April 23, 2004
Headlines
NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, has confirmed that it practiced hijack scenarios in the two years before the September 11th attacks. More from Kellia Ramares.
The United Nations has sent a fact finding mission to Sudan to investigate what many describe as ethnic cleansing of black Sudanese by Arab Sudanese militias. Haider Rizvi reports from the U.N.
All the local newspapers in Beijing read the same thing: SARS is back. From Beijijng, Severine Bardon reports.
Doctors Without Borders are being denied access by the Italian government to people who attempted to immigrate to Europe, now being held on a small island in the Mediterranean. Diletta Varlese in Brescia.
Features
Where is all the Iraq Money Going?
As funds run low for the U.S. military in Iraq, the U.S. Congress has reportedly begun working on a plan to send billions more dollars to the region. Estimates of a new appropriation varies, from a low of 4 billion to a high of 75 billion dollars. Our Capitol Hill reporter Mitch Jeserich looks at what happened to the 87 billion Iraqi package passed just 6 months ago that the White House said would last into 2005.
Divisions between Iraqi Kurds and Arabs
The Pentagon is angry that photos of the coffins of dead US service men and women have been published, breaking a Pentagon policy prohibiting media coverage of human remains. The photos were released last week under a freedom of information request. Activists argue that if the American public could see the body-bags and the numbers of dead American’s, that support for the occupation would drop dramatically. On the ground in Iraq, today Shiite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr condemned the Basra suicide bombings but promised that if American troops attempt to attack the holy city of Najaf, he would not be able to control the anger of the people who may commit other such attacks. And while the US Army continues to lock-down Fallujah, there remains deep divisions between Iraqi Kurds and Arabs in the way they view the occupation. While most Arabs have come to despise their American overlords, Kurds continue to support the US military. From Northern Iraq, FSRN’s Aaron Glantz helps explain why.
Preparing for the European Social Forum
A preparatory assembly for the third European social forum was held in Istanbul to discuss agenda items for the upcoming October European Social Forum. Ezgi Saritas reports.
Mumia Abu Jamal commentary: Afghan History
Tomorrow is the 50th birthday of Mumia Abu Jamal, and anti-death penalty activists, human rights groups and civil rights activists from around the world will gather in Philadelphia to celebrate the strength of the death row journalist and commentator and call for his freedom. Assata Shakur calls Mumia the Malcom X of our day, and we here at FSRN want to thank Mumia and the Prison Radio Project for his regular contributions to our newscast. With another commentary from his death row cell, this is Mumia Abu Jamal.
Women of Color behind Sunday’s March for Women’s Lives
For the first time in history, women of color have been included in the organizing of the march for reproductive justice, in Washington DC, but not without a struggle. When women from around the country rally in DC on Sunday, they will be demonstrating for access to health and child care, job security for pregnant women, and the right to choose to have a child. These developments are thanks to a strong influence from organizations serving women of color around the country. Shanina Shumate from the Welfare Radio Collaborative at the National Radio Project in Oakland, California has more
New Mexico’s Homeless Women Speak Out
And we close our newscast today, we bring you voices of women who are homeless in Albuquerque, produced by Rogi Riverstone from KUNM.
