Wikinews:Briefs/November 19, 2007

Audio Wikinews Audio Wikinews News Brief for November 19, 2007
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Introduction

This is the Audio Wikinews Brief, weekend review for November 19, 2007

Two students in Germany accused of plotting a school attack

Two students from Cologne, Germany, ages 17 and 18, are accused of allegedly plotting an attack at their school on November 20, the first anniversary of the shooting at Geschwister Scholl in Emsdetten, in which 18-year old ex-student Sebastian Bosse carried an attack that left six people wounded by gunshot and others wounded by detonated smoke bombs before taking his own life.

One of the suspects, age 17, killed himself on Friday during a confrontation with a high school teacher and a police officer. The plot was uncovered when a school principal had discovered a Web page the 17-year old suspect had created, showcasing material that glorified the two perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre.

Ukrainian coal mine explodes, killing 68

An explosion in a coal mine has killed at least 68 people in the city of Donetsk, Ukraine, while 37 people are reported missing.

According to reports transmitted by the local press and the Emergency Situations Department, 360 miners managed to get to the surface safely; 28 others are currently hospitalized, some with severe burns.

The Zasyadko mine is nearly 1,000 meters deep, and 456 people were in the mine when the explosion occurred at 3:11 am.

The cause of the explosion is still unknown. Initial reports suggest that the explosion was caused by methane mixing with the air in the mine.

During the afternoon, more than thirty rescue teams were found at the scene, wearing hard hats and oxygen tanks as they prepared to enter the mine.

Lula: Venezuela "does not lack democracy"

In statements to the press on November 14, the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, defended the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, and minimized the incident between him and the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I during the 17th Ibero-American Summit in Chile.

Dutch Justice Department bans Wikipedia for employees following vandalism

A spokesperson for the Justice Department in the Netherlands has confirmed to the Dutch magazine Intermediair that it will temporarily suspend access to Wikipedia for its 30,000 employees, following recently revealed vandalism by staff members.

The magazine has confronted the department with some untasteful edits which originated from their IP addresses. Anonymous users are registered through these unique internet fingerprints when they edit Wikipedia. The magazine exposed the vandalism through Wikiscanner.nl, a website which combines a database of Wikipedia alterations with a server database from large institutions. The site can be used to reveal which organisations are behind anonymous Wikipedia editors.

The controversial edits included topics such as the murder of controversial filmmaker Theo van Gogh, Jesus Christ, pop stars, witchcraft, and Donald Duck. Because of legal limitations on the time internet activity can be stored, it will probably not be possible to find out who exactly committed the vandalism, a spokesperson said.

UN's Third Commission passes resolution condemning capital punishment

On Friday, the United Nations General Assembly's Third Commission passed resolution L29 against capital punishment; the project was presented by New Zealand and Brazil, and was defended vigorously by Italy. With 99 votes in favor, 52 against and 33 abstentions, the necessary majority was met, needed in order to pass the resolution.

Closing

This has been an Audio Wikinews Brief and is freely available for copy under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 license at http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/. Catch the latest breaking news at Wikinews at en.wikinews.org.