August 24, 2005
Headlines (5:27)
The UK revealed the criteria that make people eligible for deportation.Helen Kelly reports from London.
The controversial La Parota Hydroelectric Dam Project was approved in San Marcos, Mexico. Outside voting headquarters, police and opponents clashed using tear gas, barricades, and stones, leaving 20 people injured. Tim Russo has more.
Israel said troops will leave Gaza with in the month, which will be the first time in nearly 40 years the Palestinians will regain sovereignty of that land. But as Manar Jibreen reports, Israel is plans to tighten security in the West Bank.
President Bush spoke in Nampa, Idaho to a cheering military crowd. He defended the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as a means to fight terrorism and spread democracy and freedom, and that those objectives are succeeding. He also reiterated that the troops in Iraq will remain until the job is done.
Audio of Bush
Meanwhile, 150 protestors rallied outside during the president’s speech.They spoke a different message. Leigh Robartes reports.
Features
Striking Oil Workers in Negotiations with Ecuadorian Government (2:40)
Thousands of people protested in Ecuador last week over the issue of oil exports, resulting in about a dozen injuries, the suspension of exports, and the declaration of a state of emergency in 2 Amazonian states. The unrest is the worst political crisis President Alfredo Palacio has faced since coming into power in April, after taking over the Lucio Gutierrez’s post, who was ousted by mass protests. Striking oil workers, who are negotiating with the government in Quito today, say they have lived long enough with a humiliating degree of poverty and misery, and are demanding a fair share of the oil companies’ riches. Ecuador has made over $60-billion from the oil industry in the past 30 years – less than1% has been used to benefit the states where most of the oil wells are located. Joining us to talk about the situation in Ecuador is political activist Toni Solo.
Commission Elects to Close and Realign Naval Bases (3:09)
The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission voted today to close several naval bases, including Fort Monroe in Virginia, and to realign some of them, such as Oceana, also in Virginia. Republican Congress member Mark Warner and Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton expressed their concern that Pentagon recommendations will hurt their states’ “emergency preparedness”. Anastasia Gnezditskaia reports from DC.
Environmentalists Denounces New Gas Consumption Measures (3:55)
Environmental and consumer watch-dog groups are denouncing new proposed regulations purported to curb gas consumption in the United States. The proposal by the Transportation Department would require an improvement in fuel economy by just over a gallon by 2011 and it would exempt some of the largest SUVs like Hummers. The proposal also would attempt to overturn state laws, like the one in California, that attempts to set their own standards. Mitch Jeserich has more from Washington.
“State of Emergency” Declared at US/Mexico Border (3:25)
Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson have both declared a state of emergency along their borders with Mexico. They claim that undocumented immigration, crime and violence have increased dramatically over recent months and that measures need to be taken to curb them. Immigrant rights groups, however, believe that the measures don’t solve any problems, and instead do more harm in an already tense situation at the border. FSRN’s Dolores M. Bernal reports from Las Cruces.
Venezuela Reacts to the Bush Administration’s Lukewarm Response to Pat Robinson’s Call for Chavez’s Assassination (3:52)
Conservative Televangelist and prominent Republican Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez on Monday. Venezuelan government officials reacted angrily, saying that the U.S. government must condemn Robertson’s call. Bush administration statements were much weaker, however, than Chavez supporters had hoped. Greg Wilpert has the story from Caracas, Venezuela.
India’s Legislation for Rural Poverty (3:32)
India’s parliament passed a bill guaranteeing 100 days of employment each year to every rural household. The bill’s success has been an ambitious project for the Congress government which came to power on the plank of tackling rural poverty. India’s Prime Minister says it’s aim is to liberate the country from poverty, hunger and unemployment. FSRN’s Binu Alex has more.
