Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• "Roadless Rule" impacts Minnesota forests
  MPR's Tom Crann spoke with John Roth, executive director of Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness about the decision of a federal judge to reinstate the "Roadless Rule," a Clinton-era ban on road construction in nearly a third of national forests. Roth says thousands of acres of Minnesota forest are affected.4:24 p.m.
• Penalty deliberations begin in Rodriguez trial
  Attorneys in the penalty phase of the trial of Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. offered their closing arguments today and jurors began deliberation earlier this afternoon. The eight jurors have convicted Rodriguez of kidnapping and killing Dru Sjodin, and now must decide whether Rodriguez gets life in prison without parole or is sentenced to death for his crime. MPR's Bob Reha has been in the courtroom during this trial and offers this update.5:19 p.m.
• Group files suit to block Minnesota trapping
  An animal rights group has filed suit to stop Minnesota trappers from catching and often killing endangered species. The California-based Animal Protection Institute says it filed papers in federal court in Minneapolis.5:24 p.m.
• Minnesota Liberians may lose protected status
  A period of relative peace in Liberia has prompted U.S. immigration officials to change the status of Libreian refugees in the U.S.5:55 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Congress Nibbles at Larger Immigration Issue
  Congress turns its attention to immigration, but not to the larger national policy bills that are stuck between the House and Senate. Instead, with midterm elections looming, Republican leaders in both chambers are focusing strictly on enforcement measures.
• Boeing Wins Contract to Secure Southern Border
  The Department of Homeland Security says that Boeing Corp. is the winner of a contract for new border-surveillance technology. Boeing proposes to develop a system of video and heat- and motion-sensors that would feed information about border activity into a central database.
• Thai King Throws Support to Coup Leaders
  As military leaders who ousted Thailand's president promise a return to democracy, Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej expressed support for the coup. Because the king is revered in Thailand, his endorsement is expected to dissuade those who might try to reinstall the president. Bangkok was calm Wednesday and traffic was minimal; most schools and businesses were closed. Residents of the capital expressed hope that the coup will resolve the paralysis that has gripped the national government for nearly a year.
• Court Report Slams U.S., Canada on False Suspect
  Maher Arar is a Syrian-born Canadian computer engineer who was falsely accused of having terrorist ties. Canadian investigators deported him to the United States in 2002, where he was arrested at JFK Airport. He was then sent to Syria for a year, where, according to a report released by a Canadian judge Tuesday, he was tortured.
• New Rail Link to Tibet Generates Talk, Tourism
  More than 300,000 passengers have ridden China's railway to Tibet since it opened to traffic two months ago. China sees it as a historic event, but the train's long-term effects on the remote Himalayan region remain to be seen.
• 'Streets with Memories' in Lhasa
  Melissa Block talks with Robert Barnett, professor of Contemporary Tibetan Studies at Columbia University and author of Lhasa: Streets with Memories, about the relationship between China and Tibet, and how the Tibetan community views the railway, and development in Tibet.
• Ancient Fossil Child Discovered in Ethiopia
  Scientists in Ethiopia have discovered the 3.3 million-year-old skeleton of a child, the oldest child fossil on record. Anthropologists around the world are practically salivating at the information the skeleton might hold.
• NASA Clears Shuttle for Thursday Landing
  The space shuttle has been cleared to return to Earth on Thursday after NASA experts determined that unidentified material seen near the shuttle came was most likely insignificant bits of the shuttle itself. While debris as small as four inches can be tracked from earth, hundreds of thousands of smaller particles are orbiting earth, often the scattered remnants of jettisoned launch vehicles whose left over fuel exploded. These tiny bits traveling at high speeds relative to manned and unmanned vehicles in different orbits can do serious damage if the two orbits intersect. Robert Siegel talks with Dr. Mark Matney, Space Debris scientist at NASA Johnson Space Center.
• Chavez Calls Bush 'Devil,' Assails U.S. Policies
  Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez took the podium at the United Nations, where he launched his latest verbal salvo against President Bush and U.S. world influence. Making the sign of the cross, Chavez described Bush as "the devil" and decried Washington's misuse of its far-reaching power.
• Chavez's 'Devil' Remark and Global Protocol
  Melissa Block talks with Jeffrey Laurenti, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation and longtime United Nations expert. He'll talk about what the protocols are for world leaders speaking at the U.N., and just how far away from them the Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez reached with his speech Wednesday morning, in which he called President Bush "the devil."

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