Iran may free a U.S. hiker at Ramadan end
TEHRAN, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- An Iranian official Thursday said one of three U.S. hikers who have been jailed on spying charges since July 2009 will be freed.
The Iranian attorney for the captives, Massoud Shaffie, speculated the hiker to be released Saturday will be the lone female in the group, Sarah Shourd, 32, The Washington Post reported.
An official with the Ministry of Islamic Guidance and Culture has called upon journalists to gather Saturday at a Tehran hotel, which is when the American is expected to be freed in a gesture marking the end of Ramadan, the Post said.
Shourd and her finance Shane Bauer, 27, and Joshua Fattal, 27, had been hiking in the nearby Iraqi mountains when they were arrested by Iranian border forces last July.
Shaffie reiterated Thursday that the captives are merely innocent tourists.
"They are not spies, they have been held for over a year without a trial and according to the law should all be released," he said. "I will be very happy if Sarah will be freed."
U.S. soldiers charged with Afghan murders
WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Twelve U.S. soldiers have been charged in what military authorities say they believe was a conspiracy to murder Afghan civilians and cover it up.
Murder charges have been brought against five American soldiers, while another seven are charged in the cover-up, CNN reported Thursday.
They also face charges they used hashish, mutilated corpses and kept grisly souvenirs.
Military documents allege Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs and four other soldiers, members of a 2nd Infantry Division brigade operating near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010, threw grenades at civilians and shot them in separate incidents.
Three Afghan men died, the documents say.
Authorities allege Gibbs kept finger bones, leg bones and a tooth from Afghan corpses.
Another soldier allegedly kept a skull from a corpse, several soldiers are charged with taking pictures of the corpses, and one, Spc. Corey Moore, is charged with stabbing a corpse, military charging documents say.
The five facing murder charges are Gibbs, of Billings, Montana; Pfc. Andrew Holmes of Boise, Idaho; Spc. Adam Winfield, of Cape Coral, Florida; Spc. Michael Wag non, of Las Vegas, Nevada; and Spc. Jeremy Morlock of Wasilla, Alaska, CNN reported.
Palin joins critics of Koran burning
GAINESVILLE, Fla., Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin joined government and religious leaders condemning plans of a Florida pastor to burn copies of the Koran Saturday.
"People have a constitutional right to burn a Koran if they want to, but doing so is insensitive and an unnecessary provocation -- much like building a mosque at Ground Zero," Palin wrote on her Facebook page.
In Gainesville, Fla., Dove World Outreach Center Pastor Terry Jones said, at least for now, "we have no intention of canceling" the burning of the Muslim sacred book. The event coincides with the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States.
Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, said the protest would "feed the fire of caustic rhetoric and appears as nothing more than mean-spirited religious intolerance."
President Obama, during an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America," called the planned Koran burning a "recruitment bonanza for al-Qaida" that would endanger U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Gen. David Petraeus, top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said the event could endanger U.S. troops stationed abroad.
Palin joined religious leaders and top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said Wednesday burning the Muslim holy book does not reflect "who we are" as Americans, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
Conservative commentator Glenn Beck compared the burning of Korans with "burning the flag or the Bible."
"You can do it," he posted on his Web site, "but whose heart will you change by doing it?"
Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington, said Tuesday religious leaders cannot "stand by in silence when things like this are happening," the Post reported.
In Kabul, Afghanistan, protesters earlier this week burned Jones in effigy and chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Obama," the Post said.
Russian plane makes emergency landing
MOSCOW, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- The pilots of a Russian Tu-154 passenger jet are heroes for safely landing the disabled aircraft on an abandoned and unmarked runway, an official says.
About halfway through a flight from the Sakha republic's Polyarny Airport to Moscow, the plane's electrical system malfunctioned, but the flight crew spotted the unmarked airfield and was able to land safely, The Moscow Times said Thursday.
"I would award the captain a Hero of Russia medal for what he did," said Pyotr Dityatev, who witnessed the landing Tuesday.
"It was not a sight for the weak," said Dityatev, head of the Izhma district, where the abandoned airfield is located. "Small planes like Yak-40 and An-24 last landed in our Izhma airport about 10 years ago. The landing strip is all overgrown with weeds, and even landing of a helicopter is a major event for us."
After dumping fuel, and on the third attempt, the pilots landed the plane without instrumentation, and without the use of its flaps to slow it down.
The plane went off the end of the short runway, chopping the tops off of small trees before coming to rest in a swampy area.
"It was very scary," said passenger Andrei Kondratyev. "I personally saw how the wings cut off the tops of trees like a lawnmower. There was panic, someone started yelling that we're on fire. As soon as the plane stopped, people started breaking down doors to get out.
The plane carried 72 passengers and eight crew members.
The jet is the same model that crashed in April, killing Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 other people, the newspaper said.
Indiana anti-smoking forces to try again
INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Anti-smoking advocates in Indiana, who've failed three times to get a state-wide ban enacted, will try again -- and this time things are different, they say.
In the past year, four states -- Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Illinois -- have passed tough anti-smoking laws.
Danielle Patterson, director of government relations for the American Heart Association, says that makes Indiana a "smoky island" in the Midwest, The Indianapolis Star reported Thursday.
State Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, vowed to pursue a fourth try in the legislature.
"This is a major health issue," Brown said, "and I have to keep pushing."
Smoking bans have passed the Democrat-controlled House but those bills have been killed by Republicans in the state Senate amid concerns over smokers' rights and the financial impact a ban might have on some businesses.
Rep. Eric Turner, R-Marion, Wednesday joined with Brown and said Indiana was "behind the curve."
Across the country, 22 states prohibit smoking in workplaces, restaurants and bars.
Brown said his bill would include "all facilities the public visits."
