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> Mon., Nov. 20, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
India-US Ink Nuke Pact
No Charges One Year After Haditha
Iraq Deputy Health Minister Kidnapped from his Home
US-Russia Ink Trade Pact
UN Report Finds Neighors Arming Somalia
Palestinian Human Shields Stop Air Strikes
Solidarity Actions for Oaxaca Worldwide
FSRN Headlines
AMLO INAUGURATION
Former presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
will declare himself to be the "legitimate" president
of Mexico during a symbolic ceremony held in Mexico City today.
Lopez Obrador refused to concede after Mexico's Federal Electoral
Tribunal decided to not order a full vote-by-vote recount
of the highly contested election. Election officials named
conservative Felipe Calderon of the ruling PAN party as the
president elect. Calderon will take power on December 1st.
RANGEL TO RE-INTRODUCE THE DRAFT
In the US, A powerful New York Democrat plans to introduce
a bill to reinstate the military draft when Democrats take
Control of Congress in January. Mitch Jeserich reports.
Democratic Representative Charles Rangel of New York said
Sunday he will introduce legislation to reinstate the military
draft. (sound) Rangel has been unsuccessful in previous years
under a GOP controlled House to move his bill. Last year he
offered a similar measure to reinstate the draft for men and
women between the ages of 18 and 42. Rangel will be the chair
of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. Mitch Jeserich,
FSRN.
APEC ROUND UP
North Korea ended up at the top of the agenda of the APEC
summit that wrapped up this weekend in Vietnam. FSRN's Jason
Strother has more from Seoul, South Korea.
North Korea's nuclear program dominated much of the APEC
summit. As the conference in Hanoi came to an end, a joint
statement expressing "strong concern" over Pyongyang's
atomic test was read behind closed doors. Over the weekend,
President Bush met with heads of state from nations involved
in multilateral talks with the reclusive regime, which may
get back underway in December. While solidifying cooperation
with Japan, the President was unable to persuade South Korea
to participate in cargo inspections of suspect North Korean
vessels. And both Russia and China urged patience and voiced
concern about pushing Kim Jong il too far into a corner. Meanwhile,
the North's official media denounced Seoul's decision to support
a United Nation's resolution condemning the its human rights
record and called recent American military exercises in the
region a precursor to an invasion. Reporting for Free Speech
Radio News, I'm Jason Strother in Seoul, South Korea.
PROBE FINDS KING GUILTY
In Nepal, a commission probing abuses committed during anti-monarchy
demonstrations has found the king and 200 other officials
responsible for crimes committed against pro-democracy activists.
PC Dubey reports.
The commission has held King Gyanedra responsible for the
April atrocities along with 201 other persons comprising his
entire royal council of ministers and high-level members of
the security forces, recommending their prosecution and punishment
for the same. The Nepalese Prime Minister has stated that
the guilty persons, irrespective of their status, would face
penalties. However, Justice Krishna Jung Raimanjhi, a retired
Supreme Court justice heading the commission, concedes that
currently no laws exist in the country to punish the King.
This is despite the May 18 parliamentary proclamation stripping
him of immunity from prosecution. Therefore, the government
would have to enact legislation to prosecute and punish King
Gyanendra. Nevertheless, political observers are skeptical
that the incumbent Nepalese government has the guts to take
any punitive measures against the King and say the talks of
punishing him are sheer rhetoric. From Kathmandu, I am PC
Dubey for Free Speech Radio News."
SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka's President today ordered authorities to reopen
a crucial highway to allow the flow of essential supplies
to half a million civilians trapped in the battered Jaffna
peninsula. Ponniah Manikavasagam reports from Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan government said it will temporarily reopen
the key A-9 highway to the country's north for transportation
of essential commodities as a one time measure. The strategic
highway has been closed since August 11 after major clashes
between the government forces and the Tamil Tiger rebels in
the north. Since then the government has been forced to send
food supplies by sea, but stocks have been insufficient. The
announcement comes ahead of Monday's meeting in Washington
of the donor country grouping comprising the US, Japan, Norway
and the EU to discuss the current situation. The Geneva peace
talks between the government and the rebels in October failed
as the government refused demands of the Tamil Tigers to reopen
the road. Meanwhile at least 35 people including 5 students
of an Agriculture school and combatants have been killed in
week-end, sea and land clashes between the Tamil Tiger rebels
and the government forces. For Free Speech Radio News, I am
Ponniah Manikavasagam, from Vavuniya, Sri Lanka.
