Headlines Package - September 17, 2008

• Tainted Milk Linked to Illnesses in 6200 Chinese Babies
• Attack on US Embassy in Yemen
• MEND Claims Attack on Major Nigerian Pipeline
• Nigerian Authorities Shut Down Television Station
• West Virgina Coal Field Residents Rally Against Mountain Top Removal
• Downward Trend in Human Rights Votes at the UN
• LAPD Releases May Day Melee Findings

Tainted Milk Linked to Illnesses in 6200 Chinese Babies
The Chinese government says it will begin testing dairy products after formula tainted with the chemical melamine killed 3 babies and caused illnesses in another 6200. Preliminary testing shows that the contamination is widespread; with melamine appearing in samples from more than 20 companies. Melamine is used to make plastics and fertilizers and has been linked to kidney failure.

Attack on US Embassy in Yemen
An attack on the US Embassy in Yemen killed 16 people today. A group known as Islamic Jihad in Yemen claimed responsibility for the double car bombing and subsequent rocket fire. It was the 2nd attack on the US embassy this year. Islamic Jihad in Yemen has also threatened to bomb the embassies of Britain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

MEND Claims Attack on Major Nigerian Pipeline
Militants in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta have claimed responsibility for blowing up part of a major pipeline used by Royal Dutch Shell. The pipeline attack come one day after the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta - or MEND - destroyed a Shell-run flow station with the help of another local armed group. MEND declared an "oil war" on Sunday and advised foreign oil workers to leave the region.

Nigerian Authorities Shut Down Television Station
In other news from Nigeria, authorities have shut down one of the country's main television stations after it reported that the president would soon step down due to ill health. Sam Olukoya reports from Lagos.

Top managers of the highly respected Channels Television and the deputy editor-in-chief of the state owned News Agency of Nigeria have been arrested in connection with the broadcast. The news item, which was also carried by some international wire services, appeared to have come from the state-owned news agency, but the News Agency of Nigeria says the report was a hoax sent from a false email address. The government says the story was intended to embarrass President Umaru Yar Adua. Persistent rumors indicate that the president's health is failing, but concrete details about his condition are kept secret. The Nigerian Guild of Editors has criticized the government for closing down the television station instead of giving it a chance to retract the report. The group says the proper way to handle the dispute is to investigate the source of the hoax and bring the matter before a court. Nigerian authorities have a history of arresting journalists and closing down media houses for stories considered offensive. For Free Speech Radio News, this is Sam Olukoya in Lagos.

West Virgina Coal Field Residents Rally Against Mountain Top Removal
Renewable energy advocates in West Virginia rallied in Charleston on Tuesday to urge their state government to support a proposal to build a wind farm on top of a mountain threatened by surface mining for coal. Evan Davis files this report from Charleston.

West Virginia coal field residents have long complained of environmental and property destruction associated with mountain top removal mining. The method involves explosions which create coal dust clouds and produce large amounts of rubble that are dumped into mountain streams. An organization called Coal River Mountain Watch has a different idea for supplying energy to the area; a massive wind farm on top of Coal River Mountain. Coal field resident Nicholas Regolatto: "We found a way to save our mountains and have jobs. We found a way to work toward energy independence without destroying our mountain heritage. This wind farm will be one of the largest renewable energy projects in this country.That means it will be abig step - not only in this state, but in the nations and the world's efforts to secure energy resources that are clean and sustainable and renewable." The plan calls for the construction of a 400 Megawatt wind power generation facility on Coal River Mountain but 3 pending surface mining permits could affect more than 5,000 acres of mountain top and significantly lower the mountain's elevation, thereby compromising its wind farm viability. Coal River Mountain watch is working to convince West Virginia's governor to provide economic incentives for renewable energy development. For FSRN, this is Evan Davis in Charleston, West Virginia.
     
Downward Trend in Human Rights Votes at the UN
A study released today by the European Council on Foreign Relations indicates a downward voting trend in support for human rights measures at the United Nations. Naomi Fowler reports from London.

This study compares voting patterns at the UN ten years ago with last year. Back in the 1990s, EU positions on human rights issues gained over 70 percent support in the UN General Assembly, but last year support fell to between 48 to 55 percent. The EU was recently defeated on votes concerning Iran, Burma, and Belarus, where only 80 out of a potential 165 UN member countries joined the EU position. The European Council on Foreign Relations says just as Islamic, African and Latin American states have become increasingly alienated from Europe, Russia and China are playing a more assertive role. The study says controversial EU foreign and immigration policies may have pushed former allies away. And "If Europe can no longer win support at the UN for international action on human rights and justice" it says, "it will have been defeated over one of its deepest convictions about international politics as a whole." This is Naomi Fowler in London for Free Speech Radio News.

LAPD Releases May Day Melee Findings
The Los Angeles Police Department has concluded its internal investigation into the use of police violence against an immigration rights rally on May 1st of 2007. Police used batons and rubber bullets against demonstrators, food vendors, and journalists covering the rally. Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton has recommended the firing of 4 officers and disciplinary action against 11 others. The decision to terminate the 4 officers in question will be decided by a disciplinary panel. The city continues to face more than 300 separate lawsuits stemming from the so-called May Day Melee.