October 10th Headlines

NATO Convoy Torched in Pakistan as US Apologizes for Fatal Attack
Pakistani militants continue to strike convoys carrying fuel for NATO troops in Afghanistan. On Wednesday, at least fifty-five trucks were set ablaze in northwest Pakistan, hours after an earlier attack that destroyed eight tankers near the southwest city of Quetta. Attacks on the tankers have soared since the Pakistani government blocked a NATO supply route after three of its troops were killed in a cross-border US attack last week. The US has formally apologized, saying the soldiers were mistaken for Taliban fighters. NATO spokesperson Joseph Blotz meanwhile said the convoy attacks won’t impact the Afghan war effort.

Joseph Blotz: "We do have plenty of supplies and stocks within Afghanistan. We do have access to transports and logistics through other border crossing points to Pakistan, but also to neighboring countries in the north. So there is no danger for the ongoing future ISAF operations."

Panel: Admin Censored Disclosure of Spill Size
A federal panel has revealed the Obama administration deliberately prevented government scientists from disclosing the full extent of the BP oil spill. On Wednesday, the national oil spill commission released documents showing the White House budget office denied a request to make public the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s worst-case estimate for the spill size. Despite receiving internal warnings the well was spewing between 2.7 million to 6.8 million gallons of oil a day, government officials repeatedly publicized a figure of 210,000 gallons a day.

Citing Coerced Testimony, Judge Bars Witness at Gitmo Trial
The first civilian trial of a former Guantánamo Bay prisoner has been delayed after a federal judge ruled prosecutors can’t call a key witness to the stand. The prisoner, Ahmed Ghailani, has pleaded not guilty on charges surrounding the 1998 embassy bombings in East Africa that killed 224 people. On Wednesday, District Judge Lewis Kaplan barred a Tanzanian man who says he sold weapons to Ghailani on the grounds he was tracked down as a result of Ghailani’s coerced statements under CIA interrogation. Defense attorney Peter Quijano praised the decision.

Peter Quijano: "Judge Kaplan ruled today that the Constitution is the rock upon which our nation rests. We could not agree more with the court. This case will be tried upon lawful evidence, not torture, not coercion. It is the Constitution that won a great victory today. We applaud the court for its courage and support for the law."

Ohio AG Sues Ally Financial for Foreclosure Fraud
Ohio has filed suit accusing the lender Ally Financial and its GMAC Mortgage division of fraud in approving scores of foreclosures. It’s the first suit of its kind in the widening scandal over the improper approval of thousands of foreclosures by some of the States’ largest banks. Ally as well as Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase have suspended foreclosures in twenty-three states after admitting to authorizing foreclosure affidavits and other documents without proper vetting. Speaking to Bloomberg News, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray said Ally’s alleged fraud was widespread.

Richard Cordray: "Everything that we have seen indicates that there may have been thousands of cases where they systematically defrauded the court by filing affidavits under oath that claimed personal knowledge where the signer did not have that knowledge. In an individual case, if an attorney filed a false affidavit, that would be—result in swift and severe sanctions, disciplinary misconduct and so forth. The fact that this may have done on a mass scale is pretty breathtaking to us."

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper also announced Wednesday he’s begun investigating fifteen lenders, including Ally, and has asked them all to freeze foreclosures during the probe. Attorney General Eric Holder meanwhile said the Justice Department is looking into the improper foreclosures.

Wells Fargo Reaches $770M Settlement for Deceptive Loans
The banking giant Wells Fargo has agreed to modify over 8,700 mortgages to settle claims it deceptively pushed crippling loans on borrowers in eight states. Under the deal, Wells Fargo will spend over $770 million to restructure the loans over a three-year period. Despite admitting to misleading customers, Wells Fargo also announced it won’t stop foreclosures and will proceed with evictions.

JPMorgan Chase Agent Breaks into Home of Borrower
A Florida woman has revealed an agent hired by her bank broke into her home after she fell behind on her mortgage payments. Nancy Jacobini of Orange County was inside her home when she heard the intruder. Thinking she was being burglarized, Jacobini called 911.

