and find
out what you had done wrong and try to get you locked up."
The program is exempt from certain requirements of the Privacy
Act. For example, it does not allow individuals to access
their own records in order to contest the accuracy of the
content. For FSRN, Yanmei Xie, in Washington DC.
GREENHOUSE GASES REACH A RECORD HIGH
The United Nations weather agency says heat-trapping greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2005 and
are still increasing . The new report says the concentration
of carbon dioxide rose by about half a percent last year.
MILITIA IN SUDAN'S DARFUR REGION KILLING CIVILIANS
African Union investigators visiting Sudan's Western Darfur
region, say the Janjaweed militia has killed at least 63 civilians
including children in the past week. Emmanuel Okella reports
from neighboring Uganda.
The AU investigators say the incursions were conducted on
camps for displaced people in the rebel stronghold of Jebel
Moon. 27 of the victims were children. Eyewitnesses report
that the Janjaweed which many people charge with carrying
out attacks that constitute genocide on Darfur civilians are
being remobilized by the Sudanese government. The government
claims that it's disarming the militia group. African Union
troops in the area say the attackers were wearing government
uniforms when they raided several villages in Gebel Moon.
The area has been a stronghold of the National Redemption
Front (NRF), one of the rebel forces that refused to sign
a peace deal with the Sudanese government. For Free Speech
Radio News Emmanuel Okella reporting from Kampala, Uganda.
PROTESTS IN PAKISTAN
Thousands of tribesmembers in Pakistan's Bajaur region protested
today against a missile attack Monday that killed 80 people,
who protesters say were mostly young men between the ages
of 15 and 25. Similar protests were also reported in the port
city Karachi, Peshawar and capital Islamabad. Masror Hussain
reports from Islamabad.
Bajaur is a tribal region along the Pakistani border with
Afghanistan and a hotbed of armed Islamic groups. Today, an
estimated 10,000 tribemembers, most of them reportedly armed,
held a protest rally. They burned Effigies of President Bush
and Pakistani President Musharraf. Tribals and Islamists have
accused the United States in Afghanistan of launching the
airstrike. US has denied its involvement. Pakistan's military
claims it carried out the airstrike Monday after receiving
intelligence that Islamic fighters were preparing for attacks
inside Afghanistan. The United States and Pakistan are denying
charges by Islamist leaders that the U.S. carried out the
attack. One leader who made that charge said the U.S. wanted
to undermine a peace accord between armed Islamic groups and
Pakistan's army. The accord had been scheduled for signing
the morning after the attack took place. I'm Masror Hussain
in Islamabad...
ADMISSION TEST VIOLATES CALIFORNIA CIVIL RIGHTS LAW
A judge in Alameda County, California has ordered the administrator
of the medical college admissions test, the MCAT, to overhaul
its policies for accommodating people with disabilities. The
judge issued the order, after finding that the policies of
the Association of American Medical Colleges violate California
civil rights laws. Four college graduates with dyslexia and
other learning disabilities who were denied extra time to
take the test filed the initial lawsuit. The suit was later
expanded to include all test-takers with disabilities.
16TH ANNUAL IBER-AMERICAN SUMMIT IN URUGUAY
Chiefs of State from some 22 countries gathered today in Uruguay's
capital, Montevideo to launch the 16th Iber-American Summit.
Asli Pelit was at the conference, and filed this report...
The most important issue on the agenda is of immigration
and rights of the immigrants on the continent, as well as
in Europe and the United States. Representatives of the 22
countries in the Iber-American Community, are expected to
approve The Montevideo Commitment, which reaffirms their commitment
to improving the situation of immigrants everywhere. According
to a report presented yesterday by the Uruguayan Foreign Minister
Reinaldo Gargano, called "Immigration: A global Challenge,"the
number of immigrants (in the world) increased from 175 to
191 million between 2000 to 2005. UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan, The King of Spain Juan Carlos de Bourbon,Uruguayan
President Tabare Vazquez and the SEGIP Secretary General Enrique
Iglesias are among those scheduled to speak at the conference.
For Free Speech Radion News, Asli Pelit, from Montevideo,
Uruguay.
