Headlines for Friday, September 10, 2010

Counter protests planned for Florida Koran burning
As people across the country plan to commemorate September 11th, controversy over a threatened book-burning in Florida continues to ferment. Gainesville Pastor Terry Jones has been vague as of late on whether he’ll go through with burning the Koran tomorrow. Today he claimed it hinges on whether the New York City Imam withdraws his plans to start a Muslim community center near the site of the 9/11 attacks. But as WMNF’s Kate Bradshaw reports for FSRN, uncertainty isn’t stopping Florida activists from planning counter-protests.

The St. Petersburg-based group “St. Pete for Peace” is planning on caravanning to Gainesville to counter the Dove World Outreach Center’s Koran burnings with a peace vigil. That’s a three-hour drive, but Dina Formentini, the organization’s Executive Director, said it’s better to be there if it doesn’t happen than the other way around.

“Because the plans as to whether the burning would take place were kind of wishy-washy, and they were kind of going back and forth, we decided that it would be the best use of our time to travel up to Gainesville anyway and keep all of our plans the same. If the burning does end up taking place, we will be there, and we will be ready with our signs, our banners, and our peaceful message.”

Several other groups are planning peace demonstrations as well. The City of Gainesville is also going forward with its plan to boost security throughout town. Kate Bradshaw, FSRN, Florida.

Another oil spill for Enbridge Energy
Another oil spill has been reported by Enbridge Energy – this time in Romeoville, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. The EPA says it sent response personnel to the scene Thursday afternoon. Federal officials say crude oil leaked from the pipeline into the sewers and flowed to a retention pond before being shutdown. No estimates of the amount spilled have been released. This is the second pipeline leak by Enbridge this summer, the first causing considerable damage to the Kalamazoo River in Michigan.

WA executes first inmate in nearly a decade
After a court rejected the appeals of a Washington death row inmate, the state went ahead with its first execution in nearly a decade early this morning. Inmate Cal Coburn Brown was 52 years old. He admitted to and was convicted for kidnapping, raping, torturing and murdering a Washington state woman in 1991. The Tacoma News Tribune reports that about 30 people protested the execution at the Capital Thursday afternoon. Although Oregon and Washington both have the death penalty, it is rare that either northwest state actually carries out an execution.

Chilean lawmakers join indigenous hunger strikers in protest of anti-terrorism law
32 jailed indigenous Mapuches charged under Chile's anti-terrorism law are ending their second month of a hunger strike. They’re demanding to be tried under the normal Criminal Code and not by military courts. FSRN's Jorge Garretón has more.

Day 61 of the hunger strike began as 4 members of the Chilean Congress joined the 32 Mapuches in their strike. The members of the indigenous group have been charged under Chile's broad anti-terrorism legislation for setting fire to farms, sheds and homesteads owned by white farmers. They have also been charged in military courts for violent acts against police. Mapuches say they are fighting to recover ancestral lands.

Chile's anti-terrorism legislation is currently under review, as is the military judicial system. One proposed change would ban the military from prosecuting non-military crimes. But these changes could take some time to go through.

The current right-wing Sebastián Piñera government is asking Mapuche strikers to end their action, but has done nothing to meet with them. The Catholic Bishops Conference is demanding the government act now before any of the hunger strikers die. Chile's bicentennial celebration is only a week away. Jorge Garretón FSRN Santiago.

Activists push Kremlin to hold fair hearings on proposed Khimki forest hearings
The European Green Party sent a letter to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev today, asking for a fair public process on deciding whether a controversial new road should be built through the center of a forest outside Moscow. The grassroots movement to block the road is gaining traction where others have failed. FSRN’s Jenny Johnson reports.

The fight to save the Khimki forest from the construction of a new toll road from the capital to the country's second-largest city, St. Petersburg, is generating huge public support.

A storm of criticism has followed recent hearings on the issue. Many say they are rigged to favor developers, and point to widespread corruption. The Greens' letter today is important in bringing international pressure on the process, says Alexey Kozlov, the Russian signatory. Kozlov says the movement also has a wider significance in the face of recent government crackdown on unauthorized protests.

“The thing is that the grassroots initiative like this movement for Khimki forest is very important because the political and public life in Russia is very, very centralized. This is a very good example for other people that it is possible to do -- to resist all these different violations which happen in every region.”

A recent polls shows two-thirds of Moscovites are opposed to building the toll road through the forest. Jenny Johnson, FSRN, Russia.