August 26, 2005
Headlines (6:08)
Seventeen people, fourteen of them children, died in a Paris fire in an apartment complex housing African immigrant families. The fire raises criticism of the lack of low-income housing in the French capital. Tony Cross reports from Paris.
A weekend of events are planned at the Crawford Texas camp site of anti-war protestors as pro-war advocates have arrived. Katie Heim has more.
The Cuban government condemned US policy as being responsible for 31 Cubans who went missing at sea last week. Joseph Mutti has more from Havana.
A deal was struck between protestors and oil companies in Ecuador. The oil companies will provide more compensation to the poor communities who live on the land in which the companies work. In exchange, the communities will stop strikes that disrupt oil production. two-thirds of the 25 percent tax the oil companies pay, will be given to the communities to use for education, health care, and infrastructure. The deal was made after days of negotiations followed a 6 day strike that stopped oil exports.
Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh will meet with Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai this weekend. This is the first formal meeting between the two countries in 29 years. Binu Alex reports
Features
Increased Violence and Deportations of Haitians in the Dominican Republic (3:10)
After three young Haitian immigrants were recently beaten and burned to death recently in the Dominican Republic, Haiti recalled it top diplomat to the country yesterday. Police in the Dominican Republic are investigating the murders of the men, who were doused with flammable liquid, set ablaze, and died days later. Dominican immigration authorities, meanwhile, have deported hundreds of Haitians in recent weeks, for unauthorized immigration. Joining us to talk about the violence towards Haitians in the Dominican Republic is Brian Concannon, the Director for the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.
The Roots of Violence in Southern Iraq (3:46)
Violence continued in southern Iraq today, indefinitely postponing meetings of the country’s national assembly. The fighting that began Wednesday between followers of cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr attacking offices belonging to the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq has been steeping since the end of a summer-long uprising against occupation troops, led by Sadr, was put down last year by the US military with the help of members of Badr Brigade, SCIRI’s Iranian-trained armed wing. David Enders explains the roots of this violence.
ACLU Documents FBI Library Monitoring (4:18)
The American Civil Liberties Union has just disclosed that they can finally document that the Federal Bureau of Investigation used the PATRIOT Act to demand library patron records and Internet transactions. This contradicts the FBI’s many claims made amidst heated Congressional debate over the PATRIOT ACT, where the FBI had declared, time and again, that it has not used the Act in requesting library records. Ryme Katkhouda of the DC Radio Coop reports.
Israel Seizes Palestinian Land (3:57)
Israel issued orders to seize Palestinian-owned land to link a main Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank to Jerusalem this week, just as it finished the evacuation of settlers from its Gaza colonies. Laila El-Haddad reports from Gaza on the implications of the land grab, and how it is tempering Palestinian enthusiasm towards disengagement.
A Look at Mercury Rules and Utility Companies (3:43)
The District of Columbia Public Service Commission filed an emergency petition Thursday, with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, to reverse the shutdown of an Alexandria, Virginia power plant owned by Mirant Corporation saying that the closure of the plant would threaten homeland security and put strain on the electrical needs of DC residents. Yet the power plant was failing to meet national air quality standards and producing dangerously high amounts of mercury and other pollutants. From DC, Selina Musuta has more on the plant’s closure.