HOUSTON SENTENCE
In Texas, a white supremacist who brutally attacked a Latino
teenager has been sentenced to life in prison. Renee Feltz
reports from Houston:
Jurors convicted 18-year old David Henry Tuck for beating
a Latino high school student during a party in Houston suburbs.
During the attack witnesses say he yelled "white power"
and racial slurs while he sodomized the victim with a plastic
patio umbrella pole, cut, burned, and poured bleach on his
face and body. On Friday, jurors heard more about Tuck's violent
history against minorities. After deliberating for less than
an hour, they sentenced him to the maximum punishment allowed
by law - life in prison and a $10,000 fine. Tuck's mother
tearfully embraced the victim's mother after the trial and
said she was sorry. In Houston, I'm Renee Feltz for FSRN.
[top]
India-US Ink Nuke Pact (3:45)
India successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable Sunday missile
with a range of up to 180 miles. The Prithvi missile was fired
into the Bay of Bengal from a test range in the eastern state
of Orissa. India's Prithvi test comes three days after rival
Pakistan carried out a similar test of its nuclear-capable
Ghauri missile, also known as the Hatf 5.
India's test-launch came two days days after the US Senate
overwhelmingly voted to endorse a nuclear accord with India.
.The accord reverses decades of non-proliferation policy and
allows the US to ship civilian nuclear fuel and technology
to India , a country that has not signed nuclear non-proliferation
treaty. … The Indo-US nuclear agreement has already
fuelled an arms race in South Asia. Hours after the Indo-US
deal received green signal in the senate, China offered Pakistan
six nuclear reactors. Vinod K Jose reports from New Delhi.
[top]
No Charges One Year After Haditha (1:37)
It's been a year since US soldiers engaged in what's become
known as the massacre at Haditha -- A year ago Sunday, US
Marines killed 24 civilians – including a 66-year-old
woman and a 4-year-old boy – during a raid on a home
in the western Iraqi town. In June, the Pentagon admitted
the killings occurred and Lt. General William Caldwell vowed
swift action.
[top]
Iraq Deputy Health Minister Kidnapped from his Home
(3:10)
Meantime, the Associated Press reports today at least 700
Iraqis have died in violence over the last seven days. In
Baghdad, a deputy health minister was kidnapped from his home
by unknown gunmen. Salam Talib and David Enders report.
[top]
US-Russia Ink Trade Pact (3:10)
President Bush signed a trade agreement with Russian President
Vladimire Putin today, moving Moscow closer to membe0rship
at the World Trade Organization. The agreement came as the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam drew to
a close. Throughout his tour in Asia in the past few days,
Bush has sought to promote free trade at every stop. But in
Washington, Yanmei Xie report, labor unions are greeting the
President's zest with caution.
[top]
UN Report Finds Neighors Arming Somalia
(3:53)
Uganda has angrily reacted to a United Nations report, released
last week, accusing it and nine other neighboring countries
of arming rival factions in Somalia's civil war. The detailed
80-page report by UN security experts accuses ten countries
of supporting either the interim government or the radical
Islamic militia, which now controls the capital Mogadishu
and much of southern Somalia. Emmanuel Okella has the story.
[top]
Palestinian Human Shields Stop Air Strikes
(2:30)
Hundreds of Palestinians serving as human shields guarded
the homes of two suspected resistance leaders today …
The new tactic farced Israel to call of missile strikes on
the buildings. … In recent months, the Israeli air force
has repeatedly struck the homes of Palestinians suspected
of leading the armed resistance after warning residents to
clear out. Israeli security officials said they did not know
how to respond to the human shields tactic. ... Saed Bannoura
reports from the West Bank.
[top]
Solidarity Actions for Oaxaca Worldwide
(1:40)
Today is also the 96th anniversary of the start of the Mexican
Revolution. The holiday has taken on a deeper meaning this
year with political discontent running high. This is particularly
the case in the Southern State of Oaxaca - where participants
of the 6 month old popular uprising against the state governor
are now also demanding the removal of a militarized federal
police force from Oaxaca City. Today, mobilizations in solidarity
with the popular movement in Oaxaca have been organized elsewhere
in Mexico, the United States, Spain, France, and Argentina.
Vladamir Florez reports from Oaxaca City.
[top]
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