Dispatcher: "Do you hear somebody trying to open the front door?"

Nancy Jacobini: "Yes, yes."

Dispatcher: "Ma’am?"

Nancy Jacobini: "My alarm is going off."

Dispatcher: "OK."

Nancy Jacobini: "He’s in. He’s in the house."

Dispatcher: "He’s in the house?"

Nancy Jacobini: "Yes."

The intruder turned out to be an employee hired by Jacobini’s bank, JPMorgan Chase, to change her locks. But Jacobini was only three months behind on her payments and wasn’t in foreclosure. Chase has apologized for the incident. Jacobini has hired an attorney to pursue legal action against the bank.

US Deportations Hit Record 392,000
New figures show the US deported a record 392,000 undocumented immigrants last year. Just under half were people convicted of criminal activity.

FBI Arrests 133 in Puerto Rico Corruption Probe
The FBI has arrested 133 people, including over ninety law enforcement officers, in a sweeping anti-corruption operation in Puerto Rico. The US Attorney for Puerto Rico, Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez, helped unveil the charges in Washington.

Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez: "Because we are faced with the disconcerting reality that drug trafficking has invaded the sanctity of our state and municipal police departments. Badges were sold and honor was compromised for drug money many times during this investigation."

It’s said to be the largest police corruption probe in the FBI’s history.

Clinton Vows Delivery of Stalled US Aid to Haiti
Former President Bill Clinton is vowing that hundreds of millions of dollars in delayed US aid is finally on the way to Haiti. Speaking after a tour of camps housing thousands of refugees, Clinton said he expects the US to release most of the $1.15 billion it’s yet to deliver in the next week. The Associated Press revealed last week that Republican Senator Tom Coburn has held up over $900 million in congressionally approved aid over objections to a $5 million provision to create the office of a US coordinator for Haiti policy. Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive also said Haiti’s reconstruction commission had approved over $700 million in new projects.

Bill Clinton: "We are going to now move to be much more strategic and emphasize the areas of greatest need: the housing, the rubble removal, the jobs. We still have many schools to build, many teachers to train, many learning materials to get, and a plan that will have universal enrollment. That’s the most important thing, but we need a lot of money for it."

Cuba Commemorates 1976 Airliner Bombing
Cuba marked the thirty-fourth anniversary of the bombing of Cubana Flight 455 on Wednesday with a call for the US to extradite the key suspect. Seventy-three people were killed in the October 6, 1976 attack, which was the first and only mid-air bombing of a civilian airliner in the Western Hemisphere. Speaking before relatives of the victims, Cuban President Raúl Castro called on the Obama administration to extradite the anti-Castro Cuban exile and CIA operative Luis Posada Carriles.

Cuban President Raúl Castro: "The government of Cuba asks President Obama or whoever is in charge of the fight against terrorism to act firmly and without double meanings against those who from the United States have and continue to perpetrate terrorist acts against Cuba."

Castro also called for the release of the Cuban Five, who are serving lengthy sentences in the US for trying to monitor violent right-wing Cuban exile groups responsible for attacks inside Cuba.

Nobel in Chemistry Awarded to US, Japanese Scientists
A US and two Japanese scientists have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for developing a chemical research tool known as "palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling." Richard Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki invented the tool to allow scientists to build chemicals that can aid in the production of pharmaceuticals and electronics. Nobel committee member Astrid Gräslund compared it to a Lego toy.

Astrid Gräslund: "It is about joining carbon atoms together in a way that you want to do. So if you want to say it in very simple words, you could say it’s like building a Lego toy, and you want to join two pieces together and you want to decide how and what to do with them, so this is what this reaction does. You decide, and it simply performs for your chemical reaction."

Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Anti-Gay Funeral Protests
The Supreme Court has heard arguments in the case of a Pennsylvania man challenging a homophobic church that held a protest at his son’s military funeral. The father, Albert Snyder, initially won a $5 million judgment against the Westboro Baptist Church, which demonstrates outside military funerals to publicize its anti-gay views. Church members believe that military deaths are God’s punishment for homosexuality in the United States. A federal appeals court overturned the $5 million penalty last year after ruling the church’s First Amendment rights were violated. Earlier this year, the court ordered Snyder to pay Westboro over $16,000 to cover the costs of its successful appeal. On Wednesday, Snyder said the church’s actions shouldn’t be considered an issue of free speech.

Albert Snyder: "In my opinion, speaking as a father, the Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church conduct was so extreme, it went beyond all possible bounds of basic human decency, that it can be regarded as utterly intolerable in a civilized nation. All we wanted to do was bury Matt with dignity and respect."

Poll: Two-Thirds Back Minimum Wage Hike
A new poll shows two-thirds of Americans support raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10 an hour. According to the Public Religion Research Institute, the number includes 51 percent of Republicans.

Students to Hold National Day of Action to Defend Public Education
And students across the United States walked out of classes on Thursday as part of the National Day of Action to Defend Public Education. The call for nationwide protests originated in California following last November’s student strikes and building takeovers. Tens of thousands of people took part in the first national day of action in March.

Peruvian Novelist Llosa Wins Nobel Prize in Literature
Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa has won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature. Llosa is one of Latin America’s leading novelists and essayists. He rose to prominence in the 1960s. Some of his best-known novels include The Green House and The War of the End of the World.
Report: Afghanistan and Taliban Enter Peace Talks
The Afghan government and the Taliban have reportedly begun secret, high-level talks over ending the Afghan war. According to the Washington Post, Taliban representatives have recently met with officials from the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. At least one session was reportedly held in Dubai. There are differing accounts of the scope of the talks, but sources say the Taliban negotiators are for the first time speaking on behalf of the Pakistan-based Taliban group Quetta Shura and its leader Mohammad Omar. Another Pakistani-based faction, the Haqqani group, is said to be excluded from the talks.

Afghanistan Begins Disbanding Private Military Firms
The Karzai government, meanwhile, says it’s begun closing down the operations of private military firms in Afghanistan. Karzai has ordered the companies to disband by the end of the year. On Tuesday, an Interior Ministry official said the Afghan government is now enforcing the decree.

Sayed Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada: "Based on the President’s decree concerning the closing of private security companies, all measures were taken by the Interior Ministry and other respected security organizations. And now we’ve physically started the disarmament of private security companies all over the country."

The Afghan government says it’s taken action against eight companies, including Blackwater.
Shahzad Sentenced to Life in Prison for Failed Times Square Bombing
The man convicted for trying to set off a car bomb in Times Square has been sentenced to life in prison. Faisal Shahzad was sentenced in a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday after pleading guilty in June. Shahzad is a Pakistani-born US citizen and former financial analyst who lived with his wife and two young children in Connecticut. He has said he received explosives training from the Pakistani Taliban.
Fundraising Falls Short on UN Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
The United Nations says millions of people will be denied life-saving treatment after donors failed to meet the minimal fundraising level sought by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the fund has raised over $11.5 billion, short of its austerity level fundraising target of $13 billion.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: "Today we raised more than $11.5 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. This is more than we did the last time at the last replenishment conference, and it is enough to give millions of people living in fear a new lease on life."

The fund needed $13 billion to keep up with its current treatment of three million people with AIDS. It had sought $20 billion to increase that to five million. The Obama administration pledged $4 billion to the fund, $2 billion short of the amount sought by AIDS activists and some members of Congress. In a statement, the group Health GAP said it was profoundly disappointed in the US pledge, adding, "President Obama has found billions to bail out Wall Street and to continue wars. We urge him to find a way to do the same to save lives around the world."

Toxic Sludge Floods Hungarian Towns
Hungary has declared a state of emergency in three counties after toxic sludge from an alumina plant flooded several towns. Over 35 million cubic feet of sludge leaked from the plant’s reservoir, engulfing homes and roads. At least four people have been killed, and 120 have been wounded. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said he’s ordered a probe into the disaster.

