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> Wed., Nov. 8, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Rumsfeld Resigns, Bush Nominates CIA Former Director as Replacement
US Election Results Lead to Democratic House Control
Suicide Attacks Kills 42 Pakistani Troops
Future of Global Seafood Supply Threatened
Pressure Mounts on Oaxaca Governor
US Supreme Court Hears Significant Reproductive Rights Cases
Maoists Will Join Nepal's Government
FSRN Headlines
OUTCOME OF NICARAGUAN ELECTION
Leftist leader, Daniel Ortega, claimed victory last night
in Nicaragua's presidential elections. Ortega says his government
will fight poverty and strive towards reconciliation of the
country's divided society. Jill Replogle reports from Managua.
With 92 percent of votes counted last night, Ortega held
a nine-point lead over his nearest opponent, right wing banker
Eduardo Montealegre. That's enough to win him the presidency.
After the results were announced Montealegre showed up at
the headquarters of Ortega's Sandinista National Liberation
Front, or FSLN, party to congratulate the new president. Ortega
first came to power in 1979, at the head of the Sandinista
revolutionaries who overthrew dictator Anastasio Somoza. He
then served as elected president from 1985-1990 when he was
defeated by anti-Sandinista candidate, Violeta Chamorro. Ortega
was also defeated in the last two presidential elections,
in 1996 and 2001. This year's election became a battleground
between Washington conservatives who see Ortega as a danger
to democracy and free trade, and Hugo Chavez, who openly backed
Ortega's campaign. But the former Marxist revolutionary says
he's become more moderate. In a speech last night, Ortega
said he would keep the country open to investment and work
with his opponents. He said fighting poverty, faced by the
majority of Nicaraguans, would be his main objective. Jill
Replogle, FSRN, Managua.
LEGAL SITUATION OF FUJIMORI IN CHILE
A Chilean Supreme Court Justice has concluded hearings in
the extradition case against Peru's former President Alberto
Fujimori. From Santiago, FSRN's Jorge Garretón reports.
Fujimori who ruled Peru from 1990 to 2000 is wanted on 12
charges that include human rights violations and corruption.
Among the human rights charges Fujimori faces is the notorious
1991 massacre in the Lima neighborhood of Barrios altos where
15 people were killed and the 1992 murder of 9 students and
a professor at the University of La Cantuta. Also included
in the 12 charges is the embezzlement of some 15 million dollars
from the public coffers. As Fujimori marked one year in Chile
yesterday, the local chapter of Amnesty International reminded
Chilean authorities of their obligation according to international
law to extradite Fujimori to Peru, so that he can be tried
there. Court officials say the ruling is expected by the end
of December. For FSRN this is Jorge Garretón in Santiago.
US PREPARES FOR NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR TALKS
Officials from Washington DC are in East Asia this week to
discuss strategies with allies prior to nuclear negotiations
with North Korea. Jason Strother has the latest from Seoul.
The US and South Korea will not recognize North Korea as
a nuclear power. The announcement was made following a meeting
between top American envoys and the South Korean foreign ministry.
US Undersecretaries of State Nicholas Burns and Robert Joseph
arrived on the peninsula after talks with officials in Japan.
Tokyo has also indicated that it will not grant the reclusive
state nuclear status. Pyongyang's detonation of an atomic
device on October 9th may have been an attempt to raise its
bargaining leverage once the six-country negotiations resume
after a year- long deadlock. Chinese state media reported
that President Hu Jintao will meet with President Bush and
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the
upcoming APEC summit in Vietnam. How to persuade Kim Jong
il to give up his nukes is expected to be on their agenda.
There is still no set date for the resumption of multilateral
talks that include the US, both Koreas, China, Japan and Russia.
Officials are hopeful the new round will begin before the
end of the year. Reporting for Free Speech Radio news from
Seoul, I'm Jason Strother.
PROBLEMS AT THE POLLS
Voters in several states reported a number of problems during
yesterday's elections. New electronic voting machines caused
delays or confusion amongst poll workers and voters in Ohio,
Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Illinois.
Long lines at the polls also prompted judges in Colorado,
Ohio, and Indiana to extend hours at the voting booths. Changes
in rules regarding the identification necessary to cast a
ballot also caused widespread problems in multiple states.
