Friday, March 30, 2007

Headlines(5:32)

CONVICTION IN GUANTANAMO MILITARY TRIBUNAL

The military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay today officially convicted
Australian detainee David Hicks for providing material support for
terrorism. Hicks accepted a plea deal in exchange for a maximum
sentence of 7 years in an Australian prison. Hicks said in his plea
agreement that he was never subjected to illegal treatment while in US
custody - although he had complained of abuse prior to the plea
bargain. The deal prevents Hicks from talking about his case for the
next 12 months and prohibits him from ever profiting from his story.
The military tribunal will announce his sentence over the weekend.
Hicks can expect to be back in Australia within 2 months.

MOGADISHU CRACKDOWN CONTINUES

An Ethiopian attack helicopter was shot down over the Somali capital
today as it bombarded targets in Mogadishu. Indiscriminate shelling by
Ethiopian troops on civilian homes has led to the worst violence in
Mogadishu in more than a decade. Abdurrahman Warsameh has the story.

Hospital sources say eight civilians were killed and 24 others were
wounded Friday during heavy shelling in the Somali capital. Fierce
fighting on Thursday between local Hawiye clan insurgents and Somali
government forces backed by Ethiopian soldiers claimed the lives of
nearly 30 people, including five Ethiopians, and wounded more than 100
people - most of them civilians. Thousands of civilians have fled the
capital as a result of the renewed fighting that has been raging in
the capital for the past three days. The Ethiopian-backed government,
which routed Islamists in December of last year, has blamed remnants
of the defeated Islamist movement for almost daily attacks. But
leaders of Hawiye clan say they are behind the recent spate of
attacks. They accuse President Abdullahi Yusuf of unfairly targeting
their clan for disarmament while other groups maintain their weapons.
For FSRN, I am Abdurrahman Warsameh in Mogadishu.

SADC MEETS ON ZIMBABWE CRISIS

The government of Zimbabwe has escaped criticism by leaders at a
special summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) –
convened to discuss the crises in Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic
of Congo. FSRN's Terna Gyuse reports.

Zimbabwe's economy appears near collapse. Inflation is over 1,700
percent. Basic items like food, cooking oil and transport are beyond
most people's means...and the government is short of foreign currency
to pay for imports of electricity and fuel. Since a ban on political
gatherings in the capital Harare took effect six weeks ago, police
have brutally attacked several opposition gatherings. Opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested again this week and allegedly
tortured in custody. President Robert Mugabe told supporters on his
return from the SADC summit that Tsvangirai deserved the beating, and
that he had not heard a single word of criticism from regional
leaders. Zambian president Levy Mwanawasa earlier said that "quiet
diplomacy" with Zimbabwe had failed. But SADC has named South African
president Thabo Mbeki – who has refused any criticism of Mugabe - to
mediate between government and opposition. Professor Brian
Raftopoulos, a political analyst based in South Africa, said regional
leaders had chosen "solidarity at any cost... with negative
consquences for democracy in the region." Reporting for FSRN from Cape
Town, this is Terna Gyuse.

MORE THAN 800 ARRESTED IN CHILEAN UNREST

Chilean police arrested hundreds of young protesters yesterday during
an annual demonstration to commemorate the murder of 2 young men
during the Pinochet dictatorship. This year's protest came on a tide
of student frustration over the slow pace of promised reforms to the
country's public education system. Santiago has also witnessed intense
protests recently over the implementation of a new public
transportation system in the capital. The number of those arrested
varies widely according to the source, but Chile's sub secretary of
the Interior puts the figure at 819. The government estimates that
around 60% of those arrested yesterday are under 18 years of age.

IMMIGRATION ARRESTS IN BALTIMORE

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents yesterday raided the
offices of a temporary employment agency in Baltimore and other places
were the agency had contracted out workers. Agents arrested sixty-nine
employees who could not prove they had papers or legal permission to
work in the US. None of the employment agency's management was taken
into custody.

PLANS FOR "SWEAT-FREE" CONSORTIUM

Delegates of concerned state and local governments met in Harrisburg,
PA to discuss the use of tactics to prevent public tax dollars from
supporting sweat shop labor in the garment industry. Meredith
DeFranceso reports.

170 school district, counties, and cities have policies in place to
require businesses that seek government clothing and apparel contracts
to verify that their supplier factories are meeting international
labor standards. In a meeting hosted by the Pennsylvania state
government yesterday, officials from Maine, New Jersey, San Francisco,
Los Angeles and Pittsburgh met with representatives of monitoring
organizations, unions and sweat-free organizations for form what could
be a watershed consolidation of public purchasing power. This purpose
of the meeting was to work on the structure and goals for a State and
Local Government Sweat-free Consortium. The consortium would combine
the political and financial power of the participants to jointly
employ independent monitoring and to strengthen the market incentive
for vendors and factories to produce under fair labor conditions.
Participants hope the consortium will encourage other governments to
take similar actions by providing the tools and infrastructure needed
to implement fair labor standards among their contractors. For Free
Speech Radio News, this is Meredith DeFrancesco in Harrisburg, PA.

Features
US Attorneys Firings Scandal Continues(3:04)

The controversy surrounding the firing of several US prosecutors
continues to unravel. Former Justice Department officials say the Bush
administration dismissed the attorneys in order to advance partisan
agenda. Yanmei Xie has the story in Washington DC.

Weekly Political Round-Up(2:25)

In this week’s political news round-up, Ingrid Drake reports from
Washington, DC on whether big health care promises will keep you
healthy, if another Bush will make it in the White House, or if McCain
is convincing voters that he knows what’s happening in Iraq.

Elementary Teachers Protest Recent Immigration Raids at Local Schools(3:49)

Elementary school teachers in Paris are on strike today after recent
anti-immigrant operations by police at schools in the French capital.
Education unions called the stoppage over the arrest of a nursery
school head teacher who tried to prevent the police from detaining a
Chinese man without residency papers. French voters are busy deciding
who they’ll vote for in the upcoming presidential elections, and the
main right-wing candidate in that race has prominently featured
immigration and security in his campaign. Parents who run a
solidarity-network claim that the hunt for undocumented immigrants has
been stepped up in pace with the nationalist rhetoric. Tony Cross spoke
to some of them.

Texas Juvenile Detention Centers Concerns Addressed(4:13)

Officials in charge of thousands of young prisoners inside Texas
Juvenile Detention Centers were fired after an abuse scandal this
month. Parents of incarcerated youth have long complained of an unfair
grievance process to identify abuse. In Houston, FSRN correspondent
Renee Feltz has more on how their concerns are now being addressed.

Workers in Greece Still Demanding Improved Working Conditions(2:26)

In news from Greece, an ad hoc group of unions calling themselves the
“United Workers Front” say their satisfied after staging a two say
strike that froze the country. But as Aris Oikonomou reports from
Thessaloniki, they are still demanding free and public education, and
improved wages and working conditions.

New US Ambassador to Iraq Sworn In(3:26)

Shiite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has condemned the US occupation of Iraq,
after a spate of violence left more than 300 Iraqis killed in the past
two days alone. Sadr is urging Iraqis to hold mass demonstrations in
the holy city of Najaf on April 9 – which marks the fourth anniversary
of US troops rolling into central Baghdad. The US ambassador to Iraq,
Zalmay Khalilzad stepped down over the weekend, and five suicide
bombers attacked Shiite markets in Baghdad today, when the new US
ambassador was sworn in. As with many other issues, Iraqi politicians
view former ambassador Khalilzad’s tenure through a sectarian lens.
David Enders and Hiba Dawood reports.