Viktor Orbán: "We do not know of any sign which indicates that this disaster would have natural causes. And if a disaster has no natural causes, then it can be considered a disaster caused by people. Everyone in this country wants to know who is accountable for this tragedy and the property damage."

Congo Rebel Leader Arrested for Mass Rapes
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN peacekeeping force says it’s arrested a rebel leader on suspicion of leading the raids that led to mass rapes in eastern Congo earlier this year. Over 500 women, girls and babies were raped when Rwandan and Congolese rebels stormed villages in July and August. It took three weeks for the UN to respond, even though the villages were just miles from a UN base. The suspect has been identified as Lieutenant Colonel Mayele of the Mai-Mai militia.

Antiwar Activists to Defy Grand Jury Subpoenas
Antiwar activists targeted in last month’s FBI raids in Minneapolis and Chicago have announced they won’t testify before a grand jury. On Tuesday, demonstrators gathered outside a federal building in Chicago where the grand jury is convening. Stephanie Weiner, whose home was targeted in the raid, said the activists would defy their subpoenas to appear.

Stephanie Weiner: "We believe we have been targeted because of what we believe, what we say, who we know. The grand jury process is an intent to violate the inalienable rights under the Constitution and international law to freedom of political speech, association and the right to advocate for change. Those with grand jury dates for October 5th and those whose subpoenas are pending have declared that we intend to exercise our right not to participate in this fishing expedition."
. DeMint: Bar Single Women, Gays and Lesbians from Teaching
And Republican Senator Jim DeMint is under criticism for defending his 2004 comments that sexually active single women and gays and lesbians should be barred from teaching. Speaking at a church rally last week, DeMint said, "When I said those things] no one came to my defense. But everyone would come to me and whisper that I shouldn’t back down. They don’t want government purging their rights and their freedom to religion."

US Drone Kills 8 German Citizens in Pakistan
A US drone strike in Pakistan has killed at least eight German citizens suspected of being linked to Pakistani militants. The identities of the German men have not been released. The attack came one day after the US issued a travel alert about potential terrorist attacks in Europe. The CIA has sharply increased its use of drones to carry out strikes inside Pakistan in recent weeks. Monday’s attack was the twenty-sixth drone strike in the past thirty-seven days.

Aid Workers Warn of Malaria Outbreak in Pakistan
In other news from Pakistan, aid workers are predicting as many two million Pakistanis will be infected with malaria in coming months due to the devastating floods. The World Health Organization estimates 250,000 Pakistanis are believed to have already been infected.

Supreme Court Opens New Term; Refuses to Hear NSA Suit
The Supreme Court started its new term on Monday, and for the first time the Court has three female justices with Elena Kagan joining Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the bench. Kagan has recused herself from nearly half of the Court’s fifty-one scheduled cases because she played a role in the litigation while serving as US solicitor general. In one of its first decisions, the Court refused Monday to hear a lawsuit filed by a group attorneys seeking to learn whether the National Security Agency had tapped their phones because they represent prisoners at Guantánamo.

Ex-Justice Stevens Regrets Ruling Upholding Death Penalty
Monday’s session of the Supreme Court also marked the first time in almost thirty-five years that the Court was without Justice John Paul Stevens, who retired earlier this year. On Monday, NPR News aired an interview with the ninety-year-old Stevens, who said he regrets only one vote he made on the Supreme Court: his decision in 1976 to uphold the death penalty. He now describes the decision as "incorrect."

John Paul Stevens: "I voted to uphold the death penalty. And I thought, at the time, that if the universe of defendants eligible for the death penalty is sufficiently narrow, so that you can be confident that the defendant really merits that severe punishment, that the death penalty was appropriate. But what happened over the years is the court constantly expanded the cases eligible for the death penalty, so that the underlying premise for my vote in those cases has disappeared, in a sense."

