Archive - Jun 2005

Headlines (5:53)
In Gaza, Israeli police raided buildings that Israeli activists have been occupying to protest the Gaza evacuation plan.  The protestors handcuffed themselves to each other and to furniture to resist orders to leave.  The settlers' Yesha council demanded that the Israeli Defense Forces re-open the Gaza strip.  Earlier in the day, Israel declared it a closed military zone, allowing no one to enter, including Israelis who live in the area. It is reported that many of the right wing activists traveled from the
West Bank.

EMBATTLED PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO HAS LOST A KEY CABINET MINISTER AMID A POLITICAL CRISIS  TRIGGERED BY VOTE-RIGGING ALLEGATIONS AGAINST HER. GIRLIE LINAO IN MANILA REPORTS.

Headlines (5:43)
A day of protest against the Israeli withdraw of Gaza resulted in arrests and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli's. Manar Jibreen has more from Bethlehem.

An international delegation has arrived in Aceh to assess the possibility of establishing international peace monitoring. From Jakarta, Meggy Margiyono has more.

The United States military has admitted to deploying troops to the Gulf of Guinea. The region is rich with oil. Sam Olukoya reports from Lagos.

Headlines  (5:02)
The Pakistani Supreme Court will reopen the rape case of Mukhtar Mai, the woman from the southern Punjab region of Pakistan who was allegedly gang raped. The court overturned a lower court decision that acquitted five men and discarded the death sentence of a sixth. Thirteen men were also re-arrested to face trial. The ruling has received international attention because rapes and crimes against women are rarely prosecuted in Pakistan. Mai was allegedly raped under direction from a town tribunal. They sought retaliation because her brother is said to have slept with a woman in a higher class.

Headlines (4:50)
In numerous supreme court rulings today, one decision ruled that an appeals court should not have re-opened a death penalty case for a Tennessee man. The majority ruling said the appeals court infringed on the states rights to open the case which has already been heard by the appeals court and the Supreme Court. [AS] part of the dissenting argument, Justice Stephen Breyer said that the majority decision sends a message to lower courts that they are not to intervene where justice went wrong. We will have a report on additional Supreme Court rulings later in the news cast.

Jewish settlers set up a new camp to protest the evacuation of the Gaza Strip for the Palestinians. Manar Jibreen reports.

Headlines (5:53)
Voter turnout in Irans run-off election is high, but the outcome is too close to call. Saeedah Jamshidi reports from Iran.

Sri Lanka's government on Friday signed a controversial tsunami aid sharing deal with Tamil Tiger rebels despite stiff opposition from the Marxists who stalled a Parliamentary debate on the issue. Government minister Maithripala Sirisena said the deal was signed in the morning by the government's rehabilitation ministry secretary M S Jayasinghe.

A major street battle erupted yesterday on the outskirts of Mexico City at a time when municipal authorities are contemplating the implementation of a massive security operation throughout the metropolitan area. Shannon Young files this report.

Headlines (6:24)
The Supreme Court released a decision today that would allow cities to seize private property for business development.  Sue Kim reports from DC.

Edgar Ray Killan was sentenced to 60 years in prison.  The former Ku Klux Klan member was convicted Tuesday of three counts of manslaughter for killing three civil rights activists in 1964.  The 80 year old Killan received the maximum sentence, 20 years per conviction. The defense said they will appeal the decision.

An International Red Cross aid worker was shot in Aceh today, causing the group to suspend aid relief in the Tsunami devastated region. Meggy Margiyono reports from Jakarta.

Headlines (5:14)
An international conference on Iraq at the European Union's headquarters in Brussels has given its support to the current government, after calling for tighter borders to stop foreign fighters going in and for understanding on the country's debt. Tony Cross reports from Brussels

One day after the tense summit between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the cease fire stands on shaky ground. Manar Jabreen reports for the Palestinian territory.

Headlines (4:59)
A guilty verdict is issued in the trial of former Ku Klux Klan member, Edgar Ray Killan. The jury convicted Killan of manslaughter, which are lesser charges, after less than two days of deliberations for killing three civil rights activists in 1964. Today also marks the 41st anniversary of the murders. 80 year old Killan will face up to 20 years in jail. FSRN will have more on this story later in the newscast.

Former leader of the Lebanese Community Party, George Hawi was assassinated in a car bomb in the Kola district of Beirut today. The violence comes one day after the win of Hariri, of the anti-Syrian party. FSRN's Stefan Christoff reports from Beirut.