June 10, 2003
Assassination Attempt of Hamas (4:01)
At noon in Gaza city Two Israeli Apache helicopter gun ships fired several missiles at a car transporting Dr. Abdel Aziz Rantisi one of the political leaders of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas. Rantisi gained prominence in Hamas when he became the spokesman for the 415 Islamic activists who were deported by Israel to the mountains of southern Lebanon in 1992. Although Rantisi managed to escape today’s assassination attempt, this attack will greatly undermine Prime Minister Abu Mazen’s efforts to convince Palestinian factions to stop attacking Israeli civilian and military targets, especially no that the factions have laid out three important preconditions to stop attacks inside Israel: that the Israeli army stop targeting Palestinian civilians, that Israel release Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails and that there is an immediate cessation of extra judicial assassinations of Palestinian activists and political leaders. Mohammed Ghalayni reports from Gaza City.
Northwest Salmon Recovery Plan Inadequate (4:03)
Meeting in Boise last week, the governors of the four northwest states emphasized that breaching dams in the Columbia River basin should not be an option. The possibility that four major snake river dams in Washington state might be breached resurfaced last month when a federal judge ruled the administration’s salmon recovery plan for the northwest is inadequate. Environmentalists and scientists say removing the dams, which produce five percent of the region’s hydropower, may be the only way to save dwindling Salmon runs. Leigh Robartes has more.
Lead Poisoning Risk to Children (3:56)
According to the US Center for Disease Control (CDC), lead is the foremost environmental health threat to children in the U.S. And while almost 1.1 million children in the country have enough lead in their blood to reduce attention span and damage a child’s brain and nervous system, childhood lead poisoning is completely preventable. According to a national report by New York-based Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning and Environmental Defense, children are at greatest risk in the states of New York, Illinois, Philadelphia, California, Ohio and Michigan. Ama Buadi looks at how advocacy groups in New York City are pushing to end lead poisoning in their neighborhoods.
Burmese Political Prisoners Speak (3:53)
Burma’s democracy movement leader and Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is once again being detained illegally by the ruling military generals. During her political organizational tour in Upper Burma, the agents of the Burmese regime attempted to assassinate her. The military junta has not said if she is safe or not. And the UN special envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail is nearing the end of a five day visit to Burma without being permitted to meet with the Nobel peace prize winner. Speculation is spreading among the Burmese freedom fighters living in exile in neighboring countries that this may signal the worst. From the Burmese political prisoners’ camp in New Delhi, our correspondent Vinod K. Jose files this story.
Gambians Say No to GM Food (2:53)
On the heels of Zimbabwe’s recent stands to not accept tens of thousands of tones of donated genetically modified foods from the US, the Bush Administration has recently given out food assistance worth over a million dollars to the Republic of the Gambia. The donation, however, has been greeted with mixed-reactions. Many Gambians have raised eyebrows over the gift, arguing that Genetically Modified Food stuff must not enter their country. Momodou L. Jaiteh files this story from the Gambia.