Special Interest Group Campaign Spending Soars
The Washington Post reports special interest groups have spent $80 million on the November congressional elections, more than five times as much as they did during the 2006 midterm. The increased spending is due in part because the Supreme Court cleared the way for unlimited spending by corporations, unions and other interest groups on election ads earlier this year in its decision in the Citizens United case. The bulk of the money is being spent by conservatives, who have swamped their Democratic-aligned competition by a seven-to-one margin in recent weeks. One of the biggest spenders nationwide is a little-known Iowa group called the American Future Fund, which has spent $7 million on behalf of Republicans in more than two dozen House and Senate races.
Tenn. Fire Department Allows Home to Burn Down over Unpaid $75 Fee
In Tennessee, a local fire department refused to put out a house fire last week because the homeowner had forgotten to pay $75 for fire protection from a nearby town. The firefighters showed up to the scene of the fire and then watched as the home of Gene Cranick burned to the ground. Cranick’s neighbors had paid the $75 fee, so when the fire spread across the property line firefighters took action, but only to save the neighbor’s property. The local mayor defended the actions of the firefighters. South Fulton Mayor David Crocker said, "Anybody that’s not in the city of South Fulton, it’s a service we offer. Either they accept it or they don’t." On Monday, Gene Cranick appeared on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Gene Cranick: "Everything that we possessed was lost in the fire. Even three dogs and a cat that belonged to my grandchildren was lost in it. And they could have been saved if they had been—they had put water on it. But they didn’t do it, so that’s just a loss."

Keith Olbermann: "When you all called 911, as I understand it, you told the operator you’d pay whatever was necessary to have the firefighters come put out and prevent the fire from spreading to your house. What was their response?"

Cranick: "That we wasn’t on their list."

Report: Debtor Prisons on the Rise
New reports by the ACLU and the Brennan Center for Justice have found a sharp rise in debtor prisons across the country. Poor defendants are being jailed for failing to pay legal debts. In Ohio, a man named Howard Webb, who earns $7 an hour as a dishwasher, has served two stints in jail totaling over 300 days for being unable to pay nearly $3,000 in fines and costs from various criminal and traffic cases. In Michigan, a twenty-five-year-old single mother named Kawana Young has been jailed five times for being unable to afford to pay a few minor traffic tickets. Eric Balaban of the ACLU said, "Incarcerating people simply because they cannot afford to pay their legal debts is not only unconstitutional but also has a devastating impact upon men and women, whose only crime is that they are poor."

Video: Israeli Soldier Belly Dancing Beside Bound Palestinian Woman
The Israeli military has ordered an investigation into a video uploaded to YouTube that apparently shows an Israeli soldier belly dancing beside a bound and handcuffed Palestinian woman. On the video, you can hear the soldier dancing to music and occasional cheers from his fellow soldiers who were documenting the dance. It is not known yet when or where the video was shot. It was uploaded on YouTube over the weekend and aired on Israeli TV last night.

Israel Deports Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire
The Israeli government has deported Irish Nobel Peace laureate and activist Mairead Maguire a week after she was denied entrance at Ben Gurion Airport. For the past week Maguire was held in an Israeli jail as she challenged Israel’s decision to ban her from entering the country for ten years. Israel placed the ban on her after she rode on a humanitarian aid boat that attempted to reach Gaza earlier this year. Maguire spoke to reporters on Monday before her deportation.

Mairead Maguire: "I hope the court will allow me to stay in Israel with my Israeli and Palestinian friends."

Reporter: "Why do you want to come here?"

Maguire: "Because I love this country and I’m very sad there’s so much suffering. I come to support all those who are working for peace and reconciliation. There will be peace in this country, I believe it, but only when Israel ends apartheid and the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people."

Fellow Nobel Prize laureate Jody Williams defended Mairead Maguire’s attempt to stay in Israel.

Jody Williams: "Mairead believes that she had the right to challenge the state of Israel for trying to keep her out. She does not believe she has done anything wrong when she was on the Rachel Corrie, with the flotilla. It was attacked in international waters. It was dragged—she was dragged to Israel, and then they say she can’t come back to Israel. It was not her intention to end up there in the first place."

