Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Headlines(5:53)

CHINESE RUN ETHIOPIAN OILFIELD ATTACKED

The government of Ethiopia has blamed rebels backed by rival neighbor
Eritrea for a raid on an oilfield today which claimed the lives of 74
workers. China's state-run energy company manages the oil field and 9
Chinese nationals were killed along with 65 Ethiopian staffers.
Ethiopia's military is reportedly in pursuit of gunmen who kidnapped
survivors of the massacre. Eritrea has denied involvement in the
attack. The incident comes amidst ongoing fears that Ethiopian
involvement in the conflict in Somalia could escalate into a regional
war in the Horn of Africa.

TAMIL TIGERS LAUNCH ANOTHER AIR RAID

Tamil Tiger rebels flying light aircraft bombed a key air base in
northern Sri Lanka early this morning. FSRN's Ponniah Manikavasagam
reports.

Military officials said soldiers reacted quickly and forced one of the
rebel air planes to change course. Today's rebel air raid killed six
soldiers and wounded another 13. This is the second air attack on
government troops in a month and came amidst rumors that the
government was preparing a major assault on rebels in the north. A
rebel leader said today that the two aircraft involved in the raid
returned safely after causing heavy damage to the main Palali air
base. A few hours before the pre dawn rebel air raid, four people were
killed and another 33 were wounded in a roadside bus bomb blast near
the northern town of Vavuniya. More than 4000 civilians has been
killed in violence which escalated 18 months ago after the new
government took power. A 2002 truce signed between the former
government and the rebels now exists only on paper. For Free Speech
Radio News, I am Ponniah Manikavasagam from Vavuniya, Sri Lanka.

HAMAS DECLARES TRUCE WITH ISRAEL IS OVER

The armed wing of Hamas is declaring an end to its 5-month old truce
with Israel. The announcement comes after a weekend of deadly Israeli
attacks in the Palestinian territories. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert will reportedly meet with his security team tomorrow to discuss
a response.

BORDER PATROL AGENT CHARGED WITH MURDER

A U.S. Border Patrol agent in Arizona has been charged with
first-degree murder for the shooting death of a Mexican migrant.
Leslie Clark reports.

Twenty two year old Francisco Dominguez Rivera of Puebla, Mexico was
shot last January soon after he crossed the border from Mexico. The
Border Patrol said earlier that agent Nicolas Corbett fired in
self-defense after Dominguez Rivera threatened him with a rock. But,
Cochise County, Arizona officials say physical and other evidence
corroborates eyewitness testimony that Corbett was not in immediate
danger when he fired the fatal shot. Mexican President Felipe Calderon
and the victim's family sharply criticized the incident. In addition
to 1st degree murder, Agent Corbett has also been charged with lesser
crimes including second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent
homicide. A judge will determine later the severity of the crime and
how to charge the agent. For FSRN, I'm Leslie Clark.

MEXICO CITY LEGISLATURE VOTES TO LEGALIZE ABORTION

In Mexico City, the local legislature's vote to legalize first
trimester abortions has generated political tension throughout the
country. Vladimir Flores has more.

The Legislative Assembly of Mexico City is set to pass reforms to the
local penal code that will, in effect, decriminalize abortions
performed in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Groups for and against
the measure have demonstrated outside of the local legislature's
building for days in the lead-up to the vote. Pope Benedict the 16th
has called on the Catholic Church in Mexico to rally against the bill.
Legislators from Mexico City's ruling PRD party, which has pushed for
the legalization of first trimester abortion, say the pope's public
comments could act as a justification for the death threats that some
of the bill's supporters have received in recent days. The protests on
either side of the issue are expected to last into the afternoon in
downtown Mexico City where hundreds of police have been deployed. In
Mexico, Vladimir Flores, FSRN.

MUMIA ABU JAMAL'S BIRTHDAY

Today is the 53rd birthday of Death Row prisoner and FSRN commentator
Mumia Abu-Jamal. Friends and supporters will hold a birthday
celebration despite discouragement from Philadelphia's Fraternal Order
of Police. Dante Toza reports.

The Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police has announced that 400
Philadelphia armed, plainclothes officers will protest outside of
Mumia Abu Jamal's birthday celebration. Organizers say the event had
to be relocated from the Clef Club in North Philadelphia to the
American Friends Service Committee Center on short notice due to weeks
of open threats and harassment by Fraternal Order of Police. Actor
Danny Glover and poet Sonia Sanchez will speak at tonight's event.
Other supporters of the event include Black Cops Against Police
Brutality and the National Association Of Black Police. The African
American journalist has been on death row for the past 25 years for
the murder of a white police officer. Supporters say Abu Jamal never
received a fair trial. Orie Lumabia of the International Concerned
Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal: (audio) "This is a matter of
being right, despite overwhelming evidence that this man is innocent
they still want to kill him." The case is on its last legal appeal and
the oral argument is set for May 17th. For Free Speech Radio News,
this is Dante Toza.

Features
House Panel investigates Pentagon Cover-Ups

A house panel is investigating a military practice of falsifying
service member deaths. The committee looked into two cases, one being
the capture and release of Army Private Jessica Lynch. The other is of
the death of Army Ranger Specialist Patrick Tillman in Afghanistan. In
Tillman’s case, the Army said he died protecting his fellow soldiers
from attack, although that wasn’t the case. Representative Bruce
Braley, Democrat from Iowa, questioned Army Specialist Bryan O’Neal who
was with Tillman when he was killed.

Bush Presses Congress to Re-Authorize No Child Left Behind(3:25)

President Bush urged Congress to quickly re-authorize No Child Left
Behind. Congress intends to do so, but the Act might look different
than it does now. FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.

Newmont Mining Escapes Sanction in Indonesia(4:26)

An Indonesian court has cleared a US mining executive and his company
of polluting a bay in Sulawesi. Richard Ness, head of Newmont Mining's
Indonesian subsidiary, faced a maximum 10-year sentence if found
guilty. The 20 month trial began after local villagers said they had
suffered tumors and skin diseases from toxic chemicals dumped into the
water from the mine that was active from 1996 to 2006. But the judge
decided that the waste from the now-defunct mine did not breach
government safety standards. Rebecca Henschke reports from Indonesia,
where the judgment was handed down.

Electronic Waste Recycling in Federal Prisons(4:01)

Labor and Prisoner rights groups want a Senate Committee to question
the head of the Department of Justice about prison labor practices
under the department’s Electronic Waste Recycling program in US Prisons
or UNICOR. Prison guards and inmates say they have been exposed to
cancer-causing chemicals, and the Attorney General Alberto Gonzales'
department has ignored complaints and done nothing about it. FSRN'S
Christina Aanestad has more.

Los Angeles Plans Strategy to Deport “Gang Members”(4:28)

Los Angeles officials have introduced a program to make it easier to
deport gang members who don’t have immigration documents. They say the
program is intended to curb gang crime, but activists are calling the
measure repressive. FSRN's Leilani Albano reports.

Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day(2:01)

Today is Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day and activities are taking
place all over the world to remember the massacre of Armenians that
took place in Turkey in 1915. Here in Los Angeles, the Armenian
community held a march in Hollywood's “Little Armenia" to commemorate
the event. FSRN's Thandisizwe Chimurenga was there.