OPPONENT OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE ACCUSED OF PAYING FOR GAY SEX
A leading evangelist and outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage
has given up his post as president of the 30-million member
National Association of Evangelicals while a church panel
investigates allegations he paid a man for sex. Reverend Ted
Haggard, who is married and has five children, also gave up
leadership of his New Life Church pending investigation into
allegations he had monthly trysts with a gay prostitute over
the past three years, and snorted methamphetamines before
the encounters.
[top]
Oaxaca’s Popular Movement Retains Radio Station
after 7 Hour Battle with Troops (2:45)
After a seven hour street battle yesterday, the radio station
of Oaxaca's state university remains on the air and in the
hands of the popular movement demanding the ouster of the
governor. Shannon Young reports from Oaxaca City.
[top]
Iraqis Consider U.S. Foreign Policy Ahead of Tuesday’s
Election (2:55)
Anti-war demonstrators protested outside a GOP rally in
Springfield, Missouri, where President Bush was campaigning
for Republican Senator Jim Talent. He’s facing Democrat
Claire McCaskill, who criticized Bush’s handling of
Iraq. And while the war there remains a key issue ahead of
Tuesday’s mid-term election, Iraqis themselves can’t
help but pay attention to the internal politics of one their
country’s major players. David Enders reports with Salam
Talib.
[top]
The Effects of the Felon Voting Ban (3:05)
With the mid-term elections just 4 days away, political
leaders are campaigning non-stop. President Bush has crisscrossed
the country this week - so have First Lady Bush and Vice President
Cheney. On the Democratic side, former President Bill Clinton
is busy campaigning alongside other blue party leaders. They’re
trying to generate enthusiasm, anger, fear or whatever emotion
necessary to rally their supporters to the polls. But there’s
millions of U.S. citizens who will be blocked from voting
this Tuesday - simply because they‘ve committed a felony.
Washington Editor Leigh Ann Caldwell takes a look at the effects
the felon voting ban.
[top]
Trouble at the Polls: Electronic Voting Machines
Still Facing Problems (3:40)
In Maryland, Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich has been
encouraging voters to use absentee ballots in next week's
elections, after problems with voting machines caused chaos
during September’s state primaries. Although the Democratic
challenger in the governor's race criticized Ehrlich's stance,
people in many states are raising concerns about the performance
of electronic voting machines. In California, electronic voting
machine critics have exposed a little-known feature called
the “yellow button”. The feature allows poll workers,
or anyone else who knows about the button, to boot the machine
– potentially allowing voters to vote multiple times.
Sequoia Voting Systems, which manufactures the machines, has
been asked to address the issue. No word yet if the yellow
button feature will be removed by Tuesday’s election.
Federal legislation passed in the wake of the controversial
2000 presidential elections was meant to improve the situation,
but as Darby Hickey reports, those efforts face plenty of
problems as well. Federal legislation passed in the wake of
the controversial 2000 presidential elections was meant to
improve the situation, but as Darby Hickey reports, those
efforts face plenty of problems as well.
[top]
Beit Hanon Remains Scapegoat of Israeli Attacks
(3:35)
Israeli troops fired rounds outside the al-Naseer Mosque
in Beit Hanon Friday, killing two women who used their bodies
as human shields to protect nearly 60 Palestinian gunmen trapped
inside. The gunmen took sanctuary in the mosque after a heavy
night of fighting Thursday into Friday. After Hamas broadcast
radio messages asking women to serve as shields to protect
the men inside, as many as 1,500 women made their way to mosque.
Another 500 crowded the streets. Beit Hanon is a Palestinian
city located in the northern Gaza Strip, close to the Israeli
town of Sderot. Since the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising
in September 2000, homemade Palestinian rockets land in Sderot
from time to time exposing Beit Hanon to frequent Israeli
attacks. FSRN's Rami Almeghari has more.
[top]
Critics Say Law Enforcement Not Properly Tackling
Child Abuse (3:33)
The United Nations recently released a 4-year study estimating
that 150 million girls and 73 million boys – 21% of
the planet’s child population, are sexually abused each
year. In the United States, violence prevention experts and
child sexual abuse survivor groups are concerned that recent
efforts by politicians and law enforcement to tackle the problem
are costly and do not address the real threats. Ingrid Drake
has more from Washington, DC.
[top]
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