Oxfam: Int’l Community Is Undercutting Haitian Agriculture
In news from Haiti, the aid agency Oxfam says a massive influx of free foreign food after January’s earthquake helped feed many displaced people but undercut Haitian agriculture and hurt farmers’ incomes. Oxfam says the international community needs to help develop Haiti’s agriculture-based economy. The problem dates back over a decade. Earlier this year former President Clinton publicly apologized for forcing Haiti to drop tariffs on imported subsidized US rice during his time in office. The policy wiped out Haitian rice farming and seriously damaged Haiti’s ability to be self-sufficient.

Developer of In Vitro Fertilization Wins Nobel
British physiologist Robert Edwards has been awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his role in developing in vitro fertilization. The Nobel medicine prize committee said Edwards’s work had brought "joy to infertile people all over the world."

Klas Kärre, Nobel Committee: "Briefly, what he did was to develop, in several steps, a method whereby you can take out eggs from the woman and let those eggs meet the sperm of her partner in a test tube or in vitro, which means in glass, in glass a test tube, and then put back the fertilized egg for normal development in the woman."

Robert Edwards said his discovery impacted other areas of medicine, as well.

Robert Edwards: "We knew for the first time that science and medicine had entered human conception decisively and that from now on we would look at illnesses and disease and other disorders in embryos as part of medicine."

Solar Panels to Be Installed on White House
And the Obama administration is expected to announce plans today to install solar panels atop the White House’s living quarters. The panels will heat water for the first family and supply some electricity. The announcement will be made today by Environmental Quality Chairwoman Nancy Sutley and Energy Secretary Steven Chu. The move comes one month after the White House rejected a proposal by environmentalist Bill McKibben and students from Unity College to reinstall the White House solar panels used by President Carter in the 1970s. The panels were later taken down by President Reagan.

Indigenous Peoples, environmental groups and labor organizations across Panama have turned to the international community for support in their growing nation-wide campaign to defend human rights, enact Indigenous Peoples' rights and restore environmental protections in the country.

In June, 2010, the Panamanian National Assembly pushed through Law No. 30, a controversial piece of legislation that "eliminates the requirement for environmental impact assessments for government-sponsored development projects, protects the police from prosecution for crimes and human rights abuses that they commit on the job, and limits labor unions' right to strike," explains a recent report from Cultural Survival (CS).

Soon after the law was passed, thousands of protesters took to the streets in Changuinola, to which the government responded "with unprecedented violence, killing at least two protesters, blinding dozens with lead bird shot, and injuring and arresting hundreds more. Indigenous leaders say more people were killed, but the government has not released complete information to human rights investigators," CS continues.

In addition to Law 30, which has been appropriately named the "chorizo law" by critics (the "sausage law" for what they perceive to be an excess of political pork stuffed into one omnibus piece of legislation", says a COHA Researcher) two additional laws were forced through, like the sausage law, without any public consultation or the consent of Indigenous Peoples: Law No. 14, which prohibits the act of blocking public thoroughfares during any kind of protest (the penalty for which includes a jail sentence of up to two years); and Executive Decree No. 537, which limits the right of Indigenous Peoples to elect their own leaders according to their own traditions.

Sufficed to say, "Many Panamanians were shocked by passage of these repressive laws. They were equally shocked by the violent police actions against protesters. Civil society organizations are demanding an investigation into killings, beatings, torture, false charges, kidnapping, and cover-ups by the police, and they have requested a special hearing with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights," says CS. Unfortunately, there's a good chance that Panama will simply ignore any recommendations from the IACHR, just as they have consistently ignored the most basic civil and cultural rights of the Ngobe, Bugle, Kuna, Embera, Wounaan, Bribri and Naso Peoples.

And it goes without saying that a massive general strike could erupt at any time, like the one's we have witnessed in Peru, Honduras, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil and elsewhere around the world. And like in the cases of Peru and Honduras, it is feared that Panama's government will respond with unrestrained violence.


