November 09, 2004
Headlines
The Palestinian Foreign Minister said Yasser Arafat was in critical condition but his brain, heart and lungs are still functioning, dispelling some reports that Arafat has died. Nabil Shaath went to the Paris hospital with other members of the Palestinian leadership to get first hand information about Arafat’s health.
Colombia’s right leaning President Uribe wants to change the national constitution so he can run for office again while making a pipeline deal with Venezuela’s leftist president. Nicole Karsin reports from Bogotá.
Nicaragua’s Sandanistas won numerous local elections this week. Nan McCurdy has more from Managua.
Pentagon officials have approved a massive new contract for military contractor Lockheed Martin to build fighter jets designed to take on Soviet era planes. Mat Matthew Swope reports from D.C.
A lawyer accused by the federal government of aiding terrorism by helping her client was questioned about statements she made about violence in 1995. Rebecca Myles reports from WBAI in New York.
Halliburton disclosed in financial filings that they might have indeed bribed Nigerian officials. Erika McDonald reports from KPFT in Houston.
Features
Latest from Fallujah
Today US troops shot and bombed their way into the center of Fallujah, going door to door as frightened residents took shelter where they could. 16 Americans have been killed in the last two days of the US attack on Fallujah, with no count on the number of Iraqis dead. Meanwhile U.S. forces have cut off electricity to Fallujah and residents say they are without running water and worried about food shortages because most shops in the city have been closed for the past two days. The Iraqi resistance has been carrying out retaliatory attacks across Iraq. Meanwhile in Baghdad, the city is feeling the effects of Sunday’s implementation of a state of emergency which gives the US-backed government extraordinary security powers. Deepa Fernandes speaks with independent journalist Dahr Jamail in Baghdad.
Bush’s Environmental Record Under Fire
The Arctic Council and the International Arctic Science Committee released a four year assessment that shows about 8% of arctic sea ice has melted away in the last 30 year: roughly the size of Texas and Arizona combined. In the last 50 years the average temperature in Alaska and Siberia rose 5% and winters in Canada and Alaska are about 5 to 7 percent warmer. Scientists warn the continual warming of the arctic endangers the existence of polar bears and seals, and threatens the way of life for millions of indigenous inhabitants. Last year the Bush administration and the GOP Congressional leadership rejected a bi-partisan measure to curb the emissions of green house gasses that contribute to global warming. DC Correspondent Mitch Jeserich looks at the Bush administration’s environmental plan and how environmentalists plan to counter act it.
Five Brits still in Guantanamo
The Bush administration has announced it will seek a stay on a decision by a federal judge yesterday that President Bush had both overstepped his constitutional bounds and improperly brushed aside the Geneva Conventions in establishing military commissions to try detainees at the United States naval base here as war criminals. The ruling by Judge James Robertson of United States District Court in Washington threw into doubt the future of the first set of United States military trials currently underway. This comes as the controversy grows in Britain about the five British residents still detained in Guantanamo. As Naomi Fowler reports from London, there’s been relative silence from both the British media and political establishment about the detainees until a special meeting in Parliament was called to mark two years of captivity for two of those men.
Update on DC Stadium
From Arlington, Texas to Memphis, Tennessee, every year Major League sports seems to wrangle more cities to bear the brunt of financing the building of new stadiums. Washington, DC is no exception. In the last two months, DC residents have been fighting to stop the Mayor’s negotiated deal with Major League Baseball to publicly finance a new baseball stadium along the Anacostia River. From DC, Selina Musuta tells you why.
Mumia Commentary: Is Fascism Possible Here?