[top]
Rumsfeld Resigns, Bush Nominates CIA Former Director
as Replacement (2:09)
After the largest Armed services newspaper chain recently
published an editorial calling for Rumsfeld’s resignation,
combined with years of activist organizing and pressure from
Democratic Representative Nancy Pelosi the next House Majority
Leader, President Bush announced Rumsfeld’s resignation
as Defense Secretary.
To replace Rumsfeld, Bush named Robert Gates, who served
as CIA director under Bush senior. The nomination of Gates,
who was cleared of criminal charges in the Iran contra affair,
must be confirmed by the Senate, which may challenge if the
intelligence insider, who critics say did not predict the
fall of the Soviet Union, is qualified to lead the biggest
federal agency.
Stacey Hafley is the head of Military Families Speak-out
Midwest. She is traveling to the Pentagon tomorrow to deliver
Rumsfeld a petition calling for an end to the back door draft
and to bring the troops home now. And they want to make sure
that the incoming secretary of defense gets the same message.
[top]
US Election Results Lead to Democratic House Control
(3:32)
During yesterday’s elections in the US, ballot initiatives
increasing the minimum wage passed in all 6 states. A ban
on affirmative action that would make it more difficult for
the government to recruit women and people of color for contracting,
education and employment passed in Michigan, likely leading
to court challenges.
Arizonans rejected a ban on same sex marriage, while the
ban passed in Colorado, South Dakota, Virginia and Wisconsin
with no more than 60% of the vote, and with wide margins in
Idaho, Tennessee and South Carolina.
With Democrats winning control of the House of Representatives,
and awaiting the outcome of the last unknown Senate seat in
Virginia to determine if they will also control the Senate,
Democrats on Capital Hill are urging co-operation with the
President on the Iraq war. FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell
reports.
[top]
Suicide Attacks Kills 42 Pakistani Troops
(2:14)
As many as 42 Pakistani troops died in a suicide attack
in the tribal region of Malakand, in the Northwest province.
this comes on the heels of an aerial attack last week on an
Islamic Madrassah considered to be frequented by Afghan Taliban
in which some 83 innocent students died. the Islamist opposition
in Pakistan says it believes that last week's attack was carried
out by u.s. airforce across the border in afghanistan. Masror
Hussein reports from Islamabad.
[top]
Future of Global Seafood Supply Threatened
(4:02)
A new study by a team of marine scientists outlined in the
latest edition of Science Magazine asserts a decline in marine
biodiversity in the Earth's oceans. Overfishing, pollution,
and other environmental factors will wipe out the global seafood
supply by 2048, if steep declines in marine diversity continue
at current rates. But as FSRN's Vinny Lombardo reports, it’s
not too late to change the outcome and protect ocean wildlife.
[top]
Pressure Mounts on Oaxaca Governor (3:53)
Amidst the continuing political crisis in Oaxaca, Mexico's
Interior Secretary has announced that Governor Ulises Ruiz
has two options for his political future: to prove he can
governor or to take a leave of absence. Anti-government demonstrations
have become a daily occurrence in Oaxaca's capital. Yesterday,
thousands of women dressed in black hit the streets to protest
the dozens of illegal detentions that have occured in the
past ten days. Meanwhile, Mexico's Senate has received a new
legal petition calling for the dissolution of the government
in Oaxaca. Vladimir Flores has the latest.
[top]
US Supreme Court Hears Significant Reproductive Rights
Cases (2:51)
Today the US Supreme Court heard two challenges, Gonzalez
v. Carhart and Gonzalez v Planned Parenthood, to the Federal
Abortion Ban also known as the Partial Birth Abortion Ban
Act of 2003. These historic decisions could strike down the
Congressional ban as unconstitutional or criminalize what
many experts say is the best and safest procedure for abortion
care as early as twelve weeks of pregnancy. Nan McCurdy has
more from the Supreme Court.
[top]
Maoists Will Join Nepal's Government (1:27)
Nepal took a major step towards peace today, when representatives
of the government and Maoist rebels signed a deal that will,
among other things, allow the Maoists to join the government
in the near future. Nonetheless, Kathmandu also saw widespread
protests throughout the day, with citizens accusing the Maoists
of continuing strong-arm tactics. From Kathmandu, Carey Biron
has more.
[top]
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