From October 12-16, 2010, Indigenous Peoples, Social Movements, and Climate Justice Activists will converge in more than a dozen countries for the second Global Minga In Defense of Mother Earth. This year's primary focus will be Climate and Environmental Justice.

Echoing the first Global Minga, which took place during the week of Oct. 12, 2009, protests, demonstrations, forums, sit-ins, and other actions will be carried out, states The Andean Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations (CAOI), the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) and others:

To Oppose the commodification of life (food, water, biodiversity, natural assets); the privatization of nature through the carbon market; pollution and predation (by mining, hydrocarbons, hydropower, forestry, livestock , biofuels, GMOs); consumerism and criminalization of social struggles; the persecution of migrants

To Promote the defense of land, natural wealth and spirituality linked to Mother Earth; water for future generations; collective rights; and the importance of "living well" (the need to live with nature in harmony and balance)

To Warn of the imminent danger of environmental catastrophe that threatens the planet and identify those responsible.

To Demand amnesty for all indigenous leaders, social and environmental activists who defend the rights of peoples and Mother Earth.

Among the many coalitions, networks and local groups that will take part in this Year's Minga: Climate Justice Action! (CJA) has announced plans for a Global Day of Action for Climate Justice for Oct. 12; and Via Campesina, an International day of Action against Agribusiness and Monsanto on Oct. 16.

After a massive show of international solidarity, Mapuche representatives have reached an agreement with the Chilean government, marking a near-end to one of the longest hunger strikes in recent memory.
According to the Archbishop of Concepcion, Ricardo Ezzati, 30 of the 38 Mapuche protesters officially called off the hunger strike late Friday, after Chile agreed to drop all terrorism charges against the Mapuche civilians. At the moment, only the Mapuche in Angol Prison are continuing the hunger strike; though, it is believed they, too, will call off the strike in the next few days.
Unfortunately, it appears that charges themselves will not be dropped. According to the agreement, the Mapuche will still be tried, but as civilians under the common penal code.
This, of course, is a pretty far stretch from the Mapuche Demand for "freedom"; however, since so many of the charges are fabrications and, in effect "thought crimes" rather than actual crimes, there's no way they'll stand up in court. Not if reason has anything to say about it.
In addition to dropping the charges of terrorism, Chile says it will also take action "with various authorities and entities" to seek solutions "to the diverse issues that are part of the Mapuche cause."
Hopefully, Chile will keep true to these words and genuinely act in the spirit of democracy and good governance. It would certinaly be a welcomed change from the desperation politics so common in Peru, Colombia and elsewhere around the world. Most of all, for the Mapuche who are simply trying to secure their rights and reclaim their traditional territories.
A military plane was reportedly sent to Rapanui (Easter Isalnd) "with a contingency of SWAT teams to augment the already in-place armed forces set to remove indigenous Rapanui people from their ancestral lands." Since July 31, the Rapanui have been non-violently occupying parts of their ancestral land, illegally taken from their grandparents. Throughout the effort, the Rapanui have been asking for the restoration of their legal title to the land.

The Liard First Nation (LFN) expressed concerns over massive zinc mine project that could severely impact Don Creek, a stream that eventually flows into the Yukon River in northwestern Canada. The Yukon government recently approved the project; however, according to LFN, they "forgot" to explore the potential impacts on the water system before the decision. That is, despite knowing that he companies behind the project are going to dump their mine waste right into the Creek.

The Navajo Nation Council took a welcomed step back from the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Agreement (NAIWRSA) to devote a little more time to "community outreach". Just prior to the Council's decision, more than 160 concerned Navajo (Dine') urge them to oppose the agreement, which would force the Dine' to forfeit their "priority rights to all waters that fall on, run by or through, or are under the land surface between the Four Sacred Mountains."

As many as 20 thousand peasants mobilized to demand agrarian reform in Indonesia. The action, which involved more than 40 organizations, marked the 50th commemoration of the National Farmers' Day in Indonesia.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that the Xakmok Kasek community in Paraguay should be allowed to live on its traditional land. "The community, which comprises around 60 families, has been denied access to the land for over 20 years and deprived of its traditional means of subsistence: hunting, fishing and gathering," explains Amnesty International.

