September 23, 2004
Headlines
Philly Civil Servants Stop City Hall
Hundreds of Philadelphia civil servants overran city hall today and shut down the council meeting demanding a fair union contract. Danta Toza files this report from the Philadelphia City Hall.
More Killings in Gaza
Two Israeli soldiers and one officer have been killed and a fourth critically wounded by Palestinian resistance fighters in the occupied Gaza Strip. From Gaza, Laila el-Haddad has the story.
FL SC Knocks Down New Right of Governor
Today, the Florida state Supreme Court knocked down a law rushed through the legislature that gave the governor the right to decide whether a woman should be removed from a feedling tube. WMNF’s Mitch Perry reports from Tampa.
CA Gov Exercises Veto
California’s governor has turned down over 2-dozen offerings from the Legislature, including a measure that would have allowed undocumented immigrants to legally obtain drivers’ licenses. More from Kellia Ramares in Oakland.
MD Gov to Slash State Health Budget
In Maryland, the governor says he will cut 480-billion dollars from the system that supports the state’s poorest and neediest. Emily Freifield reports.
Features
Iraqi PM addresses Congress (4:12)
Today the brother of the British hostage, Ken Bigley, accused the U.S. of sabotaging his brother’s release after the interim Iraqi Government shied away from an earlier announcement that it would release one female Iraqi prisoner. Bigley’s brother said the decision was because of pressure from the US. And as Iraqi deaths grow exponentially, today the unelected Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi told a joint session of the US Congress that they are succeeding in Iraq. Mitch Jeserich reports from Washington D.C.
Rome Reacts to Italian Hostages’ Alleged Death (2:23)
Yesterday night an announcement appeared on a website that two Italian hostages from the humanitarian organization Bridge To Baghdad were killed in Iraq. Today another announcement signed by a group calling itself the Ansar al-Zawahiri, said a video showing the decapitation would be posted to the internet soon. The Italian government today said it could not confirm the reports. FSRN’s Manuela Aldabe reports from Rome.
Democrats Push more $ for Border Security (2:13)
Today Democratic lawmakers announced a new bill that asks Congress to spend an additional 1 billion dollars to double border patrol and border security technology primarily for the Mexico-US border. Dolores M. Bernal reports from Capitol Hill.
African Leaders Say UN Needs to be Overhauled (2:13)
Lead by African head’s of state, and echoed strongly by Germany, countries speaking at today’s session of the UN Security Council called for institutional reform of the United Nations. Leigh Ann Caldwell reports from the United Nations in Manhattan.
US Foreign Aid Criticized Abroad (3:58)
Despite the fact that the US is one of the richest nations in the world, the share of its wealth that goes as aid to foreign countries is the lowest among industrialized nations. Recently the Bush administration announced an 11 percent increase in foreign aid for the fiscal year of 2005. Despite this endeavor, US approach to foreign aid is criticized by many. Anastasia Gnezditskaia has the story.
“Musical Rooms” Put SF Tenants on the Streets (3:52)
In the Tenderloin, the marginalized homeless district near downtown San Francisco, many hotels are in the practice of continually kicking out tenants on their 28th day of residency only to let them back in for another 28-day stay. The practice is called musical rooms. KPFA’s Lindsay Benedict has the story.
