August 06, 2004
Headlines
Iraqi fighters and U.S. forces in Iraq are still locked in armed conflict as the casualty count continues to rise. Dave Enders reports from Baghdad.
Today, the Israeli military finally released their hold on the border crossing from Gaza to Egypt after 3 weeks. Laila El-Haddad reports from Gaza.
The Nigerian government is cracking down hard on what they consider to be extreme Islamic groups. Several people have been killed in Northern Nigeria following a police raid. Sam Olukoya reports from Lagos.
26-thousand U.S. retirees can claim part of 75-million dollars in pension money. Sarah Turner with the Worker’s Independent News Service explains.
Unhealthy levels of bacteria in the water closed the nation’s beaches a record number of days last year, according to a recent environmental report. Erika McDonald reports.
Features
Sudan and UN Resolution
The United Nations announced today that the Sudanese Cabinet has approved a UN-sponsored plan to begin disarming Arab militants in Western Darfur in the next 30 days. The news comes as the African Union prepares to deploy a token force to the region to protect truce observers, and amid reports that the militias are continuing to massacre Darfurian civilians. Susan Wood has more from the UN.
Unity Conference
Over 8,000 journalists of color converged in Downtown Washington, DC for the 3rd gathering of UNITY, an alliance between the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Native American Journalists Association, National Association of Black Journlists, and the Asian American Journalists Association. Selena Musuta has more.
Green Party Candiate David Cobb
Meanwhile, Green Party Presidential candidate David Cobb is now on the ballot in 29 states. The Green Party is aiming to put the Cobb/LaMarche ticket in a total of 35 states. Today, FSRN’s Mitch Jeserich spoke with David Cobb about his candidacy.
Glyphosate Spraying in Colombia
This month marks four years of Plan Colombia, the $3 billion US-sponsored anti-drug program, using the Monsanto-made herbicide called glyphosate to spray the Colombian countryside. It’s been four years in which Colombian campesinos, officials, and women’s groups have marched in mass to protest the aerial fumigations and the displacement, hunger, health ailments and lack of work they’ve caused. However, both the US and Colombian governments continue to insist that aerial fumigation, with unreleased levels of herbicide, is the only answer to the drug war. Reporting from Colombia’s Magdalena Medio and Bogotá, Nicole Karsin examines what 4 years of fumigations has meant for Colombians.
Hiroshima, Nagasaki Bombing Anniversary
That’s the voice of Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling, speaking in 1958 against the use of nuclear weapons. Fifty nine years ago today, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima killing, instantly killing more than 80,000 people. Three days later, more than 75,000 people died after the US dropped another bomb on the city of Nagasaki. While between 50 and 100,000 people gathered yesterday in Hiroshima to recognize the lives lost, Survivors of the Nagasaki blast are in Washington, DC for a series of commemoration events. Despite nonproliferation treaties, there are at least 20,000 nuclear weapons on the planet, half of which are in the US arsenal. The Bush Administration is designing a national missile defense system in Alaska, with peripheral sites in Australia and Argentina. The DC Radio Co-op brings us sound from a commemoration event at the Roosevelt Memorial last night.