The Fourth Tri-national Encuentro of Indigenous Peoples concluded with Indigenous organizations from Peru, Brazil and Bolivia declaring a "state of emergency" throughout the Amazon rainforest due to the "intense promotion, approval and execution of mega-projects by the governments of the three countries." The event brought together more than a hundred indigenous leaders from AIDESEP, ORAU and FENAMAD in Peru, CIPOAP and CIMAP in Bolivia and COIAB in Brazil.

Villagers in Jharkhand, India are being actively exposed to uranium, according to a recent investigation by Tehelka Magazine. At just one of the seven uranium mines in Jharkhand, says Tehelka, "there are no prohibitory signs, no warnings about radiation, no barbed wire and no demarcation of territory." What's more, several workers were dressed in casual clothing, with no helmets or even a breathing mask. And children were found bathing in a stream that obviously receives radioactive waste water.

Autonomous Authorities ordered the total evacuation of San Juan Copala in Oaxaca, Mexico, after paramilitaries raided the community and said they would kill everyone if they didn't leave. According to latest reports, all residents of the autonomous municipality made it out safely, "with no help from the government."

"In an effort to reclaim a day that has traditionally been imposed as 'Columbus Day,' indigenous peoples around the world have called for a global mobilization 'in defence of Mother Earth'. Climate Justice Action has taken up this call and is proposing a global day of direct action for climate justice on the same day, October 12, 2010. CJA is not picking specific targets or actions, but is rather calling for all of us to engage, plan and take direct action on this day."

Alberto Pizango, the respected and well-known Indigenous leader in Peru, announced that he will be runnning for President in the upcoming 2011 elections. "The candidacy of Pizango has been speculated for months, and he accepted to run after the Apus (leaders) of more than 1,300 Native communities supported his candidacy," reports Peruanista. "His candidacy could be a rising surprise in these elections, even after the media in Lima has portrayed him as a 'social agitator' and a violent man who is financed by foreign groups."

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced plans to give mining firms in Palawan, including some Canadian companies, direct military support in exchange for access to military technologies. The shocking news came just days before the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) illegally granted MacroAsia Corporation (MAC) an Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) for the mining plans in the Municipality of Brookes' Point.

More than six dozen Indigenous people from the Guarani Kaiowa Y'poi in Brazil have been effectively turned into prisoners on their land. According to the Indigenist Missionary Council (CIMI), six weeks ago a group of hired gunmen surrounded the Guarani, who set up a camp in April on a section of their ancestral land. Since then, the Guarani have been unable to leave the camp, severely limiting their access to food, water, education and health services.

In the Sarawak region of Borneo, more than 150 Penan started blocking roads to protest the ongoing destruction of the rainforest and the Malaysian government’s failure to protect their land and their rights. According to Survival International, "The protesters were marking the anniversary of previous road blockades a year ago, which brought the logging industry in the area to a halt. " Not long after the blockades went up, the police arrived to tear them down.

Indigenous landowners in Western Australia (WA) expressed outrage at the government's plan to "compulsorily acquire" a section of their land for a $30 billion gas processing plant. WA Premier Colin Barnett announced the plan after deciding, on his own, that negotiations with the landowners had failed. According to GetUp! the Oil and gas giant Woodside (along with joint venture partners Shell, Chevron, BHP-Billiton and BP) wants the land to process the huge gas deposits at Browse Basin.

Indigenous Peoples in Botswana filed an appeal to overturn a High Court decision that denied them access to a single waterhole on their traditional territory. The Kgeikani Kweni--more commonly known as the Kalahari Bushmen--have been struggling to access the waterhole since 2002. They now have to truck in water from a settlement 300 miles away. Meanwhile, just a few miles away, a tourist resort and a diamond mine enjoys near-unlimited access to water.


Many thanks to Democracy now and Intercontenental Cry.