September 27, 2005
Headlines (5:07)
Sudanese miliatias have crossed into the border with Chad and killed at least 36 villagers and stolen livestock. The incident comes as peace talks resume in Nigeria to end the Sudanese crisis. Sam Olukoya reports:
Retaliatory attacks and arrests continued in the West Bank ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Meanwhile Sharon’s opponents vow to continue their campaign to unseat him. Manar Jibreen reports:
The state officials in Australia cleared the way for controversial new anti-terrorism laws to be passed through federal parliament. Erica Vowles reports from Sydney:
U.S. Soldier Lyndie England was found guilty for 6 of 7 counts of detainee abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Her sentence is expected to be handed down as early as today, where she can receive a maximum of 10 years. She is the last of several plea bargains or trials of low level soldiers accused of abusing detainees. No ranking officers have been handed criminal charges.
Tony Blair and his Defense Secretary John Reid have been lobbying Saudi Arabia on behalf of Britain’s biggest arms manufacturer BAE Systems in order to secure a $70 billion arms deal. Naomi Fowler reports from London:
CUT FOR TIME: A group of 229 Vietnamese refugees left the Philippines for the United States. They are the first group of 1600 Vietnamese boat people who will be resettled in the U.S. in the next 6 months. Girlie Linao in Manila reports:
CUT FOR TIME: Protestant leader Ian Paisley is skeptical of the Irish Republican Army’s move to give up their arms. Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, said he has seen no detailed records or pictures of the decommissioning which leads him to believe that they are hiding their weapons with connected organizations. The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning said yesterday the IRA did dispose of their weapons. The Unionists position complicates the negotiation process with the IRA and its ally Sein Finn.
Features
Michael Brown Questioned on Capitol Hill (4:00)
The House Bipartisan Select Committee to investigate the preparation for and response to Hurricane Katrina met for the second time on Capitol Hill today. The 11 member committee heard testimony from former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Michael Brown. The committee has been largely boycotted by democrats, who say that they want an independent commission to investigate Hurricane Katrina response. Washington Correspondent Selina Musuta was at the hearing, where Brown spent hours answering questions on what he thinks went wrong.
Puerto Ricans Prepare to Bury Filiberto Ojeda Rios (3:50)
As we reported yesterday in the headlines, Puerto Rican nationalist Filiberto Ojeda Rios was killed on Friday by the FBI at his home in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico. Ojeda was born in 1933. By 1967, he founded the Armed Revolutionary Independence Movement, which was disbanded by police. They re-grouped and eventually became the Ejército Popular Boricua-Los Macheteros, whose members believed the only way Puerto Rico would be free from the US rule it has endured since 1898 was through fighting. By 1981, Los Macheteros attacked a US National Guard base on their land, killed 2 marines and destroyed 9 combat aircraft. Ojeda was wanted by the FBI for a 1983 armored truck robbery in Connecticut, and for skipping bond in 1990. An autopsy now reveals that Ojeda did not die immediately, as the FBI waited nearly 24 hours to enter the house where he lay wounded. Puerto Rican nationalists are calling his death a targeted assassination. We’re joined on the line by Zulma Oiveras from the Committee to Free Political Prisoners. She’s in Puerto Rico
Condaleeza Rice Visists Haiti (1:45)
US Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice visited Haiti today in a show of support for the interim government with less than two months before presidential elections. Rice’s visit was the first by a US secretary of state since Colin Powell made a similar one-day trip in December of last year. While Powell was at the palace, gunfire erupted outside and a police crackdown at the nearby penitentiary left at least 10 prisoners dead and dozens wounded. As FSRN’s Reed Lindsay reports, today, downtown Port-au-Prince was quiet.
The Philippines Creates First Wind Power Farm in Southeast Asia (4:05)
The global increase in oil prices has led to soaring electricity bills for consumers in many countries. Asia is particularly hard hit by this dependency on fossil fuel, with rising pollution levels as well as widespread hardship on account of surging electricity costs. Yet, in the Philippines, an alternative renewable energy source could be offering a solution. Rupert Cook reports on the first commercial wind-farm in South East Asia.
A Look at Child Violence in Kashmir (3:40)
An Amnesty International report says that children in Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir are at risk of having their human rights violated from both state agents and through abuses from armed groups. Amnesty International urged both the state government and armed groups to respect the rights of children. As Shahnawaz Khan reports from Srinagar, the 16 year old armed conflict in the region has taken its toll on children in various forms.
“Navy Town” Calls for an End to the War in Iraq (2:29)
People rallied across the nation on Saturday in their communities to call for an end to the war in Iraq. In San Diego about 2,000 people came together and called for US Troops to be brought home now. San Diego is a “Navy Town”, with about a fifth of the entire US Navy and Marine Corps stationed there. Miles Ashdown reports.
