Headlines Package - October 14, 2008

• California Wildfires
• North Korea Lets Inspectors In
• Richard Cooey Put to Death
• Striking Teachers in Gaza May Lose Jobs
• Congolese Flee Violence
• Scholastic Education Presidential Poll – The Results Are In

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California Wildfires
Thousands of residents evacuated some 3000 homes as firefighters continue to fight wildfires in California today. Strong Santa Ana winds stoked three large wildfires this morning destroying dozens of homes and killing two people. One person was killed in a car accident when highway traffic stopped for emergency vehicles. And a homeless man living in a makeshift shelter with his dog died in the fires. The wildfires have consumed more than 20 square miles in suburban Los Angeles and northern San Diego County in the past three days. Residents of nearly 1000 homes near Camp Pendelton have been allowed to return – but another 500 homes remain under evacuation orders.

North Korea Lets Inspectors In
North Korea allowed international inspectors to return the Yongbyon reactor today and stalled denuclearization talks are expected to resume later this fall. Jason Strother is in Seoul, South Korea.

Richard Cooey Put to Death
Richard Cooey became the first person executed in Ohio since the end of an unofficial national moratorium on the death penalty that began last year -- he was put to death this morning.  Just a half an hour before he was executed, the US Supreme Court denied his final appeal and declined to consider greater constitutional claims regarding a person’s medical fitness for capital punishment.

Striking Teachers in Gaza May Lose Jobs 
School teachers continue to strike in Gaza today. But Hamas warns that they will lose their jobs unless the matter is settled within 48 hours. FSRN's Rami Almeghari has more.

Congolese Flee Violence
According to the United Nations, escalating violence today forced at least 1700 people to flee a refugee camp in Eastern Congo and a group with Doctors Without Borders is trapped in a nearby hospital today. 55 medical workers and 68 patients have taken shelter in the facility.  Heavy fighting near Tongo intensified yesterday between Congo's army and the National Congress for the Defense of the People, or CNDP -- a rebel group claiming to be protecting the area's Tutsi minority. Violence has intensified there recently – the U.N. says more than 100,000 people have been displaced since August.

Scholastic Education Presidential Poll – The Results Are In
In nearly every presidential election since 1940, US youth have correctly predicted the outcome. The Scholastic Education Poll for Kids has been spot on – save for 1948, when kids went for Thomas Dewey over Harry S. Truman, and 1960, when they picked Richard Nixon over John F. Kennedy. This year’s results are in – and 57 % say Senator Barack Obama will be the next President of the Untied States. Senator John McCain garnered 39 % percent – and 4 % were undecided.